Ch 4 – 100 Steps!

"Good, all of you are here, as expected of the youths of Jie Clan," the old man who was with Kaleido walked up to a stone platform. Inside the dome, there were over a hundred youths gathered all around a single area, staring at the spirit spring in front of them with wide eyes full of curiosity.

This was Jie Clan's spirit spring, a mysterious spring where primeval essence stones are produced which would bring a lot of revenue for the middle-size clan. Not only that, but it also serves as the place where Jie Clan members who are of age can awaken their aperture due to the fact that Hope Gu stays at spirit springs.

Floating atop the spirit spring were strange flowers colored a vibrant pink, and they emitted a faint but pleasant smell. This was the food for Jie Clan's specialty Gu worm, the Rank 1 Heavy Qi Gu. With their artificial Gu worm created and founded by their ancestor, it allowed Jie Clan to prosper in the cruel world they are located in.

"Let me explain once more to those that may have already forgotten. Listen carefully as I'm only going to say this once…" the old man on the platform shouted loudly once more, his voice booming and capturing the attention of all the children in the strange room akin to a large cavern.

His following words explained what is to be expected in the awakening ceremony.

Man is the spirit of all living beings; Gu are the essence of heaven and earth. A Gu Master is someone who embarks on the path of understanding the Great Dao. Gu Masters nurture, use, and refine Gu; Gu are tools used by Gu Masters to unveil the mysteries of the Great Dao!

If someone takes less than ten steps, they are unqualified to become a Gu Master. With 10-20 steps, they have D grade talent. 20-30 steps would mean one has C grade aptitude. 30-40 steps are B grade aptitude, and 40-50 steps are A grade aptitude!

Having a higher aptitude means one would have bigger potential, as they can store more primeval essence in their aperture. The rate of their primeval essence production would also be faster the higher their talent, and the faster they can cultivate. With low talent, not only would one have a low primeval essence amount, but low production as well.

At D grade, their aperture would only be able to store 20-39% when it came to primeval essence. At this rate, the highest rank they might ever reach would be Rank 2.

C grade, though better, is still not that good. With a maximum capacity of 40-59%, only the upper tier of this talent can have hopes of reaching Rank 3. Rank 3s are considered the elders of clans already, and are considered an important foundation for a clan.

B grade is where things get spicy. They can have a maximum capacity of 60-79%, meaning their futures are bright and are certain to reach Rank 3 if they pour in enough time and effort into their cultivation. They might even reach the realm of Rank 4 and become a powerhouse of the mortal world.

A grade is the very best, with a maximum capacity of 80-99%! At this point, it is to be expected that they would reach Rank 5 with enough time, effort, and resources. Any A grade talent found in a clan would be nurtured by it in hopes of producing a powerhouse, a force capable of leading an entire clan all alone. Maybe they might even reach the mysterious Gu Immortal realm full of legends if they are lucky enough.

The children of Jie Clan were riled up by his words, and his next sentence caused a ruckus to occur: "All right, walk up to the spirit spring once I call up your name."

Instantly, everyone quieted down and held their breaths. The next moment, the old man shouted: "Jie Li Wei!"

Responding to the shout of the old man, a young boy with a muscular physique walked forward from the crowd. Everyone stared at him with shining eyes. At that moment, the pressure on him was gargantuan. This was the moment his future was decided, if he has a low aptitude, then his future would be dark.

'Please, please, please let me have C grade aptitude!' He cried out inside his mind while walking forward nervously into the spirit spring.

Even though the spirit spring was ginormous, the water was shallow and only reached up to the boy's knee. Upon stepping into the spring, a formless pressure gathered around his body, and he walked forward with apprehensive steps.

One step, two steps, three steps; he continued walking forward as the pressure continued to grow stronger. From the flowers all around him, motes of light started to appear and gather around his abdomen, forming a strange ball of light. The more Hope Gu gathered around him, the lesser the pressure became, but eventually, less and less Hope Gu gathered around his abdomen and he finally fell down to his knees from the pressure.

"28 steps! Good!" the old man called out from the distance, and the young boy stared at the ground with tears flowing down his face.

