17: Chapter 17 The Cloud Emperor is awesome!

As the strange lights gradually faded, the construction site erupted.

Those who successfully completed their Awakening were dancing with excitement.

Those around them who hadn't awakened looked on with immense envy.

Becoming a Professional was a life-changing event—something to make one's ancestors proud!

It was a matter of bringing honor to one's family!

With this status, not to mention a small place like Flower City, even if they went to a lower-level city, they could still make a living!

However, they didn't stay happy for long before realizing something was off.

Something was wrong!

Nine out of ten things were wrong!

When did Awakening to become a Professional become so easy?

One or two would be fine, but appearing in a swarm?

Previously, the entire Flower City had over sixty thousand people, and apart from the hundred or so Professionals in the Chamber of Commerce, there were only the 21 members of the City Guard.

Together, that wasn't even two hundred people!

Now, in the time it takes to eat a meal, nearly a thousand Professionals popped up?

Is this right?

"Strange..." A young man rubbed his stomach, his eyes full of confusion. "Why do I feel a hot current surging through my body after eating this meal?"

As soon as he said this, others around him echoed the sentiment.

"Yes! I have the same feeling!"

"I had a similar feeling when eating the Spiritual Qi rice before, but this time, it's much stronger!"

"It's numb, it's tingly, it actually feels pretty good!"

Someone slapped their thigh hard. "Hey! You guys, do you think our Awakening is because of this?"

"Must be!" One person next to him responded loudly. "Even with my butt, I know it has to be related to this! Otherwise, why not awaken earlier or later, but exactly at this time?"

Others stated with certainty: "Spiritual Qi! This warm current must be Spiritual Qi! Only enough Spiritual Qi can allow one to undergo Awakening!"

Everyone didn't deny this point.

But the question was, where did the Spiritual Qi come from?

They had eaten the Spiritual Qi rice before they started working, and there hadn't been such an intense feeling.

So...

"It's the meat! This meat is definitely not ordinary meat!"

"Exactly! Although I haven't eaten meat many times, this meat is exceptionally fragrant! Exceptionally delicious!"

"Hiss! So this meat... could it be even more precious than the Spiritual Qi rice?"

"I dare not think! Spiritual Qi rice is already 100 silver coins per jin, if this meat is more precious than Spiritual Qi rice, how much would it cost?"

At this moment, an old man said slowly:

"Ordinary meat doesn't have such abundant Spiritual Qi. The Spiritual Qi rice is a Silver Rank food. So this meat, in my opinion, must be at least Gold Rank!"

"Oh my goodness!" People gasped. "Gold Rank!"

Thinking about the meat they had just swallowed whole, realizing it was Gold Rank food, their expressions changed dramatically.

There was shock, there was touched emotion, but more than that, it was a deep sense of panic and inferiority.

"Before the City Lord arrived, I hadn't even seen Bronze Rank items, how did I get to eat Gold Rank things?"

"Sigh... we commoners, how are we worthy of such treatment from the City Lord?"

"Building a new city for us to live in, distributing Spiritual Qi rice, and now giving us Gold Rank food to eat..."

"Why didn't the City Lord tell us in advance?"

"Yes! Giving it to people like us is a waste!"

At this time, Lei Lie couldn't watch anymore.

He stepped forward, his voice loud like a bell, tinged with slight anger,

"You people, stop complaining after getting a good deal!"

"Does the City Lord want to see you all sighing and looking miserable after giving you such good things?"

"Let me tell you! The City Lord didn't tell you the truth because he wasn't counting on you to pay him back!"

"But this attitude of yours really makes me angry!"

"Are you done eating? If you're done, get back to work!"

"Don't be an eyesore!"

Although Lei Lie's scolding was harsh, it woke everyone up.

That's right!

The Spiritual Qi rice, they ate it!

The meat, they ate it too!

It was already in their stomachs, could they throw it up?

Who were they putting on a sour face and wallowing in self-pity for?

"Work, work!"

"Move it! Still sitting here after eating? Do you really think you're Professional masters?"

"Cut the crap! I'm a Professional now! I'm going to do three times, no! Five times the work!"

"Stop bragging! Don't let me, who hasn't awakened, do more work than you!"

"Wanna race?!"

"Bring it on!"

On the city wall, Wan'er walked quickly to Zhou Yun's side,

"City Lord, the count is out. Just now, a total of 5074 Professionals awakened here!"

5074?!

Behind Wan'er, Lei Lie, who had just walked up to the city wall, was shocked!

He knew many Professionals had awakened this time, but he didn't expect this many!

