Fang Yu was led into one of countless perfectly circular rooms. The dense array of Awakening Stones made his eyes spin.
"Mr. Guo, um… the one who's here for Awakening has arrived," the girl in the long robe said with a slight stutter after entering.
"Oh, got it. Have him sit there," the man surnamed Guo replied flatly, seemingly busy with something.
"Th-then I'll be leaving." The girl secretly glanced at Mr. Guo, a trace of disappointment flashing across her face before she left.
Following Mr. Guo's instructions, Fang Yu sat down to wait. He was still a little excited just like during his first Awakening at the school training grounds.
Meanwhile, the man surnamed Guo didn't even spare Fang Yu a glance and walked into another room.
The room was somewhat dim. The man glanced at his female apprentice and asked, "Xiao Mian, is the Awakening Stone ready?"
"Which element's Guiding Stone should I place?" the apprentice named Xiao Mian asked.
"Let me see…" Guo Liyu walked to the doorway, glanced at Fang Yu from afar, and, too impatient to ask directly, said, "Summoning."
"You're not going to ask him?" Xiao Mian said.
"I hate these good-for-nothing rich brats the most. He looks seventeen or eighteen at least. Coming for Awakening at this age, obviously trying to throw money around to get a Summoning Element. If my Awakening Room weren't short on funds for a new shipment, I wouldn't even waste an Awakening Stone on this kind of person," Guo Liyu said.
"How much did you charge him, Master?" Xiao Mian asked timidly.
"Three hundred thousand. Even then, the probability of Awakening the Summoning Element is only slightly higher than normal," Guo Liyu replied.
Xiao Mian's mouth fell open.
Charging three hundred thousand just to slightly increase someone's chances of Awakening the Summoning Element, Master was truly ruthless!
Of course, Xiao Mian didn't dare say anything further. She obediently placed the Summoning Guiding Stones one by one around the large Awakening Stone.
An Awakening Room located within the largest Magic Association naturally used top-quality Awakening Stones. Their fees were correspondingly high. Only certain special referrals received free service.
"Kid, come here. I'll say this in advance, what element you Awaken depends on fate and your bloodline. Even with guided Awakening, the success rate only increases slightly. So if you Awaken Light or Water or something, don't blame me," Guo Liyu said to Fang Yu with a look that clearly suggested he wasn't in a good mood.
"I understand. Can we begin?" Fang Yu replied.
"You may go inside. We won't disturb you during the Awakening process," Xiao Mian said.
Once Fang Yu entered, she closed the door and left.
Fang Yu stepped into the Awakening Room, illuminated entirely by luminous stones. When he approached the Awakening Stone, he quickly noticed that around the large stone were many smaller bead-like stones glowing with a moonlit sheen.
The small beads emitted a clear dimensional aura.
The Awakening Stone itself looked familiar, yet it was obviously different from the large batch of inexpensive Awakening Stones provided by the school.
Awakening Stones were prohibited from being sold. Each use required real-name registration. They were essentially controlled by the Magic Association, which then distributed them to schools, the military, the Hunter's Union, and designated organizations. Half of high school tuition fees effectively went toward the cost of Awakening Stones.
Guiding Stones, an even more expensive item, could be freely traded, but academies had no reason to provide them free of charge to students.
Fang Yu wasn't certain whether he would succeed. Looking at the Summoning Guiding Stones placed around the Awakening Stone, his heartbeat quickened.
Closing his eyes, Fang Yu gently placed his palm upon the cool surface of the Awakening Stone.
The smooth, icy stone responded the moment it sensed the warmth of a human hand. A glow slowly blossomed from the very center of the round stone.
It was very similar to his first Awakening. With his eyes closed, Fang Yu could clearly feel a strange energy surging from his palm, traveling through his body's blood vessels, then flashing into his spiritual universe—
Within a chaotic corner of his spiritual universe, it was as though a small life was being conceived. It began reshaping that portion of spiritual space, slowly, very slowly carving out a small territory of its own.
What is the color of this Stardust?
After careful observation, Fang Yu realized that this element was, in the truest sense, colorless.
It was transparent.
You could perceive it because you could clearly sense the outline of a Stardust within that chaos. Yet it was nearly transparent. If one had to describe its color, it would be the occasional gleam of pure moonlight!
Summoning Element!
The guidance had succeeded!
Guo Liyu was a well-known Awakening Master in the country. The success rate of guided Awakening under him was far higher than at schools. Fang Yu hadn't expected it to truly succeed!
Joy surged within him.
Scenes flashed through his mind, a dashing image of himself commanding a feathered beast soaring across the sky!
Riding a magnificently cool beast galloping through city streets!
"Are you done yet?"
Outside the door, Xiao Mian pushed it open on her own initiative. Seeing that Fang Yu had already completed the Awakening, she pouted slightly.
"If you're done, hurry out. There's another mage waiting for Awakening later. Don't—"
She suddenly froze.
"Eh? Why doesn't your element have a color?" Xiao Mian stared at the Awakening Stone in surprise.
Outside.
Hearing his disciple's startled exclamation, Guo Liyu immediately stood up and hurried over to look into the Awakening Room.
When he saw that the Awakening Stone displayed no color at all, only occasionally shimmering with a faint moonlit glow, the tight expression on his face was replaced by shock.
This…
What kind of ridiculous luck did this rich brat have? He had actually Awakened, the Summoning Element!
The vast majority of people Awakened an Elemental Element as their first element. Awakening White Magic, Black Magic, or a Dimensional Element was already considered being favored by the heavens.
After all, the first Awakening determined one's primary cultivation. A primary element gave a mage far more time to cultivate and practice it, allowing mastery far beyond those who treated such elements as secondary or auxiliary.
Guo Liyu fell silent. The kid had really succeeded.
In terms of probability, Awakening an Elemental Element as the first element was the most common. Next came Black Magic and White Magic. The rarest of all were the Dimensional Elements!
A mage who possessed Summoning ability as their first element would, as long as they were willing, be treated like treasure by various factions. The cost-performance ratio was simply too high.
"Kid, that three hundred thousand you spent was well worth it," Guo Liyu said, the corner of his mouth twitching as he addressed Fang Yu.
"Unfortunately, even if you've Awakened a special element, you're still trash if you don't work hard. And at your age, you're already far behind normal people."
Fang Yu was utterly confused, not understanding why Guo Liyu was calling him old.
At his age, being able to step into the Mid-Tier was extremely rare in the country.
This was what happened when jealousy fractured someone's composure.
They started talking nonsense.
"Alright, you're done Awakening, so hurry up and leave. I'm busy," Guo Liyu finally waved his hand, having seen enough in his life, and began dismissing him.
Fang Yu didn't say anything further and simply left.
He had originally wanted to offer some words of thanks, but given the man's attitude, he abandoned the idea.