2 Aperture Awakening(1)

The spring rain quietly rained down on Qing Mao Mountain.

It was already late in the night, a slight breeze blowing with the light rain.

Yet Qing Mao Mountain was not covered in darkness; from the side down to the foot of the mountain, dozens of tiny lights shone like a bright band.

These lights shone from tall buildings, even though it could not be said to match up to ten thousand lights, yet it was still a few thousand in number.

Situated on the mountain was Gu Yue Village, giving the vast lonely mountain a rich touch of human civilization.

In the middle of the Gu Yue Village was a magnificent pavilion. A grand ceremony was being held at this moment, and the lights were even brighter than ever, radiating with glory.

"Ancestors, please bless us! We pray that this ceremony will bring many young men of outstanding talent and intelligence, bringing their families new blood and hopes!" The head of the Gu Yue clan had a middle-aged appearance, his sideburns were graying and he was clothed in ceremonial white robes, kneeling on the brownish yellow floor. His body was straight with his hands held together, eyes tightly shut as he prayed sincerely.

He was facing a tall black case; there were three layers on the case, all housing memorial tablets of ancestors. On both sides of the tablets was copper incense, the smoke rising.

Behind him were over 10 people kneeling in a similar fashion as him. They wore loose white ceremonial garments, and were all the clan's elders, important members, and those who had much authority.

After finishing prayers, the Gu Yue clan head bent his waist with his two hands pressing against the floor and kowtowed. As the forehead knocked against the brownish yellow floor, light thuds could be heard.

Behind him, the elders and important clan members solemnly and quietly followed suit.

With this, the hall was filled with light thuds as the heads knocked against the floor.

When the ceremony was over, the crowd of people slowly got up from the ground and silently walked out of the sacred temple.

In the hallway, sighs of reliefs were heard from the crowd of elders and the atmosphere loosened up. The noise of discussion slowly rose.

"Time flies too quickly, in the blink of an eye, a year has gone by."

"The previous ceremony feels like it just happened yesterday, I can still recall it vividly."

"Tomorrow is the opening of the annual grand ceremony, I wonder what new clan blood will show up this year?"

"Ah, I hope that some highly talented youths will appear. The Gu Yue clan hasn't seen a genius emerge for three years now. "

"Agreed. The Bai Village, Xiong Village these few years all had some talented geniuses appear. Especially that Bai Ning Bing from the Bai clan, his natural talent is quite terrifying. "

It was unclear who had brought up the name Bai Ning Bing, but the faces of the elders started to show worry.

The boy's qualifications were splendid; in just a short period of two years worth of training, he had already reached the level of a level three Gu Master.

In the younger generation, he could be said as the most outstanding one. It was to the point that even the older generation could feel pressured from the promising youth.

In time, he would inevitably become the pillar of the Bai clan. At the very least he would also be an independently strong warrior. No one ever doubted this fact.

"But, look at our village. None of them show talent. What's more, that twin brothers "

"You're right, they are Fang Zhi's children. One being crazy, the other being stupid. Does heaven want to punish us? "

"Yes, this twin brother can be a disgrace for our village. What if we banish them if they don't succeed in awakening their aperture? "

Hearing this suggestion, the atmosphere fell silent. The elder who said this completely felt that his words were not a mistake.

The other elders saw this elder.

"You are right. But, they are still members of our clan after all, if we exclude them just because they are not able to awaken aperture. Aren't we going to be looked down upon by people inside and outside the village? "

The other elders who hear the last suggestion, also thought of their clan's face

The elder who had just proposed banishing away Fang Yuan and Fang Zheng wanted to defend himself. But, the Gu Yue clan head just came outside. Where the discussions took place.

The Gu Yue clan head was the last to walk out of the ancestral temple. After slowly closing the door, he heard the discussions that were going on in the corridor among the clan elders.

He knew that what the elders were talking about was the twin brother that Fang Zhi left behind.

As the head of the clan, it was normal to see the best and worst of the clan members.

However, the head of the clan also knew about the twins's distress.

He had received reports about the injustices received by these twins. He wants to do something, but what? As the head of the clan he had to be careful. Moreover, Dong Tu is arguably is a hidden elder.

But the secret that Dong Tu treated the twins cruelly was an open secret.

At once, with a cough he faced the clan elders and said, "Everyone, the hour is late, for tomorrow's opening ceremony you should all rest well tonight and take care of your energy levels."

