“What? What did you say?! You want a second awakening?!”
Chu Jianghe wondered if the blazing sun over the field had fried his brain and made him hear things.
He stared wide-eyed at the youth in front of him, the one who had just been dumped in public by his girlfriend and had only awakened an E-rank life-class profession, Seeker, still looking a bit disheveled.
Second awakening?
On Blue Star, this was not some unknown secret, but rather an unattainable dream in the heart of every awakened person.
But reality was cruel.
Once you completed your awakening through the class-transfer crystal ball, your class and its rank would be bound to you for life and could never be changed.
An E-rank class holder, no matter how desperately you leveled up, would always be just an E-rank class holder.
Although each profession advancement at Level 20 could greatly boost a class holder’s four-dimensional attributes and unlock higher-level abilities, the essence of the class itself would not change.
Just like He Wanying’s masseur class, even after advancing it would still be a masseur, and the growth rate of her four-dimensional attributes could not possibly compare with that of high-rank combat class holders.
Even if she learned new skills, they would most likely only make her massage techniques more refined.
This was also the main reason why Chu Jianghe felt sorry for He Wanying.
This shackle of fate was far too heavy and simply could not be broken.
“You are classmate Lu Sheng from Class 2 of Grade 12, right?”
Chu Jianghe forced his voice to stay steady as he tried to confirm whether this youth had lost his mind under the heavy blow. “Are you…sure you know what you are saying?”
Of course he remembered this boy; the breakup farce offstage just now was still vivid in his mind. He had just not expected that the other party would rush up on stage for something as unreal as a second awakening.
Second awakening!
That was a privilege that belonged only to the legendary twin class holders.
Yet the probability of becoming a twin class holder was less than 1 in 10,000,000.
Chu Jianghe’s gaze instinctively swept over Lu Sheng as the basic information he knew about Lu Sheng surfaced in his mind: an ordinary family background and an awakened E-rank Seeker.
Looking back through Blue Star’s history, every twin class holder was as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns on the continent and would ultimately grow into a giant who shook the entire land; how could any of them possibly have a class as the lowest E-rank?
However, as the principal, he abided by the principle of fairness in education; since a student had made the request, no matter how slim the hope, he had to grant this opportunity.
“Classmate Lu Sheng, do you really understand the requirements for a second awakening?”
Chu Jianghe spoke in a serious tone, his gaze sharp as he looked straight into Lu Sheng’s eyes.
“Principal, I understand the rules very well.”
Lu Sheng met the principal’s gaze without the slightest hint of retreat. “The class-transfer crystal ball is irreversible when used for awakening, and every use consumes a massive amount of energy; when the energy is exhausted, it is scrapped. But our country provides every citizen with 1 free awakening opportunity.”
“Once you apply for a second awakening, the school must cooperate. But if the second awakening fails, the applicant has to bear the full cost of the source energy consumed in this awakening, at a standard rate of 100,000 yuan! If the second class is successfully awakened, then the fee is waived!”
This policy was applied in every country on Blue Star.
“Since you understand the rules, then…I will respect your choice.”
Chu Jianghe nodded slowly, secretly sighing at the boy’s courage, then stepped aside and motioned for Lu Sheng to come forward.
After all, if the second awakening failed, he would have to pay 100,000 yuan in awakening fees.
That was almost a full year’s income for some ordinary families.
At the same time, the onlookers who had not yet left the field finally understood Lu Sheng’s seemingly crazy move.
“Look! Someone’s doing a second awakening! It’s Lu Sheng! That E-rank life-class class holder?!”
“Lu Sheng? His family contracted a small cotton field, right? I heard they only earn tens of thousands a year. Where did he get the nerve to gamble 100,000?! If he fails, they’ll lose everything! He must be crazy!”
“If it were those big families, they would do their second awakenings together, but I have never heard of anyone actually succeeding.”
“He isn’t some rich bro. If he really were a rich bro, when I posted that V50 pic last week, his reply should have been a 50-yuan red packet, not some V50 meme different from mine!”
“Rich bros are rich, not stupid; who would just give you 50 yuan for nothing? But Lu Sheng’s family really is just average…let alone that the probability of a second awakening is pathetically low; sometimes not even 1 in 10,000,000 succeeds. Did he really get hit so hard he can’t take it?”
“Who knows…I think he just couldn’t handle the double blow, lost his mind, and decided to go down in flames!”
“100,000 yuan, 100,000 yuan! Do you know how many kilos of ribs that could buy?! He really dares to dream!”
A group of students who had been about to leave all stopped in their tracks, turning their curious gazes… tinged with the excitement of watching a spectacle… toward the lone, all-in figure on the transfer platform.
The buzz of discussion surged like a tide, and almost no one was optimistic about Lu Sheng.
Qin Yanran stood in the most conspicuous spot below the stage, arms folded across her chest, her face openly full of ridicule and gloating. She looked up at Lu Sheng on stage as if watching a clown about to perform some ridiculous act.
