Chapter 1: Universal Sects? Sect Awakening Day
[Cerebrum and cerebellum deposit and maintenance office.]
[Yanzhu, Yifei, and Kunshao awakening office.]
[The first adapted manhua "Universal Sect: I Upgraded My Trash Sect Into a Divine Domain" is now online!]
Spirit City High School.
Countless senior high school students were nervously lining up, preparing to undergo the sect awakening test.
This was something all senior students needed to experience during their very first week of senior year.
In the era of universal sects, all senior high school students were able to awaken a sect.
Some people could awaken a top-grade sword sect; upon awakening, the sect would feature sword-cultivation disciples with exceptional talent, remaining strong from start to finish.
Some people could awaken a beast-taming sect, able to control Demon Beasts of various rare bloodlines.
Some people could awaken an alchemy sect or a artifact-crafting sect, earning a fortune.
However, most people could only awaken an ordinary sect, failing even to survive the first-stage competition of the sect world, resulting in their sects being shattered and themselves ruined, wasting their lives away.
As for those proud heaven's chosen who awakened top-grade sects, they could materialize their sects when Blue Star faced alien invasions, slaughtering in all directions and becoming idols to countless people.
And what would determine whether one wasted their life away or slaughtered in all directions was today-the very first week of senior year, Sect Awakening Day!
Spirit City High School, Class 1 of Senior Year, also known as the Grand Ambition Class.
It was the class among all students in Spirit City that had the best grasp of various theoretical knowledge regarding sects, and also the class that performed the best in routine sect-cultivation simulations.
Yet a good grasp of theoretical knowledge and good sect-cultivation simulations could not truly represent anything; only by awakening a good sect could one be considered a true genius.
Lin Feng was a member of the Grand Ambition Class.
During his freshman and sophomore years, Lin Feng had always been first place in the entire school for theoretical knowledge mastery and sect-cultivation simulations.
Countless people regarded Lin Feng as an idol, and countless people scoffed at him, just waiting for Sect Awakening Day to mock this so-called genius.
In the past, 'geniuses' like Lin Feng who showed stellar performance in theory and sect-cultivation simulations awakened ordinary sects all the time.
"Classmate Lin Feng, are you nervous?"
In the Grand Ambition Class queue, a girl brimming with youthfulness beside Lin Feng looked at him with watery eyes.
The males in the other key class queues and ordinary class queues felt their teeth itch with hatred the moment they saw this scene.
The girl was named Lin Wan'er, recognized as the campus belle of their Spirit City High School; both her looks and figure crushed everyone else.
It was even rumored that Lin Wan'er had once been divined by a divination disciple materialized by some bigwig, possessing a spirit-imbued aura and great grand fortune.
Word was spreading outside that the sect Lin Wan'er would awaken was at least a Grade-A sect, with an extremely high probability of being an S-grade sect.
Yet Lin Wan'er only paid attention to Lin Feng on ordinary days, turning a blind eye to everyone else.
This caused even more people to harbor resentment toward Lin Feng, all waiting to see today on Sect Awakening Day whether he, Lin Feng, was truly a dragon or a phoenix, or merely part of the common flock.
Lin Feng ignored those vague, hostile gazes; he only looked forward to awakening quickly and activating his very own golden finger.
Studying in his past life didn't work for him, but in this life, making him study knowledge seen only in novels-wasn't that a walk in the park?
Lin Feng was baffled by Lin Wan'er's concern.
He did not believe his affinity with women in this life could be good to such an extent, capable of making a top-grade woman admired by countless people fall for him.
Therefore, Lin Feng had always guarded against Lin Wan'er, believing the other party must harbor ulterior motives toward him.
Regarding Lin Wan'er's question, Lin Feng said indifferently, "It's alright. Being nervous or not is useless, it's all up to the heavens. Even if I awaken a dilapidated sect, I, Lin Feng, will accept it."
Though he said this outwardly, Lin Feng still hoped he could awaken a superior-grade sect; otherwise, the thought of being mocked by so many people later on would still be rather uncomfortable.
A trace of imperceptible anticipation flashed within Lin Wan'er's eyes, and then her gaze shifted to the testing instrument on the plaza.
As long as a student touched their hand to that testing instrument, their sect scene would materialize behind them, displaying information such as the condition of the disciples within the sect and the Spiritual Qi concentration, ultimately yielding a comprehensive rating.
The higher the comprehensive rating, the higher one's future achievements tended to be.
Spirit City High School's Awakening Day always began with the senior students of the ordinary classes awakening, followed by the key classes, and finally the Grand Ambition Class.
This left a sliver of anticipation for everyone while simultaneously maxing out the pressure on the students of the Grand Ambition Class.
