River City Third Middle School.
The square was packed with third-year high school students.
"Students, today is Talent Awakening Day, the watershed moment that decides your lives! I hope all of you awaken powerful talents..."
The principal's speech was passionate and stirring, and the students below the stage were both nervous and filled with anticipation.
Amidst the crowd, Chu Han gazed calmly at that awakening spirit stone, though a lingering ripple of excitement still stirred deep within his heart.
Having transmigrated to this world eighteen years ago, he had long since integrated into this era where the strong reigned supreme.
Becoming a martial artist was his dream.
"Next, Zhang Tao!"
A robustly built male student stepped forward nervously, pressing his palm onto the spirit stone.
The spirit stone trembled slightly, immediately casting a faint white light as characters emerged on its surface: [E-grade talent, Mighty Strength].
A look of ecstatic joy instantly bloomed across Zhang Tao's face. Even though it was only E-grade, it was more than enough to support him in becoming a martial artist! After all, ninety percent of people were unable to awaken any talent at all.
A round of encouraging applause immediately erupted from the crowd below.
"Next, Li Mengran!"
A female student with exquisite facial features and a cold temperament walked up to the awakening platform. She took a deep breath and confidently pressed her hand onto the stone.
The next moment, the spirit stone erupted with a dazzling ice-blue light, and a wave of chilling air suddenly dispersed, causing the surrounding students to shiver.
[A-grade talent, Ice Spirit Body!]
"Whoa!" The entire audience instantly boiled over.
Cries of exclamation and envy were everywhere.
"A-grade! It's actually an A-grade talent!"
"As expected of Li Mengran, the school belle and top student. Truly amazing!"
"She's destined to be a big shot in the future!"
The principal and teachers also nodded one after another, relief and satisfaction showing on their faces.
An A-grade talent could be considered a genius across the entire River City!
For the school leadership, the emergence of an A-grade talent meant their mission was accomplished. In previous years, the highest awakening grade in Third High School had only been A-grade.
The corners of Li Mengran's lips curved upward in a proud arc. She subconsciously glanced at Chu Han in the crowd, her gaze shifting with a trace of imperceptible anticipation.
Finally, the teacher on stage uttered the name that everyone had been waiting for.
"Next, Chu Han!"
In an instant, the gazes of the entire audience focused on Chu Han as if drawn by a magnet.
"It's Chu Han's turn!"
"That monster whose potential test exceeded three thousand points! It is said the Longxia Federation has never produced such high potential before!"
"I wonder what grade of talent he'll awaken? S-rank? Or the legendary SS-rank?"
"It's definitely going to be stronger than Li Mengran's A-grade! Our school is going to be famous!"
Under the gaze of countless eyes, Chu Han walked slowly toward the awakening spirit stone.
Eighteen years of bitter cultivation come down to this one moment. I hope a powerful talent comes of it.
Over the years, he had practiced diligently and raised his potential precisely for this very moment!
The principal stroked his chin and spoke in a low voice to the head of discipline beside him, "This boy Chu Han has a resilient character and limitless potential. He is the greatest hope of our River City Third Middle School and can definitely be recruited under special admission by the federation's top institutions."
The head of discipline nodded repeatedly. "Indeed. The school's future resource allocation depends entirely on him."
Chu Han slowly raised his hand and pressed it against the chilling awakening spirit stone.
The awakening spirit stone suddenly erupted with an unprecedentedly fierce light!
The intensity of the light far surpassed that of Li Mengran earlier, even stinging everyone's eyes as if a small sun had risen on the sports ground!
"Good heavens! This light!"
"I told you so! It really is different!"
"What grade is this? S-rank? Or SS-rank?"
The crowd completely exploded, the students flushing red with excitement.
The principal abruptly stood up, his face flushed red with excitement and his eyes filled with boundless anticipation. The teachers also craned their necks.
Li Mengran's pretty eyes widened as her small hand covered her mouth, her heart whispering, As expected... I still can't compare to him.
Feeling the surging and turbulent energy within the spirit stone, Chu Han felt a surge of intense excitement within his own heart as well.
Yet the very next second, the dazzling light rapidly dimmed, vanishing without a trace.
It was as if nothing had happened at all.
Three glaringly conspicuous characters surfaced on the stone: No Talent.
The entire audience fell into a dead silence.
"No talent?"
