Chapter 16: Academy of Espers

Chen En had personally come over this time mainly to thank Luo Yan for her help, as a gesture of sincerity.
He had watched Lu Xiao Na grow up since she was a child and felt a deep sense of affection and responsibility toward her.
Naturally, he was truly grateful that Luo Yan had helped Lu Xiao Na escape safely.

Moreover, after hearing both Atlanta and Lu Xiao Na’s descriptions of Luo Yan, he had grown curious about this mysterious young woman from another land.
At such a young age, she had the ability to walk calmly through a hail of bullets and could even suppress a veteran Awakening-level ability user in a one-on-one fight.
That was not something an ordinary person could do.

Even the most talented students at the Neo Aonan Ability Academy wouldn’t dare claim they could pull off such a feat at Luo Yan’s age.

That said, Chen En also had another purpose for coming today: to ask about Luo Yan’s future plans.

“Do you plan to stay in Neo Aonan for a long time?” he asked as they drove toward the ability school.

Luo Yan was gazing out the car window, curiously observing the cityscape.
When she heard Chen En’s question, she tilted her head, thought for a moment, and replied,
“I do plan to stay in Neo Aonan for a relatively long time.”

Chen En kept his eyes on the road and continued,
“Is it convenient to disclose how long, specifically?”

“Probably… more than a year,” Luo Yan said, though she wasn’t completely sure herself.

Her current goals were to understand and familiarize herself with this world as quickly as possible, and to raise her level to the next stage.
In a world with a fully developed ability system, maintaining an above-average combat strength was the only way she could feel truly at ease.

After all, in the face of absolute power, rules and laws were nothing but paper tigers.

“I see. Also, please don’t take this the wrong way, Miss Luo Yan. I’m just following routine procedures. Regardless of whether you plan to stay long term, just the fact that you saved the young lady means I’ll do my best to secure you a long-term legal identification.”

“I understand completely,” Luo Yan said with a slight smile.

The questions he asked were all reasonable. Clearly, he had no intention of making things difficult for her.

“Then there’s no problem. When we get to the school, I’ll give you a form. Just fill it out simply.”

At that moment, they hit a red light.
Chen En stopped the car and looked ahead.
Even in a world of abilities, the road traffic remained orderly.
So far, Luo Yan hadn’t seen anyone use their extraordinary physical powers to run a red light.

As if remembering something, Chen En added,
“After this intersection, we’ll reach the young lady’s school… By the way, young people tend to be full of energy. If some punk doesn’t know what’s good for them, I hope Miss Luo Yan will go easy on them.”

Luo Yan blinked, then sighed inwardly.
As the saying goes, ‘beautiful women have been the cause of trouble since ancient times.’ I never thought I’d become the ‘trouble’ one day.

With a wry smile, she replied,
“Of course. I wouldn’t dare cause any trouble for Miss Lu.”

Lu Xiao Na giggled.
“It’s because Big Sister Luo Yan is so beautiful. Naturally, you’ll attract bees and butterflies.”

This wasn’t even a compliment—just the plain truth.
Whether in looks or figure, Lu Xiao Na found herself utterly outclassed by Luo Yan.

Luo Yan felt a bit embarrassed and quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, what’s the general level of ability users in the school?”

Chen En smiled.
“Most of the students are at the Aberrant or Awakening level. That’s how it’s been in previous years. But this year’s a little different—two geniuses have already reached the Luminous level before graduation. As for the instructors, most are Luminous-level masters. The special-grade instructors are probably close to the Transcendent level.”

Luminous? Transcendent?

A glint flashed in Luo Yan’s eyes.
So those are the realms beyond Awakening? Just hearing the names makes them sound impressive, especially Transcendent. I’ll have to check the library later and read up on these levels—get a feel for them through the written word.

As she mentally made a note of that, she asked,
“In Neo Aonan, are there many Transcendent-level masters?”

Chen En shook his head with a smile.
“Of course not. Transcendent-level masters in Neo Aonan can almost be counted on one hand. For example, Miss Lu’s father is one of them. As for… oh, we’re here. This is the young lady’s school.”

Luo Yan had intended to ask more, but the car had already arrived, so she swallowed her remaining questions.
Still, the information she’d heard was surprising enough.
She had thought Lu Xiao Na’s background as a second-generation official was impressive enough, but she didn’t expect her to also be a second-generation Transcendent—her father was actually a Transcendent-level ability user.

After getting out of the car, Chen En handed Luo Yan the form she needed to fill out.
Atlanta and Lu Xiao Na also got out of the car.

“I’ll come pick up the young lady in the evening. You can give me the form then,” Chen En said before leaving.

Luo Yan stepped out of the car and was immediately drawn to the cluster of sci-fi-like buildings before her.
The architectural style of the ability school was completely different from what she had imagined.

The most eye-catching structure was the teaching building at the center.
Its facade was made entirely of modern glass, and suspended around it was a ring-shaped corridor, slowly rotating at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Lu Xiao Na noticed Luo Yan’s expression and a hint of pride flashed in her eyes.

“That’s the Inverse-Yuan Corridor. It was designed by the engineer Chén·Aureon. The reason it can float in mid-air is because it uses Odegaard technology. As far as I know, in Neo Aonan and the surrounding independent cities, my school is the only one that has combined architecture and Odegaard tech to this extent.”

Odegaard technology? Another unfamiliar term.

But… she had heard this word before.

Right—she’d come across it on TV the night before.
At the time, she had been watching a science documentary about cutting-edge tech, and it had mentioned both Odegaard ore and Odegaard technology.
Apparently, much of the city’s infrastructure was connected to it.

It seemed Odegaard technology was one of the core pillars of this world’s civilization.
Luo Yan silently noted that when she reached the library, she would need to brush up on this too.
Knowledge was power—especially for someone like her, who wanted to survive long-term in a world like this.

She glanced up at the school’s main entrance.
A sign read: Neo Aonan First Ability School.

She asked,
“That engineer—he’s also an ability user?”

“That’s right. And not just any ability user—he’s a Transcendent-level master. His perception ability far exceeds that of ordinary people. Combine that with top-level architectural knowledge and a unique understanding of Odegaard technology, and naturally, only someone like him could design something like the Inverse-Yuan Corridor.”

Luo Yan nodded, thoughtful.

Because abilities enhanced the individual in all aspects—not just physically or reflexively, but also in terms of perception and comprehension—the emergence of ability users had far-reaching effects.
It wasn’t just about combat anymore; abilities were reshaping every facet of human life.

This world…
Was starting to seem more and more interesting.