'I… I did it!'

More and more people were called out by the old man. Unfortunately, men were not born equal, and not everyone experienced success like Jie Lie Wei.

"NOOO!!!" A young girl fell down to her knees, crying loudly as she stopped at her 9th step. At that moment, her mind was breaking down from the mental pressure of such a gargantuan failure. At that moment, reality grabbed her by the hair and smack her face down to the ground, leaving her as a mere mortal forever with nearly zero chances to overturn her fate.

On the other hand, some also experienced a twist of fate in a positive light.

"35 steps?!" People cried out in shock and stared at the girl in the distance. A burst of energy erupted from within her belly, and she halted for a moment before nearly falling down on one leg.

'It seems like the aptitude of this generation is quite spending, we already have 4 B Grade aptitude!' the old man commented and stared at the list of names he held. Finally, his eyes landed at the bottom and his eyes gleamed.

"Jie Qi!"

"Jie Qi?!" Instantly, murmurs erupted as everyone's attention was taken by a boy who walked forward fearlessly.

He had long black hair and a muscular physique, wearing a simple white robe and a headband on his forehead. His hair was tied in a ponytail, and his muscles bulged with veins. At that moment, everyone started talking about the young teen with awe-struck eyes.

"Jie Qi, the son of the current clan leader!"

"What do you think his aptitude would be?"

"I bet that it would be B Grade!"

"Of course, it would be B Grade! A tiger father doesn't give birth to a cat son!"

Who was Jie Clan's clan leader? He was a Rank 4 Gu Master, a powerhouse in the mortal world with strength far beyond what mortals and Rank 1 Gu Masters like them can comprehend. Even those who were grieving about their trash talent couldn't help but have their attention captured by the fearless youth walking forward.

One step, two steps, three steps; in mere moments, motes of light started flushing towards him like a stream. Ten steps, twenty steps, thirty steps, until finally…

"44 steps!!!" the old man shouted, his eyes wide and brimming with shock! His entire body shook with surprise, as he stared at the fearless young man in the distance who laughed loudly.

"AHAHA! As expected of myself, only someone with large muscles would have large potential!" He grinned with confidence and pride plastered all over his face. He grabbed his robe, waving his arm into the sky as his clothes were thrown high above. His muscular physique was shown to everyone else, and his muscles full of strength and vigor can be seen.

He took on multiple poses, flexing each and every one of his muscles, all while being bathed by the spirit spring's water. He continued to laugh loudly, and the old man's eyes gleamed.

'As expected of the clan leader's son. A dragon would obviously give birth to a dragon! But now…' the elder at that moment hesitated as worry appeared in his mind, but the benefits were just too much!

If he succeeds, then he has given the clan a Gu Master! Even if Kaleido has trash talent, even if it was D Grade, it would still give him a lot of benefits. Perhaps he might even have Kaleido as his own personal slave, which wouldn't be bad in itself.

'My own personal slave… hehehe.' The old man lecherously laughed while staring at Kaleido watching the spectacle in the distance.

"Kaleido," the old man lightly shouted and few were able to hear the name he called out. Of course, the person in question heard his name get called out and stood up from the seat he was on.

"So it's my turn already," Kaleido felt his heart beat rapidly. He has seen all kinds of outcomes from the time he spent watching others undergo their awakening ceremony.

'Fuck, would I have trash talent? Shit, would I even have an aptitude?! Didn't my body originate from another world, so would I even be compatible with this world's power system?' Questions after question flooded Kaleido's mind, and he stopped right in front of the spirit spring. At this moment, the mental pressure he was facing was beyond immense.

Throughout his entire life, he was always considered talented. But now, all of his talents are useless in this strange world where a single being can dominate thousands of others. If he has trash talent, then his life might be in serious danger in the future, so his only hope of surviving, realistically speaking, was to have high talent!

'Calm down, calm the fuck down Kaleido! Remember your training.' Kaleido breathed deeply as oxygen filled his lungs. Exhaling softly, he repeated his actions again and again for a few seconds and calmed down.

Finally, his eyes regained focus and he took his first step. Then a second step, and a third step.

