003 Awakening Talent: Virus King!

Although Chen Bai was not among the Holy White Magicians of the Evolvers in the previous life, decades of apocalyptic slaughter had given him a palpable aura of killing intent. However, this aura quickly dissipated, causing Li Feng to breathe a sigh of relief.

He didn't dare to speak out of turn again and simply lay down on his own bed. Chen Bai couldn't be bothered with such minor characters, and the petty jealousy and competition in university held no meaning for him.

The most important thing for him now was not to indulge in such matters. After briefly explaining to Zhao Mu and Lin Qi, they left the dormitory, relieved from their all-nighter fatigue.

"You should rest. I'll inform Lao Fang later," Zhao Mu said, to which Chen Bai nodded. However, after some thought, he added, "It's better not to stay up all night for no reason. Take this time to exercise and prepare yourself. Think of it as sharpening your sword before battle."

His words seemed nonsensical, leaving others puzzled. But Chen Bai didn't bother to explain further. He lay down on his bed, enduring the soreness throughout his body and sensing the changes in his body.

The fact that he didn't die after injecting the zombie virus meant that his Virus Resistance talent had begun to take effect! Even though he hadn't injected much, just a drop of such blood was enough to turn three to five people into zombies. Yet here he was, perfectly fine.

Chen Bai let out a slow breath, feeling somewhat disappointed. It seemed that merely resisting the zombie virus wasn't enough to awaken his talent early. But as expected, the analysis post he had read before was correct. During the countdown to the arrival of the Universal Will, talents were slowly awakening and coming into effect!

As he pondered, suddenly, his vision seemed to be filled with stars. Then, a blue curtain enveloped him, causing him to momentarily freeze in surprise. However, he soon realized what was happening, and the slight disappointment he felt turned into excitement.

Sure enough, the blue curtain formed a special light and a cold, crisp voice sounded in Chen Bai's mind:

"[Universal Will: You have been chosen as a Pioneer! Talent awakening ahead of schedule! Countdown to the official start of the Blue Star Trial initiated: 9 days, 17 hours, 31 minutes, 51 seconds...]"

Pioneer! Early talent awakening! Excitement surged within him. Another cold prompt followed:

"[You have obtained a special title: Pioneer!]"

"[Pioneer (Special Title, no level, title attributes effective without wearing the title): Only Evolvers who awaken their talents ahead of schedule in the trial can possess it! Strength, Constitution, Agility, Spirit attributes +5%! Experience gain +10%!]"

Holy shit! Chen Bai couldn't help but gasp in astonishment. Titles were also special items that enhanced strength, much like equipment. However, titles, like equipment, only affected those who wore them.

But this Pioneer title, despite sounding ordinary, was extraordinary because its attributes were effective even without being worn! This alone was enough to outclass countless titles below S-rank!

Moreover, the straightforward percentage increase in attributes and experience gain was the best attribute enhancement!

Chen Bai had never imagined that the benefits of awakening talents early would be even greater than he had imagined!

At the same time, just as Chen Bai was still processing this, the most important piece of information finally arrived:

"[You have awakened your innate talent: Virus King (SSS)!]"

SSS!

Even Chen Bai couldn't have imagined that his awakened talent at this moment would skyrocket, reaching the SSS level in one go!

SSS-level talents were extremely rare on Blue Star in the previous life. There were hardly any Evolvers who had truly emerged with SSS-level talents, and you could count them on one hand. However, without a doubt, any owner of an SSS-level talent, once developed and grown, would possess formidable strength! At the very least, they would be Holy Saints, or even Emperor Sovereigns, with a chance to touch upon mythical existences!

Although Chen Bai was also a Holy White Magician in his previous life, it was partly because he initially freeloaded off the Dark Mother Goddess. But now, it seemed he had the best start!

Chen Bai took a deep breath, finally focusing his trembling mind on that talent.

In the next moment, a pattern resembling a gigantic banyan tree appeared before Chen Bai's eyes!

Talent Tree!

Talents below S-rank only had a fixed effect, like Chen Bai's previous E-rank talent, "Virus Resistance." But for talents S-rank and above, including S-rank, a Talent Tree would emerge, allowing further development of abilities! This was why there was such a huge gap between S-rank and A-rank!

All the other options on the Talent Tree were pitch black, with only the center glowing!

"[Virus King (SSS): You have innate mastery over any bacterial virus within your body! Any type of virus can be utilized by you! Each time you absorb or come into contact with an infectious virus or bacteria, you can gain Talent Evolution Points to develop other abilities! Current Evolution Points: 2 points]"

Evolution Points, other abilities of the virus, control over any bacterial virus!

Chen Bai's eyes sparkled with anticipation!

And as he glanced around, several branches slowly appeared at the center of this Talent Tree!

"[Infectious Disease Evolution: Traditional infectious diseases spread through bodily contact, exchange of bodily fluids, droplet transmission, etc.! Advanced methods of transmission are possible!]"

"[Virus Enhancement Evolution: Strengthen yourself through special virus enhancements, primarily enhancing your own abilities!]"

"[Virus Parasitism Evolution: Create parasitic viruses that primarily damage enemies! Some special parasitic viruses can also enhance your own abilities!]"

Infectious diseases, Virus Enhancement, Virus Parasitism!?

These three branches were all viable options if Chen Bai had enough evolution points. However, with only two evolution points at hand, Chen Bai's choice was crucial.

He immediately passed on the first option, Infectious Disease.

This branch of talent development seemed to lack significant lethality.

Virus Enhancement, Virus Parasitism.

After some consideration, Chen Bai, opting for a cautious approach, chose Virus Enhancement.

The word "Parasitism" alone was enough to trigger various thoughts.

Controlling others, mastering them, it seemed like the abilities of summoners or similar professions in the future.

While such abilities might be useful, they didn't quite align with Chen Bai's combat style. Moreover, developing such abilities to quickly form combat effectiveness would be relatively difficult, far less effective than enhancing oneself.