A VERY UNUSUAL ORIENTATION

Gu Xi Chen followed the teacher as they made their way towards a room labeled "orientation." The sound of hushed discussions could be heard from behind the closed door about the teachers and principal being in a frenzy about the arrival of a new student. As Gu Xi Chen and the teacher entered the room, a sudden silence fell over the classroom. All eyes turned towards him, filled with shock and surprise. It was as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Ignoring the curious stares, the teacher smiled and introduced Gu Xi Chen as their new classmate.

Looking around the room, Gu Xi Chen noticed that there were about twelve other students, all looking at him with confusion, except for one person sitting alone at the back of the classroom—Uncle Gu's daughter. Her expressionless silver-grey eyes met his dark blue ones with golden flecks. His eyes had a unique and intriguing quality to them, with a nearly black circle surrounding his iris. Many people found his eyes strange and captivating, often unable to look at them for a prolonged period of time. And as predicted, she averted her gaze from him shortly after. Although her eyes retained their steely, expressionless demeanor if he had been paying attention, he would have noticed the red tint on the tip of her ears again, but alas, he was too distracted by his predicament to notice.

He turned his attention to the other members of the class, who were also observing him intently. One of them, whose voice he could hear from outside, seemed unable to tolerate the tension any longer. Standing up, he addressed the teacher, saying, "This doesn't make sense. He looks underage. How did he get in? Hey kid, how old are you?" The question was directed at Xi Chen. "I just turned 13," Xi Chen responded matter-of-factly. "Then what are you doing here?" The student continued to interrogate Xi Chen as if he had committed a crime. "Same as you, I suppose," Xi Chen replied nonchalantly, growing slightly irritated at the questioning. "Then which influential family are you from that they managed to admit you despite your lack of qualifications?" The student's voice grew louder with each question answered by Xi Chen, displaying increasing anger. At this point, Xi Chen's patience had reached its limit. "I'm not sure, but my dad is a gardener and my mom is a seamstress," he replied impatiently before turning to the teacher and asking if he could take his seat now before losing his temper. He understood the perspective of the other person, as it seemed to be an unprecedented situation; however, that didn't excuse their attitude. The teacher nodded, giving him a knowing smile. When he turned back to face the class, he was met with shocked expressions, with some of their jaws dropping to the ground. Ignoring their reaction, he made his way to the back of the classroom, columns away from the steel-eyed girl. The teacher finally spoke up, "Please forgive their behavior. You're quite unique, so they were caught off guard." The teacher's smile remained as if trying to appease Xi Chen, but Xi Chen continued to stare at him without any change in expression. He didn't care about what these people thought of him. His main focus was on discovering the purpose of this special class he had just been put into.

Since there was no response from Xi Chen, the teacher decided to start the orientation class. "How many of you know why you're here?" Everyone except Xi Chen and another boy sitting in the corner, unnoticed and almost blending into the shadows, raised their hands. Xichen had noticed this boy since he entered the classroom, noting how out of place he seemed in that class. The strange thing was that nobody else appeared to be paying much attention to him, not even the teacher. The teacher continued to explain that they were gathered there because they were considered to be awakened as transcendent beings. You might be wondering exactly what transcendents are. They are individuals who were born with the extraordinary ability to travel between our world and the shadow realms.

Now, what exactly is this shadow realm? Well, up until around 200 years ago, humans were leading normal lives, unaware of the impending danger lurking in their worlds. People then suddenly started dying without any prior warnings or explanations, not medically or physically; they just dropped dead. They would be engaged in conversation one moment, and the next moment, they would drop dead without any medical or physical causes. Additionally, they noticed that their lands were becoming infertile, unrecognizable, and unusable, and incurable diseases were spreading rapidly.

This situation became a growing concern, but no one could figure out what the root cause of the problem was. Eventually, a small group of people started noticing mysterious creatures lurking in the shadows. These creatures would attack unsuspecting individuals, and when those individuals who noticed this phenomenon fought back, they discovered that they could actually touch and interact with the shadows themselves. On a certain day, a group of them came together, and they bravely fought their way out and successfully defeated the creature that was trying to attack a young man.

