“Next, Lin Yuan!”
On the high platform, an examiner dressed in a deep blue uniform called out the name in a calm voice.
A flurry of whispers immediately rippled through the Awakening Square. Everyone’s gaze shifted in unison toward the black-haired youth stepping out from the queue.
Lin Yuan walked forward, his expression composed.
He had been in this world of spiritual recovery for two and a half years, and for all that time, he had been buried in endless practice exams.
Coincidentally, his name in his previous life had also been Lin Yuan.
Veins bulged on Lin Yuan’s forehead as he cursed inwardly, “Dammit. I spent my last life grinding through exams, and I had to do the same thing after transmigrating.”
In his previous life, Lin Yuan had stayed up all night reading novels after the college entrance exams, leading to a sudden death from exhaustion.
He had been in this supernatural world for two and a half years now.
And today was the moment that would decide the fate of countless people—the awakening ceremony.
“Place your hand on the awakening stone and concentrate,” the examiner said as a matter of routine.
Lin Yuan pressed his hand against the cold crystal and closed his eyes.
He could feel a faint power surging within him—energy he had vaguely sensed last night, a talent inherent to this body.
Suddenly, the awakening stone erupted in light!
Brilliant arcs of electricity danced across the crystal’s surface, crackling loudly.
The crowd below held their breath, waiting for the result to be announced.
However, the light quickly dimmed, and two clear words appeared on the crystal:
Lightning: Weak Spark (F-rank)
“F-rank...” The examiner frowned, a hint of disappointment coloring his voice. “Lin Yuan, awakened F-rank lightning ability.”
After a brief silence, the square erupted into uncontrollable laughter.
“Hahaha, I knew it! What kind of talent could someone from an orphanage possibly have?”
“F-rank lightning? Isn’t that just a walking lightbulb?”
“I’m dying! An ability like that probably couldn't even shock the lowest-level monster to death, right?”
In the front row of the crowd, several richly dressed youths mocked him without restraint.
Their leader was Zhao Tianyu of the Zhao family. He had just awakened a B-rank fire ability and was currently preening with pride.
Lin Yuan withdrew his hand without expression, as if the mockery had nothing to do with him.
Only he knew that the moment the awakening stone lit up, he had felt two distinct powers waking up inside him.
Besides that weak electricity, there was a deeper, more elusive energy—the fluctuations of space and time.
“Quiet!” the examiner barked, and the square gradually returned to order.
He looked at Lin Yuan with a trace of pity. “Next.”
Lin Yuan silently stepped down from the platform and returned to the queue.
He could feel gazes coming at him from all directions—pity, mockery, and schadenfreude.
Right then, a clear female voice rang out:
“Lin Yuan, don't mind them.”
The speaker was a girl with a refined beauty, hair like a waterfall, and eyes like stars.
Her name was Su Qingyue, and she had grown up with Lin Yuan.
At this moment, Su Qingyue’s eyes were filled with worry.
“I’m fine,” Lin Yuan said with a slight smile.
His relationship with Su Qingyue was more than just being childhood friends—their parents had been life-and-death companions.
Lin Yuan’s parents had both sacrificed themselves sixteen years ago during a monster tide.
Before they died, the elders of both families had arranged a marriage contract for them.
The news had caused quite a stir at the time, and almost everyone in Donghai City knew about the betrothal between the Su and Lin families.
“Su Qingyue!” the examiner’s voice rang out again.
Su Qingyue took a deep breath and walked toward the awakening stone.
The moment her hand touched it, the crystal exploded with a piercing silver-white light. The temperature in the entire square plummeted, and a thin layer of frost even formed on the ground.
The examiner’s eyes widened, and his voice trembled with excitement. “S-rank... ice ability!”
The crowd went wild.
S-rank! An S-rank user had never appeared in Donghai City before!
Su Qingyue stood in the light like a goddess of ice and snow.
Yet her gaze swept past the crowd, looking for the black-haired youth standing in the corner.
