Mental Cultivation, Assessment Quota!

After turning off his phone, Chen Ming took out a tiny crystal.

This was a rare mental-type resource obtained as a ranking reward.

The snow-white crystal block stood on the tip of Chen Ming's finger.

It faintly emitted a soft arc of light.

Chen Ming was still quite concerned about the words Qin Zhixue had spoken today.

He felt that the so-called [Mental-type Skills] that the vast majority of people could not awaken must be quite extraordinary.

After all, from Qin Zhixue's perspective, she did not know that he possessed the max-level SSS-rank Absolute Defense.

Yet, she still stated bluntly that if he could awaken a mental-type skill, it would be enough to help him "change his fate."

From this, it was evident that this mental-type skill must be incredibly powerful.

Looking at the Mind Crystal in his hand, Chen Ming tried to focus his mental energy, but he still couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Logically, the higher one's mental potential value, the stronger their mental probing ability should be.

His was as high as 19%, yet he still couldn't see through it.

Of course, Chen Ming did not doubt the authenticity of this rare resource.

After all, it was a reward from the Grand Exam; it couldn't be fake.

"I'll cultivate first and see what happens once I reach 20%."

Chen Ming sat up.

Increasing one's mental potential value requires meditative cultivation.

This is something that accompanies a job-changer throughout their entire life.

It is not the case that once one awakens as a job-changer, the cultivation of mental potential can be abandoned.

On the contrary, it becomes even more important.

The higher the mental potential value, the more it not only directly increases a job-changer's mental energy—that is, their "mana"—but also, to a certain extent, provides a bonus to the power of active skills.

For classes like Mages in particular, mental potential is especially vital.

"Hoo..."

Chen Ming took a deep breath, his breathing gradually becoming steady.

He then closed his eyes and settled his mind.

After reaching a mental potential value of 10%, meditation could perfectly replace sleep, allowing job-changers to better replenish their state.

And upon learning that a mental potential value of 20% was the primary condition for awakening a skill, Chen Ming was naturally even more attentive to his cultivation.

Furthermore, he could feel that he was already very close to 20%.

Perhaps...

He could break through tonight!

The room fell silent, with only the sound of Chen Ming's calm breathing remaining.

Faint moonlight spilled in from outside the window, shining upon him, seemingly forming a thin layer of flowing light on his skin.

Chen Ming's refined face carried a healthy, rosy glow, and he felt a warm current burrow into his head and surge toward his crown.

It was very comfortable.

His fatigued mental energy was recovering rapidly.

Unknowingly, he had become so absorbed in his meditation that he began to lose the concept of time passing.

The night passed in a flash.

At 8:00 AM, the job-changers of Cloud Sea City had already arrived at the city outskirts one after another.

They were preparing to begin their second day of leveling.

Following the announcement of the level rankings yesterday, people were paying extra attention to those on the list.

Especially the top ten.

These individuals were all high-potential assets who might grow into powerful job-changers in the future.

However, there was an anomaly among them: Chen Ming.

A C-rank class ranking second on the level leaderboard was something unprecedented in all previous Grand Exam history.

At the border, on the top floor of a high-rise building.

A burly, stern-faced middle-aged man stood before the window.

He watched silently as the job-changers below traveled in groups, heading out toward the city.

"The number of people in our Cloud Sea City who reached Level 2 on their first day of class-changing this year is nearly double that of last year, reaching 191, and there are even two who reached Level 3."

Behind the middle-aged man stood several elderly men, one of whom was currently reporting the figures.

If any Class-Changer were here, they would certainly recognize these men as the principals of the various schools in Cloud Sea City.

They could be considered the group with the most influence in the entire Cloud Sea City.

Yet, at this moment, these principals stood respectfully behind the man, showing none of the high-and-mighty demeanor they usually displayed.

Just then, a crow flew out from nowhere and landed on the middle-aged man's shoulder, staring at the principals.

Its entire body radiated a metallic, dark luster; it was actually a Mechanical Crow.

The Mechanical Crow spoke in a human voice: "I heard the person ranked second in the first-day leveling is a C-Rank Class-Changer?"

The cold, mechanical tone echoed, and the atmosphere in the room became inexplicably quiet.

The principals looked at each other.

The man before them was an Inspector sent down from the provincial level—a truly big shot.

As for the purpose of his visit, it was said to be for selecting personnel.

Nothing specific had been stated.

Now that he had suddenly asked about the leveling rankings, the principals were unsure of the intent behind his question.

Eventually, they tacitly shifted their gazes toward the principal of First High School.

"Yes, a C-Rank Shield Guard named Chen Ming."

The principal of First High School was a slightly chubby man who looked to be in his fifties.

"Chen Ming likely teamed up with the SS-Rank Class-Changer Qin Zhixue to level up on the first day, which is why he had such a rapid increase."

The principal of First High School explained.

"An SS-Rank teaming up with a C-Rank, what a waste."

An untimely voice rang out from the side.

It was the principal of Third High School.

A tall, thin old man.

"Indeed."

Another person chimed in.

The principal of Fifth High School stroked his beard and looked at the principal of First High School, saying:

"I say, Principal Zhou, an SS-Rank Class-Changer is the future backbone of the Alliance. Aren't you letting that child be held back?"

"Look at Principal Wang and me; we know how to focus on the students' future development, having the two S-Rank Class-Changers from our schools form a team to maximize their potential."

Principal Zhou's face darkened.

Bah!

He cursed inwardly.

These two old geezers.

They really knew how to pin labels on him.

In front of the Inspector, they were stepping on him while elevating themselves.

It was clearly because his First High School produced an SS-Rank Qin Zhixue this year, and knowing they couldn't compete, they had no choice but to join forces.

At this moment, the Mechanical Crow on the middle-aged man's shoulder spoke again.

He was clearly uninterested in the 'infighting' among the principals and skipped the topic entirely.

The words that followed, however, made the principals perk up.

"The quota allocated by the Alliance has been finalized; Jiangnan Province only has two slots for squads."

"Since you produced an SS-Rank this year, I will be the one to set the assessment criteria for Cloud Sea City."

These two simple sentences caused the atmosphere in the room to fall into silence.

The principals' expressions varied, clearly showing their inner turmoil.

They had previously only known that the Alliance had set up an extra assessment for this Grand Exam, but they hadn't realized the slots were so scarce.

The entire Jiangnan Province only had two squad slots?

Most importantly, an Inspector was personally acting as the examiner?

Looking at it this way, this 'slot' was no simple matter!

"Old Zhou, look, should we have that child Qin Zhixue come over and join the Abyss Squad?"

"Yes, yes, the competition is fierce this time, and our Cloud Sea City must seize the opportunity. We must have the most potential individuals form a team."

The principals of Third High School and Fifth High School, who had been 'sarcastic' toward Principal Zhou just moments ago, were now crowding around him with smiles on their faces.

"Who is your 'Old Zhou'?"

Principal Zhou tilted his head to the side, directly ignoring Principal Wang and Principal Wu.

He knew exactly what those two were thinking.

The two S-Rank Class-Changers in the Abyss Squad were their grandsons.

Now that they realized the importance of this "quota," they were looking to latch onto Qin Zhixue, an SS-Rank Class-Changer.

After all, while S-Rank Class-Changers were rare, every city had at least one or two.

But there were only two SS-Rank Class-Changers in the entire Jiangnan Province this year.

It was hard to say whether the squad quota allocated by the Alliance was specifically intended for SS-Rankers.

Those two old fogeys were just trying to secure benefits for their grandsons.