As the lifeless body of the defeated creature lay before them, the people surrounding the heroes, who were finally able to see the creature after it was dead, were filled with shock and astonishment. Soon after, the authorities arrived at the scene, equally surprised by what they witnessed. The creature appeared similar to an ant but exhibited bipedal locomotion (walking on two feet) like that of a human. Despite its height of approximately 8 feet, which made it slightly taller than the average man, an arrow had pierced its ribcage, penetrating both of its hearts. Yes, this creature possessed two hearts and proved difficult to kill since it could survive as long as one of them continued to beat. The young man, who had been attacked and was responsible for issuing the final blow, thereby slaying the creature, had just finished his archery practice. He was a skilled archer and held the title of champion archer of the G countries. As they stood there, contemplating what to do next, the sun began to rise, and to their surprise, the lifeless creature disintegrated into dust and vanished. This marked the first encounter with the shadow world. The young man as well as the other brave individuals who helped him slay the monster became known as the first to defeat a shadow deviant, and they eventually united to form the Transcendent Council. This council assumed control and responsibility for all matters pertaining to the transcendents, who had become a hidden society within the natural world. Fast forward over a century; about 40 years ago, a remarkable man named Gu Yichen was born. He would go on to become the greatest sun warrior in history, slaying numerous deviants and saving countless lives, surpassing any other transcendent in his achievements. He brought a brief period of peace and tranquility to the world and was composed of pure light and radiance. The people came to recognize him as the sun god who banished darkness and shadows. Approximately 13 years ago, while exploring the realm of shadows, he vanished without a trace. Since then, there have been conflicting beliefs about his fate—some believe he has passed away, while others think he may still be alive. The truth of what truly happened to him remains unknown. Students in this particular class will undergo training to develop their abilities and become sun warriors, just like him. Most individuals discover their powers at the age of sixteen, although some awaken much later. There is no set limit on how much older one can be when their powers manifest. The youngest individual witnessed awakening however was Lin Xin Yi, who happened to be the stoic girl seated at the back of the room. However, this morning, a new record was set as the youngest-ever awakened individual appeared: Xichen. The teacher concluded his lecture by fixing his gaze on Xichen, causing the rest of the class to turn and stare at him. In that moment, he understood how animals at the zoo must feel when being observed so intently. It was a rather disconcerting experience. Xichen turned to look at the only person who had not glanced at him—the steel-eyed girl, also known as Lin XinYi, according to the teacher. However, she remained silent and expressionless, as always. He wondered what thoughts lay behind her impassive facade. He pondered whether she felt any annoyance over the fact that he had unintentionally stolen her spotlight, but she appeared to be indifferent to everything. He wondered if her name, Xin Yi, was indicative of her quiet nature. He could swear that since the first time he met her, he hadn't heard her say a single word. Was she always this reserved? He couldn't recall much about their childhood encounter. It must have been unremarkable and unmemorable, except for the fact that they had crossed paths. His silent contemplation was interrupted by the teacher clearing his throat. "Alright, that concludes the basic orientation," the teacher announced, inquiring if there were any questions. Xi Chen stared at the teacher with disbelief, as if he had grown ten heads. Did the teacher really just ask if anyone had questions? He had a thousand thoughts swirling in his mind, yet he didn't even know where to begin. So he posed the most foolish question out of all the ones circling in his head: "Teacher, what is your name, and why am I here?" The teacher's mouth opened and closed several times, completely taken aback by this unexpected query. Among all the possible questions, he never expected this to be Xi Chen's first one. After a few moments, he regained his composure and responded, "My name is Min Xi Rui."You can refer to me as Ming Laoshi or Rui Laoshi. The reason you are here is because it has been discovered that you have awakened your unique abilities. Xichen, still unsure about the situation, asked, "How do you know about this and what kind of powers are we talking about?" The patient teacher replied, "You were discovered this morning, and your powers will be revealed after you have undergone testing." Xichen recalled a particular event from this morning. "Do you mean the sensor at the gate? That's why everyone who is 16 years old and older needs to pass through it," he stated matter-of-factly to the teacher. Impressed, the teacher responded, "You truly are intelligent, although after what happened with you and Xin Yi, we might have to change that particular rule to include all age ranges from now on." Although Xichen didn't voice it out loud, he thought it was just logical reasoning and not that difficult to deduce. He continued to contemplate what exactly was happening around him, slowly digesting the new information.

