Unknowingly, an afternoon had passed. After he was done researching, Ling Jiu left the Internet cafe and went home.
As soon as he entered through the door, he caught a whiff of a very tempting fragrance. "What is Dad cooking that smells so good?"
Ling Jiu came from a single-parent family. His parents had gotten a divorce when he was very young, so his father had raised both him and his sister single-handedly. With his father taking the role of two parents, the hardships he endured was not something outsiders would understand, especially some time ago, when his company declared bankruptcy.
The blow to his father was extremely big.
Had it not been for them, his two children, his father would have already thrown himself off the balcony and returned his soul to King Yama.
As a result, his father's mental state had not been very good recently. He had been drowning his sorrows with alcohol and was extremely dispirited. He had not cooked in a long time now.
Did the sun rise from the west today?
Just as Ling Jiu was feeling puzzled, his father poked his head out from the kitchen and was all smiles. "Son, you're back?"
"Dad, you're..."
After spending half a month's time together, Ling Jiu had slowly accepted this cheap dad of his. Besides, the latter was still very concerned about his son.
"I heard what happened in school from your sister!" Ling Tianci broke into a smile. "Son, congratulations on becoming an Arcanist! Dad is proud of you!
"I'll tell you what..."
Ling Jiu suddenly wrapped his head around it. No wonder his father had come out. He had found out that Ling Jiu had awakened his Arcana, and this was indeed a boost to him.
"Sit down and get some rest. Food will be ready soon. Later on, we'll have a couple of drinks and celebrate!" His father was very excited.
"Do you need any help?" Ling Jiu asked.
"No need!"
Not long after Ling Jiu sat down, his sister, Ling Xiaotong came home. The moment she entered the door, she lunged at Ling Jiu. "Brother, you're so awesome!"
"I just awakened my Arcana," Ling Jiu said with some disapproval.
"Ooooh, so pretentious! Go on!"
His little sister glared at him and added, "You know, after the trials were completed, the school hung a banner that said, 'Congratulations to Li Kai, Ling Jiu, and Han Chujun of our school on awakening their Arcanas and bringing glory to the school...'"
"Han Chujun? She also awakened her Arcana?"
Ling Jiu was a little surprised. Of course, he knew Han Chujun. She was a member of the Olympian class, and the first in class as well, so obviously, she was the first in the entire year!
What left an impression on Ling Jiu was that the girl was not only gifted academically, but she was also very beautiful. On top of that, she possessed a good familial background.
She could have relied on her looks and her father, yet she wanted to rely on her talents. That was Han Chujun.
"Even Han Chujun has awakened her Arcana. That's unexpected! Xiaotong, do you know what kind of Arcana Han Chujun awakened?" Ling Jiu asked.
"I heard that it's some kind of special-type Arcana. As for the details, I don't know!" His sister shook her head slightly.
"A special-type Arcana?"
"Food is ready!"
The meal was scrumptious. Ling Jiu's awakening of his Arcana was an earth-shattering event, and the family was filled with joy.
Dinner ended really late, and after he dismissed his overly excited and energetic sister, Ling Jiu returned to his room and tried to absorb the Gene Arcana.
"Theoretically, as long as you've awakened your Arcana, you can sense the existence of the Gene Arcana around you and absorb it into your body. I should be able to do it as well!"
Ling Jiu took a deep breath and completely calmed himself down. "I heard that the first absorption is the most difficult, and it will become easier later on!"
"Relax!
"Fully relax!
"Huhhh...
"Huhhh..."
A few minutes later, Ling Jiu gradually relaxed. His breathing became imperceptible, and even his heartbeat became much slower...
One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
Suddenly, Ling Jiu saw a light spot dancing around in the room like a firefly. It was drifting irregularly. Then, he saw a second, a third, a fourth...
More and more light spots danced around Ling Jiu like prancing fairies.
"Is this the Gene Arcana?"
Looking at the light spots, Ling Jiu's desire to consume them was instinctively aroused.
As the thought appeared in his mind, Ling Jiu noticed the nearest light spot flying toward him and disappearing into the top of his head.
Then, the second, the third, the fourth...more and more light spots entered his brain, and Ling Jiu felt a chill in his head.
"Is this what it feels like to absorb the Gene Arcana? It's amazing!"
While "consuming" the light spots one by one took forever, Ling Jiu did not feel any impatience. On the contrary, he found it to be a very novel feeling with a wonderful sensation of cultivating his inner powers.
Without realizing it, the night passed, and Ling Jiu was awakened by the alarm clock. "It's already six? Time sure flies!"
Ling Jiu clearly felt as if not much time had passed, but a whole night had actually gone by. More importantly, even though he had been absorbing the Gene Arcana for a whole night, he did not feel tired or sleepy at all. Instead, he was full of energy, and he never felt better.
"Brother, are you up yet?"
His sister's voice rang outside the door, and she still sounded very excited.
"I'm up!"
Ling Jiu opened the door, and a young girl in cute bunny pajamas was standing outside the door with dark circles under her eyes. "Didn't sleep well last night?" Ling Jiu asked.
"I was too excited last night!" His sister yawned. "Didn't sleep much at all!"
"Oh, you..."
Ling Jiu shook his head. "Hurry up and get ready. We still need to go to school!"
"Yeah!"
She nodded her head and curiously asked, "Brother, you don't need to go to school anymore, right? You also don't need to take the college entrance examination?"
"Of course!"
Ling Jiu smiled. "But I have to go to school today. The principal called last night and said he had something important to discuss with me!"
"I'm so jealous!"