At the spiritual awakening ceremony,
boys and girls stepped in and out of the awakening pods one after another.
Some burst into cheers after obtaining powerful talents.
Others could only sigh helplessly—having failed to awaken any spiritual power, they were now facing the grim reality of factory work.
When the broadcast called Cheng Shiya to the stage, she turned to Luo Bing and smiled sweetly.
"Xiao Luo, how about we make a bet?"
"A bet?" Luo Bing asked curiously.
He was in desperate need of money right now to unlock the Rinnegan's abilities, so his interest was immediately piqued.
"I know you've been tight on money lately. You can't even afford rent, and you still refuse to move in with me," Cheng Shiya said seriously, blinking her beautiful eyes.
"If I awaken a higher-grade talent than you this time, how about you come live with me in my family's villa?"
Her tone was sincere—almost earnest.
The entire student body instantly erupted into envy, jealousy, and hatred.
Everyone knew that talent quality was closely tied to family inheritance.
How could Luo Bing, a nobody with no background, possibly compare to Cheng Shiya?
What the school belle was saying was practically a confession.
Living together in a villa with a gentle, beautiful school belle?
That was straight-up living off a rich partner.
Just imagining it was thrilling.
Wuwuwu… they didn't want to work hard anymore either.
"Let's forget it," Luo Bing said with a light laugh, declining tactfully.
"I'm afraid you might have ulterior motives. Same old rule—loser calls the winner Dad."
Luo Bing was a man with great ambitions.
Right now, all he wanted was to whale on the Rinnegan.
Living off someone else?
Maybe later.
Hearing his righteous rejection, the surrounding students nearly spat blood.
They wished they could accept in his place on the spot.
"Tch, narcissist!" Cheng Shiya pouted angrily. "Fine. Just wait—I'll make you call me Dad."
Under everyone's gaze, she stepped into the testing pod.
After the machine ran for a short while—
"Cheng Shiya—Awakened A-rank Guardian Spirit Beast: Ice Soul Sword Spirit."
A-rank?!
Guardian Spirit Beast?!
The moment the result appeared, gasps rang out everywhere.
"So jealous… Good family background and an A-rank Guardian Spirit Beast. She's instantly among the top-tier elites!"
"The Cheng family is one of the four ancient spiritual families of the Imperial Capital. With bloodline inheritance passed down for generations, this result isn't surprising at all."
"A dragon begets dragons, a phoenix begets phoenix. The ancients really weren't wrong."
"Sigh… if only my ancestors had worked a little harder. Maybe I could've awakened an S-rank Guardian Spirit Beast."
…
Seeing Cheng Shiya's outstanding result, the Qingteng High principal in the VIP section couldn't help but smile.
"This child…" he muttered softly, grinning.
"As expected of that great person's descendant. Truly extraordinary talent."
After all, these were students cultivated by his school.
The more top-tier geniuses they produced, the easier it would be to demand funding from higher authorities.
After stepping off the stage, Cheng Shiya raised her chin proudly at Luo Bing.
"Well? You're not planning to go back on your word, are you?"
In her eyes, there was no chance Luo Bing could surpass her result.
Seeing how smug she looked, Luo Bing smiled faintly.
"I'll warn you in advance. When I awaken an S-rank talent and press you down, don't end up with psychological trauma."
Cheng Shiya snorted disdainfully.
"If the thing you're talking about is even half as hard as your mouth, you can say whatever you want."
Watching the two of them effortlessly spread dog food, Huang Tengfei was completely sour.
Shiya, if you want someone to call you Dad, I can do it every day…
"Student No. 10086—Huang Tengfei, step onto the platform."
The examiner called out at just the right moment.
A sinister glint flashed through Huang Tengfei's eyes.
"Luo Bing, I'll make you understand who's truly worthy of Shiya."
Putting on a show of elegance, he strode into the testing pod with imposing presence.
A moment later, the broadcast sounded.
"Huang Tengfei—Awakened B-rank Guardian Spirit Beast: Devouring Giant Insect."
A massive black silhouette appeared on the big screen—the outline of the Devouring Giant Insect.
The crowd erupted instantly.
"What kind of Guardian Spirit Beast is that? Why isn't it in the textbooks?"
"It looks extremely rare. Even standard beast catalogs don't seem to have records of it."
"Insane, Young Master Huang. As expected of someone from a spiritual family—Guardian Spirit Beasts we can only dream of, you awaken with ease."
The principal sipped his tea and commented calmly,
"Unlike ordinary spirit beasts that require specific materials to evolve, the Devouring Giant Insect has an extremely broad diet and terrifying growth potential.
"With enough time and proper cultivation, it can even reach quasi–S-rank strength in the later stages."
Hearing such a high evaluation from the principal, Huang Tengfei's earlier frustration vanished completely.
Walking down the steps, he sneered at Luo Bing.
"It's all my fault for not working hard enough. I only awakened a B-rank talent.
Not like genius Luo, who trains so diligently every day—surely you'll get excellent results today, right?"
"Huang Tengfei!" Cheng Shiya's brows shot up as she glared at him angrily.
Unfazed, Huang Tengfei smiled leisurely at her.
"Shiya, your parents won't agree to you being with him. Why not consider trying things with me instead?"
"I'm just ordinary friends with Xiao Luo. Don't talk nonsense," Cheng Shiya said coldly.
"I rejected you for my own reasons—it has nothing to do with him. Don't drag him into this."
Halfway through, her cheeks suddenly flushed red.
Beside her, Luo Bing—who had been silent—finally counterattacked.
He casually lifted a hand and brushed her long hair over her shoulder.
"Shiya, why do you always attract fleas? Let me help you tidy up."
"Ah? Really?" Cheng Shiya looked adorably confused, completely unaware of his intention.
Huang Tengfei, however, exploded in rage, his eyes bloodshot.
"Let go! Shiya isn't someone you can touch!"
Luo Bing glanced at him calmly, then wrapped an arm around Cheng Shiya's delicate shoulder.
"I'm just fooling around with my good bro. What's it got to do with you?"
Cheng Shiya froze on the spot, her heart pounding wildly.
Oh no… it's the feeling of falling in love!
"You—!"
Huang Tengfei was so furious his chest tightened. At that moment, Luo Bing's name was called for testing.
He immediately sneered,
"Go on then, Genius Luo. Let's see what kind of talent a mere commoner like you can awaken."
Luo Bing smiled faintly and walked toward the testing pod without a care.
Along the way, countless mocking gazes followed him.
"Isn't that the school's famous overachiever? Dreaming of escaping the fate of being a wage slave through hard work."
"Let him keep dreaming. He gets a scholarship every year—I've been annoyed by him for ages."
"This world has always been survival of the fittest. Nobles control most resources—of course they deserve to enjoy life. That's perfectly fair."
"Commoners are born to work for the noble class. How dare they be dissatisfied with the rules?"
"Such wishful thinking. This world has developed for nearly ten thousand years—hasn't it always been like this?"
"I've gone five whole minutes without ranting about human nature's ugliness. Unacceptable."
"I'll say it right now—if he awakens anything above C-rank, I'll livestream myself eating a secret-recipe burger."
"Genius Luo's good days end here."
Inside the testing pod, Luo Bing shook his head helplessly as he listened.
His blood pressure was rising.
If noble kids with vested interests wanted to mutter a few self-serving lines, fine.
But some students from commoner backgrounds echoing the same nonsense—
That really left him speechless.
Logically speaking, this world was nearly a thousand years more advanced than his previous one.
So why was it that the more advanced the technology…
the more backward the mindset?
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