1st July, hour of darkness, nobody knew what time it was right now. Only the humid summer wind blew past the faces of everyone present, spreading a hint of coolness.
The space was vast, all around everyone was a boundless, desolate forest zone.
And ahead, the massive campsite exuded a faintly discernible pressure that shrouded everyone’s hearts.
Silence!
A good ten odd medium-size buses transported a total of 300 people here. They were gathered before the gates of the campsite.
“It’s so quiet.”
Tang Hong’s pupils contracted.
He didn’t know whether others had realized, this area seemed to have lost the vitality of summer. The chirps of cicadas and croaks of frogs could not be heard, no sound could be heard.
The huge campsite that towered ahead looked to be extremely dim with specks of light blinking.
Nobody left, nobody entered. Everyone could not help staring at one another.
Perhaps because they were 300 people gathered together, they were somehow confident and hence chatted with one another in low voices:
“Before we came here, they confiscated our phones, watches and all electronic devices. Could it be that this is a confidential strategic point and they are taking strict precautions against leaking of the campsite’s location?”
“Even the Buddha pendant that I’ve worn for ten odd years wasn’t permitted to be worn.”
“Sigh, it’s already this late, are they going to let us sleep?”
“Don’t make a sound, look… the number one seeded trainee, Xiao Ziyun, at that side. He’s standing with his eyes closed, he must know some inside information.”
The number one seed trainee came from the Guangnan Province, a youthful, handsome man, he had delicate features. The fringe before his forehead fluttered with the wind.
Along with the whispers, many people quietly remembered XIao Ziyun’s name.
Even Guo Bojun turned his head to look there. Since checking into the hotel, he had gotten acquainted with two to three people from the North Lake Province and finally gained some understanding about Transcendents. “The limit of willpower is the greatest obstacle in the advancement to Transcendent. Once it is broken, it is essentially certain that a person will become a Transcendent.”
Guo Bojun thought that becoming Transcendent was an advancement.
That the path to Transcendent was similar to fantasy cultivation.
And this also caused Guo Bojun to be even more envious of this number one seeded trainee, Xiao Ziyun. “It is said that Xiao Ziyun is only a fine line away from his limit of willpower. When he crosses over, it would be a boundless horizon.”
Right ahead, within the campsite, a tall and big figure slowly appeared.
Everybody hurriedly stopped talking. Then, they saw a burly buff man about 1.9 meters tall dressed in dark-colored clothes expressionlessly arriving before them. He swept a glance at everyone. There was a hideous scar extending from his left eyelid to his left cheek.
It was intimidating.
The masses stood obediently.
The burly buff man instructed in a deep voice, “Males in five columns on my right, females in three columns on my left.”
He had just finished.
Jiang Lulu could not help laughing out loud. “What if there is someone who stands in the middle?”
“…”
Tang Hong’s countenance froze. This child was really lacking in intelligence, one had to check the occasion when jesting.
“She won’t get into trouble, would she?”
Tang Hong darted a glance through his peripherals. Jiang Lulu was stood with a group of female trainees, they were about seven to eight meters away from him.
“Eh?”
The brawny buff man lifted his eyes and walked step by step with his hands behind his back towards Jiang Lulu. Wherever he passed on his way, people could not help retreating to the two sides to make a path for him.
The scene was extremely solemn, only wind blew past.
“Why did you laugh.”
The brawny buff man seemed like a massive pillar nailed to the ground. He looked down at Jiang Lulu from a height, there was about a meter’s gap between the two of them.
Jiang Lulu was a little flustered now. The people around her all subconsciously distanced themselves, forming a great ring of emptiness. Beneath the dark night, only she was left facing this burly middle-aged man. Even if her intelligence was lacking, she knew what was fear too.
She pursed her lips, silent as the grave.
The brawny buff man nodded. “You stopped laughing, why aren’t you laughing.”
Jiang Lulu was even more afraid.
“Laugh.”
The burly man said peacefully, “Laugh right now, or else all of you will stand outside until daybreak.”
Jiang Lulu was wide-eyed. Tears seemed to well up in her eyes, how could she bring herself to laugh.
“Very well, everyone is to stand till daybreak.” The brawny buff man returned to his earlier spot and waved his hand, motioning for everyone to line up.
Jiang Lulu did not budge. She sniffled and asked softly, “I’ll stand alone, can that do?”
“Louder.”
“I will stand alone till daybreak.”
“Louder.”
“Punish me if you have to!” Jiang Lulu shouted on impulse.
Right after that, someone grew annoyed and also shouted out loud from amongst the crowd, “One should answer for what she does, punishing her is enough, don’t implicate us!”
Swoosh!
There seemed to be a chilly gleam in the brawny man’s gaze as he abruptly turned his head to look for the source of that voice. Making his way in a couple of steps, he shoved seven to eight people and his right hand with knotted muscles directly grabbed that person’s collar.
