First Real-World Application

The Manifestation Sensing System's testing point was not far from the Wisdom Heart System's—just over a hundred meters away.

By comparison, though both were in the Mysterious Academy, the Manifestation Sensing System was much livelier than the Wisdom Heart System.

There was only one testing teacher at the Wisdom Heart System's testing point.

Here, at the Manifestation Sensing System, there were three testing teachers alone. One of them was a bald man with a very leisurely air, and his badge identified him as an Associate Professor.

He was obviously the one in charge.

When Xu Tui arrived, two students were being tested.

The first student's results had just come in.

The testing teacher quickly filled out an Assessment Form and signed it with a few swift strokes.

Although he didn't read it aloud, Xu Tui focused his attention for a moment and saw what was written on the form.

Xu Tui himself didn't even notice.

As he "looked" at the form, the bald professor, who had been leisurely browsing his social media feed, glanced at Xu Tui and fell thoughtful.

"Hmm, you've opened thirteen Gene Points. Your basic grade is High E-grade, and your sensing ability is rated Good. If you don't have any other abilities, the recommended overall rating is Mid D-grade."

Xu Tui saw that the student's sensing distance on the Assessment Form was 2.26 meters, and his sensing clarity was rated Normal (able to discern objects larger than two centimeters).

The second student ahead of Xu Tui began his test.

This student's results were a little worse than the first one's. His sensing distance was only 1.1 meters, and his sensing clarity was rated Blurry.

His rating remained at its original level.

"From the Wisdom Heart System?"

The testing teacher seemed a little surprised when he saw Xu Tui's test application, but still guided him through the test.

"Sense what's inside this box behind me. Write down everything you can see, including the position and description of each marker."

Xu Tui nodded.

With his eyes slightly closed and his attention fully focused, the contents of the box immediately appeared before him.

It was a long, narrow box, brightly lit inside. A ruler ran along its left side. At the various markings on the ruler to the right were objects of different sizes, arranged from largest to smallest.

There was an apple, a toy ball, a ping-pong ball, and square paper stickers. At the smallest end were little slips of paper, each covered in handwriting so tiny it could hardly be any smaller.

The writing was even smaller and finer than the print on a supermarket receipt. The letters were just one millimeter tall, but Xu Tui could see them clearly.

3.24 meters!

That was the farthest distance Xu Tui could see.

Compared to when he'd left home, his range had increased by twelve centimeters.

Did this mean my mental strength had increased over the past few days? Xu Tui wondered.

At that moment, Xu Tui felt a little tempted.

Should he give an honest account?

If he did, he might receive an Excellent rating for his sensing ability.

A sensing distance of three meters and exceptionally clear perception.

An Excellent rating was practically guaranteed.

He might even get an Outstanding rating.

An Excellent ability rating could raise Xu Tui's overall rating by at least two subgrades.

If he got Outstanding, it might raise his rating by three subgrades.

Xu Tui roughly weighed his options.

If he told the truth, he might receive a High C-grade or Mid C-grade rating and treatment.

If he hid his ability, he could only get a Low C-grade rating and treatment.

The difference between those ratings amounted to one or two extra E-grade Energy Supplement Potions a month.

That was an extra ten thousand yuan a month.

It was no small amount.

It was two months of his father Xu Jianguo's salary.

But what about the risks?

He might be selected as a special talent, given special training, and assigned special missions. They could even determine his future career path for him: intelligence work.

Hmm, the best application for his ability would be espionage.

Espionage carried far too much risk.

People vanished without a trace all the time.

The risks weren't worth the rewards.

Most importantly, Xu Tui didn't like intelligence work.

There were too many restrictions and rules in that line of work. Xu Tui preferred a little more freedom.

He'd only just flown out of Jincheng Prefecture and hadn't even started living it up yet. He didn't want to be locked in another cage.

At the very least, he wanted to date someone and go on a few outings in college, right?

In an instant, Xu Tui made up his mind: he'd follow An Xiaoxue's advice.

"Student, don't strain yourself if you can't see clearly," the testing teacher reminded him.

"Hey, sensing ability comes down to mental strength. You can't improve it just by holding your breath," a disagreeable voice suddenly came from behind Xu Tui.

Xu Tui opened his eyes and looked back.

A short young man with a flat nose stood there, his eyes bright.

He was nowhere near as handsome as Xu Tui.

Since he wasn't as handsome as Xu Tui, Xu Tui wasn't very angry. He glanced at him, then quickly wrote down his test results.

"1.63 meters. I can see the apple, ping-pong ball, and square paper. The square paper is dark and blurry. I can't make it out."

The testing teacher took a look and immediately reached a conclusion.

"Your sensing ability is rated Normal. You've opened twenty Gene Points, but your ability rating is only Normal, so it can't raise your overall rating. At best, it can keep your basic rating from dropping.

"If there's nothing else, you should get a Low C-grade rating."

The testing teacher swiftly signed the form and handed it to Xu Tui. "If you have no questions, take it to your teacher in the Wisdom Heart System for final confirmation."

"You've opened twenty Gene Points, but your ability rating is only Normal? How useless." The flat-nosed youth behind him was a little hot-tempered.

That annoyed Xu Tui. He turned to look at the young man.

"Student, did they not provide you with toiletries in your room at the reception center?" Xu Tui asked out of the blue.

Xu Tui asked with a smile. The flat-nosed youth looked baffled, but still answered with a puzzled expression, "They did. What about it?"

"If they provided you with a toothbrush, why does your mouth still stink so much?

"Do you just not brush your teeth?

"Or were you born with bad breath?"

The flat-nosed youth caught on and immediately got angry. "You dare insult me? I—"

"Your mouth just stinks, that's all."

Xu Tui was still smiling, looking smugly annoying.

In front of everyone, the flat-nosed youth was left with no way to save face. He clenched his fists and glared at Xu Tui, looking ready to throw a punch.

Xu Tui smiled and stepped forward a little, pointing at his own chest. "Come on. If you want to fight, go ahead. I won't fight back."

The flat-nosed youth's chest heaved violently as if he were thinking something over.

The Manifestation Sensing System teacher shouted, "New students are forbidden from fighting. Serious offenses mean expulsion; minor ones mean a downgrade in grade and treatment. Want to test that?"

The one sentence turned the flat-nosed youth's burning anger into a cold sweat.

He glared resentfully at Xu Tui, then turned and went to take his test.

Nearby, Chai Xiao, who hadn't said a word until then, gave Xu Tui a thumbs-up. "Brother, that was ruthless. He almost took the bait.

"If he had, he'd have been in big trouble!"

"I wouldn't call that ruthless. I just came here for a quiet test. I didn't provoke him, so I can't just take that lying down, can I?"

"Fair enough. That guy's mouth really stinks. If anything had happened, he'd have had it coming!"

"We don't go looking for trouble, but we're not afraid of it either." Xu Tui added another jab to himself in his mind.

That was Xu Tui's first real-world application of what he'd learned from An Xiaoxue on the bus: how to protect himself.

The night before, Xu Tui had carefully read the New Student Handbook.

Understand the rules and learn to use them!

As the flat-nosed youth went to take his test, Xu Tui and Chai Xiao headed back to the Wisdom Heart System's testing point.

The bald Associate Professor from the Manifestation Sensing System, who had been lounging around, suddenly got up and walked over to Xu Tui.

"Xu Tui, wait a moment."

I found an image of Gong Ling online, and she looks pretty good to me. I'll upload it today for everyone to see. Zhu San is still looking for images of the other characters and hasn't found any suitable illustrations by talented artists yet, so we'll have to take our time.

If any of you know any talented artists, please recommend them to Zhu San.