Chapter Twenty-Four: Returning Home and Family Allowance

Skills can be upgraded, and for intermediate skills, it only takes two points to level up before reaching Level 5. Chu Cheng currently has four points at hand, enough for two upgrades.

His gaze flickered between the two skills—Swift and Mighty Smash. After a moment's consideration, he decided to upgrade Mighty Smash first.

With a thought, the skill on his panel twisted slightly, rising from Level 1 to Level 2, and the skill effect changed a bit as well.

Mighty Smash Level 2 (Intermediate): Unleash a powerful strike on your target, dealing 230% of your maximum physical attack as damage, with a chance to trigger a Crushing effect. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Hint: The greater the strength difference, the higher the trigger chance.

The difference from Level 1 wasn’t significant—base damage increased from 200% to 230%, an increment of just 30% per level. A single level up didn’t show much, but once raised to Level 5, the accumulated improvement would be substantial.

Most importantly, this was only a minor skill, with a short cooldown.

A minute later, he used his remaining two skill points to further upgrade Mighty Smash from Level 2 to Level 3, boosting its damage to 260%.

With his skills sorted, Chu Cheng’s attention turned to his free attribute points. He was now Level 12 with 71% experience, just shy of Level 13.

Two levels gave him ten free attribute points, plus two more from a plot reward, making twelve in total.

Without hesitation, he split the points evenly between Constitution and Strength, six each, leaving Agility untouched.

For now, his speed and reflexes were adequate; increasing his health cap and attack power was more beneficial.

With this, his base health shot up to 800, and his base attack reached an impressive 52.

Closing the panel, Chu Cheng stretched out on the bed and fell into a peaceful sleep.

He slept until noon the next day before waking up refreshed. He stepped onto the balcony, stretched thoroughly in the sunlight, and only then returned inside.

He washed up.

He ate.

It was rare to feel so at ease and leisurely; Chu Cheng relished this kind of life, though he knew it couldn’t last.

Although the next major class was a month away, he couldn’t really idle for that long—he needed something to do.

Since he couldn’t access any dungeons at school for now, he planned to return to his family, register his awakened talent, and collect his allowance.

By family rules, every member, whether from the main or branch lines, legitimate or otherwise, would receive a generous grant upon awakening their talent.

There was no hiding a talent anyway, so he might as well trade it for some benefits.

Besides, he intended to come clean with his father and stepmother, renounce all inheritance rights, and secure some compensation from them.

This was the time to seize the opportunity. After all, the family was only a mid-sized local clan with limited resources. Asking now, when he was just around Level 10, would yield a substantial boost—just what he needed.

If he waited until he reached Level 20 or 30, those resources wouldn’t be nearly as helpful.

Having decided, he immediately packed up to head out.

Just as he opened the door, he suddenly received a message from his homeroom teacher:

“Come to my office.”

“I’ll be right there.”

He turned around at once and headed to the teacher’s office.

Knock, knock, knock!

“Come in.”

Pushing the door open, he saw his homeroom teacher, Duan Yuqin, in casual clothes, reviewing a document at her desk.

She set down the paper upon seeing Chu Cheng and gestured to the chair across from her.

“Sit.”

Once he was seated, she clasped her hands and asked,

“I called you here today to hear your thoughts. What plans do you have for your life?”

“Or to put it another way, which top-tier academy do you aspire to attend?”

Without hesitation, Chu Cheng replied,

“Any first-rate academy will do.”

“A first-rate academy, hmm?”

She nodded, understanding, and then asked,

“Do you have any more ambitious goals?”

Chu Cheng tilted his head, looking puzzled.

“More ambitious? Do you mean the elite academies?”

“Yes. Have you considered them?”

“Uh…”

Chu Cheng shook his head.

“I’d be lying if I said I never thought about it. But my early progress was too slow. I’ve only just reached Level 10, and I’m not from the main family, so I lack strong support. Getting into an elite academy is too difficult.”

Even as he shook his head, he had indeed considered it. Though less than a year remained before the entrance exams, with the help of his golden finger and talent, catching up to the gifted ones within the next half year wasn’t impossible.

But as things stood, he wasn’t confident enough to boast—he’d rather not make empty promises and end up a laughingstock.

“You should give it a try!”

Duan Yuqin said earnestly,

“I have great faith in your talent and believe you can do it.”

“I can offer whatever support I can—apply for resources and opportunities from the school that others can’t get. As long as you seize these chances and turn them into real gains, you could very well qualify for an elite academy in the upcoming entrance exams.”

Chu Cheng was silent for a moment.

“I’ll do my best!”

Turning down such an offer was out of the question—who would refuse benefits handed to them?

He agreed readily, determined to seize every opportunity, but made no promises about actually making it to an elite academy.

He didn’t linger in the teacher’s office; after some small talk, Duan Yuqin inquired seriously about his talent, his understanding of it, and the skills he was currently learning. Before he left, she promised to prepare an appropriate skill for him.

He was quite looking forward to it.

After bidding farewell to his teacher, Chu Cheng went straight home.

The Chu family was based in Yuntai, considered a mid-sized clan with several private dungeons, though all were small-scale—none were medium-sized.

Upon returning, Chu Cheng first went to the family shrine, offered incense to his ancestors, and then found the clan elder in charge of registration.

“So, Chu Cheng, you’ve awakened your talent?”

A white-haired elder studied him curiously, evidently surprised.

Without further ado, Chu Cheng shared his talent directly.

The elder and several other clan elders nearby all looked on in surprise.

“This is a fine talent. You must cultivate it well.”

The elder, stroking his white beard, smiled kindly.

“Child, according to clan rules, any member who awakens a talent is entitled to a growth package. Do you have any specific needs for your reward?”

Chu Cheng replied at once,

“I’m fine in other aspects—what I need most now is skill points to upgrade my skills.”

The elder nodded and smiled,

“A wise choice. Early on, a powerful skill gives a massive advantage.”

After a brief pause, he said,

“If you convert the entire resource package into skill stones, you’ll receive ten skill points in total. Are you sure about this?”

Chu Cheng nodded eagerly,

“I am.”

“Very well.”

The elder was straightforward. Once Chu Cheng agreed, he processed the registration, verification, and record-keeping. By the time the procedure was finished, an hour had passed.

“It’s good to have a family backing you.”

A single talent grant was worth ten skill points—probably worth over a dozen gold coins if converted to currency.