1: Chapter 1 Useless!

The scorching sun beat down on Jianghai City's No. 3 High School.

Over two thousand teachers and students stood solemnly on the sports field.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the obsidian platform in the center of the field—the Awakening Platform.

In this world where spiritual qi had been recovering for three hundred years, this moment represented a watershed for one's destiny.

With the arrival of Demonic Caves and the rampage of ferocious beasts, humans could only possess the dignity to survive in this cruel era by awakening their talents and becoming martial artists.

For the students of Class 2, Grade 12, today felt like the day their verdict would be delivered.

“Next, Zhao Tianba!”

The mentor in charge of the awakening ceremony shouted, and a burly boy strode out of the queue.

As Zhao Tianba passed the front of the line, he intentionally slammed his shoulder into the handsome youth at the very front.

The youth's body swayed slightly, but he paid him no mind.

Zhao Tianba snorted coldly, stepped onto the Awakening Platform, and pressed his palm against the Awakening Stone.

Buzz—!

The Awakening Stone vibrated instantly, and a scorching wave of air suddenly erupted from its deep black surface.

Immediately after, a crimson light soared into the sky, actually condensing into the faint phantom of a flaming lion above his head!

“This... this is a phenomenon!”

The principal, sitting on the rostrum, suddenly stood up. “Flame condensation—this is a high-level Elemental talent!”

As the light faded, the mentor looked at the detector in his hand, his voice trembling slightly with excitement:

“Zhao Tianba, awakening successful! Talent Rating: A-rank! Talent Name: Bursting Flames!”

Whoosh—!

The entire audience was in an uproar.

A-rank talent!

One must know that in the entire Jianghai No. 3 High School, even a B-rank in previous years would warrant a celebratory banner; an A-rank was truly as rare as a phoenix feather.

The surrounding students had feverish looks in their eyes, a mix of envy and jealousy.

But Zhao Tianba was in no hurry to leave the platform. Instead, he turned around, looked down at the handsome youth in the queue, gave a thumbs up, and then flipped it downward.

Mockery!

Blatant mockery!

“Next, Lin Yuan!” The mentor's voice rang out again, but this time, there was a hint of anticipation in his tone.

Hearing this name, the noisy field instantly quieted down significantly.

Lin Yuan.

A legendary figure of Jianghai No. 3 High School.

Although he came from a poor family, over the past three years, his grades in Martial Arts Theory had never dropped from first place in the entire school.

He was hailed as the “Commoner School Hunk,” the hope in the hearts of countless children from humble backgrounds.

“He must awaken a good talent; Lin Yuan is the face of our ordinary class!”

“With a perfect theory score, his awakened talent definitely won't be bad. I heard that soul strength is proportional to theoretical understanding.”

Lin Yuan took a deep breath and stepped onto the high platform.

At that moment, he felt a gaze from the crowd—it was Su Yurou, the school belle who had maintained a somewhat ambiguous relationship with him for the past three years.

“Whether I can change my fate depends on this one shot!”

His palm touched the cold stone surface.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds...

Just when everyone thought the Awakening Stone was broken, a faint white light, almost negligible, lit up from the bottom of the stone.

No phenomenon.

No air waves.

The mentor was stunned. He slapped the device a few times, and after confirming there was no malfunction, he announced:

“Lin Yuan, awakening successful. Talent Rating... F-rank. Talent Name: Glimmer Vision.”

F-rank?!

This was the universally recognized “trash” rank in the martial arts world.

And Glimmer Vision was the trashiest of the trash, commonly known as Night Eye.

Its only function was to allow the owner to see clearly in the dark, with an effect roughly equivalent to a built-in low-power infrared night vision device.

Aside from saving a bit on electricity bills, it provided no combat bonuses whatsoever.

A deathly silence enveloped the entire field, and then someone burst out laughing.

“Hahaha, this is killing me! Night Eye? This is the theoretical genius?”

“I told you, what's the point of being good at theory? This is fate!”

“What a waste of my feelings. I actually thought he could awaken an S-rank, but he turned out to be an F-rank human flashlight!”

Lin Yuan stood on the platform and instinctively looked at his homeroom teacher, Teacher Wang Gang.

The teacher who had high hopes for him just moments ago now saw the smile on his face vanish without a trace.

“Go down. Don't block the people behind you; time is tight.”

As he passed the girls' queue, he instinctively looked for that familiar figure.

Su Yurou stood in the crowd, but from beginning to end, she didn't look up at Lin Yuan once.

“Yo, isn't this our great scholar Lin?”

Just as Lin Yuan was about to leave the field, a burly figure blocked his path.

“F-rank Glimmer Vision? Oh my, that's so practical! Lin Yuan, my family's mine in the western suburbs happens to need a night watchman. Since we're old classmates, I'll give you double the salary, how about it? After all, with those eyes of yours, you can catch thieves without a flashlight—saving money and being eco-friendly! Hahaha!”

Lin Yuan clenched his fists tightly, but he didn't speak. In this world where strength was paramount, as an F-rank, he didn't even have the right to be angry.

Amidst the boos and mockery of the entire field, he walked out of the school gates alone.

His back looked desolate, like a stray dog.

Not long after, Lin Yuan pushed open the rusty security door and walked into his rental room of less than thirty square meters.

He had transmigrated to this world eighteen years ago and had worked himself to death studying theoretical knowledge and training his physique, all for this very moment.

But what was the result?

F-rank!

Glimmer Vision!

“Heavens! Since you let me transmigrate, why must you make me feel despair?!”

He stared intently at the attribute panel that only he could see:

Talent: Glimmer Vision (F-rank). Description: Inferior visual enhancement. Aside from letting you see more clearly at night, it is worthless.

“Trash... Am I really trash?!”

At the very instant his despair reached its peak—

Boom!

A cold, mechanical voice exploded in his mind:

Ding! Detected host's emotional fluctuations breaking through the threshold... Soul resonance achieved!

The Strongest Proficiency System is officially activated!

A system?!

Before he could react, the mechanical voice rang out again, carrying a majesty that looked down upon the world:

Ding! Detected that the host's current talent, Glimmer Vision, is too inferior and severely fails to meet the system binding standards... Executing mandatory talent restructuring!

In just an instant, a surge of intense pain struck, as if countless red-hot steel needles were being driven into Lin Yuan's eyes simultaneously.

After just a few seconds, an unprecedented sense of clarity came from his eyes.

You have obtained the SSS-rank conceptual talent—Gods Insight!

Lin Yuan tentatively opened his eyes.

When his gaze fell upon the book “Basic Fist Technique” on the table, rows of golden data streams instantly cascaded before his eyes like a waterfall:

Target: Basic Fist Technique (Incomplete Version). Analyzing... Analysis complete! Vulnerabilities found: 36.

Congratulations, Host! You have instantly comprehended “Basic Fist Technique” to the “Return to Simplicity” realm (Max Level)!

Lin Yuan felt the sudden influx of realizations in his mind with shock, as if he had studied this path for hundreds of years. He then instinctively threw a punch into the air.

Bang!!

The wind from the punch actually caused the curtains three meters away to flutter loudly!

Lin Yuan withdrew his fist, the corners of his mouth curling up bit by bit, finally turning into a nearly frenzied smile.

“F-rank? Night Eye?”

“Zhao Tianba, Su Yurou... and all of you who watched the joke.”

A brilliant light flickered in Lin Yuan's eyes—the divine light belonging to an SSS-rank talent.

“Are you all ready to welcome the return of the genius?”