Shen Tian walked out of the house calmly while Shen Ai followed suit, behind them were a dozen of servants who followed along, ready to tend to their every need.
Outside, the street was full of people. They were mostly youths at about the same age as Shen Tian and Shen Ai.
Just like the two, the other youths had a group of servants following them. Some large, some small. Some old, some young.
Unlike Shen Tian and Shen Ai, most of the youths each had one or two elders accompanying them. They were the youths' parents, grandparents, aunt and uncle, and other seniors in their family who happened to have free time to come cheer them on.
This made them stand out a bit with their fairly large group of servants and two youths with no elders. Many people instantly recognized the two.
"Hey, isn't that our clan's current generation geniuses, Shen Tian and Shen Ai? Why are they all alone?" A middle aged man called out in surprise.
"You didn't know? I heard Elder Shen Jin and Shen An were sent on an important mission. As for what mission it is, I have no idea." A man around the same age beside the first man spoke.
"A mission required of not one, but two Elders, it's normal that you wouldn't know about the specifics since you guys are just ordinary hunting team members. I work at the logistics department and have heard a few things. They say it's related to the recent years' beast tide peculiarity." Another middle age man walked up from the back and joined the conversation.
"Oh, is that so? Well, the higher-ups should be able to deal with them. Say, are you guys up for a drink today, my treat." The second man suggested.
"Oh, what's the occasion?" Both the first and the third man asked simultaneously.
The second man raised his chin a little, and replied smugly:
"Of course, it's to celebrate my son's awakening second grade talent."
The first man and the third man looked at each other for a second, then burst out laughing.
"Your son? Second grade talent? The ceremony hasn't even started and you're already bragging? My son, more like it."
"Hahaha, your sons? Please, we all know it's my daughter who's most likely to awaken second grade talent."
This time, it was the second man and third man who looked at each other's faces and sighed.
"True..." They both said at the same time.
Unbeknownst to them, someone was paying attention to every word of their conversation.
"Shen Huai Bo, Shen Gui Cheng and Shen Caiji..." Shen Tian muttered softly under his breath.
These three names stirred quite the emotion in Shen Tian, they left a complicated impression on him.
From his memories, they were both friends and enemies.
'At this point in time, our relationships are just a little bit above average...'
Shen Tian thought to himself and kept moving.
After walking for a while, more and more people came out of their house with their family and servants.
Most are youngsters around the same age as Shen Tian, some look a little bit older while some look a little bit younger, but not by much. They were glancing and looking around, whispering amongst themselves.
Two boys talked amongst themselves without care if other people could hear them or not
"Look, isn't that Shen Caiji? Why is she with that brute Shen Huai Bo? Wait, is that... boss Gui Cheng? What's going on here?"
"You didn't know? Your boss Gui Cheng, Shen Huai Bo and Shen Caiji are childhood friends. I heard they had a big fight on the last day of school, they never talk to each other again after that."
"Isn't that because of the gap year?"
"Perhaps?" The boy shrugged, indicating that he didn't care and wasn't interested much in discussing this matter.
'The Shen twins prodigy, Shen Luo and Shen Liu...'
Shen Tian, who was eavesdropping on the twins' conversation, stopped and looked to his side. He noticed that Shen Ai was looking, glancing around. Though she restrained herself and tried not to make it seem intentional, she was seen through instantly by Shen Tian and the many adults present.
'She seems rather nervous. According to my memories, she should be chatting with me or her other friends by now. That's understandable, afterall, this is the Clan's annual awakening ceremony, mortals hold great importance to it...'
Thinking so, Shen Tian glanced around subtly using his eyes. First he only used his eyes, later he started to turn his head a little, then he twisted his waist a little 'so he can have a better view of people around him.
This act didn't go unnoticed by Shen Ai and those around him. Shen Ai smiled and giggled as the servants followed suit. Those servants who are slightly younger or at the same age as Shen Ai and Shen Tian giggled while those older servants smiled lightly.
The other adults who came to accompany their juniors to the house have been paying attention to Shen Tian.
Upon seeing Shen Tian's recent curious behavior, some of those adults smiled, some nodded slightly, not saying anything.
This strange behavior made the youngsters by their side a little startled and curious. Afterall, these are elders of their respective houses. Some of these adults are their aunts or uncles, some are grandparents, some even these youngster's great grandparents!
In the youngster's mind, some of these elders don't smile or nod off for no reason, something good must have happened.
The youths asked casually, but the adults didn't reply.
The youths didn't think of it too much, they just continued walking and talking amongst themselves.
Shen Tian who has been secretly gauging their reactions from his earlier "performance" smiled slightly as he thought to himself:
'This should let down their guard somewhat, it can also help reduce their hostility later. Afterall, the seed has already been planted.'
The reason why most of these adults are on guard against him and some even held slight hostility was because of Shen Tian's past performances.
In his past life, the young Shen Tian got full marks in every exam he took. He spent his time reading books, some of those books are advanced knowledge of Meng cultivations accessible only to rank two Meng cultivators and above.
Shen Tian wasn't born with any talents and his physical abilities are just average, but he was a fast learner and always eager to learn more. He trained hard every day.
Many people speculated that if it wasn't for Shen Ai taking him out to play everyday, Shen Tian might have spent all his time reading and training aside from sleeping and eating.
These fame and reputations are the things Shen Tian deliberately and painstakingly built with over ten years of effort.
His hard work has paid off and he was secretly recognized as the most talented youngster the clan has produced this generation alongside Shen Ai.
Below them are people like Shen Huai Bo, Shen Gui Cheng, Shen Caiji, Shen Wu, Shen Liu and three others.
Their talents are remarkable, but their mindset and thinking process are of normal youngsters, while Shen Tian has showcased excellent comprehension and thinking capabilities.
He was mature beyond his age, most of the adults who have interacted with him had to treat him like their equal and remind themselves that Shen Tian was not actually an adult yet.
This has earned Shen Tian a high evaluation from the elders secretly, at the same time it also earned him cautions and hostility from many parents of kids his age.
Afterall, the Clan's resources are limited, they cannot nurture everyone and have to choose the most talented juniors to focus on.
If the clan focused all their resources on Shen Tian and Shen Ai, doesn't that mean their children won't get any?
The best way to combat this is to compete directly, let their children showcase their talents and abilities.
However, many parents can only look at their children and sight. The matter of talent cannot be forced, there was no way to compete. They can only hope that after the awakening ceremony, their children will get decent aptitude, therefore, get more resources from the clan.
After that, it was a matter of one's fate and hard work.