In the kitchen, Fang Huilan's family of four sat together.

On the table, besides the simple home-cooked dishes, there were two peculiar light blue potions.

Jiang Xiaoyu, Fang Huilan's younger daughter, looked at the only two potions and fumed, "Mom, there are three of us, so why are there only two potions? The talent test is coming up, and without this potion, what are we going to do? My classmate's dad pulled some strings and got her a whole set of ten potions! Now, only a few of my classmates from really poor families don't have any!"

Fang Huilan apologized, "Xiaoyu, this stuff is scarce right now. Your dad and I had to pull a lot of strings to get these, and they're ridiculously expensive. We've discussed it, and since you're still young, you shouldn't participate in this talent test. Let your sister and Brother Xin take part! Next time, we'll buy you two new ones, okay?"

Jiang Xiaoyu slammed the table, "No way! So you're saying that one of those potions should have been mine, but Fang Xin took it, right?"

"What are you saying, child!"

Jiang Xiaoyu stood up angrily, "Am I wrong? You're just biased towards your nephew who has no parents. He eats our food, uses our things, and now he wants to take what's supposed to be mine! Doesn't he have any shame?"

"Are you done yet?"

We are "pawread.com", find us on google.

With tears in her eyes, Jiang Xiaoyu turned to Jiang Weidong, who was sitting at the head of the table, "Dad! Say something fair. Why give my share to Fang Xin? If we hadn't taken in that stray, he'd have starved to death by now!"

Jiang Weidong looked at the two potions on the table, "Huilan, why not give Fang Xin's potion to Xiaoyu? After all, Xiaoyu is our own daughter. Fang Xin eats our food, uses our things, we've already done more than enough for him!"

"No way!" Fang Huilan immediately responded, "The talent test is crucial. It determines whether you can get a good job in the future. If the talent is good enough, you might even receive special training from the state! My brother and sister-in-law served the country before they passed away. If Xiao Xin can be like them, they would be very proud."

Jiang Weidong slammed the table, "Why not? Your nephew is precious, but my daughter isn't? Who's in charge of this house, me or you? Without us, your nephew Fang Xin would have been a stray long ago!"

Sitting at the side of the table, Jiang Xiaocha, the elder daughter, looked up and adjusted her rimless glasses, "Strictly speaking, what we eat, use, and even the place we live in were left by Fang Xin's parents. Without us, Fang Xin might have lived better, and we are the ones who are the strays! If I'm not mistaken, the money used to buy these two potions also came from what my uncle and aunt left for Fang Xin, right?"

Jiang Weidong was momentarily speechless.

Jiang Xiaoyu persisted, "The money his parents left is long gone, and Fang Xin has lived with us for so long. Haven't the costs of taking care of him already offset that? I don't care, this potion is mine! I don't want my classmates to laugh at me, saying my family can't afford a potion! Besides, I've already bragged to them that my parents would definitely buy me a potion!"

With that, Jiang Xiaoyu grabbed a potion and claimed it as her own.

Just as Fang Huilan was about to speak, there was a commotion at the door.

The family turned to look towards the entrance.

Fang Huilan stood up to greet him, "Xiao Xin, you're back! It's so dangerous at night now, why are you home so late?"

Fang Xin changed his shoes, "I went to the bookstore to read for a while."

"Come eat!"

Jiang Xiaoyu shot Fang Xin a hostile glare and muttered under her breath, "Shameless."

Fang Xin ignored her, having heard everything the family said earlier.

When his parents passed away, they left behind a great fortune, attracting many greedy relatives who wanted to take everything.

It was then that Fang Xin saw through the nature of people.

Later, he lived with his grandfather for a while, during which his grandfather told him many stories he had never heard before.

In the early 20th century, a mad scientist discovered that the world had changed, and human genes were undergoing a radical transformation due to some indescribable force.

At first, people thought it was just the ramblings of a mad scientist.

Until one day, someone could lift a massive object with one hand, someone could summon wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, someone could become invisible, and someone could do push-ups without using their hands...

From that moment, everything changed.

With the surge in power, human desires also grew.

Awakeners gradually split into two factions, known as the Holy Light Army and the Eternal Night Army.

The two sides fought continuously.

Later, at the end of the 20th century, the historic War of the Gods occurred.

It ended with a pyrrhic victory for the Light Faction.

Over the years, awakening has become more regulated.

Awakeners are now strictly controlled by the authorities, and talent tests are conducted starting in high school to determine if one will awaken.

Talent levels are categorized from E-Rank to the highest SSS-rank for easy reference.

