The emerald bird chirped a few times, ruffled his hair twice, turning the young man's hairstyle into a mix of the trendiest “wash, cut, blow” and a bird's nest. Only then did it flap its wings and fly up from the top of his head, transforming into a gorgeous, mature, and sensual woman in a light-colored dress, landing gracefully on the ground, her face full of smiles.

  “David Brooks! I know you’re well-informed, and your six eyes are the sharpest—can you tell your big sister, what bloodline did that little guy awaken tonight? His ability to devour imperial nectar is almost on par with Granny Huai, Commander Yun, and me.”

  David Brooks's expression changed slightly. After a long pause, he sighed softly and said, “Sister Grant! This matter could be very troublesome. Do you really need to know?”

  The gorgeous woman’s face changed, her smile vanished, and she snapped coldly, “David Brooks! If you try any of your mysterious tricks on me, your big sister won’t mind tearing you apart!”

  David Brooks didn’t dare to dawdle any longer and blurted out at top speed, “Undying Tree bloodline!”

  The woman’s face changed dramatically. By the time she came back to her senses, David Brooks had already vanished without a trace. She ground her teeth and muttered, “So it’s such a troublesome one. That little guy is definitely being watched by the Myriad Demons Society and several legions. I really can’t afford to mess with such big trouble.”

  At the same time, in some hidden corners of the city, a small wave of discussion was stirring. Every non-human being was very interested in the appearance of Brian Carter, while the subject of all this talk remained completely unaware!

  Brian Carter never would have thought that he’d have a day like this—actually becoming the center of discussion among such remarkable beings.

  ……

  Early the next morning, without his mom having to wake him, Brian Carter woke up on his own. He felt energy coursing through him, full of vigor, in the best state he’d ever been. Usually, he could barely wake up at all—after all, high school was exhausting, and every boy and girl at this age was “chronically sleep-deprived.”

  If not for the vivid, unforgettable memories of last night, Brian Carter would have thought it was all just a dream.

  He’d gone straight to bed after coming home yesterday, since he’d been up all night without proper rest, and hadn’t thought much about what happened. Only after waking up did all the questions from yesterday flood his mind. “What exactly happened yesterday? What were those strange meteors? And those guys who absorbed the meteors—they weren’t human, that’s for sure, either monsters or freaks… What’s their background?”

  Brian Carter pressed his hands to his lower abdomen. He could clearly feel a “thing” there, pulsing slowly, as if it were a second heart. This mysterious “organ” would, with every beat, swallow a wisp of the cold aura from the “meteors” that had merged into his body last night, then emit a surge of deep energy. Of the nearly two or three hundred wisps of cold meteor aura he’d absorbed, most had already been digested, and now over ninety percent of the energy in his body was this newly transformed, profound power.

  Brian Carter tried to channel this new power, and instantly a ball of black light appeared in his palm. This power was completely at his command—just a thought, and it could change into any shape he wanted, far easier to control than the cold meteor aura. He had no idea what this black light could actually do, but on a whim, he pushed it toward a soda can not far away and shouted, “Rise!” The black light shot over, but simply passed right through the can, even through the wall, showing no sign of telekinesis at all.

  Brian Carter awkwardly retracted the black light, wiped it across his eyes, and called out, “Open the Heavenly Eye!” He waited a while, but aside from a patch of darkness covering his vision, nothing happened.

  Brian Carter exhausted his imagination, trying out every special ability and martial art he’d ever seen in novels, anime, movies, web series… but the results were disappointing. Aside from being able to penetrate any material and change shape, this black light had no other special features.

  The coolest thing he could think of was to use the black light, following a photo on his computer, to wrap himself up and transform into a suit of armor, cosplaying as the Dark Lord from Star Wars. He could even make a pure black lightsaber, looking even more evil than a Sith.

  Brian Carter couldn’t help but smile wryly and mutter to himself, “Well, it’s not totally useless. When I hang out with Lily Carter and the others, I can have my own character. This is way more convincing than their props and costumes, and I don’t even need post-production to create tons of special effects.”

  Brian Carter was in front of the mirror, tweaking the details of his Dark Lord look, when suddenly the door was knocked. A gentle voice called, “Brian Carter! Are you up? Hurry and have breakfast, then get ready for school!” His mom knocked a few times, calling him to get up.

  Brian Carter replied, “Got it, Mom!” and headed out.

  Lost in thought, he actually forgot to open the door and just walked straight “through” it into the living room.

  Brian Carter’s mom had already turned away and didn’t witness this shocking scene. He himself was stunned for a moment before realizing he’d just walked through the door and out of his room…

Chapter Four: The Great Inheritance Across Generations