With the law school entrance exam just a week away, the review materials on Grace's desk were piled as high as a small mountain. She had memorized every key point at least five times and completed stacks of practice tests.

Logically, she should have been confident. But instead, she felt an unprecedented sense of panic.

She started having nightmares, dreaming that she would get the test paper and her mind would go completely blank. During the day, she couldn't concentrate; she'd forget what she had just read moments later. The more she forced herself to remember, the faster her heart beat and the sweatier her palms became.

"What if I fail? Will all these months of effort be for nothing? How can I face my parents' expectations?"

These thoughts echoed in her ears like a curse. The immense pressure was suffocating her. She knew it was classic test anxiety, but knowing didn't mean she could control it.

During a call with a senior student, she couldn't help but cry about her state. The senior was very understanding. Besides comforting her, she shared a link, saying, "I used this before my exams too. It's like a mental massage therapist. Maybe it can help you see things from a different angle."

It was an online divination website. Grace wasn't usually into these things, but her senior's recommendation made her decide to try it. She took a deep breath and typed her question into the dialog box: "I'm extremely worried about my upcoming exam and terrified of failing. What should I do?"

The result was "Kong Wang" (Emptiness). Seeing the word, Grace's heart sank. It felt like a bad omen. But she patiently read the interpretation that followed:

"If the heart is filled with the 'result,' there is no room left for the 'process.' The 'emptiness' of this moment is a reminder to clear your mind and return to your original intention. You have tilled the soil for a long time; why doubt the land before the harvest? Let go of predicting the future and focus on the present breath, the present page. The real enemy is not the difficulty of the test, but the storm within your own mind."

"If the heart is filled with the 'result,' there is no room left for the 'process'..." The sentence was like a splash of cold water, waking Grace from her anxious haze.

She realized all her panic stemmed from the fear of one outcome: failing. She was so fixated on the final goal that she had forgotten to enjoy the process of striving for it, and in doing so, she was invalidating all her hard work from the past few months.

"I have tilled the soil for a long time..." She looked at the textbooks and test papers on her desk, all covered in her notes. They were proof of her effort.

Following the advice, she turned off her phone, put on some soft music, and began to focus on her breathing. She stopped thinking about the exam a week away and brought her attention back to the single question, the single concept, in front of her.

That night, she didn't force herself to stay up late studying. For the first time in a long while, she had a good night's sleep.

For the rest of the week, whenever anxiety crept in, she would tell herself, "Focus on the process. I have done my best." Her mindset gradually stabilized, and her study efficiency miraculously improved.

The moment she walked into the examination hall, Grace felt remarkably calm. She knew that no matter the result, she had already defeated the more formidable enemy—the storm within her mind.

Ultimately, she passed with flying colors and got into her dream school. But for her, the greater victory was learning how to find peace with pressure and anxiety during that pre-exam crisis.