Chapter Three: Absolute Genius
Lucas's feat was so awe-inspiring that, for a whole minute, everyone stood frozen, profound incredulity etched across their faces.
Meanwhile, Twilight observed Lucas impassively, noting his drastic drop in progression after crossing his thirty-fifth step and how he eventually came to an abrupt halt at his forty-first step.
"B-grade potential, huh? Not bad, but sadly, he'll be hunted down… just like her," Twilight mused, a vague image subconsciously surfacing in his mind.
However, as quickly as the memory surfaced, it vanished, replaced by a wave of anger swelling within him. Before the storm of emotions could take hold of his senses, the calm voice of the middle-aged man snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Marvellous! Absolutely marvellous!" the man exclaimed, nodding enthusiastically. "Lucas Reighbour: 41 steps, passed. Potential: B grade. Please stand to the side, Mr Reighbour."
He gestured for Lucas to step aside. Lucas, however, had a slightly disappointed expression on his face. Bowing politely to the man, he quietly moved to stand at the side.
Twilight furrowed his brows in confusion. Normally, awakening a C-grade potential was enough to get someone jumping for joy.
Yet Lucas, with a B-grade potential—one that could elevate him to great heights in the Astral Realm—looked… disappointed.
It made Twilight question the meaning of life to those at the top.
Soon, the man called the next name.
"Lena Greyford."
A round-faced girl with an air of quiet confidence stepped out of the crowd. She stood with a straight back as a faint smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
With large strides, she approached the pond and stepped unhesitatingly into the water. She advanced quickly, taking her first, second, and third steps with relative ease.
After some time, she reached the tenth step amidst a swirl of green sparks. But it was as though she had hit an invisible wall.
She could no longer move any further, her body frozen in place. She had to stop at her tenth step, otherwise, she risked core detonation.
"Lena Greyford: 10 steps, passed. Potential: E grade."
Lena's face turned deathly pale as she walked out of the pond, heading towards Lucas's side. An E-grade potential was the lowest possible rank, barely above that of an ordinary human—if not equal.
At best, she might surpass the third stage of the first cultivation realm.
This was a devastatingly huge blow to her confidence and her dreams of a bright future. The heavens had crushed her hopes without even giving her a chance to prove herself. To Lena, this was extremely unfair.
Many onlookers cast pitiful glances her way, shaking their heads in silent sympathy at her fate, while also quietly praying for better fates for themselves.
The next name was called:
"Bryan Locket."
A large-built boy walked forward and swiftly stepped into the pond. He struggled with every step he took within the waters, his movements slow and laboured.
Eventually, he came to a halt at the seventh step.
"Bryan Locket: 7 steps, failed. Unable to become a cultivator."
The verdict struck like thunder and Bryan's expression turned dark, darker than that of Lena's. Being denied the chance to even become a cultivator was a fatal blow, one that he struggled to process and contain.
In this age of the Astral Realm, potential was everything.
Cultivators stood at the pinnacle of society, their power a symbol of the ultimate achievement—one that normal people worshipped and revered, dreaming of attaining everyday.
Cultivators held sway over nations, wealth, and beauty, commanding their desires with a mere gesture.
Yet all those dreams and aspirations had been crushed the moment the heavens made their decision.
It was no wonder Bryan looked on the verge of breaking, a heavy sigh escaping his lips as he hung his head in extreme disappointment.
Time passed quickly, and half an hour later, only six individuals remained from the previous fifty.
Twilight grew increasingly bored, his eyes drooping as he fought off encroaching sleep. But just as he was about to doze off, his name was called.
"Twilight Nightfall."
Twilight's brows furrowed in displeasure. Hearing that surname spoken aloud brought many unpleasant memories—ones that he wished he could forget.
Lost in thought, his mind sank deeper into the fragments of his recollections until a deep roar brought him back to the present.
"TWILIGHT NIGHTFALL!"
"H-here!" Twilight blurted out, hastily raising his hand.
The crowd of five parted to reveal the scrawny boy standing amongst them, his frame visibly smaller than the others. All eyes turned towards him, some laced with contempt, others with insect-like indifference.
And Twilight found himself locked beneath the middle-aged man's furious gaze. It was at this moment, he realised his terrible blunder.
"What nerve, making the administrator call him twice. This guy clearly has no intention of awakening."
"Haha, just look at him—thin and frail. If he manages to reach 25 steps, I'll call him daddy."
"Twenty-five? I'll wager on twenty!"
As Twilight approached the pond, disdainful looks and mocking remarks rippled through the remaining crowd.
