Chapter 1 The Inauguration

The auditorium was a venue for various collective meetings and major ceremonies within the academy. Its dome was extremely high, covering a vast area, enough to accommodate over ten thousand people. The interior was decorated in a simple silver and white color scheme.

The inauguration ceremony was held today. Nearly four thousand new students gathered in the auditorium, along with academy leaders, mentors, and some senior students.

At this moment, the seats in the auditorium were divided into three layers from front to back. The front row was for the academy mentors, the middle was for senior students, divided into several distinct departments, and at the very back were all the new students sitting together.

After a chaotic search, Zhou Jing and his three buddies finally found their seats, chatting and observing the situation in the venue.

Only the hundreds of new students who had traveled together on the same ship were familiar with each other. Most of the other new students were strangers, and they had not yet met the senior students, so they were unaware of their backgrounds. Therefore, the group mainly observed the academy mentors who arrived one after another, identifying the Esper badges on them to see what level of ability users they were.

Before long, the academy's senior leaders had basically arrived, and the seats on the stage gradually filled up. Shen Xinqin, whom he had met before, was also among them...

Next to her, in the main seat, sat a heroic middle-aged man with white hair at his temples. Two deep nasolabial folds made him look very serious. He also wore a rainbow badge representing a Level 5 Esper on his chest. In front of his seat was a nameplate that read "Lü Zhongsu".

"That's the dean of the Azure Planet Chidu Esper Academy. There are only four Level 5 Espers in our academy: the president, vice president, and two professors," Xu Lingyun whispered.

"He looks like a very strict person," Zhang Xiao muttered.

"I read on the academy website before that, apart from the dean, the other three Level 5 Espers all have courses they teach. Our martial arts path course mentor is Shen Xinqin. It's a pity that Level 5 Espers don't teach basic courses; we can only get guidance when we enter advanced courses. I don't know if we will get the chance in our first year," Xu Lingyun said with some regret.

Hearing this, Zhou Jing shrugged, noncommittal.

Xu Lingyun, Zhang Xiao, and he had enrolled in the same martial arts system course and would be attending classes together.

Although the courses were dazzling, making Xu Lingyun and Zhang Xiao envious, as gene-potion enhanced individuals with physical enhancement abilities, the two simply chose the same Esper knowledge courses, which were not only suitable for their own enhancement path but also allowed them to exchange ideas and progress together.

The two planned to try it out first. If they didn't have any talent in this area, it wouldn't be too late to switch to another system of cultivation.

As for Li Xiaoyin, because her superpower was very different from the other three, she chose another Esper knowledge course and did not attend classes with them.

Esper knowledge courses all start with the basics. Students are only taught the next level of knowledge after completing one level of cultivation progress. Therefore, they are divided into basic, advanced, and other course stages.

The academy not only teaches written knowledge, but the mentors will also personally guide the students' cultivation and answer their questions, so as to prevent the students from going astray. This is the biggest benefit.

Basic courses are generally taught by ordinary substitute teachers, whose level does not exceed Level 3 at most, and may even only be Level 2. Only when they enter advanced courses can they receive guidance from figures at the level of professors and vice presidents. The course that Zhou Jing and the other two enrolled in, taught by Vice President Shen Xinqin, was such a course.

If they cultivate well in this Esper system, they may be valued by the mentor and have the opportunity to receive private tutoring.

"Alas, what I'm most afraid of is memorizing cultural courses. I hope it won't be too difficult. If I fail the assessment after two years and have to repeat a year, that would be terrible."

Li Xiaoyin rubbed her temples in distress.

She had always been average at studying. To put it nicely, she had outstanding practical skills; to put it bluntly, she was half a good-for-nothing. She got a headache just thinking about studying, and she couldn't understand it even if she forced herself.

On the other hand, her sports performance was excellent... Unfortunately, compulsory education focused on cultural courses, so her grades were always poor. Although she wasn't one of the worst, she was still a mediocre student.

"Don't worry, the key cultural courses at the Esper Academy aren't mathematics, physics, or chemistry. Unless you choose a career as a researcher, you'll mostly be tested on ideological education and Esper laws..."

Zhou Jing laughed.

Xu Lingyun nodded in agreement: "Maybe we won't have to stay for four terms and can graduate early."

The Esper Academy re-educates awakened individuals, generally for two years.

Every day, awakened individuals may be born. The normal enrollment frequency of the Esper Academy locally is once every six months, so the students' years are divided into four terms, from first-term freshmen to fourth-term seniors.

Therefore, the academy holds a major exam every six months. Those who pass the exam can apply for early graduation, complete the ability user examination, and officially enter society.

If they stay for two years and complete their studies, they must take a final exam.

If they fail the final exam, they will have to postpone their graduation depending on the situation, and make up the failed courses until they pass the exam. This is generally limited to a few compulsory cultural courses, and they can no longer freely choose courses. The development of personal superpowers can only determine their resume and is not included in the conditions for graduation.

However, there is another situation for postponing graduation, which is when their GPA is particularly excellent and they still have great potential. Such students can continue their studies.

In this case, they do not need to make up cultural courses, but are qualified to continue choosing courses, delve into some Esper system courses, and continue to enjoy the academy's cultivation resources.

The group chatted in low voices for a while, and the people in the auditorium finally arrived, gradually quieting down.

