Second Awakening? The Machine Malfunctioned

A Second Awakening? The Instrument Crashed!

In the evening, the communicator at the Jiang City Martial Arts Association testing center let out a sharp ring.

Inside a single-occupancy office, Wang Xiaoming, who had been practicing the Mystic Meditation Method, was startled awake.

He reached out to fumble for the thick-bottomed glasses on his desk and settled them firmly onto his face.

Only then did he reach out to pick up the receiver.

He listened quietly for a moment, his eyes widening behind the lenses, before he replied hesitantly:

"Um... I understand, My Lady. Please don't worry, I'll be there right away."

With his hair in a disarray, Wang Xiaoming hung up the phone and sat stunned for a long while, his face a mixture of shock and disbelief.

A colleague passing by with a stack of documents was drawn by the light still shining in his office and poked his head in to ask:

"Expert Wang, still not off work this late? Still drilling into that mental power research of yours?"

"Haha, I'm leaving, I'm leaving." Wang Xiaoming gave a hollow laugh, subconsciously covering up, "Just had a new idea pop up, got a bit carried away, that's all."

The colleague shook his head while clutching the documents, smiling, "You're too dedicated. Who in the Association doesn't know you're the most invested in mental power martial arts?"

"But hasn't the Mystic Meditation Method already been gradually opened for exchange? The results are encouraging; you should relax a little."

"Oh, look at the time. Alright, I won't keep you, goodbye!"

Wang Xiaoming gave two dry laughs and bid his colleague farewell.

His heart was already a tempest of crashing waves.

The call had come from Du Qionghua.

She said her son, Chen Yan, had suffered another incident!

This time it wasn't a simple fainting spell, but... the boy had been encased in a giant, red egg!

She couldn't explain the specifics over the phone; her voice had been laced with sobs as she begged him, the expert, to come and take a look immediately.

Of course, Wang Xiaoming remembered that child!

He was the one who had submitted the nomination for that child's spot in the Grandmaster Project!

But how much time had passed since that last application? Two and a half years at most?

How could he have caused such a massive stir again? And turned into an egg, of all things?!

Constitutional mutation... or a second awakening?

Terms that existed only in theoretical research were being dredged up from the depths of Wang Xiaoming's mind.

Wang Xiaoming took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart.

He hesitated no longer, stood up immediately, grabbed his coat, and prepared to head downstairs.

Inside a room at the testing center, Wang Xiaoming met the frantic Du Qionghua and Yu Lei, who was standing to the side.

Chen Kefa was away, and when Du Qionghua needed someone she could trust and who had the capability to handle such "unconventional" events, her first thought was this old comrade-in-arms of Chen Kefa's.

It was Yu Lei who had helped safely transport Chen Yan's egg to this location.

"Expert Wang! You've finally arrived! Quick, come and take a look at Xiao Yan!"

Seeing Wang Xiaoming, Du Qionghua grabbed onto him like a lifeline and hurriedly led him toward the center of the room.

There, on a large bed that had been specially moved in, sat a giant egg over a meter tall, its entire surface a dark, ominous red!

The surface of the shell was not smooth; instead, it had faint, vein-like patterns resembling flesh and blood that pulsed weakly, radiating a faint warmth and an indescribable energy fluctuation.

"This... this is..." Wang Xiaoming adjusted his glasses and leaned in for a closer look. Even with his extensive experience, he couldn't hide his shock, "It really is an egg?!"

"Teacher Li from the kindergarten suddenly called to say that Xiao Yan had fainted in the classroom and wouldn't respond to anything."

"I rushed over in a panic, and the moment I arrived, I saw him like this." Du Qionghua said, her eyes reddening again as she reached out to touch the shell lightly.

Her voice was choked with tears and lingering fear.

Wang Xiaoming forced himself to calm down.

He recalled the previous records and turned to comfort Du Qionghua:

"My Lady, please don't be too anxious."

"Think carefully, didn't a similar situation occur when Xiao Yan was a hundred days old?"

