The Demon of Scholars

Dong Huaiming's face flushed red as he retorted fiercely, "Becoming a transcendent is the only dream of my life!"

"How can you call a dream-chaser's pursuit a chuunibyou phase?"

"Besides, I have evidence!"

"There really are people with superpowers in this world!"

As he spoke, Dong Huaiming got up from his chair, found his suitcase, and without minding the trouble, pulled out a laptop.

He turned it on, opened the encrypted folder on drive D, and entered the password.

All in one go!

In the hidden folder, sixty-five short videos quietly awaited to be opened.

"This is the evidence that superpowers exist in the world!"

Dong Huaiming quickly tapped the touchscreen and opened a short video.

The protagonist of the video was a gaunt young man with blue hair and red three-comma contact lenses.

His voice was somewhat grating, a typical duck voice.

"Today, I, Uchiha Goudan, will demonstrate fire generation with my bare hands!"

He held half a piece of firewood, spoke, and then suddenly rubbed it with his hand.

Bang!

A ball of flame erupted!

Half the firewood turned into a torch, burning fiercely and crackling.

"Superpowered! Awesome or not?"

"My bros, give me some love!"

The video ended there.

"This was recorded from someone, and there's also Bilibili..."

Dong Huaiming's expression turned serious as he opened the second video. "Although it was quickly deleted by irresistible forces, I still managed to collect them through some channels."

Everyone on this high-speed train who had received an invitation to Caolu Academy was a talented youth or a highly intelligent individual. There were many empty seats, and people could sit wherever they pleased.

Hearing the conversation between the three, several other people in the carriage leaned in, seeming interested in the topic.

Dong Huaiming's emotions gradually became excited, and he tirelessly introduced the origins and appearance times of these short videos to everyone.

After watching the eighth video, Su Qiangwei suddenly spoke, "To be honest, am I the only one who thinks these are magic tricks or Photoshop creations?"

"That firewood probably had white phosphorus on it, right?"

"With tricks like 'Fire Rose' and 'Flame in Palm,' I can perform them for you if I have the props."

Dong Huaiming closed the laptop, somewhat annoyed. "You can insult my character, but you can't insult my intelligence!"

"I can guarantee you, this is definitely not magic!"

"With my intelligence, how could I possibly confuse magic with superpowers?"

As he spoke, he looked at Ma Ran, who had been silent beside him.

"Do you think transcendent beings exist in this world?"

Ma Ran closed the notebook in his hands, curved his left index finger slightly, and tapped the cover twice. He nodded slightly and said with certainty, "Yes."

Dong Huaiming burst into laughter, a look of relief on his face. "Brother Ran, you're truly on the same path as me!"

Su Qiangwei, what a nobody?

Just a pretty girl. Her approval is useless.

It's the recognition from a cool, aloof boss like Ma Ran, who exudes an aura of 'stay away,' that truly makes one's heart soar!

"Although I'm just a 'Mortal Bone'..."

Dong Huaiming continued his chuunibyou declaration. "Since transcendent beings truly exist..."

"Why can't cultivators exist?"

"I believe that with my intellect and learning ability, I can definitely step into the transcendent realm, fly through the air, wield a sword in the nine heavens, and achieve eternal life!"

"Even if I don't have spiritual roots, by combining cultivation and technology, there must be a possibility of creating artificial spiritual roots."

His thoughts had wandered a bit too far.

Dong Huaiming was an ultimate chuunibyou, fluent in the slang of his small circle.

Under his explanation, everyone learned that "Mortal Bone" was a term for ordinary people.

Correspondingly, there was "Chosen," used to refer to those who naturally awakened superpowers.

Once the conversation got going, the top students quickly became familiar with each other.

"I checked the information on Caolu Academy. It's just an ordinary club at Xiangyang First Academy, nothing special."

"It's just the same name, right?"

"After becoming a member of Caolu Academy, you can enjoy benefits like tax exemption, free tickets, visa-free travel, housing discounts, guaranteed admission to prestigious universities, and pre-signed employment contracts. If you say it's just a regular university club, that's definitely impossible."

After becoming a member of Caolu Academy, one could receive a large number of benefits and preferential treatment.

They were practically giving away girlfriends.

Su Qiangwei couldn't be bothered to deal with these people.

She looked intently at Ma Ran, "Were you serious just now?"

Although they had been classmates for three years, she had never paid attention to this guy before.

Based on their recent interactions, Ma Ran wasn't the type of person to say things he didn't mean just to spare someone's feelings.

He was a truly straightforward guy!

Ma Ran glanced at Su Qiangwei indifferently and gave a "Mhm" as a reply.

Su Qiangwei immediately felt a chill rise from the soles of her feet, surging up her spine and into her mind, making her scalp tingle.

As a good young woman of the new era, born in New China and raised under the red flag, she was a firm materialist.

Su Qiangwei scoffed at any supernatural phenomena, believing them to be the tricks of con artists.

She thought qigong masters, traditional martial arts grandmasters, and psychics were all frauds!

Now...

Su Qiangwei didn't dare to be so certain.

After all, Ma Ran had defeated her, so his words carried some weight.

Could it be that Dong Huaiming was right?

Was Caolu Academy a supernatural club?

The true face of the world?

A mysterious entry ticket?

Ma Ran didn't care about Su Qiangwei's internal monologue or emotional changes.

With a thought, a medal appeared in his field of vision.

"It's finally here!"

The God of Scholars medal, which had originally been the color of red copper, gradually transformed into a brilliant golden-red!

With a slight focus of his attention, Ma Ran immediately received feedback – under the influence of his Acting ability, the Scholar God medal had now been upgraded to Scholar Demon!

Is Demon stronger than God?

Not necessarily.

This was mainly related to Ma Ran's subconscious.

After all, the proliferation abilities (medals) he obtained were derived from his Acting ability and were closely related to his cognition.

Before Ma Ran's rebirth, most of the guys who called themselves gods were beaten to a pulp, their fates miserable. Only a very small minority were resilient.

On the other hand, those with "Demon" in their names or nicknames were all incredibly formidable and extravagant characters.

Without exception!

He had been a bit worried that his Acting ability might be weakened after his rebirth, but now it seemed he had been overthinking it.

The impact of getting a perfect score on the emergency special exam needed time to ferment.

The upgrade of the proliferation medals would naturally be delayed as well.

During the upgrade process of the Scholar Demon medal, the "leeks" Ma Ran harvested included not only the students of Qingquan High School and their families represented by Su Qiangwei, but also the relevant staff of Caolu Academy and other institutions at the same level.

After the first derivative medal was upgraded from God of Scholars to Scholar Demon, Ma Ran quickly noticed the changes in his body.

His memory, comprehension, analysis, and calculation abilities were all enhanced across the board!

His mental power had greatly improved!

Ma Ran was now comparable to a human computer in terms of calculation.

In terms of memory, he had reached the level of "controllable hypermnesia."