A Not So Surprising Talent!

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Today's Song is: Victor & Leo - Na Linha do Tempo

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Hundreds of young people aged between 15 and 16 gathered in front of a huge pavilion in the center of the clan. The pavilion had five ornate floors in the style of ancient Chinese architecture; heavily protected by guards at every possible point. 

While in front of the huge pavilion, the young people were instructed by the clan elder to prostrate themselves and pay their respects to the ancestors in front of the memorial tablets. This was a ceremony held once a year and all the young people who were going to awaken their aperture had to do it, as it represented the transition from their childhood to their adulthood.

Young people in this world are considered adults in their own right from the age of 16. They are then taken to take part in their awakening ceremony at the age of 15 and then spend a year at the Gu Academy being instructed by teachers on everything they need to know before finally graduating and becoming worthy Gu Masters at the age of 16.

Suo Bai stood right in front of the group of young people with his hands behind his back, beaming his characteristic warm smile and calm eyes at everyone around him as he appreciated the culture and teachings that the elder passed on.

"Now that you have paid your respects to the ancestors, we can finally begin the real awakening ceremony." The academy elder who was responsible for the awakening of this year's young people began to speak as he led the young people towards the place where the awakening ceremony would take place.

As they descended into the underground cavern just below the clan pavilion, the young people began to make noises of surprise and amazement as they observed the stunning underground cavern.

The cave was beautiful and had a unique charm that captivated anyone who looked at it, its huge stalactites that glowed in a soft blue light while passing between other colors like a rainbow gave off a feeling that attracted anyone who looked.

Suo Bai began to appreciate the beauty of the place as he took the lead from the group of young people to get a better view of the place. Until Suo Bai finally saw the huge spiritual spring at the bottom of the cave.

Soon everyone arrived at the river of the spiritual spring and looked around in amazement - the rainbow light of the stalactites had long since disappeared, but the small blue glow insisted on showing its presence as it reflected slightly in the waters of the river.

The blue light came directly from the blue orchids at the bottom of the river, they sported beautiful pinkish-blue petals in the shape of a crescent moon; with the stems glowing a lime green exuding vitality. These were Moon Orchids, one of the spices produced by the Gu Yue clan.

Thanks to the soft glow of the orchids, it was possible to see the fish, aquatic plants and even the sand that lay under the river.

"My mother had told me this place was beautiful, but this exceeded all my expectations!" One of the girls in the group sighed with surprise.

"Really beautiful!"

"It's incredible!"

Each of the young people agreed with the girl's observation. Everyone sighed as they admired the place with excited and anxious looks on their faces.

"All right, everyone calm down and pay attention to what I'm about to say." The elder brought everyone out of their daze while he organized all the young people and explained the steps for the awakening ceremony.

As soon as the elder saw that everyone was organized and paying attention to him, he lightly lifted a notebook with various names and information in his left hand and used the right hand that held the brush to point to the river in front of him: "As soon as I call your name, I want you to start walking along this river towards the opposite bank. The further you go, the better it will be for you."

Before coming here, all these young people had been instructed by their elders on the rules, so they knew that the further they walked along this river, the higher their talent would rise and consequently their future would be much brighter.

All the young people nodded in understanding and waited patiently for their turn. As soon as the elder saw that everyone had understood his instructions, he lowered his hands and began to read the names on the paper while calling them by name.

"Gu Yue Chen Bo" the elder called his first name.

And so the awakening ceremony finally began. Suo Bai, who already knew the results, preferred to stand to the side waiting his turn while Nexus discussed his plans, but he still kept an eye out for any changes that might differ from what he knew.

Taking advantage of the fact that everyone was focused on the first young man to take part in this year's ceremony, Suo Bai discreetly and without attracting anyone's attention crouched down by the river and touched some Moon Orchids.

'Nexus, scan these plants and store them in the database,' Suo Bai asked, focusing his gaze on the beautiful blue orchid in front of him.

[Scanning...]

[Compiling data...]

[Compiled Data: 

>Moon Orchid

-A flower-like plant with underwater characteristics from the orchid family.

-This orchid has lost its ability to photosynthesize and survives by absorbing the rich spiritual energy of the water in which it lives.

