Chapter 26: Destruction: Everything Can Be Destroyed

Di Qiu asked, "Is the division of colleges based on an assessment?"

"Not at all, that was in the past. Nowadays, everyone is assigned to a college by drawing lots," Li Qiao'er replied.

"I see."

She had expected a dramatic plot where students would have to compete for spots in various sects, but upon reflection, it didn't seem necessary. For them, the ultimate path for an Esper was either joining the Neutrino Bureau or striking out on their own; they came here simply to learn their craft.

Li Qiao'er smiled, "However, after being assigned to a college, there will be an assessment to see how well you've familiarized yourself with your powers and the Anomalies over these past two months."

Di Qiu nodded. Led by the two, they chatted as they walked toward the mountain gate.

"Junior, would you like to train alone or with an Anomaly? By the way, these Anomalies aren't real, so you can rest assured and train boldly inside," Zhang Li said.

"Alone, please," Di Qiu chose conservatively.

"And for how long?"

"Two hours."

"Alright, give me your student ID."

Di Qiu took the ID from around her neck and handed it over. Li Qiao'er took it, entered Di Qiu's information into the machine on the wall beside the gate, and then turned to return the ID.

"It's all set for you. By the way, Junior, could we add you on social media? If you have any questions about the school in the future, feel free to ask us." She held up her phone and smiled gently.

"You can ask me, too," Zhang Li said, flashing a bright, sunny smile.

"No problem." Di Qiu was never one to turn away new connections. She pulled out her phone, added them both, and then walked through the mountain gate.

Once the gate closed, Li Qiao'er raised a hand to her brow to shade her eyes from the intense sun. "It’s so hot. This is the perfect weather for an ice cream."

"Rock, paper, scissors. Whoever loses goes to buy them."

"Deal. Let's go."

...

"You lost. I want strawberry flavor." Li Qiao'er crossed her arms and handed over two ten-yuan bills.

Zhang Li took them without hesitation. Before leaving, he glanced at the door and suddenly said, "By the way, did you see the watch on her wrist?"

"I did."

"It looks like something unique to the Neutrino Bureau."

Li Qiao'er fanned herself. "Hard to say."

"Then why did you add her?" Zhang Li cast a sidelong glance at her.

"It's never a loss to make a new friend," Li Qiao'er said calmly. She then looked him up and down. "And why did *you* add her?"

Zhang Li stepped out of the shade, lazy and relaxed. "Are you the only one allowed to make new friends?"

"..."

...

Di Qiu marveled once again at the saying that there is always a world beyond one's own. Who would have guessed that underneath this ordinary, low mountain lay a massive training ground?

There were many wooden posts on the field. She tried hitting a few, and noticed the posts seemed to adjust based on the practitioner's strength. If the force reached a certain threshold, the post would disappear; otherwise, it would remain.

How brilliant.

If she hadn't awakened her ability and luckily gained entry here, she would never have known that such advanced, little-known technology existed in some corner of this world.

It was fragmented and magical.

But on second thought, it made sense. Humans had mutated and awakened powers; it was only natural that technology had taken a strange turn.

Di Qiu quickly got into the zone. Two hours should be enough to finish today's quota of punches. With no one else around, she let loose, gathering all the Qi in her body into her palms and striking out.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" A continuous series of sounds echoed through the empty hall as a row of posts vanished from sight one by one.

[Task: Initial Success! Daily palm and fist strikes: 10,000 (1/30)]

...

After finishing, Di Qiu rode her bike around the campus, following the map, grabbed dinner, and returned to the dormitory by eight o'clock. The room was empty.

After washing up, she went to bed. Before drifting off, she checked the freshman group chat. It was mostly idle chatter, so finding nothing useful, she closed the app and browsed the school forum for news.

[Newbie here, when are we being assigned to colleges?]

[Can someone explain what the Neutrino Bureau is? I clicked on a link and it said my registration was successful. I'm panicking!]

[Anyone want to grab lunch after class tomorrow? Freshmen only~]

...

Di Qiu spent a delightful half-hour scrolling through the forum before exiting the school app and opening the Neutrino Bureau's software.

She was shocked to find over 99 new notifications. She hadn't logged in all day and couldn't imagine why there would be so many messages. Driven by curiosity, she tapped to view them. Two-thirds were friend requests, and the rest were private messages.

Liu Zhitao - Grade C Logistician: "Big shot, want to team up for a mission? You take 70% of the points, I'll take 30%. Please carry me."

Liu Sanyi - Grade A Logistician: "Big shot, want to hunt an S1 Anomaly together? How about a 50/50 split on the points?"

...

The invitations to team up were endless. She didn't have to guess to know that word of her assessment had spread.

Di Qiu was stunned at how quickly the news had traveled. She sighed with worry, "Looks like I can't keep a low profile anymore."

"Besides, you can team up to complete missions? Why didn't I see that before?"

Di Qiu selectively ignored the private messages and browsed the mission-claiming interface. She realized there was a rule for team missions: points and rewards for team-completed tasks must be negotiated and agreed upon by the members.

To be honest, Di Qiu was tempted, but she realized she didn't exactly count as a "big shot." These people were likely assuming she was hiding her true strength, either hoping to leach off her experience or trying to test her.

But she, too, wanted to be the one leaching off someone else's experience.

Unfortunately, that path had been blocked before she could even start. No one told her that news traveled this fast in the Neutrino Bureau.

When Di Qiu checked the internal forum of the Neutrino Bureau, as expected, there were already many threads discussing her abilities.

[Did you hear? A Grade B1 destruction ability actually wiped out an S3 Anomaly and hundreds of others in one go!]

[Oh my god, could this B1 destructive power also wipe out my own ability?]

[Are there any other Espers with destruction-type powers? Can you guys do that too?]

...

After scanning the posts, most were fearful of her power, and some were questioning if she could destroy the abilities of other Espers. After all, abilities were varied and strange—some could copy them, some could steal them. It wouldn't be surprising if there was one that could destroy them.

Di Qiu, still a newcomer, felt a spark of inspiration from these posts. One really did need to be more active online; her thinking had been stuck in the past after ten years in the village.

There it was—the inspiration she needed.

The system panel must have details about her ability. Di Qiu pulled up the panel and tapped on the [Destruction] label under her abilities. As she had guessed, there was a definition:

[Destruction: Everything can be destroyed.]