"I'm a transmigrator, for crying out loud? And I don't even have a talent?"
"Could potential points actually be wrong?"
Chu Han frowned deeply, unable to believe this outcome.
After the silence, the crowd boiled over once again.
"Could the awakening spirit stone have malfunctioned? His talent score exceeded three thousand points..."
"What a pity. I thought we were going to witness the birth of a supreme prodigy."
"Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter! Number one in potential, and he awakens with no talent? This has got to be the biggest joke in history!"
"And here I was looking forward to it. Turns out he's just trash!"
"Without a talent to support him, even if he becomes a martial artist, he won't go far."
"What a joke. From now on, Chu Han will be River City's biggest joke! Even our Third High School is going to lose face because of him."
Pity, skepticism, gloating...
All sorts of voices surged like a tide, instantly drowning Chu Han out.
The excitement and ruddy flush on the principal's face had long since vanished without a trace, replaced by an extreme disappointment and coldness.
With a dark, ashen face, he heavily sat back down in his chair and let out a cold snort from his nose, refusing to look at Chu Han on the stage ever again.
The surrounding teachers also shook their heads and sighed, the gazes they cast toward Chu Han even filled with resentment.
Right at that moment, the principal's cold voice echoed across the entire audience: "By school resolution, effective immediately, Chu Han's qualification for the first-class scholarship is revoked. All cultivation resources shall be reallocated toward the students who performed with excellence in this awakening."
Scholarship!
These three words exploded in Chu Han's ears like a thunderclap.
The five-thousand Federal currency monthly first-class scholarship was the money keeping his father alive!
His father had once suffered severe injuries as a martial artist, and over the years, they had relied entirely on expensive "healing liquid" to barely suppress his condition from worsening.
The monthly five-thousand Federal currency scholarship was extremely important to him.
Relying solely on his mother working three jobs was no longer enough to support the expenses of his father's medical treatments.
If he lost the scholarship, what would happen to his father?
Chu Han clenched his fists tightly, his fingernails digging deep into his flesh.
He hadn't expected the school to be so ruthless!
At that moment, Li Mengran walked up in front of him.
"Chu Han, I was young and ignorant in the past, misjudged you, and developed some unnecessary interest in you. I hope you'll have some self-awareness in the future, stop harboring any unrealistic fantasies about me, and stop pestering me!"
She made no effort to conceal her disgust. Just the thought of how she used to pursue Chu Han filled her with shame and resentment.
Chu Han slowly raised his head, looking at this woman whose face changed faster than flipping a book. His heart remained exceptionally calm.
He hadn't felt much for this woman who had forced herself upon him with unrequited attention anyway; Li Mengran was merely one of his pursuers, and their relationship hadn't even evolved to the stage of boyfriend and girlfriend.
"Pester you?" Chu Han's voice was exceptionally calm, even carrying a trace of faint mockery. "Li Mengran, are we even that close? Do you perhaps have an overly inflated sense of self-importance?"
"You!"
Li Mengran hadn't expected that this fellow, who was now nothing more than trash, would dare to use such an attitude toward her. Her pretty face instantly flushed red with anger.
She had originally assumed that once their social positions were reversed, she would see Chu Han weeping bitterly and begging miserably. She never expected such an indifferent response instead, which made her feel deeply humiliated.
"Hmph, anyway, you can only put up a tough front for now. The gap between us will only grow larger in the future, and we are destined to live in two different worlds."
Li Mengran let out a cold snort and walked away from Chu Han.
What she needed to do right now was to distance herself from Chu Han and draw a clear line.
Chu Han didn't care; what concerned him most was the loss of the scholarship.
Without the scholarship, he had to figure out a way to make money on his own.
It didn't matter if he hadn't awakened a martial dao talent; relying solely on basic talents, he could still become a martial artist through cultivation.
It was just that his cultivation efficiency would have a massive gap compared to those with talents.
Even F-grade talent holders gained a huge boost to their physical capabilities after awakening, and their cultivation speed would increase dramatically.
In his memory, non-talented individuals who cultivated reached a maximum of only Tier 2 martial dao, which was an Intermediate Martial Artist.
Most people without talents couldn't even reach the level of a Quasi-Martial Artist.
"The path of martial dao is truly arduous."
"Damn it, I'm a transmigrator too—why am I getting the short end of the stick? Figures that everything in novels is a lie!"
