Awakening Ceremony

Yan Country Alliance

Yan East Province

Jiaying City

Sacred Mountain Middle School

Grade 12 Class 24

Ye Bai stared blankly out the window, watching the little blue jays chirping away.

He had transmigrated into this world before birth and worked 996 every day. At last, he had endured until the Awakening Ceremony.

As long as he could awaken, he could reach the pinnacle of life, with beautiful wives and women in his arms.

Homeroom Teacher Zhang Lingxue walked up, carrying the heavy Awakening Stone.

This woman, whom the boys of Class 24 called Dream Girl Xue, was only twenty years old, yet she was the youngest professor in the history of the Yan Country Alliance.

The Chameleon Silkworm pet beast she had researched had evolved into a Goddess of Light Butterfly, winning the Yan Country Alliance's Pet Beast Award.

Originally, the Chameleon Silkworm had been called the White Jade Silkworm. It was white, plump, and adorable. Only after Zhang Lingxue's research bore fruit was it renamed the Chameleon Silkworm.

As everyone knew, the Chameleon Silkworm's usual Evolution Path led only to the Gray Poison Moth, which was gray and dull, its body covered in all kinds of scale powder.

Once contaminated by the Gray Poison Moth's scale powder, one would fall into all sorts of negative states.

Every year, countless people were sent to the hospital after coming into contact with the Gray Poison Moth's scale powder.

The Chameleon Silkworm's evolution conditions were simple. As long as it ate enough food, it could evolve into a Gray Poison Moth.

Zhang Lingxue believed that bug-type pet beasts had short evolution cycles and many variations.

She had selected over a hundred Bug Element pet beasts for genetic testing. Among them, the Chameleon Silkworm's genes were unstable, giving it greater plasticity.

So she had deliberately selected a pet beast egg from an exceptionally high-quality Chameleon Silkworm and cultivated it from infancy. Only by using the fourth-order resource, the Stone of Light, had she successfully caused the Chameleon Silkworm to become a Goddess of Light Butterfly after evolving.

After her research was published, more and more researchers turned their attention to the Chameleon Silkworm.

Before long, others discovered additional Evolution Paths for the Chameleon Silkworm.

For example, the Water Element Phantom Water Butterfly, the Fire Element Flame Butterfly, and the Wood Element Wood Grain Butterfly.

Resources were divided from First Order to Ninth Order.

Aptitude rankings followed the same arrangement.

At the very peak of her fame, she had come to teach at Sacred Mountain Middle School.

Sacred Mountain Middle School was among the top ten middle schools in Yan East Province. It had abundant teaching resources and even possessed its own Pet Beast Secret Realm.

Principal Liu Hang of Sacred Mountain Middle School had specifically set aside an area for Zhang Lingxue's research.

Zhang Lingxue placed the Awakening Stone on the lectern.

"Students, today is the Awakening Ceremony, and it is also the most important event of our lives."

"This Awakening Stone can assist you in awakening your Pet Beast Space and talents."

"Those who can awaken a Pet Beast Space will certainly awaken a talent."

"Talents may be strong or weak, but every talent has something exceptional about it. There are no useless talents, only useless Pet Beast Masters."

"Talents are classified by rarity. From highest to lowest, they are S, A, B, C, D, E, F, and so on."

"Those who can awaken a talent above B-rank are already as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. In the history of the Yan Country Alliance, only a handful have awakened S-Rank Talents."

"All right, let's begin."

"Zhang Qiang."

A classmate as thin as a hemp stalk walked forward and placed his hand on the Awakening Stone.

This Awakening Stone was a rock emitting a milky-white radiance, and it looked extremely sturdy.

"Guard the strings of your heart. Empty your mind."

At that moment, waves of white light rose from Zhang Qiang's body.

Before long, Zhang Qiang dispersed the white light with a dejected expression. He had failed to awaken.

Those who awakened successfully would be surrounded by a ring of Light of Awakening, while the Awakening Stone would also display their awakened talent.

"Awakening failed. Next, Hua Qingyi."

Zhang Qiang wore a mournful face. He knew that awakening failure meant he could only be an ordinary person for the rest of his life.

From then on, he and the classmates who had spent day and night together over the past two years would belong to two different worlds.

Zhang Qiang left the classroom, looking as though his soul had departed his body.

Following the class roster, Zhang Lingxue called out the names one by one.

Quite a few people immediately blossomed with the Light of Awakening, signifying successful awakenings.

Meanwhile, Zhang Lingxue continuously recorded their talents.

"Water Affinity, D-Rank Talent."

"Fire Enhancement, C-Rank Talent."

"Plant Manipulation, C-Rank Talent."

More and more people awakened, and the number soon exceeded ten.

At that moment, an uproar erupted all around them.

"Eye of Insight, A-Rank Talent."

Zhang Lingxue announced it with a proud expression, throwing the entire class into an uproar.

"An A-Rank Talent! I actually lived to see someone awaken an A-Rank Talent."

