Jianghuai Province, Ningjiang City, No. 14 Middle School.
Second-year Preparatory Class.
The General Knowledge teacher and homeroom teacher, Yan Menglu, pushed up her rectangular gold-rimmed glasses. With her hands on her hips, she leaned forward, her slightly oversized shirt outlining her slim waist and revealing her ample figure.
With decent features and a lovely figure, she was clearly a beauty by ordinary standards. Yet her somewhat messy hair, unpowdered gloomy face, and those hawk-like eyes behind her glasses left most of the students below silent as cicadas in winter.
"In a certain region, wheat stalks in the fields have turned black as if scorched. The ears of wheat are covered in barren patches, field mice have been found gnawing on them, and rodent bone fragments are mixed into the straw. Stored food has gone moldy, yet the locals insist on eating it despite knowing it is spoiled. What does this indicate?"
Yan Menglu swept her gaze over all forty-two students in the class. Her eyes passed over the handful who appeared unfazed before settling on the majority, who had lowered their heads in silence.
"Deng Hao, you answer!"
A chubby boy stood up with a miserable expression. "Um... it means a demon has appeared."
"Very good. Then what demon, specifically?"
"Uh, it's..."
Deng Hao stammered without managing a complete sentence. In the end, he lowered his head and fell silent.
Yan Menglu glared at him but did not tell him to sit. Instead, she turned to a young man by the window in the back row. "Li Ye, you answer."
The seventeen- or eighteen-year-old Li Ye rose to his feet. Without even pausing to think, he answered directly:
"Field mice eating grain ears spoil the grain's qi. Mice carrying grain ears gather baleful intent and become spirits. The withered black stalks and barren patches are a 'ghost's shaved head' phenomenon. Most likely, a hungry ghost has appeared. Hungry ghosts cause food to mold and release contamination, bringing famine to everyone within the affected area."
Yan Menglu nodded. "What type of hungry ghost is it?"
Li Ye said, "Those that generally manifest through moldy food are usually husk-and-chaff hungry ghosts. They take the form of humanoid straw skeletons, surrounded by rotten grain and rodent bone fragments. Their bellies bulge like drums but are split open at the center, exposing moldy food. Their throats are as thin as needles, their mouths wide, yet they cannot swallow anything."
Yan Menglu asked again, "And how should you deal with one?"
Li Ye thought for a moment. "The contamination produced by most hungry ghosts fears fire and light. Burning it or exposing it to light is the fastest way to drive it back. But if conditions are lacking, salt can suppress it temporarily, because salt restrains grain wraiths. Records from Dongying also contain similar methods: scattering clean rice can suppress it as well."
Yan Menglu revealed a satisfied expression. "Sit down."
Then she sighed and spoke earnestly.
"Martial arts depend on talent, but memorizing books does not. The knowledge points in high school General Knowledge are not complicated. You just need to study seriously and memorize them properly."
"What are we learning so much for? It's not like we'll run into demons." Deng Hao turned his head aside and muttered.
"Can you guarantee you'll never encounter one in your life?"
Yan Menglu glared at him. "Demons are not myths. You think that way because you live in a safe country! In ancient times, the appearance of a demon meant disaster. After they were analyzed in modern times, they became even more pervasive around us!"
"For example, if you keep living like a slob, it becomes easy for demons to breed! Deng Hao, what demon is bred by filth and decay?!"
Deng Hao said nothing, but the indignation on his face was obvious.
"Li Ye!"
"I don't know," Li Ye answered crisply.
Yan Menglu pressed her lips together and stared at Li Ye for a while. Just as she was about to speak, the dismissal bell suddenly rang.
"Ring ring ring—!"
Yan Menglu sighed faintly. "Studying General Knowledge is so you can better understand demons and not be completely ignorant when you encounter one. Practicing martial arts is the same—it is also for dealing with demons. Summer vacation is coming soon. Study hard, and do not ruin yourselves. Li Ye, come with me."
Once she left the classroom, the atmosphere immediately relaxed.
"Brother Ye, that was incredible!"
Deng Hao gave Li Ye a thumbs-up, then called out, "That's how it is! These days, how could demons be so easy to come across? I've never seen one in all my life!"
The classmate seated in front of him turned around and teased, "It's mandatory on both the literary and martial arts exams. Whether you see one or not, the College Entrance Examination will test you on it."
Deng Hao looked disdainful. "As long as your martial arts are strong, that's enough. No matter how well you learn General Knowledge, you're just a weak scholar. At most, you'll help me look up information in the future."
"Brother Ye, he's looking down on you," that classmate immediately shouted.
"No, Jia Dong, you—"
Deng Hao was dumbfounded. He hurriedly turned to Li Ye, who was packing his bag and preparing to leave, and said anxiously, "Brother Ye, that's not what I meant."
Li Ye smiled and waved his hand. "There's nothing wrong with learning some General Knowledge. If you're not a genius, the extra points from it can get you into a better university."
"Brother Ye really sees through it all." Jia Dong chuckled. "Brother Ye, why did the teacher call for you?"
Li Ye had just reached the classroom door. Hearing this, he turned back and smiled calmly. "I'm switching to the literary track."
With that, he walked out of the classroom, leaving it briefly silent.
"Seriously? Old Yan is willing to let Brother Ye switch to the literary track?"
Deng Hao cried out in surprise, but quickly realized something was off. "Didn't Brother Ye only pass the assessment yesterday?"
Jia Dong said, "That was aimed at you. Who told you to run your mouth just now?"
"Fuck you."
Inside the office, Yan Menglu stared at the seated Li Ye with a complicated expression.
As the homeroom teacher of the Martial Arts Preparatory Class, she had a special duty besides teaching.
