“Cough… it’s nothing. I’m just happy that I can have a brother who’ll stand at the top of the combat pyramid in the future, haha…”
Shen Yan looked at Su Aoxue and patted him on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry, we’ve been brothers since we were kids. I’ll take you along to bigger and better things and create glory together!”
Shen Yan’s confident and sincere smile actually made Su Aoxue a little embarrassed. “Yeah, keep it up. I’m rooting for you.”
‘Old Shen is being so loyal for the sake of brotherhood… isn’t it bad for me to hide the fact that I’m the mysterious cloaked ice ability user?’
If Su Aoxue hadn’t obtained that powerful Natural Disaster power, she might have been moved by Shen Yan’s promise. But now, she was a bit awkward.
Maybe this was the result of that so-called information gap?
‘But saying that I’ve turned into a girl is still too embarrassing.’
‘Also, Sister Lingfeng said it’s best not to expose information about the Cold Disaster…’
‘Wait, could it be that my past self also hid the truth from Old Shen for this reason?’
Suddenly realizing this, Su Aoxue immediately lost the desire to reveal her female identity.
Instead, she coughed a few times and changed the subject.
“So you’re looking for that so-called Genesis Organization guy? Are they secretly watching us newly awakened talents, wanting to hunt us?”
As she spoke, Su Aoxue looked around but didn’t sense anything unusual.
“I can’t say for sure whether they’ll attack. After all, the current development is a bit different from what I remember in my past life. In the last life, the city-destroying gray mist tide didn’t come this quickly. We didn’t end up at this base city either; we went to another one to rest.”
A helpless voice came. Su Aoxue looked at Shen Yan, her expression frozen for a moment.
“So you’re not really clear on the situation either? Besides having the abilities from your past life, didn’t you reincarnate for nothing… You don’t even have the ability to seize the initiative like in those reincarnation novels.”
Hearing Su Aoxue’s teasing, Shen Yan felt a bit helpless.
He patiently explained, “The real world isn’t a novel world. There aren’t that many wild opportunities here. Ninety-nine percent of plants and animals can’t survive in the Gray Mist World. Currently, aside from the Gray Mist and Abyssal races, there are no other creatures in this world. The known types of ores are extremely scarce. Even the farm animals in base cities are seeds preserved before the disaster broke out. We’re like outsiders on this planet, completely uncared for. The fact that civilization can survive is already something worth celebrating. Seizing opportunities? Impossible. What I can do is accurately predict danger and avoid risks.”
As he spoke, Shen Yan’s memory was pulled back to his past life.
He wondered if human civilization had managed to escape the brink of extinction after he died…
Feeling that what he was saying might not be appropriate now, Shen Yan sighed and changed the subject.
“Of course, the S-class squad escorting us to the sub-core base city has three S-rank martial artists, so we don’t need to worry about safety. Once we reach the sub-core base city, even command-level gray mist creatures can’t harm us. For now, safety is completely not a concern. Also, the sub-core base city hasn’t experienced any large-scale disaster events within the next year.”
“Is that so? Then what else happened in the future? Tell me in detail.”
“This… I’ll tell you slowly once we get to Base City 3.”
“Hey, you’re teasing me again?”
Su Aoxue’s face immediately showed irritation. This made her really unhappy.
She’d definitely teach Shen Yan a lesson one day for his habit of only saying half of what he meant!
Just as they were talking enthusiastically, someone suddenly appeared before them. Shen Yan quickly canceled the soundproofing.
“You two little ones, remember me?”
The visitor was none other than the Martial Arts Association president from that base city.
This president had wanted to get close to Shen Yan since the Talent Awakening Ceremony began, but then the city-destroying crisis happened, and he only now had a chance to meet Shen Yan.
As for Su Aoxue beside him—with her common A-rank talent potential and no background—the president didn’t care about her at all.
Su Aoxue looked at Meng Fei, who had suddenly sat in the chair opposite them, and hesitated.
“You’re… the Martial Arts Association president? Is there something you need?”
Shen Yan, as if knowing why Meng Fei had come, didn’t look surprised.
Compared to the straightforward Ling Feng, Meng Fei said many flattering and relationship-building words to Su Aoxue and Shen Yan.
After a long preamble, he slowly stated his final purpose.
“After graduating from the academy, you’ll still have to join a guild. Do you two have any interest in a particular guild? Our guild is ranked fifth in the city and is backed by the Minghui Merchant Association. Our resources are abundant, and we’re not weaker than the top four guilds at all. If you ever consider joining a guild in the future, feel free to come to ours.”
As he spoke, Meng Fei handed a business card to each of them. “I wish you both success in enrolling in your ideal martial arts academy. See you later.”
Meng Fei smiled, stood up, and left the cafeteria on the first floor.
His movements were smooth, and he left decisively.
“He said all that just to get us to join the guild he recommended, but in the end, he just handed us a card and left?” Su Aoxue looked at the plain business card in her hand, finding it strange.
But at that moment, Shen Yan handed his card over to her. “What?”
Su Aoxue, a bit confused, took the card. But the moment she touched it, she noticed something off. “Huh? The thickness is different…”
Su Aoxue rubbed the surface of the card and suddenly found it could be opened.
When she opened it and saw the dense writing inside, she was completely shocked.
“This guy is treating us differently!”
Inside the card’s lining was a list of benefits, covering everything from personal perks to benefits for family members.
Each benefit was marked with its value in fire crystal coins.
The data was very intuitive, as if to deliberately prove how good their benefits were.
Su Aoxue roughly added up the benefits, and the total was nearly a hundred million fire crystal coins.
It was an astronomical figure—she had never seen so much money in her life!
“Does he know you have an SS-rank talent? Such discrimination!” Su Aoxue picked up her own card again.
Even after tearing it open, there was nothing inside. Completely ordinary.
The obvious difference made her feel like she was just an afterthought.
Didn’t she have any face to save?
“After the Awakening Ceremony started, the base city’s mayor and the Martial Arts Association president are required to monitor. It’s not strange that he knows.”