Spirit Branch

The burly man with pine sprigs and gold stars on his shoulders—Chen Shaohua, a major general of the Southern Military Region and a First-Tier Transcendent Knight—fixed his hawk-like gaze on the center of the commotion.

There stood a delicate-featured youth, a faint blue light shimmering around him.

Chen Shaohua's gaze sharpened. Then the corner of his mouth twitched, and he was filled with shock.

As a military region major general and one of Xia Country's few tiered knights, he had seen plenty of major events.

He had once followed a so-called "god" into battle deep in other planes, passing between life and death more times than he could count.

But never before had his heart pounded so fiercely.

He forced down the pounding in his chest and looked again to make sure.

The light surrounding the youth was the blue light of awakening.

Without another moment's hesitation, in the next instant—

Crimson battle qi erupted from his body and coiled around him like a living thing. Then he shot into the air and hurtled toward Chen Chuan, leaving only a thunderous shout behind him.

"Everyone, get back! Emergency evacuation—pull all the students away!"

The leaders below the stage were stunned.

"What?"

A streak of red light shot into the sky, then plunged sharply downward.

One quick-thinking leader snatched up the megaphone that had just been brought to the side of the stage.

"Attention! Students near the blue light, please move away immediately! Get away from that student immediately!"

Before the sound reached the crowd, Chen Shaohua had already arrived.

He landed soundlessly beside Chen Chuan and raised a hand—a tremendous force, both powerful and supple, rippled outward in every direction with the two of them at its center.

The students of Class 4, senior year, and those who had gathered nearby after hearing the news felt a great force bear down on them. They stumbled backward against their will, some tumbling into a heap of flailing limbs.

In less than five seconds, an empty area fifteen meters in radius had opened up around Chen Chuan and Chen Shaohua.

"Fuck, that hurts! Who's on top of me?"

"Don't touch me! Who grabbed my chest? Was it you?"

"Lady, you weigh at least three hundred pounds. Am I worthy?"

The students who had been pushed away all began complaining at once.

In the chaos, Zhao Tie stumbled and was knocked to the ground. He scrambled back to his feet and shouted toward the empty area:

"Chuan'er! What are you doing? He's my brother!"

His eyes red, he tried to charge in, but two soldiers who had rushed over held him back.

Chen Chuan stood in the middle of the empty area, looking bewildered.

Chen Shaohua stood beside him and lowered his voice so that only Chen Chuan could hear.

"I'm Chen Shaohua, a major general of the Southern Military Region and the person in charge of this Awakening Day. Your situation is unusual. Come with me first; we'll talk about the rest on the way."

Chen Chuan studied the upright soldier before him. His shoulder boards bore the rank of major general, and a grave expression showed plainly on his face.

Without waiting for Chen Chuan to respond, Chen Shaohua took a dark wooden whistle from around his neck, put it to his lips, and blew gently.

The whistle made no sound, but Chen Chuan's spiritual power keenly "heard" a silent ripple spread out into the distance.

Before long, an eagle's cry rang out from the horizon.

Chen Chuan looked toward the sound. A white shape was speeding toward them from afar, astonishingly fast, trailing a series of sonic booms.

In the blink of an eye, it was less than a kilometer from the school.

Chen Shaohua's gaze sharpened. He adjusted his uniform, grabbed hold of Chen Chuan, and circulated battle qi throughout his body as he flew straight toward the white shape in the sky.

Just as the two rose into the air, the white shape swept over the school, passing directly beneath them.

Chen Shaohua brought Chen Chuan down onto its broad back.

"What's that? A lion's body and an eagle's head! That wingspan has to be over ten meters!"

"A magical beast! That's a tiered magical beast—a Silver-Winged Gryphon!"

"It's the Silver Dawn Knights, the most famous knight order in the Southern Military Region! Their main Contract Mounts are Silver-Winged Gryphons!"

The students below the stage erupted, especially the few Physique Branch awakeners from earlier. Their eyes burned as they wished they could take his place.

Knights, like warriors, were among the classes most commonly chosen by Physique Branch awakeners in Walot. With such a large number of them, powerful knights emerged one after another.

