[Basic magical affinity detected, increased tenfold! Elemental talent, all elements awakened!]
[Warning: Elemental power has reached its limit. Please use your remaining four magic points freely!]
[Base mental strength detected, increased tenfold! Meditation efficiency increased tenfold!]
[Initial mana capacity detected, increased tenfold! Star sense and connection speed increased tenfold!]
The system notifications were cold and swift, and messages flooded his mind like a waterfall.
The power surging within him grew stronger and more turbulent, almost bursting him apart. Various magical lights even uncontrollably flowed and flickered across his skin.
Outside the door, the third uncle with the gold-rimmed glasses seemed to sense something was amiss. He frowned, but assumed it was just Zhong Hui being too emotional, and impatiently urged, "Zhong Hui, stop standing there! Hurry up and sign the document. We still have other procedures to complete. Don't waste everyone's time!"
The curly-haired aunt even reached out and tried to pull his arm: "Didn't you hear me? Who are you looking at with that long face? Hurry up!"
Just as her bright red nail polished fingers were about to touch Zhong Hui's sleeve...
Zhong Hui suddenly raised his head.
The despair, confusion, and indignation he had shown earlier vanished without a trace, like dust swept away by a raging wind.
Instead, there is an extreme coldness, and within that coldness, a barely perceptible, almost absurd, mockery.
Although he couldn't yet precisely control the surging magical energy within him, which was ten times that of an ordinary person, its immense presence made his originally somewhat slender figure seem to grow taller instantly.
He looked at the group of "relatives" in front of him who were eager to devour him alive, and a faint smile slowly appeared on his lips.
He gently brushed away his aunt's outstretched hand; the movement was not forceful, but it carried an undeniable strength.
Then he spoke, his voice steady, even carrying a strange hint of amusement, clearly reaching everyone's ears:
"Those things you stole..."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the file in his third uncle's hand, over the bracelet on his aunt's wrist that originally belonged to his mother, and over the eager greed on his cousin's face.
"...For me now, it's just a drop in the ocean."
The moment the words fell, it was as if an invisible thunderclap exploded at the doorway.
Everyone was stunned, staring at him in disbelief.
That look in his eyes was as if he were looking at a fool who had suddenly gone mad.
Only Zhong Hui himself could feel that what was rising within him like the rising sun was... a future that was about to be completely rewritten.
He stood before the door to the house he could never return to, with a courtyard filled with fallen leaves behind him and a pack of wolves eyeing him menacingly in front of him.
But he smiled with relief.
A few seconds later, Zhong Hui's relieved smile froze on his lips, like a pebble dropped into an icy lake, rippling out a circle of cold waves before quickly sinking.
The initial shock on Uncle San's face faded first, replaced by a gloomy look of offense. He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his gaze behind the lenses like a poisoned needle: "He's gone mad! The deaths of my elder brother and sister-in-law have finally driven this child insane."
That shout of "Crazy!" was like a switch, cutting off the frozen air.
"Why waste your breath on him! How can you believe the words of a madman?" The curly-haired aunt's sharp voice rang out again, carrying a bluffing tone as if she was trying to cover up some unease.
"That's right, hurry up and finish the formalities!"
The pack of wolves closed in again, their gazes even more hostile, and they seemed eager to completely rid themselves of this "trouble."
Zhong Hui did not speak again.
He didn't even look at their faces again.
He took one last, deep look at the villa that held his brief, peaceful memories, and at the oak tree his father had planted, now bare of leaves...
Then, he turned around and, step by step, left the place that had once been called "home" along the path he had come from.
The clamor, scheming, and curses behind me seemed to be isolated by an invisible layer of glass.
The world fell silent in his ears, leaving only the faint sound of withered leaves being crushed under his feet, crunch, crunch, as if a funeral was being held for a period of time.
A few days later.
Bocheng Cemetery, a secluded corner.
There was no grand ceremony, no large crowds of mourners.
Only a newly erected tombstone stands, cold and silent. Two names are engraved side by side on the tombstone—Zhong Yue, Su Qing.
The tombstone stood empty.
This is a cenotaph.
Zhong Hui stood quietly, dressed in black, as if trying to blend into the gray background. He held no flowers, nor any offerings. His parents' remains were ultimately never recovered from that devastating battlefield of demons.
The wind swept through the pines and cypresses of the cemetery, emitting a low, mournful sound.
He stood there for a long time, so long that his legs became numb, and so long that fine, cold rain began to fall from the sky again.
The rain soaked his hair, cheeks, and clothes, but he was completely unaware.
Finally, he raised his hand and gently stroked the two unforgettable names on the tombstone with his fingertips, a gesture carrying a solemnity beyond his years, as he bid farewell to...
"Dad, Mom..." he whispered, his voice broken by the wind and rain, almost inaudible, "I will avenge you!"
After saying this last sentence, he turned around without hesitation and left the cemetery.
His figure appeared frail in the cold wind and rain, yet it exuded a resolute determination to sever all ties with the past.
The rain got heavier.
Zhong Hui did not return to the city center, but instead turned towards the western part of Bo City, to that relatively old area near the city wall.
The houses here are mostly low, and the walls are covered with damp moss.
He navigated the narrow alleys, lined with clothes drying in the sun, and finally stopped in front of an unremarkable green wooden door with peeling paint.
This is the true and final resting place his parents left him.
He took out an antique-style brass key from his inner pocket.
"Click".
With a soft click, the door opened.
A faint musty smell, yet strangely comforting, wafted towards me.
Zhong Hui looked around without any sign of disgust and went straight in. After closing the door behind him, he went directly to the bed and began meditating and cultivating.
He still clearly remembered that he had three extra magic points that he hadn't used.
As his consciousness sank into his spiritual world, Zhong Hui clearly saw that his spiritual world was no longer just a ball of blue water-based stardust, but contained seven balls of stardust: thunder, fire, wind, water, earth, light, and ice!
"A god of all magic systems..."
Seeing this scene, Zhong had already anticipated the awakening state of intermediate and even advanced levels.
"Add the remaining four magic points to water, lightning, fire... and wind respectively."
"bite--!"
As the crisp sound entered his mind, Zhong saw the stardust particles of water, lightning, and fire elements become even brighter!
[Magic points allocated! The power of basic water, lightning, fire, and wind magic has been permanently increased tenfold!]
[Host detected meditating, triggering a tenfold critical strike! Magic energy gained upon completion of meditation will be increased tenfold!]
Upon hearing the notification in his mind, Zhong Hui couldn't help but fall into thought.
"The 'All Things Multiplied by Ten System'... Can cultivation resources also be multiplied by ten?"