"Eye of Insight—is that the talent that can see pet beast Evolution Paths?"

"Class Monitor, that's insanely awesome plus."

Everyone began talking at once, looking worshipfully at Li Weiyang, whose face was full of pride.

Ye Bai looked over. The short-haired girl who had awakened the Eye of Insight talent, dazzling like the blazing sun, was his deskmate Li Weiyang. She was also known as the most beautiful school beauty in Sacred Mountain Middle School's history, as well as Class 24's Class Monitor.

"Ye Bai, come up. Guard the strings of your heart. Don't panic."

Zhang Lingxue repeated those words.

Ye Bai stood up unhurriedly. He walked to the edge of the Awakening Stone and placed his hand on it.

A chilly aura flooded directly into his mind. He felt as though every cell in his body was cheering with joy.

A peculiar sensation flashed through his mind. Then, with a crack, something seemed to split apart.

A special space, eight meters by eight meters by eight meters, appeared in his mind.

At the same time, a white orb and a golden orb appeared.

The white light around Ye Bai's body dispersed the next second, and Homeroom Teacher Zhang Lingxue swiftly recorded his talent—Eidetic Memory.

"D-Rank Talent—Eidetic Memory."

Upon hearing the homeroom teacher's words, the surrounding students immediately began whispering among themselves.

"Eidetic Memory? That talent is way too ordinary. It's perfectly suited for being an ordinary person."

"Yeah, it's not even as good as Water Affinity or Fire Enhancement."

"Ye Bai gets first place in the entire grade every exam. With this talent, he'll be even more incredible at exams."

"What use are good exam scores? Does he have any real combat experience?"

At that moment, Ye Bai fell into a daze because a panel suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Lines of text emerged on the panel.

Daily Intelligence Update.

[1: If the blood of someone who has awakened the Eye of Insight talent drips onto the Seven-Orifice Exquisite Jade, it can activate the Seven-Orifice Exquisite Jade and copy the Eye of Insight talent.]

[2. Li Weiyang, having awakened the ultra-rare Eye of Insight talent, will encounter a shooting at five o'clock this afternoon. She will bleed heavily and faint several times.]

[3. The Thousand Changes Silkworm looks very similar to the Chameleon Silkworm. The only difference is a faint jade-like glow at the center of its brow. There is a saying that the exquisite Silk Thread it sprays is worth one tael of gold per tael of silk.]

[4. Principal Liu Hang of Sacred Mountain Middle School, famed for his flowing long hair, is actually bald. In order to effectively treat his baldness, he has already reached the point of going mad.]

[5. Among the pet beast resources distributed by Sacred Mountain Middle School, resource package number thirty-eight has been mixed with a fifth-order resource, the Life Spirit Seed.]

The arrival of this cheat made Ye Bai's heart surge. The first piece of intelligence alone would benefit him immensely.

In this age where information resources reigned supreme, controlling resources was equivalent to possessing a hen that laid golden eggs.

Moreover, judging from the Daily Intelligence Update, these pieces of intelligence refreshed once every day.

As for exactly when they refreshed, Ye Bai did not know. He would need to test it before reaching a conclusion.

Besides the control panel, Ye Bai also sensed the eight-meter by eight-meter by eight-meter Pet Beast Space that had just been opened.

Nine grooves appeared on a Star-Blue Ancient Stone Tablet emitting a star-blue radiance, representing Contract Slots.

This was Ye Bai's Pet Beast Space. One groove shone brilliantly, while the other eight were grayish-white. Only when Ye Bai's strength reached a certain level could they be activated.

This represented the number of pet beasts Ye Bai could contract.

When ordinary Pet Beast Masters awakened, they could only contract one pet beast. Occasionally, some exceptionally gifted Pet Beast Masters could use one Contract Slot to contract multiple pet beasts.

An old friend's new book, The Chubby Orange Cat That Crushed the Kang: Beast Taming: What the Hell Is an Old Man's Counterattack at Sixteen?

Tianhai First High School's grand auditorium.

Xia Mu, who had just entered Grade 12, was agonizing over whether to choose the path of a Beast Tamer or a breeder when the Old Man Counterattack System suddenly arrived.

[ Ding! The Old Man Counterattack System is now online! ]

[ At forty years old, after struggling bitterly for most of your life, you remain a lowly beast breeder in your middle age. When Hai City is breached by the Abyssal Bone Dragon and reduced to scorched earth, and your relatives and friends suffer devastating casualties, you regret not becoming a Beast Tamer. Will you summon the courage to do it all again, embark upon the path of beast taming, rise in pursuit during your old-man years, and dance to your heart's content? ]

[ In Tianhai First High School, which has become the Abyssal Bone Dragon's lair, choose to become a Beast Tamer and begin the road of counterattack. Reward: Old Man Counterattack Gift Pack. ]

Xia Mu stared at the system that had suddenly appeared, his eyes utterly bewildered.

No, I'm only sixteen? What the hell is this old man counterattack?

Brother System, did you arrive too early?