Ch: 1 A Grade

The morning sun shined brightly, as if to cheer on the up-and-coming Gu Master's of this generation.

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As the clan leader stepped upon a white podium, His long aged grey hair flowing loosely around his waist, he started speaking " Hello everybody, and welcome to this years annual aperture awakening ceremony!" what started off as calm and gentle, slowly turned into burning passion.

As he finished the crowd started yelling in excitement, unable to hold it in.

he looked upon the many youthful faces and saw two particular faces standout, both with white hair, one with crimson red eyes filled with determination and another with icy blue, filled with indifference.

He smiled to himself, hoping that this generation is better then the last.

-

After the speech, the clan leader lead the way and the rest of the crowd was following him, and the elder's were behind them.

They were walking in a underground tunnel, that lead to somewhere that only clan leader knew.

As they reached their destination, they looked upon a huge ice lake in awe, the ice looked four fingers thick, with little lights floating around and on top of it.

The clan leader spoke " I know you all are excited to awaken, but please be patient. And in-case you haven't heard from your fellow clansmen, 10 - 19 steps is D talent, 20 - 29 steps is C talent, 30 - 39 steps is B talent and 40+ steps is A talent"

As he finished, most of the students looked at him with a 'How could we forget?' expression, but some look grateful.

"*Cough* Bai An Cho, Please step up" Spoke a different old man from the clan leader, his age showed on his face full of wrinkles, along with his ghostly white hair, though don't let that fool you, he has an extremely powerful aura, though not as powerful as the clan leader, but for these children who still has water behind the ears, it was enough for the kids not to misbehave.

A girl no older then 15 with short brown hair, brown eyes, and shaking slightly, walked unsteadily to the man.

She took a deep breath, and started walking.

"Hey Bai Bing Hua, what grade do you think she has?" Asked a chubby girl with dark blue hair and dark blue eyes

"She's not gonna last even if she has A grade talent. Bai Zhong Shui" Said Bing Hua mercilessly as she peered at Bai Zhong Shui's blue eyes

"So heartless!" Bai Zhong Shui said playfully, as she playfully smacked Bing Hua's arm

Bing Hua didn't mind the smack as she looked at the girl she was speaking about, she was only at the 15th step when she looked to struggle, before finally stopping at 18.

The old man brought up his clipboard and started scribbling down as the girl disappointingly walked back to the crowd

D Talent, Not Worth The Resources.

"Bai Chang Yuu, Please step up" Spoke the same man, as a boy with black hair and green eyes stepped up to the man proudly and look behind him at Bing Hua, and winked, before looking back.

Sadly, he looked away before he could see Bing Hua could roll her eyes with a scowl, her friend on the other hand, was giggling her face of, she could barely stop herself from laughing, but succeeded in the end.

He took 1, then 2, and kept going until he walked 35 steps, and couldn't take another.

The old man brought up his clipboard aging and started scribbling down again as the crowd murmured with envy.

He walked back with a proud smile on his face and his chest puffed out, but didn't forget to look over at Bing Hua.

While he looked at her, an elder that looked like Bai Chang Yuu was extremely happy while the other 11 elders looked on, green with envy.

"Bai Bing Yi, Please step up" Spoke the old man while a boy with purplish hair, round eyebrows and a very thin physique, stepped up and started walking.

He took 1, then another until he stepped for the 45rd time, and couldn't continue.

He puffed his chest with pride, but because of his thin physique, it looked akin to a squirrel puffing it's chest to scare away a predator.

The old man once again, brought up his clipboard, and started scribbling excitedly.

The crowd was a mix of reverence and envy.

"Bai Zhong Shui, Please come up" Spoke the same man, as Bai Zhong Shui stepped up

1, 2, 3, 4, it continued like this for 29 steps, then, she couldn't continue.

As she walked back, she was saddened and slouched, the only thing she could think about was if her family was going to abandon her

"Bai Bing Hua, Please step up" The old man said as Bing Hua walked up to the lake, not before she patted Bai Zhong Shui on the shoulder, took a swift breath, and started walking.

Bing Hua felt it get difficult after her 37th step, but kept going until her 40th, when she couldn't step anymore, she felt a small explosion just bellow her belly, and her mind went blank for a moment.

After she felt sturdy enough, she went back to the crowd as the old man scribbled happily on his board.

The crowd was muttering about how unfair it is that they haven't gone yet.

"Bai Ning Bing, Please step up" The old man said as the boy in question started to calmly walk to the lake.

Without waiting, he quickly started walking, very boldly into the lake.

He walked for 10, 20, even 40 steps, but didn't stop there.

He reached the other side of the lake and came back to the group, everyone in awe, jaw's unhinged.

After a moment of silents, the crowd was brimming with excitement!

'Since everyone so far has good talent, why cant i?' is the thought going through everyone's head, seemingly forgetting about the first girl who went up.

'It seems that this year is full of genius's!' The clan leader laughed in his heart, but, on his face was a gentle smile

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Sadly almost all of the youths that had cultivation talent only had D grade and C grade talent, excluding the few in the beginning.