How Did the Reborn Empress Become My Bootlicker? - Chapter 8:

Chapter 8: Top-Tier Talent! Monstrous Aptitude! Devouring Source Energy!

Offstage, Su Yuan raised his hand and made an ‘OK’ gesture.

But instead of moving immediately, he turned and looked at Zhao Rizhu, whose face was pale as paper.

Zhao Rizhu trembled under Su Yuan’s gaze and instinctively took a few steps back, “Y-You… what are you trying to do!?”

Su Yuan grinned. It was clearly a bright smile, but in Zhao Rizhu’s eyes, it was the grin of a demon.

“If you’re weak, you’ll get beaten. If you made a bet, then you need to accept the loss…”

“This is a duel challenge. How could I not give you a proper lesson?”

As soon as the words fell, Su Yuan’s figure burst forward. In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Zhao Rizhu.

Then—

He raised his leg and kicked!

The kick slammed directly into Zhao Rizhu’s chest!

Bang!

The terrifying force instantly fractured two of Zhao Rizhu’s ribs. With a muffled groan, he coughed up blood and was sent flying several meters away. He tried to get up but failed. His vision went dark—and he passed out on the spot.

[Shock +2]

[Shock +4]

[Shock +6]

[Admiration +3]

[Admiration +2]

[…]

Oh?

Even after beating Zhao Rizhu so badly, someone still contributed [Admiration]?

Looks like plenty of people had long been fed up with that guy but never dared to speak out. Now that Su Yuan gave them a release, of course they admired him.

…

On the stage, Zhao Ridou was so angry he could explode.

But he couldn’t act recklessly. He could only quickly call for the medical staff to carry Zhao Rizhu away for treatment.

Meanwhile, Su Yuan had already stepped onto the Awakening Platform to begin his second test.

He placed his hand on the Talent-Testing Stone.

Just like the first time, for the first few seconds, there was no reaction.

Then, a faint light slowly emerged.

Su Yuan didn’t care at all, because—

He had dual Talents.

One of them was indeed a D-rank Strength Amplification.

The other one, however, was the SSS-rank Ancient God Bloodline!

Of course, the people below didn’t know that.

They all started murmuring.

“Su Yuan is still a D-rank Talent? Then how the hell did he beat Zhao Rizhu, who had an SS-rank Talent?”

“Right? What the hell is going on? If it was a close win, that’d be one thing, but Su Yuan literally crushed Zhao Rizhu! He didn’t even get a chance to fight back!”

“This is insane…”

On the leadership stand, Principal Xiao Jianguo furrowed his brows, his face full of confusion. Based on Su Yuan’s combat performance just now, there was no way he only had a D-rank Talent.

Director Zhao Ridou sneered coldly. Not an SSS-rank—just a D-rank. I’ll deal with you later!

In Class 1, Xu Anyan watched Su Yuan on stage, lost in thought.

The Talent-Testing Stone’s reaction didn’t make sense. If Su Yuan truly only had a D-rank Talent, there’s no way he could ignore the Dark Demon Wolf’s attack.

In Class 3, Zheng Yuan was clenching his fists in anxiety.

Brother Yuan, give it your all!

…

While everyone below had different reactions, suddenly—

The Talent-Testing Stone on the Awakening Platform began to tremble violently!

Then, it burst into a dazzling light!

And next—

Boom!

The Awakening Stone shattered again!

At first, everyone was still processing what had happened.

Until waves of “Holy crap!” and “No way!” rang out…

The entire field exploded in uproar!

SSS-rank Talent!

It was really an SSS-rank Talent!

Now everything made sense.

No wonder Su Yuan could instantly crush Zhao Rizhu and his SS-rank Talent!

Because his Talent… was even stronger!

…

On the leadership stand, Principal Xiao Jianguo’s frown gradually eased and turned into hearty laughter!

He had thought Xu Anyan’s awakening was already a gift from the heavens.

He hadn’t expected another—Su Yuan!

Two SSS-rank Talents!

This year, Lan City No.1 High School was going to dominate the entire Nanjing Administrative Region!

In contrast, Director Zhao Ridou slumped into his seat like a defeated dog, all arrogance gone.

He knew now that he could never trouble Su Yuan again.

SSS-rank Talents weren’t someone he could afford to offend.

…

In the crowd, Zheng Yuan was stunned.

He had been worried that, after awakening an A-rank Talent while Brother Yuan only awakened D-rank, it might cause a rift between them.

Now looking back…

His thoughts were ridiculous!

Brother Yuan was an SSS-rank Talent!

He took a deep breath, his gaze toward Su Yuan growing resolute.

From the moment he accepted he had no chance with Xu Anyan, he’d let go of that title.

But now…

Godfather above!

Please let me cling tightly to your thigh!

…

Xu Anyan stared at the boy on the Awakening Platform, her eyes glinting.

“SSS-rank Talent, huh…”

Although her memories from Blue Star were already quite blurry, she was certain—Su Yuan in the previous life had definitely not awakened an SSS-rank Talent.

“Could it be that my rebirth caused some change in the timeline… the so-called butterfly effect?”

Xu Anyan pondered.

Still—

Even if Su Yuan had awakened an SSS-rank Talent, in her eyes, he posed no threat.

