Chapter 17: Awkwardness on the Silver Screen

"Very well, your number is 43. Go to the energy testing grounds and wait."

Li Chenqiu took the number tag from the woman, thanked her, and followed Zhu Cheng away.

On the way, Zhu Cheng asked with curiosity, "Xiao Qiu, you said your strength is greater than a First-Tier Awakened's. How much greater, exactly?"

Li Chenqiu looked up, pondered for a moment, and replied earnestly, "Using my full strength, it's roughly close to a Fourth-Tier."

"So it's Fourth-Tier... wait!" Zhu Cheng screeched to a halt, his eyes widening in disbelief. "Fourth-Tier???"

"Yes. Just messing around is Third-Tier; full strength is Fourth-Tier," Li Chenqiu said calmly, as if he were mentioning something trivial.

"You... you aren't joking, are you? Full strength is Fourth-Tier???" Zhu Cheng took a step back, looking Li Chenqiu up and down.

It wasn't that he doubted Li Chenqiu’s character, but the claim was simply too outrageous. Since when had anyone in the history of the Federation possessed the strength of a Fourth-Tier while only being a First-Tier? As far as Zhu Cheng knew, such a precedent did not exist.

Li Chenqiu was not surprised by Zhu Cheng's reaction. His strength truly transcended common understanding, and it was only natural for others to be skeptical. However, whether they believed him or not was their business; he only needed to focus on using his full strength.

Before today, Li Chenqiu had intended to remain a low-profile Awakened, but that idea had been completely dispelled by Zhu Cheng this morning. Zhu Cheng had told him about a way to rapidly improve all physical functions: consuming beasts that had become "Resurrected." The meat of these Resurrected beasts contained a special life energy that could comprehensively enhance the consumer's physique.

While this life energy could not be used for regeneration or delaying aging for others, Li Chenqiu was not restricted by this. After all, the life energy he absorbed from eating pigs, sheep, cows, and ducks could already delay his aging, and at the end of the day, Resurrected beasts were still animals—there was no real difference.

There were only four ways to obtain such meat. The first was to buy it, a path Li Chenqiu didn't even consider. The second was to hunt in the No-Man’s Zone, but that was too slow, and Li Chenqiu knew nothing about the area or how to identify a Resurrected beast. The third was to join the Special Ability Bureau or the Security Administration; the Federation would provide regular rations of meat to members, but joining these institutions required training at a military base, and only after passing that could one enter the bureaus.

The fourth way was the Federation’s Awakened Academies. These institutions were dedicated to cultivating powerful Awakened to serve the Federation and naturally provided the meat. Furthermore, upon graduation, the academies guaranteed placement, and the assigned institutions were, of course, the Special Ability Bureau or even the superior Security Administration.

Li Chenqiu had chosen the fourth path. This was the kind of academy he needed—one that could boost his strength while elevating his social status!

According to Li Chenqiu’s research, there were seventy-three Federation Awakened Academies, and his goal was the top four: Longnight Academy, Changwu Academy, War Academy, and the Federation Tianyuan Academy. Behind each of these four stood influential figures of the Federation, and the latter, the Federation Tianyuan Academy, was funded directly by the Federation itself. Every student who graduated from there was fast-tracked into the Security Administration—a meteoric rise in status!

On the way, despite Li Chenqiu repeating his strength several times, Zhu Cheng remained steadfast in his denial and kept pestering him with questions. Eventually, Li Chenqiu simply stopped talking; there was no point in arguing with someone who refused to believe.

***

Behind the Special Ability Bureau’s office building lay a plaza the size of several football fields. The ground was paved with black steel, hot and scorched under the sun. Sophisticated instruments were placed around the plaza, with neatly dressed staff standing by them, busy with calibrations.

A large crowd of people of varying ages and backgrounds had gathered in a corner of the square, whispering amongst themselves.

"I wonder if my ability will be rated a D. If it’s a D, I’ll be set for life!"

"In your dreams. With an ability like yours, getting a D is just wishful thinking!"

"Watch your tone. I heard the recruiters from the various academies are watching us right now."

"I heard there are several elemental-type users among us, and one very strong special-type."

"What's the point of worrying about them? Just focus on being a background character."

The crowd murmured, their faces showing varying degrees of anxiety. At that moment, a figure walked in from the entrance of the plaza—it was Li Chenqiu. Since unauthorized personnel were not allowed in the testing area, Zhu Cheng had to watch Li Chenqiu’s performance from the screening hall.

Li Chenqiu stood in place and scanned the gathered crowd, his deep eyes devoid of ripples. They were too weak. His sixth sense told him that even if they all attacked him at once, they wouldn't stand a chance.

"No wonder the Special Ability Bureau is so incompetent. It’s not just the director who’s rotten; the people underneath are weak too," Li Chenqiu muttered quietly. He then leaned against a wall, closed his eyes, and rested.

Li Chenqiu hadn't said that just to be snarky; he wanted to test if the screening hall could monitor his words. He hadn't asked via phone because staff had told him to keep his phone on silent and put away upon entering. If the hall could hear him, Zhu Cheng would likely text or call him, and his phone would vibrate.

As Li Chenqiu suspected, the number tag he held was a small microphone, and with full surveillance coverage of the plaza, his words and image were currently being broadcast in the screening hall.

***

Special Ability Bureau, Screening Hall.

In front of a massive screen, hundreds of people sat in silence as Li Chenqiu’s voice echoed through the hall. Once the scene shifted, all eyes turned to Gong Ran, who was sitting in the second row.

Gong Ran rubbed his nose awkwardly, scrolling through his phone screen with a thoughtful expression. He finally understood what the phrase "sitting on pins and needles" meant; it was truly agonizing.

Zhang Kong, sitting beside him, leaned over and whispered, "Director, should I go handle this?"

"Handle what? What an interesting kid!" before Gong Ran could speak, Ma Tianji in the first row interjected with a smirk. He was the recruitment officer for the War Academy.

"He certainly has a bold tongue. Switch the feed back to that kid; I want to watch him!" Xu Yi from Longnight Academy said with a laugh.

"What's the matter? You want this kid?" Ma Tianji asked curiously.

Xu Yi flipped through his dossier, but upon seeing Li Chenqiu’s ability, he shook his head in disappointment. "Divine Strength—a force augmentation. The potential of the ability is too low."

Gao Xing, the representative from Changwu Academy, raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "What a plain ability. I thought he had a powerful special-type like Qi Mingyue. Guess I overthought it."

While the big shots in the front row chatted and laughed, Zhu Cheng, sitting in the back, was breaking into a cold sweat. He was currently bombarding Li Chenqiu’s phone with text messages. Like Zhu Cheng, Gong Ran was also panicking, staring at the screen with anxiety, terrified that Li Chenqiu would utter another golden sentence that would make him even more restless.