He vaguely remembered his past life, when Su Aoxue had given him a stalk of Silver Gray Grass the day after awakening his Talent.
However, after Shen Yan brought the Silver Gray Grass home, his father discovered it. After questioning the source of the grass, his father forced Shen Yan to return it.
But the key point wasn’t there; it was in the conversation that followed with his father.
Shen Yan vaguely remembered his father saying at the time that hundreds of stalks of Silver Gray Grass had suddenly appeared on the market, and the market had gone absolutely wild trying to snatch them up.
As it turned out, the vendor who sold the Silver Gray Grass died in his home the very next day, making the front-page headlines of the Base City. Shen Yan’s father had even shown him the newspaper back then. There was an uncensored photo in the paper showing a man pinned to a wall by countless Ice Spikes, frozen into a human specimen.
Thinking of this, Shen Yan’s eyes suddenly narrowed. “Zhao Jun… It was that Zhao Jun. No wonder the name sounded so familiar.”
Shen Yan finally remembered when he had heard the name “Zhao Jun” before.
In his past life, the person who sold a large amount of Silver Gray Grass and was mysteriously murdered in the end was named Zhao Jun.
And yesterday, when he went to the canyon where the Silver Gray Grass was located in the Grey Mist World, he had also encountered a man named Zhao Jun who knew the grass was there. Moreover, that man’s team included a Frost Calamity Witch of unfathomable strength.
‘Everything seems to be connected. No wonder…’
‘Come to think of it, this Zhao Jun also seemed to have auctioned a piece of ore that could absorb energy around this time.’
‘Right, the Mo Stone!’
‘No wonder I have such a deep impression of this.’
The ore Zhao Jun auctioned in his past life was no simple matter. It was something called a Mo Stone, and Shen Yan only learned about its function later on.
It could actively absorb energy and disrupt perception.
Without a stroke of luck, almost no one could discover such a thing. It was extremely rare and had immense utility.
If he could have owned a full set of Mo Stone equipment in his past life, perhaps he wouldn’t have died in that tug-of-war with those two supreme beings.
‘I haven’t seen Zhao Jun selling it yet…’
‘Could it be the Butterfly Effect caused by my presence? Did this life’s Zhao Jun not even realize that thing could be sold? Or perhaps he hasn’t found it yet?’
Shen Yan remembered clearly that when Zhao Jun sold the Silver Gray Grass in his past life, that Mo Stone was sold alongside it.
Shen Yan guessed that in the past life, the Frost Calamity Witch had teamed up with this guy to pick the Silver Gray Grass. As a result, after encountering a Gray Mist Tide, Zhao Jun abandoned her and ran off with the Silver Gray Grass himself.
Did he discover the existence of the Mo Stone while hiding?
After all, if there was a Mo Stone nearby, even a Grey Fog Creature might not be able to find him. Grey Fog Creatures didn’t have very good eyesight.
‘In that case, can I also try my luck and go looking for it?’
Right at that moment, a voice suddenly rang out, pulling Shen Yan back from his thoughts. “Are you staring blankly at that hedgehog dummy? Are you stunned by my brotherly strength?”
The teasing voice drifted over. Shen Yan turned his head to see Su Aoxue looking at him with a beaming smile while patting his shoulder.
To the side, Ye Yao seemed to have fallen into some kind of self-doubt, keeping her head down without saying a word.
“It’s only right for you to be stunned, though. My ability is indeed insane.”
As he spoke, Su Aoxue couldn’t help but add secretly in his heart, ‘Pretty awesome, right? Traded my little brother for it…’
However, seeing that his good brother seemed to be dumbfounded by the supreme strength he had displayed, Su Aoxue thought about it and decided a small profit was still a profit!
That was the only way Su Aoxue could comfort himself.
“Yeah, it’s definitely impressive.”
Although Shen Yan was praising Su Aoxue, his heart was actually pondering how he could find where the Mo Stone was located.
While the two were preoccupied with their own thoughts, Ye Yao snapped out of it and stopped brooding over the matter. Instead, her two eyes sparkled as she stared at Su Aoxue. “Have you guys thought about which Martial Arts University you want to sign up for?”
