Half an hour later, a large crowd emerged from the auditorium, faces alight with excitement, lost in thoughts, clouded with confusion, or exhibiting serene indifference.
In the past half hour, their worldviews had been thoroughly transformed by National Security Bureau Eighteen, and although the exterior was still the mountain base and the night sky sported only a few dim stars, they felt as if the entire world had changed, even the air tasted much sweeter.
They knew, this was — the resurgence of Spiritual Energy.
In Mysterious Country and other East Asian cultural spheres, it's called the resurgence of Spiritual Energy, whereas in the Western cultural spheres led by the Pacific Federation, it is commonly known as Supernatural Awakening.
Whether it's the resurgence of Spiritual Energy or Supernatural Awakening, the characteristic feature is the emergence of a very small number of people 'with special abilities,' who unknowingly awaken their abilities — as naturally as if they were born with an extra limb, and could harness 'Spiritual Energy' that pervades space like dark energy, manifesting various unimaginable supernatural powers.
According to Yu Kuangtu, three months ago in the Mysterious Country's artificial spacecraft, there was one person 'with special abilities' who could conduct Spiritual Energy tests in space, showing that Spiritual Energy was not only resurging on Earth, but might be a tidal phenomenon occurring throughout the universe.
As long as there are people 'with special abilities', there are also those 'with ordinary abilities.' Through research, Mysterious Country found that most of these talented individuals had gradually emerged over the past six months, a trend similar in other countries.
After gaining supernatural powers, besides a few who chose obscurity, most activated socially, attempting to leverage their abilities for money and status. Abroad, many have tried to use their powers to establish religions, gangs, or even directly intimidate top-tier personalities.
In Mysterious Country, such incidents also occurred, but these people were quickly controlled by public security officers and immediately transferred to the Abnormal People Research Center for observation.
Yu Kuangtu mentioned that although most supernatural powers are combat-related, quite a few could be used for production — for instance, several talented individuals in research institutions managed to create superconductive materials, ensuring a spicy and luxurious life thereafter.
Those who tried to use their powers to circumvent the state and violently plunder civilian property, the supernatural criminals, once caught, were not executed, but instead treated as 'destructive materials' for further study in laboratories.
Yu Kuangtu's tone was playful but clearly a warning, sending a chill through the restless public officials below, prompting them to dutifully heed his teachings.
Up to now, the state still couldn't accurately identify who 'possesses special abilities,' nor the nature of these abilities, but the research institute had been working overtime months ago, swiftly inventing how to detect people 'with ordinary abilities.'
This method was first tried in the military, quickly identifying a group of talented individuals. These people, while cooperating with the state's research on Spiritual Energy and practicing the state-provided Cultivation Technique, quickly improved their physical conditions and mastered many special Spiritual Energy techniques.
Thereafter, these individuals were assigned across the country, collaborating with the public and medical systems to conduct physical examinations, identifying civil servants 'with ordinary abilities' and personally teaching them, developing them into the foundational stones of Mysterious Country's Cultivator system —
Indeed, the National Security Bureau Eighteen members clad in Black Body Armor were the first batch of Cultivators handpicked from the military!
And Ren Suo and his peers were those civil servants 'with ordinary abilities.'
The so-called intensive training was to have the Black Body Armor teach Ren Suo and others how to cultivate, mastering the basic techniques of Spiritual Energy usage, integrating them into the Cultivator system. This training base was also a talent development base of the National Security Bureau, where, aside from civil servants, other eligible military personnel were also training.
Of course, Yu Kuangtu also mentioned that all civil servants able to stand in this auditorium listening were of clean background, new party members of the ruling party. Once they learned how to cultivate, their files would be archived within the National Security Bureau, and neither they nor their direct relatives would be allowed to emigrate.
When they left this base, they would be assigned to various divisions and departments based on their learning progress, acting as grassroots Cultivators of the state, responsible for guiding, standardizing, and restraining the general populace's study of Spiritual Energy!
"Exactly!" Xie Qiansi couldn't help but exclaim as they left the auditorium and followed the crowd, "Haha, joining the party and becoming a public official really does have its perks, now we are about to become the nation's first batch of Cultivators …"
"The first batch are those in Black Body Armor," Ren Suo said.
"… Even though those Black Cats are the first batch of Cultivators, they surely haven't been cultivating for long. If we just put in a bit more effort, we can definitely gain an advantage in this grand era of Spiritual Energy resurgence. Plus, only our Mysterious Country is so bold, directly allowing us civil servants to cultivate and become Supermen!"
Even after her attempts to form a small group failed, Xie Qiansi remained undeterred, sinking into the fantasy of 'I alone am supreme above heaven and earth.' Ren Suo wasn't surprised — most of the people around him, regardless of gender, wore smiles, as if they were the next ruler of the world.
This generation of civil servant party members was not as down-to-earth as those from the early days of the nation decades ago, and being constantly influenced by anime, games, novels, and the like, they possessed strong imaginative capabilities.