...

]

'Hm... You managed to gather a lot of information just by scanning it, but you couldn't discern its specific properties.' Suo Bai muttered as he received the information.

[Direct access to the plant is recommended for more in-depth research]

Suo Bai thought about the possibility for a while and accepted it. 'You can devour it, but be careful that no one notices your actions.'

Discreetly, a few random orchids near Suo Bai began to wilt until they disappeared like dust in the wind.

[...]

[Starting simulated experiments...]

[Accumulating Data...]

[Deriving Simulated Alternatives...]

[Compiling Data...]

[Compiled Data:

>Moon Orchid

-An aquatic orchid that absorbs primitive energy to survive.

-Charges lunar properties, such as Dao Marks of the Moon path, and to a lesser extent Dao Marks of the Water path.

-This plant can only be grown in dark environments rich in primitive energy and plenty of water. it is extremely sensitive to light.

-Nutritional compounds without rich lunar or aquatic elements can be harmful.

-When ingested, the petals produce a sweet taste that can end up stimulating the nerve cells in the mouth and causing a slight numbness in the area.

-Main food for Moonlight Gu and its variants.

-When fully grown, one of its petals has a small chance of evolving into the Moonlight Gu.

]

'Oh? It was quite a productive experiment! Save it in the database' Suo Bai was really surprised at the amount of extra information Nexus got just by devouring a few plants.

...

A few minutes passed and almost half of the young people had gone through the ceremony and not even half of them had managed to successfully awaken their aperture. Many were sad and downcast, while others were satisfied and content.

"Gu Yue Fang Yuan!" The elder finally called Suo Bai's name.

"Here, elder." Suo Bai stepped forward and cordially introduced himself to the elder.

"Hm. Go on, walk as far as you can to the other shore." The elder nodded and pointed the pen he held between his fingers at the river in front of him.

As soon as they heard their names called, the young people immediately turned their heads and began to stare at Suo Bai, while some whispered and muttered things about him.

"It's finally time for the big talent of the year!"

"He'll definitely be a Grade A talent."

"Don't you think he looks a bit different?" a young woman commented lightly

"Now that you've spoken, he seems to be happier and has dropped his cold expression." the boy next to him replied hesitantly.

"Hmph! It must be because he knows he's going to be a great talent, that smile must be to mock us." Another who was in a bad mood replied with venom in his voice.

"Huh? Why is he walking with his eyes closed?" Another young woman noticed Suo Bai's strangeness.

"Now that you've said it, I've realized it too."

"Heh, maybe he couldn't sleep properly because he was so nervous." Mocked the same young man as before.

Several young men and women began to gossip about Suo Bai, while he continued on towards the river following the elder's instructions.

As soon as Suo Bai set foot on the river, he immediately felt a pressure on his body, it was weak, but he could still feel it pushing him not to continue. This pressure came from the rich primordial energy that gathered near the area of the spiritual fountain.

At the same moment that the pressure fell on Suo Bai, several sources of light resembling small fireflies came out from under the petals submerged in the water and gathered around his body while some found their way towards his navel.

Suo Bai looked in awe at the little fireflies and thought: "So these are the Hope Gu, they really are as interesting as the ones described in the book."

These lights were the Hope Gu, a Gu worm essential for awakening the aperture of young people. There was even a folklore in this world about this Gu, it was written in the book 'The Legends of Ren Zu'.

According to the story told in the book, the Hope Gu was one of the essential Gu that helped humanity's ancestor survive against the Predicament.

Ren Zu ended up giving his youth and middle age to the Strenght and Wisdom Gu, but in the end they abandoned him when he was cornered by the Predicament. when he had already given up and surrendered to the inevitable.

A faint ball of light appeared to him and offered a deal. "Offer your heart to hope and I will help you against the Predicament." When the ancestor of humanity accepted the deal, he managed to ward off all the Predicament and was able to move on.

Since then, Hope Gu has served as a symbol of overcoming for humanity, proof that no matter how difficult your problems, as long as you have hope, you can overcome them.

At that moment a decent amount of Hope Gu clustered around Suo Bai's body and thanks to spiritual pressure the Hope Gu began to spontaneously gather around his abdomen right where his Dantian could be said to be.

