The classroom was utterly silent.
Every student sat cross-legged at their desks, immersed in meditation, striving to enhance their spiritual power before the upcoming college entrance examinations.
Suddenly—
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap!
A series of footsteps echoed down the corridor.
A few students instinctively opened their eyes and glanced toward the door, only to see Zhao Xuan approaching—surrounded by none other than Principal Jin Xueyang and several of the school's top administrators.
But that wasn't the most shocking part.
What truly stunned everyone was the attitude of the school leaders toward Zhao Xuan—
all beaming smiles, nodding and bowing slightly as if greeting an honored guest.
Before long, the commotion at the door drew the attention of the entire class.
"What's going on?"
"Didn't Zhao Xuan and Li Jiangchang go to test their spiritual power?"
"Why are the principal and directors here?"
At first, the students were merely confused.
But then, a bold idea flashed in their minds.
"Could it be… that one of them's spiritual power surpassed the standard?"
Everyone knew the benchmarks:
20–25 points meant "qualified."
Above 26 points meant "exceptional."
The moment they realized that, whispers spread across the room like wildfire.
Soon, the school leaders departed, leaving behind Homeroom Teacher Zhong Jianguo, who entered the classroom with a proud smile, followed closely by Zhao Xuan and Li Jiangchang.
"Alright, go take your seats first," Zhong Jianguo said.
Once they sat down, he turned to the class.
"Everyone, I have some good news to share."
"Tell us, teacher!"
"What good news?"
Zhong Jianguo's face was glowing with excitement.
"Our class is about to produce two ability users."
The room instantly erupted.
"Wait, teacher—does that mean both Zhao Xuan and Li Jiangchang met the qualification standard?"
"Yes," Zhong Jianguo confirmed with a satisfied nod. "But that's not all. Zhao Xuan's spiritual power was measured at thirty-seven points."
The class exploded in noise.
Chairs scraped, whispers overlapped, and every pair of eyes turned toward Zhao Xuan.
"Teacher… is that true?"
"Zhao Xuan, thirty-seven points!? How's that possible?"
"But during last year's test, didn't he only have fifteen points?"
The room descended into chaos.
"Quiet! Everyone, quiet down!" Zhong Jianguo raised his voice. "Yes, it's true. As for why Zhao Xuan's spiritual power increased so dramatically, Principal Jin speculates that it's due to a spiritual mutation. You've all heard about Governor Fang Wu of Sujiang Province, right? He also experienced a similar mutation back then…"
Even after that explanation, the students couldn't calm down.
The chatter went on for nearly ten minutes before Zhong Jianguo finally lost his patience.
"Enough! The college entrance exam is in just half a month, and you're still wasting time gossiping? Do you even realize how important this is? Spiritual power assessment is part of the exam too! Now meditate properly!"
Under his stern tone, the classroom quickly fell silent again as everyone returned to their seats and resumed meditation.
Zhao Xuan closed his eyes as well, preparing to enter a meditative state.
But just as he began to focus—
A strange, ethereal mechanical female voice echoed faintly in his ears.
"Ding-dong. Activating Heaven Rewards Diligence System..."
"Ding-dong. System activation was successful!"
The next moment—
A semi-transparent blue screen materialized before his eyes.
[Heaven Rewards Diligence System]
Name: Zhao Xuan
Age: 17
Spirit: 37.31 / 37.31
Constitution: 19.84 / 19.84
Abilities:
Shave (Beginner: 86/100)
Iron Body (Beginner: 58/100)
Paper Art (Skilled: 16/200)
Moon Step (Skilled: 9/200)
Tempest Kick (Beginner: 98/100)
Finger Gun (Beginner: 59/100)
Swordsmanship (Beginner: 89/100)
Skill Mastery Levels:
Unlearned → Beginner → Skilled → Proficient → Expert → Master → Grandmaster → Transcendent → Saint
"What the—a system?!"
Zhao Xuan's eyes widened in astonishment, his heart pounding with excitement.
A system!
He had actually awakened a system!
It took him a long moment to calm himself.
After taking a deep breath, he thought,
"System, what functions do you have?"
Immediately, a stream of information flowed into his mind.
It was the system's introduction.
The function was simple—its purpose aligned perfectly with its name.
Heaven Rewards Diligence.
As the name implied—
The harder one works, the stronger one becomes.
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