Omnipotent Talent

Please forgive anything that doesn't quite make sense, and just read this for fun. This is my first book, so the beginning might not be very well written, but I personally feel I improved later on.

Mainly, I'm still in school and don't have much time to write, so I can't revise repeatedly before posting. Please point out any mistakes.

Brain storage area: exchange one brain for one bag of sunflower seeds, random flavor.

ꉂ ᳐˶'ᜊ'˶ ྀིಣ

Year 217 of the New Era, the Age of Great Awakening.

A week earlier, the Federation's awakening apparatus had covered the entire city, and all graduating examinees in Qingning City had undergone their talent awakenings together.

Some stirred energy and manifested talents, becoming Awakened who drew everyone's attention; others failed to awaken, their talent fields left blank, and were classified as ordinary from then on-they could only enter technological grunt-work positions such as mechanical repair, energy operations and maintenance, low-level engineering, or mech logistics, trapped on bottom-rung assembly lines for life, with no chance of ever attending Azure Dragon Academy.

Energy screens suspended high above flowed across the sky. The floating cultivation grounds of Qingning City No. 1 Middle School gleamed with a cold white metallic sheen, and high-density awakening particles drifted through the air, making the tension before battle so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

Only seven days remained before the college entrance trial began.

Xing Yao returned to the old, secluded residential complex on the outskirts. Its stairwells were dim, its wall paint peeled, and its spiritual energy was thin-a different world entirely from No. 1 Middle School's floating cultivation grounds.

Inside, the lighting was dim and the furnishings sparse, with a faint scent of old machinery mingled with energy potions hanging in the air. The instant the door opened, a voice positively oozing obnoxious, deeply ingrained sarcasm rang out.

"Well, if it isn't the mighty Xing Yao, who awakened the omnipotent talent?"

Expressionless, Xing Yao glanced inside. A figure who looked exactly like him was sprawled comfortably on the sofa with his legs crossed, fully committed to lying flat. Xing Yao walked over and plopped into the chair opposite him.

Xing Yao shot him a sidelong look and asked irritably, "What? What kind of trouble cropped up this time?"

The figure identical to Xing Yao immediately began cursing. "It's all because of that omnipotent talent bullshit you made up! Fuck, I almost went down today! Those people from the National Talent Research Institute came storming in to search the place! If I hadn't hidden by the skin of my teeth, the moment they discovered I looked exactly like you, they'd have hauled me off to slice up for research, a national-treasure-grade lab rat! And don't think you'd get away either. Now that would've been quite a show!"

Xing Yao frowned, then asked, "Right, I told you to think of ways to get Resentment Points quickly. Come up with anything?"

Clone No. 1 casually pulled out a crumpled little notebook, slapped it onto his thigh, and clicked his tongue impatiently. "Think? Think my ass! I've spent the entire day on tenterhooks, scared those people would double back and search the place again. My heart was in my throat! When was I supposed to work on that? Since you're back, you handle it-you're the original. Don't you have more sneaky ideas than me? If you weren't quick-witted and slick with your tricks, could you have actually molded me into existence in just three days? Hurry up and think. Come up with some efficient, reliable methods."

Left speechless for a moment, Xing Yao rolled his eyes before replying, "If I could think of something, what would I need you for? Are you purely decorative?"

He paused, his tone growing slightly heavier. "Right, I poured in quite a few more Resentment Points today and completely elevated the mental world inside my mind. Now it doesn't just stabilize the mind; it can store things directly, too. If another search team comes knocking, you can hide in there. No more living in fear."

At that, Xing Yao moved his fingertips slightly, sensing the Power of Resentment circulating inside him. "After a whole day of frantically experimenting, I also discovered that Resentment Points don't just create clones and strengthen me. I can also give things tangible form and mold little objects out of them. Right now, though, I can only make small stuff, and their effects barely scratch the surface."

He sighed softly, his voice full of helplessness. "But the real trouble is still ahead. To fully establish my claim to this 'omnipotent talent,' I have to use Resentment Points to awaken a unique talent for you, and they need to come in all sorts of varieties, each different. The more unusual, the more convincing. Not to mention, I'll keep making other clones later, and every one will need a different talent if we're going to make this act seamless and keep the authorities from seeing through it."

