The Liuyun City Temple of Heaven stood grandly, the heart of the city's reverence.
On the private viewing platform tucked behind the Temple, two middle-aged men exchanged polite, yet loaded, pleasantries.
"Old Yao, your children truly eclipse mine. Talented and diligent—they have your drive from back in the day. Mine, well... sigh."
The man, 'Old Wu,' finished his thought with a theatrical sigh.
"Now, now, Old Wu, don't be so glum," the other replied, a faint smile touching his lips. "Perhaps Wu Wei will surprise everyone and awaken a blue, or even a purple, Heart of the Lord."
He continued, trying to sound encouraging. "Even if Wu Wei is a bit lazy, as long as he gets a decent start, his future won't be bad. If the quality of his Heart of the Lord isn't up to par, he can always safely inherit your territory."
Both men knew the quality of the Heart of the Lord was not dictated by external factors or inheritance, but by the subtle, intrinsic nature of the awakened individual. And for a young man with Wu Wei's lackadaisical temperament, the probability of awakening a High-Level Heart of the Lord was not zero, but utterly dismal.
Standing below the massive altar, Wu Wei, the subject of their conversation, couldn't care less what his 'Old Father Wu Jiang' was thinking.
While his father wasn't some peerless titan, his standing was high enough. Just having the privilege to watch the ceremony from the VIP platform meant Wu Wei could comfortably live out the rest of his days as a wealthy second-generation man.
Wu Wei, a transmigrator who had died of overwork on a construction site in his previous life, had made up his mind: He was going to be a professional slacker.
Upon arriving in this high-limit fantasy world, he had initially entertained grand ambitions. He planned to be like the heroes of the web novels he once read—an Apex Level powerhouse, destined for immortality.
But dreams fade when reality sets in.
He was a 'three-no' transmigrator: no system, no golden finger, no inherited cheat. The best choice for a mundane person in a world that devoured mediocrity was not to fight hard, but to rely on his excellent 'reincarnation technology' and lie flat. He wasn't strong enough to chase immortality; trying too hard would likely just get him killed young.
As the crowd in the square watched the dazzling, colorful displays accompanying the Heart of the Lord awakenings on the altar, Wu Wei was engrossed in his own, silent revelation.
A strange pointer had just materialized in his mind, without warning.
It was wide at the bottom and sharply pointed at the top. Its color defied description; it looked black, yet various other colors shimmered within the void.
Colorful black, he mused, recalling an old internet joke. It was the only suitable word.
As an avid reader of web novels, Wu Wei was certain: this pointer was his Golden Finger. He just didn't know how to activate it, or what it did.
"Liuyun No. 3 Middle School, Class 2, Grade 3, Wu Wei."
On the Altar of Sacrifice to Heaven, a young man in a ceremonial white robe called the name with a clear, resounding voice that echoed across the entire square.
Wu Wei stepped out of the queue, preparing to make the climb.
Eighteen years old, with handsome features, a refreshing but decidedly lazy demeanor. He ascended the long, arduous flight of eighty-one steps to the Altar.
The ceremonial master pinched his hands, casting a simple spell, then stepped aside.
Wu Wei entered the altar and stopped. He tried to examine the magical runes carved into the stone, but they quickly blurred as the master began reciting the ancient inscriptions of sacrifice.
Then, an impossible image appeared in Wu Wei's field of vision: a colossal, vividly colored turntable.
At its center was the chaotic, colorful black pointer that had just appeared in his mind.
The turntable was divided into color-coded sections, directly corresponding to the known qualities of the Heart of the Lord:
Gray/White (Inferior/Normal) - Occupied over 80% of the wheel.
Green (Fine) - A smaller segment.
Blue (Rare) - A thin sliver.
Purple (Excellent), Orange (Epic), Gold (Legendary) - Decreasing in size until nearly invisible.
Most people only ever awakened a Gray or White Heart. For them, without a huge stroke of luck or divine intervention, becoming an immortal was a pipe dream. Green and Blue provided a chance to become a strong person, though the odds of true godhood remained slim.
Wu Wei recalled the teacher's memorable jingle: Purple is difficult to become an immortal, Orange is easy to become an immortal, and Gold will definitely become an immortal.
A row of simple black characters hovered above the wheel:
[Number of moves: once]
"I have to draw the quality myself? You might as well just give me a random one!" Wu Wei, a self-professed 'Transcendent Level African' (a slang term for having terrible luck), felt a familiar dread.
But wait.
"It says 'Number of moves,' not 'Spin it.' Does that mean... I can control it?" Wu Wei's heart rate shot up. "Today is the day of the great comeback!"
He scanned the roulette wheel for something beyond Gold.
Nestled between two barely-visible golden sections, he found it. A distinct patch of black, exactly the same chaotic, shimmering color as his pointer.
The black area was infinitesimally small, less than one percent the size of the Golden area. If the roulette hadn't been magnified in his vision, he never would have spotted it.
Carefully, meticulously, Wu Wei mentally controlled the chaotic black pointer, guiding it across the vibrant arc, finally settling it directly on the sliver of black.
Whoosh.
A flash of chaotic black light enveloped Wu Wei, so fleeting it was barely a flicker. It instantly transformed into a sphere of pure, bright white light—a Heart of the Lord—that settled in his palm.
The white sphere emitted wisps of various colored clouds. The vast majority of these clouds rushed straight toward the pointer in his mind, vanishing without a trace, like water into sand. Only a few reluctant strands integrated into Wu Wei's body.
The outside world, blinded by the intense white glow, saw none of this.
Wu Wei, however, felt a profound, life-altering change. Both his body and soul had undergone an indescribable process of sublimation.
The white light subsided, leaving him standing on the altar. He opened his eyes and looked down at the bright white sphere in his hand.
The ceremonial master glanced at the color of the light ball and spoke calmly, with a hint of practiced dismissal.
"Heart of the Lord is of Ordinary Quality. No need for regret, go on."
Wu Wei waved casually in the direction of the VIP platform, a secret, playful smile settling on his lips. He stepped down from the Altar of Sacrifice to Heaven and rejoined the queue, his mediocrity confirmed for the world.