Su Yuehe watched Shan Heng run off, then lowered her head and opened the electronic roster. The pale white glow illuminated the side of her face as her fingers tapped several times on the virtual keyboard.
“The system shows that he only submitted the basic information. There’s nothing unusual about him.”
Long Ao leaned back in his chair and yawned indifferently. “Who cares? If he dares come snooping around again, I’ll kick him straight off the mountain.”
An Changqing smiled and shook his head, reaching out to press down on Long Ao’s shoulder. “We’d better investigate thoroughly. This is an academy, after all.”
Su Yuehe walked to the side and made a phone call. When she returned, her expression was much more solemn.
“I asked the teacher in charge of the admissions records. Shan Heng’s letter of recommendation came from an archaeological school in the east.”
An Changqing lifted his cup and took a sip. “How did someone from an archaeological school end up at an esper academy?”
Long Ao kicked a pebble at his feet, his face full of disdain. “The entire eastern region is surrounded by the sea. What could they possibly dig up?”
Chen Guan stroked Baobao’s head, deep in thought. “Maybe they dug up something they shouldn’t have.”
He remembered the black coffin in the Northern Frontier, which was almost identical to the one he carried. If Shan Heng was an archaeologist who specialized in excavating ancient relics, then his obsession with coffins made perfect sense.
After all, if one had already been stolen from him, losing a second one wouldn’t exactly be surprising.
As expected, this useless system…
…
The orientation work was tedious and boring. It wasn’t until the sun began to set that Chen Guan finished organizing the registration forms and stretched lazily.
“Time to clock out.”
Long Ao rolled his stiff neck and let out a long sigh of relief. “It’s finally over. Let’s go to the cafeteria and have a feast.”
Chen Guan slung his coffin onto his back again. “You guys go ahead. I’m taking Baobao back to the dorm.”
Long Ao curled his lip. “All you ever think about is that leopard.”
He complained, but Chen Guan still took Baobao and left.
…
After several days of chaos, the academy’s teaching schedule finally returned to normal.
It was worth mentioning that the student named Shan Heng had indeed joined the Tianshu Class. Chen Guan and the others also finally began the new semester in earnest, becoming second-year students.
In another two years, he would have to start his internship.
Chen Guan sighed inwardly. As for what he would do after graduation, he honestly had no idea.
He had never considered himself an ambitious person.
For now, all he could do was take things one step at a time.
…
In the classroom for theoretical studies, the afternoon sunlight made everyone drowsy.
Chen Guan propped up his chin with one hand, his eyelids growing heavier by the second. At the podium, Sima Ming’s magnetic, old-fashioned voice was more effective than any lullaby.
“All right. That concludes our discussion on the impact of high-level supernatural abilities on entropy increase in the physical world.”
Sima Ming closed his lesson plan and swept his gaze across the students, most of whom were slumped over their desks. He cleared his throat.
“Now, I have an announcement to make.”
The words struck the classroom like a needle. Several heads that had been resting on desks instantly shot up.
Even Chen Guan managed to open one eye and look toward his homeroom teacher.
“One month from now, the annual Intercollegiate Tournament will officially begin.”
Sima Ming’s voice wasn’t loud, but it instantly banished everyone’s sleepiness.
“This year’s host is Zero Academy in the United States. In addition to our Huaqing Academy, Beishi Academy and Japan’s Kamitani Academy will also be participating.”
The classroom fell silent for a moment before erupting into a restrained buzz of discussion.
“The Intercollegiate Tournament? We crushed them last time and took the grand slam.”
“We can’t afford to underestimate them. I heard that a company called Kowloon Technologies in the United States developed a genetic drug! Their students are all doping now—nothing natural about them.”
“Exactly. And the onmyoji from Kamitani Academy are hard to deal with too. I heard their top student has improved by leaps and bounds.”
Long Ao, who had been lazily leaning against the back of his chair, suddenly sat upright. His eyes blazed with excitement.
Another chance to beat the foreigners into the ground!
“I know everyone has questions.”
Sima Ming raised a hand and pressed it down, signaling for the students to quiet down.
“The rules for this year’s tournament are different from previous years. The academy will select its top students to form representative teams. There will be one four-person team from each of the first-, second-, and third-year classes, but they won’t compete according to year level. Instead, the teams will be mixed through a random draw.”
“Most importantly, the academy whose team wins the championship will receive forty percent of the exploration rights to the Void Secret Realm for the following year! This has already been notarized by the council, so no one can go back on the agreement. The championship team will also have unrestricted access throughout the year and may explore freely according to its own abilities.”
The classroom exploded.
“The Void Secret Realm! Isn’t that a strategic resource site?”
“Forty percent of the exploration rights? My god, they’re really putting everything on the line this time!”
Even An Changqing, who was usually composed, instantly became solemn.
Only Chen Guan, the Extraterrestrial Demon, was left completely bewildered.
What the heck were they talking about?
An Changqing explained seriously, “That place is beyond simply being valuable. The Void Secret Realm is essentially a monster-spawning ground for Void beasts. The materials it produces are vital for crafting high-level equipment. Every single one is a strategic resource that money can’t buy on the outside.”
Chen Guan finally understood.
So that was where Baobao’s advancement materials—the cores of Void beasts—came from.
Baobao, I’m going to fight for your food.
…
When the class bell rang, the four of them walked along the tree-lined path back to the dormitories.
There was no question that the second-year team would consist of the four of them.
Normally, there might have been other students eager to compete for a spot, but the stakes were simply too high this time. No one dared to challenge them.
An Changqing had already obtained Huaqing Academy’s roster for the tournament. Qin Wu, now a fourth-year senior, would serve as the overall team captain, while Chen Beixuan would be the supervising instructor. Having the physical education teacher lead the team was an old tradition at Huaqing.
The name Shan Heng appeared on the first-year roster.
As for the third-year team, the names Li Yuqing and Huo Qixing stood out prominently. When Long Ao saw their names, a trace of sadness suddenly crossed his face.
When they had first fought side by side, Second Young Master Liu had still been alive. Now, they were separated by life and death.
Whenever there were foreign enemies, war left countless people displaced. Yet after peace had finally arrived, infighting filled every corner. Even the academy was no longer a sanctuary.
Why did someone always have to die…?
“We have a problem.”
An Changqing’s solemn voice interrupted Long Ao’s thoughts.
“Zero Academy has released new information as well. They’ve developed the second generation of genetic drugs. Apparently, the drug can temporarily allow someone to leap across two entire levels and unleash destructive power as high as the eighth level.”
Long Ao scoffed and threw a powerful punch through the air.
“What’s so impressive about taking drugs? A real man relies on fists and fists alone.”
He looked down on all crooked paths.
“If eighth-level destructive power comes crashing down on you, you won’t care whether they got it from drugs or were naturally gifted.”
Su Yuehe sighed along with him and added another piece of intelligence.
“Kamitani Academy has trouble on its side as well. Do you remember Kamishiro Chizuru? He’s contracted with a century-old great demon.”
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
