It Exploded, It Actually Exploded!

The teacher had grown a horn on his head!

A single horn.

It was blue-gray, marked with strange, mysterious spiral patterns, and about ten centimeters tall. Now that he had taken off his fisherman's hat, it was especially striking.

The freshmen were stunned once again.

They all stared at the teacher with a horn growing out of his head.

Today, the students felt like they were on a vibrating massage chair that had just been switched on, getting jolted nonstop.

Xu Tui was shocked, too!

His first thought was that the teacher was a Cyborg!

What the hell was a Cyborg doing at Huaxia Gene Evolution University?

But Xu Tui quickly realized that it was impossible for a Cyborg to be at Huaxia Gene Evolution University.

The Gene Committee defined a Cyborg as a human modified through cross-species artificial intervention with another species.

The teacher standing before them with a horn on his head probably wasn't a Cyborg. It was more likely some kind of strange transformation.

"Hello, everyone. My surname is Wen, and my name is Wen Shao. I'm a professor at Huaxia Gene Evolution University and deputy director of the Supernatural Department at Mysterious Academy.

"Unless something unexpected happens, I'll be teaching and overseeing three of your Mysterious System general courses over the next few years: Mental Power Cultivation, Mysterious System Real-world Application, and Mysterious System Combat Application."

Teacher Wen spoke a little slowly. With his round face and warm smile, even the horn on his head seemed less jarring.

"Let me start with two points.

"First, my general courses are held in large lecture halls. I expect you to pay attention and keep quiet during class so you don't disturb the others.

"Second, all three of these general courses are very important to you. I hope you won't skip them.

"If you have a special reason for missing class, you can watch the lecture recording or ask a classmate.

"Of course, some things in the Mysterious System are still mysterious. Even advanced technology can't fully reproduce them.

"Please keep those two points in mind. Now, let's begin with the first question of our course, which is also the opening lesson of today's general class: Mental Power Cultivation."

With a smile, the round-faced Teacher Wen rubbed his pale blue-gray horn. "What do you think happened to the horn on my head?

"Feel free to guess. I won't get angry if you're wrong."

"Teacher, is it an unusual bone growth?"

"Teacher, is it because of mental power?"

"Teacher, is it atavism?"

"I'd believe your ancestor had a tail and you were reverting to that. But a horn? What do you think you evolved from?"

Amid the lively responses, some students started bickering with one another.

The round-faced Teacher Wen put a hand on his horn again, and the entire lecture hall fell silent at once.

Xu Tui realized that Teacher Wen was really something.

Just showing his horn had been enough to take complete control of the class.

"One of you got it right. It's because of mental power."

"I overexerted myself while cultivating my mental power and accidentally activated an unknown Gene Point. This caused a unique, silent genetic response that became visible.

"The side effect for me was growing a horn, which isn't very convenient.

"On the plus side, my mental power got a little stronger.

"If you want to grow a horn like me, just make sure you cultivate your mental power properly," Wen Shao said.

At that, the more than eight hundred freshmen in the Mysterious System all turned pale.

The girls were especially horrified. One after another, they cried out that they didn't want to.

Cultivating mental power was fine, but not one of the girls was willing to grow a horn.

From a distance, Xu Tui spotted Gong Ling. She was looking horrified, too, and kept shaking her head, saying she didn't want one.

As she shook her head, her whole body swayed with it.

Just as expected, Xu Tui silently added.

"Looks like none of you want to grow a horn."

Wen Shao lowered his hand from his horn and suddenly turned serious. "Since you don't want one, then you'd better all pay attention.

"Mental Power Cultivation is extremely precise. If anyone fails to listen and starts cultivating carelessly, you might grow a horn—or something even stranger. You could end up with a mushroom growing on your face, for example. Don't say I didn't warn you."

In an instant, several girls clapped their hands over their mouths and shrieked.

A horn on their heads was already unbearable.

If a mushroom really grew on their faces, they might as well die.

The whole lecture hall fell completely silent.

Xu Tui quieted down, too, and focused all his attention.

He was so handsome. He absolutely couldn't tolerate growing a horn on his head or a mushroom on his face!

"Hand out the cultivation devices."

After getting through the preamble, Teacher Wen gave his assistant a brief instruction, then put his fisherman's hat back on.

Once he had his hat on, the round-faced, genial Teacher Wen somehow seemed a little more brooding.

He seemed better without the fisherman's hat.

At the assistant's direction, dozens of students began handing out the so-called cultivation devices.

They were glass jars.

About the size of a soda can, they were transparent and sealed.

Under the sealed lid was a precise dial, with a line about six or seven centimeters long hanging from it. A small silver tag dangled from the end, barely half a fingernail in size—about one centimeter square.

Xu Tui's eyes shifted when he saw the silver tag.

Its color looked a little like the silver pellets An Xiaoxue used.

But the color and overall appearance were also somewhat different.

Soon, Xu Tui received one, too.

"Students, do you know what the most important foundation of the Mysterious System is?"

"Mental power!"

The answer was nearly unanimous.

Wen Shao smiled and nodded. "Looks like you've all been putting in some effort on your own."

"That's right. For the Mysterious System, mental power is the most important foundation. There's no second place.

"Without strong mental power, it doesn't matter whether you're in the Supernatural System, the Manifestation Sensing System, or the Radiation Influence System—you won't be able to unleash your abilities to their full potential.

"So you'll begin cultivating your mental power on your very first day here, and keep at it until the day you die!"

His tone was rather solemn, and many students' faces tightened.

"However, mental power has no shape or substance, yet through cultivation it can be manifested and even used to unleash incredible strength.

