Awakening Ceremony

"In these times, demons and fiends lurk on every side. Extraordinary power is both an opportunity and a responsibility—and, more than anything... a death warrant."

There was no encouragement, no reassurance—only naked reality and a cold warning. The people below the stage reacted in different ways.

Some were excited, some had gone pale, while even more held their breath.

Su Wenyuan stroked his beard with a smile, his voice gentle. "Captain Chen speaks true. You must relax your minds and do your best. On the path of cultivation, aptitude is certainly important, but temperament and perseverance are no less essential."

"No matter the result today, all you need is a clear conscience."

"Begin!"

With his announcement, the awakening ceremony officially began, and the long line finally started inching forward.

Watching the excited youths below the stage, Su Wenyuan's gaze grew distant. "Seventy years ago, this old man stood here just the same, filled with unease... Time flows on, and old friends wither away."

After saying that, he let out a soft sigh, as though he had fallen into memories of the past.

At those words, the hard lines on Chen Shuo's face softened somewhat. His gaze turned toward the square, and he seemed to see once more the young faces of his former classmates, as well as the brutal slaughter on the battlefield.

One figure after another had fallen into pools of blood, becoming nothing more than a handful of yellow earth.

He remained silent, saying nothing, but his eyes gradually deepened.

Li Yuan withdrew his gaze. It seemed the Demon Suppression Bureau and the academy shared a very close relationship.

Over the past few days, he had learned quite a bit about extraordinary matters through various channels. Chen Shuo was clearly the practical sort who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, utterly different in bearing from academic representatives like Dean Su.

The lengthy line proceeded one by one toward the center of the square, where several strange stones stood, each half the height of a person. They were grayish white throughout, yet faint cloud patterns flowed across their surfaces.

Beside every Spirit Appraisal Stone stood an academy instructor, responsible for recording and guidance.

Cries of surprise rang out from time to time.

"Earth element."

"Defense-oriented."

"Low grade."

"Wood element."

"Healing-oriented."

"Middle grade."

As voice after voice rang out, some were beside themselves with joy, while others secretly rejoiced.

But even more were disappointed and dejected, leaving in tears.

"Mutation-oriented."

"Enhanced eyesight."

"Low grade."

Li Yuan stood near the back of a line, silently observing the whole time.

He had already learned that talents were mainly divided into three major categories: attack, defense, and healing. A small number of talents that were difficult to classify were known as mutation types.

Grades, meanwhile, were divided into high, middle, and low, with each grade further split into three levels. From what he had seen, low-grade talents were the most common, middle-grade ones were rare, and not a single high-grade talent had appeared so far.

As for cultivation realms, given his status, he did not know much. He only knew that one began with Body Tempering, followed by the Essence Drawing Realm and the Subtle Realm. What came after that was beyond the knowledge of ordinary people.

"Hey, are you scared?"

The youth standing in front of him nudged his arm and asked nervously.

Li Yuan glanced sideways. The youth wore splendid brocade robes, but his face was pale, and a visible layer of cold sweat covered his forehead.

The jade pendant and sachet on his person were exquisitely crafted, clearly marking him as someone from a good family. Yet now he possessed none of a wealthy young master's composure, looking thoroughly anxious instead.

"I'm fine."

Li Yuan looked away and answered blandly.

"My name is Wu Yu." The youth seemed desperate to ease his stress through conversation. "Everyone in my family has a talent. Even the worst of them are low grade. I had someone test me once before, and they said I had no talent..."

His voice dropped. "But I couldn't accept it. They all say the academy's Spirit Appraisal Stones came from beyond the heavens and are more accurate at testing... What if the earlier test was wrong?"

Li Yuan looked at him. Rather than pursuing power, this youth seemed more like he had been crushed beneath his family's expectations and pressure.

"You'll know after the test."

Li Yuan's brief reply contained little comfort, yet it carried a strange calmness.

"Pfft..."