The higher the rank, the rarer it is.

In the entire Dragon Nation, the annual talent test yields no more than twenty SSS-rank geniuses out of millions of candidates.

Each one has a bright future.

Fang Xin didn't know his specific talent level, but his current combat power, judged by Awakener standards, should be Level 4, unmatched by anyone of the same level.

Fang Xin had researched and found that in Dragon Nation's history, only two people had reached Level 4 at his age, both with SSS-rank talents.

Different talents lead to different growth limits.

The higher the rank, the better the benefits and treatment, and they are often recruited by official forces and other powerful entities.

Fang Xin awakened his Slaughter Talent after his parents passed away.

He could enhance his overall power through slaughter.

He also awakened the Strength Talent through this ability.

When he informed his grandfather about this, Fang Xin still remembers his grandfather's shocked expression.

That night, his grandfather didn't sleep, sitting in the courtyard smoking all night, muttering words like fate, Twilight of the Gods, and Godslayer.

The next day, his grandfather said he was going on a long journey. Before leaving, he repeatedly warned Fang Xin not to show this talent to others and gave him a pendant to wear around his neck to avoid detection. After that, his grandfather disappeared without a trace.

During his grandfather's disappearance, Jiang Weidong, his uncle-in-law, faced business troubles and was heavily in debt, with the family nearly scavenging for food. They eventually turned to Fang Xin for help.

Back then, Jiang Weidong still acted decently, so Fang Xin helped clear the debt. With nowhere to live, Fang Xin let his aunt's family move into the house his parents left behind.

Fang Huilan served Fang Xin a bowl of rice and patted his head, "Xiao Xin, I heard from Xiao Feng's mom that you ranked second in your grade in the monthly exam a few days ago, right?"

Fang Xin nodded.

"My Xiao Xin is amazing!" Fang Huilan looked at Fang Xin with satisfaction.

Jiang Xiaoyu scoffed disdainfully, "Being good at studying is useless. The times have changed, and awakening talent is more important than anything."

Jiang Xiaocha, taking small bites of her meal, chimed in, "If you're not smart, even if you awaken a talent, you'll just be cannon fodder!"

Fang Huilan gestured for her two daughters to stop bickering and continued speaking to Fang Xin, "Xiao Xin, the talent test is in a few days, and your aunt has bought you a potion! Xiaoyu, give the potion to your Brother Xin..."

Jiang Xiaoyu tucked the potion into her arms, "Why should I? It's mine!"

Just as Fang Huilan was about to speak, Jiang Xiaocha wiped her mouth and pushed the potion in front of her towards Fang Xin, "Brother, this one's yours!"

"I'm done eating, heading to my room!"

"Xiaocha!" Fang Huilan called out, but Jiang Xiaocha had already gone to her room.

Jiang Xiaoyu smirked, "Mom, if she doesn't want it, then just let it be."

Fang Huilan looked at the closed door of her elder daughter's room, her expression complicated.

Jiang Weidong put down his chopsticks, turned sideways, glanced at Fang Xin, and picked up the newspaper with a cold voice.

"Fang Xin!"

"Hmm?" Fang Xin looked up.

"This potion wasn't easy to come by!"

"Oh?"

Seeing Fang Xin's indifferent attitude, Jiang Weidong shook the newspaper vigorously, tapping his fingers on the table, "Do you know how many connections I had to pull with my old face to get this potion?"

"Wow!"

Seeing Fang Xin's reaction, Jiang Weidong shouted angrily, "I'm telling you, don't waste it! Don't let my efforts go to waste! If you don't show some results, move out of my house!"

"Ha! Never heard of it!"

Jiang Weidong, furious, slammed the table and stood up.

Pointing at Fang Xin, his finger jabbing the air, he then threw the newspaper onto the table.

Jiang Weidong got up to return to his room, deliberately kicking the trash can on his way to vent his anger.

Fang Huilan gritted her teeth and followed him into the bedroom, slamming the door shut.

"Jiang Weidong, what do you mean by this?"

Jiang Weidong's voice was loud, intentionally speaking for Fang Xin to hear outside, "What do I mean? What else could it mean? Look at his attitude! Raised but not taught! Is that how you talk to your elders? I want to see what kind of talent he can awaken after taking my daughter's potion!"

Jiang Xiaoyu, biting her chopsticks, smugly hummed and swayed her head.

"Fang Xin, I specifically asked a senior about it. Being good at studying doesn't guarantee a good talent awakening. Several top students from our school didn't even awaken any talent. If you end up awakening the most useless E-Rank, I'll laugh at you for two and a half years."