The rays of the sun hit Rui’s eyes.

 

However, he was still not waking up.

 

His parents had closed the store for the day, worried about their son. He returned late at night in a horrible state. Although the wounds were already treated, they were still anxious about his health.

 

They weren’t sure of what had happened, but they were told not to worry and that their son did a great job, and they should not worry since they had given him really potent medicine. They were also told that their son was a genius at cultivation and was in the greatest class.

 

This, of course, didn’t surprise them in the least; what parent wouldn’t say his child was a genius? However, they were still happy that their son was acknowledged as one. Guang Jian was the happiest one, clearly smiling from ear to ear.

 

All they could do was wait for Rui to wake up.

 

Thankfully, the medicine that was given was great. Soon enough, Rui’s eyes slightly fluttered before being opened slowly.

 

He opened his eyes, looking directly at the ceiling.

 

A dark light covered his vision; the system window was hovering there, directly above him.

 

[Congratulations to user for completing an unreasonable quest.]

[User will be rewarded depending on time spent.]

[Calculating time…]

[Time has been calculated]

[780 minutes spent on the hundredth step…]
[Calculating expected time…]
[User was expected to last 200 minutes…]

[Calculating…]
[Expected time has been surpassed by 580 minutes…]
[Checking users damage…]

[Calculating…]
[Damage checked…]
[Injury scale: Severe.]

[Calculating…]
[Now displaying damaged parts:
Meridians of the user have been severely damaged.
Epidermis of skin is almost gone…
The dantian of the user is lightly harmed.]
[Looking for cure…]

[Calculating…]
[Heavenly Enrichment Pill has been ingested…]
[Calculating Pill grade…]
[Earth class Pill has been ingested, commencing absorption and recovery.]

[Calculating…]
[User possesses 99% absorption rate… absorbing 100% of the pill through the system…]

[Calculating…]
[Full recovery of meridians, body harm and the dantian is complete…]

[User’s health is now guaranteed…]

[Calculating rewards…]
[As user has surpassed the expected time, additional rewards will be given.]

[Calculating…]
[+1 to all stats will be given…]

[Calculating…]
[Unlocking the Luck stat…]

[Calculating…]
[Luck stat has been unlocked…]
[User can’t add free points to luck stat…]

[Calculating…]
[Initiating evolution of Heavenly Rune physique…]
[Time remaining for evolution 60 minutes…]

[Evolution successful…]
[User’s physique has evolved to Perfect Heavenly Rune physique…]

[Calculating…]
[Calculating…]
[Calculating…]

[User has met requirements for hidden piece…]
[Calculating…]
[Calculating…]

[Hidden Piece, Identification has been unlocked…]

[Calculating…]
[Identification can show the basic information, such as Cultivation level, Character personality and Luck…]

[Calculating…]
[Calculating…]
[Rewards have been given…]
[Calculating…]

[Congratulations once again to user for holding on for such a long time…]
[The System wishes the best for the user and believes in the user…]
[The System encourages the user…]

[Calculating…]

[System Is giving additional reward…]

[Calculating…]

[Advice generated…]

[Calculating…]

[Advice: User must try his hardest to cultivate, the user getting stronger means the system gets stronger. System is part of the user…]

[Calculating…]
[Advice concluded…]

Rui’s eyesight blurred for a moment, completely confused by the large amount of information burned into his retina.

 

He shook his head, trying to process what he had just seen.

Turning his head, he saw his family anxiously looking at him.

 

He smiled bitterly, knowing fully that he was the cause of their anxiety.

 

“Rui, please don’t do this again.”

 

Said his mother while grasping his hand. Her face looked haggard, and it was clear that she didn’t sleep at all.

 

His father patted his mother’s shoulder and shook his head.

 

“Our son is a rune master now; we can’t know what will happen in the future.”

 

His mother’s eyes clouded over. She couldn’t accept it. Their family finally had a rune master, but she never expected that things would take such a turn.

 

As she was from a commoner background, she always hoped her children would be awakened and improve their family situation and standing.

 

"Mom, don’t worry, big brother is a genius! Didn’t the person that brought him over yesterday say so?”

 

Guang Jia suddenly spoke up. It was clear that he was trying to put up a strong front, but the tears flowing from his eyes betrayed him.

 

Looking at this scene, Rui’s heart felt full. He had never experienced such a warm family scene in his previous life.

 

Not wanting to make his family worry, he gathered courage in his voice.

 

“Do not worry, mother, father, Jian... This time, it was an accident I caused myself. You won’t have to worry as much in the future; after all, I’m a genius. I’ll try to find a great master to go under, and even if I don’t, I’ll enroll in the royal army. At least like this, our family will be safe, and I will also be relatively safe.”

 

Hearing those words, his mother started crying, and his father patted his head.

 

“That’s enough for today; you should get ready to go to the academy. Even though you were harmed, so were many others, and we were informed that you should go even if you are still not fully recovered.”