A sneer came from nearby. A youth wearing a jade crown cast a sidelong glance at them and said with a cold laugh, "I was wondering who it was. So it's Chang'an City's famous wastrel?

"Oh, I forgot. Your father managed money for the Ministry of Revenue. No wonder his greed landed him in prison. Wasn't it all because he had a son who could do nothing except squander the family fortune?"

Madam Wang had deliberately spread the original owner's reputation as a playboy. He had been timid and cowardly, never daring to defend himself. Over time, the accusations had become accepted as fact.

Several people nearby joined in the jeering. One pointed at Wu Yu and said, "Isn't this the Wu Family's good-for-nothing? I heard your Wu Family has had talents in every generation. Looks like the line might end with your generation!"

"Hahaha..."

Wu Yu's face instantly flushed crimson. He clenched his fists, his body trembling slightly, humiliation and fury filling his eyes. His lips moved, yet he could not utter a single word.

Li Yuan did not even raise his eyelids, as though those taunts were nothing but buzzing flies by his ears.

His gaze swept faintly over the laughing youths, memorizing their faces, yet his heart remained utterly calm.

Madam Wang had splashed him with that filth, while his father had brought ruin upon himself. What did any of it have to do with him?

His goal was not here in the first place. There was no need to bicker with this bunch of bratty children now.

Seeing that neither of them reacted, those youths found it dull. Moreover, an instructor was looking their way, so they hurriedly put on an innocent appearance.

Near noon, it was finally Wu Yu's turn.

He dragged himself to the Spirit Appraisal Stone, his face pale. Only after the instructor urged him did he tremblingly extend his right hand and press it against the cold stone.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

The Spirit Appraisal Stone showed no reaction whatsoever.

"Ha! Just as expected, he's trash!"

Yang Lin, the jade-crowned youth who had mocked him earlier, immediately laughed in disdain.

"The Wu Family has really lost face this time!"

"I said long ago he wouldn't make it, but he insisted on coming here to make a fool of himself..."

Laughter erupted all around. Even Su Wenyuan on the stage shook his head slightly, revealing a trace of regret.

Wu Yu's tears finally rolled down. The hand pressed against the stone shook violently, yet he stubbornly refused to pull it away.

"Give up already! Stop wasting everyone's time!"

Someone called out in a strange voice.

"Relax."

A calm voice sounded beside him. Wu Yu slowly turned to look at Li Yuan.

Li Yuan looked at him, his eyes calm and still, and repeated, "Don't think about anything. Close your eyes and relax."

For some reason, upon seeing those unruffled eyes, Wu Yu's wildly pounding heart truly seemed to calm somewhat.

He nodded, closed his eyes again, thought of nothing, and tried his best to loosen his rigid body.

A few breaths later, just as boos broke out across the square—

Bzzz!

A low, muffled sound came from the Spirit Appraisal Stone. Immediately afterward, a deep, dark-blue radiance lit up and swiftly spread across the entire surface of the stone.

"It reacted?"

The instructor responsible for recording froze.

Before anyone could cry out in surprise, the dark-blue light suddenly surged. An enormous shadow shot into the sky.

The figure resembled a colossal turtle, yet it bore a strangely shaped shell. Light and shadow flowed over it, as though rivers of stars and mountains lay hidden within. Its turtle head was held high, its serpent tail coiled around itself, and it exuded an indescribably profound, weighty aura.

The entire square fell silent in an instant. Countless stunned gazes locked tightly onto the phantom.

On the stage, Chen Shuo, who had watched with indifference all along, showed a slight change in his eyes as he carefully examined the phantom.

"Could it be the divine beast, the Black Tortoise?"

The instructor cried out in shock.

Divine beast bloodlines were incomparably precious—and this was the Black Tortoise, one of the legendary Four Ancient Divine Beasts.

This was no longer merely a talent. What virtue and ability did the Wu Family possess to produce such a genius?

For a moment, everyone's expressions were a spectacular sight.