Chapter 2: Talent Annulled, System Unlocked

"Quick, look! Am I seeing things?"

Gasps and shouts erupted from the students below the stage, spreading like wildfire until every corner of the auditorium reverberated with their cries.

The noise swelled in waves, each surge louder than the last, coalescing into a thunderous roar that shook the hall.

"Holy shit! Is this fucking real?! Are my eyes about to give out from shock?!"

"S-Rank?! Fuck, fuck, fuck! We're witnessing history!"

S-Rank was the dividing line, separating ordinary people from true prodigies.

If the frequency of A-Rank Talent was 5%, then the frequency of S-Rank Talent was less than one in ten thousand.

How could this be? Ke Jie felt as if he'd been struck by lightning, his body suddenly plunged into icy water.

No, no, no! I still have a chance!

He recalled his father's plan, a cruel glint flashing in his eyes.

Ke Lu, you only have yourself to blame for having such extraordinary talent—it far exceeded our tolerance for you.

Grasping his phone tightly, he typed out a message:

"Father, Ke Lu's talent is S-Rank. Cripple her."

During the test, Ke Lu had been observing Ke Jie's reactions out of the corner of her eye. As expected, she caught his subtle movements.

A cold smile crept across her face. Looks like the System wasn't lying after all.

She turned and stepped off the stage, encountering the Principal's overly enthusiastic smile.

The Principal's face lit up the moment he saw her:

"Ke Lu, you're the teachers' most promising student. You must cultivate diligently and bring glory to our school."

Ke Lu eyed the principal's insincere smile and responded with a perfunctory "Mm."

This sycophantic Principal, she thought, has been secretly plotting to please Ke Jie and undermine me.

Seeing her reaction, the Principal's smile faltered. This little brat thinks she can put on airs with me?

As soon as the Principal left, Su Rou pounced on Ke Lu in a bear hug. "Aaaaah, Ke Lu! How could you be so amazing? You promised you'd be a lifelong slacker! You've betrayed the organization!"

Ke Lu didn't mind this close friend's antics. "Your class is next. You should go line up."

"Hmph! Just wait, I'll awaken an SSS-Rank Talent and blow your mind!"

"Alright, I'll be watching with bated breath. Hurry up and awaken your SSS-Rank Talent, Miss Su!"

Ke Lu chuckled, then leaned in close to Su Rou's ear and whispered urgently, "If anything unexpected happens, get someone to rescue my brother, Ke Yang, from our house immediately."

Su Rou froze, completely bewildered, but didn't press for details. Seeing the unprecedented gravity in Ke Lu's eyes, she nodded solemnly. "Understood! Leave it to me."

[Ding! Host, your father will arrive on the scene in ten seconds.]

Ke Lu calmly picked up her water bottle and took a sip.

The show is about to begin.

Ten seconds passed in the blink of an eye.

A roar, like the resounding toll of a great bell, reverberated through the entire grand hall:

"Ke Lu, kneel!"

The moment those words struck her, Ke Lu felt a splitting headache, as if a needle were being twisted in her skull. She lost all ability to think, her mind dissolving into chaos, and involuntarily sank to her knees.

Suddenly, a surge of heat washed over her chest, clearing her mind like a dawn breaking through the fog.

Ke Lu's eyes snapped open, still wide with shock and disbelief.

In that moment, she felt the crushing disparity in power. A single roar from her opponent had rendered her utterly helpless.

I must grow stronger. I must become stronger! she resolved. Otherwise, I'll be nothing more than a fish on the chopping block.

But what had protected her just now?

Her chest... it was the pendant her mother, Ke Qianqian, had given her.

[Notification: The Host's mother's keepsake can block mental attacks from beings at or below her former cultivation realm. Remaining uses: 2.]

The original host's mother... she was also a Martial Grandmaster. This meant Ke Zhan's power couldn't break through the pendant's defenses.

A ripple of emotion stirred within Ke Lu. Since transmigrating, she had focused mainly on her younger brother and her close friends, feeling little connection to this absent mother.

At this critical moment, her mother—whom she had never met in person, only glimpsed through the original host's memories—protected her, giving her a tangible sense of maternal love.

Before her, the crowd in the auditorium stood frozen, like puppets awaiting their master's commands.

Why "almost"? Because Ke Jie and the Principal remained unaffected.

Ke Lu mimicked the others' trance-like state, drawing on her past life's experience with turmoil and maintaining a flawless poker face—a role that required no actual acting.

Motionless, she knelt on the floor, outwardly composed.

He came to nullify my Talent, Ke Lu thought, yet he left the Principal and Ke Jie untouched. Ke Jie I can understand, but what about the Principal?

The "Principal" smiled eerily and turned to Ke Jie, asking, "Looks like you've handled your affairs."

"Of course," Ke Jie replied smugly. "Those fools didn't suspect a thing."

What affairs? And why does the Principal feel so different all of a sudden? Ke Lu wondered, when the System's voice chimed again:

[Alert: Host's father, Ke Zhan, is remotely controlling the Principal.]