 

Rui nodded. He already felt like he had recovered anyway.

 

Looking at the system window that was still floating in front of him, he started reading it seriously.

 

After a while, he sighed in relief. Getting out of bed, he walked towards the bathroom to take a bath. Although his family had already washed his body and tendered to his wounds, the black sludge came out again. He had no idea what it was, but it felt good that it had been removed from his body.

 

Looking in the mirror, he checked to see if there were any changes to his appearance, but there weren’t any. Opening the status window, he looked at his now upgraded stats and nodded with a smile.

 

Glancing over at the luck stat, however, he almost fainted.

His luck stat was 1. What kind of bullshit was this? He couldn’t believe how low his luck stat was. Not only that, the system informed him that he couldn’t upgrade it with free stat points.

 

After sighing at his misfortune for a while, he headed towards the kitchen and had a family breakfast.

He decided to test out the new identification ability the system had unlocked.

 

Looking at his father, he whispered the word identification.

A system window appeared, showcasing his father’s stats.

 

[Guang Ryuji, Age 32
Cultivation level - None

Character personality path: wise merchant
Luck: 5]

 

Looking out the system window, Rui almost spat out the food he was eating.

The information was too little; however, it was good enough. What shocked him were the personality path and the luck stat.

 

This meant that his father had five times the luck he had. What kind of bullshit was this? Was he that unlucky?

 

Not wanting to believe his misfortune, he used identification on his mother and brother.

 

[Guang Ya, Age 30
Cultivation Level- None

Character personality path: Caring Housewife
Luck:5]

 

[Guang Jian, Age 12
Cultivation Level- Invalid

Character personality path: Pure swordsman
Luck:10]

 

Just as he was about to curse out his luck once again, he stopped.

 

There was something extremely important in the information.

 

What did it mean by invalid?

 

He looked perplexed at his brother's status window.

 

He didn’t wonder why his personality path was pure swordsman, since he had loved the sword a lot since he started practicing and it was the main weapon he chose.

 

Kids used martial arts training as play in this world, so it was relatively normal for a child of a young age to choose a weapon they liked.

 

Unlike his father and mother, his little brother’s cultivation status was invalid.

 

What could this mean? Was it because he was too young to have an awakening, so the system didn’t know if he could awaken, or was it a different matter?

 

For now, he put it in the back of his head, making sure he wouldn’t forget it at a later date.

 

It was time to go to the academy. He grabbed the small amount of luggage he had and headed towards it.

 

---

 

Unlike the first day, the second day was much quieter. After assembling all the students based on talent and not social class, the distinction between commoners and nobles became almost nonexistent.

 

Rui was placed in the S class since there wasn’t an EX class.

 

He looked around and recognized many faces, while others he saw for the first time.

 

Many of the people in the S class seemed to come from noble clans; however, there were still some commoners.

 

Unlike the other classes, the S class was much smaller in size.

 

The academy elder walked to the podium.

Silence ensued in the crowd.

 

“I’m glad to see the amount of talent we had this year. We usually don’t have such an abundance of talented individuals. Despite that, even if your talent isn’t the best, you should still strive for the best future possible. The academy is an institution made to help out all new rune masters and determine their future paths, be it politics, logistics, mercenaries, scholars, guards, and everything in between."

 

Pausing slightly and glancing at the students, he continued.

 

"As such, the academy won’t only test talent but academic knowledge as well. Today is the scholar test, a written test that all individuals who attend the academy will have to take. It’s a basic test checking street smarts, body knowledge, cultivation knowledge, strategic knowledge, mathematical knowledge, and a basic intelligence test. After this test, the classes will be re-arranged, changing certain individuals to go into higher or lower classes, as each class has its own funding and support.”

 

The elder’s speech caught the hearts of many commoners in the crowd. Most children of noble clans, however, didn’t have any reaction to this statement. It was clear that they were taught about this before they entered the academy.

 

After the announcement, each class was directed by a teacher towards their homerooms.

 

Entering the homeroom, Rui found it extremely spacious, especially compared to the schools on earth, where it was much more extravagant. It was clear that the S class had special privileges. It followed an ancient Chinese style when it came to sitting.

 

Each student already had a seat for them, and they had quite a bit of space for them to sit, having already prepared every appliance needed for them to write; even the ink was already ground up and ready to use.

 

After every single student had sat down, the teacher who brought them in opened his mouth, silencing the class.

 

“Just like the academy elder said, we will be conducting a written exam. This written exam won’t really affect you since you all possess at least S-rank talent. However, you will still need to take the test so we can determine what sort of course we should take with you and what teaching methods to use. Just like I said, you are all special, and you will be treated with special care, but that’s only here in the academy. Status doesn’t matter; only talent does."

"There will be a change in classes, and some people from lower classes might also come here. Cultivation talent isn’t the only talent our country values, especially for those of a common background in the class; the more effort, the more the country will try to assist you.”