Xing Yao leaned against the chair back and rubbed between his brows, utterly mentally exhausted. "And I can also spend Resentment Points to directly share your abilities... Sounds awesome, but the cost is ridiculously explosive. Creating clones costs points, unlocking talents costs points, strengthening the mental world costs points. These Resentment Points are practically a bottomless pit. No amount is enough to burn through. I'm short, desperately short. So broke you can practically hear the empty pockets rattling."

Clone No. 1 immediately curled his lip and asked in bewilderment, "Can't you just report your cloning skill? All this running in circles is completely unnecessary!"

Xing Yao shook his head decisively, his tone especially serious. "Absolutely not. This ability is way too broken. If the major top-tier powers set their sights on me, or other countries notice and send a bunch of assassins who specialize in hunting geniuses, I'd drop dead right where I stood in no time. Better to invent a more low-key talent and keep my trump cards hidden. That's safer."

Clone No. 1 rolled his eyes dramatically on the spot, utterly speechless. "Oh, give me a break. You call an omnipotent talent low-key? Your bar for 'low-key' is way too high!"

Xing Yao coughed lightly and retorted with complete conviction, "But that only makes me a T1-level genius at most. Compared to my real trump cards, it's nothing. Unlimited clones are one thing, but the key is that each clone can awaken an independent talent, and I can directly share all your abilities... That level of power is just absurd. Once it's exposed, the consequences would be unimaginable. By comparison, publicly claiming an omnipotent talent-come on, that's taking lying low to the absolute limit, okay?"

Besides, my strength hasn't gained a firm footing yet. There's no need to reveal all my trump cards. Once I'm strong enough and have enough backing, it won't be too late to slowly reveal my true talent. Making your way in this world, you should lie low whenever you can. Quietly developing and secretly milking everything for all it's worth is the way to go. Recklessly showing off will only get you killed early. The losses would completely outweigh the gains.

After hearing him out, Clone No. 1 curled his lip and rolled his eyes in speechless disbelief. "Heh, low-key? You call publicly claiming an omnipotent talent low-key? I think you've got some monumental misunderstanding of the word!"

Xing Yao couldn't be bothered to keep arguing. He waved a hand, cut off the subject, and got down to business with a serious expression. "All right, all right. Enough of that irrelevant stuff. Back to the point! What matters most now is coming up with some cursed little tricks, screwing people over without paying with our lives, and harvesting Resentment Points like crazy."

Clone No. 1's eyes instantly lit up. He sat straight up and leaned closer with an obnoxious grin. "Oho! Finally going to stir things up, huh? I knew you had the most sneaky ideas, original. Tell me, tell me! What's the plan?"

One corner of Xing Yao's mouth lifted, his scheming smile dialed all the way up. He lowered his voice, brimming with excitement at causing trouble. "We won't do anything dangerous or illegal. We'll focus on cursed tricks that do nothing but disgust people, send their blood pressure through the roof, and leave them nowhere to vent. Those Resentment Points will come pouring into our pockets!"

Xing Yao fell silent for a moment, seemingly considering something seriously. Then he raised his head and told his clone in an extremely earnest tone, "But there's one drawback."

The clone was thoroughly surprised, his curiosity completely hooked at once. He hurried a step forward, looked at Xing Yao with expectant eyes, and pressed impatiently, "A drawback? What is it? Hurry up and tell me!"

Looking at his clone's eager, curious expression, Xing Yao remained utterly solemn and serious, without a trace of a smile or the slightest hint of joking. After a brief silence, he answered gravely, "I haven't thought of what to do yet."

The clone was left utterly speechless by Xing Yao's seemingly serious but actually nutritionally worthless statement. All his brimming anticipation instantly vanished like smoke. He threw himself heavily backward, sinking into the sofa in lazy defeat, his brows and eyes drooping, his expression full of helplessness and disdain. After a brief silence, he finally spoke slowly, his words thoroughly scathing and painfully genuine. "Seeing you looking so serious and thinking in silence, I really thought you were holding in something big. Turns out all you squeezed out was a big dump. Not a single useful thing. What a complete waste of my anticipation."