Newly awakened Professionals were considered Black Iron Rank, the lowest level of Professionals.

But even at Flower City's absolute Peak, all the Professionals in the city combined didn't exceed two hundred!

This one meal created twenty-five times the combat power of Flower City's Peak period?!

Seeing Zhou Yun didn't respond, Wan'er continued to report:

"Among these 5074 people, there are the most Warriors, 765 of them. Archers are second, with 674. Apart from that..."

After listening to Wan'er's report, Lei Lie rubbed his hands excitedly and muttered in a low voice:

"Great! This is absolutely great!"

"The distribution of various professions is quite even. With just a little training, beast tides and the like will be nothing to fear!"

However, compared to Lei Lie's excitement and agitation, Zhou Yun just stared blankly down at the city wall, looking at those who had awakened, his eyes somewhat unfocused.

"Those who didn't awaken, does that mean... they can't awaken?" he asked softly.

Although so many people awakened, he was very happy for them.

But what about himself?

He had eaten the Spiritual Qi rice, he had eaten the meat, and he hadn't eaten less than anyone else!

But why hadn't he awakened?

Was his Aptitude poor?

Or was it that he simply had no way to awaken?

Although as City Lord, he didn't have to worry about safety as long as he stayed in the city.

But seeing so many people awaken while he couldn't, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

Hearing Zhou Yun's question, Lei Lie was stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud. "City Lord, don't worry!"

"As long as there is enough Spiritual Qi, there is almost no one who cannot awaken!"

"So-called talent is nothing more than the human body's affinity for and capacity for Spiritual Qi."

"People with good Aptitude have a low threshold and can cross it with a little Spiritual Qi stimulation to awaken as a Professional."

"And for those with poor Aptitude, as long as there is enough Spiritual Qi, they can also awaken! It's just a matter of being fast or slow!"

Although Lei Lie said it lightly, Zhou Yun still had some worries in his heart.

Lei Lie said there was almost no one who couldn't awaken.

That meant there were indeed people who couldn't awaken.

This was the same as what the teachers taught in school.

With this on his mind, he had no heart to stay on the city wall.

After handing things over to Wan'er and Lei Lie and the others, he returned to the City Lord's Mansion.

Lying on the bed early, he tossed and turned, the more he thought the more restless he became, so he simply took out his phone to see the situation of the others in the class.

To see if there were any "patients" with a "condition" similar to his.

Although the City Lord world seemed to be a different world from the Azure Continent he Transmigrated to, miraculously, their networks were connected.

WeChat could also be used normally.

Among them, the 999+ unread messages in [Senior Year (2) Class Forward Charge] were exceptionally conspicuous.

As soon as he clicked in, he was immediately flooded with "worship" on the screen.

[Holy crap! Handsome guy is awesome! 1056 Professionals, terrifying!]

[Is this the gold content of a 721 score in the college entrance exam?!]

[Kneeling!]

[Scared to tears!]

[This is an S-Level City! The starting point is our finish line!]

[Does the big shot need a pendant? Please carry me!]

1056 Professionals?

Zhou Yun raised an eyebrow.

This number was still quite astonishing.

As a small city, when Flower City was just taken over by him, his subordinates only had 21 Professionals including Lei Lie.

Comparing the two, it was truly a world of difference.

At this time, the main person, Wang Shuai, appeared.

[Wang Shuai: Don't be like that. It just looks like a lot, but actually, most of them are Black Iron Rank, there are only fifty-something Bronze Rank, and there are only three Silver Rank.]

As soon as this was said, there was another howl in the group.

[Can you hear that? Is that human language?]

[Bronze Rank is fine, but there are even Silver Rank!!]

[If I had this lineup, I would wake up laughing in my dreams!]

[With such a lineup, I'm afraid the beast tide would be scared to pee if it came?]

Zhou Yun found it increasingly boring.

When he was in class, Wang Shuai never lacked followers around him.

As a result, after graduating from the college entrance exam, everyone became a City Lord, and it was still the same atmosphere.

Moreover, he didn't see the chat content he wanted to see.

Just as he was about to turn off his phone to sleep, someone in the group suddenly tagged him.

[Wang Shuai: @Zhou Yun, how is it over there? Is the start of an F-Level City quite difficult?]

This tone, seemingly caring, was actually full of sarcasm.

Zhou Yun felt very helpless about this.

He didn't know why, even though he didn't talk much in class, Wang Shuai had hostility towards him and would always target him.

And as soon as Wang Shuai spoke, others immediately followed:

[F-Level City... wouldn't there be not even a single Professional there?]