It was someone who was with Guo Bojun. Tang Hong wasn’t too familiar with him, he only remembered that his surname was Qian.
“Come out!”
The burly man threw him out of the crowd. His peaceful countenance turned ferocious. “Coward!”
This roar was like thunder, it exploded by his ears, causing his body to tremble all over. His mind went blank, and his eardrums hurt.
“I’m not!”
He subconsciously protested.
The burly man lifted the collar of his clothes, his voice seemingly seeking to shake the heavens. “Coward! Coward! Good-for-nothing that wastes rice! What do you want to say, that things change and the world is changeable in prosperity and decline?”
“I can announce right now!”
“A rubbish like you will have to scram from the special training camp in less than a month!”
Seemingly triggered, that person was red in the face as he retorted with gritted teeth, “So what if I do leave here? It’s the internet era right now. Aren’t you afraid that I will publish all of these onto the internet? You are aware of exposure, public account hotspots, right?!”
The brawny man faltered slightly upon hearing that.
He casually tossed that person aside. “I welcome everyone to create trouble after you leave, the premise is that you still remember all of this.”
“What I am about to say next, I will only say once!”
“Other than trainees who have come here through the talent nomination channel, the majority, including the elders, relatives and sponsors who sent you here, only understand that we are a training organization of Transcendents. As for what Transcendents are and what you will be facing in the future, they completely do not know…”
“Transcendents aren’t immortals, they are just normal humans with powerful willpower.”
“Transcendents constitute the Transcendent World. The Transcendent World is mainly divided into the government military and us non-government organizations. The military is in charge of regional tasks in the international aspect while non-government organizations are in charge of local tasks.”
“And amongst the Transcendent organizations in Hua Country, the Yellow River Organization is the unquestioned chief!”
“As for the other organizations, I cannot be bothered to share. You will naturally get to know them when the opportunity arises in the future. This is because once you become a Transcendent, you cannot avoid coordinating and participating in war. Yes, you did not hear wrong, coordinating and participating in war, stopping the gods and resist invasion.”
“The relevant information will be told to you by the special professors after you enter the camp.”
His words fell.
The whole audience was dead silent, as if they had been struck dumb by the earth-shattering news.
No one discussed, no one moved, because they were full of questions, they totally did not know which one to ask. Regardless of wherever they began, it would be one-sided, unable to resolve their confusion.
The burly man nodded in satisfaction. “This batch’s resolve is pretty good. The previous batches were in a mess, whispering into one another’s ears before I finished.”
“I’ll say a few words.”
“Gods originate from other dimensions.”
“As Transcendents, breaking through the limits of willpower and the human body, we have gradually become the main force in resisting the gods’ invasion in recent years.”
“Wealth, power, status and glory are at the fingertips of Transcendents!”
“All except reputation, don’t even think about it. Transcendents are prohibited from participating in activities of any form that would allow them to gain fame!”
“This campsite, the cradle of Transcendents, focuses on willpower training. Whoever can break through the limits of their willpower will receive large amounts of resources. We will go all out to help you break through the limits of the human body and become an official Transcendent!”
“Mm…”
“I’ll stop here for now…” The brawny tugged at his collar. “Summing things up, us, the Yellow River Organization is in charge of local resistance and attack tasks, we essentially will not go overseas. When you pass out from here, you will first become an official member and work one some logistics work, steeling yourselves little by little, until you become a Transcendent. This is the standard procedure. An extreme minority might be able to become a Transcendent within the training duration and pass out in advance. Now, anyone who has questions may raise them. Very good, no questions.”
With that.
The burly man roared again.
“Everyone!”
“Stand until daybreak!”
The masses were divided on two sides, forming a total of eight columns. The burly man did not speak, like he was nailed to the ground. His pair of stern eyes that were filled with intimidation examined every person.
Time elapsed bit by bit.
It was dawn.
In face of the first rays of the morning sun, a crescent moon was still faintly visible, mounted in the faraway skies.
Tang Hong’s heart stirred: dawn during early July in the capital came at three to four am.
“Very good.”
“Now you will start entering the camp.”
The brawny man shrugged his shoulders then led the masses, all with varying countenances, into the campsite.
…
Inside the campsite.
A few people watched the situation outside.
“The chief instructor loves to scare little girls.”
“Yeah, the chief instructor has a mind to build up his authority, he’ll be able to find something wrong no matter how well-behaved they are… but getting these people to adjust their work and rest hours on the first day of entering camp is a little too fast.”
“It’s good to do that now, in case they cannot adapt in the future.”
“I’ll go take a look, it’s best if Xiao Ziyun can train with me. Given his willpower, he’d definitely be a Transcendent in less than three months.”
“There’s no need to look at the rest, there are no good talents.”