Born Gambler

"This place really is trash. If this were a higher-grade Star Block, during the talent test there'd be teachers from all kinds of mecha academies gathered around, waiting to snatch up students. Fine, our Awakening Pod is rented, but there isn't even a teacher from a proper school here."

Qin An had somehow squeezed in beside Zhou Yi and clicked his tongue.

"This Star Block is practically about to dissolve. It'd be strange if anyone came. Isn't your family pretty rich? Why haven't you moved yet?"

Qin An's family had moved here only after he was born, so they were not original residents. He was clearly different from the other locals in temperament.

His living conditions were far better than average. Ever since childhood, the original Zhou Yi had loved mooching dried bugs from Qin An's home.

"We've gotten attached to the place. My dad said we'll move once my Awakening Test is over. When is your family moving? We can still be neighbors then!"

Qin An said excitedly.

"No thanks. If your family moves to a B- or C-grade Star Block, mine can't afford it. Farewell, brother!"

Zhou Yi waved at Qin An.

As they chatted and joked, the line continued moving forward. Soon, it was Zhou Yi's turn.

"Let me cut in. Please understand, I can't take it anymore. I'm so nervous I need to use the bathroom."

Qin An squeezed in ahead of Zhou Yi.

"Look at how pathetic you are. Don't end up going home to wash your pants."

Zhou Yi rolled his eyes but gave up his spot anyway.

One person per minute. Everyone would finish the test sooner or later today, so there was no need to rush.

When it was Qin An's turn, he sprang onto the platform like a monkey and darted into the Awakening Pod in a few quick hops.

Very soon, an image appeared on the screen: a sun.

This was the first sun to appear today—or rather, the only sun.

Standing amid the crowd, Zhou Yi heard wave after wave of shocked gasps.

He was not surprised at all. If someone like Qin An had possessed a low-grade talent, that would have clashed with his privileged family background.

After all, the fact that talent was somewhat hereditary had long been confirmed through extensive big-data analysis by the Interstellar Research Institute.

People with low-grade talents generally lived on low-grade Star Blocks, and their children generally did not possess high talents either.

Over time, low-grade Star Blocks became home to the weak, while high-grade Star Blocks were inhabited mostly by the strong. This had long become an unspoken consensus among humanity.

That was also why no mecha academies were willing to recruit students at Awakening Tests on low-grade Star Blocks. They probably simply did not want to waste unnecessary time.

Zhou Yi had been watching all morning. The talent symbols of D71's children were almost all stars, while only two had moons.

Qin An was the sole sun.

Soon, the machine opened, and Qin An crawled back out.

"Teacher, what symbol did I get?"

Awakened individuals could not see their own talent grades while inside the machine. Qin An rubbed the back of his neck and eagerly asked the teacher standing beside him.

There were not many people on D71 Star Block to begin with, and after the dissolution issue, many had relocated to other Star Blocks.

The teacher on the platform was an old acquaintance of both Qin An and Zhou Yi: their homeroom teacher, who had wished them a happy graduation yesterday.

"A sun. Qin An, stay behind later. I have something to tell you."

Teacher Wu had taught on D71 Star Block for most of his life. He knew that Qin An was not originally from this Star Block, so he was not overly surprised by Qin An's talent grade. He merely told him to step down and wait behind afterward.

"A sun! I'm actually a sun!"

Qin An had only heard the teacher's first two words. His mind had already gone blank, and his grin nearly stretched to his ears.

It was only when Zhou Yi leaped onto the platform and kicked him down that Qin An moved, while Zhou Yi entered the machine himself.

The machine's lid slowly lowered. Sitting inside, Zhou Yi felt as though his whole body was wrapped in warmth, as if he were inside his mother's womb.

Rays of red light fell upon Zhou Yi's body before finally converging at his dantian.

The Chakra in his dantian already contained the star power Zhou Yi had cultivated over this period. At that moment, that once-docile star power seemed to be pulled by something, spinning madly within the Chakra.

Zhou Yi closed his eyes and tried hard to control the star power, but he was too weak to contend with the linear force of those red lights.

Pain...

Zhou Yi gritted his teeth. He knew this was the awakening.

He had looked up the principles behind the Awakening Pod on the Star Brain. It consisted of two steps: awakening and testing.

First came the awakening of the talent power within the human body, using external energy to stimulate a person's talent.

Only after awakening came the test, which determined the level of the talent that had been stimulated.

The normal awakening process was quick, because the dantians of ordinary unawakened children were empty. Awakening only stimulated the Chakra; there was not a trace of star power inside.

But Zhou Yi was different. Drawn by the external energy, his star power formed a vortex inside his Chakra, the energy spinning at high speed.

The energy inside his body and the energy outside pulled against each other, neither willing to yield.

By then, Zhou Yi was drenched in sweat from the pain. His eyes squeezed shut, he silently recited the Star Gathering Technique over and over, trying his best to keep his star power from becoming so violent.

He had long known that today's awakening would bring pain, yet he had still come.

His purpose was not merely to conceal the fact that he had awakened on his own. He had an even more important reason for entering this Awakening Pod.

As Zhou Yi recited the Star Gathering Technique's incantation again and again, his star power gradually became docile. Not only that, as the vortex formed by his star power spun through the Chakra, it even began dragging the red linear energy outside into Zhou Yi's dantian bit by bit.

Zhou Yi had not been self-awakened for long, and his Chakra's capacity was limited. As the red energy seeped into his body bit by bit, the Chakra gradually filled to the brim.

Pain struck once again. Zhou Yi felt as though he was about to explode. This time, even the Star Gathering Technique could not ease his suffering in the slightest.

Fortunately, the pain did not last long. The red energy had originally been meant to stimulate the creation of the Chakra. Now that it had entered the Chakra, it naturally took on the role of expanding its internal space.

At that moment, all of Zhou Yi's awareness was focused on his dantian. He could feel his star power intertwining and merging with the red energy, becoming his own power. He could also feel his Chakra continuously expanding.

Increasing star power was already difficult, while expanding the Chakra even a fraction normally required a long period of time and effort.

Yet all of it had been accomplished in mere moments.

That was why Zhou Yi had insisted on entering the Awakening Pod this time. Since the energy inside could stimulate talent, why not see if it could be used for his own benefit?

It had to be said that Zhou Yi was far too bold. Perhaps it was because he had lived once already—or perhaps he had simply been a born gambler all along.