Lin Li hurried over to an unremarkable little tree. It was about two meters tall and not very lush, giving it a malnourished look.
Staring at the egg-sized fruit on the tree—its color as vibrant as a flame—Lin Li was lost in thought.
Just as he was debating whether to pick the red fruit, its surface suddenly flashed with a faint golden light.
Lin Li knew that light all too well... 'It's Spiritual Light!'
After seeing the faint golden light flash across the fruit's surface, Lin Li no longer hesitated. He immediately reached out to pick it from the tree.
The fruit seemed perfectly ripe. When Lin Li grabbed it, he barely had to use any force before it came right off the branch.
As he looked at the fruit in his hand, Lin Li suddenly caught a mouth-watering fragrance.
The fragrance was emanating from the very fruit he held. 'How strange... it had no scent at all before I picked it.'
The enticing aroma grew stronger. Holding the miraculous fruit, Lin Li had a sudden premonition... 'If I don't eat this soon, it's going to disappear.'
'I've never seen a fruit like this before, but it smells so fragrant and tempting. It probably isn't poisonous.'
Lin Li, worried he might be poisoned, offered himself that bit of reassurance before gritting his teeth and stuffing the fruit into his mouth.
CRUNCH, CRUNCH...
His teeth came together, and the small red fruit was instantly crushed to bits.
Sweet juice flowed between his lips and teeth, and Lin Li couldn't help but lose himself in the delectable flavor.
"This is the most delicious fruit I've ever eaten," Lin Li mumbled after finishing it. "It doesn't even have a pit, which saves some trouble."
'There's no reaction at all! Don't tell me this little fruit is just an ordinary, tasty piece of fruit?'
His disappointment didn't last three seconds before he felt a warm current suddenly surge from within his body.
It was a familiar warmth—the same feeling he got when his body absorbed the ambient Spiritual Energy in the air during his training.
'It's happening, it's happening... I knew this little red fruit was special.' A look of delighted surprise spread across Lin Li's face as he felt the warm current within him grow stronger and stronger.
What was that saying again...? Ah, yes: extreme joy begets sorrow.
'Slow down, slow down, not so fast! I can't handle this!'
Lin Li felt the warm current inside him grow increasingly ferocious, as if it were about to burst him open from the inside.
'No!' In an instant, the look of delight on his face turned to one of sheer terror.
"AAAAH—!"
Unable to take it anymore, Lin Li let out a cry and passed out.
After he fainted, a faint golden Spiritual Light began to radiate from his body as he lay on the grass.
As time passed, had a Cultivator been present, they would have clearly Perceived the Spiritual Energy Wave emanating from Lin Li's body rapidly intensifying.
...
'I... I'm still alive...?!'
He didn't know how much time had passed, but when Lin Li opened his eyes to the familiar scene, he quickly scrambled up from the grass.
He patted himself down all over, front and back. Confirming that he hadn't lost any arms or legs, he heaved a sigh of relief.
'Huh? Why is there so much Spiritual Energy inside me?'
Lin Li suddenly Perceived the change in his body's Spiritual Energy, and a shocked expression appeared on his face.
If his previous level of Spiritual Energy was a single scoop of water from a ladle, what he had now was an entire bucket—one of those large ones, a meter tall and half a meter wide.
Although he didn't know what his cultivation level was, Lin Li was absolutely certain he had now become a Cultivator.
"Hahaha... I've become a Cultivator... Hahaha... Huh—"
His booming laughter died in his throat. He stared blankly at his right hand, where a small Fireball had materialized above his fingertip.
The Fireball was the size of a pigeon's egg and gave off an orange-red glow.
"A Superpower... I-I've awakened a Superpower..." Lin Li murmured, staring at the small Fireball floating above his fingertip.
Everyone has a certain chance of having their Spirituality awaken when they turn fifteen. Then, by training their bodies and absorbing the ambient Spiritual Energy in the air, they can become a Cultivator.
After becoming a Cultivator, an even smaller fraction are lucky enough to awaken all sorts of strange and wonderful Superpowers, making them the cream of the crop among Cultivators of the same level.
One could say that most people who awaken their Spirituality will eventually become a Cultivator through hard work and persistent training.
Superpowers, however, are not something that can be obtained through effort. The Cultivators who awaken them are, one might say, blessed with heaven's favor.
And now, here on this mysterious island, Lin Li had not only experienced a massive surge in his cultivation in a short time but had also gained a Flame Superpower—all just from eating a small red fruit.
If he told anyone about this, they'd never believe him. They would just think he was some lunatic.
Someone's cultivation greatly increasing after eating a fruit rich with Spiritual Energy? That was plausible. This world had plants that transformed into Spirit Plants due to Spiritual Energy, and some of them bore Spirit Fruits capable of boosting a person's cultivation.
But a Spirit Fruit like the one Lin Li had eaten—one that could grant a Superpower—was something no one had ever seen or heard of until now.
"Bigger, bigger, bigger..."
Lin Li stared at the pigeon-egg-sized Fireball on his fingertip, shouting as he channeled the Spiritual Energy from his body into it.
As Lin Li fed it Spiritual Energy, the small Fireball continuously expanded. When it grew to the size of a soccer ball, Lin Li felt his Spiritual Energy reserves about to bottom out, so he quickly stopped channeling more into it.
"Go!"
Lin Li flicked his hand toward the distant surface of the water, and the soccer-ball-sized Fireball he had gathered shot out with a WHOOSH.
BOOM!
The speeding Fireball hit the water and immediately erupted in a massive explosion.
A wave several meters high was thrown up by the explosion and rushed toward Lin Li on the shore.
SPLASH.
"Oof—"
Still stunned by the power of the explosion, Lin Li had no time to dodge the three-meter-high wave that crashed into him, knocking him flat on the ground and soaking him from head to toe.
"Hahaha..."
Lying on the grass, knocked down by the wave and completely soaked, Lin Li didn't utter a single complaint. Instead, he just lay there and roared with laughter.
'I'm about to take off... This time, I'm really going to make it big... Marrying a rich, beautiful girl, reaching the Peak of my life... that dream isn't just a dream anymore.'
...