Chapter 307: If It's a Test, You Can Charge a Little Fee

Sister Nannan's heart-wrenching cry of "Mama, save me!" was like quenching ice water, completely extinguishing the slight heat and impatience that had arisen in Xia Wan from obtaining the "Key" and her power increase. The lingering fear and self-reproach settled down, transforming into a clearer, more resolute understanding—if power cannot be wielded as an extension of one's arm, it is a sword suspended overhead; before it wounds the enemy, it may first wound oneself and one's kin.

In the days that followed, Xia Wan devoted all her energy to nearly harsh training in energy control. She no longer pursued higher-level offensive techniques or stronger energy bursts, but polished the basics to the extreme.

Inside the highest-security isolation training ground, she repeatedly performed the most tedious, most patience-testing exercises: threading energy filaments through increasingly fine needle holes; guiding energy balls through complex mazes without touching the obstacles; maintaining a cicada-wing-thin energy shield that withstood simulated attacks from different angles and of different intensities, demanding not the slightest energy leakage…

Sweat soaked her training suit countless times, and the excessive drain of spiritual force often left her with splitting headaches, but she never relaxed for a moment. In her mind, her sister's terrified little face and that scream were the greatest motivation to keep going.

During this process, she gained a deeper understanding of, and fusion with, the Bloodline Power within her that originated from "Yun Ge," as well as the Origin Energy brought by the newly integrated Origin Contract. Power was no longer merely a warm current flowing through her meridians, but more like an extension of herself—sharper senses and more nimble fingers.

Occasionally, Qin Feng would appear outside the training ground, watching quietly for a while, never offering a word of guidance, but Xia Wan could sense that his calm gaze itself was a form of invisible calibration. She strove to recall the effortless, precise-to-the-finest-detail feeling of Qin Feng manipulating energy, trying to imitate it, to draw closer.

Just as Xia Wan was immersed in arduous cultivation, inside the "New Era" Base, an important assessment was about to unfold—a comprehensive potential stimulation and evaluation test aimed at all adolescents within the Base who were of suitable age and had displayed special potential or undergone genetic optimization. Its purpose was to systematically screen and cultivate the next generation's core force, in order to meet the various challenges that might arise in the future.

This assessment drew much attention; the Base's high-level officials, including Lei Dong, would personally observe. The test content covered multiple dimensions—physical fitness, neural response, logical thinking, energy affinity (if possessed)—jointly designed by the Base's top scientists and instructor team, and the difficulty was extremely high.

Xia Wan's sister Nannan, owing to her sister's outstanding performance and her own display of intelligence and spirituality superior to that of ordinary people, was also placed on the observation list. Although she was still young and the main purpose was observation and data recording, Xia Madam could not help feeling a bit nervous, and these past few days had been finding every way to supplement her daughter's nutrition, urging her not to be nervous when the time came.

That evening, Xia Wan finished a day of training and dragged her weary yet fulfilled body home. Just as she entered the door, she saw her sister Nannan sitting at a small table, facing a literacy board, her little face scrunched up, muttering under her breath, seemingly worried about something. Xia Madam was busy in the kitchen.

"What's wrong, Nannan?" Xia Wan walked over and asked softly.

Nannan looked up, saw her sister, and pouted in grievance: "Sister, Mama said there's going to be a test soon… Nannan's afraid of doing badly…" She was still young and didn't quite understand the word "assessment," only knew it was similar to the little quizzes in kindergarten, but it seemed more important—grown-ups all looked very serious.

Xia Wan's heart softened; she crouched down and stroked her sister's head: "Don't be afraid, it's just like playing a game—just show what you usually know how to do."

"But… but what if I lose the game?" Nannan's big eyes were full of worry.

Xia Wan was about to continue comforting her when a calm voice came from the doorway:

"If it's a test, you can charge a little fee."

Xia Wan and Nannan turned their heads at the same time, and saw Qin Feng standing at the doorway, no one knew when he had arrived, seeming to have just come, looking at Nannan. He still wore that same flat expression, but the words he said made Xia Wan pause.

Charge a fee?

What does Sir mean by that?