Lin Feng watched as the testing instruments in the center of the plaza lit up one after another, sect scenes materializing behind those students one by one.
The sects awakened by students from the ordinary classes were not necessarily inferior to those of the key classes and the Grand Ambition Class, but generally, the key classes and the Grand Ambition Class had a higher probability of awakening sects with higher ratings.
"Haha! Hahaha! Thirty years in the east of the river! Thirty years in the west of the river! Today I, Lin Daqiang, have awakened a superior-grade sect with a Grade-A rating!"
"Who was it back then that looked down on us students from the ordinary classes? Today I want to see what grades of sects you people from the key classes and the Grand Ambition Class can awaken!"
An arrogant voice resounded from the testing platform.
At the same time, Lin Daqiang swept his gaze across the students of the key classes and the Grand Ambition Class, and finally, his expression landed on Lin Feng.
"Especially that certain genius from the Grand Ambition Class, I want to see if you can keep acting so pretentious after today!"
The moment Lin Daqiang's voice fell, a wave of flattering sounds rang out beside him.
"Brother Qiang is awesome!"
"Brother Qiang, you'll have to cover us from now on!"
"I really hope our sect in the Sect World ends up next to Brother Qiang's sect. Then we can keep following him!"
Lin Daqiang listened to the praise all around him, a satisfied expression appearing on his face.
He had been waiting for this moment for two years!
Every day, teachers of every subject had mocked him for being good for nothing, while his homeroom teacher had nagged him daily to learn from Lin Feng of the Grand Ambition Class!
Today, he, Lin Daqiang, was going to slap all those people in the face!
Lin Daqiang strode down from the testing platform with his nose in the air, his gaze fixed the entire time on the honors class and the Grand Ambition Class.
He had awakened a sect with an A-grade rating. As long as he made steady progress, even if he couldn't get into Capital University or Demon City University, he was practically guaranteed a place at Mountains and Rivers University, ranked third nationwide!
In the past, it had already been a tremendous achievement for Spirit City High School to produce one or two students with A-grade ratings!
This year would most likely be the same. He, Lin Daqiang, was the one who deserved to be the center of everyone's attention!
While Lin Daqiang was still basking in his own glory, the students from the honors class had already begun taking the test one by one.
Compared to the ordinary classes, where most sects were rated C or D and only a few were rated B, the honors class had far more students with B-grade ratings. Unfortunately, not one of them received an A-grade rating.
This only made the smile on Lin Daqiang's face grow wider.
As long as the Grand Ambition Class didn't produce an A-grade sect either, then he, Lin Daqiang, would be the undisputed top dog of this year's cohort!
The students from the Grand Ambition Class went up to take the test one by one. The vast majority awakened sects with B-grade ratings.
At last, only Lin Feng and Lin Wan'er remained.
Everyone's gaze focused on the two of them.
Lin Wan'er stepped forward first and gently placed her hand on the sect testing device.
In an instant, a streak of pale green spiritual light shot into the sky. It soared high into the clouds, then slowly spread out as the enormous phantom of a sect solidified from the void.
The sect had been built against the mountains and nestled among the clouds. Its entire structure rested on the foundation of warm, lustrous jade-green crystal. The palace eaves did not have sharp, angular corners; instead, they curved in flowing lines like a luan spreading its wings. Delicate jade wind chimes hung from the eaves, swaying even without a breeze. Their clear, ringing notes washed away inner demons and soothed the soul.
Clouds wound through the sect like stairways, while spiritual streams circled the halls. Tempering spirit springs flowed through the streams, and thousand-year-old spirit bamboo and phoenix trees grew along the banks. Snow-white spirit sparrows perched among the branches, alongside blue-feathered immortal birds bearing spirit fruits in their beaks.
At the center of the sect stood a pillar that was the source of a Spirit Vein. Its surface was covered in High Antiquity luan-bird runes. It drew in Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi without end, and the pressure it gave off was gentle yet weighty, proclaiming the foundation of a top-tier Spirit Vein.
Floating spirit platforms were scattered throughout, providing places for disciples to cultivate and practice sword flight.
The entire sect was suffused with immortal qi and teeming with life. It was neither sinister like an evil sect nor crude like a martial sect, but displayed all the sanctity, grandeur, and profound foundations of an S-grade Spirit Sect. It seemed as if it had been made especially for physicians, spirit tamers, and sword immortal disciples.
Lin Wan'er wore an expression that suggested this was only to be expected, as though she had long since anticipated awakening an S-grade sect.
Lin Daqiang, who had been walking with his nose in the air, showed a hint of unwillingness when he saw the sect Lin Wan'er had awakened.
He couldn't afford to provoke Lin Wan'er, but there was still Lin Feng!
He turned to look at Lin Feng, a hint of anxiety and nervousness on his face.