Talent Selection

To save a child, Lin Chan, an ordinary unemployed young man, accidentally fell from a forty-meter-high building.

During the three seconds he floated through the air, Lin Chan watched the lanterns of his life flicker past and reviewed his failed existence: poverty and loneliness surrounded him, and there seemed to be nothing worth missing.

"Then let's start over!"

Lin Chan closed his eyes, and then he sank into darkness.

When he opened his eyes again, he found that he had become a baby. Several midwives surrounded him, pointing and whispering.

Then a midwife slapped him, making baby Lin Chan wail and burst into tears.

After the blood was cleaned away and he was wrapped in swaddling clothes, the utterly bewildered Lin Chan was handed to a middle-aged man.

The man gripped Lin Chan's hand with a finger and injected a stream of energy into his body that made Lin Chan feel very comfortable.

After a long while, the man said in disappointment:

"He has no Spiritual Root and is unfit to be my son. Send him to Yulin City and have him adopted by that mortal branch line! My Lin Family cannot raise so much trash."

With that, Lin Chan was casually tossed to a servant.

"Yes!"

The servant caught Lin Chan and nodded.

It was only because Lin Chan could not yet speak or understand the writing of this world.

Otherwise, upon hearing the man's words, he would definitely have wanted to complain.

If you can't afford to raise them, then why have children?!

Unfortunately, Lin Chan was now a blank sheet of paper. He understood nothing and could do nothing, so he could only drift with the current and obey the arrangements.

Children were simply this helpless. He had never asked to come into this world.

When he entered this world, if he had any flaw, he would be despised by his parents and relatives.

But what mistake had he made?

Clearly, none.

Of course, Lin Yu had all four limbs intact and complete facial features. There was no such thing as a defect.

It was simply that their Lushan Lin Family was a Foundation Establishment Immortal Clan.

Born into this Lineage, if one lacked a Spiritual Root, one could not become a direct-line disciple or enjoy the Lineage's resources.

To immortal clans like them, what difference was there between lacking a Spiritual Root and being crippled?

After being abandoned, Lin Chan had no way even to protest before he was sent to a mortal household in Yulin City.

Of course, this mortal household was no ordinary one. It was also a branch line of the Lin Family. Its head, Lin Fangzheng, was both cultured and skilled in martial arts, a respected family in Yulin City.

"Wonderful! I, Lin Fangzheng, finally have an heir."

Looking at Lin Chan, the rough-featured Lin Fangzheng said happily.

Lin Fangzheng had fathered more than ten daughters, yet not a single son.

With no other choice, he could only ask the Lin Family Main Line to adopt a son to him, someone who could inherit his family business in the future.

A child from the main line had purer blood than his own, so naturally he did not mind that Lin Chan was not his biological son. On the contrary, he took pride in it.

Even without a Spiritual Root, children of the main line possessed physiques beyond the reach of ordinary people.

If they practiced martial arts in the future, they would progress rapidly as well.

After arriving at Lin Fangzheng's home, Lin Chan became the apple of the family's eye.

Lin Fangzheng even hired two wet nurses for Lin Chan, ensuring that he lacked not a scrap of nutrition.

And so Lin Chan lived in Yulin City, growing up bit by bit.

He had already grown accustomed to the ordinary life of a baby: eat, sleep, sleep, eat.

Before he was even one year old, he had grown plump and sturdy, the dream grandson of every grandmother.

Lin Chan sometimes remembered his life on Blue Star, but he had been an orphan and had few happy memories from childhood to adulthood. In this new world, however, he had the care of parents and the meticulous attention of wet nurses, making him much happier. As he spent more time here, he gradually stopped thinking about the past.

This day was his first birthday.

The entire Lin Family was bustling about, hosting guests from all directions.

Lin Chan was given a small table of his own, piled high with meat cooked until soft and tender, while two wet nurses watched over him at all times.

As he ate, Lin Chan suddenly froze.

Several lines of text appeared before him.

[You have successfully survived for one year in the world of immortal cultivation. You may choose one talent from the following.]

[Strength of One Ox: Your strength rapidly increases. Upon reaching adulthood, you may gain the Strength of One Ox.]

[Spirit Gathering Physique: No Spiritual Root is required. You automatically gather spiritual energy.]

[Fire Spirit Affinity: The effects of fire-attribute spells increase by ten percent.]