Nannan also blinked her big eyes, looking in confusion at this "very good-looking brother," her little head unable to comprehend such complicated words.

Qin Feng walked in, his gaze falling on Nannan's literacy board; he casually picked up a colored pen beside it and, on the blank margin, drew an extremely simple symbol imbued with a certain mysterious rhythm—somewhat like a crooked little star, and also like a closed eye.

He handed the paper with the symbol drawn on it to Nannan, his tone flat and even: "Take this. During the test, if you encounter something you don't know, or you get scared, hold it tightly in your hand and silently recite in your heart, 'I can see.'"

Nanni took the little paper in bewilderment, looked at the strange pattern on it, then looked up at Qin Feng, and then at her sister.

But Xia Wan's heart stirred! From that simple symbol, she sensed a thread of extremely faint, yet unusually pure and condensed Spiritual Force! This was not any offensive or defensive talisman, but more like a… "calming the heart and soothing the spirit" Imprint? Or rather, a "little prop" that could temporarily boost a tiny bit of focus and perception?

Is Sir… helping Nannan cheat? No, this is more like a kind of psychological suggestion and a negligible aid.

Qin Feng looked at Nannan's still bewildered little face, added a sentence, his tone still without any rise or fall, but the content nearly made Xia Wan laugh out loud:

"One time, one piece of candy."

Nannan's eyes instantly lit up!

A test! Charge a fee! One piece of candy!

She understood this deal! Among the children in kindergarten, they often traded candy for toys!

All her worry and fear were instantly swept away by this "fair trade"! She nodded vigorously, her little face glowing, tightly clutching that little paper as if it were a guaranteed-victory magic treasure, and loudly promised: "Mm! Nannan has candy! I'll give it to brother!"

Watching her sister's little face instantly change from overcast to bright, and Qin Feng's solemn "doing business" manner, Xia Wan could not help but laugh, while at the same time feeling a warm current surge through her heart. Sir, he… actually uses this kind of method to soothe a child's pre-test anxiety?

A few days later, the Base's adolescent potential assessment was held as scheduled.

Inside the assessment hall, various advanced detection instruments flickered with light, the atmosphere solemn. Under the instructors' guidance, the children underwent each test in turn. Some challenged their limits of endurance on treadmills, some tested reaction speed amid complex light signals, some worked on brain-burning logic puzzles.

When it was Nannan's turn, she walked onto the testing platform a little nervously. When it came to a pattern-recognition test that required intense concentration and rapid memory, facing the rapidly flashing, complex and shifting patterns on the screen, her little face began to turn pale again, and it looked as if she was about to perform poorly due to nervousness.

Just then, she thought of the little paper in her pocket and the words of the "very good-looking brother."

She secretly used her little hand to tightly clutch that paper in her pocket, silently reciting in her heart, over and over, in a small voice: "I can see… I can see… I can see…"

Miraculously, as she recited, that nameless nervousness really faded quite a bit, her heartbeat gradually steadied, and the patterns that had seemed dazzling now seemed to become a little clearer. She focused her spirit, striving to distinguish and remember; although there were still some mistakes, her final score actually exceeded the average for her age group, and was even a little better than her usual performance in training!

After the assessment ended, Nannan excitedly ran to Xia Wan and Xia Madam, who had been in the observation area, holding up that paper already made a little damp by her small hand, and said as if presenting a treasure: "Mama! Sister! Nannan did well on the test! Used brother's treasure!"

Although Xia Madam did not understand the ins and outs, seeing her daughter happy and with a good score, she smiled in relief.

Xia Wan, meanwhile, glanced with mixed feelings at Qin Feng, who was also in the observation area not far away yet seemed detached from it all.

One piece of candy… in exchange for her sister's composure and extraordinary performance during the assessment.

This was probably the most cost-effective "transaction" in the history of the "New Era" Base.

And Sir's seemingly casual remark, "If it's a test, you can charge a little fee," might contain, behind it, not merely the soothing of a child, but also an alternative understanding and application of "rules"—in the face of absolute ability, occasionally breaking convention, using the smallest price to obtain the desired result, seems… not unacceptable.

As long as the price is one piece of candy, and the result is a child's smile and confidence.