Chapter 60: Control
Shen Gu instinctively reached out and caught it.
The broken part of the bracelet scraped his palm, and specks of blood welled up.
"Your hand," Jian Yu said, her eyes filled with helplessness.
She was worried about Shen Gu’s wound, but also afraid that the aura she was emitting would be noticed.
Her eyes darted around. She didn’t see the wisp of green smoke rising anymore.
Shen Gu smiled, grabbing a piece of tissue to wipe away the blood. "It’s nothing. A little cut like this will heal in no time."
He looked down at the bracelet, trying to see if it could be fixed. "This material... I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before. Where did you buy it?"
"I don’t know, either. It was a gift." Jian Yu felt a pang of anxiety and subtly scanned everyone present.
Fortunately, there weren’t many nobles in her class. The highest-ranking student was Shen Gu, a C-level student.
Shen Gu had mentioned that his soul beast level wasn’t high, so he probably wouldn’t be a problem.
That only left Teacher Hu, whose true strength was unknown.
Teacher Hu’s attention was completely fixed on the hatchling peeking out of the eggshell.
With a wave of his hand, he called out, "Two students, go next door to room 112 and help me bring up the identification device."
The newly hatched Star Ridge Beast was ugly, like a skeleton wrapped in skin.
Teacher Hu excitedly had someone bring over the identification device. He picked up the beast, along with half of its eggshell, and placed it on the device to be analyzed.
The cultivation room buzzed with discussion as everyone joined Teacher Hu, eagerly awaiting the identification results.
"That counts as a successful hatching, right? It looks pretty lively. I’m sure it’ll survive."
"To be that fast, her hatching affinity must be incredibly high!"
"Before school started, we all had our levels tested. They weren’t made public, but she got in with the number one rank, so her affinity can’t be low."
"This suddenly reminds me of a certain hatching genius."
"Who? Who is it?"
...
Jian Yu knew her affinity was identified as S-level, which was why she dared to be so conspicuous.
As for the person they were talking about, he was the very persona she planned to build for herself after combing through her memories.
That person was from Emperor Origin Planet, a student at Linxing Noble Academy specializing in hatching, and was famous for his high affinity.
In his hands, Low-level Mutant Beast Eggs seemed to mature rapidly, hatching in just half an hour.
His all-time record for hatching a low-level cloned egg was eight minutes and eight seconds.
Jian Yu wanted to become a person like that, too.
Enduring Teacher Hu’s frequent, admiring glances, she silently lowered her eyes and clasped her wrist.
’This way, I won’t be so easily discarded, right?’
Xu Jianjuan’s voice still echoed in her ears: ’In a world with clear class divisions, if you can’t be a pioneer who breaks down those barriers, you must find your own use.’
Jian Yu unconsciously squeezed her wrist, her gaze losing focus.
"Don’t be sad. Your friend won’t blame you," Shen Gu said, looking at her with concern.
He guessed Jian Yu was very fond of the green bracelet; otherwise, she wouldn’t wear it every day.
His eyes swept over the few pink ribbons in Jian Yu’s hair.
When she entered the cultivation room, her outfit had been a soft, sweet pink, creating an almost cloying atmosphere. It made the splash of green on her wrist stand out all the more.
It would have been hard for him not to notice it.
"It didn’t break too badly," Shen Gu said, placing it on the desk. He lowered his voice, "It can probably be repaired. Don’t be upset."
"I’m fine. I was just thinking about something," Jian Yu explained, snapping back to reality.
She blinked, relieving the dry sting in her eyes from staring blankly for so long. "Thanks."
Without a change in expression, she picked up the bracelet, now broken in two, and stored it in her Space Ring.
She lowered her head and sent a message to Ling Yanzhi: The bracelet is broken.
Afraid he might be too busy, she copied the message and sent it to Xi Yu as well.
"Hm? What’s that smell?" Shen Gu’s nose twitched, and he couldn’t help but lean in a little closer.
He took a deep sniff. "It smells so good."
"..."
Jian Yu’s eyes widened in alarm. She unconsciously leaned back, shrinking away to the side.
