Su Zhe glanced at Li Chen, who seemed lost in a daze. After hesitating for a few seconds, he finally asked,
"Brother Chen, haven't you felt anything?"
"Surely I won't awaken while you're still an ordinary person, right?"
Li Chen fell silent.
He looked around the classroom.
In fact, in his eyes, a mysterious kind of qi floated above the heads of many students in the class.
It was thanks to this power that he knew Su Zhe was about to awaken.
But this qi was mysterious. Some people didn't have it at all, while others had a vast amount. Looking around, only the teacher, who was still reading from the textbook at the front of the room, had enough qi above his head to fill the entire lectern.
Sometimes he wondered what it was and why he could see it.
He didn't know what was going on, but ever since he was born, he had seen all kinds of people every day. Many of them had this mysterious qi above their heads, and it seemed he was the only one who could see it.
He had told others about this secret, but no one believed him. It was too absurd: a child who had yet to awaken could see whether other people were capable of awakening. Although this power was weak when it came to newborns, it could show precisely who would awaken, which was undoubtedly terrifying.
But who would believe him?
Besides, Li Chen hadn't spread the matter widely. He had only told a few people he knew well, but they had simply brushed it off.
The most crucial reason was that Li Chen was only sixteen. At his age, he hadn't even undergone the awakening ceremony, so how could he possibly have become a Sequence User?
Li Chen shook his head slightly. Although he hadn't felt anything in his body, and his ability couldn't show him whether he could awaken, he still hoped he could. After all, life was simply too harsh.
Only by becoming a Sequence User could he take one step at a time toward success and take control of his own life.
Just then, a shout came from inside the classroom.
"You two are still chattering away out there?"
"After class, both of you, stand in my office!"
Class soon ended.
The two followed their teacher to an office. The academy treated its teachers well: they had individual offices, and the space was quite large.
Sitting down in a wooden chair, Teacher Yu took a sip of water from his pink thermos and said slowly, "Li Chen, what's been going on with you lately? You're late every day. Do you still want to awaken or not?"
"And you, Su Zhe, if your family weren't well-off, I'd have sent you home long ago."
His words cut deep, but they weren't without reason. A student was late every day and even sneaked Baozi during class. If he didn't scold him, who else would he scold?
"Uh... Teacher Yu, I can't help having such a big appetite!"
"I really feel awful if I don't eat!" Su Zhe looked bitterly at the teacher in front of him.
But Teacher Yu ignored him. He tightened his slender fingers around the pink thermos and looked at Li Chen, who had remained silent.
"Li Chen, I know your family isn't well-off, but you still can't be late every day."
"Doing this, you're letting down your parents, who died fighting at the border."
"I know saying this really isn't good for either of us, but you have to make something of yourself!"
"The power to decide your life is in your own hands."
Li Chen nodded. His eyes were somewhat indifferent, and he didn't seem to care much. He replied, "I'll stop being late."
He didn't want to explain. He really had been late.
Looking at the young man before him, Teacher Yu sighed.
He knew that Li Chen's parents had died early. Li Chen had barely seen them after he was born, and it wasn't until he received two urns from the border one day that he learned his parents were dead.
Because of this, Li Chen didn't have much affection for his parents. They didn't even mean as much to him as Su Zhe, who was standing beside him.
Then Teacher Yu looked at the fidgeting Su Zhe and said, "Su Zhe, ask your father to come to school tomorrow."
"The school needs to speak to your father about something."
"If you eat Baozi in class again, go outside to eat it on your own."
Su Zhe fell silent for a moment, then nodded slightly. His expression grew somewhat grave, and he forced a stiff smile.
"Teacher, you're not asking my dad to come here and beat me in front of the other students, are you?"
Dark lines appeared on Teacher Yu's forehead.
"Don't worry, it's just a small matter. I'm not calling you in."
"You wouldn't want your dad to find out you've been eating Baozi in class, would you...?"
While the two talked, Li Chen stood beside them and watched silently. From time to time, he glanced at a glittering golden statue on Teacher Yu's desk. Its head had been removed, seemingly cut off in an instant.
He seemed to have seen the golden statue somewhere before, but he could never remember where. It was very familiar.
Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted. Su Zhe, wearing a mischievous grin, had shoved his face right in front of Li Chen's.
"..."
"Hm? What are you doing?" Li Chen frowned.
Su Zhe grinned mischievously. "You were so absorbed that you didn't even hear Teacher Yu, so I had to get your attention like this."
At that moment, Teacher Yu spoke. He glanced at the watch on his wrist, apparently thinking it was about time.
Then he chased the two out of the office.
Looking at the two behaving like clowns, he felt his anger rise. He touched the statue, which had been wiped spotlessly clean, and murmured to himself.
"Teaching really isn't quite the right profession for me."
"But it looks like I won't be teaching them for much longer anyway. The awakening ceremony is about to begin."
"It's time to part ways again."
"Oh well..."
After leaving the office, the two returned to the classroom. The class was as lively as ever, but the two of them felt a little out of place.
"Brother Chen, do you think we'll still need to attend classes here after awakening?"
"Lately, I've seen quite a few Special Affairs Bureau cars coming to the school gates. They seem to be selecting people."
Su Zhe chattered away the whole way, only asking this question once he had sat down in his seat.
Li Chen was puzzled. "The Special Affairs Bureau? They've already come to pick people up? Don't they usually wait until around the awakening ceremony?"
Su Zhe put on a thoughtful expression, resting his chin on his hand like Sherlock Holmes. He was a little fat, though, which made him look rather comical.
"I'm not really sure either. I heard it from Big Mouth. I've also been keeping an eye on the school gates these past couple of days, and those really are Special Affairs Bureau cars."
He knew Big Mouth. She was a girl in their class who loved to gossip. Anything she knew, she would spread all around the class. That was precisely why few of their classmates told her the truth, but her information was still very accurate.
"Could it be that someone at our academy has an S-rank talent?"
"That doesn't seem right either. If an S-rank talent appeared, the academy would at least make an announcement, unless the school concealed the news."
Su Zhe looked skeptical. After all, he had attended class too. How could he not know just how rare S-rank talents were?
"An S-rank talent? How could that be? There are fewer than fifty people with S-rank talents in the whole country. With those odds, I really don't believe one would turn up at our lousy academy."
An S-rank talent meant someone would definitely become a Sequence User in the future, and a high-ranking member of the Special Affairs Bureau at that. They might even have a chance to go to the border and become a great general. Of course, this was all information they had obtained through various channels.
"Not necessarily. Maybe the Special Affairs Bureau just came a few days early. What are the odds? S-rank talents aren't cabbages."
Just as Li Chen finished speaking, a bell rang.
Class was starting...
Inside the dean's office.
Several men in black uniforms stood facing a white-haired old man, their expressions grave.
"Dean Gu... it seems members of a cult have appeared in your academy. Please allow us to investigate."
"After all..."
Before they could continue, the old man said calmly, "Approved..."