8: Many young people compete for the top spot

Yun Feiyan turned to Lu Shijie and asked, "Principal, should we start the Awakening test now?"

Lu Shijie looked up at the sky, a hint of confusion in his eyes. He felt that the sky today seemed a bit unusual, and there seemed to be an inexplicable energy growing in the air, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. Could it be his imagination?

Or was it related to the enthusiastic atmosphere at the scene today?

"Alright, let's begin!" Lu Shijie snapped back to attention and nodded.

Yun Feiyan announced with a hint of excitement, "The Awakening test begins! Class Teacher of Class 18, please lead your team up for the test first!"

"Yes!" The Class Teacher of Class 18 quickly responded, leading his students to line up and move forward...

Everyone's spirits lifted; the test and Awakening ceremony were finally about to begin!

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the first student, bearing the pressure of the entire venue, walked into the testing room with a slightly nervous expression. Approximately three minutes later, he emerged, and the announcement sounded: "Sui Kai, talent: Life-type... Overall rating: E-grade..."

"Oh..." A buzz of discussion immediately erupted. Such a talent meant he could only work in logistics in the future, but it was still much better than being a Mortal. It depended on his own aspirations; if he didn't aim too high, it was quite good.

However, Sui Kai's expression didn't seem very good; clearly, he wasn't satisfied with his talent...

Soon, one student after another went in and came out, with announcements sounding every so often. Each time, it tightly clutched everyone's hearts. Everyone was both anticipating and nervous. Even Ye He and Ye Xuan, sitting on the stage, no longer had their relaxed expressions; their faces grew increasingly tense. Clearly, they rarely experienced such immense pressure.

Because most of the talents announced were E-grade or below, with very few D-grades, this made the others who hadn't gone on stage yet increasingly nervous. Had all the students in this batch been crippled?

D-grade, that was merely the starting point of the true Martial Dao path, and only three or four had appeared so far. This situation made even Lu Shijie and Yun Feiyan on the stage find it unbelievable, and their expressions gradually turned grim.

"Zhang Li, talent: Combat-type... Overall rating: C-grade..." An announcement sounded, invigorating everyone!

"Wow!!!"

Finally, a C-grade talent appeared, and it was Combat-type! The audience immediately erupted in thunderous cheers...

"Zhang Li, isn't he from the Zhang Family?"

"That's right, the Zhang Family is also one of our five great Families in Fengyang County. Their Family owns large farms, and the grain and fruits they produce supply most of our needs in Fengyang County!"

"No wonder, Zhang Li usually doesn't show off much, but I didn't expect him to have such a strong foundation!"

"He's quite handsome too. I really want to have his babies..."

"Idiot, Zhang Li would never look at you..."

"Hehe, then I'll do it..."

"..."

Zhang Li's background was revealed by an informed person, immediately making him the center of attention. For a while, the entire venue was discussing him, which made the usually low-key him a little flustered and at a loss, as he hurriedly returned to his class's ranks.

After a while, Zhang Li's popularity hadn't faded, and the announcement sounded again: "Long Xiangning, talent: Support-type... Overall rating: C-grade..."

"Wow!!!"

"Another C-grade talent!"

"Long Xiangning is from the Long Family, you know. The Long Family used to be a prominent and powerful Family. Their foundation is still strong after all..."

"That's right, the Long Family used to be very impressive, but they've been in decline these past few years. I heard that besides their original poultry and livestock farming business, everything else is basically gone. Their business even depends on the goodwill of others!"

"Oh, we don't need to worry about that. Long Xiangning's C-grade Support-type talent is really good. It's very helpful for Combat-types and is also a very rare talent. I'm so envious..."

"That's true..."

Among the students below, there were many well-informed individuals. Long Yuan listened carefully for a while and had already gained some understanding of the Long Family's current situation. After his mother, Dragon Snow, was expelled from the Long Family, contact between them was severed. No wonder Zhu Deyuan, his predecessor, didn't know that Long Xiangning was from the Long Family, even after being at the school for so long. It's likely Long Xiangning didn't recognize him either.

Seeing that Long Xiangning was quite beautiful and now tested as having a C-grade Support talent, if the Long Family invested more in her cultivation, it should help them halt their decline.

According to the Great Ming Empire's past experience, a C-grade talent holder, with guaranteed resources, has a high chance of reaching the Martial Master level. This level is already sufficient to hold important positions in a third-tier base city like Fengyang County and establish a third-tier aristocratic Family. It can be said that their future is bright.

With two C-grade talents appearing in a row, everyone on the scene breathed a huge sigh of relief. The expressions of the school officials and the Ye Family siblings on the stage improved significantly, and Lu Shijie's face also showed a faint smile. Looking at Ye He and Ye Xuan, he felt even more composed. Since people from the Zhang Family and Long Family could Awaken C-grade talents, the Ye Family members would only be higher. So today's test shouldn't be much worse than previous years.

Indeed, the subsequent tests produced fewer super low-grade talents like F-grade and G-grade, while E-grade and D-grade constantly appeared, greatly increasing hope.

"Wang Yu, talent: Combat-type... Overall rating: C-grade..." The announcement suddenly sounded again.

"Wow!!!"

"Wang Yu!!!"

"I knew it, people from the Wang Family wouldn't be bad! Combat-type, wow!"