Lifting her gaze, she saw hundreds of wisps of soft smoke swirling around her.
Only, the color had changed from green to pink.
Just as she had done when hatching the Cloned Egg, Jian Yu’s fingertips, resting on her wrist, twitched slightly.
She’d grasp one wisp, only for two more to escape.
Perhaps she was too anxious, and her efforts were just a frantic mess.
A rustling sound rose from all around.
The Star Ridge Beasts in the Incubation Chambers became agitated all at once.
Their gazes turned obsessive as they let out strange hisses and roars.
Those were the Hatching Beasts the students had prepared to turn in.
One student tapped their Incubation Chamber. "What’s wrong, Little Bai, what’s gotten into you?"
"That thing’s a black lump, and you call it Little Bai?" The student next to him laughed.
Then he looked at his own Incubation Chamber in confusion. "Is it in heat already? It’s so small."
"Have you people even read the textbook?" Teacher Hu’s heart sank.
"Cloned Beasts undergo targeted inhibition. Their genetic sequences don’t contain genes related to estrus or reproduction. You lot are seriously the most careless students I’ve ever taught."
He fumed, "They’re not real Alien Beasts. Even if *you* were in heat, they couldn’t be. Now hurry up and get in line. After Jian’s is identified, we’ll test all of yours before you turn them in."
The students grumbled under their breath as they got up to form a line.
Not many people had succeeded in hatching. Two weeks had passed, and only half the class had submitted their beasts.
Surrounded by the frantic and crazed cries of the beasts, Jian Yu swallowed nervously.
She glanced at Shen Gu, who was still sniffing around, took a deep breath, and tried to calm herself.
Staring at the uncontrollable wisps of smoke, she slowly tried to figure out a pattern.
’Maybe since it just triggered, I can’t control it at will yet... so... can I send it back where it came from?’
The green smoke that appeared when she touched the eggshell was like a fine thread.
Back then, she had imagined twisting it with her fingertips and successfully guided it to cover the eggshell.
But this pink smoke was hazy and soft, surrounding her whole body, its source impossible to pinpoint.
’What is it that covers almost the entire body?’
’Blood vessels!’
Jian Yu gave it a try, guiding a wisp of pink smoke to travel along the pulse of her blood vessels, the sensation extending further and further.
"Little Bai, I was already used to your awful howling. Why’d you stop? Go on, cry out a couple more times."
"We’re about to be separated, and I’m actually a little sad to see you go."
...
Finally, it was quiet.
Jian Yu let out a sigh of relief.
In a soft voice, she asked with an innocent look, "Shen Gu, what’s wrong?"
"Oh, sorry." Shen Gu came to his senses. He pinched his nose and jerked back.
They weren’t particularly close, but it looked as if they were whispering secrets, and Shen Gu still felt he had been rude.
’If Chairman Xi finds out, will he beat me? If Chief Ling finds out, he’ll definitely beat me!’
Shen Gu apologized profusely. "I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Yu. I didn’t mean to."
As he waved his hand to apologize, the cut on his palm had already healed.
There was no blood, and not even a wound was visible.
’It hasn’t even been ten minutes, has it?’
’Is this the Self-healing Ability of an Awakener? Is it always this fast?’
Jian Yu pressed her lips together, recalling the day she saw Pei Yin fighting the Red Snake.
His face was battered, the corner of his mouth bruised, his clothes torn to shreds, and his body covered in bloody marks, as if he’d been whipped. Even his clothes were soaked in blood.
But when she ran into him at the hospital later, he still had that same alluring, handsome face, without a single trace of injury.
Jian Yu felt a little jealous, and the same withdrawn expression that Gao Yu had worn earlier appeared on her face.
Her voice was slow, her expression doubtful. "Shen Gu, are you really C-level?"
"Yeah, I’m C-level." Shen Gu rubbed his nose and pointed to the brooch on his chest. "See? It’s green."
Jian Yu was baffled. "C-level is this powerful?"
Shen Gu looked a little shy.
But then he heard Jian Yu say in a soft, gentle voice, "Such a tiny little ant, and its wound healed so quickly."
Shen Gu’s mouth twitched. "..."