Disparity Between Two Talents

It has already been a few hours since the awakening process of the Annual Ceremony has started.

There were many beastmen who were fortunate enough to awaken their aperture, and many others who were on the other side of the spectrum.

But, even though the ones who have awakened their aperture were in bright spirits, the leader and elders weren't. Deep frowns clung on their faces.

This Annual Ceremony was quite different from the rest, hundreds of beastmen were present, many times more than the previous ones.

Yet, even with numbers favoring them, only four beastmen had a B Grade aptitude, the rest were either C Grade or D Grade aptitude.

Even though there were more that awakened this year, it was greatly below what they expected in terms of quality.

When it comes to Gu Masters and aptitude, an A Grade aptitude is immensely better than dozens of C Grade aptitudes. This year, there were no A Grade aptitudes.

Though, looking at the bright side, the elders thought that this year was not too bad. Of course, it was not what they wanted, but it was still more bountiful. After all, they now had four B Grade aptitudes that they could heavily nurture to become future pillars of the tribe.

Especially one of these B Grade aptitudes, if they had just been slightly more lucky, they would've been an A Grade aptitude.

This lucky fellow was Wu Qing Guan Xiao. His primeval sea took up 76% of his aperture, this was only slightly lower than one with an A Grade aptitude!

There were groups of beastmen huddling against him, trying to curry favor.

Amidst all this, the awakening process was nearing its end, there were only a few left.

"Next, Wu Qing Ying Tian" Xie Huang called out.

This Ying Tian looked ordinary physically, but he still looked impressive. His eyes gleamed with light, he had the head of an eagle with two long dragon horns on his head.

There were not many emotions on his face, only calmness with a tint of uncertainty. It was unexpected from a young beastman, but there were many extraordinary people that did not fit these stereotypical standards among variant humans.

Ying Tian walked on the river, 10 steps, 20 steps, 30 steps, 40 steps, finally stopping at 46 steps.

Everybody had stopped what they were doing, staring at the incredulous scene in front of them.

46 steps!

This was definitely an A Grade aptitude!

"Ah, it's really an A Grade aptitude?!" The elders no longer had their dignified looks, bewildered by the sudden surprise.

Lao Qiu's body was trembling. Earlier, he had thought that Bei Wen's talent was a fluke and everything would go downhill from there, but he was sorely mistaken!

Suddenly, he thought about the matters of the enmity between them and You tribe. It brought bitterness to his mouth. You tribe had produced peerless geniuses these previous years, going from an unnoticed tribe to becoming a shooting star, quickly gaining power.

This matter was a huge headache for Wu Qing tribe, especially because You tribe was targeting them. They had been laying low for a while, conserving their strength, but that had been ruined by You tribe.

After many disputes and battles, Wu Qing tribe has only continued to grow weaker, even other tribes have started seeking trouble with them.

But, that would soon no longer be a problem.

Lao Qiu and the elders were getting old, even as Rank Five and Rank Four Gu Masters, they could not contend against multiple tribes at once. So, that's why they had staked everything on today, even if it was not quite smart to do so.

They would carefully nurture Ying Tian, giving him the utmost importance out of all the tribe members.

Xie Huang was the one who was supposed to announce the aptitude of Ying Tian, but Lao Qiu beat him to it.

"Good, good. Wu Qing Ying Tian, you have an A grade aptitude. From today onwards, you will be nurtured by me! Do the elders have any complaints?"

The elders did not hesitate when nodding, most of them were only Rank Four Gu Masters, while Lao Qiu was a Rank Five, how could they take on the responsibility of nurturing such a talent? That would only be a waste.

"Good. Now, come over here Ying Tian, I will check your aperture."

Lao Qiu checked Ying Tian's aperture. His eyes opened widely during the process.

'I, myself, have an A Grade aptitude, but my primeval sea level is only at 83%. This lad's primeval sea level reaches up 92% in his aperture!' He thought.

Naturally, the tribe would focus on his growth. But, with his talent, his strength would soar by leaps and bounds! In just a few years of time, he might even become a Rank 5 Gu Master!

There was a clatter among the beastmen, some were jealous, while others looked with reverence towards Ying Tian.

After the noise died down, they proceeded on with the awakening process.

Xie Huang was in high spirits now, much more than before. He called out: "Wu Qing Yi Shen, come on up!"

At this point, many of the beastmen did not find much interest in Yi Shen. He has not shown any redeeming qualities to show a great talent, but the same could be said about Ying Tian, who was a dark horse.

It was judgemental to think that he wasn't special, but they still hoped for another genius. Unlike before, there were not many people that were attentively observing. The beastmen were busy discussing amongst themselves, the elders only quietly observed.

Yi Shen entered the river, immediately sensing a mountainous pressure descend upon him.

