Nine Openings

Linjiang First High School, Martial Arts Field.

"Once the human body reaches its limit, there is a certain probability of breaking through physical shackles and leaping into the ranks of the Postnatal Aperture Awakening, standing on equal footing with Talent Users."

"Although this is already my ninth attempt at awakening, it is..."

"Still not enough!"

Jiang Yan's muscles bulged across his entire body as he exerted a sudden, violent force through his feet, forcibly prying open the gravity machine before him.

BOOM!

A piercing, explosive roar erupted within the Martial Arts Field. The gravity machine crashed heavily to the ground, startling the students throughout the area into stopping their training as their gazes turned toward the scene.

Dust billowed across the site, and a figure lay blurred on the ground.

"Jiang Yan, it's Jiang Yan! Could it be that he finally awakened?"

"Holy crap, has the hardest-working person in the school finally reaped the rewards?"

"Awakened my ass, he's worked himself to death! Someone go call a teacher!"

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Jiang Yan was carried away.

In the School Infirmary, Jiang Yan lay unconscious, his breathing faint and his cheeks pale—a picture of someone on the verge of death.

Wang Zhong, the homeroom teacher of Class Three at Linjiang First High School, nearly spat out a mouthful of blood upon hearing the news, cursing furiously in his office.

"How many times is this this month? I told that kid to know his limits, and now he's gone and caused such a massive mess for me again."

Wang Zhong muttered to himself, "The College Entrance Exam is right around the corner; you better not go and get yourself killed, kid!"

Teachers from other classes, clearly familiar with Jiang Yan's history, tried to persuade Wang Zhong to calm down.

"Calm down? How do you expect me to calm down? Whether he awakens or not is one thing, but what if he loses his life?"

"No, I have to go see that kid."

Wang Zhong hurried out of the office, rushing toward the infirmary.

Sure enough, upon entering, Wang Zhong saw Jiang Yan lying on the hospital bed, hovering between life and death.

"Hey, Jiang, if you aren't dead, make a sound."

"Squeak..."

A weak voice drifted over, but it was enough to make Wang Zhong breathe a sigh of relief.

He strode to the bedside and kicked the bed frame in annoyance: "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"

"Cough, cough... Teacher Wang, I just want some peace and quiet."

"Wanting anything won't help. From now on, you aren't allowed to go to the Martial Arts Field without my permission, you hear me?"

With that, Wang Zhong took a bottle of green medicinal liquid from his pocket and forcibly poured it down Jiang Yan's throat.

Gulp, gulp—

After drinking the liquid, Jiang Yan's complexion improved significantly, and his voice was no longer as weak.

"Thanks, Uncle Wang."

"Use my title while at school," Wang Zhong replied with a cold face.

"Thanks, Uncle Plant."

Wang Zhong was amused despite his anger: "You brat."

He let out a heavy sigh, his tone turning somber.

"Sigh! If you died trying to awaken, how could I ever face your parents? I promised them I would take good care of you."

Jiang Yan's expression was complex as he fell into memory.

His name was Jiang Yan, and eighteen years had passed since he transmigrated to Blue Star as an infant.

This world was vastly different from his original one, possessing a fantasy-like extraordinary system.

Fierce Beasts, martial artists, interstellar cosmic races—these terms had brought immense shock to Jiang Yan when he first encountered this world.

Unfortunately, Jiang Yan's parents had sacrificed themselves during a Fierce Beast cleanup operation outside the city when he was young.

Wang Zhong had been a comrade-in-arms who fought alongside Jiang Yan's parents; after being injured and retiring, he came to teach at Linjiang First High School.

After Jiang Yan's parents died in battle, Wang Zhong took it upon himself to raise him.

"Little Jiang, don't believe those rumors about Postnatal Aperture Awakening. Look at our ordinary classes here at Linjiang First High; if one out of forty students in a class manages to awaken, it's as if their ancestors' graves are smoking with good fortune. This kind of low-probability event isn't something you can force through sheer effort."

Wang Zhong advised him earnestly.

The path of the martial artist is divided into nine ranks: Body Tempering, Blood Coagulation, Xiantian, Inner Gang, Mystic Mastery, Dust Severing, True Mystic, Celestial Phenomenon, and Peak Martial Saint.

