Mist rolled over Wen Clan Mountain, curling between the tiled rooftops and training towers. Sunlight pierced the mist, casting faint golden patterns across the clan courtyard, where disciples' rhythmic movements carved shadows on the ground.
For most, it was a normal morning.
For Wen Chen, it was the day everything would change.
---
He stood at the edge of the main training ground, arms trembling slightly, heart hammering. Sweat clung to his forehead. Around him, disciples trained furiously:
Fists struck air with sharp "whooshes"
Feet stomped into the ground, kicking up dust
Qi surged, pulsating through veins
Wen Chen's eyes, sharp despite his tiny frame, followed every movement. Each disciple moved with perfect precision, each breath a rhythm of determination.
And yet… he felt weak.
Born with a Mortal Root, his cultivation struggled to keep up with even beginners. His father, Wen Jian, was strict and rarely showed approval. His older brother, Wen Hao, a natural genius, never hid his contempt. Wen Chen often felt invisible, overshadowed, and insignificant.
---
Then it happened.
From the air around the training disciples, tiny lights began to shimmer.
Little glowing spheres. Faintly colored. Floating silently, moving as if guided by invisible hands.
Orbs.
Wen Chen's breath caught. His eyes widened.
No one else noticed.
No one else reacted.
He watched as the nearest disciple executed a punch technique—perfect form, sweat flying from his brow—and a white orb appeared in the air, hovering like a snowflake.
It drifted slowly toward Wen Chen.
His heart raced.
---
He reached out with a trembling hand.
Touch.
The orb dissolved instantly into warm, golden light. A soft chime echoed in his mind.
And the panel appeared.
---
[Floating Golden System Panel]
Name: Wen Chen
Cultivation Level: Body Tempering – Stage 1
Talent Grade: Mortal Root (Lowest)
Talent Progress: 0%
Luck Points: 1
Function:
Luck Points can only upgrade Talent.
Luck Orbs appear only during martial cultivation.
Orbs must be touched to absorb.
---
Wen Chen blinked, awe and disbelief mixing in his chest. He looked around. More orbs appeared:
Green orb from someone pushing their body
Blue orb when a disciple comprehended a technique
Red orb from a clash during sparring
All floated silently toward him. Only he could see them. Only he could touch them.
---
He stretched his small hand again.
Touch.
A warm pulse spread through his arm. Another chime rang. The panel updated.
---
[Luck Points +5 → 6]
---
The boy's chest swelled with excitement.
This… was impossible.
Talent.
He could improve his Talent. The one thing he had been mocked for. The one thing he could never surpass. Now, with each orb, each careful touch, his Talent would grow.
He clenched his fists tightly, eyes glowing faintly. Determination coursed through him.
"One day…" he whispered under his breath, voice trembling but firm.
"I will rise above all of them… using luck they can't see."
---
Outside, disciples continued their training, unaware. Sweat dripped, breaths heaved, qi surged—and orbs continued to appear. Each orb represented hope, potential, and destiny.
Every touch made Wen Chen stronger—not in brute force, not in cultivation directly, but in raw Talent, the foundation of genius.
A faint golden ripple spread across the sky, as if destiny itself had turned toward the weakest child of Wen Clan.
He reached for another orb.
Touch.
---
[Luck Points +7 → 13]
The newborn smiled faintly, small but full of determination.
Every orb he touched brought him closer to rewriting his fate.
This life… he would shape with his own hands.
One orb at a time.