50: Awakening Day

Wan the Second pulled out his knife and walked straight towards the pupa, his eyes filled with fanaticism.

Gao the Third, lying on the ground, had only one breath left, his eyes staring intently, filled with unwillingness.

Tang Ping walked out from the corner. He was quite surprised by what Wan the Second had just said, as it was indeed something he had never heard of.

Besides Talent Users, there were Mutants?

A special group of people who modified their bodies.

"Who!" Wan the Second turned around, vigilantly looking at the newcomer, a murderous intent already in his eyes.

"Who it is doesn't matter."

From the shadows, a teenager wearing a baseball cap emerged.

"What matters is..."

"You're going to die."

Ice spread across the ground, and Wan the Second's face instantly filled with terror: "A Talent User!"

He wanted to escape, but the ice had already spread to his feet. In his struggles and pleas, he gradually turned into an ice sculpture.

Tang Ping didn't pay attention. Originally, he hadn't intended to kill the other party; after all, he was still very kind. At most, he would just rob them of some money based on the principle of splitting things in half upon meeting.

But then again, who made him suddenly find the other party displeasing?

"So the Great Emperor Moth's pupa has this kind of effect."

If it really could make someone a Mutant, whether strong or weak, Tang Ping knew that its value was far beyond what 200,000 xingyao coins could measure.

However, for others, the extremely precious pupa held little appeal for Talent Users, especially those with high-level Talents.

But to ask Tang Ping to simply sell it after learning this news, he was somewhat unwilling.

After a moment of thought, an idea formed in his mind. Tang Ping walked over to Gao the Third.

The man still had one breath left. Upon seeing Wan the Second die, his eyes showed satisfaction and complexity, before he silently closed them.

Gao the Third knew that he definitely wouldn't live. Whether this Talent User made a move or not, he would die.

"Do you want to become a Mutant?"

The clear voice dripped onto his heart, which was gradually failing from blood loss.

Gao the Third opened his eyes, seemingly disbelieving what he had just heard.

He wanted to open his mouth, but found that he didn't even have the strength to do so.

"I can give you this opportunity, but you must serve me as your master from now on and never betray me. If you agree, blink twice. If you don't agree, I will let you die more comfortably."

How could Gao the Third not agree? No one wanted to die, especially when he still had hope of becoming a Mutant who controlled the transcendent!

Moreover, he had a wife, a lovely son, and parents; he wanted to live.

So Gao the Third blinked without hesitation.

"Very good."

"Remember the decision you made today."

"Remember that your life was given by me."

"Remember that your power was also given by me."

"If you choose to betray me..." Tang Ping's face flickered in the crimson light, seemingly with a slight smile.

"Alright, I won't say the rest. If I do, you'll really die."

Tang Ping dripped a drop of S-rank life potion onto Gao the Third's chest, then reached out and grabbed him, bringing him to the King Worm pupa.

The pupa was very large, easily able to hold a person.

The Cold Light Sword flashed in his hand, immediately cutting an opening. He shoved the dying Gao the Third inside.

As for whether this was the correct way to do it, Tang Ping didn't know. Anyway, Gao the Third was going to die regardless, as he had only used one drop of life potion, which was far from enough to revive someone with a pierced heart.

Closing the pupa again, Tang Ping discovered that although this pupa of the transforming King Worm had no ability to resist, it was not only extremely hard but also possessed very strong self-healing abilities.

If his strength hadn't surpassed fifty, and he also had an f-rank transcendent weapon, it would have been truly difficult to open.

The Cold Light Sword's gleam flickered, and Tang Ping dug out the entire pupa.

He placed it inside his Shelter.

Of course, he hadn't considered leaving the pupa there; wouldn't it be better to put it in his Shelter and carry it with him?

Tang Ping left the underground garage.

At this moment, Gao the Third, inside the pupa, had already fallen into a deep sleep.

If one had a microscope, they would discover that what seemed like a calm scene was actually undergoing astonishing changes!

Especially within Gao the Third's body, his blood, bones, and muscles were all undergoing unknown transformations.

Tang Ping didn't yet know that by mistakenly placing the transforming King Worm pupa into his Shelter, he had actually chosen the most correct way to open it!

And this method would also allow for a greater inheritance of the Great Emperor Moth's power.

Xingyao Safe Zone, District 43

Back home, Tang Ping began to tidy up his current house, discarding all items belonging to his uncle's family.

Afterward, he took out the secret manual and continued to memorize its contents.

The next day

Xingyao Safe Zone Seventh Junior High

Today was a very important day for the third-year junior high students.

Awakening Day!

If one successfully awakened, without a doubt, they could directly achieve a class leap.

Even though the probability was very low, it still didn't diminish the importance of this day.

Tang Ping also returned to his class. Xingyao Safe Zone Seventh Junior High had over two thousand third-year students. In previous years, usually only five or six successfully awakened.

Among these five or six people, most were F-rank or E-rank Talents; high-level Talents were rare.

On the playground, students from each class stood.

The entire third-year awakening used a single Awakening Stele.

Tang Ping didn't know where this stele came from, or why it had the ability to grant ordinary people a panel, and he was very curious.

Was this Awakening Stele man-made, or did it come from a dungeon or a doomsday treasure chest?

"Next! Class Three, Wang Qi!"

..."Next! Class Five, Liu Le!"

"Next!"

The awakening process was very fast; basically, one only needed to place their hand on the Awakening Stele. If successful, the stele would light up.

And one would also be able to see their personal panel.

The Awakening Stele would also display the level and name of the awakened Talent.

If the awakening failed, the stele would show no reaction.

This process was quick; whether one had a Talent was known as soon as they placed their hand on it.

Tang Ping waited quietly in his class's line.

"Next! Class Five, Wang Zhi!"

The stele, which had shown no reaction for a long time, finally lit up. Everyone saw a small flame condense on the orange-red stele.

"Wang Zhi! Awakening successful! Obtained E-rank Talent!"

The Dean of Students, who had always maintained a stern face, now showed a smile: "Congratulations, student Wang Zhi, for successfully becoming a Talent User."

"I, I awakened a Talent!"

Wang Zhi was so excited he was incoherent.

The other students also cast envious glances.

Originally, they were all classmates, but from this moment on, they were no longer on the same level; their status and position could be said to be worlds apart.

Tang Ping's gaze was very sharp. He saw the Talent displayed on the Awakening Stele in front of Wang Zhi, and the corner of his mouth twitched. Good heavens, he had actually awakened an E-rank Talent, Weak Fire.

The surrounding students discussed animatedly.

"I've seen this Wang Zhi before; he was a very poor student with an average family background. I never thought he'd actually awaken!"

"Awakening has nothing to do with academic performance or family background. You can only say that heaven is fair."

"Fair my ass, you wouldn't not know that everyone in those transcendent families with Shelters can awaken, right!"

"What can we do about it? Those transcendent families are not in the same world as us. Many even live in the Wasteland, independent of the Safe Zone! Blame yourself for poor reincarnation skills, for not being born into a transcendent family."

"Heh heh, be content. If you were really born into a Gray Citizen family in another Safe Zone, that would be a truly disastrous start."

"Who's to say? I'm quite satisfied to be born in the Xingyao Safe Zone. As for being a Talent User, I haven't thought about it. I just want to go back and inherit my dad's convenience store and muddle through life."

"Next class, class nine!"

"class nine!"

"It's finally our class's turn!" The tall student in front of Tang Ping excitedly stood on tiptoe.