Half-Awakened

Theoretically, a specially made tempered glass case as the sole layer of protection should have been sufficient.

Even a small-caliber handgun wouldn't be able to penetrate it.

But the members' loss of reason made Director Huang's heart pound with fear.

So far, not a single member of Caolu Academy had passed the minimum standard test for supernatural ability awakening.

Director Huang Weiguo felt a bit uncomfortable, but that wasn't the reason for his stern expression.

His dark expression stemmed from the belief that his work hadn't been thorough enough.

The protective measures should have been even more comprehensive!

This was due to his preparation not being up to par!

However...

There was truly no other way.

In the past month, more and more creations from extraterrestrial civilizations had appeared on Earth.

There was too little time, and too many unforeseen circumstances!

But these weren't excuses.

He hadn't had an incident this time, but what about next time?

Huang Weiguo felt he had to be responsible for every member of Caolu Academy!

"Please, number thirty-nine, begin the test."

A sweet-voiced, beautiful military officer maintained order at the scene.

The person who received number thirty-nine was named Su Qiangwei.

The young woman appeared very calm, exuding an air of composure.

She could afford to lose.

As long as her demeanor was dignified and her loss was graceful, it wouldn't matter!

If you keep the green hills, you'll never worry about running out of firewood.

Anything that couldn't kill her would only make her stronger!

With that thought, Su Qiangwei calmly walked to the testing area and sat down.

Her gaze focused on the alien mask, and countless despair-inducing images immediately flooded her mind, causing her to quickly lose her reason and even go completely mad.

"I am a member of Caolu Academy..."

"I am a reserve guardian of Earth civilization..."

"I will strive to protect..."

"Grass!" (A type of plant)

"What they taught in ethics class isn't very useful to me!"

"It doesn't feel real at all!"

Su Qiangwei felt an intangible force rapidly eroding her will, disrupting her thoughts.

It felt as if four invisible chains were binding her limbs, pulling her towards the alien mask!

"I..."

"I'm going to defeat Ma Ran and become the leader of Caolu Academy!"

"Although I hate to admit it, that guy Ma Ran can probably last for thirty seconds, right?"

Su Qiangwei's beautiful eyes were bloodshot as she glared fiercely at the alien mask within the specially made tempered glass case: "You little weakling!"

"You look like a QR code; without scanning you with a phone, no one knows what you are!"

"Get lost!"

It was unclear whether she was struggling with the alien mask or herself, but Su Qiangwei was highly focused and full of fighting spirit, losing all sense of time.

When she came to her senses, she felt a tug on her arm, and two military officers on either side lifted her from the chair and pulled her to a position ten meters away from the glass case.

From this distance, she could still feel a slight nausea and despair-like negative emotions when she inadvertently glanced at the mask, but it was very weak.

"Thirty seconds!"

Huang Weiguo's face was full of smiles: "Congratulations on passing the test! You've met the requirements for awakening your superpower!"

On the Fulan Academy's side, after extensive testing and screening, only two members, Liu Huadie and He Nanguang, had met the standards.

Caolu Academy, having just started, had produced a similar result, which was quite impressive!

"Please, number forty, begin the test."

The person who received number forty was Ma Ran.

However, Ma Ran handed his number plate to Wu Di beside him.

Wu Di crossed his arms and arrogantly walked to the chair with his chubby cheeks.

Twelve seconds later, he slumped onto the chair, panting heavily like a shaggy dog in the sweltering summer heat.

He lasted only a little longer than Dong Huaiming.

"You've improved!"

He Nanguang from Fulan Academy showed a look of relief on his face. "Before, you could only last about eight or nine seconds..."

"Reading ten thousand books and traveling ten thousand miles, getting out and about more really does help with growth!"

Initially, he had worried that Wu Di might become dejected and perform poorly on the test after being beaten up so badly.

He hadn't expected that after being severely beaten, Wu Di would actually make significant progress and improvements in terms of mental fortitude!

Among the failures, Wu Di was the strongest.

At least he didn't completely lose his mind and charge towards the alien mask. His performance was pretty good.

His name, like Dong Huaiming's, was noted down by Director Huang in his little black book as someone who would require focused attention and cultivation going forward.

By normal logic, Ma Ran should have been the final participant.

But he remained motionless.

This wasn't right!

In the eyes of everyone at Caolu Academy, although Ma Ran was aloof, he wasn't the type to show off his abilities like squeezing toothpaste. His skills were all there, but he only revealed them when pressured.

Sensing the confused gazes from the crowd, Ma Ran smiled slightly. "Actually, my supernatural ability has already been in a semi-awakened state."

"So..."

"I don't need to participate in this test."

As he said this, Ma Ran tilted his head in thought, then slowly walked towards the testing area, his gaze falling on the alien mask.

"To put everyone's minds at ease, I'll take the test."

Swish!

In a blur, a dark light seemed to flash.

In the blink of an eye, the mask, which had previously shown no discernible features, had transformed to resemble Ma Ran's face!

The sense of despair-inducing illusion and fatal attraction seemed to have temporarily vanished from the mask!

Ma Ran shifted his gaze away from the mask.

Effortlessly and calmly.

Clearly...

His mental fortitude surpassed that of the alien mask!

"This... this!"

Director Huang was dumbfounded, wanting to say something to express his inner shock, but the words caught in his throat, unable to form a complete sentence.

Currently, within China, Yingchuan Academy possessed the highest level of research into supernatural abilities.

It was said that the supernatural ability users with the strongest conviction and most unwavering faith could persist for three minutes under the alien mask's mysterious force field, even causing lines resembling the tester's facial features to appear on the mask.

The more one knew, the more one understood the difficulty.

The other members were just onlookers enjoying the spectacle, thinking that Ma Ran's ability to suppress the alien mask's invisible force field was powerful, cool, and impressive.

And then? Nothing more.

But Director Huang was different.

His position was high enough that he could freely access most encrypted data.

He knew that cultivating conviction and faith didn't happen overnight.

The entry requirements for supernatural abilities were different from Black Rock Martial Way.

There were no age restrictions.

Therefore...

As of today, the number of relevant test subjects was more than 110 times greater for the latter!

Among this vast pool of test subjects, no one had been able to achieve what Ma Ran had!

Although he couldn't accurately quantify Ma Ran's faith and conviction, Director Huang had a general idea.

Ma Ran's performance was so shocking that Director Huang was momentarily at a loss for words!

"Supernatural ability... semi-awakened?"

"I knew it! Brother Ran is truly 'Chosen'!"

"Ahhh! So envious!"

"As expected of Ma Ran, his credibility is terrifying..."

"To be honest, it really is. If someone else had said that, hardly anyone would have believed them, right?"

"Is it just me who's curious about what Brother Ran's superpower is?"

——

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