Lin Yuan nodded to her, genuinely happy for her.
But he knew that this talent might not be entirely a good thing for Su Qingyue.
Sure enough, as soon as the ceremony ended, a middle-aged man in a black suit hurried onto the platform and whispered a few words into the ear of Su Zhen, the head of the Su family.
Su Zhen’s expression shifted slightly before returning to calm, but the look he cast toward Lin Yuan had already turned cold.
...
After the ceremony, Lin Yuan returned alone to his small house in the old city district.
This was the only property his parents had left him. Their neighbor, Grandma Wang, had been looking after him all these years.
“Xiao Yuan, you’re back?” The silver-haired Grandma Wang poked her head out from next door, holding a steaming bowl of meat soup. “How was it? What ability did you awaken?”
“F-rank lightning,” Lin Yuan said truthfully.
Grandma Wang paused for a moment, then said with a chuckle, “Lightning is good. We won't need to call a repairman when the lightbulbs break anymore. Come, come, drink some soup.”
Lin Yuan felt a warmth in his heart.
In this world, the people who truly cared for him were few and far between.
Back in his room, Lin Yuan closed the door, finally able to carefully sense the changes in his body.
He extended his right hand, and with a slight thought, several tiny sparks of electricity danced at his fingertips—this was the full extent of an F-rank lightning ability.
But then, Lin Yuan lightly clenched his left hand.
The surrounding space rippled like water. The water cup on the table vanished into thin air, appearing on the headboard of the bed a second later.
The flow of time also seemed to slow down; the leaves falling outside the window descended sluggishly through the air.
A space-time ability, and an S-rank one at that.
“As I thought...” A sharp glint flashed in Lin Yuan’s eyes.
He had felt something was off last night, as if something was hidden within this body.
It turned out he was a rare dual-element user, with one useless and one powerful ability—an extreme contrast.
【Host’s awakening complete. God-level Ability System activating...】
A cold, mechanical voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
Lin Yuan’s body jolted, but he quickly composed himself.
As a transmigrator, he was no stranger to things like systems.
【System activation successful】
【Host: Lin Yuan】
【Age: 18】
【Realm: Unranked】
【Ability 1: Weak Spark (F-rank)】
【Ability 2: Space-Time Ruler (S-rank)】
【Ability Points: 0】
【System Function: Hunting monsters grants Ability Points. Ability Points can currently be used to increase ability rank, realm cultivation, combat technique proficiency, appraise items, and improve pill quality.】
“I need to hunt monsters, huh...” Lin Yuan looked out the window.
Low-level monsters often appeared on the outskirts of Donghai City, serving as a trial ground for novice ability users.
However, with his F-rank lightning strength, even though he had the S-rank space-time element...
Neither of his abilities had reached a proper rank yet, so his combat power wasn't high. Going to the outskirts of Donghai City now would be no different from seeking death.
“Wait...” Lin Yuan suddenly thought of something. “The system only said hunting monsters grants Ability Points. It didn't specify that I must use abilities to kill them.”
He walked to the corner and opened an old wooden chest.
Inside were his parents' belongings—some clothes, a few photos, and some money.
Just then, a knock came at the door.
“Xiao Yuan, people from the Su family are here.” Grandma Wang’s voice sounded a bit worried.
Lin Yuan frowned and opened the door.
Two people stood outside. One was the Su family’s butler, and the other was...
“Qingyue?” Lin Yuan was somewhat surprised.
Su Qingyue bit her lip, her eyes slightly red.
The butler behind her spoke expressionlessly, “Young Master Lin Yuan, the family head requests your presence at the Su Manor to discuss your marriage contract with Miss Qingyue.”
Lin Yuan’s heart sank. He knew what was coming, though he had already been thinking about going to the Su family to break the engagement himself...
“I, Lin Yuan, do not need others to dictate my life, not even my parents!”
Rate on N.U.
