Chapter 33

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“Bang! Bang! Bang—!!”

Instructor Lou De blew his whistle and glanced at the smart-brain screen. “Fu Shuxing, ninety-six target posts.”

A small commotion immediately rippled through the sentinels below.

Fu Shuxing adjusted his breathing and walked off the training ground. Sweat glistened on his neck. Once he stepped down, he picked up his towel and wiped his face.

“Brother Xing!” Zhao Zhanlei called from the line of students waiting for their turn. When Fu Shuxing looked over, he immediately gave him a thumbs-up. “Awesome! You broke the record again!”

Fu Shuxing’s expression did not change in the slightest.

Within those few seconds, his breathing had already returned to normal. He said evenly to Zhao Zhanlei, “Good luck.”

Then he lowered the towel and walked over to wait with the line nearby.

Fu Shuxing had always excelled at close-quarters combat.

He was tall, with well-proportioned limbs, explosive muscle power, ample strength, and exceptional stamina. A single punch or kick could even take down two target posts.

But knocking down ninety-six fifty-kilogram target posts in two minutes was still the best result he had achieved since entering the Sanctuary.

The next sentinel student stepped onto the field for testing.

Instructor Lou De handed the proceedings over to his assistant, then walked over to Fu Shuxing and said, “You seem to be in excellent spirits lately.”

“I’ve always been fine.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Instructor Lou De smiled. “Half a month ago, you were irritable enough to knock down an entire class of sentinels. Could it be that little guide from Class C—the one who waits for you beneath the Sentinel Building every day, Ji Xun—is what has put you in such a good mood?”

Fu Shuxing lowered his eyes. “It has nothing to do with him.”

Then, in a flat voice, he added, “You told me to undergo an examination and mental guidance that day, Instructor. I was fine afterward.”

Instructor Lou De raised his brows and looked at Fu Shuxing. Without exposing the stubborn child’s lie, he simply continued, “The test video and performance data from two days ago were uploaded in duplicate—one copy to your father, and one to the Tower.”

“I hear that as soon as the video arrived, several regional military academies took an interest in you. One leader from the Eastern Region even said they would admit you ahead of schedule as a special exception.”

Fu Shuxing said nothing.

Instructor Lou De asked, “What are you planning to do? Accept the admission offer and go straight to military school, or remain at the Sanctuary for another two years? Your abilities are certainly sufficient for military school, but at your age… I mean, compared with them, you may be at a disadvantage, and your advantages will be much less pronounced.”

“I want to stay at the Sanctuary.”

Seeing that Fu Shuxing had made up his own mind, Instructor Lou De said, “I expect Chief of Staff Gao and Marshal Fu will come speak with you tonight. Be prepared.”

“Thank you, Instructor.”

The assistant pressed the stop button.

Instructor Lou De blew his whistle and walked over, calling out, “Fan Yunhai, eighty-two target posts. Next, Zeng Zilong.”

Now, back to Ji Xun.

Because he had been distracted during class, Instructor Xie Ling called him to the front to demonstrate how to release mental tendrils for his classmates.

Releasing mental tendrils was one of the first lessons guides learned.

It was the most basic, and also the most important.

Although Ji Xun disliked dull theoretical classes, he was quite capable in practical lessons. It was only that his mental power was weak, so he often failed to produce satisfactory results.

Normally, when an instructor asked him to demonstrate, Ji Xun would walk up without hesitation.

But today, his steps were unusually reluctant.

After all, he was now a guide with a spirit entity.

Things were different now.

He was afraid his mental power would be too strong and frighten Instructor Xie Ling, who had let him pass by lowering the standard several times.

There was an old saying that after three days apart, one should look at a person with new eyes.

But three days had not even passed yet!

The desks and the podium were only a short distance apart.

No matter how much Ji Xun dawdled, he eventually reached the front.

“Come on.” Instructor Xie Ling moved aside to make room for him.

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On the podium stood a particle-sensing device. Inside its transparent nanocover, countless particles simulated the thoughts and emotions of an awakened individual.

These particles could respond to mental power.

At that moment, they were flying about chaotically, as if restless and frenzied.

Ji Xun glanced at the Big King Egg on his desk, secretly drew in a breath, and gently placed both hands on the transparent cover.

For a mature and powerful guide, transforming mental power into mental tendrils was as easy as breathing or drinking water.

But for fledgling guides like them, one had to adopt a proper attitude and summon every ounce of concentration!

Ji Xun closed his eyes and tried his best to focus.

After a while, he felt as though he had entered a chaotic world.

The disorder made him uncomfortable. As he had done in the past, he quickly used his mental power to calm the chaos—only this time, he first suppressed the vast stretches of disorder bit by bit, then gradually put everything in order.

The entire process was slow.

But the young guides in the classroom watched in astonishment as the particles that had been flying about in agitation abruptly fell to the bottom of the cover.

They had never seen anything like it.

Just as they were wondering what was happening, they saw countless particles begin to rise from the bottom, building themselves upward little by little, like a house being constructed.

In less than half a minute, the particles had formed an elongated, oval-shaped…

Sphere?

“Whoa!”

Everyone was stunned by the sight.

Instructor Xie Ling raised both hands and lightly clapped, signaling the class to applaud.

The students understood and immediately burst into enthusiastic applause!

Startled by the sudden clapping, Ji Xun opened his eyes. He immediately looked at the result of his released mental tendrils, only to see that all the particles had scattered into a heap at the very bottom of the cover.