Even though they were considered more composed among their peers, seeing themselves sprint from collectivism to individualism, it was not surprising they adopted a heroic historical view that 'heroes can drive history, and I am such a hero.'
"Rest assured, other countries will definitely soon develop their own supernatural departments," Ren Suo laughed. "Detecting people 'with ordinary abilities' isn't difficult for a nation. Otherwise, the state definitely wouldn't make such a big fuss — not to mention, other countries might already know about our intensive training."
Xie Qiansi asked in confusion, "Why?"
"If the detection technology were irreplicable or there were technical barriers, then the nation certainly wouldn't train so many people all at once. Everyone here has been vetted as party members, but since we will be dispatched everywhere after leaving, how can it really be kept completely confidential? Moreover, this is in Lian Province. According to the deputy director, the whole country is conducting civil servant training, and it's certain that word will get out,"
"That's right," a round-faced young man who overheard their discussion added, "The only reason is that the detection method is very simple, so simple that any nation could quickly develop it just by studying those with special abilities. Hence, the nation is scrambling to take the lead."
"After all, in an environment where spiritual energy is reviving and individual strength gradually exceeds collective strength, the more people who become cultivators and the earlier they start, the greater the overall enhancement to the nation's strength will be."
"However, it would be great if we could stay here and train. We're only training for five days before we leave for work, but those soldiers can always stay and train here," the round-faced young man said with a look of envy.
Ren Suo nodded. Although Yu Kuangtu hadn't mentioned this information, it was easy to see these details once one elevated their perspective to the 'globalization of spiritual energy' context.
Ren Suo said, "It's like playing a game; we are engineers with a short production cycle who can be put to use immediately, while those soldiers continuing their training in the base face challenges no less than ours, which is a mixed blessing."
"But in the era of the revival of spiritual energy, the faster you progress, the greater the advantage you create," the round-faced young man sighed, then turned to them and said, "My name is Yuan Dang. It looks like we'll be working as a team for the next few days."
The three made their introductions, and Xie Qiansi gave Ren Suo a significant look—do you have fate with this person? Ren Suo naturally kept quiet and edged closer to try to strike up a conversation with Li Qingxuan.
However, Li Qingxuan and Qiao Muyi were already mixing well with the other girls in the Eighth Squad, chatting away happily and loudly, leaving Ren Suo no chance to join in.
Soon, the large group reached the dormitory building and started to disperse. The Eighth Squad, led by instructor Zhao Jingzhong, arrived at the sixth building where several piles of clothing were laid out, sorted by size.
"Now, roll call for room assignments. Come and pick up your keys and uniforms. Females will stay on the top three floors, and males on the bottom three floors. Bedding and pillows are provided in the rooms, four to a room, and you can settle in. You remember the large supermarket we passed earlier, right? It has all the daily necessities, just purchase directly from there."
"Do you have condoms?"
The crowd immediately fell silent, and Ren Suo and the others looked around to see who the bold one was who dared to say such a thing—these were mostly unknown civil servants, and someone was thinking of playing the field!
But like the previous few times, no one found the person who had spoken.
Zhao Jingzhong took out the register and began calling the names of the girls. Ren Suo watched depressingly as Qiao Muyi and the others cheerfully collected their keys and uniforms and went up—seemed like sneaking up to steal keys at night was not feasible.
Then it was the boys' turn. Surprisingly, Ren Suo ended up sharing a room with Xie Qiansi. At that moment, Yuan Dang came over, expressing a desire to share a room with Ren Suo and traded keys with another young man.
"Why? We didn't know each other before, did we?" Ren Suo asked curiously.
Yuan Dang grinned, "Since we're all strangers, does it really make any difference who it is with? But I feel like chatting with you guys might be more interesting."
Besides Yuan Dang, another roommate was Zhao Huo, a tall, handsome young man with an earring—can party members wear earrings now?
Noticing their glances, the young man pointed to his ear and said, "I belong to an ethnic minority; this is our custom, given to me by a girl."
"Oh... a love dog," everyone collectively labeled Zhao Huo, then went to put their uniforms in the room 6-213 before heading to the supermarket for supplies.
Once downstairs, Ren Suo asked them to go ahead while he waited outside for a while, and, as expected, he saw Qiao Muyi and her group coming down—he remembered they hadn't gone to the restroom in the canteen, and now that they were at the dormitory, they would definitely need time in the restroom.
"What a coincidence!" Ren Suo declared earnestly, "Heading to the supermarket? Let's go together!"
Qiao Muyi whispered to Li Qingxuan, who blushed and playfully hit Qiao Muyi, while the girls laughed together, leaving Ren Suo confused.
However, Ren Suo didn't mind; at least they didn't dislike him now.
After a few days of getting to know each other well, perhaps Ren Suo's idea of having Qiao Muyi sleep so he could touch her for a few minutes might get approved...
Meanwhile, in the majestic Tadamia Mountain Range, a woman wearing training clothes, beautiful and with a determined look, approached—a blonde female...