Chapter 13

"I have to say, Gu Shen is a very resilient person."

"He never complains about being tired, even with a fifteen-kilometer weighted run every day."

"He'll stand up a hundred times if he's knocked down a hundred times in the boxing ring."

"He's slashed down by wooden swords, defeated by setbacks, and no matter what happens, he always has the courage to try again. But… not everything has a second chance."

The thirteenth day.

Behind the soundproof glass, Zhong Wei looked at the young man in the training ground, gripping a wooden sword tightly in both hands, hacking away at a dummy under Nan Jin's guidance.

His eyes were full of regret. "He can persevere in things that 99% of people can't, which is an admirable perseverance. However… the Tribunal's assessment doesn't include perseverance. Those people only look at potential."

After a long time of thought.

Zhong Wei sighed softly.

"Gu Shen doesn't seem to have the potential to become an 's' grade."

A light sentence, but it delivered a heavy verdict on a person's fate.

If you only look at the final result, many things end up being just a few light words.

Pass or fail.

And the sweat, tears, and blood shed by thousands of people for this become insignificant in the face of those light words, "fail."

Fate is such a light, yet heavy thing.

"…"

Luo Er watched the sweating teenager through the glass window in silence, saying nothing.

The young man chopped at the wooden dummy again and again, tirelessly. Nan Jin kept tapping his shoulders, wrists, and abdomen with the scabbard, correcting his sword-holding posture. The young man grimaced in pain, but that was all he did; he didn't complain and never gave up.

He could always readjust quickly and grit his teeth to the end.

The harder Gu Shen worked outside the glass window, the more bitter Luo Er felt in her heart.

She and Zhong Wei were the earliest and most outstanding disciples taken in by their teacher, and they had been in the Tribunal the longest.

Over the years, they had seen too many new recruits. Some were as dazzling as meteors, and some were as short-lived as ephemerals, but there was no doubt that those who could be discovered and specially recruited into the Tribunal were all gifted geniuses.

But no matter how she looked at it, Gu Shen wasn't the "genius" the Tribunal was looking for. This young man was more like a cactus growing in the desert, simple and unadorned to the extreme. After searching his whole body, all he had was tenacity.

Because of his tenacity, he could stubbornly survive even without rain.

But so what if he survived? Cacti are never pretty, no matter which way you look at them.

"I know that Senior Sister's profiling has never been wrong."

"But Gu Shen… hasn't shown the slightest bit of 'natural' talent." Zhong Wei was a little puzzled. "I've tried many ways to guide him, but he shows no sign of fire manipulation, can't sense wandering elements, and can't control tangible flames. This is too unreasonable."

Looking at the training ground, Zhong Wei murmured, "Obviously, he won't be a 'force' type either, and his comprehension time for the 'mental' type is so mediocre… Why does Teacher think he's an 's'?"

At first, they came to Da Teng full of expectations, wanting to see the demeanor of an "s" grade newbie.

But as the days passed, most of their expectations were dashed, and the only thing they could rely on was Gu Shen's tenacity.

Constant dripping wears away the stone; having perseverance is a great thing.

But Gu Shen only had fifteen days in total.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't change the key issues.

The final assessment in two days…

They could already imagine the result.

"Don't forget. Our exploration of supernatural powers is just the tip of the iceberg. The spectrum is still being updated, and new supernatural powers appear every year." Senior Sister Luo finally spoke. "Remember three years ago, there were special awakeners in Zhong Zhou who couldn't be classified into the three systems."

"Are you talking about… special traits?"

Zhong Wei was a little dazed, then whispered, "That… would explain it. But the probability is too low, isn't it?"

"Is it? How does that compare to the probability of an s-grade?"

Senior Sister Luo smiled. "The reason why miracles are miracles is because the probability is too low. People often don't dare to believe it."

"Alright, Gu Shen's potential will be determined by the assessment team. It's not something we should worry about… What's important is that Gu Shen hasn't given up, he's still persevering. How can we lose faith in him?"

Senior Sister Luo looked at Zhong Wei and said seriously, word by word, "If we hadn't met Teacher, then you and I would have been abandoned by fate. Now it's Gu Shen's turn, and we can't let him lose hope in this world. At least, we have to make sure that his efforts get the rewards they deserve."

Laughter came from outside the glass window.

It was Gu Shen.

Senior Sister Luo narrowed her eyes and stared.

Gu Shen was sitting on the ground without any decorum, propping himself up with his hands on the green turf, laughing heartily. In front of him was a crooked wooden dummy that had been split from the shoulder. Whether it took a thousand or ten thousand chops to split it didn't matter now.

The not-so-tall, crooked wooden dummy had a gash from its shoulder to its abdomen, and the worn and tattered wooden sword was embedded in the gash. It looked like a roly-poly toy, swaying back and forth, bobbing along with Gu Shen's laughter.

Beside him.

Nan Jin, holding her scabbard, had no expression on her face under her sunglasses, but the corners of her lips curled up in an imperceptible arc.

She secretly reached out and pointed at Gu Shen to the senior brothers and sisters inside the glass window.