Looking at the light screen before him, tears streamed down Lin Chan's heart like an old man weeping.

Finally, after a year.

His cheat had finally arrived.

This cheat was very similar to a game he had played in his previous life. At every stage, he could choose a talent.

Lin Yu considered these three talents.

Strength of One Ox was clearly a combat talent.

But its effect came far too late, making it utterly useless.

In this world, adulthood was counted at twenty, when one donned the ceremonial cap. He would have to wait another nineteen years to gain the Strength of One Ox. It was complete trash.

The third one was also a talent that increased combat strength. Fire Spirit Affinity was equally useless.

It increased the effects of fire-attribute spells.

By the time Lin Chan learned spells, it would be the year of the monkey and month of the horse, and he might not even obtain fire-attribute spells. It was even weaker than Strength of One Ox.

After a brief consideration, Lin Chan chose the second option, Spirit Gathering Physique.

After choosing this talent, a vortex rune appeared deep within Lin Chan's consciousness, representing the entirety of the Spirit Gathering Physique.

Although he had chosen it, Lin Chan could tell that this thing was probably not much use either. At best, it was better than nothing.

Seeing Lin Chan suddenly go blank in the middle of eating, the two wet nurses panicked, thinking he had choked, and hurried forward.

Just as they were about to pick him up and check him, Lin Chan's mouth began chewing again, and only then did they breathe a sigh of relief.

Young Master was the master's treasured darling. If anything happened to him, the master might beat them to death.

After eating, Lin Chan ran wildly around the courtyard while the wet nurses chased after him.

He could go almost anywhere in the enormous Lin Family estate, except for Lin Fangzheng's study and ancestral hall.

Time slipped through his fingers as Lin Chan ran about wildly.

In the blink of an eye, another year had passed.

By then, although Lin Chan was only two years old, he had grown quickly and was no different from a child of three or four.

Part of that was because the Lin Family provided abundant nourishment, and part was due to the Spirit Gathering Physique.

Although the spiritual energy gathered by the Spirit Gathering Physique was slight, it subtly improved Lin Chan's constitution.

Lin Chan was not yet two, but he had already become more composed. He no longer ran around recklessly and instead followed Lin Fangzheng, punching with an impressive air.

"Chan'er is clever indeed, truly a Martial Arts Prodigy."

After Lin Chan finished a set of punches with grunts and huffs, Lin Fangzheng praised him.

The thing he was proudest of in this life was gaining Lin Chan as his son.

"Daddy!"

Lin Chan came to a steady stop.

"From now on, the two of us will practice martial arts together."

Lin Fangzheng used his thick arms to pick Lin Chan up and raise him high.

Lin Yu also laughed happily.

At this time, he still did not know that he had been adopted. He had always believed himself to be Lin Fangzheng's biological son.

Yet judging by Lin Fangzheng's attitude toward him, he was treated even better than a biological son.

A few days later came Lin Chan's second birthday.

[You have successfully survived for two years in the world of immortal cultivation. You may choose one talent from the following.]

[Speed of One Horse: Your speed rapidly increases. Upon reaching adulthood, you may gain the speed of one horse.]

[Strength of a Thousand Jin: Immediately gain the strength of a thousand jin.]

[Martial Arts Prodigy: Your martial arts training efficiency yields twice the result with half the effort.]

Can I choose a talent once every year? That's really not bad.

Looking at the talents before him, Lin Chan thought.

Last year, at this time, he had chosen one talent. This year, there was another.

Perhaps there would be one every year from now on. His upper limit was simply terrifying.

Moreover, the talents seemed to improve each year.

Does Speed of One Horse have some kind of synergy with last year's Strength of One Ox? If I collect both talents, will I gain the body of an ox and horse?

Looking at the first talent, Lin Chan was somewhat speechless.

Even if these talents truly had synergy, he did not want anything involving oxen and horses.

The second talent looked quite useful, taking effect immediately. But from what Lin Chan currently knew, the Strength of a Thousand Jin was merely the basic level of a postnatal martial artist.

His father, Lin Fangzheng, was an Innate Grandmaster. One of his hands alone possessed the Strength of a Thousand Jin.

This talent's ceiling was too low. Lin Chan was safe and sound in the Lin Family and had no need to fight, so naturally he would not consider this talent with such a low ceiling and eliminated it as well.

That left only Martial Arts Prodigy.

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