Chapter 27 - Awakening?
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translationhistorical
When Ren Suo was eating on the second day of the training camp, he noticed that some of the members in Group 8 gave him a thumbs up discreetly. Some of them even went over to him directly and remarked that he was “one hell of an amazing guy”.
Ren Suo was confused and could not figure out what had actually happened. Eventually, Xie Qiansi provided him with the answer. He said, “I did not expect you to go right in for the kill so quickly! Although you are not as handsome as me, I suppose you do have nice, thick eyebrows.”
“What kill?”
“Stop putting up an act man, I had also just heard about it. You said that you were going out for a walk last night, but you were actually upstairs in the girls’ room! Someone saw you walking out of Qiao Muyi’s room, and we all know what is going on!”
Ren Suo was perplexed. He said, “I bought a deck of poker cards, so I just went up to play with them..”
Ren Suo was determined to retrieve the key from Qiao Muyi. Hence, he would do anything to get closer to her.
There had been no lessons scheduled for the previous night, and many of them were thoroughly exhausted from the training in the day. Furthermore, the Reiki accumulation system at the sports compound was not activated in the night.
As such, Ren Suo bought a deck of poker cards and brought it up to the girls’ room to play. Although there were already four people in Qiao Muyi’s room, it was no big deal; the losing player for one game of Big Deuce would sit out for the next game, and thus, there would be four people left in each game.
From the experience that Ren Suo had from university, bonding through poker cards was a sure way of forging deeper friendships with one another!
“Tsk, there’s no use trying to explain yourself. The more you explain, the more it seems like you are hiding something from us.” Xie Qiansi slapped Ren Suo’s back lightly and said, “Feel free to approach us and ask for help if you need any!”
Even though Ren Suo had talked Xie Qiansi down a few times the previous day, he did not hold any grudges against him anymore after a night’s sleep. Furthermore, Ren Suo was the only strong person in Group 8 who could utilize the advanced breathing method. It was natural for Xie Qiansi to think that Ren Suo had a promising future and would definitely want to maintain a good relationship with him.
What is the one most important thing for civil servants? Good connections.
After everyone had finished their breakfast, their instructor, Zhao Jingzhong, led the group to another sports ground.
“All of you will be training here today,” Zhao Jingzhong said.
In front of him, Ren Suo saw an unsheltered fitness ground, which had various types of fitness equipment installed and was surrounded by a running track. There were already many people panting loudly and practicing the breathing patterns while working out with the fitness equipment. It was a bustling sight.
Zhao Jingzhong said, “This morning, you would all be making use of this fitness equipment in your training. During the process, simply maintain your breathing rhythms. After a short rest in the afternoon, we will be heading to the field to run and train.”
“The routine for the next two days would be similar to today’s. All of you have to learn to generate your own breathing currents as soon as possible,” he continued.
Li Qingxuan raised her hand and asked, “Wouldn’t this be too tiring for us? We trained for the whole morning yesterday, and we already needed the remaining time of the day to get some rest before we could recover to continue training today..”
“Yesterday’s training was for you all to familiarize yourselves with the breathing techniques,” Zhao Jingzhong said. He explained, “Now that all of you are familiar with the breathing techniques, even if you have depleted all of your energy in the morning, you will be fine in the afternoon after drinking the ‘Number 3 Potion’. After you start drinking the potion and sleep for about an hour, most of your energy will be restored and all of you can continue training in the afternoon.”
Everyone was amazed. Was there really such a miraculous drink?
Furthermore, the name ‘Number 3 Potion’ sounded so grand and professional.
“Everyone will be given one bottle of the potion. If you still have any energy remaining, the effect of the potion will decrease significantly,” Zhao Jingzhong said. He looked at them and asked, “What are all of you still waiting for?”
“Ah, yes, yes!” everyone said as they instantly dispersed to train and practice their breathing patterns.
Zhao Jingzhong glanced at the group, turned around and walked back to the dormitory building outside the sports ground. He took out his mobile phone and sent a message:
[The target did not appear today.]
[Any suspicious targets yet?]
[No.]
[Continue to observe them.]
————
Over the next two days, the instructors led the students around the various sports grounds to find the most suitable one for them. Since different people have different physical abilities, those who are not able to run fast enough to utilize the intermediate level breathing technique could perform much better when doing other fitness exercises as they are more relaxed and are hence more productive.
Although Yu Kuangtu, the Deputy Director, had not mentioned it previously, all the civil servants who had the opportunity to go for the training camp at the training facility were already considered to be ‘people with important skills’. They were very likely to become part of the strategic plans the nation had for the future when Reiki rejuvenation became the key to survival and success. As such, the nation would naturally give them nothing less than the best in terms of their training, at least before they officially become Practitioners.
At the same time, they also needed to find the most suitable and effective method of training for themselves, and this information would be submitted to the nation for collection and statistical analysis.
