Chapter 30: Clear Your Minds, Communicate With the Aura From the Heavens and the Earth
Editor: Larbre Studio
After Hong Xiaofu and Shen Xiaoling had returned home, they put their belongings down. Hong Xiaofu lay on the bed as he took a deep breath. He had had a little too much alcohol at dinner. Although he was not drunk, he was a bit dizzy.
Shen Xiaoling sat at the table as she started eating the packaged food they had brought home. She laughed out loud, "Brother, look at all these delicacies. These will last us several days, right?" She said as she crawled up next to Hong Xiaofu. She looked at him expectantly and asked, "This is my first time eating crab. It is so delicious. Can I…. eat another one later?"
There were a total of ten crabs. At dinner, each of them had only eaten one, so there were five left. Sheng Xiaoling was a little impatient. No wonder people always said "if you are rich, eat crabs"—they really were delicious!
"Do your homework first. You can have another one after you have finished your homework!" Hong Xiaofu sat up and said with a smile, "I am worried that if you are too happy you will not want to do your homework!"
"Okay." Shen Xiaoling agreed sweetly, and she immediately obliged. As she did her homework, she frequently looked up to stare at the box of crab before furiously going back to writing. As she stared at the crab, she gulped before continuing with her writing.
While Shen Xiaoling completed her homework, Hong Xiaofu cleared his mind before solemnly opening his Awakeners' Training Manual. At first glance, those booklets looked mass-produced. When Han Feng had handed one to each of them, he had not asked them to keep it a secret. Hong Xiaofu believed that soon the manual would be made available to the masses—just like Chinese and Mathematics books. Since the manual would circulate widely, the training would be the standard way to raise one's gene sequencing level. The training would definitely be useful, but the degree of improvement would be determined by one's Awakening talents.
Hong Xiaofu flipped to the first page of the manual. There were long paragraphs written in the foreword, which had been drafted by the current leader of the Hua Dynasty. One could definitely see the importance the leader had given to it. The main idea of the foreword was that he hoped everyone would work hard to cultivate and sharpen their talents so that they will be useful to society.
After all, that was normal. Which leader would not want his country to thrive? No leader would want a citizen to create chaos and disrupt the social order.
On the second page, there was a table of contents. The first line stated the rights and obligations of the Awakener. Hong Xiaofu read carefully: as he had Awakened, he had to know his rights and obligations, despite his ability. The section stated that the Awakeners in the country were divided into two categories.
The first group was closely tied to the military—no matter the country, soldiers existed to protect the sovereignty of the state and to keep social order. Therefore, the power of Awakened soldiers had far exceeded the abilities of ordinary people. In that group, Awakened soldiers received a monthly supply of a drug that was invented to help them raise their gene sequencing levels. They would also gain access to various medical and training instruments that were designed to help them increase those levels.
The obligation of Awakened soldiers was to ensure safety and strengthen the unity of the people in order to maintain peace. It was relatively easy to understand; in any country, the power of the military was significantly higher than that of ordinary civilians. In the era of genetic rejuvenation, ruling parties needed to suppress civilian Awakeners to prevent social unrest. To put it simply, no matter how strong a civilian Awakener was, he could not be stronger than an Awakened soldier. With the military gaining priority access to all resources in the country, how strong could a civilian Awakener be? With a strong military, in the case of social unrest within the country, the military would be able to quickly and efficiently suppress the uprising.
After introducing the rights and obligations of the soldiers, the manual further explained the rights of civilian Awakeners. The section was further divided into two parts: social groups and student groups.
Hong Xiaofu skimmed through the information in the social group subsection. There was nothing special about it. After he had filed with the Awakeners Ability Centre, he could enjoy priority introduction to suitable jobs and receive additional social subsidies. At the same time, his application to join the army would be prioritized.
The information in the student group subsection was similar. Emphasis was placed on the priority admissions student Awakeners had for each university. If a student wanted to join the military, they could enjoy additional benefits for individual military recruits. Most importantly, there would be a monthly student grant of 3000 yuan, and the amount would increase with each gene sequencing level. For recruits at gene sequencing LV2, the grant was 6000 yuan; for LV3 it was 12,000 yuan; then, it would be 24,000 yuan, 28,000 yuan, 96,000 yuan or 109,200 yuan.
What an astronomical sum of money!
As for the obligations, it included working hard to unify society and maintain social order.
Hong Xiaofu was deeply impressed by the contents of the manual. After all, that was the only way to maintain good social order. If the civilian force overpowered the military force, who knew what would happen?
"Well, that is really similar to what I had thought," Hong Xiaofu smiled after reading the manual. "Let's work hard for the grant!"
He immediately flipped to the back of the book. At the back, the manual specified the steps in the Awakening talent training process. Truthfully speaking, the training steps were the shortest chapter in the entire manual. There were only a few explanatory diagrams and paragraphs. In summary, the manual emphasized the importance of maintaining a good posture, having a clear mind, and being in touch with nature.
"That is way too abstract, isn't it?" Hong Xiaofu was speechless. He took out his mobile phone to message Su Ying.
<Su Ying, are you practising?>
She replied, <I'm trying to understand the manual. It is too abstract. I can keep the pose they drew, but I do not understand how to clear my mind and be in touch with nature…>
<Me neither. I have no clue…>
Su Ying continued, <I can't seem to clear my mind. The moment I close my eyes, my mind is filled with matters related to school, or the videos and information I have stored on my phone. I can't seem to stop thinking about other things.>
<Is it so bad?> Hong Xiaofu asked.
<Yes, it is dire. Well, there are too many things to be done. Even if my aura has resurged… what is the point of being part of the Elemental System if I cannot raise my Awakening talent…>
Just as the two of them were analyzing the manual, a message popped up on Hong Xiaofu's phone: <Zhang Yang, Su Ying and Hong Xiaofu have joined the chat.>
<Are you guys training? I don't have a single clue. How do I calm my heart?> Zhang Yang asked.
Su Ying replied, <I am the same.>
Hong Xiaofu reassured him, <Don't be too anxious. I also do not have a single clue. Why don't we all try it a few times, and if anyone can make any progress, update us in this chat?>
<That's a good suggestion!>
<Alright, deal.>
The training then began.
Hong Xiaofu looked at the training manual as he tried to mimic the pose shown in the diagram. He closed his eyes and muttered, "Empty my mind and communicate with the Heavens and the Earth…"
Within seconds, he fell into slumber.
Shen Xiaoling turned her head and stared at Hong Xiaofu, who was sleeping. She stuck out her tongue at him before she quietly covered him with a blanket and giggled, "You fell asleep so quickly! Time for me to eat crab!"
-- Gift
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