Talent Generated

After washing up and returning to the dormitory, Shen Xiu discovered that today seemed to be anything but ordinary.

At this hour, the dormitory would usually have long since quieted down, snores rising and falling everywhere. Yet many people were still awake, excitedly discussing something.

Only after listening did Shen Xiu learn that five days from now would be the day the martial arts school instructors taught martial arts to Labor Disciples who had completed a full year of service.

To them, this was truly electrifying news.

Because such treatment had been rare in the past; even when it existed, it was little more than an empty name.

Shen Xiu had heard that in the past, joining martial arts schools like these as a Labor Disciple made opportunities to learn martial arts exceedingly difficult to obtain.

One or two years of chores were called an assessment of character and aptitude; three or four years of work were called a test of patience. Then, when it came time to learn martial arts, they would find an excuse to kick them out. Such things were commonplace in many martial arts schools.

After all, they never lacked Labor Disciples, and the income they relied upon had never come from these people.

However, several years ago, a certain martial arts school in Taixi City had been excessively harsh toward its Labor Disciples, dragging out its promised one year of martial arts instruction year after year.

Unexpectedly, one of those Labor Disciples had risen abruptly from adversity. By some unknown means, he learned the martial arts of that school. In barely a year, his strength soared by leaps and bounds, from Body Tempering to Muscle Tendon Training, then onward to the Bone-Cutting Realm.

After his strength improved, that fierce man immediately killed a fellow disciple who had bullied him, killed a steward who had made things difficult for him, and even crippled one of the school master's True Disciples before somehow leaving in grand fashion.

In one stroke, he betrayed the martial arts school and threw himself into the arms of its rival.

The incident caused an enormous uproar in Taixi City at the time and directly left that martial arts school utterly disgraced.

For the following several years, that school could not hold its head up in Taixi City. In the end, its wealth was scattered, and its disciples dwindled away.

From that point on, as if guided by the hand of a ghost,

the treatment of Labor Disciples in Taixi City's several martial arts schools quietly improved.

They were given unprecedented monthly wages, and the promised chance to receive instruction after one year was no longer merely talk.

Golden Rainbow Martial Arts School stood out even more. After Labor Disciples completed a full year of work, they could choose from three martial arts manuals.

Though they were not profound martial arts for cultivation, to these Labor Disciples, whose futures were dim and whose paths were nowhere to be found, they were no less than Heavenly Sweet Dew falling from the sky.

Thus, when many Labor Disciples later learned martial arts manuals, they would more or less silently mourn in their hearts and thank Han the Fierce.

Whenever a strange rule was established, an even stranger story must have happened behind it.

When Shen Xiu first heard this tale, that sentence naturally came to mind.

As night drew near, several people in the dormitory were still discussing matters deep into the night, the atmosphere exceptionally lively.

"Three martial arts will be available this time. Which one are you all choosing?"

"Instructor Li's White Tiger Fist. I'm definitely learning that one. Last month, I saw Senior Brother Lin Yuan use it by the Lishui River. One punch sent a huge water buffalo weighing several hundred jin flying, its internal organs rupturing on the spot. That Sha Qi was truly terrifying—I nearly wet myself even from more than ten meters away."

"It's just that they say Instructor Li seems a little greedy for money..."

"Senior Brother Lin Yuan is a second-stage martial cultivator in the Muscle Tendon Training Realm. As the school master's personal disciple, of course he's different. If I had to choose, I'd still pick Instructor Qian's Vajra Palm. They say that martial art is the fiercest and most overbearing, and the young ladies in the west of the city like it best."

"Eugh... If your hands are fierce and overbearing, what's below might not be..." someone chimed in meaningfully.

At once, the dormitory erupted in laughter, their words filled with yearning for the future.

Their world was small. A rare martial arts manual that could set them upon the path of martial arts, and perhaps becoming Formal Disciples no longer swept along by trivial chores—those possibilities were enough to satisfy all their imaginings.

"Shen Xiu, what are you planning to choose that day?" Wang Si's voice came from the bunk beside him as he listened to the discussion.

Shen Xiu had not joined their conversation. Instead, he was quietly weighing the merits and flaws of the three martial arts manuals.

