C2 The System Had Nurtured a Peerless Talent.

"Maybe I'm just a loser. Even Senior Sister Qin says so."

Exhausted, Chiang Jin lay down and gazed into the sky, only to see a star that should have been fixed in the heavens suddenly plummeting to earth. It blazed with fire and trailed light, a mesmerizing sight.

"A shooting star?"

In both his past and present lives, this was Chiang Jin's first time witnessing a meteor. He was spellbound.

"It's quite beautiful. Wait, its path..." Chiang Jin, lost in the spectacle, abruptly sensed something amiss.

He gauged the meteor's trajectory and his eyes bulged in alarm. "Holy crap, it's heading straight for me!"

Leaping to his feet, Chiang Jin bolted without a second thought. After a short sprint, he glanced back and terror seized him.

The fiery tail seemed to target him, growing larger and more imminent until it became a blinding brilliance that engulfed his vision.

Chiang Jin's heart sank. "Getting killed by a car in my past life was bad enough, and I've put up with being pushed around in this world. Now, a meteor's going to finish me off? I won't even leave a whole corpse. Is my luck really this cursed?"

"Boom!" His lament was swallowed by the roar.

"Squeak!" A sound like electricity crackled in Chiang Jin's ear.

"Suitable host detected. The Peerless Talent Nurturing System is now descending, initiating binding."

"What in the world?" Chiang Jin's eyes popped, and he was dumbfounded.

It seemed an eternity and yet only a moment had passed.

The synthetic voice chimed in once more.

"Peerless Talent Nurturing System binding successful."

A translucent screen visible only to Chiang Jin materialized, displaying several lines of text.

Host: Chiang Jin

Realm: Mortal

Cultivation Technique: None

Skills: Light Fixing Sword Technique (Beginner), Body Searching Steps (Beginner)

Bone Quality: Inferior

Comprehension: Low

Talent Points: +10

Chiang Jin sprang up, inspecting himself. The meteor hadn't wrought any havoc, nor had it crushed him.

The sole change was the crystal-clear screen before him.

"Is this actually a system, not some hallucination?" Eyeing the ten talent points, Chiang Jin swallowed hard and instinctively allocated points to his bone quality and comprehension, as if he were leveling up in a video game from his previous life.

"Enhancing bone quality."

"Enhancing comprehension."

Pain exploded from deep within his bones, rapidly engulfing his entire body.

Chiang Jin felt as though he'd been pierced by thousands of arrows and clawed by countless talons.

His senses reeled, the world spun.

He collapsed, screaming in agony, and the pain knocked him unconscious.

Time passed before Chiang Jin, groaning, managed to stand. He checked himself over and found no injuries, just a layer of greasy filth speckled with black dots on his skin, making him extremely uncomfortable.

"Why was I sleeping here?"

Confused, Chiang Jin awoke to a sense that everything was different. The world seemed to have transformed.

The chorus of insects, the whisper of leaves, and the wail of the wind—all these sounds streamed into his ears in harmony.

His eyes swept the landscape, capturing every detail with crystal clarity.

He inhaled the mingled scents of nature, distinguishing each aroma with ease.

His senses had undergone a metamorphosis.

"Is this how geniuses perceive the world?"

Stunned, Chiang Jin instinctively accessed his attribute panel.

Host: Chiang Jin

Realm: Mortal

Cultivation Technique: None

Skills: Light Fixing Sword Technique (Beginner), Body Searching Steps (Beginner)

Bone Quality: Superior

Comprehension: Excellent

Talent Points: +2

"I remember last night my bone quality and comprehension were just inferior and low. I spent eight talent points, and now they're superior and excellent?"

"And how exactly does the system categorize talent levels? Is excellent the highest?"

From a martial arts dud to a top-tier genius?

Chiang Jin's heart raced. He considered testing his new abilities but then noticed the bright morning light.

"Is it morning already?"

"Shoot! I've got a ton of chores to do!"

Chiang Jin slapped his forehead, grabbed the iron sword beside him, and hurried off to tackle his tasks.

"Why hasn't the courtyard been swept? The latrine's not cleaned either. What kind of work is this? If you don't want to do it, get lost. There's no shortage of people wanting to join my Wave Submitting Sword House!"

"Senior Brother Xu, isn't it Chiang Jin's turn to clean the latrine today?"

As Chiang Jingang stepped into the Wave Submitting Sword House, the sound of Xu Ping berating several disciples in the courtyard filled the air. The mention of his name caused Chiang's heart to plummet. He had been spared their troublemaking on days when he'd done nothing wrong, but now that Lin Fengyu, Xu Ping, and the others had an excuse, they wouldn't hesitate to make his life miserable.

"Chiang Jin, Chiang Jin! Get out here!"

Xu Ping's voice boiled over with fury upon hearing Chiang's name. His face twisted into a mask of rage.

A chill ran through Chiang Jin. He was on the verge of slipping away unnoticed when someone betrayed his presence.

"Chiang Jin, didn't get enough of a beating yesterday, did you? Looking for more?"

Xu Ping approached, but after a few steps, he scrunched his face in disgust, covered his nose, and pointed at Chiang Jin. "What's that stench? Chiang Jin, did you roll out of a dung heap?"

Laughter erupted around them.

Chiang Jin's fists tightened, but he knew better than to confront them head-on. He decided to make a strategic retreat.

"I'm off to clean up."

"Who said you could leave?" Xu Ping sneered, reaching for Chiang Jin's shoulder.

A sudden gust from behind was all the warning Chiang Jin needed. Without looking back, he instinctively ducked and stepped aside.

Xu Ping had intended to teach Chiang Jin a lesson, but to his surprise, Chiang Jin dodged as if he had eyes in the back of his head, leaving Xu Ping grasping at thin air.

"Hey, you think you can dodge me?"

Xu Ping's shock quickly turned to rage, and he lunged repeatedly. Yet Chiang Jin's reflexes were sharp today; his footwork kept him just out of reach.

Frustrated at being unable to catch someone he considered worthless, Xu Ping's anger boiled over. Channeling his inner strength, he leaped high, aiming to pounce on Chiang Jin.

But in a split second, Chiang Jin shifted his stance, his figure flickering, vanishing from the spot.

Xu Ping's dive ended with him crashing to the ground, floundering like a clumsy toad, to the concealed amusement of onlookers.

Some keen-eyed disciples watched Chiang Jin with a mix of suspicion and awe.

"What just happened?"

Chiang Jin himself was stunned, looking from the humiliated Xu Ping on the ground to his own hands in confusion.

"Ah! I'll kill you!"

Humiliated, Xu Ping surged to his feet, his face twisted with anger. He drew his long sword and thrust it toward Chiang Jin with deadly intent. The blade vibrated with a menacing hum, clearly charged with his inner force.

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