Chapter 36: Earth-Grade
Su Ke said, "My goodness, I can't believe it. 1,000,000. How long would an ordinary family have to save to come up with that?"
Ye Tian sighed. "That's why ordinary people can only awaken once in their lives. The energy required for a second talent test and awakening is the same, so unless someone is willing to pay out of pocket, a second test is impossible."
Su Ke frowned. "What if there really is someone with great potential, but the test result was wrong?" Ye Tian replied helplessly, "There's no solution. Providing free awakening opportunities already costs an enormous amount."
"If second awakenings were also free, even with intervention, it could only be sustained 2 or 3 times at most. After that, the personnel responsible for gathering energy would be completely overwhelmed."
Su Ke shook his head. "This thing… it's really expensive." Ye Tian nodded. "That's why one free awakening is the limit of what the state can provide."
"But you don't need to worry. Talent detection has never made a mistake in all these years. Once a talent is awakened, it belongs to you. Even if a powerful talent was misjudged due to a detection issue, it would still be discovered later."
He continued, "The third year of high school requires compulsory cultivation. Every student who awakens a Supernatural Ability must cultivate under the school's arrangements. Even if they're lazy, a strong talent will inevitably show rapid growth."
As if remembering something, Ye Tian quickly added, "Oh, right. Those who undergo a second awakening do pay a certain fee, but don't misunderstand. None of that money goes into my pocket; it's all handed over to strengthen Yan City's defenses."
"Understood, understood," Su Ke replied immediately.
Zhang Xin said, "Alright, enough talk. We're here to test talent. Brother Ye, how much will it cost to retest my nephew?"
Ye Tian smiled and waved his hand. "Talking about money makes us strangers. You brought great glory to our city by awakening a Legendary Rank talent back then, and I still feel your reward wasn't enough."
"There's no need to pay for this test." Zhang Xin nodded decisively. "Alright, it's settled then."
Ye Tian led them inside. They arrived at a heavily guarded room, with dozens of armed personnel patrolling outside, all carrying real firearms.
"Awakening Crystal Balls are extremely valuable," Ye Tian explained. "Security here is strict. Everyone stationed here is at least Second Rank."
He swiped a card, and the door opened to reveal a room filled with more than 100 crystal balls.
"To prevent theft, only one of these is real. The rest are high-quality replicas. Special methods are required to identify the real one, and schools take turns using it during the awakening season."
He took out an instrument resembling a radar. "This is a specialized detector. Only with it can the real crystal ball be located."
After activating it, a red dot appeared. Ye Tian led them to the marked crystal ball. "This is the one. Place your hand on it."
Su Ke placed his right hand on the crystal ball, but after a while, there was no reaction.
Zhang Xin frowned. "What's going on?" Ye Tian sighed. "It seems this one is fake. I knew our luck wouldn't be that good."
Su Ke: ???
Zhang Xin: ???
Ye Tian coughed awkwardly. "Even with the detector, there's still a risk of tampering. So I set it up so that between the 1st and 20th attempts, one crystal ball is randomly designated as real."
"It could be the first, or it could be the twentieth. All the others are fake."
Su Ke said sincerely, "You're really cautious." Ye Tian laughed. "You flatter me."
They tried more than a dozen times before finally finding the real one.
The moment Su Ke placed his hand on it, the crystal ball erupted with brilliant light.
"Earth-Grade! Earth-Grade!" Ye Tian exclaimed. "Another Earth-Grade! My goodness. An Earth-Grade that might not appear in 50 years, and this year there are 3!"
He was completely shocked. Zhang Xin being Legendary Rank was a different matter; hers was a once-in-a-generation miracle and a massive stroke of luck for the entire city.
Earth-Grade talents were different. Normally, only one appeared every 40 or 50 years. Having 2 in the same year was already incredible, and now there was a third.
This meant stronger political achievements for him and another future pillar for Yan City. It was a win on every level.
Ye Tian was secretly grateful he had agreed to the retest. Otherwise, such a precious gem would have remained buried.
After Su Ke withdrew his hand, Ye Tian stepped forward. "It seems the facts support your claim. There was indeed an issue with the initial detection."
"This was our responsibility, and it caused you to be wrongly labeled for so long. How about this: I'll apply for 3 bottles of Advanced Spiritual Energy Potion as compensation. What do you think?"
Blaming it on detection error was just a polite excuse. Talent detection had never gone wrong for hundreds of years, yet it failed in this case.
Anyone with insight could tell that Su Ke's Supernatural Ability must have some special characteristic that caused the initial misjudgment.
Ye Tian knew this as well. His words were meant to build goodwill.
An Earth-Grade talent that appeared once in 50 years might not stand out in major cities, but in Yan City, it was top-tier.
Moreover, Su Ke was close friends with Wang Zhong and Lin Ning, the heirs of the Wang Family and Lin Family.
Wang Zhong also possessed Earth-Grade talent, while Lin Ning's was only slightly lower, at Zhuo Grade. Once they matured, they would all become key figures in Yan City.
Using a small price, not even his own money, to befriend 3 future top geniuses was an easy decision.
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