Wang Lei then made his way toward the square elevated platform in the middle of the big platform. Soon, he approached the stairs. He looked up with anticipation in his heart.
He and Shenyan watched all the other participants go through this process— some had awoken their elemental affinities, some did not, and others had high elemental aptitudes and others did not. He would be lying if he said that he was not anxious at this moment.
He took a few deep breaths before making his way up the stairs and a few moments later he was standing in front of the testing orb on the right. After taking one last deep and a long breath to calm his nerves, he proceeded to place his hand on the testing orb.
Immediately after placing his hand on the orb, it began to let out a blinding blue light as usual. It shined for a good moment before displaying the test result in numerical value. It was then announced by the Dean shortly after.
"Wang Lei, Aptitude 7 peak."
As usual the other participants did not make any uproar and silently waited for test to end.
Wang Lei on the other hand was very happy about his results because initially, he was afraid of getting a low-grade talent and now he had seventh-grade talent— he could not be happier. But a certain word mentioned by the white-beard Dean caught his attention, 'Peak? What does that mean?' Wang Lei thought to himself.
Although he wanted to ask the Dean about what that meant but he soon gave up since he was still in the middle of taking his test.
And so, he made his way towards the other orb stationed on the left about two meters away from where he was. Wang Lei did not hesitate like before and immediately placed his hand on the orb. The moment he did though, a sharp pain washed over his body, making him want to scream out loud but he did not want to lose his face and embarrass himself.
Since the others did not scream why should he scream? So, Wang Lei gritted his teeth and bear the excruciating pain and soon there were changes happening in the environment.
The sky turned dark and dark clouds began to form in the sky right above Wang Lei. The dark clouds were rumbling with sparks of lighting almost striking Wang Lei every now and then. Every participant on the big platform was shock to see this phenomenon and despite them wanting to keep quiet, they could not help but chat in low voices.
"W-What's going on? Why did the sky turn dark?"
"I don't know, but it doesn't seem natural. Don't tell me someone is going through a tribulation or something."
"Haha, yeah right, nobody had gone through tribulation while cultivating before, where did you hear this nonsense."
"Well, I read somewhere that when you reach the peak of this world, you go through tribulation before breaking out of this realm, but no one had succeeded before."
"What?! Such a thing is really true."
"That's right, but it doesn't have anything to do with us. No one had dared to take the tribulation ever since others failed in going through one. One can live for a really long time just by reaching the peak of this world and that should be enough for everyone."
"I see, but then what is this dark clouds and lightning? If it really isn't the tribulation, then what is it?"
"Well, hmm, don't tell me… no, it can't be…"
"What? Tell me already, you are making me anxious!"
"I am not sure, but it should have something to do with that participant's element."
"What?!"
While the other participants were engaged in their own conversations about what is really going on. Wang Lei's body suddenly surged with current of lightning and sparks flew everywhere— at this moment, he looked like the God of Lightning.
His eyes were giving off an ominous feeling as it looked like it was filled with lightning, ready to strike at anytime but that was just his potential with his element; Very soon, the currents of lightning calmed down.
Throughout this, the white-beard Dean, despite trying his best to maintain his composure was left with his mouth agape and eyes wide from shock as he never thought that someone could awaken such a powerful element. A few moments of staring blankly in the air, the white-beard Dean came to his senses before announcing the results out loud for everyone to hear.
"Wang Lei, Elemental Affinity: Lightning."
…
All the participants were dumbfounded by this announcement. Some were questioning whether they had heard wrong or whether this is really happening. Someone actually awakened to one of the mutated elements in nature and even a strong one at that. How could this person be so lucky?
Meanwhile, the two participants who were engaged in conversation earlier were surprised to find out that their initial guess was right.
"Fuck, it really had something to do with his element— I mean this guy actually awoken the lightning elemental affinity."
"That's right, from what I hear, it seems awakening a [Mutated Element] is even rarer than awakening a dual element. This person must be so lucky to awaken such a powerful element. I really am jealous."
"Fuck, how do you know so much, where did you hear all these from; How come I never hear these things?!"
"Well, if you read more books like me, you will naturally learn these things."
"Tsk. Who have time for such things? I would rather spend my time practicing than reading books. No wonder your cultivation is so low despite us being the same age."
"…"
The other participants were still engaged in their own conversations, some who knew more than others explained the phenomenon that happened just now to others while others attentively listened to broaden their horizons.
…
Meanwhile on the small testing platform, Wang Lei was surprise about his element. He never would have thought that he would awoken to such a powerful element. He was happy to awaken fire or wind elemental affinity but to get a mutated element.
He could not hide the grin on his face at this moment, he wanted to laugh out loud but he suppressed the feeling before he turned his head toward the white-beard Dean and spoke.
"Elder, earlier, may I ask what you meant by 'peak' at the end of my aptitude?"
The white-beard Dean did not expect someone to actually ask him such a question, but he did not mind plus this youngster had good prospects and extraordinary potential.
The white-beard Dean replied, "It means what it sounded like. That you are at the peak of the seven-grade talent, almost reaching the eight-grade. In the future, your potential may reach the eight-grade or even surpass that. So work hard."
Listening to this, Wang Lei maintained a straight face but deep inside he was really excited to find out this information. It meant that someone like him without a strong background could potentially rival those rich families that use medicine to increase the potential of their children.
With this kind of luck given to him by the heavens, he could achieve whatever he wanted. As long as he does not die before then.
"I see. Thank you Elder, for your explanation." Wang Lei politely said to the white-beard Dean.
The white-beard Dean only nodded his head in response.
…
Meanwhile, on a certain location on the big platform where Zhang Yan was sitting. At this moment, he had a look of shock on his face after hearing Wang Lei's elemental affinity and after hearing what the white-beard Dean said about Wang Lei's potential, he felt threatened by this fellow who suddenly came out of nowhere.
From his appearance, he could tell that Wang Lei was just a bumpkin. Why are all these bumpkins getting high aptitudes this year? What is going on with the world? Is the heavens blind? These series of questions popped up in Zhang Yan's head— the more he thought about it, the more he felt hatred seething in his heart.