Arcana Awakened, But It's Not Me

Ling Jiu looked up and saw Yin Guoping. Their class teacher was walking toward the rostrum with a list in hand.

"Whether I'll live an easy life or slog for the rest of my life, it all depends on this!" Ling Jiu said to himself.

His student number was "36", and he was in the fourth batch of his class. After a few minutes, it was his turn.

"Zhang Hui!

"Ma Tianyu!

"Wang Fang!

"Luo Dachou!

"Li Xiaoqiang!

"Ling Jiu!

"Li Kai!"

...

"Ol' Ling, I'm so nervous!"

Li Kai's trembling hands were sweaty.

"Ol' Li, look on the bright side, this is just an Arcana Trial, not a blind date with a gold-digger. What the hell are you afraid of?"

Ling Jiu smiled faintly and stepped up the stage first, but because he was too nervous, he stepped on air and stumbled like a fool.

"Ol' Ling, are you all right?" Li Kai asked with concern.

"I'm fine. Sh*t, a bad start!"

Ling Jiu quickly got up and went up the stage nervously. Then the staff from Longwind Company placed the mind helmet on his head.

"Whoaaa."

Ling Jiu only felt his consciousness blur for a moment before he arrived in a completely unfamiliar environment.

The wind was howling and bitingly cold. As he looked over, he saw that the earth was covered in thick white snow. This was a world of ice and snow.

"Is this the virtual world created by the smart computer?" Ling Jiu was shocked. "This is too real, isn't it?"

Was it real?

It was absolutely real!

The white snow, the howling winds, the white icebergs, and the crunchy sound of footsteps on the snow... Ling Jiu even felt the bone-chilling cold.

Was this really a virtual world?

"Roar!!!"

Just as Ling Jiu was wrecked by uncertainty, a thunderous roar rang out in the distance. As the rolling sound wave rushed over, Ling Jiu's eardrums felt like they were about to shatter.

Turning around, he saw a polar bear about hundreds of meters tall leaping toward him.

Boom.

Boom.

The polar bear landed on the ground in thunderous thuds as the earth shook. The terrifying threat sent Ling Jiu trembling.

"It's fake! It's all fake! It's a virtual environment, there's nothing to be afraid of!"

Ling Jiu tried his best to tell himself that, but his body shook uncontrollably, especially when he looked at the fast-approaching polar bear. The fear in his heart became stronger and stronger. In the end, the polar bear lunged at Ling Jiu and crushed his head with a snap of its jaw...

Woooshhh!!

Another blur later, Ling Jiu sensed that his mind had exited the virtual space. Right then, he was drenched in cold sweat. His legs were shaking uncontrollably, and his face was extremely pale.

"That... That was scary!"

Recalling the image earlier, Ling Jiu felt the lingering fear in his heart. Before he could completely calm down, though, an excited voice suddenly traveled into his ears. "Someone has awakened!"

"Awakened? Could it be me?"

Ling Jiu was shocked as he looked at the owner of the voice. It was Dai Changsheng.

He only saw Dai Changsheng look in his direction with a gratified expression. "Boy, congratulations on being the lucky one and awakening the power of the earth!"

"Awakening the power of earth? Is it me?"

Ling Jiu was so excited that he could not help himself. He then saw the principal, the class teacher, and the top school leaders all walking toward him.

The principal even stretched out his hands enthusiastically as he tried to shake his hand. Ling Jiu was so elated that he was about to reach out and shake the principal's hand.

Unexpectedly, the principal walked past him, and the class teacher, as well as all those from the school's top echelon, walked past him. They made their way to the person beside him and surrounded that person.

"This student here, what's your name?"

"Li... Li Kai! I'm Li Kai!"

"Li Kai, congratulations!"

"Li Kai, you are the pride of First High..."

Ling Jiu turned around and looked at Li Kai, who was surrounded by the principal, the class teacher, and the leadership cadre of the school. His whole being was struck by lightning...

He only saw countless grains of yellow sand surrounding Li Kai and dancing around him like fairies. They did not seem to be bound by Earth's gravity but were, instead, controlled by Li Kai.

He then looked at himself; there was nothing.

"Li Kai awakened the power of earth? Not me?" Ling Jiu felt like he had fallen into an ice cave, and if there was a song to describe his mood now, there was nothing more fitting than the following:

Fluttering snow...

Howling winds...

The world was nothing but a blur...

...

"God, why have you screwed me over?!"

Ling Jiu did not know how he left the stage. The greatest pain in life was to be given hope, only to have it extinguished...

"Sigh, bloody hell!"

Ling Jiu was not in the mood to watch the rest of the trials as he prepared to find a place to vent. As for the others... they could go to hell!

"Ol' Ling!"

Li Kai's voice rang out from behind. Ling Jiu turned around and looked at Li Kai who was walking over. "Ol' Li, congratulations!" He forced a smile.

"Ol' Ling!"

Li Kai was still stuck in his state of euphoria as he hugged Ling Jiu and shouted, "Ol' Ling, I've awakened my Arcana! I've awakened my Arcana!"

"Congratulations!"

Ling Jiu smiled bitterly and congratulated Li Kai. However, he was promptly stunned because the moment Li Kai grabbed him, a few lines of weird golden characters suddenly appeared before him.

Name: Li Kai

Race: Human

Arcana: Earth Manipulation (Awakened, replicable)

"Bloody hell!"

Ling Jiu thought that he was hallucinating, and he shook his head vigorously. Yet, the few lines of small characters were stuck in front of his eyes, and they remained there.

"The hell?"

Ling Jiu pulled away from Li Kai, and the lines of words disappeared. When he touched Li Kai again, the words appeared once again.

Name: Li Kai

Race: Human

Arcana: Earth Manipulation (Awakened, replicable)

After several consecutive attempts, Ling Jiu discovered something weird.

Whenever he came into contact with Li Kai, the words would appear.

"Could it be... This is my Arcana?"

"Replicable... What does that mean? Can I replicate Li Kai's Arcana?"

Ling Jiu's breathing became erratic as he tried to replicate it.

Wooosh!!

The small words instantly spread out and formed a golden light that enveloped Li Kai.

At that moment, Li Kai seemed to be covered by a thin golden veil, which completely enclosed him from head to toe.

About ten seconds later, the golden light left Li Kai's body and returned to Ling Jiu. This time, a set of different characters appeared:

Replication successful. Assimilate?

"Assimilate!"