"Don’t stare at the others."

But just then, Zhang Fucheng barked, telling the two not to be so rude.

Then, noticing the girl was still glancing all around, he frowned and scolded, "The others may not be showing any anomalies because they’ve already mastered their power to the point where it doesn’t leak out... You Lin, I’m talking to you! Reign in your Heart Sword. Letting others see you so out of control is a disgrace to our Zhengyi Academy!"

"But Master Uncle Zhang, you can’t expect me to walk with my eyes closed..." the girl named You Lin said meekly, but she was silenced by another glare and obediently shut her mouth.

’Why is Master Uncle so strict with us, but treats the geniuses from other academies so differently?’ She felt quite wronged and wanted to whimper, but didn’t dare.

At that moment, the teachers and professors leading the other schools had also noticed the commotion. Some of them had been to No. 1 High and met Su Zhou before, and had been stunned by his talent. But most of the others had no idea and were curious why everyone was looking in that direction, asking who that person was.

And so, news about Su Zhou began to spread by word of mouth.

In an instant, Su Zhou had become the center of everyone’s attention.

And among the crowd watching Su Zhou, aside from the familiar face of Zhang Fucheng, there were other unexpected acquaintances.

In the contingent from Yuzhang Academy’s affiliated high school, a bald man as burly as a bear, with bulging muscles and a very smooth, clean-shaven head, stood among the group of tutors.

He was Feng Qiang, the manager of the Hongcheng branch of Rui’an Fitness Center—the very gym Su Zhou frequented.

Somehow, this fitness professional had managed to slip into the academy’s group and even become one of the lead tutors.

"Guan Wanjing, take a look. Who’s that over there?" Feng Qiang looked in Su Zhou’s direction, not particularly surprised. But then, as if he’d thought of something, he called out to someone behind him. "You’ll definitely recognize him."

"Who is it?"

A rather deep voice rang out, and with a gust of wind, a figure just as burly as Feng Qiang appeared.

Guan Wanjing stood out in the crowd. Never mind his short hair that stood on end like steel needles; he also had bronze skin reminiscent of a metal statue, and arms as solid as one. The muscles covering his body were like armor plates riveted together with a hammer. Even the incredibly loose, oversized winter school uniform looked as tight as a workout tank top on him.

Guan Wanjing had been working out just before and was still holding two grip trainers. He turned his head, following Feng Qiang’s gesture, and the two bear-like, muscular men looked in Su Zhou’s direction.

In the next instant, Guan Wanjing’s bell-like eyes widened in astonishment as he met the gaze of Su Zhou, who had sensed something and turned around.

"Damn, it’s Su Zhou?!"

He clearly knew Su Zhou and was shocked by the fact. "That’s the monster who arm-wrestled me at the gym last time and beat me nine times in a row?! He’s a student from No. 1 High, not some hidden genius from another academy?"

"Wait, don’t tell me he’s the genius from No. 1 High my master uncle was talking about!"

"Didn’t I tell you? Su Zhou is obviously an Awakener," Feng Qiang said, shaking his head. Ever since he noticed his own physique getting stronger and stronger with the Spiritual Energy Revival, he had vaguely suspected Su Zhou was the same kind of person, just with far superior talent.

After he was confirmed to have Awakened his physical abilities and joined the Rui’an Martial Arts Hall headquarters in the Celestial Capital to study under a master, he finally confirmed his suspicions.

Who could be stronger than a physically Awakened person, other than another Awakener? When he had met Su Zhou a while back, he still couldn’t beat him in a contest of strength!

"I told my grandfather back then that this guy had to be a potential Transcendent. Otherwise, there’s no way someone my age could be stronger than me..."

Guan Wanjing muttered under his breath. He was also a disciple of the Rui’an Martial Arts Hall lineage; though he had elders from his family in the hall, he had formally entered at the same time as Feng Qiang. "But my grandfather just told me not to worry about others and to focus on my own training... Dammit. I originally thought that with my talent, taking first place in Hongcheng would be no problem. Now that I see him, I’m not so sure."

But after a moment of dejection, Guan Wanjing rallied himself. "No need to get down! I lost before because I hadn’t started my formal cultivation yet; I was just building my foundation. Now that the Spiritual Energy Revival is here, my cultivation has borne fruit... Even though I had the advantage of my family’s teachings and got a head start, this time, I’ll definitely win!"

Besides the two geniuses from Zhengyi Academy and Guan Wanjing, the other high schools also had their share of talented individuals. For a moment, their gazes, and the gazes of the professors, all converged on Su Zhou.

As the old saying goes, the weight of a thousand stares can crush a man. Although these gazes held no malice, they were filled with scrutiny and curiosity.

If he hadn’t already taken an Ice Heart Pill, Shao Qiming, who was just standing to the side and catching the periphery of the stares, felt he would have been cowering by now. Seeing that his friend hadn’t taken a pill but looked just as calm and composed, he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. "Azhou, you don’t seem to mind at all."