At his words, the elders looked startled. They looked at each other with a hint of caution in their eyes.

The clan head's words meant well, but everyone knew what he was aiming to convey.

Every year to compete for these young geniuses, the elders would fight among themselves to the point of reddened ears and bleeding heads.

They should stay well rested and replenish themselves until tomorrow comes where the competition begins.

 "However, I'm going to go ahead and say what needs to be said first. When you compete, do it fair and square; no tricks and conspiracies are allowed, or damage to the clan's unity. Please keep this in mind, all of you! " The clan head is strictly instructed.

"We wouldn't dare, we wouldn't dare."

"We'll keep it in mind."

"Then this is a good night, please take care."

The clan elders slowly dispersed with deep thoughts.

Not long after that, the long corridor became quiet. The wind from the spring rain breezed through the window, and the clan head lightly walked towards the window.

Immediately, he breathed in the fresh moist air of the mountain, how refreshing it felt.

This was the third floor of the garage; the clan head looked out of the window. He could see half of the entire Gu Yue Village.

Even if it was late in the night, most of the homes in the village still had lights on, which was unusual.

At Fang Yuan's uncle's house.

"Brother, aren't you sleeping? Tomorrow is an important day for us. Maybe this is one way that the sky can pave a way for us "

Fang Zheng said the last part quietly.

Fang Zheng just walked into the room, he saw Fang Yuan who was right behind the window. The wind hit his hair and Fang Zheng could see his brother was lost in thought.

Noticing Fang Zheng's arrival, Fang Yuan hinted that he was fine. Then walk towards the bed.

Fang Yuan lay on the bed, while Fang Zheng sat on the edge of the bed.

Fang Yuan is thinking about the plans he has made so far.

He had made a bet with his uncle, Dong Tu. The bet is that if Fang Yuan fails the Aperture awakening ceremony, then he will come out of this house on his own. However, if he won, Dong Tu would give him 100 primeval stones and a Rank 1 Moonlight Gu.

Both parties have mutual benefits. If Dong Tu wins then Fang Yuan will voluntarily leave his uncle's house. Should that happen, Fang Zheng would also voluntarily follow his big brother.

For Fang Yuan the primeval essence stones and the Gu worm, will greatly affect his future.

Fang Yuan deliberately didn't tell Fang Zheng about this bet, if Fang Zheng found out then Fang Yuan's efforts to create a good image of himself would be tarnished. On the other hand, Fang Yuan wanted to get more benefits, if he told Fang Zheng, then the bet prizes would also decrease. Why would he do that?.

"Brother, do you think we can become Gu master? At least, if we have D level talent, that's enough. "

Fang Yuan turned his back on Fang Zheng, but he could tell his younger brother was lamenting their fate.

Fang Yuan wanted to laugh to make fun of Fang Zheng, he had already read RI, so he already knew what was going to happen tomorrow.

'I still remember how the aperture awakening ceremony was, but I've forgotten the names that will become stars except for Fang Zheng'

Not hearing an answer from Fang Yuan, Fang Zheng assumed that his brother was asleep.

He then began to lie down and relax his body, hopefully before going to sleep.

'I hope that the heavens can give us both a way'

Tomorrow comes.

At the aperture generation ceremony.

Some are happy, some are hesitant, and some don't care.

On the other hand, it was Fang Yuan who was standing next to Fang Zheng.

Fang Yuan can be said to not care about this ceremony, he already knows the results. He would be a C grade talent and A grade talent for Fang Zheng.

There is nothing to argue about anymore, however, something has been bothering him since he came to this world and accepted his life.

Will he succeed?

In the RI story, Fang Yuan was successful. But now it is different, Fang Yuan is not the Fang Yuan in the story. Is there a difference between the consciousness filling a body and the level of talent?

'Fang Yuan in his first life had talent C, then after being born again also had talent C. Will I be able to succeed too ?'

Fang Yuan had always thought about this to the point that he didn't care anymore.

'Even if I think about it, it won't change. I just need to accept it '.

Fang Yuan always admired the personality Fang Yuan had in the story. He wouldn't think about what happened, but he would think about what he would do to change that.

But now this is something that Fang Yuan cannot change. He just needed to see how fate would play against his future.

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By Nefar-inn and Spyrakles