In addition, it was said that the various cities would be preparing to construct and set up Reiki training centers, or upgrade current facilities to include relevant Reiki ‘add-ons’. This was to enable the civil servants to be able to continue with their practice after they had completed the training camp. However, there were too many types of facilities to build and the current budget was insufficient; hence, it would not have been feasible to construct all the various types of fitness facilities in all the cities. Instead, the government would consider the type of fitness facility the civil servants located in each city were more suited for and cater to them accordingly when constructing the Reiki facilities in the city.
After three days, the students had tried out all the various Reiki training facilities, they conducted their own self-training on the fourth day. Ever since the second day, shrill shouts would come suddenly out of nowhere as people were training while running, while exercising with the fitness equipment, or while playing soccer, basketball or badminton.
Do not be alarmed: they were not screaming because of the clash between the otaku part and the sport part of their personality. It was solely because they had activated their own breathing currents.
To put it simply, it was overwhelmingly amusing when they felt another ‘organ’ which they could control in the lower portion of their Dantian. After they had activated their own breathing currents, they squeezed out every possible second to practice even more diligently, for there would not be any of such beneficial Reiki sports grounds when they returned to their respective cities. Furthermore, they still had to master the intermediate and advanced level breathing techniques as soon as possible.
The instructors were not at all surprised by the rate at which the students were progressing. They were all part of the specially hand-picked group of Practitioners from their previous military companies and had all activated their breathing currents by the second portion of their training, just like Zhao Jingzhong.
Ren Suo claimed that he only activated his own breathing current on the third day of training. Most people had also activated their breathing currents at this time and so Ren Suo was considered average and did not attract much attention.
However, only Ren Suo himself knew that he had already activated his breathing current from the very beginning during the first day.
On the first day, Ren Suo had already felt a subtle palpitation from the lower part of his Dantian, but he had not known then that was perfectly normal until he found out during the introductory lesson to Reiki that it was actually the effect of the breathing current.
However, during the introductory lesson to Reiki, it was said that there would be a prominent feeling when the breathing current formed, and this was in line with what other people told him when he asked them.
As such, Ren Suo himself also did not know when exactly he had activated his own breathing current!
Ren Suo thought hard about it and figured it was due to the [Enhanced Physique] ability he had equipped his avatar with. When he fell deep asleep at that time, he did not know what changes had occurred to his body. Other than this, he could not think of any other logical explanation.
Regardless, this did not affect his training.
Four days had already gone by and tomorrow would be the last day of the training.
Ren Suo could not wait to finally be able to return to his Mini Worlds Gaming Console at home.
On the fourth afternoon, the group was consuming their lunch as usual in the dining hall. Ren Suo finished drinking his potion and waited for the rest of his roommates to finish eating so that they could return to their room and take a nap while the potion took effect for them to continue training later in the afternoon.
However, he did not want to let the free time go to waste, and thus, took out his deck of poker cards to play a game of ‘Battling The Landlord’ with Qiao Muyi and the rest of the girls.
Do you have a decently good impression of me now, Muyi?
Will you let me touch you for a few minutes so that I can get my key?
For the past few days, Ren Suo had “strongly encouraged” his roommates to sit with Qiao Muyi and her roommates during their meals, and his roommates did not object to his request either. They even teased him while keeping a straight face, as if having split personalities, tapping on his shoulders and saying, “We will help you, but you must also remember to help us!”
Ren Suo almost thought that they wanted him to be one of the Pumpkin Brothers.
Just then, a fight broke out at the entrance to the dining hall. Everyone looked over curiously. Ren Suo craned his neck as he took the opportunity to peek at Li Qingxuan’s hand, for she was the Dizhu (landlord) for the round.
“What are you looking at,” Li Qingxuan retorted. She flicked Ren Suo’s head with her finger and said, “Don’t cheat!”
The fight at the entrance to the dining hall was growing more intense and it seemed like someone was becoming violent. The onlookers quickly formed a surrounding circle to watch the fight, and the already small entrance was becoming more cramped.
Ren Suo saw that he could not win the landlord in the game and instead collected back his cards and said, “You all have already finished eating, right? Let’s go back to sleep.”
Everyone returned their trays to the tray return counter. As they passed by the entrance ready to leave, they saw that a fight indeed had broken out. Two guys wearing the grey-colored vests were being held back by other people and the two of them were staring intensely at each other with so much fury. It was as if laser beams were shooting out from their eyes. The scene felt like a husky and a poodle facing off with each other in the competition pit.
Nonetheless, it seemed like everything was under control now that they were being held back by people. All of them that were here at the training camp were civil servants, and they, no doubt, had a certain level of awareness; they would not just let them start fighting physically without doing anything to stop them.
However, just as Ren Suo and his group were about to leave the dining hall, a loud roar emerged from within the crowd, “I want you to die!”
Suddenly, with a thunderous crack, numerous flames appeared in the ground and began radiating outwards rapidly as if it was a river of lava flowing everywhere!