Year 378 of the Federation Calendar, summer, Jiangcheng No. 3 High School.
Sweat, cheap disinfectant, and the faint pheromones secreted by tense adolescent bodies mingled in the stuffy air, stirred to no avail by the old ceiling fan in the corner.
At the front of the classroom, Teacher Li, the homeroom teacher, spoke through a loudspeaker with rehearsed fervor. “...Your innate Thought Card is the only key to cultivating telekinetic power! It is the foundation that allows humanity to survive in the age of spiritual qi revival! Whatever kind of Thought Card you awaken, it will mark the beginning of your contribution to civilization!”
Below, a sea of heads filled the room. The boys and girls held their breath, their eyes fixed on the silver metal ring floating at the front of the classroom, inscribed with countless mysterious runes: the “Spirit Awakening Ring.”
Lin Xuan sat by the window, looking no different from his anxious classmates. Only he knew that his mind was processing the information around him with extraordinary calm. The cicadas outside, the teacher’s intonation, the subtle changes in his classmates’ breathing: he captured and categorized it all like streams of data. Three hundred years, and this rigid awakening system was still in place. Today was just a formality, a chance to receive an officially recognized “label.”
“Next, Liu Lei!”
A burly boy strode forward and placed his palm beneath the Spirit Awakening Ring.
Bzzzt!
