The square buzzed with anticipation, filled mostly with young people in matching uniforms. Some shifted nervously, while others stood tall, confidence gleaming in their eyes.
In a less crowded area stood a boy with an average appearance withlong black hair. You could tell from his face how nervous he was.
"I hope I awaken a good path. Even if it's a tier five path. Even tier three would be good," the boy lowered his head, thinking to himself.
"Xuan Ye, what are you thinking about? You're worried about the path awakening, aren't you?" A girl suddenly appeared beside him, putting her hand around his shoulder and speaking with a smile.
Compared to the average appearance of Xuan Ye, her beauty could be said to be top class in the city.
"Sister Ying...." Xuan Ye said with a bit of a headache.
You could tell from the way she behaved that she was close to him.
"Don't 'sister' me. Tell me, yes or no...." the girl said, trying to put on a serious face.
"Sister Ying, I'll soon awaken a path. Do you really have to treat me this way in front of...." Xuan Ye looked around in embarrassment. He could even see some people looking at him as if he were a child.
"Hmm...!" Sister Ying said, making her face look as serious as possible.
"Yes." Xuan Ye had to admit defeat. He knew she wouldn't stop, and he'd only get bullied like a child.
"I knew you were. I was also like you when I awakened my path. I didn't even want to come to the awakening; my dad had to bring me himself. But now you see me? Aren't I alive? No one among my peers is even my opponent...." she said, trying to comfort Xuan Ye. But all he could hear was her boasting about herself.
Xuan Ye rolled his eyes. "How can I compare to the great and most talented awakener in the entire school."
"Of course you don't have to be as talented and awesome as me. But don't be nervous. Even if you don't awaken a good path, your big sister will surely take care of you," she said, puffing up her chest.
Xuan Ye couldn't help but be drawn to it.
"Hey...!" He received a tap on the head.
"Don't have any thoughts about me or you'll receive a tap on the head," she said, putting on her serious face again.
Xuan Ye quickly rubbed his head to alleviate the pain. Although that was only a normal tap, it was a tap from a cultivator.
"Yes, yes, Sister Ying. I won't try it again," Xuan Ye said with a grave face. He couldn't help but miss his previous life.
Yes, he is a reincarnator.
In his previous life, he was just an ordinary guy from Earth, a working student, and was as normal as could be. One day, while he was working, he was suddenly caught in the crossfire of the local gangs. A bullet couldn't help but find its way to him, and he died in the process.
He reincarnated into this world as a baby and was adopted by Sister Ying's parents. When he was little, they found him on the street, and after asking around for more than a month, Sister Ying's mother, whose heart was bleeding at the thought of him going into foster care, decided to adopt him.
He grew up with them until this day. Within sixteen years, he has gained enough knowledge about this world. And the most common knowledge is that everyone awakens paths when they are sixteen. After finding out about path awakening, he thought that he might have reincarnated into a world of path awakening with dungeons, killing to level up, etc.
But what he learned next shocked him greatly. There were no dungeons in this world, no killing monsters to level up, etc. Although there are beasts, killing them won't increase your level like in the novels he had read.
What the people in this world do to increase their level is cultivate. Yes, cultivate.
They increase their level by absorbing the energy between heaven and earth.
There are also currently known different tiers of awakened paths, ranging between 1 to 10.
Almost everyone he knows has awakened a path, which makes him desperate to also awaken one.
The awakened ones are far stronger than the non-awakened. Even the normal tap he received from Sister Ying hurt him more than a normal tap.
He missed his previous life, where a normal tap would stay a tap.
Sigh! He couldn't help but sigh.
"Hey! What's wrong with you?" Noticing the change in Xuan Ye's expression, Sister Ying asked.
"Was it the tap? Ohh, I forgot. I get carried away sometimes," Sister Ying said, showing a guilty expression and covering her face with her other hand.
"Of course you did..." Xuan Ye rolled his eyes again. He wouldn't be tricked by her guilty expression.
"Xuan Ye!" A group of boys suddenly walked by with an air of arrogance.
Recognizing the voice, Xuan Ye furrowed his brows.
"I didn't expect you to come, given how trashy you are. Do you think being awakened would make you less of a trash?" the boy in the middle said with a mocking smile.
"Bao Ling, why waste your time with him? We should go to where the popular kids are. I'm sure Mei Li would be there by now," the boy to his left said, as wasting any more time with Xuan Ye was a waste too.