 

Hearing those words, many individuals nodded their heads, while others, like Rui and Han Dong, scoffed inside.

 

They both had the same thought. The country wanted obedient people, so what they were doing was placing achievements and names on individuals so they would be better bound by the country. Han Dong came from the Han imperial family, so he had been bound by this rule since birth.

 

However, Rui was different. After consuming the resources of the academy, he could completely ignore the country after giving them small benefits, leave, and become a loose rune master. All loose rune masters were individuals who didn’t want to be bound by a country.

 

As for Rui, he had the system, so he could even choose any of the two freely. For now, he decided to observe the country and see if it was suitable for him to stay there.

 

After a few minutes of waiting, another teacher came in, along with a bunch of scrolls and rocks.

 

After distributing a rock and scroll to each student, he returned next to the other teacher and waited patiently.

 

“These scrolls and rocks in front of you are the materials for the test. The rock is what we call a projection stone, a stone that can only be used by rune masters and will either display a text or directly transmit the information on one’s mind. It all depends on the user's use of rune energy. This will be your first test. Imbue rune energy into the projection stone; afterwards, you will read the information contained in it and write your answers on the scroll you were given. For those who can’t read or write, after the stone projection is successful, they will be given an oral test. That is all. You all have 8 hours to complete this test; the timer will start as soon as all the classes are ready.”

 

After finishing his announcement, the teacher brought out an intricate hourglass and set it on the desk in front of him.

 

Rui was perplexed but not worried. He had already used something like the bloodline suppression skill, which, of course, used an amount of his runic energy. He was currently trying to gather rune energy at the tips of his fingers, barely managing.

 

Looking around him, he found that most nobles had already prepared for the test, while the commoners were in a panicked situation. The teachers were just scanning the students.

 

Unlike the school system on earth, it was practically impossible to cheat unless you had the ability to predict, which of course some rune users did. However, it was still not reliable, and if they did indeed work, the academy wouldn’t punish them as it was part of their ability.

 

The tests were written and infused by the academy elder and his associates, and as such, it was impossible for even the emperor to interfere and get the answers. The academy itself was a self-governing place; only if the emperor ordered it would they give in.

 

After waiting for a while, another teacher walked inside the classroom. After giving the signal that all the other classes were ready, the sound of a flute was heard all over the humongous academy building. After hearing the sounds, all the teachers in each classroom turned the hourglass. Time started flowing.

 

The students weren’t given a go; however, as soon as the hourglass turned, they instantly started the test.

 

Rui picked up the stone and poured runic energy into it. Instantly, a large amount of information was infused into his brain. Since he was a commoner with a relatively wealthier background compared to others, he of course knew how to read and write. Especially as an individual who had already lived life once, it was much easier for him to understand.

 

After organizing all the information he received, he pondered over the questions. Just like the teachers said, all of the questions were from different fields, such as mathematical questions that were based on economic transactions.

 

As someone who graduated from business school, of course these questions seemed like child's play. After answering them first, he focused on the others.

 

Next was a fundamentals of energy question. Compared to how it was on earth, he had no idea how physics worked here or what the question actually meant. The question was:

 

“Does the energy of the world fluctuate, or does it stay stable?”.

 

It was a short question, but it brought up an incredible amount of doubt. What does the energy of the world mean? Is it the energy that every being absorbs? Is it the basic energies, such as kinetic energy or thermal energy? Or is it the energy that is in the universe? He had a hunch that it wasn’t this.

 

He scratched his head and thought of all the Wuxia novels he had read.

 

In the cultivation world, there would usually be a tide of energy in the world, and it is said to be a sea of energy that is always omnipresent.

 

Is that what the question is asking about? Does the sea of energy change, or does it stay the same?

 

Thinking about it, he started to feel runic energy throughout the outside of his body, with the energy permeating the skin slightly. His mind was in a haze, and his Ansuz rune glowed with a blue light.

 

[System notification.

User has entered state of enlightenment.
The Ansuz rune gives you the insight of the world.

Your doubts have been cleared.]

 

The eyes that were unfocused suddenly became clear, as if he had completely found the meaning of the world.

 

He picked up his brush and wrote down his understanding.

 

“The energy of the world is like a sea, and we, the creatures that live in it, are but microorganisms. However, through the absorption of the sea, we grow larger and larger, and the sea grows smaller and smaller. Once an organism that has absorbed the energy dies, the energy returns to its origin, which is the sea of energy. This means that the energy in the world is finite. So, to answer the question, does the energy of the world fluctuate? It depends on which way you are looking at it. The energy never changes; however, some powerful individuals will occupy a large amount of that energy, and their deaths will mean that the energy of the world will become much greater than it previously was.”

 

After writing down his conjecture, he finally stopped showing that incredible amount of clarity and calmed down.

 

He looked at his status window and found that his intelligence and wisdom had gone up by one point. He recollected his thoughts and focused his mind, picking up the projection stone and completely putting his mental power into answering the questions.