Chapter 57: Surrendering to Her

"Which of the females present does not have an A-grade mental power? Only you are a good-for-nothing without any mental power!" Duan Qianqian pointed at Nian Tu's nose and scolded her.

The threshold for the royal selection ball was quite high, and all invited females possessed A-grade mental power, including Duan Qianqian.

As an A-grade female, she had always felt superior regarding her own mental power. Facing Nian Tu, who lacked mental power entirely, her sense of superiority was magnified to the extreme.

Duan Qianqian turned to look at the Empress, discontentedly demanding the Empress to back her up: "Aunt, she is merely a female without any mental power, how could she possibly become an imperial consort?!"

The other princes might be acceptable, but the Crown Prince was an SS-grade male!

The Empress intended to defend Nian Tu, but before she could open her mouth, she saw Duan Qianqian stomping over in clicking high heels, marching towards Nian Tu with large strides.

"Qianqian!" the Empress scolded sternly, but it was already too late—

Duan Qianqian actually unleashed her mental power, launching an attack on Nian Tu!

Projecting mental power outward was a technique that only a tiny fraction of genius A-grade females could master. Although it could usually only be projected for a single instant over a tiny range and had no use other than attacking other females, it was still a symbol of a female's strength.

The lower the mental power of the attacked female, the harder it was to resist. The mildest consequences were dizziness and disorientation, while severe cases resulted in grave injury, unconsciousness, and incurable damage.

Nian Tu looked dazedly at the red-dressed female walking toward her, as if reading contempt and malice upon that face.

She did not understand any mental attacks; she only felt a subtle, strange sensation wash over her mind, her vision blurring and spinning for a fraction of a second before her eyes widened abruptly.

It felt as though some dormant, formidable power within her body was slowly awakening. The external attack stimulation caused the awakening speed to skyrocket, and the massive power reacted violently and uncontrollably in a counterattack—

"Ah—!!"

Duan Qianqian instantly let out a miserable, piercing scream, clutching her violently aching head and dropping to her knees with a loud *thud*.

It felt as though a sharp blade had pierced into the depths of her soul. Unfamiliar pain and terror intertwined—a torment that the pampered high-ranking female had never experienced before.

With her red dress in disarray, she curled up and rolled on the floor with zero grace. Struggling for barely a few seconds, she rolled her eyes back and passed out completely.

Yet in the spacious banquet hall, no one paid any more attention to the wretched Duan Qianqian.

All the females felt dizzy and disoriented, as if suppressed by an overwhelming, high-level force, leaving them completely incapable of resistance and unable to even conceive the thought of rebelling.

The males felt an even more intense and shocking sensation—

Protect her!
Follow her!
Surrender to her!

Countless thoughts surged into their minds in an instant. It was like a deity descending to the mortal world, stamping a burning brand onto the souls of its believers.

Many males even found themselves kneeling on the ground involuntarily, devoutly gazing up at that figure.

With Nian Tu at the center, massive mental power fluctuations stirred up towering waves, spreading out in an instant and expanding madly into the distance!

One meter, ten meters, a hundred meters...!!

Until the males in the entire royal estate, the entire city, and the entire Capital Star suddenly halted whatever they were working on, instinctively clutching their chests as something inscribed deep within their bloodlines was awakened and stimulated. An innate urge to protect this power with their lives surged from the depths of their hearts.

"This is..."

In several luxurious mansions, prominent figures of the empire stood up one after another, their minds deeply shaken.

Could an S-grade female be awakening?

No... with fluctuations this intense, it was likely beyond S-grade!!

As the source of all this commotion, Nian Tu seemed trapped in a surreal and magnificent illusion. The world appeared subtly different in her eyes, and countless chaotic, overlapping noises echoed in her mind...

Among the males, Tan Konglin and Feli were closest to Nian Tu, bearing the brunt of the impact. At this moment, both had bloodshot eyes and trembling bodies.

Feli possessed greater endurance and managed to maintain his composure. Tan Konglin delivered a heavy punch to his own backhand, struggling fiercely to command himself to calm down as well.

"Quick, take her to the Sacred Ground!"

A female whose mental power had begun its official awakening needed to be sent to the Sacred Ground to receive the blessing of the Sacred Tree there.

Feli carefully picked up the unconscious Nian Tu horizontally, calling out to Zion and Lu Zhan to accompany them.

Tan Konglin, shouldering his responsibilities as the Crown Prince of the empire, had to stay behind to maintain order at the scene, yet his heart remained tethered to Nian Tu, as if departing with her into the distance.

Located not far to the northeast of the imperial palace, the Sacred Ground was a deep canyon resembling a dormant coiled dragon, retaining an ancient sense of mystery amidst the dense skyscrapers and cold, rigid metal machinery of the Capital Star.

The perimeter of the Sacred Ground was heavily guarded, and no one was allowed to enter except the female undergoing awakening. Even Feli, despite being a Marshal, was halted.

"Lord Marshal, please stay your steps," a guard saluted Feli, asking him to place the female in his arms onto the teleportation device.

The teleportation device would automatically and directly transport the awakening female deep into the Sacred Ground.

No matter how anxious or concerned the males might be, they could only stand guard obediently outside the Sacred Ground, praying for their female's safe awakening.

...

After Nian Tu left, the royal banquet was suspended.

Duan Qianqian, having suffered severe trauma and remaining unconscious, was sent away for emergency medical treatment.

Hardly anyone sympathized with her; after all, ending up in this state was purely the result of bullying someone only to kick a steel plate—she had brought it entirely upon herself.

If Nian Tu had truly been just a female without mental power, the one being rushed to the hospital right now would have been Nian Tu.

The guests at the scene regained their wits and began discussing Nian Tu.

Such formidable mental power was entirely unique across the entire empire! No wonder both the Lord Marshal and His Highness the Crown Prince had become her devoted suitors.

A noble male who had previously been matched with Nian Tu by the monitoring system was wedged in the crowd, listening to everyone speculate whether Nian Tu would awaken S-grade or SS-grade mental power, his expression turning increasingly unsightly.

He finally realized, a beat too late, exactly what he had missed out on.

Had he known this would happen, he... sigh!

The royal family maintained order at the scene while sealing off the news as swiftly as possible.

Yet the StarNet exploded instantly anyway!

The residents of the Capital Star were particularly agitated—

[I just felt the mental fluctuations when a female awakened, so intense!]
[I felt it too!!]
[It felt so strong, I couldn't help but kneel...]
[+1]
[+1]

More and more males on the Capital Star claimed to have felt it. There were simply too many people posting and replying—absurdly so—and everyone began to realize something was amiss.

[So many people felt it?]
[...Just how vast is the range of effect?]

Many males claiming to have sensed it reported their rough locations, and a massive uproar instantly swept across the StarNet—

[This range is way too big!!]
[Every single male on the Capital Star felt it?!]
[Is this for real?]
[...You guys from the Capital Star didn't collude to trick us, did you?]
[At least make up a slightly reasonable lie if you're gonna fabricate something this outrageous, who would believe this?]
[I don't believe it.]
[Neither do I!]

No matter how the residents of the Capital Star swore oaths that they were telling the truth, those outside the Capital Star refused to believe it.

When an A-grade female awakened, she could affect the range of a single building; only an S-grade female could affect an entire city.

How could any female cause a commotion during awakening big enough to affect an entire planet?!

Utterly impossible!