It was to persuade students unsuited to continue practicing martial arts to withdraw and switch to the literary track, so they would stop wasting time and money.
But now the situation had reversed. Li Ye wanted to switch to the literary track, while she wanted to persuade him to train for another year.
She stared at Li Ye for a long time before finally saying, "Li Ye, I'm ashamed to say this, but your General Knowledge level is even better than mine. Are you really not going to try for one more year?"
Seeing that Li Ye said nothing, she continued persuading him. "You know yesterday's assessment results. Your grade was 'Excellent.' If you had merely passed, I certainly would not say anything, but isn't it a little regrettable now?"
The Preparatory Class physical assessment consisted of three standards: for stamina, completing a three-kilometer run carrying thirty jin within fifteen minutes; for agility, clearing a hundred-meter obstacle course in one minute without any collision or delay; and for toughness, taking one punch from a martial arts teacher without retreating three steps.
Li Ye had done all of these well, surpassing the passing line.
"Train for another year. Once you step into martial arts, you'll have many more choices. With your General Knowledge level added to that, your achievements will definitely surpass mine by far. You've always been mature. You should understand that in society, what martial artists can obtain is something ordinary people need to work twice as hard for."
Seeing that Li Ye still said nothing, Yan Menglu pressed harder and continued persuading him.
"Training for a year won't hurt you. Your literary grades are stable too. If it truly doesn't work out, you can directly take the literary track exams then. If you're worried, repeat a year, and I'll pay out of pocket to get you into a tutoring class!"
The moment she finished, Li Ye raised his head and said something that left Yan Menglu speechless.
"Teacher, my family has no money left."
The atmosphere fell silent.
Yan Menglu opened her mouth, only to realize that anything she said would be pointless.
It was a reason so powerful that no one could dismiss it.
"No money..." In the end, she could only say dryly, "Then there really is nothing to be done."
Li Ye nodded. "Teacher, martial arts are not something I can only practice now. When my circumstances improve in the future, I can continue training. There are examples of this in the world. Fu Yan, the famous martial artist of our province, entered martial arts at twenty-eight and is now an expert of the Third Realm."
Yan Menglu's expression became strange.
Those are all my lines!
She often used those very words to persuade unqualified students to withdraw.
Helplessly, she could only sigh. "You're someone who can make your own decisions. Fine, then I won't persuade you anymore. But I hope you'll think this over again. I'll hold on to your application form for now. If you still haven't changed your mind after summer vacation, then switch to the literary track."
"Thank you, Teacher. Goodbye, Teacher."
Li Ye nodded and walked out of the office. Looking at the darkening sky outside, he could not help shaking his head. "Martial arts..."
Li Ye was a transmigrator, a second-year Martial Arts Preparatory Student who would only turn eighteen in another half year.
In his previous life, he had struck it lucky enough to crash straight into a womb, arriving in this world that was both familiar and unfamiliar.
History, technology, and daily life were not much different from his previous life. The only difference was that this was a world with martial arts and demons.
The accumulated legacy of six generations had cultivated the First Emperor, who transformed Black Dragon's aura into Ancestral Dragon's aura and swept across the six states to unify the land.
The High Ancestor slew a white snake demon as large as a mountain, wielding the Red Emperor's Sword as he contended with the Hegemon for the Central Plains.
Liu Xiu really could call down meteors, and the Great Teacher of Peace truly possessed the ability to scatter beans and turn them into soldiers.
There were also Invincible Iron Fist and Northern Leg Through the Forest.
Every strand of history carried the backdrop of martial arts and demons.
Though this world was both familiar and unfamiliar, and the people recorded in its books differed from those in his previous life's textbooks, while its landmass was much larger, the other events that had happened were mostly the same.
In this world, martial arts experts truly possessed the power to burn mountains, boil seas, destroy heaven, and shatter earth.
The demons that had appeared alongside martial arts were existences possessing contaminating power. From ancient times to the present, they had been humanity's enemies, synonymous with disaster.
Only martial artists could deal with these demons, making martial artists the mainstream of the world.
Starting in elementary school, schools distributed basic Guiding Methods. Like radio calisthenics, they had to be practiced every day to improve one's qi and blood.
Then, in the second year of high school, students were divided into tracks. Those whose qi and blood underwent Qi Circulation and who stepped into martial arts entered the Martial Arts Class, while the rest switched to the literary track.
But most people fell somewhere in between. They wanted to continue practicing martial arts but lacked just a little talent. After testing, such people entered the Martial Arts Preparatory Class, where they received specialized preparation for entering martial arts.
Li Ye was one of those Preparatory Students, but he no longer wanted to continue.
Because those truly suited for martial arts had already stepped into martial arts and entered the Martial Arts Class when the tracks were divided.
They were not stuck in the Preparatory Class being graded Excellent, Good, or Pass before deciding whether they could remain in the third-year Preparatory Class.
Only Martial Arts Class students could receive resources distributed by the school to consolidate and strengthen their martial arts. Preparatory Students could only rely on their own efforts.
How were they supposed to work hard?
Of course, by spending money.
What, did they have Deep Blue Attribute Points to add?
Preparatory Students definitely could not rely solely on the school's basic training. Most enrolled in outside martial arts academies for training.
This was an enormous expense. Li Ye had spent away his family's savings on martial arts training over the years, yet he still failed to enter martial arts, just like the other Preparatory Students.
So in terms of talent, he was one among the teeming masses.
In terms of family, he belonged to an ordinary household.
In terms of reality, he would probably become a workhorse in the future.
But in terms of systems...
He had been born with a system.
A Godslayer System that gained authority through slaying gods.
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