Just like all of the others before him, motes of light started to gather towards him like a stream into his abdomen. At this moment, the old man couldn't help but slightly tremble and think to himself: 'Did I perhaps actually acquire someone that has B Grade aptitude? Look at the amount of Hope Gu gathering towards him!'

10 steps, 20 steps, 30 steps; Kaleido moved forward without obstruction as more and more motes of light gathered towards him. While others watched with shock and confusion, Kaleido was instead more confused than them.

'This… is this supposed to be this easy?' He walked and the pressure he felt was less exaggerated than he thought it to be. When the others stepped into the spirit spring, it was as if they were facing the weight of the entire world on their body, but as he did it, the only pressure he felt was quite light and easy to manage.

After a while, he broke through the 40 steps barrier, shocking everyone else in the area. Cries of shock resounded all throughout, but Kaleido still continued, his face befuddled and full of confusion.

40 steps, 41 steps, 42 steps, until… 50 steps!

"50 STEPS?!" the old man cried out in shock, his eyes widening in shock as the list of names he held in his hand was dropped to the ground, but Kaleido still continued.

50 steps, 55 steps, 60 steps, 70 steps, 80 steps; he continued walking forward without stopping as endless motes of light gathered like a river into his abdomen. By the time he stopped, he has already reached 100 steps, shocking everyone else in the dome.

'This… should be enough, right? I mean, 100 steps, that's quite a terrifying number. Though at this point, I'm still facing minimal pressure and can still walk forward, but I'm already nearing the end of this spirit spring, and it's quite redundant to walk more.'

As Kaleido was looking around him with surprise, a strange explosion erupted from his abdomen, and just like the others, he almost fell down to his knees and his aperture finally appeared.

'This… Even an extreme physique holder is only capable of reaching 60 steps. What kind of monster is capable of achieving 100 steps?!'

At that moment, a shadow shot forward from nowhere as the old man look ahead in shock. 'Clan leader?! What is he doing here?!'

The truth was, the Jie clan leader was here to spectate his son's awakening ceremony to ensure that nothing goes wrong. But unexpectedly, a monster like Kaleido appeared from nowhere, and that caused a sense of urgency to appear from deep within him as his eyes flashed with greed.

'W-Who the fuck is he?!' Kaleido cried out in shock. At that moment, it was as if time came to a standstill.

Right in front of his eyes, the outstretched hand of the clan leader was only a few steps away. And by his crazed look, he was sure that if that arm were to grab him, he was sure to face an unfortunate end. The aura of the clan leader surged explosively, causing water to splash all around Kaleido along with flowers to scatter around his body.

His vision was mostly covered by water, but he can clearly see his imminent doom.

'How am I going to escape this?!'

He had no way to escape, he was still only a Rank 1 Gu Master while the person ahead of him was the Rank 4 powerhouse, the clan leader of Jie Clan!

But at the very last moment, the black markings all around Kaleido's body suddenly glowed with brilliant black light. A strange sensation appeared, and he felt like his body passed through an invisible membrane.

At the same time that happened, Jie Clan's clan leader saw Kaleido's body mysteriously disappear, and a feeling of danger overwhelmed him. Before he can stop, the space ahead of him warped in a split second, and a loud explosion appeared.

AN: This chapter has 2401 words.

I'm gonna start begging for power stones now. Writing is hard, really, I mean do you even know how strenuous the writing process is? Hours of my life wilting away for nothing in return, aren't I a saint?

So, if you have a bit of conscience, you should at least give me power stones.

GIVE ME POWER STONES, NOW! YOU REALLY THINK I WON'T DROP THIS WORTHLESS NOVEL IN A HEARTBEAT IF A MORE FORTUNATE PATH IS PROVIDED?!

YOU THINK NOT MUCH WOULD HAPPEN IN JUST A YEAR?! NAY, I DROPPED 5 NOVELS ALREADY, EACH HAVING HUNDREDS OF HOURS OF MY LIFESPAN POURED INTO THEM, SO DON'T EVEN TEST MY PATIENCE, YOU LEECH!

(December 19, 2022 – 389th day of writing)