"Is it possible to exceed a hundred?" Gao Ming inquired.
Gao Cai furrowed her delicate eyebrows, pondering, "Those above a hundred are rare geniuses, seen once every thousand years. They certainly exist, but not in our clan. I remember the highest potential in our clan was ninety-eight. It had the potential to reach the level of an eighth-tier saint, but unfortunately, he fell in a clan war."
When she spoke about the predecessor with a potential of ninety-eight, a hint of regret crept into her tone.
A rare genius once in a thousand years? If his speculation was correct, wouldn't his potential far surpass those so-called geniuses? No, he must keep this to himself later. Of course, all of this depended on the validity of his assumption. At this moment, Gao Ming's mood became uneasy.
"Teacher, what levels of ability can this testing crystal stele measure?" Gao Ming asked again.
"This is just a basic tester, capable of measuring abilities up to the Master level. One thousand small crystals represent the threshold between Fighter and Traveler levels. These are low-grade storage crystals, and more advanced testers use medium-grade to top-grade storage crystals," Gao Cai explained.
The next tester stepped forward and pressed a lever on the left metal frame. The silver color on the crystals quickly disappeared.
Gao Cai explained, "Besides storage crystals, the tester also requires conversion crystals. These crystals can, through contact with storage crystals, convert attribute energy into attribute-less energy, thereby dispersing the attribute energy in the storage crystals. The existence of these conversion crystal mines is rare and cannot coexist with other attribute crystal mines... Any more questions?"
"How do these storage crystals automatically gather in the lower crystals?" Gao Ming asked, feeling very curious about this question.
"This is quite complex. Teacher, I really don't know how it works... These testers are not something that can be made casually. Only a few powerful clans can manufacture them. I heard it requires a rare and special crystal series awakener to complete," Gao Cai shook her head.
Gao Ming nodded and watched as the third boy tested his ability, reaching seventy-seven crystals. It seemed that all three boys were ordinary awakenees in terms of potential.
"Gao Ming, it's your turn~~~" Gao Cai pushed Gao Ming forward and explained the testing steps. She had heard that Gao Ming belonged to the rare group of late-blooming innate awakenees, a phenomenon that was a once-in-a-century occurrence. He seemed to have a strong potential, so she was quite curious.
After the three boys finished testing, instead of leaving, they stayed on the side to watch Gao Ming's test.
Gao Ming approached the testing crystal stele, placed his hand on it, and a brilliant light emanated. Recalling the feeling of his first awakening, he realized this sensation had become ingrained in his instincts during awakening. Therefore, he just needed to consciously feel it for a moment. A strange sensation surged from his forehead, spreading through his neck, shoulders, arms, and the palm of his hand pressed against the crystal stele. Then, a scorching sensation appeared in the palm.
Gao Ming didn't close his eyes. He wanted to observe the storage crystal's condition. If it turned out to be too abnormal, it wouldn't be good. Regardless of the world, maintaining a low profile was an enduring truth.
The crystal stele instantly emitted a faint red light as the fire energy began to gather in the storage crystals below. One, two, three... ten, eleven... forty... eighty... ninety... ninety-one... ninety-two... ninety-three. Gao Ming knew it was enough, quickly retracting his ability. Instantly, all the red light on the crystal stele converged towards the ninety-fourth crystal below.
The red color of the ninety-fourth crystal was only slightly lighter than the previous ninety-three.
"Ninety-four crystals?" Gao Cai's eyes lit up, but there was a hint of doubt, as if she felt something was amiss. Upon careful consideration, she let go of her worries. She hadn't expected Gao Ming's potential to be so high, even among innate awakenees.
While Gao Cai was delighted, the other three boys looked at Gao Ming with eyes filled with disdain and contempt. Fifteen or sixteen years old, and his ability intensity was only ninety-four. It seemed like his ability potential was quite low.
It's not surprising that they think that way. For a fifteen-year-old awakener, it's considered a rare occurrence, almost once in a century. According to their perspective, Gao Ming has been an awakener for at least six years and is still lingering at the Scholar level. It seems this person is indeed the so-called "mediocre" as described by the teacher.
Naturally, Gao Ming is unaware of their thoughts, or he would be utterly frustrated.
After the three boys left, Gao Cai was full of smiles, expressing her surprise, "Gao Ming, I didn't expect your potential to be so high. Such high potential is only seen once every three years in our clan, and they are usually those who awakened their abilities very early."
Praised by Gao Cai, Gao Ming felt satisfied. The experiment showed that his soul was much stronger than others. When using his ability just now, he felt far from reaching his limit, indicating that surpassing a hundred was undoubtedly possible.
Now he really wanted to test his true level, but with Gao Cai present, he had to temporarily suppress this idea. Anyway, there was plenty of time. He could find an opportunity to test it when there was no one around.
"Alright, the test is over. Today's class ends here. But to help you get familiar with the environment here, let me show you around!" Gao Cai led Gao Ming out of the testing hall, introducing him to some aspects of the training camp.
Apart from awakening ability users and their teachers who usually study and train in the training camp, some ability users come here periodically. This is because the training camp has an ability user library containing numerous materials related to abilities. There are countless cultivation techniques, insights, and notes on abilities left by predecessors. These materials, apart from those passed down within the clan, are mostly collected from external sources and are very precious. The strength of a clan is not only determined by the number of ability users but also by having a vast amount of valuable ability-related information.
If an ability user doesn't even have the techniques to cultivate their ability, having a powerful ability alone becomes useless, and they won't be able to convert it into corresponding combat strength. It's a massive waste.
This ability user library is extremely important. It is said that there is a powerful ability user guarding team stationed here in the training camp throughout the year, each member having strength at or above the Traveler level.
After the tour, Gao Cai indicated that Gao Ming could leave. She mentioned that he could come at the same time tomorrow as today, and then she left.
This training castle wasn't particularly interesting, quite monotonous. If one stayed inside for too long, they would really go mad. Gao Ming left the castle, feeling the azure sky outside and the deep mountains and greenery on both sides. It was truly refreshing. The slight oppression that had accumulated in his heart inside the castle instantly dissipated.