Ten days later, in the first power comparison, she was 200% confident she would crush Su Yuan and win.

…

[Shock +4]

[Shock +6]

[Shock +11]

[Envy +8]

[Envy +7]

[Favorability +9]

[…]

After pulling off that grand act, Su Yuan earned a massive wave of Emotion Points.

He glanced at the system panel. Up to now, he had accumulated nearly 500 points.

The current lottery prices in the system shop were:

[System Shop]

[Basic Draw: 100 pts/try, guaranteed purple-quality reward after 100 draws]

[Intermediate Draw: 500 pts/try, guaranteed gold-quality reward after 100 draws]

[Advanced Draw: 2,000 pts/try, guaranteed red-quality reward after 100 draws]

[Note: The higher the level, the greater the chance of earning high-grade rewards.]

“Once I hit 500 points, I’ll try an intermediate draw.”

“A sharp blade makes chopping wood easier. I can’t cut corners on early development resources.”

“Who knows? I might hit the jackpot on the first try.”

Thinking that to himself, Su Yuan stepped down from the Awakening Platform and returned to his class area.

Envy, awe, jealousy, longing… all kinds of stares greeted him from every direction.

Zheng Yuan rushed over, knelt on one knee, raised both hands to the sky, and mimicked fireworks shooting from his palms.

“Welcome back, Godfather!”

“A salute to the birth of a king!”

Su Yuan: …

Alright then.

It was excessive and a bit cringe… but why did it feel so damn satisfying?

…

The Awakening Ceremony was over.

Su Yuan and Xu Anyan became known throughout Lan City No.1 High School as ‘God Su’ and ‘Goddess Xu.’

SSS-rank Talents.

Once in a century.

The pinnacle of genius.

Still, awakening a Talent didn’t concern most people.

So after the excitement died down, everyone’s attention shifted to the next event… their first Source Energy absorption!

Source Energy existed everywhere in the universe.

Before genetic enhancement, humans couldn’t sense it.

But after activation, everyone could sense and absorb it.

The only difference was speed.

The Great Xia Education Bureau mandated that after gene activation, every senior high school student must be given one level-1 Source Crystal to absorb energy for the first time.

This step also served to identify hidden geniuses.

…

Inside the classroom, their homeroom teacher, Old Wu, smiled as he looked at everyone.

“Alright, the Source Crystals have all been distributed. You may now begin your first Source Energy absorption.”

“During absorption, remember what we emphasized in theory class. Don’t rush recklessly…”

A Source Crystal was a condensed crystal of Source Energy.

The higher the level, the more energy and higher the purity.

Level-1 Source Crystals were the lowest, but still expensive.

On the market, one cost 3,000 yuan—a burden for most families.

As for how to absorb it, it was simple.

Just hold the crystal and operate the matching cultivation method.

Currently, the most widely promoted method in Great Xia was the [Heavenly Origin Cultivation Method].

It had gone through countless refinements and was suitable for the vast majority of martial cultivators. It was a foundational technique and a compulsory subject for high school students.

Those who hadn’t awakened Talents now nervously clutched their crystals, silently praying for good aptitude.

That’s right.

A martial cultivator’s Talent was evaluated in two aspects.

The first was the innate Talent—like the one from the Awakening Ceremony.

The second was aptitude.

Aptitude covered comprehension, understanding, sensing Source Energy, and absorption efficiency.

Even if someone had no innate Talent, with excellent aptitude, they could still achieve great things in the future.

And without doubt, Su Yuan’s innate Talent was SSS-rank—the absolute peak.

But as for his aptitude—

Even he wasn’t sure.

“As a transmigrator… I can’t embarrass my seniors.”

With that thought, Su Yuan took a deep breath, calmed his mind, and began to operate the [Heavenly Origin Cultivation Method].

According to the textbook, for someone at the Awakening Stage, a level-1 Source Crystal could be absorbed at about 60% efficiency. It took 2 hours to absorb completely.

For the first Source Energy entry, absorbing even one-tenth of the crystal would be considered a success.

The rest could be taken home and absorbed slowly over time.

…

As Su Yuan calmly absorbed energy—

Homeroom teacher Old Wu walked by to observe him.

After all, Su Yuan was now an SSS-rank super-genius. He was curious about Su Yuan’s aptitude in Source Energy absorption.

And then—

When his eyes landed on Su Yuan’s hand, he was instantly petrified. Utter disbelief flooded his expression!

He saw…

The Source Crystal in Su Yuan’s hand… was visibly turning from pure white to transparent!

That meant the Source Energy inside was being absorbed at a ridiculous speed!

Old Wu was completely stunned.

Absolutely speechless.

What kind of monstrous speed was this!?

[Shock +8]

But that wasn’t all.

Aside from the crystal in Su Yuan’s hand—

Old Wu was shocked to discover that the free-floating Source Energy in the air was also being pulled toward Su Yuan, slowly gathering!

It was as if Su Yuan’s body was a black hole for Source Energy!

Others might not have noticed.

They were still at Awakening Stage.

But Old Wu wasn’t—he was a 1st stage formal martial cultivator!

His sensitivity to Source Energy was far above his students’.

Which is why—

When he saw Su Yuan’s devouring-like absorption…

His worldview was shattered. His mouth opened and closed several times before he finally squeezed out a word:

“M-Monster!”