"Of course, the Wang Family almost monopolizes breeding and meat processing. Those exotic beasts have to be processed by their hands before they can be eaten. Can they earn less money from that?"

"Young Master Wang is usually generous and treats his brothers very well, so a C-grade talent is to be expected!"

"Makes sense, makes sense..."

While still on stage, Wang Yu heard the discussions from below, and his heart was so excited it felt like it was about to fly. He suddenly rushed to a corner below the stage, which was where Long Xiangning was standing, and excitedly said, "Xiangning, we both have C-grade talents. I'm Combat-type, and you're Support-type. How about we have a passionate love affair?!"

Long Xiangning was startled, her face flushed crimson, and she turned her head away without speaking.

Wang Yu became anxious and reached out to grab her arm, but before he could touch her, he was pushed away by someone nearby. "Get lost!!!"

"Qin Gui?! What do you want?!" Wang Yu fumed.

"What do I want?! You should look at what you want to do?! What, Xiangning doesn't agree to a relationship, so you want to force her? Let me tell you, Xiangning already agreed to be in a relationship with me. Who do you think you are?!" Qin Gui said coldly.

"You?! Impossible, impossible! Xiangning, say something, when did you agree to be in a relationship with this brat?! Huh?!" Wang Yu roared.

"I..." Long Xiangning looked bewildered, not knowing what to say. In fact, she had no idea where Qin Gui's words came from, and she herself didn't know. She felt nothing for either of these two, let alone agreeing to be in a relationship with them.

But her silence made Wang Yu believe that Qin Gui was telling the truth, and he couldn't help but feel great hatred, angrily saying, "Qin Gui, I challenge you to a duel! Whoever wins gets to be with Xiangning!"

"A duel?! Good, you've got guts! After my test, we'll find a place to duel. Let's see how many moves you can last against me!" Qin Gui finished speaking and strode onto the stage, entering the testing room.

Wang Yu glared fiercely at his retreating figure, but when the announcement sounded, his expression drastically changed, "Qin Gui, talent: Combat-type... Overall rating: B-grade..."

"Oh my god!!!" Exclamations of shock rang out across the venue.

The officials on the stage also stood up excitedly, applauding one after another...

A B-grade talent definitely belonged to the Advanced talents. If the holder had guaranteed resources, they had great hope of reaching the Martial Ancestor level in the future, which was a higher level than both Martial Master and Martial Artist!

If a Martial Artist could reach the Martial Ancestor level, it meant he had broken free from Acquired and entered Innate. His Qi and blood would be incredibly vigorous, and he could even project his Qi outwards, striking opponents from a distance. Those who reached this level were the backbone of the Empire's fighting force, each a precious existence.

In the Great Ming Empire, a Martial Ancestor was qualified to guard a second-tier base city and establish a second-tier aristocratic Family, becoming a prominent figure wherever he went!

Seeing this result, Wang Yu glanced at Long Xiangning again with some reluctance, but his body honestly and quietly retreated into the crowd. There was nothing he could do; he couldn't afford to offend a future Martial Ancestor. He could only say that he had turned against Qin Gui too quickly. If he had known about Qin Gui's talent earlier, what was one Long Xiangning to him?

Qin Gui walked out of the testing room, laughed triumphantly up at the sky, and was about to go show off to Wang Yu, but he was kept on stage by Lu Shijie and Yun Feiyan, becoming a school mascot just like the Ye He and Ye Xuan siblings.

The Class Teacher of Class Four, Sun Donghao, also straightened his back at this moment. With a future prominent figure emerging from his class, he, as the Class Teacher, felt incredibly honored and now had bragging rights for the future.

However, what he didn't expect was that Class Four produced a double surprise. Not long after, Luo Ying's test Awakening result also came out, and it was also a B-grade Combat talent, which again caused a burst of thunderous cheers throughout the venue. It was truly a series of climaxes, one after another, leaving everyone overwhelmed. Similarly, Luo Ying was also kept on stage as a mascot, and Sun Donghao's face was now glowing with pride, even looking at Cai Xiang, the Class Teacher of Class One, with a challenging gaze...

A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Although Cai Xiang had the Ye He and Ye Xuan siblings, Class Four had already produced two B-grade Combat talents, which could be said to be a guarantee. If anything were to happen to the Ye Family siblings, then his own performance would surely surpass Cai Xiang's.

Soon it was Duan Hu's turn. His steps were a bit unsteady, and he muttered to himself. After entering the testing room, he emerged a short while later with a somewhat dejected expression. He didn't want to hear the announcement, but the voice still drilled into everyone's ears: "Duan Hu, talent: Life-type... Overall rating: E-grade..."

"Not bad, Little Hu, your talent is quite high!" Long Yuan praised.

"Go away, go away, I'm almost depressed. I don't know how to face my parents..." Duan Hu sighed.

"Look at them, they're all happy for you!" Long Yuan pointed to Duan Hu's parents in the waiting area in the distance. They were cheering and waving, clearly very excited that Duan Hu had Awakened an E-grade talent.

Indeed, although an E-grade Life-type talent wasn't considered high, it wasn't too low either. In the future, if he went to a Mortal living area, he would definitely be a person of importance, able to hold a significant official position. For Duan Hu, it should be considered a good result.

Seeing his parents' happy expressions, Duan Hu's mood couldn't help but improve. He nudged Long Yuan and said, "It's your turn! I hope you're a strong pillar, so I can lean on you in the future..."

...