In order to learn more, Ryan delved deeper into the memories of this body, and immediately, a strange scene appeared in his mind.
It was a room similar to a great hall, with eight men in uniform standing solemnly around it, and in the center, guarded by them, stood a man in formal clothing.
Beside the man was a concave platform, on which rested a transparent sphere slightly larger than an adult's fist. Ryan didn't know what material it was made of, it didn't look like glass, nor did it resemble anything he had seen before.
At this moment, a long line of well-dressed teenagers stood waiting, and judging from their clothing, none of them came from poor families. The line stretched all the way outside the hall and disappeared from sight.
A fair-faced blond teenager nervously stepped forward and came to the platform, and under everyone's gaze, he reached toward the transparent sphere in the center and grasped it tightly, refusing to let go, as if he wanted to seize an invisible fate.
One second, two seconds, and then, in the third second, a sudden change occurred, and the originally transparent sphere, clear as water, emitted a faint light.
"Weak Cultivation Talent. Young man, what is your name?" The man beside the platform looked at the teenager and asked.
"Sir, my name is Ryan."
This was the scene from when Ryan's Cultivation Talent had been officially examined. It was probably one of the memories that had left the deepest impression on the previous Ryan, so when Ryan searched through his mind, he found it immediately.
However, the memory stopped there, and there was no follow-up. Perhaps because too much time had passed, some of this body's memories were incomplete.
Even so, it didn't prevent Ryan from understanding many things from what he had just seen. Obviously, this world contained mysteries far beyond anything that had existed in his previous life, after all, he had never seen anything like that transparent sphere, which could directly determine a person's Cultivation Talent.
"Cultivation Talent?" Ryan focused his attention on his own body, and soon, several lines of information suddenly appeared before his eyes.
Human: Ryan
Cultivation Talent: Weak
Martial Art Talent: Primary
"What's going on?" Ryan was stunned.
At first glance, he thought it was an illusion, but after staring at the information for a while, he became certain that what he was seeing was real and not a hallucination.
"System? No, this may be my hidden talent!" Ryan pondered for a moment.
The information was extremely simple, at the moment it only showed that Ryan possessed Weak Cultivation Talent and Primary Martial Art Talent, and nothing else.
"Weak Talent..." Seeing the evaluation beside his Cultivation Talent, Ryan's brow twitched again, and he finally understood just how troublesome the situation left behind by the original Ryan really was.
Weak Cultivation Talent was the lowest grade of Cultivation Talent, and it was almost impossible for someone with such talent to achieve much on the path of cultivation. No matter how hard they worked, their progress would be painfully slow, and becoming a genuine Blood Warrior would be extremely difficult.
In other words, with the original Ryan's talent, there was almost no hope of going far on the path of cultivation, and this was also why, despite his immense effort, he had already failed two assessments during his first year.
"A bit troublesome." Ryan frowned slightly.
The academy he currently attended was called Aegis Martial Academy, one of the foremost martial academies in Greyhaven, and anyone who successfully graduated from it would have bright prospects, but there was one prerequisite, that is, they had to actually graduate.
Corresponding to the generous prospects offered to its graduates, Aegis Martial Academy's requirements for its students were extremely strict. There were several assessments throughout the year, and if a student failed three consecutive assessments, they would be forcibly expelled from the academy.
Unfortunately, the next assessment would take place in a month and a half, and this assessment would determine Ryan's fate. The original Ryan had already failed twice in a row, so if he failed a third time, he would have no choice but to leave Aegis Martial Academy.
"I must find a way to stay in this academy…"
Whether it was to better understand this world or for his future plans, remaining at Aegis Martial Academy was without a doubt the best choice, and thus, an unavoidable problem appeared before him, how could he pass the assessment in only a month and a half?
Cultivating desperately was clearly not enough. The original owner of this body had already cultivated incredibly diligently, most of his memories of academy life involved cultivation, and it would hardly be an exaggeration to call him a cultivation fanatic, but unfortunately, despite all that effort, he had still fallen behind.
Thump, thump, thump!
Just as Ryan was thinking about his situation, a sudden knock sounded at the door.
"Who…?" Ryan immediately became alert, and after hesitating for a moment, he asked in the familiar yet strange language of this world.
Having only just arrived in this world and taken over this unfortunate young man's body, this was naturally when he felt the most insecure.
"Ryan, are you awake? It's me, Elias." A boy's voice came from outside the door.
Hearing it, Ryan immediately remembered who the person was, Elias Mercer. He was a student from the same batch as the original Ryan and had been assigned to the same class, and he had taken good care of the original Ryan, so he was one of Ryan's few friends at the academy.