The pressure was decreasing with Hope Gu and increasing with his steps, it seemed as if he was fighting a tug-of-war to see who could withstand the most, but Hope Gu's resistance was soon weakening and he felt the pressure begin to increase.

'23, 24. come on, I'm doing well. 25, 26' Suo Bai counted the steps in his mind, he already knew the limit that was waiting for him, but he still wanted to go further.

'27...'

Every step he took felt like another stone was being added to his back, he felt like his body was going to collapse at any moment with the intense pressure emanating from the spiritual source.

'27 steps, that was the original Fang Yuan's limit, and apparently it's mine too...' Suo Bai counted the steps in his head and knew that he had already reached the limit.

'Even though I knew that the will of heaven wouldn't increase my talent for the time being, it's still frustrating to be limited like this.' Suo Bai sighed tiredly as he felt the weight of carrying a sack of stones on his back.

'No! I can't resign myself to being just that.' Suo Bai wouldn't accept doing less than the others, so even though he knew he had already reached the limit of his potential, he still forced himself to take another step.

"Ugh... Ahh... 28!" With his last remaining strength, Suo Bai took the last step. it felt like he had just run a 50km marathon without stopping. his body seemed about to crack at any moment.

But as if to congratulate him on his efforts, a sudden 'Boom!' was heard inside his body, as the light gathered and formed a thin membrane that protected a green liquid from coming out of the ball that now resided inside his body.

Looking into his aperture with his consciousness, he saw that his primal sea was covering 45% of his entire aperture, he had successfully awakened his aperture.

'I... did it!' Suo Bai was completely sweaty and even a little weak from overexertion, but that couldn't cloud the sense of satisfaction and self-fulfillment he felt when he realized he had done his best.

It could only be seen as a single step more than he was originally supposed to take, but for him that single step meant a whole world. It was proof of his determination and will not to simply be a cheap copy who would simply imitate the one he admires.

"Can you continue?" The elder asked worriedly when he saw Suo Bai sweating and breathing heavily.

Suo Bai finished organizing his thoughts and raised his head with a huge smile on his face. He then turned around and went back the way he came with the same calm attitude.

"Wow! 28 steps, this year's top talent is actually a Grade C piece of garbage,"

"Haha, apparently Young Master Fang Yuan isn't that good!"

"Unbelievable, his talent is even less than that of Mo Bei and Chi Cheng."

"Heheh, I knew it was all a hoax. And look at his attitude, even though he's Grade C trash, he still walks arrogantly."

"Fang Yuan is a Grade C talent! Oh my God. What's happening to our clan's lineage?" One of the elders watching the ceremony said regretfully.

The other elders nodded in agreement and sighed sadly.

Suo Bai was overjoyed as he redirected his attention inside his aperture and saw a spherical space with thin walls made of membranes of light, filled halfway with primitive green copper essence "This feeling is incredible, how much information have you managed to gather about the spiritual source, Nexus?"

[I've had some insights into how energy works in this world, but I still need more time to research] 

[And now that you have an aperture with a primitive essence, it will certainly speed up the research process]

Walking slowly back to the riverbank, Suo Bai talked to Nexus. 'Nexus, study the aperture. And save the data from the whole awakening process, I intend to watch it again when I have time.'

[Got it!]

Suo Bai returned to the shore with his same calm, warm smile as he approached the elder while he checked his newly awakened aperture.

"Gu Yue Fang Yuan, Grade C Talent!" The elder spoke as he wrote down the specific amount of primitive essence inside Suo Bai's aperture on the paper.

The elder tried to speak impartially, but you could see the disappointment and sadness on his face. As if something precious that he took for granted had slipped through his fingers.

Fang Zheng, who was watching everything, lowered his head and held his clothes tightly in frustration as he trembled slightly. "If the older brother is only a Grade C talent, what about me? What has heaven left for me?"

Fang Zheng slowly began to lose the little confidence he had built up this morning, and was returning to what he was before Suo Bai showed up and interfered.

"Fang Zheng!" The elder called his name, but he didn't listen.

"Fang Zheng!" The elder shouted louder to get Fang Zheng's attention.