“After all, your Talent abilities have appeared…”
Hearing Ye Yao’s question, Su Aoxue instinctively replied, “Martial Arts University? Well, of course — “
Halfway through his sentence, Su Aoxue froze and subconsciously looked toward Shen Yan.
It was only then that he suddenly remembered Shen Yan had invited him to go to Jiuquan Martial Arts University in No. 7 Base City together!
Thinking of this, Su Aoxue fell into a moment of hesitation.
On one side was his promise to a friend, and on the other was a matter of his own life and death. Was it a hard choice?
Therefore, hindered by the interference of a certain powerful factor, he could only choose to break his promise.
“I’ll probably go to Star-Moon Martial Arts University,” Su Aoxue said, somewhat afraid to meet Shen Yan’s gaze.
“Star-Moon?”
Hearing the name of this Martial Arts University, Shen Yan’s original train of thought was instantly disrupted. He frowned slightly and looked at Su Aoxue.
In his past life, Su Aoxue had chosen this exact university.
But in this life, he had clearly suggested that Su Aoxue go with him to Jiuquan Martial Arts University, the number one ranked university among all Base Cities.
There was no reason Su Aoxue should still change his mind and go to Star-Moon Martial Arts University!
‘What exactly changed to cause this?’
Su Aoxue noticed that Shen Yan’s expression had changed slightly, so he immediately said apologetically, “Sorry, Old Shen. Actually, I still feel like I should go to Star-Moon Martial Arts University.”
“I won’t be going to Jiuquan Martial Arts University. After all, my ability isn’t anything special. I estimate I only have A-Rank potential. Isn’t it better to be a big fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in a big pond?” Su Aoxue explained cautiously.
It was a seemingly perfect, irreproachable explanation that left Shen Yan speechless for a moment.
But was the truth really as Su Aoxue said?
Right at that moment, Shen Yan entertained the idea of entering the same Martial Arts Academy as Su Aoxue.
After all, for someone like him who had returned from rebirth, it no longer mattered which Martial Arts University he entered.
He had memorized all the Advanced Visualization Methods. As for the resources he could obtain, other Martial Arts Universities could afford to provide them as well.
Coupled with the fact that he was more than ten years ahead of the rest of the world, he could obtain even more opportunities!
It wasn’t strictly necessary to go to the top-ranked university.
Ye Yao, however, nodded slightly after hearing Su Aoxue’s answer.
‘Star-Moon Martial Arts University? Then I’ll go there too!’
And so, the three people, each with their own hidden thoughts, ultimately chose to go to Star-Moon Martial Arts University.
Su Aoxue naturally had no idea what those two were thinking, so he asked, “What about you two? Which Martial Arts Academy are you going to?”
Shen Yan gave a vague response. “We’ll see when the time comes.”
“Um… Me too.”
Su Aoxue: “Eh???”
……
The training period lasted for three days. It wouldn’t be until three days later that the final scores for the combat capabilities of each person’s awakened Talent would be given.
Because it was getting late, the Awakening Base closed its doors and sent everyone away after the final batch of ten people finished their awakening.
After parting ways with Ye Yao, Su Aoxue was dragged by Shen Yan to a deserted city block.
They didn’t stop until they reached a small house that was still relatively well-preserved.
Su Aoxue looked at Shen Yan with uncertainty. “Isn’t this the little shack we stayed in temporarily during our training? You put that important thing in here?”
“No one is going to come to a place like this to steal anything,” Shen Yan said as he took the lead and walked back into the house.
Following closely behind, Su Aoxue saw that two more objects built from stacked stones had appeared in the small room. A closer look revealed they were covered with waterproof tarps, shaped like small bathtubs.
While Su Aoxue was drawn to the objects, Shen Yan had already started boiling water in a pot nearby.
“What are you…?”
Before he could finish his question, he saw Shen Yan lift a stone and pull out a bag from underneath.
He poured it directly into the large pot.
“Brewing medicine… A medicinal bath?”
“Congratulations, you got it right.”
“Right after awakening your Talent, combining it with a medicinal bath can more perfectly stimulate the enhancement of your potential.”