Talent Awakening

"Our son is finally going for his Awakening Test tomorrow. Our family's talent may be low, but at least he can still attend mech school for three years. He'll have somewhere to stay, which is good enough."

"Yeah. The Star Block Federation has already sent us the final notice. We have to move this year; everyone has to evacuate. After all, it's a D-Class Star Block. It's already lasted a long time, and they say it'll completely dissipate within a year."

Zhou Jiang sighed as he spoke to his wife.

The remnants of Star Blocks left behind after explosions were unstable. The lower a Star Block's grade, the poorer its resources and living conditions, and the more easily it would gradually dissipate into the universe. There was nothing human effort could do to stop it.

When that happened, everyone on the Star Block would have to find somewhere else to live and pay to relocate to another developed Star Block.

"It's all because I'm useless. I can't give you and Xiao Yi a good life."

Zhou Jiang blamed himself. His talent was poor and his star power low, so he could only find bad jobs. A few years ago, Tang Zhen had fallen seriously ill and depleted the family's savings. With a child to support as well, they simply did not have enough money to pay the relocation fee to another planet.

For the Zhou family—or rather, for most native residents of low-grade Star Blocks—relocation was an enormous expense.

"Don't say that. Once our son starts school and can settle himself down, the two of us can live on a spaceship. That's fine too. As long as our family is safe and sound, that's better than anything."

Tang Zhen comforted her husband gently.

After the conversation ended, Zhou Yi closed his book and placed it on the table.

Ever since he had practiced the Star Gathering Technique more often, his five senses had become exceptionally sharp. The stone house had poor soundproofing, so he could easily hear the voices outside.

Living on a spaceship... a spaceship people could live on...

Zhou Yi lowered his eyes.

It was common for low-grade Star Blocks to dissipate over time due to unstable matter, while high-grade Star Blocks were often invaded and occupied by alien races because of their rich resources.

Since not everyone who lost their homes could afford the exorbitant relocation fees, a lowest-tier way of survival had emerged.

Interstellar drifters.

They had no fixed Star Block to live on and spent their days aboard large spacecraft. The ships traveled at the lowest energy speed, while the people survived by scavenging space junk or cleaning up battlefields.

Interstellar drifters were also known as scavengers. They could be said to be the lowest class of humans in the entire interstellar world.

The Zhou family treated him very well.

Zhou Yi touched the Star Brain on his wrist. As a tool for communication and information gathering, the Star Brain also had storage and payment functions.

All the pocket money Zhou Yi had received over the years, along with what he had earned from small part-time jobs, was stored in his Star Brain.

A total of 465 Star Coins.

Star Coins were not virtual currency. They were minerals containing small amounts of energy and could be exchanged for physical currency at interstellar banks. Most people simply used their Star Brains for transactions because it was more convenient.

"I need to make money."

Zhou Yi sighed. After all, he was no longer the teenage girl who had originally owned this body.

He was an adult. Adults had to shoulder responsibility.

More than four hundred Star Coins could not do anything.

Zhou Yi had looked into it. Relocating one person to a low-grade Star Block similar to D71 Star Block cost around ten thousand Star Coins, not to mention the expense of building a house.

"Tsk, tsk. So expensive. Sure enough, even after escaping Earth, you still can't escape the pressure of buying a house."

They were not his real parents, but he had taken their child's place. There were many things he could not simply stand aside from.

Zhou Yi opened the book in his hands again, trying to gain some new insight from the passages he had already memorized by heart.

The next day was the Awakening Test. That night, every sixteen-year-old tossed and turned, too excited to sleep.

Zhou Yi did not sleep much either, but it was not because he was excited. He had secretly gone out to cultivate again.

Only when three star points appeared on one's star pattern would one qualify to learn how to create star patterns. He only had two points at the moment.

There was not much time left. Whenever he thought of what his parents had said that night, Zhou Yi could not sleep. He practiced outside until dawn was nearly breaking before quietly returning.

Ever since he had obtained the Star Gathering Art, he had not rested a single day, whether at school or during breaks.

He went back for a short nap, then got up, washed up, ate last night's dried insects for breakfast, and headed to the testing site to gather.

There were too many children, so the testing site was a vast open space. A high platform had been erected in the middle, with a machine placed on top.

This Awakening Pod had been rented by D71 and several other Star Blocks. After all, they were Star Blocks destined to dissipate, and their resources had long been nearly exhausted. They had no money to buy one, much less the qualifications to manufacture one.

Still, renting it for one day each year was enough.

Though the Star Block was not very large, there were quite a lot of sixteen-year-olds. They formed a vast, dark mass.

There were too many people, and all the children on the Star Block had to awaken using this single machine. To prevent overcrowding, parents were not allowed to accompany them during the Awakening Test.

No matter how excited or afraid they were, every child could only complete this coming-of-age ceremony alone.

"Line up properly! One at a time!"

The teacher on the platform made the announcement through a loudspeaker.

No one delayed. Everyone wanted to know their result as quickly as possible, so they obediently formed a line and began testing one by one.

The line stretched far into the distance. Zhou Yi stood around the middle, observing the people on the platform.

The Awakening Test was not complicated. As long as someone sat inside the Awakening Pod and was scanned by the linear energy within the machine, the result would be available very quickly.

Since the Awakening Pod was rented, everything proceeded rapidly, nearly one person per minute.

Once someone entered the machine and the lid closed, a star pattern would soon appear on the machine's snow-white display.

By the time the person came back out, their own star pattern would already be on their neck.

Zhou Yi touched his neck. There was nothing there at the moment.

Star patterns could be hidden. He had already made up his mind that once it was his turn, he would control his star pattern to reveal only one star.

He was still too weak and did not want anyone else to know that he currently had two star points.

More than one star point was the mark of a Chosen One.

"The tree that stands out in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind." The early death of that Star Weaver ancestor was a warning to later generations.

But...

Zhou Yi stared unblinkingly at the Awakening Pod, recalling the information he had looked up yesterday about the Awakening Test.

He lived on a low-grade Star Block and was seeing such advanced equipment for the first time. He knew very little about it, and he did not know whether his control over star power could fool that machine.