"Hmph…!" Sister Ying, who still had her face covered, heard this and couldn't help but snort.
The three boys looked in the direction of the snort, and when they saw who it was, their eyes widened.
"Se… Senior Sister Yi… Ying….!" they said, stammering, their legs a little shaky.
"You stinky little boys, how dare you belittle my brother?….." Sister Ying's eyes turned sharp.
Xuan Ye on the other side looked at her with an annoyed look. Belittle? You couldn't use any other word?
"Cough, cough…!" Sister Ying realized she had said something wrong.
She gave a look that said, Don't look at me that way, I'm trying to help you!
Xuan Ye rubbed his forehead. He felt a headache coming on.
"Now…." She faced the group whose legs were still trembling. "How are you going to compensate my little brother?"
When the boys heard this, they almost lost their balance.
"How… d-do you expect us to compensate?" the boy in the middle said, stuttering.
"Hmm.... Bring five gold coins each." She thought for a moment and said.
"But....." the boy to the right wanted to bargain.
"Hmm.... Make it six coins," Sister Ying quickly raised the price.
"Isn't that robbery..." the boy to the left yelled.
"Make it seven coins," Sister Ying smiled.
"But...!" the boys on the left and right both yelled.
"Shut up...!" Bao Ling couldn't take it anymore and yelled.
"Make it eight gold coins," Sister Ying said, word for word.
The boy in the middle took a deep breath, put his hands into his pocket, and took out six gold coins. His hands kept trembling.
"Senior Sister Ying, I only have six gold coins. I'll pay you the rest later," he said through gritted teeth.
"Hmm...!" Sister Ying nodded and then took the coins. "Add one more to it, making seven."
When Bao Ling heard this, his heart skipped a beat.
"You, you." She looked towards the two boys beside Bao Ling.
The two boys unwillingly took out six and five coins respectively.
"You can go. If I catch you belittling my brother again, you'll have to pay more than gold coins..." she said with a serious face.
"Yes, Senior Ying," the three boys said in unison. But before they left, they gave Xuan Ye a deep look.
"I made some money today," Sister Ying said, playing with the gold coins in her hand.
"Aren't the money mine?" Xuan Ye was surprised. Who was it they compensated?
"Ohh, you want it?" Senior Sister Ying asked with a smile that wasn't a smile.
"No… no. I was just playing." Xuan Ye regretted asking.
"Hmph! Coward." She quickly drew her attention back toward the gold coins.
After some minutes...
"Look! It's the vice principal!" someone shouted, pointing in a certain direction and drawing everyone's attention.
"Who's the person in front of the vice principal?" another student said, noticing a slightly older man at the lead.
"I don't know. But he must be important with the way the vice principal looks at him."
A middle-aged man was seen hovering on a disk, approaching the square at a normal speed. He had a respectful expression as he looked at the slightly older man in front of him.
The slightly older man hovered in the air, suspended without any visible support. His expression was indifferent, as if everything around him held no value in his eyes.
"I wish I become a Soul Armamenter! At least then I'd be able to fly," someone said, envy written all over his face.
The slightly older man landed first, followed by the vice principal.
The disk beneath the vice principal's feet disassembled into dozens of thin blades, which whirled through the air before reassembling into a sword that hovered behind his back.
The vice principal quickly stepped forward.
"Let me introduce you to our distinguished guest, Mr. Wei Jian. He comes from the Heavenly Mystery Academy." He stopped giving them a chance to digest the information.
"WHAT….!" As expected, there was an exclamation.
The students started murmuring amongst themselves.
"Hmmhmm…!" A sound rang out from the vice principal's throat, signaling them to keep quiet!
"Now I'll give the podium to Mr. Wei Jian. Mr. Wei Jian, please…" The vice principal quickly stepped away.
"Thank you, Vice Principal…" the slightly older man said with a smile.
"My pleasure, my pleasure!"
The slightly older man stepped forward, looked at everyone present, and spoke.
"As you all know, everyone awakens their path at the age of sixteen. I'm sure you're familiar with the most common path tiers. I hope each of you awakens a powerful one today. You might all be wondering the reason I'm here." He paused.
"And the reason is very simple: to accept talents. The hard part is who can awaken a powerful path. I'll leave the hard part to you."
"This is the Star Orb." He looked at the orb with unfathomable awe in his eyes. "It will be used to awaken your destined paths."
The Star Orb was perfectly spherical in shape and about the size of a human head. It was translucent, and you could see tiny stars forming something like a nebula around it.