After turning off his phone, Chen Ming took out a tiny crystal.
It was a rare mental resource he had received as a reward for his ranking.
The pure-white crystal rested on Chen Ming's fingertips.
A faint arc of light shimmered within it.
Chen Ming still couldn't stop thinking about what Qin Zhixue had said today.
He felt that the so-called [mental skills], which most people couldn't awaken, had to be extraordinary.
After all, from Qin Zhixue's perspective, she had no idea he possessed the max-level SSS-Rank [Absolute Defense].
Yet she had still bluntly told him that awakening a mental skill would be enough to "change his fate."
That showed just how powerful these mental skills had to be.
Looking at the [Mind Crystal] in his hand, Chen Ming tried to focus his mental power, but still couldn't make heads or tails of it.
In theory, the higher one's mental potential, the stronger one's ability to probe with their mind.
His mental potential was a full 19%, yet he still couldn't see through it.
Of course, Chen Ming didn't doubt that this rare resource was genuine.
It was an item awarded for the Grand Exam. There was no way it could be fake.
"Let's train first. I'll see what's going on once I reach 20%."
Chen Ming sat up.
Raising his mental potential required meditation.
It was something that would accompany a Class Changer throughout their life.
Becoming a Class Changer didn't mean one could abandon training their mental potential.
If anything, it became even more important.
The higher one's mental potential, the more it directly boosted a Class Changer's mental power—in other words, their "mana."
To a certain extent, it could even enhance the power of active skills.
Mental potential was especially important for classes like mages.
"Phew..."
Chen Ming drew a deep breath, and his breathing gradually steadied.
Then he closed his eyes and calmed his mind.
Once their mental potential reached 10%, meditation could perfectly replace sleep, allowing Class Changers to recover their condition more effectively.
And now that he knew 20% mental potential was the foremost condition for awakening a skill, Chen Ming was naturally all the more eager to train.
He could also feel that he was already very close to 20%.
Maybe...
He'd break through tonight!
The room fell quiet, with only Chen Ming's steady breathing to be heard.
Faint moonlight spilled in through the window, falling over him as a thin layer of light seemed to form across his skin.
Chen Ming's delicate features were tinged with a healthy flush. He felt a warm current slip into his head and shoot up to the crown.
It was very soothing.
His exhausted mental power recovered rapidly.
Before he knew it, he had become deeply absorbed in meditation.
He gradually lost all sense of time.
The night passed in a flash.
By eight in the morning, the Class Changers of Cloud Sea City had begun arriving at the outskirts of the urban district.
They were getting ready to level up on the second day.
After the previous day's level rankings were announced, people paid special attention to those on the list.
Especially the top ten.
They were all promising talents who might grow into powerful Class Changers in the future.
There was just one outlier among them: Chen Ming.
A C-Rank class had taken second place on the level rankings. That had never happened in any previous Grand Exam.
At the border, on the top floor of a high-rise building,
a burly, stern-faced middle-aged man stood by the window.
He watched in silence as Class Changers below set out in groups toward the outskirts of the city.
"This year, nearly twice as many of our Cloud Sea City Class Changers reached Level 2 on the first day as last year—one hundred and ninety-one in all. And two reached Level 3."
Several elderly men stood behind him. One of them was reporting the figures.
Any Class Changer who had been there would have recognized them as the principals of Cloud Sea City's various schools.
They could be called the most influential people in the entire city.
Yet at that moment, the principals stood respectfully behind the man, with none of their usual air of authority.
Just then, a crow flew out from nowhere and landed on the middle-aged man's shoulder, facing the principals.
Its entire body shone with a metallic black sheen. It was a mechanical creature.
The Mechanical Crow spoke in a human voice. "I heard that the second place in the first-day level rankings was a C-Rank Class Changer?"
Its cold mechanical voice echoed through the room, but for some reason, the atmosphere fell silent.
The principals exchanged glances.
The man before them was an Inspector sent down from the province—a very important figure.
As for why he had come, he had said it was to select people.
He hadn't made clear what for.
Now that he had suddenly asked about the level rankings, the principals couldn't tell what he was getting at.
In the end, they all tacitly turned to the principal of First High School.
"Yes, a C-Rank Shield Guard named Chen Ming."
The principal of First High School was a slightly plump man who looked to be in his fifties.
"Chen Ming must have teamed up with the SS-Rank Class Changer Qin Zhixue on the first day. That's why he leveled up so quickly," the principal of First High School explained.
"An SS-Rank and a C-Rank teaming up? What a waste."
The ill-timed remark came from the principal of Third High School.
He was a tall, thin old man.
"Indeed."
Someone chimed in.
The principal of Fifth High School stroked his beard and looked at the principal of First High School as he spoke.
"Principal Zhou, an SS-Rank Class Changer is one of the Alliance's future pillars. Aren't you holding that child back?"
"Just look at Principal Wang and me. We care about our students' futures, so we've paired our two S-Rank Class Changers from our schools to make the most of their potential."
Principal Zhou's face darkened.
Bah!
He cursed inwardly.
Those two old bastards.
They were really good at pinning blame on him.
They were taking a jab at him in front of the Inspector while making themselves look good.
They had only joined forces out of desperation after realizing that First High School had produced Qin Zhixue, an SS-Rank Class Changer, and they couldn't compete.
At that moment, the Mechanical Crow perched on the middle-aged man's shoulder spoke again.
It clearly had no interest in the principals' little schemes, and went straight back to the point.
What it said next made the principals perk up.
"The Alliance has finalized the slots. Jiangnan Province only gets two team slots."
"This year, you've produced an SS-Rank Class Changer, so I'll be setting the assessment for Cloud Sea City."
Those two simple sentences plunged the room into silence.
The principals wore different expressions, their thoughts clearly in turmoil.
They had known the Alliance had set up a special assessment for this year's Grand Exam, but not that there would be so few slots.
The entire Jiangnan Province only got two team slots?
Most crucially, the Inspector himself would be in charge of the assessment?
Clearly, these "slots" were no ordinary matter!
"Principal Zhou, how about having Qin Zhixue come over and join the Abyss Squad?"
"Right, right. The competition will be fierce this time. Cloud Sea City needs to seize this opportunity. We have to form a team with our most promising candidates."
The principals of Third and Fifth High Schools, who had been mocking Principal Zhou moments ago, now crowded around him with smiles.
"Who are you calling 'Principal Zhou'?"
Principal Zhou turned his head aside, ignoring Principal Wang and Principal Wu.
Did he really not know what those two were thinking?
The two S-Rank Class Changers in the Abyss Squad were their grandsons.
Now that they knew how important these "slots" were, they wanted to hitch themselves to Qin Zhixue, an SS-Rank Class Changer.
After all, though S-Rank Class Changers were rare, most cities had at least one or two.
But this year, there were only two SS-Rank Class Changers in the entire Jiangnan Province.
It was hard to say whether the Alliance had designated these team slots specifically for SS-Rank Class Changers.
Those two old bastards were trying to secure an advantage for their grandsons.
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