Class 1, Grade 10, the VIP chill zone in the back row.
A test paper was slammed onto the desk. The force was so great that the bottle of iced tea at the corner of the desk bounced twice.
Cheng Jun pressed down hard on the paper, breathing heavily, clearly furious.
Explain.
Cheng Jun pointed at the bright red 150 at the top of the paper, his voice trembling. Math, 150 points?
Chen Zhi leaned back in his chair, still holding his phone. The screen showed the post-match settlement interface of a ranked game.
Just good luck. I guessed right on a few multiple-choice questions.
Guessed?
Cheng Jun almost coughed up blood.
He snatched up his own test paper, which bore the score 140, his face filled with grief and indignation.
You have to understand, for this weekly test, Cheng Jun had burned the midnight oil studying every night, burning through a dozen pen refills doing practice problems.
All so that while everyone thought he was just an internet-addicted teen, he could secretly blow everyone away.
And the result?
He didn't blow anyone away, but he sure got a fright.
The guy sitting next to him slept during class, played ranked games between classes, and carried girls in games during evening self-study. Yet, his test score completely wiped the floor with him.
Lao Chen, you can't be this fake.
Cheng Jun gritted his teeth, his face full of resentment. Did you study secretly behind my back? Or did you not play games at all when you went home at night, and were grinding through practice books instead?
This feeling of being backstabbed was worse than a ten-game losing streak in ranked.
We agreed to rank up together, but you secretly ground your way to becoming a study god.
Chen Zhi sighed, put down his phone, and looked completely innocent.
Lao Cheng, you have to believe in fate. Some people are just naturally Tier 0 in the meta; they don't need any patches.
Cheng Jun's mindset collapsed.
In the whole back-row chill zone, everyone earned their spot by slacking off. Why did Chen Zhi get to enjoy the privileges while dominating the leaderboards?
A few brothers-in-arms from the surrounding back row also gathered around. Looking at Chen Zhi's perfect score, they all wore expressions of horror.
Brother Zhi, this isn't cool of you.
Exactly. We agreed to rank up together, but you secretly made it ashore.
You're going to lose us like this.
Facing the crowd's condemnation, Chen Zhi felt a sense of lonely superiority.
Sigh, maybe this is just talent.
Chen Zhi threw his hands up, his tone incredibly punchable. I want to keep a low profile too, but my strength simply doesn't allow it.
I don't believe it!
Cheng Jun was itching with anger. He absolutely refused to admit this was an IQ crush.
This scoundrel Chen Zhi must be too insidious and used some kind of trick.
Pretending to be a slacker during the day to numb his opponents, he definitely went home at night and studied like his life depended on it.
He's such a try-hard!
Simply the king of try-hards!
Cheng Jun glared at Chen Zhi and said viciously, Do you dare to swear? Swear on the happiness of the rest of your life!
Swear what? Chen Zhi raised an eyebrow.
Swear that if you studied secretly, you will never find a girlfriend in your entire life!!
Cheng Jun felt this oath was vicious enough.
The crowd in the back row nodded one after another, thinking this was an excellent move.
Chen Zhi froze for a moment.
Cheng Jun sneered, waiting to see Chen Zhi's guilty conscience.
Chen Zhi suddenly frowned and asked in return:
Do you mean that if I didn't study secretly, I'll get a girl who is 165cm tall, seemingly aloof but actually tender-hearted inside. Someone who usually likes to wear a JK uniform with black thigh-high socks, has fair skin, a beautiful face, and long legs.
Someone who occasionally likes to act a little quirky, is a bit tsundere, a hopeless romantic, and gets jealous easily.
A rich, beautiful transfer student with a soft, cute voice, who will ask for me by name to be her desk mate?
A few seconds later, a burst of laughter erupted from the back row.
Holy crap, Brother Zhi, that's not an oath. You wouldn't even dare to dream like that.
JK and black tights? A rich beauty?
You're dreaming! You can have anything in your dreams.
Cheng Jun was relieved now.
I'll believe you for now.
Cheng Jun patted Chen Zhi's shoulder. If you can really wish a top-tier girl like that into existence, I'll eat this test paper on the spot!
