"Father," he spoke the moment he saw a man in his thirties.
According to the memories of this body, both his parents were Rank 2 Gu Masters. His mother had already died, and now he lived alone with his father. They were not rich at all. In the incident where his mother died, his father was also injured, leaving him unable to take on future missions for the clan. Because of that, their household was currently relying on their remaining savings.
"Today you woke up early, son," his father chuckled, looking at him. "Excited for the ceremony? I was like you too in my youth."
Lin Feng just smiled. To be honest, he was really excited right now. He sat down and started eating, but before he could focus on the food, his father began talking.
His father didn't hide anything. He reminded him not to be too disappointed after the awakening ceremony. He himself was only a C-grade Gu Master and still remembered how disappointed he felt when he first learned about his aptitude.
Lin Feng listened quietly while eating.
"Talent isn't everything," his father added. "What matters is how you use what you have. Don't lose your head over one result."
Lin Feng nodded, but he didn't say much. After breakfast, he went to freshen up and then stepped out, walking toward the awakening ceremony.
On the way, he met many youths of similar age, all heading in the same direction. The road gradually became crowded, and conversations could be heard from all sides.
"I heard this batch might have an A-grade."
"Impossible, when was the last time our village had one?"
"Even B-grade is enough, I just don't want to be D-grade…"
Lin Feng heard all of it, but he paid little attention. These people were irrelevant. He simply continued walking past them without stopping.
The clan pavilion was in the middle of the village, reaching 5 stories tall and having sharp, tilted tiles along each floor; it was heavily guarded. Before the pavilion was the square where the children gathered. This was the same place that the clan elders gathered to pray to the ancestors the previous night.
As time passed roughly one hundred students gathered at the pavilion, the elder of the academy stood before the children and began to speak. "Good, all of you are punctual. Today is the Awakening Ceremony; perhaps the most important day of your lives. Quietly follow me as we enter the most important place in the clan."
His long beard and hair were white and ornately decorated with gold clasps. The elder was in high spirits as he led the group of teenagers into the pavilion. Most expected to climb to the top of the pavilion but were surprised when they were instead led underground, down a sturdily built stone staircase.
As the group of youths were led deeper into a mountain cave, they constantly made noises of surprise and made amazed remarks. The cave was beautiful, intricately carved stalactites sparkled with the colors of the rainbow, and lichen grew in complex shapes along the cave walls. They gave off light that shone on the youth's faces and lit the path ahead.
Lin Feng moved with the crowd, quietly observing everything that was happening. His gaze drifted across each person, trying to figure out how Fang Yuan actually looked in real life. But he couldn't identify him at the moment—everyone looked different from what he had imagined.
They walked several hundred steps in awe of the shimmering lights above. After turning a bend in the cave, they came to a fairly large cavern with many of the clan's leadership already inside. Splitting the cavern in half was a three zhang wide underground river. The colorful lights of the stalactites reflected off the river's pale blue coloring, bathing the cave in color.
The river flowed from the dark depths of the cave. Inside the crystal clear waters, one could see fish, aquatic plants, and even the sand beneath the river. On the opposite side of the river was a sea of bright white Hope Gu flowers.
This was one of the most important locations of the Gu Yue clan as it was where their children awakened their apertures. If this cavern were destroyed and the clan was forced to grow lower-quality Hope Gu, then the children who were awakened later would not open their apertures to their fullest potential.
Someone who would be able to awaken at sixty-seven percent would only open to sixty-six percent or maybe even sixty-five or sixty-four if the Hope Gu were of especially low quality.
"Alright, listen as I call your names. Those called must walk through this river to the opposite bank. Walk as far as you can through the field of flowers until you can't take another step. All of you must try your hardest to walk as far as possible, or you will regret it for the rest of your lives! The elder sternly said while overlooking the entire group.
The youths replied enthusiastically as a twinkle entered their eyes. This is where the path of the rest of their lives was dictated. None of the decisions or actions done before meant anything in comparison to today's results.