Chu Han mentally cursed the heavens for being unfair.
Right at that moment, a mechanical prompt suddenly echoed in his mind:
[Ding! Host detected failing to awaken a talent, Golden Finger is binding...]
[Daily Lottery System is activating... Activation successful!]
[Congratulations to the host for binding this system. The host can acquire one lottery chance every day!]
[Novice gift pack has been issued, granting one "ten consecutive draws" chance! Would you like to draw immediately?]
System?
Golden Finger?
It was finally here!
An indescribable surge of ecstatic joy instantly swept away all the gloom in his heart!
My Golden Finger has finally arrived!
Draw immediately!
He roared with all his might in his consciousness.
In his mind, a huge colorful roulette wheel materialized and began spinning at a dazzling speed.
[Ding! The lottery begins!]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Body Tempering Pill × 5]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Fine Steel Long Blade × 1]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining: F-grade talent fragment Sprint × 1 (collect ten pieces to synthesize)]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining: E-grade talent Tough Skin]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Federal currency 10,000]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Supreme Strength Pill × 10]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining: D-rank movement martial skill "Spirit Cat Steps" manual]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Lower-grade Energy Stone × 5]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining: C-grade Spirit Rice 10 catties]
A series of prompts flashed past, and the items won were a mixed assortment.
Money, martial skills, pills, and talents were all there, dazzling Chu Han's eyes.
Among them were quite a few valuable things, and even talents were included!
And right at the tenth draw, the moment the roulette wheel was about to stop!
A dazzling golden light burst out from the center of the roulette wheel, instantly illuminating his entire Lottery Space.
"Golden legendary!"
The truly good stuff had arrived!
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for drawing "Ten Thousand Times Talent"!]
[Ten Thousand Times Talent: Your basic talents, including comprehension, bone structure, physical potential, learning ability, and insight, are all enhanced by ten thousand times!]
"Use it immediately!"
A warm current instantly swept through his limbs and bones, scouring every inch of his flesh and skeleton.
The Ten Thousand Times Talent was not just an enhancement of comprehension; it also brought improvements to his bone structure and physical potential.
These enhancements acted directly upon his physical body, causing his bodily cells to undergo transformation and sublimation, filling his entire being with formidable strength.
Though he didn't know what it felt like to awaken a talent, Chu Han believed his transformation was no weaker than those who awakened martial dao talents—and might even surpass them!
In his mind, all the basic martial arts he had previously practiced looped like a slide show.
Practices that previously felt close to perfection now appeared full of flaws; fist techniques and movement skills that had hit a bottleneck and refused to progress were instantly comprehended to their advanced realms.
This was the effect brought by the Ten Thousand Times Talent!
So what if he hadn't awakened a talent? His basic talent was multiplied by ten thousand!
The corners of his lips curved into a cold arc.
On the stage, the awakening ceremony was drawing to a close.
The expressions of the principal, various leaders, and teachers were not very good.
Although the overall awakening situation of Third High School this year was good, it fell far short of everyone's expectations.
"There is still a little over a month until the Martial Arts Grand Examination, so everyone must hurry up and improve your strength! Those who wish to participate in the grand examination can sign up for the wilderness training camp in seven days."
"In the wilderness, you will experience true actual combat. Everyone can form teams of five or fewer with people you trust to hunt fierce beasts together, and those with a higher number of kills will receive rewards!"
"Those who want to participate should go sign up with your respective head teacher."
After the principal finished speaking, the students gathered around their respective head teachers and began signing up.
"Everyone needs to think carefully before signing up. The wilderness training camp is not child's play—battling fierce beasts carries life-threatening dangers!"
Chu Han's head teacher, Wang Hao, was a lean and capable middle-aged man and also a Tier 2 martial artist. At the moment, he was patiently explaining the dangers of the wilderness to the students.
"Teacher, I'll participate!"
"I'll participate too! I have a D-rank talent, so I can definitely kill the mutated beasts in the wild!"
"I have a C-rank fire-control talent. The wilds are nothing I can't handle!"
Wang Hao's words did not discourage anyone. Everyone eagerly signed up.
"Teacher Wang, I'd like to sign up too."
The voice of the last person to register left everyone utterly stunned.
"Chu Han, have you gone crazy?!"
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