Without good talent and opportunity, one is destined to have no connection to the martial path.

Talent Users are the type of people everyone considers most suited for martial cultivation.

Talent Users often awaken some mind-boggling abilities before the age of eighteen.

For instance, some become stronger just by eating, break through inexplicably while sleeping, or are born with an affinity for elemental energy, allowing them to unleash natural elements like lightning and fire to fend off enemies, their combat power growing in a straight line.

Talent Users are the cream of the crop among martial artists, beings who stand proudly above the masses. They are among the talents most highly valued by the Blue Star government, enjoying privileges in many aspects that ordinary people cannot access.

Below the Talent Users are the Aperture Awakened, a group that typically awakens their talents after the age of eighteen.

To achieve Aperture Awakening, one must exhaust every means to stimulate the body's potential and unlock its hidden treasures.

The poor man's method is to train until he is half-dead, like Jiang Yan, honing his body and walking the line between life and death, hoping for a glimmer of a chance to awaken his apertures.

The rich man's method is much simpler: they can use expensive potions as supplements, utilizing potent medicinal power to assist in opening their apertures.

The hierarchy of Blue Star martial artists is clearly defined: Talent Users > Aperture Awakened > Ordinary People.

The ordinary class where Jiang Yan is enrolled consists entirely of ordinary people; not a single one is a Talent User or has successfully achieved Postnatal Aperture Awakening.

It is easy to imagine just how difficult it is to awaken one's apertures.

Talent Users have long been placed in a separate class by the school, enjoying the best educational and cultivation resources available, while the ordinary classes are left to feed on their scraps.

With unwillingness in his eyes, Jiang Yan looked earnestly at Wang Zhong: "Uncle Wang, there is one month left until the College Entrance Exam. I still have a chance."

He was not resigned. As a transmigrator, if he could not experience the Extraordinary Power of this world, what was the point of his transmigration?

"Uncle Wang, I don't want to give up."

"It's too dangerous."

"Defending against Fierce Beasts is just as dangerous, yet you all chose this path back then, didn't you?"

Wang Zhong was slightly moved by Jiang Yan's words. His thoughts drifted back to the days of fighting Fierce Beasts, his lips trembling, unable to utter a word.

A heart full of passion? A soul full of fervor? He, too, had once risked his life time and again like Jiang Yan to fight for a chance at awakening.

Perhaps I shouldn't stand in the way of this child's dream... even if that dream is so incredibly slim.

In the afternoon, Jiang Yan attended class as usual, though several probing gazes were cast his way from time to time.

They were the same kind of people as Jiang Yan, those at the very bottom of the martial artist hierarchy, destined to have no connection to the martial path for their entire lives, their achievements likely stopping at the First Grade Body Tempering Realm.

Yet, they were different from Jiang Yan; they had already surrendered to their fate, becoming content with the status quo after experiencing one or two failures.

Aperture Awakening? To hell with it, I'd rather just lie flat.

Mockery? Looking down on them? Let them despise us; I'm just a loser.

Being a beast of burden isn't so bad; at least you don't have to work yourself to death chasing a slim chance.

Having witnessed Jiang Yan's failure, they were even more convinced that ordinary people would always be ordinary people, and that the miracles found in novels would never happen.

If even Jiang Yan failed despite working so hard, how could they possibly succeed?

By the end of the class, the entire room was filled with oppression and silence.

Jiang Yan's injuries had not yet healed, so he slept on his desk for the entire afternoon, completely ignoring the strange looks from his classmates.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out.

"Chu Ming has awakened his apertures! Chu Ming has awakened his apertures!"

"What? Is it Chu Ming from our class?"

"Yes, look at the class group chat!"

The entire class erupted. In an ordinary class, an Aperture Awakening is a bombshell; whoever awakens first instantly becomes the center of everyone's attention.

No one discussed Jiang Yan's failure anymore; everyone scrambled to pull out their phones and check the class group messages.

In a corner where no one was paying attention, a mechanical, electronic voice echoed in Jiang Yan's drowsy mind.

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