Time to Come Clean!

It was late at night.

After Yang Zheng went into his bedroom and fell asleep, Wang Jiu and his wife remained on the sofa in the living room outside. Although the television was on, neither of them was really watching it.

"They came to see you again?" Wang Jiu frowned slightly, then sneered. "They know they can't crack this tough nut, so now they're trying to get to me through you!"

"Oh, you. It's been so many years, and you're still angry!" Yang Rong rolled her eyes at him. "The old man doesn't have many years left. He wants to see his grandchildren, too!"

"Hmph!"

Wang Jiu was clearly still resentful. "If that stubborn old fool hadn't pushed me back then, I wouldn't have broken with him, and things wouldn't have ended up like this!"

"Go back? Does he really think I can't survive outside the Wang Family? The Wang Family doesn't need another War God Level fighter like me. What would I even do there? Clean up all their filthy dealings?"

"Oh, you..." Yang Rong shook her head helplessly. She had been the reason Wang Jiu broke with the Wang Family back then, leaving in anger and coming to Northwest Base City.

He had even given all three children her surname.

But more than ten years had passed, and all three children were grown now. She wanted to ease the tension between her husband and his relatives.

The living room fell silent for a while, with only the sound of the television filling the air.

Early the next morning.

Yang Zheng pulled his father, Wang Jiu, into the Martial Arts Training Hall.

"Dragging me here first thing in the morning? Has your strength improved, brat? Want to spar with me?" Wang Jiu looked at Yang Zheng in puzzlement.

Yang Zheng's combat record had reached the intermediate War General Level. As the chairman of the Limit General Hall, Wang Jiu naturally had the authority to access that information.

Had the brat gotten cocky with his newfound strength? Did he want to challenge his old man's authority?

"Dad, I've got good news!"

Yang Zheng released his spiritual force, shattering a wooden saber hanging on the wall. Several fragments instantly became streaks of light, darting rapidly around his body.

They flitted like birds, soared upward, then swooped straight down, moving with incredible speed and agility.

"Spiritual force!"

As chairman of Northwest Base City's Limit General Hall, Wang Jiu possessed considerable strength and a keen eye. He immediately recognized the power Yang Zheng was wielding as the spiritual force of a Spirit Reader.

"You've awakened your Spirit Reader talent?"

A hint of excitement colored Wang Jiu's shocked voice. Spirit Readers were extremely rare on Earth, but almost every one of them could sweep aside opponents at the same level.

More importantly, Yang Zheng was already twenty-two this year, yet his strength was only that of a Beginner Warlord. In Wang Jiu's eyes as chairman, that rate of cultivation was far too ordinary.

Even if he poured resources into his son in the future, whether Yang Zheng could reach the War God Level remained uncertain. After all, Wang Jiu himself was only a Beginner War God.

"What form does the spiritual force dormant in your sea of consciousness take? Roughly how much is there?" Wang Jiu steadied himself and asked with anticipation.

Once a Spirit Reader's talent awakened, their strength would inevitably surge in a short period. Only after all the spiritual force dormant in their sea of consciousness had been released would their progress slow.

A Spirit Reader's potential depended on how much spiritual force lay dormant in their sea of consciousness. For some, it existed as a liquid; for others, liquid and solid forms coexisted.

The rarest had spiritual force in an entirely solid form, giving them the greatest potential among Spirit Readers.

"A solid pyramid, about the size of an adult's fist!" Although it was only fist-sized, the pyramid had barely changed even after Yang Zheng drew enough spiritual force from it to reach the Advanced General Level.

"Dad, hold on!"

Yang Zheng hurriedly stopped his father, whose face was brimming with excitement. "After awakening my Spirit Reader talent this time, my mind felt clearer than ever before. I mastered the third layer of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade in one go."

Awakening his Spirit Reader talent alone was not enough. Yang Zheng added another bombshell, attributing all future changes in his cultivation speed to this awakening of his spiritual force.

"When did you awaken?" After about half a minute, Wang Jiu finally calmed down.

"Half a month ago. I happened to run into an Advanced Beast General monster and suddenly awakened when my life was in danger!"

Yang Zheng's story was nine parts falsehood and one part truth. He had encountered an Advanced Beast General, but back then, before his memories awakened, he had only glimpsed it from far away before quickly fleeing the area.

After his memories awakened and his strength surged, he returned to that area. Yet even after searching for two days, he failed to find the Advanced Beast General.

"An Advanced Beast General? You weren't..."

Wang Jiu's gaze grew complicated. He wanted to express his concern for Yang Zheng, but he was a warrior himself. He knew that once someone chose this path, situations like these would come sooner or later.

There was great terror in the face of death. Warriors who frequently walked the line between life and death would always gain something if they survived, but failure meant death.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, he decided how to secure the greatest benefits for Yang Zheng. He tapped his communication watch and prepared to make contact.

"No, I'll go in person!"

Wang Jiu closed his contacts and immediately instructed Yang Zheng, "Go to the thirty-third floor of the General Hall building now. Wait for me there."

With that, he pulled open the door and hurried outside.

"Hey, Wang, you haven't eaten yet!" Yang Rong poked her head out of the kitchen and called after him.

"Not eating. I'm full!" He hastily tossed out those words before disappearing from view.

"Mom, I'm skipping breakfast, too!"

With a sweep of his spiritual force, Yang Zheng gathered the wooden saber fragments into the trash can in the corner, then opened the front door and headed toward the Headquarters Building.

"At least eat something!"

Yang Rong looked at the nearly finished meal and sighed. She could only go wake the other two children, who were still sleeping in.

"He awakened his spiritual force, and his comprehension improved unexpectedly, too? If that's true, perhaps I can apply for better training resources!" Wang Jiu pondered as he walked along the path in the early morning.

Yang Zheng's awakening was not unique.

Since the Great Nirvana, some human Spirit Readers had awakened naturally at fifteen or sixteen, while others only became Spirit Readers in their forties or fifties. There were also those who awakened in moments of life-or-death danger.

The difference between these Spirit Readers lay in the spiritual force dormant in their sea of consciousness, which represented their potential.

But an improvement in comprehension, as Yang Zheng had described, was simply unheard of.

Among all the treasures currently known, or at least those he could look up with his clearance, not a single heavenly treasure could improve comprehension. They could only enhance physical fitness.

...aptitude and comprehension.

Something so mysterious

was supposed to be innate, wasn't it? How could it be improved later in life?

Although Wang Jiu did not quite understand it, whether Yang Zheng's "comprehension" had improved or not, awakening his Spirit Reader talent alone was enough for him to request preferential resources from his superiors.

The student would surpass the master.

That day was just around the corner!