[Triggered Quest: Investigate the Truth.]

[Description: What are the Principal and Ke Zhan plotting? There seems to be a secret behind Ke Jie's awakening.]

[Reward: Cerydra Template upgraded to LV1]

Ke Jie's awakening this time seems a bit... tainted, Ke Lu thought.

Ke Jie pointed at Ke Lu and snapped, "Get rid of her immediately! I can't stand seeing that woman lording over me for another minute."

"Very well," the Principal replied, his gaze shifting toward Ke Lu in her seat.

What kind of eyes were those? Gone was the Principal's usual smooth, worldly expression, replaced by a profound, icy stare. They seemed like bottomless vortexes, capable of swallowing everything, radiating a soul-devouring, bewitching aura.

Without the System's protection, Ke Lu wouldn't even be able to meet his gaze. Yet this didn't defeat her; rather, it intensified her burning desire to grow stronger.

The owner of those eyes slowly descended the stage. Ke Lu had expected him to walk straight toward her, but the Principal paused mid-stride and abruptly turned his head toward Su Rou.

He narrowed his eyes dangerously, casually raised his right hand, and clenched it fiercely in the air.

"Ugh!" Su Rou, standing at a distance, let out a stifled groan of pain as an invisible hand clamped around her neck, gradually lifting her feet off the ground.

Ke Lu's pupils constricted as she realized what was happening.

Su Rou's eyes, unlike the others', were no longer glazed over with confusion.

The Principal curled his lips into an amused smile. "Not bad. It seems your father equipped you with quite a few life-saving artifacts. I didn't even notice them at first."

He looked like he'd just discovered an interesting new toy.

"But the game ends here, little mouse," he said, his grip tightening.

Su Rou glared at him, fighting for breath as she choked out, "I... I've already told my father everything. You... you'd better watch yourself."

The "Principal" merely shrugged indifferently at the threat. "Then you should know that no matter what I plan to do, your father can't possibly arrive before I finish."

His grip tightened relentlessly. As a Martial Grandmaster, killing them would be effortless. He was merely savoring the pleasure of toying with his prey.

Su Rou's eyes rolled back in their sockets as her body convulsed from oxygen deprivation. A pampered young lady like her had never endured such humiliation, yet she stubbornly refused to yield, refusing to make a sound.

At that moment, Ke Lu, watching from the sidelines, burned with fury. If Ke Zhan didn't kill her today, she vowed to avenge the humiliation suffered by herself and Su Rou a thousandfold someday.

As for the "Principal," he wouldn't truly kill Su Rou. Doing so would ignite a full-scale war between the Ke and Su Families—a conflict he wasn't ready to provoke just yet.

Controlling his strength, the Principal choked Su Rou into complete unconsciousness before casually tossing her to the ground.

"Looks like we're running a bit short on time," he murmured, flashing to stand before Ke Lu in the blink of an eye.

A classical box appeared in the Principal's hand, revealing a dark green pill nestled quietly in its center.

Ke Jie stood nearby, his face alight with unrestrained smugness and excitement.

The Principal crouched down, pinching Ke Lu's cheeks to force her mouth open.

Ke Lu's head was jerked upward by Ke Zhan's grip. Noticing that he hadn't detected her ruse or been affected by whatever was happening, she breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems my mother's skill in this area is quite advanced, so much so that Ke Zhan hasn't detected anything amiss.

She felt something cool and smooth roll across her tongue, sliding down her throat and into her stomach.

The next moment, the coolness transformed into a searing heat, as if a flame had ignited within her body, growing ever fiercer until it invaded her limbs and seared her brain.

Fragmented syllables escaped Ke Lu's throat, her entire body swaying precariously like a crumbling tower, yet she refused to bow before her enemies.

Seizing the opportunity, Ke Jie lunged forward, clamping his hand around her neck and pinning her to the ground.

Each word that dripped from his lips was like the whispers of a demon:

"Dear sister, you shine too brightly. Ever since we were children, they've called me an illegitimate son, unfit to stand on the same stage as you."

"From this day forward, everyone will remember you as a worthless wretch. I am the chosen one, the true heir of the Ke Family."

[Ding! System fully unlocked.]

[Host has received the Beginner's Gift Pack: Cerydra Template LV0, Character "Hysilens," cultivation Talent has exceeded its limit and been upgraded to SSSS-Rank.]

Agony! It felt as though a gash had been ripped through her very soul, or as if someone had pressed a searing-hot branding iron into her body.

At the corner of Ke Lu's lips, hidden from view amidst the searing pain and burning agony, a cold, mad curve twitched.

Based on their current interaction and the original host's memories, this father was no benevolent fool, but a man of deep cunning and ruthless cruelty.

Though it remained unclear why he had merely crippled her Talent rather than deliver the killing blow, it mattered not. So long as she lived, so long as a sliver of hope remained...

The day she returned would be the day these people met their doom!