Hearing Wang Si's question, he simply replied, "Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Art."

Someone laughed upon hearing that. "Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Art? Isn't that the slowest to advance and the weakest in power? You can practice it for months and still not learn it. You probably couldn't even beat up an old granny after leaving the house."

"Haha, who told you that someone practicing Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Art couldn't even beat an old granny? How strong would that granny have to be..."

"The old man serving food at the Canteen. Anyway, pick anything but that one..."

"I'm different. Since none of you are choosing it, I'm going to take a look instead. Who knows? The most awesome one might just be the one most easily overlooked. I heard that if cultivated to a profound level, it can even produce Dragon Subduing Qi..."

"Fine, you're awesome, you're awesome..."

The moon climbed to the treetops, and the night grew deep.

The dormitory's joking and bantering gradually softened. No one knew when the first sound of sleeping breaths began. The talking abruptly ceased, replaced by the rising and falling sounds of breathing.

In the darkness, Shen Xiu lay on his bed with his eyes open, his gaze bright and full of spirit.

He had heard his roommates' conversation, and countless thoughts churned through his mind.

It was true that Golden Rainbow Martial Arts School had begun punctually teaching several martial arts manuals after one year of service three years ago.

But when facing Labor Disciples of ordinary aptitude who were treated merely as workers, the school naturally held things back and would not teach them too many exquisite techniques.

Some martial arts looked fierce and peerlessly powerful when learned, but for Labor Disciples like them, who had no means of supplementing themselves with food, they might not necessarily be a good thing.

They said the poor studied literature while the rich practiced martial arts. Cultivation itself was high-intensity training, and those more ferocious external cultivation arts clearly required sufficient physical strength and qi-blood to sustain their consumption.

These Labor Disciples worked from dawn to dusk, their entire reserves of qi and blood spent on labor. Without the means to nourish themselves through food, where would they find the stamina to practice such arts?

If they chose those arts, not only would they struggle to master them, but they might also find their income unable to cover their expenses and end up riddled with injuries and illness.

Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Art, on the other hand, leaned more toward strengthening the body and tempering the spirit, with comparatively little damage.

This was one reason Shen Xiu chose it. More importantly, he had heard that this martial art could later produce unique Dragon Subduing Qi.

The next morning, after the other disciples had left, Shen Xiu took out a clay jar and released the Golden Cicada from his abdominal Dantian.

Smelling the scent of medicinal dregs, the Golden Cicada became somewhat excited. It circled once before immediately diving into the clay jar and feasting greedily.

As it swallowed the medicinal dregs, its satiety unsurprisingly reached one hundred percent.

At the same time, the Golden Cicada in the clay jar suddenly stopped moving. Golden light bloomed from its back, growing brighter and brighter until it spread over its entire body, tightly wrapping it so that nothing within could be seen.

Shen Xiu sensed an emotion of excitement and delight. The Golden Cicada then turned into a streak of light and flew into his abdomen, quietly hovering within his Dantian without moving.

He noticed strands of golden thread gradually extending from the Golden Cicada's body, wrapping its entire form into a gleaming shell.

Shen Xiu knew that this was the Golden Cicada's first transformation. What it would look like after transforming, and what talent it would grant him, made his heart surge with anticipation.

Fortunately, he did not have to wait long.

Two days after the golden shell formed, during the noon break, he saw the Golden Cicada in his abdominal Dantian—now completely shaped like a golden cicada—suddenly begin moving.

As it moved,

a crack abruptly appeared on the Golden Cicada's forehead. The crack grew larger over time, gradually splitting open into two halves. In the end, the complete Golden Cicada emerged by shedding its shell.

The formerly crystal-clear Golden Cicada had turned jade-white, wreathed in radiant light and clearly extraordinary. Even its body had grown slightly larger than before.

A stream of information also entered his mind as though he had comprehended it instinctively.

[Host: Shen Xiu]

[Cultivation: None]

[Talent: Heaven Rewards Diligence]

[Martial Arts: None]

[Avatar:]

[Nine Transformations Golden Cicada (First Transformation, Satiety 0.0%)]