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Another question arose in Xichen's mind: What is the shadow world, and how do people enter it? What are these shadows, and why has he never seen one before? However, before he could ask any of these questions, the teacher announced that the introduction to orientation class had come to an end. Apparently, the orientation class would continue for approximately a month, allowing them to fully grasp and understand everything.As they continued their journey, they would become more acquainted with the unfamiliar world they had entered. Just before leaving, the teacher paused for a moment and issued a warning, his gaze fixed on Xi Chen. "The information regarding this class and the world we are in is highly classified," he emphasized. "The leaders have made the deliberate decision to keep it that way in order to prevent widespread fear and panic. If the public were to discover that there are hidden monsters out there, invisible and formidable, it would undoubtedly lead to chaos. It goes without saying that this secret must be kept even from our families." Xi Chen responded with a smile and a nod, while the teacher returned the gesture before exiting the room. He figured that was why this knowledge had remained hidden from him until now. He couldn't help but ponder how the rest of the class found out about this. Then the thought crossed his mind that perhaps the rest of the class had found out through their families, although that would have been against the rules. However, deep down, he knew that rules were often bent or broken by the wealthy and powerful. Even at the age of 13, he had already grown accustomed to how the world worked. Once the class had ended, most of the students gathered together to discuss what had transpired, except for Xi Chen, Lin Yi, and the mysterious individual in the corner. Xi Chen, already feeling tired from a night of sleeplessness, became even more exhausted after receiving a flood of information. He rested his head on the table, seeking a moment of respite. As he began to drift off to sleep, he was abruptly awakened by a knock on the table for the second time that day. It seemed like everyone was determined to prevent him from getting any rest. Irritated, he reluctantly lifted his head, only to be met with the piercing gaze of Lin Yi's silver eyes. He sat back in his chair, waiting for the person in front of him to express their purpose. However, she continued to stare at him expectantly, as if she expected him to read her mind. Growing impatient with the silence, Xi Chen asked in a frustrated tone, "Can I help you?" She finally spoke up: "We need to get to testing.". Her voice was soft and sweet, despite the coldness in her eyes. The sound of her voice startled Xi Chen, leading him to think about what a contradiction they seemed to be compared to her attitude. After conveying her message, she turned to leave. Before she could walk away, Xi Chen reached out and held onto her, causing her to flinch at his touch. Realizing he had made her uncomfortable, he immediately released his grip and apologized. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make you feel uneasy. I just have a small question for you, if you don't mind." She turned around and gave him her full attention. "If it's alright with you, I would like to know how you discovered this world." He studied her face, anticipating that she would not respond. He had asked her anyway, despite that, because the curiosity was killing him. Just as he was about to give up, she finally opened her mouth and spoke. "Every Sun Warrior family has a sensor installed at their door, although the non-awakened members of the family are unaware of its purpose. They usually assume it is a security feature. However, only the awakened members of the family are informed about its true function, and this happens only after they have been awakened. "I only discovered this world a few weeks ago when I activated the sensors at home," she replied. He nodded in understanding and thanked her for answering his question. He gestured for her to lead the way to the testing room. Initially confused, she kept staring at him, unmoving. He raised an eyebrow at her, wondering what she was staring at him for. She eventually figured out she had been staring for too long and caught herself. She turned to leave the classroom in a hurry, not looking back at him. This time, he noticed a faint pink color in her cheeks. Was she embarrassed? he wondered, smiling at how cute that seemed. It was then that he looked around and realized everyone else had already left the class, and they were the only two left there. He noticed she was also about to leave him behind in the class; he hurriedly followed her so as not to get lost."