Constant dripping wears away the stone, and making a hole in a stone starts with a crack.

This was the first time in thirteen days that Gu Shen had completed Nan Jin's extra-assigned strength training… For a newcomer, especially a non-force-type supernatural power user, it was not easy to do this.

He had found the skill of chopping and understood the meaning of finding weaknesses.

In fact, this was no longer a task that could be accomplished by strong perseverance alone.

Although… in the formal assessment, this level was far from enough, but Gu Shen had done it, which was a small "miracle."

…

…

Luo Er and Zhong Wei walked out of the soundproof room.

"Phew… Senior Sister, Senior Brother…"

Gu Shen collapsed on the ground, his clothes soaked with sweat. He smiled and reached out, pointing to the swaying wooden dummy. "I… I did it… Not bad, right?"

Nan Jin, who was holding her sword to the side, immediately poured cold water on him, "It's just chopping down a wooden dummy, what's there to be happy about?"

"Do you think everyone is a freak like you with both strength and speed at A?" Gu Shen lay on the ground in a large sprawl, annoyed. "If I were as fierce as you, would I still be here chopping wood? I would have gone to the airport to wait for the so-called assessment team… I'll chop one if they come, and I'll chop two if they come in pairs… I'll chop them until they're full of hot air, chop their bullshit s-grade."

"If you can really chop down all those people in the assessment team, then the s-grade is indeed bullshit." Senior Sister Luo smiled. "The people from the assessment team will be coming to Da Teng tonight. How about it? Do you want to consider taking action?"

Zhong Wei smiled and said, "There are many big shots in this assessment team. The big shot in charge of issuing the amnesty order is very interested in you. So…"

"A councilor is coming to assess me in person?"

Gu Shen was startled and immediately chickened out. "I was just saying… just kidding, just kidding."

"Look how scared you are." Nan Jin laughed. "How could a councilor have time to assess you in person? Don't worry, that kind of big shot is very busy."

"It's that big shot's assistant who came to Da Teng City and is traveling with the assessment team, saying they want to see your performance in person. Zhong Wei and I have to take a trip to meet this councilor's assistant and stabilize the assessment team."

Senior Sister Luo said seriously, "The special training is almost over… Just relax for the next two days. Nan Jin, you're in charge of taking Gu Shen away to hide, don't meet the assessment team in advance."

Nan Jin nodded.

Gu Shen was a little confused.

"Are Senior Brother and Senior Sister leaving?"

"Yeah… There are some old acquaintances in the assessment team. I'll go say hello and see if my face is worth anything." Luo Er remembered something. "Gu Shen, I have good news for you. What Teacher has been busy with during this time… is coming to an end. If nothing unexpected happens, he can rush back to Da Teng before the assessment to see you one last time."

Gu Shen scratched his head.

See you one last time… It sounds weird.

"In short, eat well and sleep well these few days. Don't think too much about the assessment…" Before leaving, Senior Brother Zhong Wei thoughtfully instructed, "There's still some money left in the Tribunal's card for you. You can spend it all."

Hey, hey, hey.

It's getting more and more ominous.

It seems like no one is optimistic about this assessment of mine.

But…

Maybe that's how it should be…

Gu Shen looked at the wooden dummy that had been cut and was laughing at him, and silently closed his mouth.

He thought that Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters were all supernatural beings who could fly through the sky and tunnel through the earth, and their evaluation was only "A." He had spent so much effort just to chop down a wooden dummy. Why should he be looked up to? Why should he be evaluated as an "s"…

How come everyone else is so amazing, but you're just a drag?

Gu Shen lowered his eyes and silently clenched his fingers.

Something was brewing and rising in his heart.

He looked at the backs of Senior Sister Luo and Senior Brother Zhong leaving and suddenly shouted, "Senior Brother! Senior Sister!"

The two of them paused.

Then they turned back and looked at him with confusion.

The moment the words came out, Gu Shen regretted it. The flame brewing in his heart went out pathetically, coming quickly and going even faster. He originally wanted to say that he would definitely pass the assessment, that he would definitely become the s-grade that everyone expected, but the words turned into.

"Actually, it's nothing…"

Gu Shen's voice became smaller and smaller, out of control. "It's raining outside today… Please be careful on the road, and say hello to that councilor's assistant for me… Also… I will do my best in the assessment."

After all, he took their amnesty order.

They had to inspect the goods… Whether the boss was satisfied was one thing, and whether he worked hard was another.

So he didn't say that he would definitely succeed, that he would definitely pass, but that he would definitely do his best.

"…"

Senior Sister Luo paused and turned back to look at the lone teenager.

After a long silence.

"Don't say things like 'I will do my best'… Those are the words that people who have already admitted defeat in advance would say."

She said seriously, word by word, "We all think you can do it, that's why we've been with you until now. If you also think you can do it, then say 'I will definitely pass.'"

After saying that, she didn't look at the teenager again and left with Zhong Wei.

Just as they were about to leave the training ground.

A voice rang out.

"Senior Brother! Senior Sister!"

"I will definitely pass the assessment in two days!"

Senior Sister Luo waved her hand without looking back and left the training ground.