Listening to the members' discussion, Ma Ran's face revealed an unusual smile.
Compared to his usual seemingly gentle yet actually cold smile, this one seemed to carry a hint of warmth. "My ability is pretty interesting."
He did not keep them in suspense and said directly, "It's Limited Precognition."
Huh?
Those two sudden sentences left everyone present utterly confused.
Only a few people managed to react.
"Limited... advance payment, stagnation, threshold..."
Su Qiangwei's pupils widened slightly. "None of those are right! It should be..."
"Precognition!"
Once they thought about it that way, many things that had previously made no sense could now be explained.
Why had Ma Ran easily scored full marks on the last emergency joint examination?
Why could Ma Ran accurately determine that, apart from him, only three people would meet the minimum standard for this test?
Why had Ma Ran predicted Wu Di's existence before the trio from Fulan Academy arrived?
Hmph!
She knew it!
If he had not been given such a huge cheat, how could Ma Ran possibly beat her?!
Wan Haihao, Dong Huaiming, Wu Di, and the others' minds were all spinning rapidly.
No matter how they thought about it, an ability like precognition was just too overpowered, wasn't it?
Always anticipating the enemy, seizing the initiative, and planning everything flawlessly.
It could even be used in one-on-one fights.
This ability was practically heaven-defying!
"My precognition ability isn't as powerful as everyone imagines."
Ma Ran's gaze remained calm, and his tone was indifferent. "At present, I can only occasionally receive fragmented sounds and images related to the future."
"Even so, up until now, I have never used this ability to alter the 'future' I foresaw."
"The future is predetermined."
"To change it, you have to pay a price."
This was a well-established trope for playing a mature and prudent character.
The more advanced Ma Ran made his ability, the fewer restrictions it had, and the more heaven-defying it became, the harder it would be to receive feedback from the role he was playing.
At this point, Ma Ran's gaze fell on Su Qiangwei, and he changed the subject. "During Caolu Academy's qualification exam, my precognition told me that I would get full marks."
"After that, I would be selected by an organization that researched supernatural phenomena and become one of its members."
"That didn't fit my usual low-key style."
"But I didn't deliberately fail the exam."
After pausing for a moment, Ma Ran finally said in a distant tone, "Changing the future requires paying a price."
Even if such words were said only once, everyone would notice them, let alone the fact that Ma Ran had singled them out for emphasis a second time.
After hearing this and thinking for a while, the members who had originally been brimming with excitement and planning to ask Ma Ran about the future all lost their nerve.
After hearing Ma Ran's explanation, Su Qiangwei was somewhat depressed.
Wu Di, the newly inducted member of Caolu Academy, was exceptionally excited instead.
His focus was clearly different from that of normal people. "So, superpowers can be artificially stimulated and induced into awakening, but they can also awaken naturally?"
"According to the usual tropes in movies, television dramas, and novels, naturally awakened superpowers should be stronger and have greater potential for development than artificially induced ones, right?"
Seeing Wu Di looking eager to try, Director Huang worried that he might lead the other members astray and cause them to imagine all sorts of strange things. He hurriedly explained, "Wrong!"
"This idea is completely wrong!"
After hastily making his position clear, Huang Weiguo rubbed his slightly swollen temples, suppressed his own curiosity, and patiently explained, "The type, strength, and potential of a superpower have absolutely nothing to do with whether it awakened naturally!"
"This is information we have already confirmed through experiments."
Over the past few days, the Black Rock Stele martial arts system had served as groundwork, and by now, it was about enough.
Under these circumstances, the impact that information about superpowers would have on their worldview should be much smaller.
Certain information could also be revealed to the members of Caolu Academy little by little.
"Only members who possess both the determination to make sacrifices and an exceptionally high level of ideological awareness, and who have passed the minimum-standard test, are qualified to apply to activate their superpowers through the 'Victory Encounter Stone.'"
Director Huang's expression was solemn, and his voice rang out clearly. "Superpowers are completely different from inner energy!"
"Their existence may overturn your understanding of the world!"
"From the most basic control over water, fire, wind, and thunder, to creating a Vacuum Domain with your bare hands, and even Cellular Immortality."
"There is nothing superpowers can't do—only things you haven't thought of!"
"So..."
"Get your attitudes straight!"
"Everyone must take this extremely seriously!"
"Superpowers aren't the three simple words you imagine them to be!"
"Their emergence represents changes in the world, social upheaval, and a major historical turning point in the progress of human civilization!"
"Think about it carefully after you go back."
"As pioneers, what kind of responsibility do you truly bear?"
Old Huang spoke earnestly at great length, but unfortunately, very few of those below actually listened.
The members keenly picked up on what they considered the important keywords—Victory Encounter Stone, Vacuum Domain, and Cellular Immortality.
The "Classic of Mountains and Seas" recorded that the Victory Encounter was a type of bird. It looked like a pheasant with red coloring, and its cry resembled the sound of a recording. Wherever it appeared, that country would suffer a great flood.
In short, unlike the "Shushu," the Victory Encounter was no good bird.
From this perspective, the person who had named the superpower awakening stone held a pessimistic and resistant attitude toward "superpowers," believing that they would bring social upheaval.
Pursuing a steady approach was not wrong.
But Ma Ran knew more clearly than anyone that Earth did not have much time left!
Director Huang Weiguo had seemed somewhat anxious lately.
But what he had said was not empty talk or hollow rhetoric.
Superpowers and the inner-energy system of Black Rock Stele martial arts were different; they did not emphasize gradual progression.
If someone was lucky enough to be a favored child of fate, they could completely acquire combat power that surpassed current Earth technology the moment their ability awakened!
Perhaps...
That was precisely why the superpower system contained enormous hidden dangers.
Just as Director Huang Weiguo had said, for a superpowered individual, the "determination to make sacrifices" and "ideological awareness" were indispensable.
Without those things...
It would be very dangerous.
"Who awakened the ability to create a Vacuum Domain with their bare hands?"
"I make my living through mental labor and have no interest in fighting and killing. Compared to that, I'm more curious about the superpower of 'Cellular Immortality.'"
"That's immortality! I wonder who was lucky enough to get it?"
Hearing the members' discussion beside him, Ma Ran knew that Director Huang Weiguo's painstaking warning had not served as any wake-up call at all.
Ma Ran could completely understand the members' reactions.
He had gone through the same thing back then.
He could guide them a little when he had time later.
Liu Huadie, the leader accompanying the group from Fulan Academy, had remained extremely quiet the entire time.
Now, she finally spoke.
Liu Huadie looked intently at Ma Ran, her tone strange. "Even abilities that sound somewhat fantastical, like a Vacuum Domain and Cellular Immortality, have a foundation in scientific theory."
"But precognition..."
"Sorry."
"I really can't believe that so-called precognition exists in this world."
She was not trying to gain attention by picking a fight with Ma Ran.
Liu Huadie was a straightforward person.
She was completely incapable of hypocrisy. Whatever she thought of, she did and said.
She was uninhibited and outspoken.
I speak my heart with my own words. That's all there is to it.
A day filled with positive energy had begun! Hehehe.
Before you continue