"Come in." Quickly recalling everything he knew about Elias Mercer, Ryan tried his best to imitate the original Ryan's manner of speaking.
Creak!
The door opened, and a young boy with flaxen curly hair stepped inside, wearing the black uniform of Aegis Martial Academy decorated with white patterns.
As Elias approached, another set of information suddenly appeared before Ryan's eyes.
Human: Elias Mercer
Cultivation Talent: Inferior — Replicable
Ryan's pupils shrank, "Replicable?"
He stared carefully at the information, and the word remained there. In other words, he could replicate Elias's Inferior Cultivation Talent.
Faced with this choice, Ryan naturally didn't act immediately. Inferior Talent was indeed better than his own Weak Talent, but it was still considered low, and even if he copied it, there was no guarantee it would solve his current problem.
"But is my talent the ability to see and replicate other people's talents?" Ryan felt that his strange ability was definitely not so simple.
Seeing Ryan already sitting up on the bed, Elias immediately asked with concern, "How are you? Feeling better?"
"Much better." Ryan nodded, doing his best to maintain the original Ryan's speaking style.
"Sigh, it's not that I'm lecturing you, but Derek was clearly provoking you, you shouldn't have accepted his challenge."
"I couldn't hold back for a moment. You carried me back, right? Thanks."
"Don't mention it, as long as you're alright, that's what matters. Don't be so impulsive in the future." Elias sighed, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself."
After saying this, Elias turned and left, but there was a trace of disappointment in his heart.
When he had first entered the academy, Ryan's diligence and hard work had made Elias believe that investing some effort into maintaining a friendship with him might eventually bring unexpected returns, but he had never expected things to turn out this way.
"Did I really misjudge him? Oh well, investments always carry risks, I'll just consider this a failed investment."
After Elias left, Ryan remained alone in the room, thinking about his newly discovered ability. Since he could see Elias's talent, logically speaking, he should also be able to see the talents of other people, and more importantly, the word "Replicable" had appeared beside Elias's Cultivation Talent.
"Go shopping on the streets!" After making up his mind, Ryan left the academy grounds alone.
The streets were lively, with people coming and going constantly. Most of them were ordinary people, some were Blood Warrior Apprentices, and only a small number were genuine Rank 1 Blood Warriors, who gave off a powerful presence, so whenever ordinary people approached too closely, they instinctively felt pressure and even found their breathing becoming slightly uncomfortable.
Inferior Talent!
Inferior Talent!
Weak Talent!
Inferior Talent!
...
Ryan walked through the streets while examining the people around him, and he found that most possessed either Weak or Inferior Cultivation Talent, while he saw very few people with Primary Cultivation Talent.
"It seems that in Greyhaven, Primary Cultivation Talent is already very good!" Ryan frowned.
But after thinking about it, that made sense, even in a large survival city like Greyhaven, genuinely good Cultivation Talents were still rare.
"Medium Talent, at least find a Medium Talent to copy." Ryan continued walking.
His talent-inspection ability only worked within approximately three meters, which was extremely limited, and if he tried examining random people one by one, it would take far too long.
The best option was to find someone already known for cultivating quickly, approach within three meters, and inspect their talent directly, and as long as that person possessed Medium Cultivation Talent or better, Ryan would seriously consider copying it.
Thinking of people with exceptional cultivation speed, one name immediately surfaced in Ryan's mind, Adrian Blackwood.
He was a student from the same batch as Ryan, but unlike the poorly talented Ryan, Adrian was, without exception, the most dazzling student in the entire first year.
Born into one of Greyhaven's powerful founding families, his talent was terrifyingly strong, he consistently ranked first among the first-year students, and even many upper-year students were no match for him. It was rumored that Adrian had already become a Rank 1 Blood Warrior.
Rank 1 Blood Warrior was the first true threshold on the path of cultivation, and although it was only the lowest true Blood Warrior rank, reaching it was enough to separate someone from ordinary people. A Rank 1 Blood Warrior could easily secure a good position in Greyhaven and live without worrying about basic necessities, though of course, someone like Adrian Blackwood, a descendant of one of Greyhaven's founding families, would hardly care about such a position.
"But how can I get within three meters of this guy?" Ryan couldn't help but frown deeply.
Just like his outstanding talent, Adrian Blackwood's personality was famous for its arrogance, and he was extremely difficult to approach. Obviously, someone with no apparent future like Ryan wasn't part of Adrian Blackwood's social circle.
Ryan continued thinking as he walked. Only a month and a half remained before the assessment, so if he wanted to stay at Aegis Martial Academy, he needed to find a suitable Cultivation Talent to copy before that day arrived.