"Since the Gene Great Era began, countless predecessors have studied it for nearly a century, yet they still haven't come up with a material theory that makes sense.

"Neither human anatomy nor genetic research has achieved any breakthrough.

"It remains the most mysterious thing of all!

"That's why the public cultivation method has always been simple, but effective."

A student raised his hand. "Go ahead," Wen Shao said.

"Teacher, if there's a public method, does that mean there are secret cultivation methods, too?"

"Good question. But you'll need to reach a certain level of mental power, or even meet special requirements, before you might be allowed to learn them."

"Teacher Wen, what requirements do we need to meet?"

"You'll know when you get there.

"I want to remind everyone here not to reach beyond your grasp. According to Gene Committee statistics, if you keep at it, the current method of cultivating mental power is actually the most effective, and it also gives you the fastest results."

The round-faced Teacher Wen took the opportunity to remind everyone once again.

"All right, let's officially begin the first lesson in Mental Power Cultivation.

"See the bottle in front of you?

"This bottle is called a Vacuum Silver Tellurium Bottle. It's specially designed for cultivating and measuring mental power at the beginner and intermediate levels.

"Pay attention: the tellurium inside isn't the tellurium you've read about in your textbooks. It comes from Mars beyond Earth, and is also known as Silverized Ditellurium. It's an extremely rare material.

"This material can draw in and absorb mental power, minimizing its dissipation.

"Try it in a moment, and you'll understand."

"Now, look at the Silverized Ditellurium tag inside the Vacuum Silver Tellurium Bottle. If you focus your attention on it, you can try to move it.

"The greatest distance you can move it is your current mental power reading.

"Repeating this process is cultivation. If your mental power reading has increased by the next day, or at some later point, then you've made progress."

"All right, let's begin our first cultivation session. Everyone, follow my instructions."

"First, focus your gaze entirely on the tellurium tag in the Vacuum Silver Tellurium Bottle."

"Then focus all your attention—all of it—on the tellurium tag. You'll feel a strange sense of contact.

"Follow that feeling and push the tag with all your strength!

"Remember, push with all your strength, and you'll get your mental power reading.

"All right, begin!"

At Wen Shao's instruction, all the Mysterious System freshmen began trying the mental power cultivation method.

As Wen Shao had told them, they focused their attention and used their mental power to push the tellurium tag.

Some students moved quickly. When their tags barely budged, they grew impatient or even disappointed.

Wen Shao's voice continued.

"Don't rush, everyone. It's a little difficult the first time.

"Try several times. Once you're used to it, take your highest reading—that'll be your mental power measur—"

Bang!

A sharp, sudden explosion rang out, cutting off Teacher Wen.

It interrupted the students' cultivation, too.

The explosion was accompanied by several students' piercing screams.

At the back of the lecture hall, Xu Tui stared in a daze, a shard of glass embedded in his face!

It had shattered!

It had exploded!

He'd only done what Teacher Wen had instructed. He concentrated all his attention—in other words, his mental power.

Then he gave it a full-strength push.

The tellurium tag in the bottle had swung sharply and struck the glass wall.

Then the bottle had exploded!

Xu Tui was completely dumbfounded.

The entire Mysterious System turned to look at him.

Gong Ling, a beautiful girl wearing a string of pearl beads, and a somewhat frail-looking young man all watched thoughtfully.

Teacher Wen hurried over to Xu Tui. He looked at the glass fragments scattered across the floor, his brow furrowed.

"Are you sure you didn't break the bottle by squeezing it too hard because you were nervous?" Wen Shao asked with a frown.

Xu Tui was sure he hadn't.

But now he understood that his mental power might be a little different from everyone else's.

He'd better not attract too much attention.

It was like the shape of a hand.

A palm with visible bones on the back and plump flesh on the inside looked best—and felt the nicest to touch.

"I'm not sure, either. Maybe I was just too nervous." Xu Tui blankly pulled the glass shard from his face.

It hurt a little.

"Mm."

Wen Shao nodded, then pointed to the injured students. "After class, take them to get checked out. You'll be responsible if there's a problem."

"No problem, Teacher."

Xu Tui nodded like a pecking chick.

"Good. Everyone else, carry on cultivating. You, get another bottle. By the way, what's your name?" Wen Shao suddenly asked.

"Teacher Wen, my name is Xu Tui."

"Xu Tui?"

Wen Shao's eyes shifted slightly beneath his fisherman's hat. "Which system?"

"The Wisdom Heart System."

"Good!"

He nodded thoughtfully and continued toward the podium. After walking a dozen or so steps, he suddenly stopped and called to Xu Tui.

"Xu Tui, come by my office after class."

"Teacher Wen, is something wrong?"

Xu Tui was nervous, having just caused trouble.

Wen Shao smiled. "It's nothing. But you just damaged a Vacuum Silver Tellurium Bottle, which is public property. You'll have to pay for it!"

"Huh?"

Xu Tui looked confused, then began to worry.

Were Vacuum Silver Tellurium Bottles really that expensive?

Did they really have to go to Teacher Wen's office to discuss compensation?

How much would that cost?

Xu Tui immediately felt his wallet aching!

Thank you, handsome guys and beautiful ladies, for wishing me a happy birthday.

Yesterday was Zhu San's birthday, but aside from my mom, it seemed like everyone else had forgotten. It kind of stung.

Then, out of nowhere, I got hundreds of birthday wishes from you all!

I suddenly felt happy right before bed.

I was in a really good mood.

Actually, you know, Zhu San's a guy. Most of the time, we don't need presents. What we really need is just a little care and to know someone's thinking of us.

I'm so lucky to have you all!

Really!

Thank you! Hugs!

One last time: Zhu San turned 18 yesterday!