She realized I was a spiritual awaken! Chen Qi felt his heart rate accelerate.
Once ordinary people step on the path to becoming Transcendent, they emit a special spiritual power field.
But at the end of the day, he was just a spiritual awaken, not a true Transcendent, emitting a barely noticeable aura.
In contrast to his faint aura was the other party's spiritual power field.
The other party was clearly a frail-looking young girl, but to him, she seemed like a towering white tiger!
She was completely different from the other Transcendents he had encountered before, like the little crow and the black-eyed captain.
Such strong spiritual pressure!
Chen Qi couldn't help but remark.
Sniff, sniff, sniff!
Following that, An looked at Chen Qi again and asked curiously,
"Have you been spiritually awakened?"
"Yes."
Chen Qi nodded.
An turned back to the mayor of Maro Town and asked,
"Mayor Maro, didn't you tell me there are only six spiritual awakeners in town?
And one is about my age. Awakening at this age, he is quite impressive."
Is she praising me... Chen Qi silently ate a peanut.
At the sight of him, her face seemed to carry a faint joy, with no malice.
"There are indeed only six..."
The mayor's face was puzzled as his gaze also turned to Chen Qi.
Although he was stingy, as the mayor, he knew everyone in the town, including all their misdemeanors.
Black hair, young, and he seemed to have just been caught in heavy rain.
Isn't this Qi, who went to Moonstone City due to illness some days ago!
"Qi!"
The mayor blurted out, looking Chen Qi up and down again,
"You're back, is your illness cured?"
His Sea Beast disease was suppressed due to Deep Sea Affinity.
Being recognized... Chen Qi read the original owner's memories, trying to familiarize himself with these people:
"No, but it's temporarily suppressed. If I want to cure it, I still need quite a bit of money..."
"Oh, that's a miracle, a miracle..."
The mayor nodded his head without asking further.
Having returned from a big city, he undoubtedly experienced many troublesome things; it wouldn't be good to probe further.
The mayor kept his doubts to himself, and then with a rough voice, he said:
"Have you been spiritually awakened!?
This is a good thing, after all, our islands need courageous Transcendents!"
After speaking, Mayor immediately introduced Chen Qi to An, mentioning a young man with high inspiration afflicted with Sea Beast disease.
Why have I suddenly become the center of conversation... Chen Qi was somewhat troubled, again picking up a handful of peanuts to eat.
"I see."
After listening, An stretched out her hand and introduced herself to Chen Qi,
"Hello, Qi.
I am An, the new mentor appointed in Maro Town, responsible for assisting and nurturing all the young people nearby with potential to become Transcendents."
Mentor for beginners...
The moment he heard this term, Chen Qi suddenly had a tide of thoughts, recalling her identity!
A mentor for beginners is, simply put, similar to many game characters like priests, village chiefs, or guides.
This stems from the special system of Shell Country Academy.
Every year, Shell Country Academy selects a group of outstanding students and stations them in remote areas of Shell Country to take on the role of mentor for beginners, nurturing the young from those areas.
They assign tasks to ordinary people with potential, offer monetary and supernatural resource rewards, and can even grant occupation cards!
Also, they maintain basic order in these remote locations.
For players, mentors for beginners are literally mentors, often the NPC that many novices interact with the most.
To date, many professional guides on forums have come from these beginner mentors.
Players, through aggregating data, have a ranking of beginner mentors from the Witch Sea forums.
The very An in front of him was a famously ranked mentor for beginners!
Chen Qi took another look at her.
An, a graduate from Bei Country Royal University and a master of large-scale destructive force.
She had two nicknames.
Because she became a Third-order Transcendent at a young age and progressed in strength rapidly, developing even faster than players did!
Additionally, she often treated pirates who came to cause trouble and mocking nobles like dogs.
Thus, she had the domineering nickname An Aotian.
Also, because she served as a mentor for beginners, being very conscientious and patient, she also carried another more domineering nickname—
Teacher An!
Of course, Chen Qi preferred to use a more common and generic nickname, Teacher An.
An brushed back her white hair behind her ears and spoke again,
"The spiritual power field around you is much stronger than that of ordinary people, which proves you have the talent to become a Transcendent.
If you want to embark on the path of the Transcendent, I can offer you some guidance.
Of course, if you need help."
An extended her hand.
A mentor for beginners isn't just about nurturing Transcendents.
In a relatively remote place like Maro Town, anything related to the mysterious and supernatural is linked to this Transcendent mentor.
Chen Qi was fairly familiar with the new day's system of Transcendent professions.
But if he wanted to obtain information about the Crack, the simplest way was to seek help from this mentor for beginners.
Chen Qi extended his hand and said,
"I indeed want to enter the path of the Transcendent and I need some guidance."
The crowd watched this scene, some surprised; they did not expect Chen Qi to have survived, let alone become a spiritually awakened with great potential.
At that moment, An's father, the red-faced tavern owner, loudly said,
"Alright, An, this is your celebration, not a time to talk about work, or to listen to some old fool ramble on.
"You should know, everyone still wants to hear about your experiences in the capital."
As he spoke, the tavern owner glared fiercely at Maro Town's mayor!
"Now is not the time for certain self-important figures making impractical demands."
The mayor of Maro Town hung his head, feeling as if he had shrunk.
