The awakening ceremony was held simultaneously for all twenty classes. As Class 8's student number 1, Jing Wuji would be the first to undergo the awakening.
Under the gaze of the entire class, Jing Wuji stepped up to the podium, his expression blank as he stared at their homeroom teacher, Xue Musheng.
"Hope you awaken a good element—best if it's the Lightning element," Xue Musheng said with a smile.
"Oh," Jing Wuji replied indifferently. To him, all elements were the same.
Under the teacher's watchful eyes, Jing Wuji placed his hand on the floating Awakening Stone.
The Awakening Stone was a thick, compass-shaped object with a distinct palm imprint on it. Although Jing Wuji appeared calm, deep down he was somewhat nervous. After all, this would determine whether he had the power to protect himself in the disasters to come.
He placed his right hand on the stone, and it began to glow with a starlike brilliance. The lights connected into lines of starlight—like special blood vessels—climbing up Jing Wuji's right arm...
Suddenly, the entire classroom dimmed. Darkness thickened and engulfed the Awakening Stone!
"Shadow Element! It's the Shadow Element!" Teacher Xue Musheng cried out in astonishment.
To put it into perspective, awakening the Lightning Element among the elemental magics was already a one-in-ten-thousand chance. But to awaken the Shadow Element as one's first element—there were barely a few people across the entire country capable of that. What a genius!
"Is... is that one of those rare dark magics, even more uncommon than elemental magic?" Classmate A was stunned.
"Yeah! Did he save the world in a past life or something?!"
Mo Fan grinned widely. As expected of Jing Wuji! Just looking at his first awakened element, it was obvious how insanely talented he was. Mo Fan was genuinely happy for him.
Jing Wuji didn't hear any of the exclamations around him. His entire focus was locked onto his spiritual universe.
Within his chaotic spiritual realm, it was as if life was being born. These entities began to alter the space, slowly carving out a territory of their own...
Tiny as specks of dust, they cautiously established themselves in that area. There was a faint air of aggression about them, yet they remained quiet and aloof.
In terms of color, they blended almost completely into the spiritual cosmos...
The stardust was a deep, shadowy hue with its unique glow. If one didn't examine carefully, it was easy to overlook them. But they were unmistakably there—radiating with a dark, flickering brilliance!
As Jing Wuji gazed at this dark stardust, memories of the endless darkness and loneliness he had once endured came flooding back...
Suddenly, the dark stardust began pulsing violently with shadowy light!
Jing Wuji rifled through his magical knowledge to find anything similar and realized that only when absorbing a "spirit seed" would there be such a reaction—yet never this intense.
That spot flickering with dark light gave him a strange sense of familiarity.
Then, something surged out from the shadowy stardust and flowed into his bloodstream. The moment it did, a message appeared in Jing Wuji's mind.
Shadow Element – Heaven Seed: Shadow!
This ability increased his resistance to Shadow-based magic—Shadow-element attacks would now do 90% less damage to him!
It also enhanced the power of his own Shadow spells—the Heaven Seed: Shadow boosted his Shadow-element spell power by a factor of 8, though that wasn't even its main function.
Its most important ability was: Aura Suppression!
When using Shadowmeld (a stealth technique), it would completely mask his presence. Even when casting Intermediate-level or higher spells, it could hide the magical aura for one second before the spell activates.
Additionally, it significantly increased his mana regeneration and cultivation speed for Shadow magic.
As for whether it had any other abilities, Jing Wuji couldn't say for sure.
Jing Wuji opened his eyes and saw the people around him staring at him like he was some kind of monster. He sighed inwardly but didn't bother responding. Instead, he calmly returned to his seat.
After a moment, Xue Musheng finally called up the second student—Mu Bai.
As expected, Mu Bai awakened the Ice Element, which had been passed down through his family for generations. Still, not many people were surprised.
While Jing Wuji quietly meditated for a while, the awakening ceremony continued. When he came back to his senses, it was already time for the final student—Mo Fan.
Watching him stride confidently up to the stage and place his hand on the Awakening Stone, Jing Wuji silently wished him well, hoping he'd awaken a good element.
"Whoa! Someone from the class next door just awakened the Lightning Element!"
A student suddenly shouted from the schoolyard, drawing all of Class 8 to the corridor to catch a glimpse—even Xue Musheng turned to look in that direction.
Only Jing Wuji remained in his seat, watching Mo Fan's awakening.
A streak of violet light flashed across the Awakening Stone.
It was the Lightning Element! Jing Wuji instantly recognized it—Lightning, the ruler of all elemental magic.
But just as that violet glow disappeared, a red flame suddenly rose around the Awakening Stone. The fire was just as intense—if not more so—than the girl who had awakened earlier!
The students all returned to the classroom and saw that Mo Fan had awakened the Fire Element. They couldn't help but groan:
"Seriously? Another Fire Element? I awakened Water and already feel like jumping off a building! How's anyone supposed to survive this?!"
"You? Water? And jumping off a building? The rooftop's already full of guys who awakened the Light Element!"
Xue Musheng looked at the roaring flames around Mo Fan and couldn't hide the joy on his face.
From the looks of it, Mo Fan's talent might even surpass Zhou Min's. With this kind of lineup, he could expect some serious reward money! Their class now had someone with the Shadow Element, the Ice Element, and two Fire Elements—compare that to Zhang Jianguo's class next door, which only had one student awaken the Lightning Element. How could they compete?
"Hmm, not bad. Great talent. Work hard," Xue Musheng said with a pleased squint, waving Mo Fan off the stage.
Jing Wuji had witnessed the entire awakening process and realized Mo Fan's talent was no weaker than his own—he had awakened two elements!
Once all the students had finished awakening, Xue Musheng gave a detailed lecture on the importance of meditation, control, and caution when casting spells. Then he instructed the class to begin meditating.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was already evening.
Jing Wuji discovered something astonishing—while others could only maintain control of their stardust for about an hour, he had been meditating and controlling his stardust from the morning until the end of the school day—a full seven hours more than everyone else!
His mana consumption was almost negligible. If it weren't for the mental strain of controlling the stardust, he would've loved to keep going 24/7.
After quickly finishing dinner, Jing Wuji and Mo Fan headed up the hill behind the school.
"Wuji, what's going on?" Mo Fan still didn't know why Jing Wuji had brought him here.
Jing Wuji stared at him seriously and asked, "Did you awaken two elements? Besides Fire, you also have Lightning, right?"
Mo Fan's pupils contracted slightly, but he quickly composed himself and nodded. "Yeah. You saw it?"
"I did. No one else in the class noticed. You need to hide your second element. Otherwise, you might invite disaster. But at the same time—it's your trump card."
"I understand. Until I get stronger, I'll keep it a secret. Thanks," Mo Fan said sincerely.
"All right, don't be so serious. We're family, after all. Let's head back and continue meditating." Jing Wuji patted Mo Fan on the shoulder, and the two of them walked back together.