Although the Blue Star Federation's class inheritances came from Walot, their source was said to lie on an even higher plane. The knight class had extraordinary potential, a low entry threshold, and a high ceiling for subsequent class advancements.

One of the core skills for advancing to the knight class was [Contract Mount], which allowed a knight to form a contract with a magical beast, take it as a mount, share talents, and grow together.

An outstanding magical beast mount could offer more than increased combat power; it also offered the potential to grow powerful together.

Silver-Winged Gryphons became tiered magical beasts upon reaching adulthood. They were formidable in battle and possessed wind magic passed down through their kind.

They were among the mounts best suited to knights in the Blue Star Federation.

"Students, please be quiet." The principal's voice came over the loudspeaker, with a barely perceptible tremor at the end.

"The awakening period is over. Those who have awakened, stay and register. Those who have not awakened, please leave in an orderly fashion, wait for your homeroom teachers' instructions, and prepare for the formal academic college entrance examination."

Xu Lei's palm was covered in sweat as he held the microphone.

It was the first time in his life he had witnessed anything as astonishing as what had just happened.

But he remembered very clearly that as long as the school produced one Spirit Branch student, his performance rating for the year was guaranteed to be the highest.

The principal, who was not yet fifty, understood that his career in office might have a much wider path ahead because of this youth.

On the Silver-Winged Gryphon's back.

A fierce wind rushed along the streamlined curve of the Griffin's back toward the two figures riding it.

But as soon as the wind touched the Griffin, a transparent barrier deflected it along both sides. Behind them, it converged into a lifting current that made the Griffin fly even faster.

Watching this magical sight, Chen Chuan found it remarkable.

"That's a Windproof Barrier, an elementary wind spell."

Seeing Chen Chuan's expression, Chen Shaohua knew this was his first time seeing magic and explained.

"The Silver-Winged Gryphon is a first-tier magical beast. The spell is part of its bloodline inheritance."

After hearing this, Chen Chuan calmed down and suddenly thought of something.

"Um... General Chen, there's something I don't understand. What exactly does that blue... mean? You seem to take it very seriously."

He pointed at the blue light around him, which had long since faded.

Chen Shaohua answered Chen Chuan's question.

"The class path you awakened is the 'Spirit Branch.'"

Chen Chuan was taken aback and searched his memory.

Textbooks, lessons, promotional videos... He went through everything he could remember, but his mind came up blank.

He knew about the red Physique Branch and the green Agility Branch.

But he had never once heard of the Spirit Branch.

"You haven't, have you? That's because the vast majority of people in this world have no idea that people can even awaken the 'Spirit Branch.'" Chen Shaohua's smile faded, and his gaze grew grave.

"This is a Federation secret of the highest level."

Chen Chuan's heart jolted.

"Come with us, and you'll be signing a confidentiality agreement soon. Until you're authorized, you must not mention the Spirit Branch to anyone."

"In the entire Blue Star Federation, over the more than four hundred years since the start of the New Calendar, only three people, including you, have been able to awaken the Spirit Branch. You're the third, so you're very important." Chen Shaohua looked into Chen Chuan's eyes, emphasizing each of the last few words.

Chen Chuan fell silent.

Only three people, including him—the number was so small it seemed unreal.

Xia Country was divided into five regions: east, south, west, north, and central. Each was a military region, and each military region governed nearly twenty cities.

The southern region alone had more than 150 comprehensive high schools, each with at least nearly ten thousand students.

That meant that in Xia Country alone, nearly 1.5 million people awaited awakening every year.

The entire Blue Star Federation consisted of three leading nations—Xia Country, the Tsarist State, and the Beautiful United Kingdom—as well as nearly thirty powerful nations or regional alliances.

At that rate, more than ten million people around the world awaited awakening each year.

Ten million a year—from the first Awakening Day in the first year of the New Calendar until now, who knew how many people that amounted to?

This was more than rare. It was practically unheard of.

No wonder General Chen had been so excited and so cautious earlier.

Chen Chuan lay against the Griffin's back, letting the fierce wind blow the hair above his forehead as other thoughts churned in his mind.

Wind swept past his ears as the Silver-Winged Gryphon flew past the outlines of city after city, heading deep into the Southern Military Region.

Waiting for him there was a world he had known nothing about for all the years of his life.