"Huh? A-Here." Fang Zheng raised his arm as he ran to the riverbank and almost slipped and fell to the ground, if it hadn't been for a timely hand that caught him and helped him before he could fall.

"Oops! Watch where you're going." The person who held Fang Zheng and prevented him from falling was none other than his own older brother, Suo Bai.

"Thank you!" Fang Zheng stammered as he tried to avoid looking directly into the eyes of his still somewhat traumatized older brother.

Suo Bai held Fang Zheng closer and started talking in his ear; "Don't forget what I told you this morning. Ignore the gazes of others and follow your own path without depending on the approval of others."

"Words are just words, you give them meaning. Remember, if they call you weak, thank them for pointing out your weaknesses and then take that as your motivation and improve yourself." Suo Bai held Fang Zheng's shoulder tightly while motivating him in the style of an thick eyebrows sage in a green leotard.

Fang Zheng was surprised by his brother's words and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say anything he was simply pushed forward by his brother as he listened to a short sentence.

"Hold your head high and show them who you are!" Suo Bai said this as he slowly walked away from Fang Zheng with his hands behind his back.

Fang Zheng, who didn't know what to do after hearing what his brother had said, simply started wading in the river while he was distracted by thoughts in his head.

"What can I do to change? What do I have to do to follow what big brother said?" Fang Zheng thought as he remembered his older brother's words.

"What do I have to do to have the same confidence as my brother?" Fang Zheng began to get angry with himself as he thought.

"Even though he only has a Grade C talent, he still remains as confident as ever. Without being shaken by the mockery of others." Fang Zheng clenched his fists.

"No, first of all I have to build up the courage and throw away my fear!" Fang Zheng was motivated.

"I must change myself first, and only then can I go my own way!" Fang Zheng, his fists clenched, began to take longer strides while unconscious of the miracle he was performing in front of everyone.

"Oh my God! A true A-grade talent" The elder trembled slightly as he watched Fang Zheng bravely crossing the river.

"The Fang brothers still have a talented person!" A girl next door sighed.

"So you mean they just reversed the roles?" A young man next to him pondered.

"The clan lineage still runs strong in the veins of this family." One of the elders observing the ceremony said.

Grade A talents are rare in small mountain clans on the southern border, having one in a village like the Gu Yue clan where the lineage has already become very thin and shallow, shows how strong the Fang family lineage is.

Knowing this, some of the elders were already thinking of arranging marriages with the naive Fang Zheng. A child of a Grade A talent has a fairly high probability of having a high-grade talent, especially if the bloodline they give birth to is two Grade A talents.

That would almost be a guarantee of a good seedling for the future of his faction from some of these elders. That's why these elders were already thinking of ways to pull the young man into their faction.

As soon as Fang Zheng came out of his trance over the murmurs of the people on the shore, he saw the miracle he had established; "Grade A talent. I really am a Grade A talent, I've surpassed my older brother."

Fang Zheng clenched his fists with tears in his eyes and raised his head with renewed confidence, with a more stable mindset Fang Zheng returned to the shore with a distinct gleam in his eyes as he looked at his older brother.

But as soon as Fang Zheng looked at his older brother, he didn't see contempt, envy or jealousy, but simply a wide, warm and sincere smile of pure happiness redirected towards him. Fang Zheng almost couldn't believe his eyes.

"I knew you had great potential to show the world, little brother. Congratulations!" Suo Bai patted Fang Zheng lightly on the shoulder.

It was then that Fang Zheng began to remember the words of motivation his brother had given him this morning, and began to realize that Suo Bai had been trying to boost his confidence for a long time.

When the other children tried to bully him, Suo Bai would always come to his rescue and help him discreetly. When he got cold at night because of the torn blanket his uncles gave him, Suo Bai would gladly give him his own.

When Suo Bai gave him his share of the food, he said he wasn't hungry so he wouldn't feel bad. While he was thinking about this, Fang Zheng had a lapse in his psyche because of the thoughts he was gathering in his head.

"What a shame... The first thing I thought when I awakened a Grade A talent was how much superior I was to my brother, while my brother with his Grade C talent praised me and was happy for me." Fang Zheng lowered his head in shame.