Mysterious Purple Crystal

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, Xiao Yuan was already 12 years old. His high-intensity metabolism had caused him to grow into a teenager who looked like he was seventeen or eighteen years old on Earth.

At this moment, Yuan was running home along the main street after school at the Martial Arts Academy. His strength as a level 6 Apprentice was already one or two levels higher than many of his peers.

If he were on Earth, he would be a high-level Warlord, possessing the terrifying power to scale walls, vault over roofs, and shatter mountains and rocks with a single punch or kick.

Yet, right now, he was running while panting, every step he took consuming a massive amount of his body's energy.

Yuan crouched down, his muscles tensed, and with a soft shout, he vaulted over a flower bed by the roadside that was over a meter high and filled with unknown plants.

At the very peak of his jump, Yuan realized that an old man happened to be passing by exactly where he was about to land.

Unable to exert force in mid-air to dodge, he could only descend as usual, but Yuan didn't panic at all.

Sure enough, the old man, who had been walking with a hunched back and a staggering gait, suddenly raised his cane with agility. He leaned his body backward, and Yuan passed by him in the air, a close call that resulted in no harm.

Upon landing, Yuan used the momentum to spring forward and continue running, his voice trailing back from afar: "Sorry, Grandpa Luo! I have to go to the Talent Grading Room today, I'll play virtual games with you another time."

The Stone family's boy was quite polite, and Grandpa Luo shouted with a resonant voice: "Hurry up and break through to the Earth Rank! An old man like me can't handle such scares!"

"I'll take your word for it!" The shout echoed back from afar, already becoming barely audible.

Yuan ran up to a three-story townhouse, which featured a small garden of about thirty square meters. Standing on the lawn was a man in his twenties with his back to Yuan.

Seeing this young man, Yuan was overjoyed. He crossed the gate and immediately launched a sneak attack, a punch aimed straight at the young man's lower back, completely disregarding martial virtue.

The young man seemed to possess the ability to foresee the future; he turned and gently blocked with his elbow, easily neutralizing Yuan's offensive.

Yuan did not admit defeat. He used the momentum to step back half a step, then unleashed a storm of attacks, all of which were neutralized by the young man, who stood in place and parried as if performing Wing Chun.

Yuan's punches whistled through the air, and he felt invigorated. A plan formed in his mind, and he suddenly attacked with both hands and feet simultaneously.

This forced the young man to take a step back to avoid Yuan's sudden leg strike.

Yuan stopped and laughed out loud: "How many years has it been? My attack has finally made you step back!"

The young man said helplessly: "You're a level 6 Apprentice; what's the point of making me, a level 9 Earth Rank, step back? You've been training well lately; your fist technique has become much more solid."

Yuan said with a hint of pride: "That's because I've cultivated the Basic Fist Technique Guide to the third chapter. I've developed my first strand of Dark Force and possess double the explosive power!"

The young man was somewhat surprised: "Not bad, kid. You've made great progress."

At level 6 Apprentice, Yuan could exert several dozen tons of force, which was enough to lift a fairly large rock on Dongyuan Planet at most.

Even if that force were doubled, for a level 9 Earth Rank (Planet Rank) who possessed hundreds of thousands of tons of power, it was still barely noticeable.

A young woman, also looking to be in her twenties, walked out of the villa and scolded Yuan with a smile: "Your father finally came home, and all you know how to do is 'fight' with him."

It turned out this young man was Yuan's father, Autumn. The two looked at each other and smiled, then walked into the villa with their arms around each other's shoulders and sat on the living room sofa.

His wife, Doris, asked Autumn: "How many days are you resting this time?"

"Only one day. The recent mining missions have been very heavy, and I had to beg the supervisor for this single day a long time in advance." Autumn patted his son's shoulder: "It's my son's second talent test; as his father, there's no way I could be absent, hahaha!"

"Alright, no matter how busy work is, you must pay attention to rest. Don't exhaust yourself."

Doris glanced at her son and gossiped with her husband: "Your son has been very popular with the girls at the academy lately. He's already received over a dozen love letters!"

Hearing his mother be so direct, Yuan touched his nose in embarrassment: "I don't think I'm that handsome. I don't know what those girls are thinking."

Autumn also said: "It is indeed strange. This kid has been liked by almost everyone since he was little, and now that he's grown up, he's started attracting those girls who are just beginning to understand love."

This had been an unsolved mystery in their family for years. Yuan had been smart since he was a child and possessed an inexplicable, special charisma that made people like him.

Coupled with his father's promotion, their improved family circumstances, and his parents' strict discipline combined with a friendly relationship, Yuan had developed his current cheerful, enthusiastic, and positive personality.

This made him stand out even more among ordinary people who were generally dull and faced high pressure from raising children and cultivation.

Autumn looked at his son, whose face looked somewhat like his own and couldn't really be called handsome.

He seemed to say with some regret: "It makes no sense. When I was young, I wasn't that popular with the girls, was I?"

"What? You think it's a pity that you weren't popular with girls when you were young!?"

Oh no! Autumn looked up and saw Doris's sharp gaze, realizing he had said the wrong thing. He awkwardly touched his nose for a moment.

