The rain was still falling, with threads of droplets sliding down the window and then forming streaks as they rolled downward. Hexia drew patterns on the window absentmindedly with her finger, taking a while to come back to reality.
In class, she was not someone famous. Although her theoretical grades were good, besides the teachers, actually few people paid attention to this, just like in a poor school, where everyone talks about who plays well, no one worships the person with good grades.
This was not something strange. In the Four-leaf Crystal Star Domain, the economy was sluggish, and many companies had started to cut back on staff. Even with good academic performance, it was difficult to secure a decent job.
It didn't matter who did the job, after all. Technology had developed to a bottleneck stage, and the lives of the citizens of the Federation today had not changed significantly compared to 1,000 years ago.
Without new tracks, there was no new vitality. Many jobs had also been standardized and dumbed down, meaning that they didn't require particularly capable people to do them. Instead, relationships and channels had become more important.
This caused wealth to accumulate at the upper level, while the lower level indulged in various forms of entertainment and comparison, worshipping luxury and consumption, after all, facing this cruel and unchangeable reality was painful.
This was an era of highly advanced technology and civilization but also an era when any beautiful fantasy crashed abruptly. Humans transcended the shackles of nature with knowledge and experience, yet those same tools of knowledge and experience also turned into new chains of interest.
"So this is a sad world, isn't it?"
Hexia would feel upset by her classmates' mockery, but she also knew that this was not just the issue of a few students. Many people were looking for an answer as to where the way out lay.
Of course, there was one fairly obvious way out, the cultivation of the Transcendent Sequence.
The Transcendent Sequence, from 1 to 9, each time the structure of the Transcendent Core added a layer, one would advance a rank. Different structures and patterns would also bring all sorts of unimaginable abilities, astounding people. This was one of the few ways for individuals to transcend their social class.
The more powerful and special the ability, the more complex the required structure would be. Although belonging to the same Sequence Level, the strength of two individuals could be vastly different, and this was the reason.
The reason Edith Academy was so desirable was that it had five Transcendent Sequence 5 advancement methods rated as perfect. This allowed those who practiced them to have a more solid and perfect foundation, thereby being able to go further in the future.
If one advanced through a rough and simple structure, Sequence 2 might be the endpoint for many people in their lifetime. After all, if the foundation was too fragile, even a slightly taller building would cause collapse and destruction. The core of a High Sequence Transcendent was like an ignited nuclear fusion reactor, and the power it produced was even more special. Attempting to constrain such power while still maintaining sanity and avoiding corruption was extremely difficult, which was why throughout the whole Crystal Star Domain, the number of High Sequence Transcendents had always been low.
Thinking about various matters in her mind, the grey-haired girl hugged the documents and slowly fell asleep in the car, until an hour later when a synthesized mechanical alert sounded.
[The vehicle has arrived at the destination.]
Have we arrived? The grey-haired girl rubbed her eyes, sat up, and felt quite a bit more refreshed.
She opened the car door and stepped out, as the huge square Skylight appeared before her eyes.
The sharp edges of crimson steel protected and segmented the surroundings of the central Skylight. Looking down from above, in the vast Skylight, a succession of ships and Hover Cars were continuously entering and leaving, and surrounding the walls of the Skylight were lengthy terraced steps, with lights flickering and people weaving through. Numerous shops and dwellings were concealed in this underground steel jungle, with wisps of white vapor also emerging from this abyss-like Skylight, spiraling upwards.
This was Hexia's home, Payin City, an industrial city located underground.