After school, Yu Fei bought some groceries at a store in his residential complex before heading home.
He had an older sister in college and a younger sister in middle school. For his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Yu, who were just ordinary people, the pressure of providing for the family was immense.
Mrs. Yu worked as a sales associate at a clothing store and usually got off work late. Mr. Yu was a team leader at a machinery factory. Neither of them earned a high income.
Having awakened his past-life memories, Yu Fei had taken on a share of the household chores. He had even practically raised his younger sister, Yu Wei, by himself.
Yu Wei wasn't back yet, so he put on an apron and got busy in the kitchen.
It was difficult for an ordinary person to change their destiny. In his previous life, although Yu Fei had achieved some success, his perspective and abilities had been limited.
Even though he had regained his past-life memories early on in this life, there wasn't much he could do beyond easing his family's burden in whatever small ways he could.
In any world, education was still the main path to changing one's destiny. With the existence of martial arts in this world, there were a few more opportunities.
Based on his current academic performance, Yu Fei could probably meet the requirements for a regular university.
As for a Martial Arts University, however, his talent seemed less than ideal, leaving him with almost no hope.
The strict admission requirements for most Martial Arts Universities were quite high. Applicants needed to break through at least the first three of the five Body Tempering Gates: Skin, Flesh, and Tendons.
There were also certain requirements for physical fitness and martial techniques.
Out of more than six hundred students at Nanguan Second Middle School each year, only about thirty were accepted into a Martial Arts University. That was an admission rate of roughly 5%.
If an ordinary person couldn't get into a Martial Arts University, it didn't mean their path in martial arts was completely cut off. There were still plenty of private dojos where one could continue training. However, the fees were far higher than a university's, and the quality of instruction was vastly inferior.
Amid the smells of cooking, Yu Fei was lost in thought.
Just as he was thinking, the front door opened.
"Bro, I'm back!"
Her voice was as clear and bright as a lark's song.
Yu Wei tossed her schoolbag onto the sofa and skipped into the kitchen. "Bro, what're you making? It smells amazing!"
Yu Fei didn't even look up.
"Braised pork ribs, stir-fried pork with peppers, cold cucumber salad, the hot and sour radishes I pickled yesterday, and a soup."
The other dishes were ready; he just needed to let the sauce for the ribs reduce. As Yu Fei turned to get a plate, he saw Yu Wei snatch a piece of pickled radish with her fingers and pop it into her mouth.
Yu Fei's brow furrowed visibly.
He gave Yu Wei a light kick on the butt.
"Wash your hands, change your shoes, and put your schoolbag away properly!" he yelled at her.
Rubbing her bottom with one hand, Yu Wei grumbled, "Hmph! You're so annoying!"
At the same time, she furtively snatched another radish strip and scurried out of the kitchen.
'This brat is getting more and more annoying.'
Yu Fei stood in the kitchen, spatula in hand, feeling irritated. 'I have the body of a teenager but the soul of someone going through menopause.'
'I'm carrying burdens I shouldn't have at this age.'
At eight in the evening, the family of four gathered to eat dinner.
On the surface, they were a family of four—a set of parents and their two children. In reality, three of them had the age and experience of someone at least forty years old.
The only true child was Yu Wei, and she was, without a doubt, the most doted upon.
Yu Fei didn't handle the other chores like washing the pot or mopping the floor. After eating, he went back to his room to do his homework.
The high school workload was heavy, and academics were crucial. Even the martial arts university entrance exam had significant academic requirements.
By the time he finished his schoolwork and went to bed, it was already midnight.
Lying in bed, Yu Fei observed the azure orb in his mental space before drifting into a deep sleep.
In this life, the high school curriculum didn't include foreign languages but had two extra subjects: the Human Body Scripture and the Great Yu Martial Scripture.
The Human Body Scripture primarily covered basic knowledge of the body, such as meridians, acupoints, and the five elements of Qi Blood. It also included some common content on acupuncture and tuina massage.
The Great Yu Martial Scripture, on the other hand, explained the meanings of basic terms in martial Cultivation Techniques by compiling the treatises of famous ancient Martial Saints.
It was incredibly abstruse and esoteric.
On Saturday morning, Yu Fei woke up early for a run as usual. He then practiced the Ox Subduing Pile Skill once in a corner of the park, returning home with his limbs feeling weak.
His physical constitution was strong enough to support one extra practice of the pile skill per week without the aid of energy potions.