An gave a bitter smile, then said to Chen Qi:
"Let's talk after this celebration is over."
"Yes."
Chen Qi agreed.
After An left, the disheartened mayor of Maro Town sighed heavily, a look of depression on his face.
Suddenly, a light seemed to flicker in front of the mayor's eyes, and he scratched his thinning scalp:
"Chen Qi, you're back. It seems you hit a wall in Moonstone City.
But don't worry, the timing of your return is just right!"
"Why?"
Chen Qi deliberately made a puzzled expression.
Based on his speculation, the reason An, as a Transcendent, had come to Maro Town to serve as a mentor was a decision made by Shell Country's high command.
The Crack Tide was approaching, and the high-ranking officials in charge of monitoring the cracks must have also noticed abnormalities.
Therefore, they had dispatched some Transcendents ahead of time to prevent the situation from worsening.
Of course, Shell Country probably hadn't completely confirmed the arrival of the Crack Tide yet.
Once they had, more and more 'newbie mentors' would appear on these coastal islands.
The mayor of Maro Town stroked his goatee:
"You might not know, but several new cracks have appeared here in the Moonstone Islands lately."
New, unknown cracks! Chen Qi immediately asked:
"Cracks, Mayor of Maro Town, do you have specific news?"
"I don't know, after all, I'm old and no longer at an age to take risks.
From the mentor's reaction just now, your talent is quite impressive.
If you're lucky, perhaps in a few weeks, you could become a First-order Transcendent, just like my son.
You're about the same age, so you could support each other then,
especially since, as you know, cracks are too dangerous, and a slight misstep can mean death. We're not like those city nobles who were fed Transcendent Occupation Cards with their milk...
The mayor of Maro Town said a lot all at once.
Even the mayor of Maro Town doesn't know, so it seems I'll have to ask the newbie mentor... Chen Qi thought to himself, taking a sip of his beer.
The mayor of Maro Town sat down next to Chen Qi, also pouring a glass:
"Sigh... not every young person can have innate talents like An from an early age...
It might turn out like you or my child, clearly having talent but unfortunately havng gotten sick.
I hope with your return this time, you can become a Transcendent soon and earn the money to cure your illness.
If you really need money, you can also borrow from me."
The mayor of Maro Town clinked his glass with Chen Qi, continuously voicing his worries.
On one hand, he hoped his child would become strong early, but on the other hand, he feared his child dying tragically in a crack.
Having said that, the mayor of Maro Town wanted to drink a few more glasses with Chen Qi, but before he could drink, he thudded onto the counter, passed out drunk.
That's it, passed out? That's a bit weak...
I haven't eaten enough yet! Suddenly, Chen Qi noticed two newspapers at the spot where the mayor of Maro Town had passed out.
In this world without the internet, newspapers are the quickest way for ordinary people to learn about the world's status.
Chen Qi picked up the newspapers, and at the top of the page, it read 'White Dove Newspaper' in big letters, with golden letters spelling 'Pelu Larn' underneath the title.
The White Dove Newspaper is renowned for its timeliness, aiming to report major events in the Witch Sea as they happen.
From the date in the bottom left corner, it seemed it was freshly printed yesterday.
"Witch suspected of appearing, slaughtering the Black Rabbit Gang, is this true or false?"
"Pirate Emperor's Black Whale Group's big move, according to sources, the Black Whale Group has found a legendary treasure map.
As of yesterday, fifty ships under the command of the Black Whale Group had set sail.
What kind of treasure has the Black Whale Group so agitated? Stay tuned for White Dove Newspaper's chief gold medal journalist, Pelu, to unravel it for you tomorrow."
Black Whale Group... Chen Qi thought.
Now, the Black-eyed Captain must still be looking for him.
He was sold to the Black Whale Group's Sawshark by human traffickers.
And the group of kidnappers who abducted him rarely cared about where their slaves came from.
That means, for now, Sawshark does not know his origins, and finding him could take some effort.
Chen Qi folded the newspaper and decided to remain as vigilant as possible.
The second newspaper was the Witch Times, part of the same company as the White Dove Newspaper, but the content was quite different.
The Witch Times aimed to use an artistic approach to depict human love and hate.
Furthermore, their editor-in-chief liked to use her paintbrush to boldly and profoundly illustrate the body curves of the news protagonists in a roller-coaster manner.
Simply put, it was melodramatic and borderline sensationalistic.
Chen Qi frowned as he read, continuing to eat.
Two hours of eating and drinking flew by in an instant...
...
"Phew~"
Chen Qi patted his full belly; this was probably the most satisfying meal he had had since arriving in this world.
Unbeknownst to him, many people were drunk and lay on the ground like mud.
Only a few were still sober.
Thud!
"Aren't you drunk?"
An rolled up her pant legs and leaped over the mud-like figure known as the mayor of Maro Town, approaching Chen Qi.
Chen Qi said:
"No, I didn't drink much, I just ate quite a bit."
"I'm also not good at drinking."
She took a deep breath, her sparkling blue eyes looking at Chen Qi,
"It's finally over, let's talk, shall we? The smell of alcohol is too strong here. Can you come to my room?
I have a really good Transcendent Occupation to recommend for your path to becoming a Transcendent."
Transcendent Occupation recommendation? A flicker of curiosity crossed Chen Qi's eyes. He got up and followed her.