1 Talent

It was the morning time in the quiet Sunki mountain village but there was an unusual bustle around the place as today was the day the youth of the village would get their talent tested and find out what their destiny in life would be for their future path.

The parents and villagers all had high expectations as they wanted their children to have a better life than them, many of the youth were excited but some like Ling Feng who was born with average looks and no outstanding features felt nervous.

He knew he wasn't smart or talented like his fraternal twin brother Chen who seemed to excel at everything he tried, even from a young age it was clear that Chen would be the one carrying on the family name.

As kids they would often get compared by their mother Yue "look at how hardworking and diligent Chen is already, why can't you be more like him?" she would say while pinching Ling Chen's cheek harshly.

His father Tian didn't seem to care much for either of them other than if they could become strong warriors. "You're both worthless slackers" He would grunt whenever he saw them playing around instead of working.

Eventually, the testing day arrived, and all the village youths including Ling Chen and Feng lined up outside Elder Mu's house where the tests would take place one by one behind closed doors inside.

When it finally became Ling Chen's turn He put his hands on the crystal ball but there wasn't anything special that happened during the test leading Elder Mu to declare "I'm sorry but it seems like you don't have any talent for cultivation" which caused gasps throughout the room not just from his parents but also others in attendance Everyone was shocked as Ling Chen was always seen as a highly talented young man who's genius-level intellect was only matched by his cold disposition and large ego that bordered on narcissism

As Ling Chen walked back out dejectedly, his mother Yue grabbed him by the arm and started berating him "I knew you were worthless! I told you not to embarrass the family like this! You better hope your brother has some talent, or else we will be laughed at by everyone in the village!" she said before storming off dragging Feng with her to go next to get tested.

Ling Chen's father Tian just stood there looking disappointed but didn't say anything as he followed after them leaving Chen standing alone feeling embarrassed and humiliated.

The other villagers all started gossiping about how unfortunate it was that someone like Chen who came from a good family had no talent and no future despite his family background

Ling Feng who was waiting outside couldn't help but feel a great shock as although he never liked his brother he did respect his talent so how could he be unable to cultivate it?

Elder Mu then called out Ling Fengs name as it was his turn to get tested he felt hopeless as if even his genius brother had no talent what hope was there for him but when he placed his hands on the crystal ball it reacted straight away and an indigo light start to emit from the ball Elder Mu gasped in shock at this bright light and stuttered "Ling Feng indigo talent" when the crowd heard this they gasped even louder than when it was revealed that Chen had no talent

"Uh Elder Mu what does indigo talent mean, will I be able to cultivate," Ling Feng asked The elder nervously, The elder stared and Feng and Then Laughed "HAHA haven't your parents explained to you yet the different levels of talents when no light shows up like what happened for your brother that means the person lacks spirit roots and will be unable to cultivate for the rest of their life and then if they do have spirit roots there is 7 different ranks of spirit root the worst is red then orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and then violet is the best so that means you have the second best cultivation talent possible and the highest the village has seen in over 500 years"

Ling Chen's POV:

Chen tried to act strong and pretend like it didn't bother him but inside he felt defeated, everything he had worked for up until now meant nothing as without cultivation talents one could never amount to anything in this world.

He thought back to when he was younger and first discovered his memories from his previous life, at first he didn't believe it himself thinking it must be some sort of dream however over time as more and more things matched up perfectly with what he remembered happening in history books He realized that somehow impossibly he had reincarnated into this world.

He had been excited at first as he thought with his knowledge of science and technology he could bring this world into a new era however that all seemed like a pipe dream now.

As Chen was lost in thought, Feng came back to where he was standing "Hey! I heard what happened, sorry about that" he said while looking genuinely apologetic.

Chen just shook his head before replying "It's not your fault, you didn't do anything wrong" then after pausing for a bit added, "besides it looks like things worked out well for you in the end."

Feng nodded before saying "Yeah I guess so, listen I know we don't get along very well but if there's ever anything I can do to help just let me know okay?" before walking off leaving Chen alone once again.

Even though Feng's words sounded sincere, Chen knew there was nothing anyone could do to change the fact that he couldn't cultivate. He would have to find another way to make something of himself in this world.

As he was walking back to his house lost in thought, he didn't notice the group of people following him until it was too late.

They were all cultivators from the village who had been waiting for an opportunity to bully him and now that his talent had been revealed (or rather lack thereof) they saw their chance.

"Hey look! It's the trashy non-cultivator!" one of them said while laughing. "What are you doing out here by yourself?" another added as they surrounded him.

Chen tried to act calm even though his heart was pounding in his chest, he knew if he showed any weakness they would only continue to bully him. "I'm just going home, what about you guys? Shouldn't you be off somewhere cultivating or something?" He said with a sarcastic tone.

This caused the group to start jeering and mocking him even more, calling him all sorts of names and making fun of his parents.

Chen tried to ignore them and walk away but they continued to follow him, eventually, he'd had enough. He turned around and looked at the group with a cold expression on his face "If you don't leave me alone I'll make you regret it" he said in a low voice.

The cultivators just laughed thinking he was joking, but when they saw the look in his eyes they realized he was serious. They quickly lost interest and went off to find someone else to bully leaving Chen standing there alone once again

Ling Chen returned to his small room and smirked "humph I had a feeling this might happen" he thought to himself before taking out a small box from under his bed.

He opened it up revealing various gadgets and contraptions that he had been working on over the past few years, things that he had been hoping to use to change the world. Besides these small gadgets was a book that said Plan H on it