Dean Lü Zhongsu coughed and began to give a speech, the gist of which was a series of official welcomes, nothing surprising.

It wasn't until after the routine address that Lü Zhongsu changed the subject and brought up the issue of department allocation:

"...The Chidu Esper Academy promotes good team competition. All students are divided into three departments: Crown, Battle Flag, and Gem. Every new student must join one of them and participate in various academy activities in the form of a department organization.

Each department has a chief mentor who is responsible for the specific operation of the department.

Because there are a large number of new students, the main method is to randomly assign most students to a department through the system, but students can also submit the department they want to join in the intranet background. The academy's artificial intelligence will analyze and judge, and consider it as appropriate.

New students are qualified to change departments once. Before the end of the first term, if they feel that the assigned department is not suitable, they can submit an application. As long as the reason is justified and approved by the mentor group, they can change departments. However, this is limited to first-term freshmen. From the second term onwards, they cannot change departments."

Zhou Jing nodded secretly.

This model is relatively friendly to new students, giving them a chance to "change camps".

But from another perspective, it is also encouraging competition between departments, showing their own excellence, so as to compete for some powerful new students to enrich their own strength.

'After the new students enter the academy, they will probably face a great war to attract people...'

Zhou Jing thought to himself.

At this time, Lü Zhongsu continued:

"New students have the right to actively choose... and each department also has the qualification to choose new students.

At the beginning of the new term, the three departments each have a different number of selection quotas, which are designated by the chief mentor to select the new students of the current term. The selection order is determined by the department's total score ranking in the previous term."

Zhou Jing's heart stirred.

This is probably a system specially designed for high-potential students, to balance the number of high-potential new students joining each department to a certain extent...

In addition, the ranking of each term determines the selection order for the next term, which also encourages competition between departments.

At this time, Lü Zhongsu turned to look to the side and said, "Then please introduce yourselves, chief mentors of each department."

As soon as he finished speaking, three people on the stage reacted.

The three people, both male and female, were all Level 4 Espers and were the respective heads of the three departments. First, they introduced themselves, and then they began to introduce the situation of their own departments.

The three departments in the academy, Crown, Battle Flag, and Gem, have different names, but they actually do not have their own specific tendencies.

The details of the strength comparison between the departments will not be detailed here, and can only be found out later, so Zhou Jing only listened to a general idea.

Under the chairmanship of Lü Zhongsu, the stage quickly reached the point where the three departments designated their selections.

Each department had ten selection quotas. Battle Flag selected first, Gem second, and Crown last, in alternating order.

The big screen displayed the selection results of each department, of course not selected on the spot.

The department mentor groups are qualified to view the new students' resumes and key recommendation lists, and have already decided. At this time, they are only broadcasting it to go through a sense of ceremony, so that many students know which potential new students each department has.

Everyone looked at the big screen, and the first name quickly appeared.

[Li Xiaoyin, SS grade, Battle Flag Department]

In the next second after the result was displayed, whether it was the senior student group or the new student group, there was a commotion.

"SS grade! There is actually such a high-potential one among this year's new students."

"Sure enough, the new students who immigrated here, whether in quantity or quality, are much higher than the local recruits from the new colonies."

"Tsk, the Battle Flag people have made a good catch this time..."

A burst of discussion sounded.

As expected, it's Xiaoyin...

Zhou Jing wasn't too surprised.

This model is similar to talent shows. Basically, the first person selected is the most outstanding figure among a group of new students. The SS grade is naturally a choice with extremely high priority.

As the selection progressed, he found that other than Li Xiaoyin, there were no other SS grades in this term of new students.

Lin Kun, He Changqing, Wu Fan, and others were all selected by different departments. Soon, the dozen or so S-grade new students in this batch were also selected.

There were still some quotas left, and the departments began to select A-grade potential.

One familiar or unfamiliar name flashed by, and Zhou Jing's name only appeared on the big screen until the last quota.

[Zhou Jing, B grade, Crown Department]

"I was selected last... I thought no one would choose me."

Zhou Jing was a little surprised.

The logic of these department selections is obviously based on potential. The A-grade potential was far from being selected, but a department selected him.

It must be the reason why he showed his strength and drew with Lin Kun at the beginning. Landing on the last selection, it seems that this Crown Department has a bit of a gambling nature, preferring not to have A-grade potential, but to open his "mystery box".

Although it was the last selection, being among the thirty designated selection quotas is definitely different from the treatment of ordinary students who are randomly assigned. He can get special attention from the department mentors, and he definitely won't suffer.

'It really is a good flag to plant, and I'm actually separated from Xiaoyin...'

Zhou Jing shook his head helplessly.

He can't hug thighs anymore, a huge loss!

Well, there is still a chance to change departments. I'll see then.

He understood why he was selected, but the other uninformed new students and senior students were stunned.

For a time, the students present were in an uproar.

Not choosing an A-grade potential, but a B-grade?!

Everyone knew that there must be a reason for choosing like this, but they still couldn't help but feel surprised. What virtue or ability did this B-grade have to be selected?

Some people questioned the mentor's choice, and some were curious about Zhou Jing's ability...

But no matter what their thoughts were, more people subconsciously remembered the name "Zhou Jing" and were very interested in him.