The Sole Seedling

As the only base executive among the hundred candidates who knew his own spiritual root aptitude, Chen Zhengze had never expected to succeed in Awakening on his first attempt. Thus, once the Awakening began, he focused his entire attention on observing and experiencing the process. After all, the clearer the operational details, the more helpful they would be to the expert panel. For instance, during his attempt to breach the first node, he had deliberately sacrificed the medicinal potency of a Primordial Origin Pill, forcing himself back to full consciousness to try to locate the node with his physical body and naked eyes. Naturally, he came up completely empty-handed. That was how he could confirm with certainty that a node was not a physical, organ-like anatomical structure. Having explained this, Chen Zhengze paused for a moment before continuing to describe his sensations during the Awakening: "Even though the nodes can only be located through consciousness, the perception of spiritual energy circulating within the body is very distinct. "If I had to describe it, it's somewhat like those old virtual-reality gaming novels. I can see with my mind that the node is right there. "Every time you guide spiritual energy to batter against it, an intense ache and swelling accompanies the impact. To be completely honest, weak office workers who sit at desks all day might not even be able to endure it." Huang Rong nodded slowly. Chen Zhengze's account was exceptionally valuable, and its credibility aligned closely with the monitoring instruments' tracking results. While certain monitors could pinpoint the zones where spiritual energy drifted and gathered, scans from the other detection equipment showed nothing abnormal in those areas at all. In other words, the Awakening process undoubtedly involved something beyond the conventional physiological indicators of the human body. "Chief of Staff Chen," Feng Congzhi interrupted, raising a hand from the side. "During the Awakening, where did the spiritual energy enter your body?" Where? Chen Zhengze was taken aback, staring at the bald expert with utter confusion. "Uh, I didn't feel anything distinct there... It probably entered with my breath through my nose and mouth? Or maybe through the pores across my skin?" "Are you sure?" Feng Congzhi peered at him with intense seriousness, pressing for confirmation. "What about the top of your head? Did you feel anything unusual there?" "The top of my head?" Chen Zhengze instinctively glanced at Feng Congzhi's shiny, bald forehead, then quickly pulled his eyes back upon realizing the gesture was slightly rude. "No, not at all. At most, there was a faint coolness, kind of like dabbing on cooling balm. But that feeling was all over my body—it wasn't isolated to my head..." Perhaps sensing something unusual in Feng Congzhi's tone, Chen Zhengze grew noticeably more solemn with his second answer, meticulously combing through every detail he could possibly recall. The moment he finished speaking, Feng Congzhi's breathing visibly quickened, and a flurry of hushed, hurried whispers rippled across the room. Chen Zhengze was the only one completely out of the loop, having missed the first half of the session. Bewildered by the sudden reaction, he blinked. "Uh, Academician Feng, Academician Pan, what's going on...?" Pan Yongnian glanced at Feng Congzhi, who had clearly not yet recovered his composure, and stepped over to Chen Zhengze to fill him in. "Chief of Staff Chen, according to our observations throughout the trial, at least ninety percent of the spiritual energy enters the body through the head during Awakening..." Chen Zhengze listened closely, then couldn't help reaching up to rub the top of his head, pressing his thumb against his crown twice. "Ninety percent? Good grief... So you're saying my physical senses were shielded?" Pan Yongnian nodded. "Most likely, yes." Now, taking Chen Zhengze's account together with Lin Yi's earlier descriptions, the sensory shielding hypothesis was essentially confirmed. So the question they really needed to consider was... What was the underlying reason for this so-called shielding? And... How high up the ranks of cultivators could it reach? Cultivators slightly above Lin Yi at the late Foundation Establishment stage? Or the Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages? Could it even affect Spirit Severing and Divided-Thought experts? Or perhaps even higher...? Just pondering the thought made Pan Yongnian's scalp prickle with a chill. A true dread that deepened the more one thought about it. "Chiefs!" Just as the atmosphere in the room turned tense, the voice of Huang Rong's assistant, Ma Yuan, suddenly rang out. "Good news! Xiao Jiguang broke through again!" "Oh? Another breakthrough?" Huang Rong's expression shifted, his focus snapping back to the present. He verified with Ma Yuan, "So he only has two nodes left?" "That's right!" Ma Yuan promptly switched Xiao Jiguang's video feed onto the largest primary display, his voice tinged with excitement. "In theory, as long as he clears his right leg and right hand, Comrade Xiao Jiguang will succeed in Awakening!" Huang Rong hurriedly followed up, "What about the Primordial Origin Pills? How many has he taken?" "Three." Ma Yuan pinched his thumb and index finger together, flashing that infamous pinching gesture that drove netizens crazy. "Just like with the second pill, less than half a minute after taking the third, Xiao Jiguang smashed through the fifth node. "However, compared to earlier, all of Xiao Jiguang's vital signs have risen slightly. For instance, his heart rate has reached 174 beats per minute, and his respiratory rate has exceeded 60..." Hearing this, Huang Rong bent down and swiped through several sets of metrics, confirming they were indeed as Ma Yuan had stated. One had to realize that soldiers had always possessed cardiopulmonary fitness far superior to that of ordinary people. A workload driving Xiao Jiguang's heart rate to 174 beats per minute would likely push an ordinary person past 190. For example, during a recent elevator-jam incident involving an older airframe in the air force, the pilot's heart rate had only hovered in the 160s even while executing extreme maneuvers at the limits of control... Even coming from an elite group army, Xiao Jiguang's absolute physiological ceiling was likely around 210 beats per minute, a threshold he could never sustain for long. Although there was still a decent gap between 174 and 210, two nodes still remained... Huang Rong's expression turned increasingly solemn. After all, this was the home world's very first attempt at Awakening; its significance was extraordinary. Coupled with the string of successes across earlier trials, while no one explicitly declared a performance target, pretending that none harbored high expectations was entirely unrealistic. This was an undeniable reality of human nature, one shared even by Sun Lao, and there was no shame in admitting it. If Xiao Jiguang failed in the end and everyone's hopes fell flat, claiming that the project would grind to a halt was nonsense. Nevertheless, overall progress would inevitably take a hit, and maintaining their prior momentum would be virtually impossible. Huang Rong was clearly not the only one who understood this. As time ticked past, the atmosphere in the room grew increasingly stifling. Even Xu Xiujie, a physics luminary known for his easygoing nature, unconsciously clenched his fists. Half an hour later. Xiao Jiguang swallowed his fourth Primordial Origin Pill. Meanwhile, only twenty-two Awakening soldiers remained inside the cultivation chambers. More than twenty minutes later, Xiao Jiguang's heart rate abruptly spiked to 188 beats per minute. The sixth node was blown wide open with a resounding surge, and the red indicators representing spiritual energy slowly drifted toward his right hand! Nodes... Only the final one remained! Yet before the experts could celebrate, Xiao Jiguang swallowed three Primordial Origin Pills in succession within less than two minutes! Even so, the node did not budge in the slightest. What made everyone's nerves tighten even more was that, at this very moment, Xiao Jiguang had become the only soldier still remaining inside the cultivation chambers... The sole seedling left.