Chapter 20: Passing the First Stage of the Assessment by Accident
Tang Mu left the chubby guy to his own devices and settled on the grass in a cross-legged stance. He slowly adapted to the breathing pattern of the Star God Celestial Diagram and entered a deep meditative state. All the noise around him soon disappeared, and his mind emptied.
Of course, he didn't try to visualize the Star God Celestial Diagram next as that would expose some of his deepest secrets. Instead, he maintained that state of thoughtlessness and let his mind relax and forget all the negativity and chaos he had just experienced.
He soon lost track of time while maintaining the strange breathing pattern until someone suddenly tapped his shoulder. On opening his eyes, his perception of the surroundings returned. But surprisingly, the whole place had turned silent, without any of the thousands of students present letting out even a slight noise.
Recalling something, he stood up and turned around, thinking that his chubby friend was the person who had tapped him on the shoulder to remind him about the start of the assessment.
But the next moment, the fat Yuan Cheng's figure was not what appeared in front of his eyes. Instead, it was a middle-aged man in a slightly oversized purple tuxedo looking at him.
The man had the most spirited blue eyes that Tang Mu had ever seen, and they seemed to sparkle like gems under the morning sun.
Aside from his eyes, his other features were ordinary. His face was oval but far from what you could call very manly. His black hair was a tangled mess of curls, and his height was well below six feet. But even then, even with those few negatives, he was still like a true phoenix in a flock of domestic birds.
Just by standing there, he exuded a mysterious aura that seemed to attract the stares from all the thousands of high school graduates assembled on the sports field that morning. Even the eyes of some girls present seemed to be twinkling as they glanced at him.
Who's this pretty boy, and why is he disturbing my meditation? Moreover, why does something about him feel familiar? A few thoughts flashed through Tang Mu's mind.
In the meantime, he didn't forget to sweep his gaze around, searching for his former classmates. He soon caught a trace of the chubby Yuan Cheng out of the corner of his eyes. The fatty stood close to Yao Tong and Yao Tinglin while signaling at him strangely.
In passing, Tang Mu also noticed that the thousands of candidates assembled on the sports field for the Psionic Society's assessment were also looking at him and the strange man.
Tang Mu finally returned his gaze to the strange man, feeling confused. "You are?" He asked.
"You can call me Yuan Fan. I'm one of the supervisors of the Psionic Society's assessment," the man said, probably trying to smile. But unfortunately, his smile appeared forced, and he could only resort to wearing a neutral expression.
"Congratulations, young man," the man continued. "Among all the thousands of the candidates assembled on this ground, you're the only one who passed the first stage of the Psionic Society's assessment with full marks."
"You can now go to the school's gym to test your willpower and fitness attributes. If your attributes meet the set threshold, you will gain the qualifications to join one of Earth Federation's advanced institutions on a scholarship."
"Eh! I have passed the first stage of the test..." Tang Mu became even more confused. "Why?"
Just then, before the man could reply, voices of dissent arose from the thousands of gathered students. Many started questioning why the assessor had abruptly awarded full marks to a student who had yet to undergo any assessments.
"Silence!" The strange man before Tang Mu spoke softly. But his high-pitched voice managed to somehow reverberate across the entire sports field. It seemed to carry a dreadful freezing air that shut down all the voices of dissent. In just a few seconds, the place grew as silent as the grave without anyone daring to let out even a squeak.
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"You're all asking why this student has passed the first stage of the assessment with full marks," the strange man spoke while sweeping his chilly gaze around the place. "I'll then explain. I don't want you to say that I favored this student."
"First and foremost, let me clarify one point. The assessment for each of you started when you set foot on this sports ground. Yes, we left you to your own devices on the field. But we were also covertly monitoring you and recording whatever you did."
"Now, I'll explain why only this young man has passed the first stage with full marks. As potential psionics, you're supposed to be ever ready for any circumstances. You're supposed to be ready to exploit whatever opportunities come your way. You're supposed to be ready to escape any danger that might abruptly befall you. And more than anything, you must always be combat-ready as this is an era of war."
"All these are principles that psionics of the Earth Federation have always adhered to," the strange man continued. "But what do we have here? You are all candidates who are here to undergo the Psionic Society's assessment. But when you reached the assessment venue, you didn't make any preparations."
"You didn't meditate! You didn't calm your mind to attain the best condition a potential psionic should be in before undergoing an important trial!"
"So, tell me now. Do you think you should pass with such an attitude? Do you think we should award you free marks and allow you to waste our training resources when you join the Earth Federation's top training institutions?"
"I don't want any of you to play smart with me. We have been monitoring this place ever since you stepped foot here, and only this young man before me entered deep meditation to calm his mind."
"As for the rest, you were doing nonsensical things, like flirting with your colleagues, eating, arguing with each other, or conversing about irrelevant issues. It was as if you were all in a vegetable market."
"Let me ask you this. Do you think this is the attitude potential psionics should halve before an assessment that would determine their fates? Do you have the readiness to undergo this trial?"
The strange man swept his gaze across the thousands of candidates and harrumphed. "If it were only up to me, I would give you zeros in the assessment and send you back to where you came from."
"But you are lucky. Some of my colleagues are merciful people. They have given you another opportunity to undergo the attitude test within the virtual reality training chambers. But even then, you have already lost ten marks for your lackluster attitude after arriving at the assessment venue."
At that point, the sports field had turned totally silent as the gathered candidates tried to comprehend the strange man's words. Even if some were still dissatisfied with the man's decision to award Tang Mu full marks, they didn't dare to voice their discontent.
In the meantime, Tang Mu's spirits lifted as he finally understood why he had passed the first stage of the assessment.
It seemed like the assessors had left the candidates unsupervised to test their attitudes. Due to his entering a meditative state, he met one of their requirements and demonstrated his attitude as a potential psionic. They then awarded him full marks and sent the others who had failed to meet their requirements to the virtual reality chambers for another attitude test.
"Young man," the man said, turning his attention back to him. "What's your name?"
"I'm Tang Mu."
"Tang Mu. You have passed the first stage of the assessment after demonstrating the attitude and readiness a potential psionic should have before facing an important trial. You can now head to the school gym to undergo the following tests. Good luck."
"Thank you, sir," Tang Mu said with a slight bow.
The man nodded and returned his attention to the rest of the candidates. "We have already installed the psyche analysis software into the virtual reality chambers of the school. The rest of you can head there to undergo the assessment's first stage again. Try your best, as you've already lost ten marks during this assessment."
"Excuse me, sir!" One of the nearby students suddenly raised an arm.
The man frowned but still pointed at the student. "Yes, what is it?"
"Sir, what about the order?" The student asked. "Are we following the alphabetical order of our names or another criterion?"
The man let out a strange laugh. "Of course, you'll follow the ranking order from your high school theoretical exams. Those with the highest high school graduation exam marks will go first, and those with the lowest will go last. I think I have now answered everything concerning the first stage of the assessment. You can all leave for the virtual reality chambers. Don't waste any more time here."
The man then turned his attention back to Tang Mu. "What are you still doing here? Why haven't you set off for the gym to undergo the willpower and fitness tests?"
"I'll go now. Thanks for reminding me." Tang Mu bowed to the man again.
Then, under the envious gazes of all the candidates yet to pass the first stage of the assessment, he quickly made his way toward the exit of the sports field. He walked with a slight swagger as he couldn't contain the joy he felt after accidentally passing the first step of the assessment.