After explaining the functions of the star orb, he looked at the vice principal and nodded.
"Now let's start. Come up when I call your name. Mei Li!" the vice principal called out.
When the name was called, all the students turned towards a certain direction.
There stood a girl with long black hair and a beautiful face that could rival Sister Ying. Everyone looked at her with sparkling eyes.
Her face held no emotion, as cold and unreadable as ice.
She slowly walked to the podium like a swan among cranes. There was no hint of nervousness on her face. She exuded confidence.
The vice principal gave a knowing nod upon seeing this. He expected students with such demeanor. Those who could uphold the academy's face with pride.
Wei Jian also nodded a little which made the vice principal even happier.
"Put your hands on it," Wei Jian said.
Mei Li nodded and gently placed her hands on the orb. After a moment, it began to glow. The countless tiny stars that formed a nebula brightened and slowly spiraled inward, drawn into the orb's core.
They drifted in mesmerizing patterns, shifting as if guided by an unseen force, slowly forming the shape of a constellation.
And when the constellation was complete, an ice cold aura burst forth from her body, spreading rapidly across the surroundings.
The temperature in the square dropped with a suddenness sharper than rainfall, causing the gathered students to shiver uncontrollably, their breaths forming mist as they instinctively wrapped their arms around themselves.
Ice with pointy tips appeared on the podium and slowly spread out with Mei Li at the center.
"It's a vision…!" Someone pointed to the sky with a trembling hand. Maybe from the shock of the vision or from the ice cold air.
In the sky, a vision slowly unfolded. The vision was of planets covered with ice and a girl with snow-white hair stood in the middle of all this.
What the person said immediately drew everyone's attention towards the sky. They were shocked by what they saw.
The girl's appearance couldn't be seen clearly but you could tell she had a faint resemblance to Mei Li.
The vision in the sky lingered for a while before finally fading. The icy air, which had been steadily spreading and intensifying, seemed to receive a silent order. Slowly, it began to retreat, withdrawing to wherever it came from.
The cold air entered Mei Li's body and then disappeared.
The change wasn't over yet.
As the icy air surged into her body, the color of her hair began to change from the roots. Strand by strand, it turned a glacial white, until her entire head was as white as freshly fallen snow.
"Ahahah…!" The vice principal who witnessed all this couldn't hold himself back from laughing.
"Good! Good! Good!…" Wei Jian's eyes widened and he said 'good' thrice. You could tell how glad he was.
"I didn't expect that a planet-level job would be awakened today. It's been a long time since one appeared from our very own Cloud City Academy."
"Planet level…?" The young man was surprised by what the principal said and slowly shook his head. "You underestimated the vision."
"Huh…!" The principal was shocked after hearing this. "What could be greater than planet-level?" the principal asked.
The young man slowly shook his head and didn't answer. He turned his head towards Mei Li, who was surprised by the vision.
"You awakened as a mage, which is also your path," Wei Jian said. "Although the vision didn't show your strength, it showed your aspect. Visions only appear when someone has an aspect."
Mei Li still had a confused look on her face after hearing this.
"Think of your job as the path or profession you take." Noticing the confused look on Mei Li's face, Wei Jian explained.
"Although there are also other mages who are ice mages, they never awakened with a vision and didn't have an aspect. Aspect is the unique primal truth within your soul that affects how it's manifested. For example, since your aspect is ice, that means that ice is your truth and you'll have control over other ice mages, which will increase with your strength.
There are also different kinds of aspects with different levels. Although I don't know what your aspect level is, I can tell it must be powerful…"
"Eternal Frost. My aspect is Eternal Frost," Mei Li said.
Wei Jian was shocked after hearing this, but he still nodded. "You've passed the test, but there are still other tests waiting." He shook his head. "If it was up to me, you wouldn't need to take any more tests. But it's beyond my abilities. But with your talent, it won't be a problem. You can go down," Wei Jian said.
"Okay, go down. You'll be our top student for the upcoming competition," the principal also added.
Mei Li nodded and slowly walked down. A path was quickly made for her. Her skin was emitting ice cold air and every step she took would leave an ice footprint on the ground.
Some students looked at her like a competitor while others had reverence shown on their faces.
Just like that, the awakening continued. None had visions like Mei Li, but still awakened. Most had bright smiles on their faces, while some held their heads low.
"Okay next one! Liu Kai!" the vice principal called out.
Liu Kai, who heard his name, first cast a glance at Xuan Yu and walked out. Just like every other person, he put his hands on the orb and then it made the same.
"Earth Knight!" the star orb said.
"Hmm… Although it's not a planet-level job, it's a tier ten job. If you had awakened with an aspect, it would mean that two peerless geniuses appeared in a single day," Wei Jian said with pity. "What am I even saying? One appearing is even something to be celebrated by all humans."
"The Earth Knight you awakened is a tier ten job. It's still as rare as phoenix feathers and dragon's horns. You've already passed the hard part, but there are still other tests to be taken. You can go down," the middle-aged man said.
Liu Kai slowly stepped down with his head held high and chest puffed out. He then glanced at Xuan Yu with a provocative look. Something like 'If I catch you next time, you're dead!' kind of look.
"Xuan Yu…!" the vice principal called out.
"Go, brother. You don't have to be nervous. Even if you're trash, I'll still protect you…" Sister Ying said, trying to cheer up Xuan Yu.
Xuan Yu's lips twitched when he heard this. He took a deep breath and walked towards the podium.