Chen Zhi's oath was so outrageous that it actually made Cheng Jun believe this guy really hadn't studied secretly.
Just then.
The front door of the classroom was pushed open.
The originally noisy classroom instantly fell silent.
Homeroom teacher Liu Qingsong walked in with his lesson plans tucked under his arm.
But he didn't walk straight to the podium. Instead, he stood at the door and stepped sideways to make way.
Everyone, stop what you're doing for a moment.
Liu Qingsong tapped on the blackboard, wearing a rare gentle smile on his face.
Today, a new transfer student is joining our class.
The students below all raised their heads, trying to see the person clearly through the crack in the door.
Come in, Liu Qingsong waved his hand.
A slender figure slowly walked into the classroom.
It was the second period of the morning, and sunlight spilled through the windows onto one side of the podium.
The young girl walked in against the light.
The first thing to catch the eye was a pair of straight, slender legs. Although she was wearing somewhat baggy blue and white school uniform pants, the perfect lines of her legs could still be seen.
Further up.
Her skin was fair, seemingly glowing in the sunlight.
Her facial features were exquisite, and her temperament was aloof. She wore her hair in a high ponytail with curtain bangs that swayed gently with her steps, the tips of her hair seemingly carrying a fragrance.
At a glance, she was the absolute dream girl of countless teenage boys.
Hiss—
A neat chorus of gasps echoed through the classroom.
Cheng Jun's mouth dropped open into an O shape, and the ballpoint pen in his hand dropped onto the desk with a clatter.
This... this level of beauty?
This temperament?
Wasn't this exactly the seemingly aloof description Chen Zhi just gave?
Although she wasn't wearing a JK uniform and black tights, these legs and this face matched perfectly!
Student Pei Ningxue transferred from Class 10. She ranked fifth in the whole school in this weekly test, and from now on, she is a part of our Class 1. Let's welcome her with a round of applause.
Sparse applause rang out.
Most people were still in a state of shock and hadn't come back to their senses.
Fifth in the whole school?
Looking this beautiful, and her grades are this good too?
Where did this monster come from?
Cheng Jun mechanically turned his head and looked at Chen Zhi beside him.
Student Pei, take a look and see where you'd like to sit.
Liu Qingsong pointed to a few empty seats in the front rows of the classroom. There are still two empty seats in the front three rows, both in areas with a relatively good study atmosphere.
Towards this kind of top student, Liu Qingsong always gave the utmost preferential treatment.
The eyes of the entire class were focused on Pei Ningxue.
Pei Ningxue stood on the podium, her gaze lightly sweeping over those eager eyes in the front rows.
It didn't linger.
Her line of sight continued extending backward, crossing over the normal area in the middle, and landed directly on the VIP chill zone in the back corner of the classroom.
Pei Ningxue's eyes flickered slightly.
Her originally aloof expression seemed to break for a split second the moment she saw that person, and the tips of her ears very quickly flushed a shade of pink.
She raised her hand, her slender finger pointing firmly at that corner.
Teacher, I'll sit there.
Following the direction of her finger.
Everyone's gaze concentrated on the empty seat next to Chen Zhi.
Having received the homeroom teacher's permission, Pei Ningxue, wearing her backpack, walked straight down the aisle.
Until she reached the very last row.
Under the heartbroken gazes of all the boys in the class, she stopped beside Chen Zhi's desk.
Excuse me.
Pei Ningxue looked down at the boy who was taking up half the aisle. Although she tried hard to keep her tone calm, if one listened closely, it carried a trace of imperceptible coquettishness.
Chen Zhi pulled his legs back and made an inviting gesture.
"Welcome, Miss Pei."
Pei Ningxue rolled her eyes at him, stuffed her schoolbag into the desk cubby, pulled out her chair, and sat down.
As she took her seat, a faint scent of jasmine instantly wafted through the back row.
Cheng Jun was completely dumbfounded.
He looked at Pei Ningxue, then looked at Chen Zhi.
Chen Zhi's "vicious" oath from just a moment ago echoed in his mind.
Cheng Jun felt like his world had just collapsed.
He reached out with a trembling hand, grabbed Chen Zhi's arm, and stared at him with eyes green with envy:
"You really have been studying in secret!"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
