"Old Zhou, think this through. This isn't a small matter. Jiangnan Province only has two slots."
"Although Qin Zhixue is SS-Rank, the other cities will definitely join forces this time and form an all-S-Rank team. If Cloud Sea City doesn't join them, we might not be able to compete."
Principal Zhou fell silent.
He naturally understood the stakes.
As Cloud Sea City's SS-Rank Class Changer this year, if Qin Zhixue didn't secure a slot,
Cloud Sea City would be utterly humiliated.
In a more serious case, the provincial authorities might even hold them accountable.
Seeing Principal Zhou fall silent, the two principals, Wu and Wang, smiled.
They offered him a way out.
"Don't worry about this. We'll take care of it."
At most, they'd just have to promise a few benefits.
Besides, as long as Qin Zhixue wasn't a fool, she should know what to choose.
Teaming up with a C-Rank or with two S-Ranks—did she really need to think about it?
Principal Zhou opened his mouth, then stopped himself.
Actually, he still held on to a sliver of hope for Chen Ming.
That was why he'd turned a blind eye to an SS-Rank teaming up with a C-Rank.
A potential value of 19%...
That was a truly terrifying level of mental talent.
"If that kid can awaken a mental skill, he might still be able to turn things around."
As a principal,
he knew some of the secrets surrounding mental potential.
It was just that awakening one of those things was far too difficult.
High potential alone didn't guarantee success.
"Is there anything special about Chen Ming?"
At that moment, the Mechanical Crow on the Inspector's shoulder spoke again.
Principal Zhou hurriedly replied, "His mental potential is very high. It's just a shame..."
He sighed.
It was just a shame that he'd awakened as a C-Rank Shield Guard.
The Mechanical Crow stared at Principal Zhou.
"Oh? How high?"
"Before his awakening, his mental potential had already reached 19%," Principal Zhou answered honestly.
"19?"
A rather hoarse voice rang out.
By the window,
the Inspector turned around.
This was the first time he had spoken. Until now, the crow had been speaking "on his behalf."
"Where is this Chen Ming now?"
Chen Ming finally finished cultivating.
He let out a long breath and felt vitality surge through his body.
The night had been incredibly comfortable.
It was like a weary person sleeping soundly for an entire day, waking up refreshed and full of energy.
The instant he opened his eyes,
[mental potential: 20%!]
"I really broke through!"
Chen Ming's face lit up with joy.
A mental potential of 20% was a hurdle for Class Changers.
Successfully crossing it brought great benefits.
The most important benefits came in two areas.
The first was the mental space.
Who could refuse the ability to store things?
The second was the ability to probe with one's mind.
Chen Ming grew excited.
He recalled what he'd learned in class and prepared to open up his mental space.
But the next second, a notification popped up from his Class panel.
[mental potential reached 20%—]
[Would you like to awaken a "mental skill" now?]
"Huh?"
Staring at this sudden prompt, almost identical to the one that had appeared during yesterday's class awakening,
Chen Ming was stunned.
"Wait... awakening a mental skill is that easy?"
He blinked, staring at the notification and checking it over and over.
Wasn't it supposed to be difficult?
Wasn't it said that even after reaching 20% mental potential, most people still couldn't awaken one?
This seemed to be absolutely effortless for him.
"Isn't this something anyone could do?"
Was mental awakening really as exaggerated as they said?
After all, he still hadn't used the [Mind Crystal] he'd received as a reward for yesterday's level ranking.
Based on what he'd learned from talking with Qin Zhixue yesterday,
once ordinary people broke through to 20%, they could start absorbing rare mental resources.
The more resources they absorbed, and the greater the energy they contained, the higher their chances of awakening a mental skill.
Moreover, they had to complete this process before reaching 21%.
Once they reached 21%, they could no longer awaken a mental skill.
Absorbing more rare resources would be useless; at most, it would improve their cultivation speed.
Qin Zhixue had advised Chen Ming that during the Grand Exam, if his mental power broke through 20%, he shouldn't cultivate any further. He should try to delay reaching 21% for as long as possible.
But now,
Chen Ming had just reached 20%, without absorbing any rare resources at all.
He'd hit the threshold using nothing but his own bare potential.
Looking at the "Yes/No" prompt before him, Chen Ming still didn't rush to awaken.
Instead, he calmed down.
Awakening a mental skill was essentially the same as class awakening, except for an additional hidden threshold.
Naturally, the level of the skill awakened should be affected by rare resources.
The more energy-rich substances he absorbed, the higher the skill's level.
Since he was going to awaken a skill, Chen Ming naturally wanted a better one.
He took out the [Mind Crystal].
Unlike yesterday, Chen Ming could now sense the difference in the object in his hand.
He could clearly feel a pure energy flowing through the white crystal.
Attribute energy!
Chen Ming instinctively felt a powerful yearning.
He wanted to absorb it right away.
So he did.
A minute later...
Crack—
The [Mind Crystal] in his hand made a cracking sound, its white surface turning grayish brown.
Then it crumbled into powder.
"That was too little. It's nowhere near enough."
Chen Ming licked his lips, still wanting more.
After absorbing the Mind Crystal's attribute energy, he was certain his earlier thought had been right.
Rare mental resources could also affect the level of an awakened mental skill!
If he imagined this process of absorbing attribute energy as filling a water pool,
then absorbing that [Mind Crystal] had only added a ladle of water to a dried-up pool.
It was far too little!
"Don't rush, don't rush."
Chen Ming took a deep breath, fighting the urge to awaken his mental skill right away.
Awakening now might feel good in the moment,
but it didn't mean he'd get a high-level skill.
He didn't want to know he could've done better and be left with regrets.
"You can't rush good things."
Chen Ming reminded himself.
Although he could tell that filling the "water pool" might take a terrifying amount of resources,
at the very least,
Chen Ming wanted to gather as many resources as possible before awakening.
Take a gamble, and turn a bicycle into a motorcycle!
After all, a skill that was too low-level wouldn't be of much use to him.
"I'll open up my mental space first."
Chen Ming shifted his attention, making himself stop thinking about awakening a mental skill.
He was afraid the more he stared at it, the more tempting it would become, until he couldn't resist awakening it.
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