Du Qionghua was stunned: "That's right..."

"At that time, he formed a golden cocoon, and later broke out of it..."

"Not only was he fine, but you even said it was a good thing and had him join the Grandmaster Project..."

Wang Xiaoming continued along Du Qionghua's train of thought:

"I suspect this is very likely another benign change triggered by Xiao Yan's special constitution, a deeper level of metamorphosis."

He tried his best to keep his tone relaxed and confident: "Let's use the equipment to run a test and see the specific data; then we'll know for sure."

That said, Wang Xiaoming actually had no confidence at all in his heart.

He had studied special constitutions for many years, but for someone like Chen Yan to trigger two such violent and completely different phenomena in just two and a half years was simply unheard of!

He directed Yu Lei:

"Mr. Yu, please push the Basic Vital Signs Monitor over here."

Yu Lei remained silent, his movements efficient as he pushed the instrument to the bedside.

Although Wang Xiaoming was advanced in age, his hands and feet were anything but slow!

He skillfully attempted to place the sensor probe near the surface of the eggshell.

However, the probe seemed to be interfered with by some kind of invisible force field; the waveforms on the data screen jumped violently a few times, and in the end, it actually displayed a string of garbled characters and error messages!

Wang Xiaoming frowned: "The vital signs in all aspects... cannot be read stably? The interference is very strong."

He thought for a moment, then added: "Mr. Yu, please bring over the Portable Blood-Qi Measuring Instrument as well."

Yu Lei complied once again.

Wang Xiaoming took the delicate yet sturdy instrument, took a deep breath, and carefully aimed the detection end at the dark red eggshell.

He pressed the detection button.

"Beep—beep—"

The instrument emitted a harsh alarm, and an error message appeared on the screen.

Wang Xiaoming: "???"

Du Qionghua's heart jumped into her throat: "Expert Wang, what... what is going on?"

Wang Xiaoming did not answer immediately.

His brows were locked tight as he silently moved the detection end away from the eggshell.

Then, unexpectedly, he pressed it directly onto Yu Lei's arm nearby.

Yu Lei was stunned for a moment.

Although puzzled, he did not move, trusting Wang Xiaoming and cooperating with the test.

"Beep."

The instrument gave a soft sound, and the screen steadily displayed a line of numbers: [Blood-Qi Value: 1788 points].

"What the... isn't this working?!"

Looking at the normal reading on Yu Lei's arm, Wang Xiaoming nearly let out a curse.

The instrument wasn't broken, and the test on Yu Lei was fine, so the problem could only lie with the egg.

The Blood-Qi, or rather the energy, contained within the egg itself had already exceeded the measurement limit of this portable instrument!

Fine beads of cold sweat seeped from Wang Xiaoming's temples.

To be able to make this instrument error out, the existence inside the eggshell must have a Blood-Qi level that had at least touched the threshold of a Grandmaster, or perhaps even higher.

"Expert Wang?" Seeing him remain silent for so long, Du Qionghua's voice carried a hint of a sob, "Is it... is it that my Xiaoyan..."

Just as everyone in the room was feeling uneasy, a crisp "crack" suddenly came from the giant dark red egg on the bed.

The three pairs of eyes were instantly drawn to it, and they saw a crack spreading across the eggshell without warning.

Before they could react, the crack spread rapidly like a spiderweb, and with a muffled "boom," the entire eggshell burst open violently.

As the shell fragments fell away, a bare-skinned infant figure appeared in the center of the bed.

Chen Xiaoyan happened to be facing away from the crowd, his fair, tender little bare bottom pointed squarely at his mother, Du Qionghua, who was standing closest.

He seemed a bit dazed himself; he nimbly twisted his body, his round, bright black eyes meeting the gazes of the three dumbfounded people in turn.

After a brief silence, his little mouth curled up, revealing an extremely awkward smile.

Look at the mess this has caused,

Why are so many people looking at my butt...