The pressure that suddenly came was due to the spirit spring that was buried deep underground the river. The spirit spring was responsible for producing primeval essence. Because the primeval essence was too rich, it caused the great pressure to loom over him.

Just near the same time, small beads of light escaped from the plants that were floating on the river. These beads of light gathered around Yi Shen before entering his body.

Yi Shen inwardly thought: 'This is Hope Gu...'

He thought of something about this Blessed Land. Whoever was the owner of it, did not spread the book about <<The Legends of Ren Zu>>. No matter how much he searched, he could not find a single copy.

But, he has read it an innumerable amount of times, he's nearly memorized it by now.

Hope Gu is introduced in <<The Legends of Ren Zu>>.

Among the wild beasts that walked the earth, the first man appeared. He was known as Ren Zu, eating raw meat and drinking blood, living a difficult life.

In particular was a group of wild beasts called Predicament. These wild beasts loved the taste of Ren Zu and longed to eat him.

Ren Zu did not have a body as strong as mountain rock, nor did he have the sharp teeth and claws of a wild beast. How could he fight with the Predicaments? His source of food was unstable and he had to hide all day. He was at the bottom of nature's food chain, and could barely survive.

At this moment, there were three Gu that came up to him and said: "As long as you use your life to provide us, we will help you through this difficulty." Ren Zu had nowhere to go, so he could only agree to these three Gu.

He first gave his youth away to the biggest Gu among the three. That Gu then granted him strength.

With strength, Ren Zu's life began to change. He started to have a stable source of food and was able to protect himself. He fought bravely and ruthlessly, defeating many Predicaments. But soon he suffered and finally realized that strength was not everything. It needed to heal and be cultivated, not spent freely at his will. Not to mention when facing the entire group of Predicaments, his strength alone was too small.

Ren Zu reflected over this lesson bitterly and decided to give his prime middle years to the most beautiful Gu among the three. And thus, the second Gu gave him wisdom.

With wisdom, Ren Zu was able to learn how to think and reflect. He began to accumulate experience and found out that many times when he used wisdom, it was more effective than using strength. By relying on wisdom and strength was he able to conquer all the goals that he formerly could not, and killed many Predicaments. He ate the meat of Predicaments and drank the blood of Predicaments, surviving with tenacity.

But good things do not last and Ren Zu was old, and would only grow older and older. This is because he gave away his youth and middle years to keep Strength Gu and Wisdom Gu. When a man is old, his muscles deteriorate and his brain slows down.

"Human, what else can you give us? You don't have anything else left to provide to us," Strength Gu and Wisdom Gu said as they realized this. They left him.

Without wisdom and strength, Ren Zu was once surrounded by Predicaments. He was old and could not run, his teeth had fallen out and could not even chew wild fruits and plants.

As he fell weakly onto the ground surrounded by Predicaments, his heart was filled with desperation. It was at this time the third Gu said to him: "Human, take me up. I will help you escape Predicament."

Ren Zu tearfully replied: "Gu, I don't have anything else left. See, Strength Gu and Wisdom Gu have abandoned me. I only have my old age left! While it is not as worth my youth and middle age, but if I give you my old age, my life would immediately end. Even though I am surrounded by Predicaments right now, I will not die immediately. I wish to live a little longer, even if just a second more. So you should leave, I have nothing else to provide to you."

But, the Gu said: "Among the three I have the smallest needs. Human, if you just give me your heart, it will be enough."

"Then I will give you my heart." Ren Zu said.

"But Gu, what can you give me in return? In this situation, even if Strength Gu and Wisdom Gu returned to my side, it would change nothing."

When compared to Strength Gu, this Gu looked frail and was just a tiny ball of light. When compared to Wisdom Gu, this one was only able to give out a dim white light, not beautiful in any way.

But when Ren Zu gave it his heart, this Gu suddenly gave out endless light. In this light, the Predicaments screamed in horror: "This is the Hope Gu, withdraw! We Predicaments are most afraid of hope!"

The Predicaments retreated suddenly. Ren Zu was speechless, and from that day onwards whenever he faced predicament, he would give his heart to hope.

After the bundles of Hope Gu entered Yi Shen's body, the pressure on him greatly decreased. He began to walk forward, and with every step he took, more Hope Gu would enter his body.

But, the more steps he took, the greater the pressure that came. He had already walked over 20 steps by now, but the amount of pressure was overweighing the Hope Gu.

21... 22 ... 23!

At the 23rd step, Yi Shen heard a shaking explosion that was centered near his two kidneys!

The burst of energy was an odd feeling, it was like experiencing a heat wave, then getting splashed with ice cold water. His body was tense at the beginning, but it soon loosened up.

During this process, Yi Shen had been thinking actively.

'Even if it's my second time now, I still cannot fathom the wonder it brings.'

But, he was excited internally. He checked the place where the burst of energy occurred, an aperture had formed.

This, is the key to his goal. It all starts from here.

Now, his new journey will start!