Thick night darkness seeped through the windows of the cheap apartment like ink spilling across parchment, filling the cramped space with a mixture of musty mattress odors and stale sweat. Bai Hao casually crumpled the glaring rent notice on his rickety wooden desk and tossed it into the overflowing trash bin beside him.
Instead of acceptance letters, all I get are bills, he thought dryly, running a hand through his messy hair.
After a few simple tests of his new Daylight ability, he'd set aside his ideas for further development – he knew mastering such powers couldn't be done overnight, just as no one could rapidly boost their combat strength in a single day. Still, having the ability would significantly improve his chances of passing the martial arts portion of the college entrance exams.
Clearing his mind of distractions, he settled into a cross-legged position on the floor and began to meditate with complete focus, determined to finally take his first real steps on the path to becoming a spiritual being. Only with solid foundational skills could he stand out in the competitive martial arts trials.
Though he now held special exam exemptions from two influential figures – Yun Meng and Mu Wanqiu – he'd already researched what those "passes" actually entailed, and discovered they were little more than traps. From what he'd learned, while attendant students could indeed study at psionic universities alongside Spirit Masters, they received none of the benefits afforded to regular students. In essence, they were nothing more than auditors – with no access to resources or privileges, and even forced to find their own housing.
Worse still, they couldn't obtain any psionic resources from the university itself, effectively making them parasites dependent on their contracted Spirit Masters. These positions were typically reserved for wealthy but untalented young men looking to pad their resumes or build connections – serving no real purpose beyond superficial prestige.
Bai Hao wanted no part of that life. His reason for wanting to attend a psionic university was to gain access to their resources and advanced cultivation techniques. His rent was almost due, set to expire around the time the college entrance exams concluded. If he didn't perform well enough to earn a scholarship, he'd be left homeless and starving on the streets.
Nations across the world highly valued exceptional individuals, and universities offered scholarships ranging from ten thousand to over a million yuan to students with outstanding overall performance. Additionally, those who scored in the top 50% of admitted students received supplementary grants directly from the psionic university system. However, these seemingly straightforward requirements felt nearly impossible for Bai Hao, who still didn't fully understand the extent of his own abilities.
Carefully, he pulled two bottles of basic psionic enhancement potion from his worn canvas backpack. Inside each glass vial, pale blue liquid shimmered with a faint light – the last embers of his hope.
Fifty thousand silver dollars each, he mused grimly. That was nearly half of all his current savings, spent on what looked like nothing more than ordinary medicine. Despite being called "bottles," each contained only fifty milliliters of actual potion – most of the volume taken up by protective packaging.
Biting his lip, Bai Hao twisted off the cap and downed the entire contents in one go. The cold liquid slid down his throat, leaving a metallic, astringent taste instead of the sweetness he'd half-hoped for. But the moment it reached his stomach…
BOOM!
Blazing hot energy erupted from his lower abdomen like a detonated stick of dynamite, surging violently through his limbs and bones! Instinctively, Bai Hao tried to settle deeper into his meditative stance and activate the cultivation technique he'd practiced countless times, ready to guide this precious energy flow to raise his realm.
But then, a sudden cold sensation crept through every spiritual meridian in his body, instantly absorbing all the energy from the entire bottle of basic spiritual enhancement potion. Like tears freezing in winter air, it moved silently yet irresistibly, surging up from the deepest depths of his spiritual meridians!
In the blink of an eye, he was enveloped and swallowed by the cold… and everything vanished without a trace!
Feeling the newly flowing energy disappear abruptly, Bai Hao froze in shock, his eyes snapping open wide.
"Hey – I didn't even get to process it yet?!"
With a heavy heart, he examined his spiritual pathways, searching for whatever had absorbed the energy – but found nothing, his search coming up completely empty. A wave of rage mixed with physical discomfort made the veins on his forehead stand out prominently.
Fifty thousand silver dollars – real money! Not five or fifty yuan! All gone to waste, and at a time when he was already struggling financially. Refusing to accept what had happened, he stared at the last remaining potion bottle on his desk, his eyes warring between anger, frustration, and the desperate recklessness of a gambler.
To hell with it.
He wrenched out the cork, tilted his head back, and drained it in one swift motion. The scorching heat surged through him once more, and just as a flicker of relief crossed his face, he squeezed his eyes shut tight, focusing every ounce of his will to seize this final chance.
There it is!
That cold feeling again!
His heart plummeted into icy depths.
"Dammit!"
A curse, suppressed to the breaking point and filled with despair, finally burst from his throat. Even someone as calm as Bai Hao couldn't hold back from invoking an ancient Chinese expletive. He felt as if all his strength had been drained away in an instant, even his spirit pulled hollow and empty.
He crashed heavily onto the cold concrete floor, utterly defeated, his gaze fixed blankly on the speckled texture of the ceiling above.
Fifty thousand more… just gone like that? He felt completely exhausted, life itself seeming to lose all its brightness. Is this damned fate playing with me? Not having a system cheat is one thing – but why is this happening to me?!
Yet just as overwhelming frustration threatened to consume him entirely, a faint but distinct sensation began to slowly emerge.
It feels… lighter somehow?
An indescribable sense of dynamism, subtle yet real, flowed through his limbs. Survival instinct struck him like lightning!
Bai Hao jolted upright suddenly, his body trembling as he examined his spiritual pathways once more. Sure enough – compared to before drinking the basic psionic enhancement potions, his overall psionic energy flow was far stronger, and even the channels through which it moved had expanded significantly.