Mr. Yu planned to take Yu Wei out for the morning. Yu Fei didn't go; he had his own plans.
Although he couldn't compare to a genius in terms of learning ability, he firmly believed that you reap what you sow.
He planned to stay home and grind through practice problems.
The greatest benefit from his two lifetimes was the habit of self-discipline he had cultivated. His goals were clear, and he wasn't easily swayed by external temptations.
A little after eleven in the morning, while Yu Fei was wrestling with his math problems, his spirit suddenly jolted.
He quickly focused his mind and entered his mental space. He saw the pearl that had awakened with his past-life memories glowing brilliantly, its entire body a deep azure. It had completed its final transformation.
A flood of information washed over him. Yu Fei closed his eyes to process it, finally understanding the pearl's purpose.
The blue pearl was called the Destiny Reversal Pearl, and it was bound to Yu Fei's soul.
The Destiny Reversal Pearl's abilities were related to talents.
It categorized the talents of all living beings into nine ranks, distinguished by color. From lowest to highest, they were: Gray, White, Green, Blue, Purple, Orange, Red, Silver, and Gold.
The vast majority of living beings were mediocre and possessed no special traits. A so-called "talent" was simply the manifestation of such a trait.
The Destiny Reversal Pearl's primary function was to copy the talents of other living beings for its host to use.
After the host marked a target, defeating it would randomly copy one of its talents. Killing it, however, would extract the target's highest-quality talent.
The cooldown for the talent-copying ability was one month.
The Destiny Reversal Pearl could equip, upgrade, fuse, or smelt copied talents into energy points.
The Destiny Reversal Pearl currently had three open talent slots, meaning Yu Fei could equip three talents. To open more slots, he would need to use energy points to unlock them.
Since this was the first time the Destiny Reversal Pearl had been activated, he could use its ability twice, meaning he could copy two talents right away.
Yu Fei was lost in thought. 'I can copy talents, and even upgrade them. If I can keep developing this, my talents will be unmatched. But the hard part is figuring out how to get useful talents in the beginning.'
'Once a month means only twelve times a year. I have to plan this carefully.'
'Hmm? "Once a month"... Why does that sound so oddly familiar?'
Thinking about the Destiny Reversal Pearl, Yu Fei completely lost the motivation to study. He changed his shoes and went downstairs for a walk.
There were two ways to acquire a target's talent: defeat or kill. The former was a random draw, while the latter yielded the greatest reward.
In the current society, although martial arts were revered, there was no shortage of lawless Martial Artists. However, the Martial Arts Administration Bureau in every region had a large number of powerful Martial Artists to maintain order.
'Becoming a wanted criminal is not a viable future. Killing is out of the question.'
Yu Fei strolled with his hands clasped behind his back. The afternoon heat had set in, and the residential complex was nearly deserted.
The Destiny Reversal Pearl provided a special kind of vision. A creature's highest-quality talent would appear above its head as a colored, diamond-shaped block, resembling a gemstone.
Out on the street, he watched the people come and go. The diamond shapes above most people's heads were empty, indicating they had no talent—they were just ordinary background NPCs.
He occasionally spotted a few pedestrians with gray or white blocks passing by.
As for green, he stood there for about ten minutes, and out of the hundreds of people who passed by, he only saw a single one.
He was in a bind. 'Defeat the target? How am I supposed to do that?'
'I can't just run up and beat someone up for no reason!'
After an hour of standing in the sun, he grew even more agitated and went home to sleep it off.
That evening, Yu Fei was still wandering aimlessly around the complex. He still hadn't come up with a good solution.
"MEOW~"
A cat's cry came from up ahead.
There were about a dozen stray cats in the complex. Some were docile, while others were absurdly fierce. The cats all had different personalities.
Yu Fei looked up and saw it was a tabby cat.
He estimated it had to be over fifteen pounds. It wasn't fat, but rather incredibly well-built and sturdy.
"Huh?!"
What was he seeing?
This tabby cat actually had a noble blue gem hovering above its head!
According to the Destiny Reversal Pearl's classification, this tabby was a one-in-a-million feline genius.
"You're the one!"
An idea suddenly clicked for Yu Fei.
'Living beings doesn't just mean humans.'
'Beating up a person is illegal. But if I beat up a random tabby cat, people can only call me a weirdo. And what does that matter? Being a weirdo isn't against the law.'
Having made up his mind, Yu Fei started walking toward the tabby cat.