Fan Daoyi slowly came to and opened his eyes to find a crowd gathered around him.
Before he had fully recovered his senses, He Piaojian's punchable voice rang out. "You're awake! The operation was a success. You're already—"
"Get lost."
Despite the merciless rebuke, He Piaojian wasn't annoyed. He chuckled, shrugged, and stepped aside.
Fan Daoyi struggled to sit up, and Zhen Thunder brought him a cup of warm water with both hands.
He took it as Zhen Thunder scratched his head and gave him an apologetic smile. "I didn't know about Xun Wind's decision while I was in the dungeon. I thought an intruder had broken into the organization. Well... you can never be too careful."
Kun Earth also looked deeply apologetic. "Your body was in worse condition than I expected. I shouldn't have been so impatient. I'm truly sorry."
"It's all right," Fan Daoyi said flatly.
What concerned Fan Daoyi now was one gaze that stood out among the many concerned looks: Qian Heaven, sitting across from him, was sizing him up beneath that kindly gaze.
He looked back at Qian Heaven without betraying a thing, the faintest hint of a smile on his lips.
"All of you, step outside for a moment," Qian Heaven said to the chattering crowd.
At those words, everyone immediately fell silent, then lined up and left one by one. The noise in the room gradually faded, replaced by an air of quiet.
Now that only the two of them remained, Qian Heaven smiled and slowly began, "Xun Wind said your talent is terrifying, at least twice that of Dui Lake. He told me to make sure you stayed, no matter the cost."
Fan Daoyi narrowed his eyes at that and replied teasingly, "Sounds like a joke, doesn't it?"
Qian Heaven was taken aback, clearly not expecting Fan Daoyi to say what he had been about to say next.
Qian Heaven lowered his head and chuckled helplessly. "Yes, that was exactly what I thought. Guixu has existed for over a hundred years, and one hard requirement for entry is that you must be at least sixteen.
"And He Piaojian reached the Fusion realm at eighteen, after just two years. Whenever I think about it, it seems impossible."
"But He Piaojian's talent set a precedent. And Xun Wind said yours was at least twice his."
Fan Daoyi recalled the common knowledge he had acquired. They divided ability realms from lowest to highest as follows:
Initial Illumination—Open Source—Condensation—Fusion—Governance—Limit Break—Heavenless
Each realm was further divided into nine tiers. For example, someone who had just acquired an ability would be at the Initial Illumination Realm First Tier.
"It's been fifteen days since your first game that we know of. Yet after fifteen days, you're still at the Initial Illumination Realm First Tier."
Qian Heaven picked up an electronic data screen displaying the current realm and tier of Fan Daoyi's ability.
"That can hardly be called exceptional talent. In [Eight Trigrams], you could even be considered mediocre. Every member of [Eight Trigrams] is in the Fusion realm. The oldest at present is Zhen Thunder, and he's only twenty-five, currently at the eighth tier of the Fusion realm. Every one of them is a standout among the younger generation."
"So you think I'm not qualified to join?"
Qian Heaven shook his head decisively and said seriously, "I won't doubt Xun Wind's intuition. Just as his ability says, cast aside the brain and put intuition above all else."
"In that case, we should consider whether your talent lies elsewhere."
He stood, stepped closer, and extended a hand to Fan Daoyi. "So, if you're willing, I'd be very happy to welcome you aboard," he said sincerely. "I hope you don't mind this routine questioning. We've all been through it."
Fan Daoyi took Qian Heaven's outstretched hand. At last, things had unfolded as he wished. "Of course."
After holding the handshake for a moment, they both let go.
Qian Heaven's gaze fell on Fan Daoyi's hair, which faded from black to white, then slowly moved to the similarly black-and-white colors of his clothes.
"There are no vacant positions left in [Eight Trigrams], but you'll need a codename when you join. How about... 'Tai Chi'?"
Tai Chi...
Fan Daoyi frowned slightly.
He was silent inwardly, as though he had been pushed into a position of great importance.
After formally joining [Eight Trigrams], Fan Daoyi discovered that this official organization really did have a leisurely life.
There were no tedious missions to trouble them. All they had to worry about was what to eat that day.
With nothing much to do and the day when the various academies would compete for recruits still some way off, Fan Daoyi wandered over to the training room to have a look.
The rankings for everyone were posted at the entrance. First place in each event changed hands, but Xun Wind was always second to last in everything except shooting.
He entered an agility training course, wanting to see how people in the present day trained.
He chose the easiest setting first to get a feel for it. Objects shot rapidly out of the machines, but he passed easily by casually stepping sideways to dodge a few times.
Once the beginner level ended, Fan Daoyi adjusted the setting to medium.
The interior of the training area suddenly changed. The space around him expanded, and several more launchers appeared.
The firing was faster, and the objects came more thickly. Fan Daoyi used Teleportation over short distances, constantly appearing and disappearing.
Qian Heaven and several others passed by. He Piaojian stared at what was happening inside. "Isn't dodging with Teleportation cheating?"
Qian Heaven disagreed with He Piaojian and gave his own view. "It's no simple matter to use Teleportation in an instant to get away and find a safe place to land."
Qian Heaven glanced at the test difficulty and used a finger to adjust it to the highest setting.
Still in the middle of the test, Fan Daoyi noticed the difficulty rising. He put aside his playful attitude and gradually grew serious.
As the attacks were launched all at once, his brain constantly calculated where to land. Time seemed to stop before his eyes, and a series of chaotic, irregular lines appeared in his vision.
The lines outlined a jumbled picture, with only one small area that was safe.
His gaze sharpened. There!
He used Teleportation to get to that spot and continued with the next round of calculations.
Finally, having perfectly dodged the highest-difficulty scenario, he walked out of the room. The rankings beside the door changed, and his name climbed to first place.
"How was it?" Qian Heaven asked Fan Daoyi.
He noticed that Fan Daoyi still looked completely at ease. There wasn't even a bead of sweat on his forehead, unlike the sorry state they had been in during the test.
Fan Daoyi nodded approvingly. "It was pretty fun."
"Fun...?" Xun Wind recalled the miserable sight of himself beaten black and blue on the first difficulty level, then shook his head to banish the thought.
"I have a question," Qian Heaven said.
"What is it?"
"Are there any restrictions when you use Teleportation to take someone else with you?"
All of Fan Daoyi's abilities came from himself, so naturally he could use them as he pleased.
But the experience he had learned from his subordinates told him that the more capable a person was, the more work they got. To slack off more effectively, he still needed to hide some of his abilities.
So Fan Daoyi answered, "I need to act as the medium. Only someone I'm touching can use Teleportation with me."
"Is there a limit to the distance?" Qian Heaven continued to press his question.
"I can go wherever I please," Fan Daoyi replied, then added, "But if the distance is too great, I can't use it too many times. My body can't take it."
"The Initial Illumination Realm First Tier, and it's that monstrous? Could this be the terrifying talent Xun Wind saw...?"
Fan Daoyi was somewhat dumbfounded as he listened to Qian Heaven mutter. He had added so many restrictions, and it was still monstrous?