Wei Jian didn't have a good impression of Xuan Yu the moment he saw him. He could see that Xuan Yu's body was far weaker than the rest. And what could a person with such a weak body awaken?
Although Xuan Yu's studies were top-notch, his body was the weakest in his class. And that's one of the things getting him bullied and belittled by others in his class like Liu Kai.
After getting on the podium, Xuan Yu looked at the Star Awakening Orb and was amazed by its magnificence.
"Put your hand on the orb," the man said. For some unknown reason, he didn't seem to like Xuan Yu.
Xuan Yu was also shocked by the man's attitude. Although the man behaved indifferently towards others, there was something off with the way he spoke to him. But he didn't dwell on it.
He put his hand on the Star Orb and the same thing happened like everyone else. The stars entered the orb and tried to make a constellation.
Then that's when something strange happened. The stars in the orb kept flashing faster and faster. A second or two later, it started trembling and making weird noises.
The orb began to glow so intensely that the stars within became a blur of light, impossible to distinguish.
"Huh…! What's wrong?" Wei Jian wrinkled his brow. He was really worried.
"Crack…!" Cracks started to appear on the orb and before you knew it
Bang!
The Star Orb broke into pieces, causing a loud bang to ring out. Countless star shards appeared on the floor, stars disappearing and dimming.
Time seemed to stand still and Xuan Yu's eyes suddenly turned blank.
"Why is it so... so quiet?" Xuan Yu asked, though the words didn't echo, they simply vanished into the stillness.
All he could see was nothingness.
No light. No shadow. No sound. Just... absence.
The shattered pieces of the Star Awakening Orb no longer existed in his perception. The world, the podium, and the crowd
There was just… Nothing.
No color. No sound. No form.
Just an infinite stillness, stretching endlessly in all directions. It wasn't darkness . darkness still implied the absence of light. This was purer. Colder. Truer.
It was the absence of everything.
Xuan Yu drifted in it, not with a body, not with thoughts, but as a formless awareness. Time didn't pass here. Space didn't exist. Even the concept of 'self' began to blur.
And yet…
He was.
That alone defied the very essence of where he was.
"What is this place…?"
Then, a whisper answered. Not from around him, but from within.
"This is what you are."
The realization dawned like the first spark in a void. He hadn't been dragged into this place.
He was this place.
"I am... Nothing."
A flood of memories suddenly surged into his mind. He now understood why his body had always been weaker than everyone else's.
Because he was nothingness in a shell.
Pure Nothingness is absence absolute. No form. No thought. No will.
A state that cannot act, cannot change, and cannot become.
The only reason nothingness has a thought is because He is a reincarnated thought, a spark of awareness that shouldn't exist within nothing.
He couldn't do anything like a normal person. He could think like any other person but he couldn't do anything. That's why he chose to enter a fetus.
The fetus had merely been a vessel . a container for the nothingness that was him.
Nothingness chose to enter life.
As he accepted that truth, the void around him quivered. From the vast silence, something flickered, so small that you couldn't tell exactly how small. A glow. A spark of being.
He hurriedly focused on it.
And from that spark, a tiny object began to form . a herb. It was no bigger than a finger, glowing faintly with life.
It swayed gently. Even though there was no wind. It had never existed before, had no seed, no soil, no light.
It came from him. From the Nothing that was him.
A warmth bloomed inside what he no longer recognized as a heart.
"I made this," he whispered.
It wasn't power. It wasn't magic. It was truth.
This was one of his abilities, to create something out of nothing.
Suddenly, the void shuddered. The world of silence began to crack.
The stage. The academy. The sky. The stunned faces.
All returned in a blinding pulse of existence.
Not a soul spoke.
"No job appeared. No aspect. No rating… What even was that?"
"So this is what it means… to be Nothing," Xuan Yu whispered, a strange calm settling over him.
"What…!" Wei Jian's eyes popped out and he immediately released his pressure.
Everyone fell to the ground, unable to resist.
"Boy! Do you know what you've done?" Wei Jian said to Xuan Yu, his pressure crushing the air like an invisible storm.
"What's going on? Why is my body like this?" Xuan Yu asked with confusion. His body was flat on the floor with the sound of bones creaking. The weird thing is that he couldn't feel any pain.
"I'll repeat again, boy. Do you know what you have done? Do you know how priceless the Star Orb is?" He increased his pressure once again.
"Brother…!" Sister Ying shouted, trying her best to resist the pressure. But it was like an unmovable mountain was pressing on her.
"Huh!" Xuan Yu looked back only to see Sister Ying also almost flat on the floor. Her hands were trying their best to support her, beads falling from her forehead.
"Sister…!" Xuan Yu's eyes widened. Then, as realization struck, they turned cold, locking onto Wei Jian.
"Why are you doing this?"
His scalp went numb and he felt like he was facing death itself. He forcibly suppressed it "Snort! You'll know after I take you back for your crimes!" Wei Jian said and then stretched out his hands to pick Xuan Yu up.
"Sigh! My body is too weak after all," Xuan Yu sighed.
"It seems like the stronger my body is, the more power I can control," Xuan Yu realized with sudden clarity.
If he tried to use more power than his body could handle, it would explode.
"Hmm…" His eyes shifted to the shattered remains of the Star Orb, its once radiant core now a dull remnant of what had been.
One, use it to gradually strengthen his body permanently, allowing him to control greater power over time.
Two, temporarily boost his body's strength to match the man's level, but only for a short time.
He choose number two without esitating at all. He quickly stretched out his hands and took all the star shards his hand could move under this pressure