New Sea University, Library.
Zhou Li was flipping through the study materials in front of him, occasionally picking up a pen to transcribe them.
The study room was very quiet, with only occasional sounds of people moving and chairs being pulled.
Just as Zhou Li was immersed in the joy of studying, he suddenly looked up as if sensing something, only to see a gloomy young man standing in front of him.
The Gloomy Man spoke, "Zhou Li?"
"You are?"
Zhou Li was somewhat puzzled, as he didn't recognize the person. However, before he could react, the Gloomy Man pulled his right hand out of his pocket, gripping a fruit knife tightly in his palm.
"Go to hell, devil."
The Gloomy Man tightened his grip on the fruit knife and fiercely stabbed towards Zhou Li's heart.
"He wants to kill me!"
Zhou Li was stunned. He hadn't expected to be attacked, but his reaction was quick. He instinctively raised his arm, trying to block the fruit knife.
"This stab is for the billions of wronged souls who died by your hand." The Gloomy Man's expression was cold, his eyes filled with insane killing intent.
"Ah~" The intense pain of flesh being torn open came, and Zhou Li's eyes also turned red.
He was born with a fierce streak. When he was young, he was often bullied because he was thin and small. One day, he exploded, directly grabbing the one who bullied him the hardest and beating them mercilessly, not letting go even as others punched and kicked him.
In the end, both were sent to the hospital, and after being discharged, no one dared to bully him again.
At this moment, under the threat of death, the ferocity he had buried erupted.
"This stab is for Xin'er, who was brutally killed by you."
"This stab is for the comrades who bravely sacrificed themselves."
The Gloomy Man was still attacking relentlessly.
"Stab your sister!" Enduring the pain, Zhou Li picked up the chair next to him and smashed the Gloomy Man to the ground.
The Gloomy Man wasn't tall or well-built, and his combat power was far inferior to the tall and strong Zhou Li. After overcoming his fear of the fruit knife, Zhou Li quickly gained the upper hand and successfully subdued him.
Following this, the police and ambulance were called, and Zhou Li was also sent to the hospital.
While giving his statement, two security officers asked if he had offended anyone recently.
Zhou Li was also very puzzled, even angry.
He was a law-abiding citizen and hadn't offended anyone at all. Even if he had some minor conflicts with classmates, it wouldn't escalate to the point of assassination.
He wasn't scheming, nor did he have a wild imagination, and he hadn't done anything that would provoke public outrage. Why would he be assassinated?
As for that Gloomy Man.
While stabbing someone, he was shouting about being a devil, and about billions of wronged souls who died by his hand, and about the tragically killed Xin'er and comrades.
He's crazy.
He didn't even know the guy at all, and he hadn't even killed a chicken in his life.
Seeing that they couldn't get any answers, the two security officers had no choice but to let Zhou Li attend to his injuries first.
...
Night, Security Bureau, Interrogation Room.
"Name."
"Gender."
"Occupation."
The Gloomy Man slumped onto the interrogation chair, bruised and swollen. He wasn't seriously injured; after all, Zhou Li wasn't crazy enough to grab the fruit knife and stab him a few times to vent his anger.
However, he seemed like he had lost his soul, his face full of despair, remaining silent in the face of questioning.
"Be honest."
"Do you know you almost killed someone?"
A female security officer slammed the table and stood up.
"Heh heh." The Gloomy Man finally showed some reaction. He let out a cold laugh, "I only regret not being able to kill him."
"This weak body is even more useless than I imagined."
As soon as he said this, the two security officers couldn't help but glare at him angrily.
"As for why I wanted to kill him, if you knew what he would do in the future, you wouldn't ask such a question."
"Absurd, are you saying you can foresee the future?" The female security officer scoffed.
The Gloomy Man ignored her. He glanced at the wall clock hanging on the wall and slowly spoke, "Ten."
"Nine."
"Eight."
"What do you mean?" The two security officers were inexplicably a little panicked and didn't dare to stop him.
...
"One."
"Zero."
As his voice fell, nothing happened. The two had just breathed a sigh of relief and hadn't had time to question him when they found that the interrogation room was filled with shimmering light.
This light seemed to have a purpose, surging towards the three people in the room.
"Supreme Will has descended."
"The Era of Universal Awakening has arrived on time."
"I successfully returned to the past, but I didn't achieve my intended goal."
Looking at the light screen slowly appearing before him, the Gloomy Man's expression was a mix of sorrow and joy.
"The Demon King was still born."
...
New Sea First Hospital, Inpatient Department.
Zhou Li was lying on the hospital bed, resting with his eyes closed, when he was suddenly woken up by a cry of surprise from the next bed. Then, he saw a scene he would never forget.
A large crack opened in the dark sky, and countless streams of light poured down from the gap like a celestial river, filling the entire world with endless shimmering light as far as the eye could see.
The 18th floor where Zhou Li was located was no exception.
These streams of light frantically surged into the three people in the hospital room. Zhou Li's injuries disappeared at a visible speed, and at the same time, streams of information flooded into his mind.
After absorbing this information, Zhou Li finally understood what was happening.
Blue Star was chosen by the Supreme Will. It cast down the Transcendent Aura. From this moment on, Blue Star entered the Era of Universal Awakening. The shimmering light pouring down between heaven and earth would help people awaken their Talents, condense attribute panels, and become Transcendent.
This was an unprecedented great opportunity for Blue Star. The era where everyone could be like dragons was close at hand.
However, crisis and opportunity coexisted.
The Transcendent Aura was incredibly dazzling. As Blue Star entered the Era of Awakening, ferocious monsters from other worlds would also seek it out, forming terrifying Disasters, wanting to devour the Transcendent Aura and exterminate the Blue Star People.
"I wonder what my Talent is." Zhou Li didn't dwell too much on the future Disasters; that was something for important figures to consider. He was more concerned about what Talent he would awaken after his awakening.
Everyone would awaken a Talent. Talents varied in strength, starting from the lowest F-grade, then E-grade, D-grade, C-grade, B-grade, A-grade, S-grade, SS-grade, all the way up to the highest SSS-grade.
A light screen slowly appeared. Just as the content was about to be displayed, it suddenly became blurry again, as if affected by some interference.
After a long time, it became clear.
【Name: Zhou Li】
【Rank: Zero】
【Talent: Innate Sacredness (EX)】
【Strength: 8 (10)】
【Agility: 7 (10)】
【Constitution: 8 (10)】
【Spirit: 7 (10)】
【Skills: None】
Below the attribute panel, there were also options like Instance, Inventory, Friends, etc.
"What level is EX-grade?" Zhou Li was stunned.
His gaze fell on the Talent, and immediately, related information appeared.
【Talent: Innate Sacredness (EX)】
【Effect One: Undying and Imperishable (No means can completely kill you. After death, you can choose to revive on the spot or in a safe location.)】
【Effect Two: Get Stronger by Breathing (As long as you breathe, you will get stronger in all aspects, and you can perfectly control it. The higher your rank, the greater the increase.)】
"This Talent is too heaven-defying."
Zhou Li was dumbfounded.
Just the Undying and Imperishable effect from Effect One was exaggerated enough, let alone the Get Stronger by Breathing effect from Effect Two.
He could seemingly feel his physical condition getting better and better with each breath he took.
This wasn't an illusion, because in just this short time, his Strength, Agility, Constitution, and Spirit on the attribute panel had all increased by 0.1.
This was too awesome.
Although he hadn't seen the effects of SSS-grade Talents, Zhou Li believed that his EX-grade Talent definitely surpassed them.