[No Professionals isn't scary, what's scary is that there might not even be food! Plus, it's freezing here, hiss...]

[@Zhou Yun??? Why aren't you talking? Could it be... maybe...]

[Ah! This kind of thing, don't! Yameite~]

Just as a few people were tireless...

[Chu Xinran: That's enough! We were classmates, is it necessary to rub salt in the wound?]

Chu Xinran was the class beauty and, besides Wang Shuai, the one with the best college entrance exam score, assigned to an A-Level City.

As soon as she spoke, the group quieted down a little.

[Wang Shuai: Relax, Xinran, I'm just caring about our classmate! Zhou Yun, say something, how many Professionals do you have? Even if there's just one, there's always room to operate!]

[Chu Xinran: Don't call me that, I'm not familiar with you!]

[Zhou Yun: 5074.]

After sending the message, Zhou Yun turned off the screen and prepared to sleep.

He wasn't sleepy at first, but after looking at his phone for a while, he inexplicably felt sleepy.

Little did he know, as soon as he finished sending the message, a long string of complaints and ridicule followed.

[5074? 5074 what? It wouldn't be 5074 Professionals, right?]

[Wow! An F-Level City that's even more awesome than an S-Level City! Unheard of!]

[Amazing, amazing! Could it be a child of destiny?]

[Hey! You misunderstood! He clearly meant 5074 citizens!]

[Ah? Not necessarily, right?! It's a city after all, only five thousand people? Not even ten thousand?]

[That's enough! They are already miserable enough. If you guys keep being sarcastic, I'll have to join in!]

[Wang Shuai: You can't say it like that, maybe classmate Zhou Yun really meant 5074 Professionals? With such strength, I suppose he can easily survive the beast tide? I'll congratulate him in advance!]

[Yes, yes, yes! Congratulations in advance!]

[+1!]

[Congratulations to Emperor Yun for surviving the beast tide in advance!]

[Emperor Yun is awesome!]

Zhou Yun naturally didn't see these words.

He only saw Chu Xinran's avatar suddenly pop up.

[Chu Xinran: Zhou Yun, ignore them, keep working hard!]

[Chu Xinran: Survive the first wave of the beast tide, and I'll come visit you!]

[Zhou Yun: Okay.]

After that, Zhou Yun sent two messages to Father Zhou.

[I'm doing well today, don't worry.]

[Don't forget to take your medicine before going to bed at night.]

Putting down his phone, he pulled up the quilt and found a comfortable position in the warm bed.

"Sleep!"

The next morning.

Zhou Yun had just woken up when he faintly heard the sounds of working coming from the west.

"Still working now?"

He immediately rolled out of bed.

"What's going on with Wan'er, Lei Lie, and Elder Tie? Did they really let everyone work all night?"

He hurried to the West Gate city wall.

When he climbed the city tower and looked down past the parapet, he was completely stunned.

"This... what is this doing?!"

I saw that on the construction site outside the West Gate, not only was there no scene of exhaustion lying around as he imagined, but instead...

They were even more motivated than yesterday!

And, the style had become extremely bizarre and magical!

If you didn't look closely, you would even think this was two major armies fighting!

Boom!

Not far away, a piece of Blue Steel Rock as big as a millstone blocked the foundation line.

If it were before, at least three or four strong men would have to shout slogans and use iron hammers to knock for a long time.

But now?

I saw a young Warrior who had just awakened, holding that Black Gold Mountain-Crushing Pick in his hand, eyes wide with anger, shouting violently:

"Furious Slash!!"

Hum! A blood-red battle Qi light instantly flashed on the pick head, smashing down fiercely with the momentum of splitting mountains and shattering stones!

"Crack!"

With a crisp sound, that incredibly hard Blue Steel Rock was like tofu, instantly shattering into neat fragments, not even needing secondary crushing!

"Good! Next one!" The Warrior, still unsatisfied, carried the pick and rushed to the next target.

And in the Black Pine Forest on the other side.

Originally, logging was a hard job, requiring both cutting and removing branches.

But now?

A mage wearing coarse linen clothes elegantly waved the... bamboo stick in his hand.

"Wind Blade Technique!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several cyan crescent-shaped Wind Blades whistled out, cutting across the tree trunk with extreme precision.

As the tree collapsed with a boom, the Wind Blades remained undiminished, like a precision peeler, instantly trimming the branches on the tree trunk clean, with the cuts so smooth that they didn't even need polishing!

"This works too?" Zhou Yun's mouth twitched.