He then looked at the applauding students below and found that they, too, were gradually falling silent, their faces blank with confusion.

At that moment, Instructor Xie Ling smiled at Ji Xun. “It seems you’ve been practicing very diligently after class.”

“Ah… yes, yes, yes!” Ji Xun immediately nodded vigorously. Then, full of excitement and anticipation, he asked, “Instructor, was my performance just now very good?”

Instructor Xie Ling said, “You’ve improved. At least I no longer need to lower the standard to let you pass.”

That was an extremely low bar.

Yet Ji Xun was overjoyed.

Wow!!!

It was true! This really was the power the Big King Egg had given him!!!

Suppressing the wild delight in his heart, Ji Xun raised his hand and gave Instructor Xie Ling a military salute. “Thank you for recognizing me, Instructor! I’ll never let you down. I’ll become the strongest guide and bring honor to you!”

Instructor Xie Ling was helpless and could not help laughing.

He had only just learned how to stand, yet he was already thinking about running—and even about coming in first among millions.

But seeing the child’s eyes shining brightly, she did not discourage him. Instead, she said, “Very well. Then I’ll look forward to seeing you bring me honor.”

After class, having just shown off his skills, Ji Xun was quickly surrounded by his fellow guides.

“Wow, Ji Xun, when did you become so amazing?”

“How did you practice after class? Hurry up and teach me.”

“Ji Xun, you suddenly became so powerful. Is it like in those ancient books, where you fell off a cliff and happened to find some secret manual for cultivating mental power?”

“What kind of toy is that in your hands? Is it a new model? How do you play with it? Why does it look so much like an egg?”

“Oh! I know! Was the thing you shaped with the particles just now this very object?”

Ji Xun’s vanity had been swelling rapidly, but he froze at the last question.

He asked, “What?”

He himself still had no idea what he had done with his mental tendrils. He only knew that it had made everyone exclaim in surprise and applaud him enthusiastically.

Qian Peng, one of the onlookers cheering him on, said, “Didn’t you just use your mental tendrils to shape the particles into an elongated oval? It must have been this, right? Ji Xun, what is it?”

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I actually used my mental tendrils to shape the particles into the Big King?

Good heavens!

I’m already this powerful?!

Suppressing the shock in his heart, Ji Xun pretended to remain calm. “Oh, this?”

He stroked the motionless Big King Egg, which might simply have been a little socially anxious, and continued, “This is my spirit entity.”

The curious young guides immediately scoffed.

What awakened person’s spirit entity was an egg? If he was going to make something up, he could at least come up with something believable.

“It’s true.” Seeing that they did not believe him, Ji Xun said, “You don’t believe me now, but you’ll know once it hatches.”

“Then what kind of egg is it?”

At that moment, another young guide—the same student who had asked Ji Xun a question during class—shouted out, “I know! Ji Xun said it’s a python egg!”

“Whoa!”

Everyone retreated in unison.

A python!

How terrifying!

Seeing how frightened his classmates were, Ji Xun immediately said, “Big King is very nice. It definitely won’t scare you in the future. If you don’t believe me, come touch it. It’s incredibly well-behaved.”

“No, no, we’re not touching it…”

Everyone quickly dispersed.

Ji Xun felt a little dejected at the sight.

His deskmate, Zhou Xiaoyun, however, remained turned around. With some curiosity, she asked, “Xun, may I touch it? I’ll be gentle.”

“Of course.” Ji Xun held the Big King Egg out toward her.

Zhou Xiaoyun cautiously touched the eggshell, then said, “This isn’t a spirit entity. I can’t feel any mental power coming from it.”

Zhou Xiaoyun was the top student among all the guides in their Class C.

But upon hearing this, Ji Xun immediately shook his head. “Impossible. The Big King Egg is my spirit entity. It can disappear.”

“Then try putting it away.”

Ji Xun still did not know how to withdraw a spirit entity. Since he had never possessed one before, he had not paid attention when the instructors taught lessons on coordinating with spirit entities in battle or summoning and recalling them.

“I don’t know how…”

Zhou Xiaoyun said, “Then make it disappear.”

“All right.” Ji Xun said to the Big King Egg, “Big King, disappear and show her.”

The Big King Egg, cradled in Ji Xun’s hands, remained perfectly still.

“Big King?”

Ji Xun froze. He stroked it two or three times. “Big King? Are you all right, Big King?”

The Big King Egg still showed no reaction.

Zhou Xiaoyun confirmed her suspicions and comforted Ji Xun. “Xun, it’s all right not to have a spirit entity yet. You’ll have one eventually.”

The implication was clear: there was no need to hold a fake egg and claim that it was his spirit entity.

After saying this, Zhou Xiaoyun turned back around.

But Ji Xun could not take her words to heart.

His mind and eyes were filled with the motionless Big King Egg.

He placed the snake egg on his lap and anxiously stroked it while calling to it, his heart tightening with worry and his fingers trembling slightly.

Could someone have done something to his Big King Egg while he was demonstrating at the front?

The instant that thought crossed his mind, the Big King Egg on his lap moved ever so slightly, as though nudging him.

The movement was extremely faint.

Even so, Ji Xun let out a tremendous sigh of relief. He no longer thought about showing off his Big King Egg to everyone. Instead, he gently stroked it from end to end several times and whispered, “Get some good rest, Big King. Once classes are over today, it’ll be the weekend. I’ll go home tonight and properly figure out how to help you hatch, all right?”