The medicine had been fully absorbed! Moreover, this absorption went far beyond the effects of normal cultivation – it was nearly perfect!
Staggering shock immediately replaced his despair.
"Did… did that cold sensation help me absorb all the medicine's effects instantly?"
Bai Hao hugged himself tightly, his heart pounding wildly in his chest. The medicinal benefits that usually required at least half a day – or even a full day – to absorb gradually had been completely digested in the blink of an eye? What did that even mean?!
A terrifying thought suddenly flashed through his mind:
With enough psionic potions… could I level up as fast as a rocket?
Momentary excitement flared in his eyes, only to be brutally extinguished by cold reality.
"Oh…"
He forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. Given his current penniless state, even if it were true, he'd never have the funds to support such rapid advancement.
Thankfully, the perfect absorption of both potion bottles had done significant good for his psionic strength. Now he was only one final breakthrough away from fully opening his spiritual pathways and becoming a true spiritualist. The last barrier stood directly before him.
From this point forward, training would depend entirely on individual effort and hard work. Thinking this, Bai Hao let out a helpless sigh.
The next day, Bai Hao submitted a medical leave request to school. His teachers naturally assumed that awakening only to discover Xuan-rank talent had hit him too hard, leaving him too depressed to attend classes. With a mix of sympathy and understanding, his leave was quickly approved.
For the next ten days and nights, Bai Hao sealed himself completely inside his simple room. Light carved tracks of time across the window frame, isolating him from the hustle and bustle of the outside world. His only purpose for existing became "cultivation."
Food was nothing more than fuel to keep his body functioning, sleep reduced to the absolute physiological minimum. The entire world shrank to a single thought:
Absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and achieve breakthrough! Push forward once more!
During this time, Yun Meng and Mu Wanqiu grew quite concerned about Bai Hao's disappearance, sending him several messages – but after receiving no replies, they had no choice but to set their worries aside for the moment.
Time passed swiftly. On the final night before the college entrance exams, Bai Hao – still sitting cross-legged on his floor – suddenly opened his eyes! Two beams of light, as sharp as solid blades, flashed briefly before vanishing deep within his pupils.
The calm air suddenly grew intense, and extraordinary life force quietly spread outward from his body, repelling even dust particles from the air around him.
Done!
An indescribable wave of warmth spread from his chest to his throat. Hard work truly pays off! After over ten days of nonstop effort, pushing every last drop of energy from his body, he'd finally managed to raise his cultivation level to the Early Spirit Realm.
Though this was merely the starting point on the path to becoming an extraordinary individual, it meant Bai Hao was no longer just another mortal adrift in the crowd. He had officially joined the ranks of those with genuine supernatural power.
Once a formal level was achieved, individuals could visit the Extraordinary Certification Centers in major cities to receive rank certification, along with corresponding documents and insignia. These served as identification for exceptional beings throughout their lives, accompanying them wherever they went – in some ways, even more valuable and practical than a standard ID card. Each time one's cultivation level advanced, they could return to have their credentials updated and recorded in the online database.
This progress brought with it entirely new sensations. Most importantly, he could finally begin to understand the mysterious, unexpected presence within his own body!
"Thank goodness we made it in time," Bai Hao murmured to himself, feeling the presence of his spirit envoy for the very first time. His mind was clearer and more focused than ever before as he sank into the deepest reaches of his consciousness – into a chaotic ocean that had never before been properly illuminated.
This time, the endless fog seemed to be swept away by an invisible force. At the heart of the chaos, its true origin was revealed.
It wasn't a physical entity, but rather a flowing aura containing infinite possibilities. The moment he perceived its source, detailed information about its abilities and effects flooded into Bai Hao's mind – [Chaos].
Moreover, it seemed the powers he'd gained from Yun Meng and Mu Wanqiu weren't actually from the contracts themselves, but from the existence of this Chaos Talent. Currently, the only tangible abilities related to Chaos were Devouring and Endlessness.
[Devouring]
Consume Chaos Power to devour all types of psionic attacks, breaking them down into pure psionic energy to sustain oneself. Can be stored indefinitely with no time limits.
[Endlessness]
The source of Chaos is infinite, allowing unlimited use of Chaos Power. Abilities related to Chaos do not consume any spiritual energy whatsoever.
"This…"
The flood of information left him momentarily stunned, his mind going blank before falling into profound silence. This time, he truly was invincible. After witnessing the actual effects of his Chaos Talent, Bai Hao was completely dumbfounded. A being with "Devouring" and "Endlessness" abilities could even harness the chaotic energy produced during cultivation to store excess spiritual energy, drawing on it whenever needed to achieve nearly limitless energy supply.
It was impossible for a spirit envoy with such capabilities to be merely Xuan-rank – not even Emperor-rank Spirit Envoys could compare to this level of power.
"Could it be… a Divine-rank Spirit Envoy? Or perhaps the highest tier – Immortal-rank?!" Bai Hao thought excitedly, completely unaware that the rank of Chaos was far beyond even these classifications…
After struggling to calm himself from the extreme euphoria and shock, he belatedly noticed two other forces causing faint "pulses" deep within his body. These were the gifts from Yun Meng and Mu Wanqiu: [Projection] and [Daylight].
And when his consciousness touched them, something unexpected happened – both abilities began to display selectable evolutionary branches.