Watching the two of them perform the exact same funny gesture, Doris couldn't keep her composure and burst out laughing.

Having lost her stern demeanor, she glared at her husband, turned toward the kitchen, and said: "I made the Sandworm Roll you both love. Eat up and hurry to take Xiao Yuan for his talent test."

In the Talent Grading Room, the staff remained the same, and the furnishings hadn't changed much compared to nine years ago, save for a few new faces.

Watching the boys and girls ahead of them finish their tests with pained expressions, Doris was very worried, and Autumn could only comfort her in a low voice while they waited in line.

Yuan was quite nonchalant, comforting his mother: "It's okay, Mom. At worst, I'll just have a headache for two days."

The second talent grading, which was the brain width test, involved scanning the brain and required relatively high-level energy-operating machines, or even the application of law-based secret patterns.

Technology had not yet developed to the convenience of later generations, such as when Luo Feng took the test at the No. 9 ancient civilization ruin on Earth; it required the test subject to endure some pain.

Yuan lay down, all the instruments were prepared, and the test began.

The sensation of electricity coursing through his entire body made Yuan feel as if he had been heavily crushed by a stone, and his entire expression twisted instantly.

Seeing this scene, his parents' hearts tightened.

Yuan felt as if he were falling at high speed, arriving at an ocean filled with mist. Was this the legendary Consciousness Sea?

Thick fog swirled around, and Yuan felt as if he had been flying for a long time, yet it also felt like only a single instant had passed.

He saw a massive, dark purple rhombic crystal standing amidst the dense mist, emitting a mesmerizing, brilliant radiance.

"Brain region width 37, A+ grade..." The staff member recited the parameters one by one, and even this experienced worker was shocked by the rating.

"Spirit power concentration, C, C-?"

The staff member was puzzled; he tapped the instrument in his hand, suspecting that the testing equipment might be malfunctioning.

A high brain region width usually implies abundant spirit power; those with extremely high talent even have spirit power that condenses into a solid state during childhood.

Much like Luo Feng in later generations, whose spirit power in his consciousness sea was a solid, dark golden sphere.

Yuan, having awakened, did not know why he had forgotten the purple crystal he had seen in his consciousness sea.

He only said that he had been flying in his consciousness sea for a long time and had not seen any liquid or solid spirit power.

Yuan's parents refused a retest, questioning why their son should have to endure the pain again just because of a problem with the equipment.

The staff member was at a loss, not knowing what to do.

Technically, a brain region width of A+ was enough to be reported as a genius, but the spirit power concentration was far too low.

The mist-like spirit power was only slightly higher than that of someone without any talent for being a Spirit Reader.

Yuan's performance during his growth also did not seem to show any signs of having talent as a Spirit Reader.

Spirit Reader talent usually manifests bit by bit before reaching physical maturity, and it is linked to the growth of one's own strength, which only truly reflects after adulthood.

This is why Luo Feng, a high-level War General on Earth, already possessed the strength of a War God as a Spirit Reader.

Yet Yuan, also at the Apprentice sixth rank, was only just performing an internal inspection of his consciousness sea for the first time, as he was still young.

In the end, it was Autumn who persuaded the staff member: "Isn't it enough that my son has the talent of a Spirit Reader? We will have Yuan follow the path of a Spirit Reader later and break through to the Earth Rank on his own."

"Afterward, he can use that to drive his martial artist strength to break through as well. Not only will this save a large amount of resources that would otherwise be spent on external aids, but there is also hope for him to break through to the Flying Star Rank in the future."

"Even if my son really has some kind of talent, it will surely manifest once he reaches the Earth Rank, so it won't be a case of burying a genius."

"Fine." The staff member was convinced and gave a C+ comprehensive rating that didn't require reporting, satisfying everyone.

When they walked out of the Martial Arts Hall, it was already pitch black outside.

Autumn solemnly said to Yuan: "Do not mention the matter of your brain region width of 37 to anyone, especially your grandparents!"

Doris looked at her husband with a meaningful glance from the side and nodded in agreement.

Could it be that his father had experienced something similar in the past?

Yuan felt his parents' behavior was a bit strange, but when he pressed them for answers, they kept saying it was nothing.

Autumn changed the subject: "Now that you've finished your second talent test, it means you can start cultivating 'Genetic Origin Energy', have you forgotten?"

That was true. Yuan felt a surge of excitement; regardless of how high or low the tested talent was, children with a youthful spirit were always unwilling to accept mediocrity.

Unlike the period before age 12, where they could only passively absorb energy and their strength grew slowly.

Young people all fantasized that after their first time cultivating Genetic Origin Energy, they would reveal their "buried" cultivation talent.

Then, they would quickly become powerful experts and reach the pinnacle of life.

Examples of this happened every hundred years, but more often than not, reality would pour a bucket of cold water over them to wake them up...

Autumn had already rushed back to the mining site. After being promoted to captain of the mining team, not only had his salary and benefits increased four or five times, but he had also moved into a townhouse arranged by the mine.

The family's living conditions had improved significantly, but as the head of the production department, Autumn rarely had any free time anymore.

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