"It’s nothing."

Su Zhou waved his hand dismissively at all the scrutinizing gazes. He had faced the armies of the Demon Dynasty in the Divine Wood World. Which of the stares he’d endured there—gazes that locked onto him with killing intent—wouldn’t make an ordinary person’s heart pound with terror?

’The leaders of the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army, three Grandmasters, over a thousand Martial Artists, and even that Great National Master and the Innate Demon Emperor... they’re all in a completely different league than you lot, and I chatted and laughed with them just fine!’

Soon, the many probing gazes retracted. Zhang Fucheng, however, after thinking it over for a long time, finally sensed that something was off.

’Su Zhou’s talent is indeed excellent, but it shouldn’t be so great that even I can’t see through him...’

He frowned, pondering inwardly. ’The last time I met him in the principal’s office at No. 1 High, the aura he exuded was still at the Awakening Tier. With his talent, that wasn’t strange...’

’Could it be that he’s already passed several hurdles of the Awakening Tier? Right, based on the talent he’s shown in the past, he should have at least passed the body and spiritual power checks. I just don’t know about his soul.’

’Wait a minute... Don’t tell me he’s already achieved a Tier Three Full Pass, with complete mastery over the three foundations of Body, Soul, and Spirit?!’

At this thought, Zhang Fucheng couldn’t help but look up at Su Zhou’s retreating back as he headed into the camp to drop off his luggage with his group’s tutor. For a moment, his instincts gave him a faint premonition of ’fear.’

This immediately sent a chill down his spine.

’I’m actually... afraid of a student?!’

’Is it just my imagination?’

Setting aside the increasingly paranoid Zhang Fucheng, all the high school students for the test had arrived in the time that followed. The total number for this group test exceeded 3,000 people.

Next up was the customary speech from the leadership.

Surprisingly, however, the speech this time was very brief. After a concise introduction of the rules and some words of encouragement for the students to relax and do their best, the speaker didn’t say much else and quickly left the stage.

Gradually, in the order that each school had arrived at the camp, people began heading to the central testing grounds to begin the assessment.

Ripples of surging Spiritual Power could be felt, but they were quickly smoothed out by the power of the Spirit Gathering Towers.

Su Zhou advanced with his group, the cheerful, laughing expression he shared with Shao Qiming clearly visible.

And at the same time, the camera feed shifted, and Su Zhou’s smiling face appeared on a digital screen.

On one side of the camp, inside a nondescript little building.

In the control room for the four Spirit Gathering Towers and all the camp’s monitoring equipment, two elderly men and their secretaries stood before rows of screens, watching the entire Spiritual Gas Constitution monitoring process.

The leading elder had a rosy complexion and jet-black hair. The only reason one would call him an old man and not middle-aged was his long beard, which had not yet turned completely black. It was a salt-and-pepper mix of silver and black, giving him a peculiar look that was a blend of old and young.

This elder had a kind face, but his presence was as majestic and imposing as a thunderstorm. From a distance, he didn’t seem particularly fearsome, but up close, one could feel the immense power contained within that crackling thunder light, and the terror that power brought.

Zhang Qingyun.

Or rather, the Dean of Zhengyi Academy.

—One of the members of Zhengguo’s ’Thirty-Six Saints Central Committee’, the ’Contemporary Daoist Saint’.

He stared at the screen without a word, as did the other elder standing beside him, who was unafraid of his suppressive aura.

For a time, the entire control room was silent. Aside from the crackle of electricity, one could even hear the sound of breathing and heartbeats.

They couldn’t afford not to be serious.

If the ’Spiritual Power Practical Assessment,’ held concurrently with the Holy Ascension Selection Test, was meant to showcase the future of Zhengguo’s Transcendents to the public and to determine scores for assigning students based on their anomalies...

...then the physical examination was for screening all the seedlings suitable for cultivation from across the country and putting them on record.

These were two tests with completely different objectives. In fact, for the entire nation, the latter—’registering all potential Transcendents with sufficient talent’—was far more important.

"These children... they are the hope of the future."

After watching the activity on the screen for a long time, Zhang Qingyun sighed. He spoke with a measure of gratification, "Whether Zhengguo, and indeed the entire human race, can continue on in the chaotic times to come will all depend on their efforts."

Beside him, the director of the Hongzhou Education Bureau stroked his own mostly graying hair, which now had a few black strands reappearing. He was silent for a moment before smiling and replying, "They certainly live in a better era than we did."

"But Dean Zhang, our generation wasn’t so bad either."

"To be able to cultivate before the Spiritual Energy Revival, and to reach our current level... We were geniuses, too."

"You’re right."

Hearing this, Zhang Qingyun clasped his hands behind his back and laughed heartily. "Then let’s have us old folks see if there are any ’geniuses’ in this younger generation who can surpass us!"