Twilight's cold gaze swept across the group, silently engraving the faces of those who ridiculed him into his memory. His eyes also lingered briefly on the levitating man, a flicker of well-concealed malice flashing within them.
'I'll let them run their mouths for now… I'll silence them with my results later,' Twilight thought, shaking his head inwardly. This collection of bad-mouthed hypocritical fools wasn't worth his attention—for now.
Without wasting any more time, he reached the edge of the pond and immediately stepped into its crystal-clear waters. The pond wasn't particularly wide, nor was it deep; the water barely rose to his waist.
[DING!]
[You have started your Awakening Ceremony]
[Advance to the tenth step within this water and awaken your Vital Core and an E grade potential. Keep advancing to increase your potential grade and the size of your vital core. Otherwise, you won't go far in your cultivation.]
As soon as Twilight stepped into the pond, he received a message from the sovereign system. For a good moment, he expected some pressure or challenge so he paused.
However, all he felt was nothing, so he continued walking as it seemed easy in the first few steps. As he advanced, green lights began entering his body from the water, but he paid it no heed, his aim was the fiftieth step.
"Ten steps… twelve steps… eighteen steps… twenty steps! This is another monster!" exclaimed one of the participants, who had already undergone his awakening and received a D-grade potential.
"He moves with such ease! It's like he's a leaf in the wind."
"It's as if he doesn't feel any pressure at all—my God!"
…
"Thirty steps! He's already at thirty steps in just a minute!"
"What incredible speed. He's already outpaced the first candidate!"
"Those fools who bet against such a genius are finished, haha!"
"Serves them right, hahaha!"
The previously silent crowd erupted into an uproar. Twilight's performance was so unbelievable that many rubbed their eyes repeatedly, struggling to believe what they were seeing.
Meanwhile, the two young men who had bet to call Twilight "daddy" if he surpassed 20 steps both wore embarrassed expressions, clearly regretting their rash words and silently resenting Twilight for giving them such a hard slap on the face.
However, the middle-aged man hovering above the pond had an excited smile plastered across his face. He could hardly believe his luck—two exceptional talents in a single ceremony.
But the more he observed Twilight, particularly as the young man crossed his fortieth step with remarkable ease, the man began to tremble from head to toe.
'Th-this… B-grade potential, and he's not stopping! I've hit the jackpot. I've hit a fking jackpot! He's an absolute genius!'
The middle-aged man was so elated that he nearly broke into a dance. If he reported such results to the City Lord of Starlight City, he would be rewarded handsomely.
Forget the City Lord—if he brought these results to the Emperor of the Red Dragon Empire, he might even earn himself a prominent position as a famous official!
The thought sent waves of excitement coursing through his body as he vividly imagined his future success.
Meanwhile, unlike everyone else who stood on tiptoes in anticipation of Twilight's awakening results, Twilight himself was preoccupied with an entirely different concern.
'Why isn't it forming, dammit!' Twilight cursed inwardly.
He was already nearing his fiftieth step, yet his vital core still hadn't awakened, even though he was surrounded by a swarm of green specks.
Normally, a vital core would begin to form by the tenth step, albeit very small at first. As one advanced, the core would grow larger, nourished by the green particles of light.
Yet even after reaching his forty-sixth step, Twilight's vital core stubbornly refused to form. Adding to his frustration, he continued to receive notifications from the Sovereign System.
[You have absorbed Hope's Essence]
[Awakening Vital core with the absorbed essence…]
[Awakening failed.]
[You have absorbed Hope's Essence]
[Awakening Vital core with the absorbed essence…]
[Awakening failed.]
[You have absorbed Hope's Essence]
[Awakening Vital core with the absorbed essence…]
[Awakening failed.]
…
[Awakening failed.]
…
[Awakening failed.]
[You have absorbed Hope's Essence]
[Since you can't form a vital core, the essence has been used to awaken your Innate ability.]
[Since you don't have a vital core to support your ability, you have been granted a fragmented vital core. The fragmented core can't make you cultivate, it can't store energy and you have to constantly absorb spiritual energy to keep it. Otherwise, it would shatter.]
Immediately Twilight heard this message in his mind, he cried inwardly.
'NOOOOOOOO! KEEP TRYING TO AWAKEN! I DON'T NEED A DAMNED FRAGMENTED CORE!!!'
However, the sovereign system paid his cry no heed and continued with its task.
[Awakening Innate ability with the absorbed essence…]
[Awakening… is a success.]
[You have awakened a passive Innate ability.]
[Passive Innate Ability: Omniscient God's Eye.]