“He really thinks he’s some destiny protagonist and even dreams of becoming a twin class holder just to slap my face? Dream on!”
She deliberately raised her voice and sneered, her words clearly reaching the ears of those nearby and drawing quite a few secret nods of agreement.
On the transfer platform.
Lu Sheng ignored the doubts and mockery all around him, focusing all his attention on the class-transfer crystal ball.
Success or failure would be decided here! Second class, open for me!
“Close your eyes! Focus all your mind!”
Chu Jianghe barked in a deep voice as a steady, vast wave of energy surged from his body, flowing into the crystal ball like a trickling stream and activating it.
Buzz…
The class-transfer crystal ball instantly emitted a faint glow.
“It started!”
At that moment, it was as if someone had pressed the mute button on the entire field. The murmurs vanished in an instant, leaving only heartbeats and suppressed breathing.
Hundreds of gazes simultaneously locked onto that softly glowing crystal ball.
Under everyone’s watch, the crystal ball emitted that faint light.
The rules for judging whether an awakening succeeded were very simple.
If the light in the crystal ball went out within a few seconds, it meant failure.
Only if the light stayed steady and lasted for a full minute would it count as a successful awakening.
1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds…
Everyone silently counted the time in their hearts and had never felt time crawl so slowly.
5 seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds…
Although the light inside the crystal ball was weak, it continued to shine and did not go out.
30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds…
Whispers and sharp intakes of breath began to rise from the crowd below the stage.
Qin Yanran’s expression shifted from ridicule to shock, then from shock to a dark, ashen gloom.
55 seconds…58 seconds…59 seconds…
Even Principal Chu Jianghe unconsciously held his breath as he stared fixedly at the crystal ball, an incredible light bursting forth in his cloudy eyes.
60 seconds!!!
Time was up, yet the glow still had not gone out; it even stubbornly persisted for more than another 10 seconds before it finally dimmed and faded inside the crystal ball.
A unique wave of energy spread out from the crystal ball and then poured into Lu Sheng’s body.
“Hiss… !”
After a brief dead silence, a thunderous chorus of gasps and incredulous exclamations exploded across the field.
“It…it worked?!!”
“He’s totally busted, this is completely broken!!”
“A twin class holder?! Our school…actually produced a twin class holder?!”
“H-how is this possible?! He’s E-rank!”
The students erupted into chaos, their gazes at Lu Sheng filled with extreme shock, envy, jealousy, and a trace of dazed disbelief.
A piece of trash they had just been freely mocking had, in the blink of an eye, become a legendary existence. The massive reversal left many of them unable to process it.
Qin Yanran’s face suddenly turned extremely ugly, as if struck by lightning, her whole body frozen in place and chilled to the bone.
The pride and sense of superiority she had felt from awakening an A-rank class instantly became worthless before those five words… twin class holder.
A fierce surge of jealousy and fear rose in her chest and nearly made her legs give out.
Of everyone present, she was the one who least wanted to see Lu Sheng succeed in awakening, yet now Lu Sheng had actually become a twin class holder; this felt worse to her than being killed.
Even Principal Chu Jianghe, who had weathered many storms, was so excited that his hands trembled slightly and the loose muscles on his face quivered uncontrollably.
He had done it! He had actually done it!
The first twin class holder in the centuries-long history of Lanjiang No. 3 High School had appeared during his tenure as Principal Chu Jianghe.
This was practically a heavenly omen of good fortune.
After the wild joy came a surge of even greater anticipation in Chu Jianghe’s heart; next it was time to see what rank Lu Sheng’s awakened second class would be.
Chu Jianghe thought excitedly.
According to the historical records, the rank of every twin class holder’s second class was astonishing, with S-rank as the lowest starting point.
Everyone’s eyes locked once more on the crystal ball that had just gone dim.
According to the rules, once the second class was successfully awakened, the crystal ball would light up again, and the color of this second glow would indicate the rank of the class.
As Blue Star humans gained a deeper understanding of class holders, the higher-ups among Blue Star’s martial artists had divided the strength levels of classes, skills, equipment, and other class-holder-related elements into different levels according to color.
White represented E-rank, green represented D-rank, blue represented C-rank, purple represented B-rank, yellow represented A-rank, pink represented S-rank, gold represented SS-rank, and if multicolored light appeared, it would mean the emergence of a fabled SSS-rank.
Everyone was frantically guessing in their hearts.
“Will it be S-rank?”
“Or that golden legend, SS-rank!”
“Or even the purely theoretical SSS-rank?!”
Under the gaze of hundreds of people, the class-transfer crystal ball lit up once again.
At the same time, a class-transfer success notification appeared before Lu Sheng’s eyes.
『Congratulations! Second awakening successful!』
『You have obtained the second class… Master!』