God Blessed Our Huaxia

Mister Liu, whose actual name was Liu Huajun, had been a soldier in the Sino-Vietnamese War, and was its sole, rare survivor.

Liu Huajun was low key. Based on his past contributions on the battlefield, he could have been an army-ranked public servant if he had stayed in the military. However, he personally did not like to meddle with the politics. In his words, he said that he could do well in fighting a war, but his political knowledge was worse than that of a primary school child. So he had retired and returned to his native place to lead the peaceful life of an old man. Every day he would jog around and do some exercise, and he liked that way of life. 

In terms of finance, the government provided him with a retirement fund of more than ten thousand dollars a month. He also had a son and a daughter: he was living a happy life. With his respected reputation, not only the leaders of the city, but even Ministers had to pay him a visit when they were in Shencheng. No one would believe that such a great man was going for a morning run with Hong Xiaofu.

"Mister Liu." Hong Xiaofu followed Liu Huajun. He spoke while running, "How tough was it, when you were fighting the war?" 

As an orphan from a young age, Hong Xiaofu enjoyed listening to stories about wars and how the country had protected its own territory. Everytime he listened to such stories, he felt that it had not been easy for the country to reach its current state of development. He reckoned it would have been impossible for him to be well and living, had it not been for the protection of the country.

When watching the video that had gone viral, Year Hare Affair, Hong Xiaofu and Shen Xiaoling had sobbed. Why else would he be so positive about life? It was because he knew that he owed his safe and peaceful life to those who sacrificed theirs to protect the country. Their forefathers had sowed for them to reap the benefits.

Clearly, Mister Liu was one of them. 

"The situation now and then is totally different." As he spoke of the past, Mister Liu was instantly lively. He always knew that Hong Xiaofu was a child with a good heart, who had good morals too—that's why he enjoyed telling him about things of the past. And why else would he let Hong Xiaofu use the wi-fi in his home?

"Thinking back, when I was younger." They arrived in the park and Mister Liu brought Hong Xiaofu to sit down on a long bench as he continued, "Forget smartphones and wi-fi, you could barely find bicycles around. You would count yourself lucky if you were not starving and freezing. Not many people in your generation can take hardship. In my time, people were not even taking public transports to school and to work...many were travelling a few kilometres by foot every day." 

Hong Xiaofu was helping Mister Liu massage his arms as he smiled and replied, "I know, you didn't have it easy. I saw it on videos. Mister Liu, you know about the recovery of supernatural influence, right?" 

"Of course." Liu Huajun said as he nodded, "There used to be some guy who came to inspect the area, I even met him. When I first knew him, he was still a small kid asking candy from me, now he is already a government official. I have heard about the Awakeners from him. Just because I'm over seventy years old, my mind is not rusty yet. About the Awakeners, the country values them significantly." 

Hong Xiaofu became excited in an instant and he said, "Mister Liu, could you tell me more about it?" 

Liu Huajun was clearly someone who could stop talking once he started—he was very engaged in the conversation. He giggled and pinched Hong Xiaofu's nose as he immediately started thinking about what else he could tell Hong Xiaofu. He said, "I knew you would be interested to find out. I can tell you, but on the condition that you don't ask about the confidential information. I can't tell you those, but I can pick out the things that you are allowed to know." 

Hong Xiaofu nodded eagerly, "Yes, please, tell me about it!" 

"Do you know when the first Awakener appeared?" Liu Huajun asked.

Hong Xiaofu had heard about this before, so he nodded again, "September last year?" 

"Yep." Liu Huajun smiled and replied, "That's right. The first Awakener had an increasing range of physical strength—also known as the Strengthening System. At first, the country didn't take the matter seriously. People with immense physical strength have always existed, so it was not uncommon." 

Hong Xiaofu was surprised and he said, "Huh? Then how did it get discovered later on?"

Hong Xiaofu was genuinely curious about it. If he did not pay attention to those Awakeners, they would be like magicians, especially those in the Elemental System and the Functional System. People couldn't often differentiate between Awakeners and magicians, so how did the country first start looking closely at their difference?

"It has to do with the military." Liu Huajun explained slowly, "The country did not really pay any attention to Awakeners at the beginning, until the first Awakener appeared within the military. Naturally, the first Awakener within the military had the distinct characteristics of an Awakener: he was from the Strengthening System, with a single power of evolving physical strength." 

Hong Xiaofu widened his eyes and exclaimed, "Wow! So powerful?" 

"Of course." Liu Huajun laughed and he continued, "Our country has always had a particular feature—that is, we must release the evil spirit when turbulent days are around the corner. The competition between Confucius and Mencius, Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu... then Zhang Liang, Han Xin, Xiao He, Liu Bang… the Romance of the Three Kingdoms had five great talents in Guo Jia, Zhu Ge, Kong Ming and others. Place them separately into any dynasty, they would still be prominent figures. The recovery of supernatural influence is similar to this. I'm not able to tell you more about the Awakener from the military. You just have to know he was at Level 2 the moment he had Awakened. His sole power of evolving physical strength was seen when he lifted a carriage with his hands." 

After listening to Mister Liu, Hong Xiaofu was stunned. He attained Level 2 the moment he had Awakened—what kind of frightening talent did he have? 

"That's not all." Li Huajun giggled and said, "Then came the second and third Awakeners from the military. They all started with a Level 2 without any exceptions. God blessed our Huaxia. The structure of the world could undergo huge changes in the near future. Just at this time, so many talents are emerging. We are lucky." 

Hong Xiaofu took a deep breath as he listened. Indeed, from that point of view, the country was exceptionally advantaged—truly a divine start. Starting from Level 2 was extraordinary.

"Amazing!" Hong Xiaofu was filled with eagerness and could not stop smiling. Only when the country was strong would the people feel safe and secure.

"So the country instantly took an interest in the matter!" Liu Huajun paused for a while before he continued, "To be sure that the recovery of supernatural influence is occuring, the next stage would be intense research. That brings me to another advantage that we have in our country: our huge population. Think about it, we have a population of nearly 1400 billion. Even if Awakeners only make up a percentage of one in one hundred thousand, with such a huge base, would the number of Awakeners not be astronomical? That's why the country came together immediately to form a military group of Awakeners, which is also the research group. They are looking out for Awakeners emerging within the ordinary population!"