Yanhuang Planet

On Yanhuang Planet, in Baisha District of Tianshui City, a white-clad boy sat at the back of Class 16 of Grade 12 at Tianshui City No. 95 Middle School. His eyes were unfocused as he stared at a history textbook about Yanhuang Planet, murmuring to himself, "Am I, Xia Ping, a person from Earth or from Yanhuang Planet? Could this really be a dream?"

As he spoke, a look of confusion crossed his face.

Xia Ping had been an ordinary student on Yanhuang Planet, no different from anyone else. But three days ago, a streak of purple lightning had suddenly shot down from the sky, and he had collapsed unconscious on the spot.

When he woke up, he was horrified to find a strange yet familiar set of memories in his mind. In those memories, he seemed to have been a Chinese man from Earth. He had lived through more than thirty years of life—being born, going to school, studying, falling in love, working, getting married and having children—before dying in a car accident.

For the past three days, his memories of Yanhuang Planet had clashed and merged with those of Earth. The process had left Xia Ping with a splitting headache and a bewildered expression. He could no longer tell where he was, and even sat through class in a daze.

But the merging of memories had its benefits. The pain hadn't been for nothing: his mind had become much sharper, and his memory had grown remarkably strong. He could understand many things at a glance instead of struggling as he had before.

"Did you hear me? Five months. You have only five months."

A young woman stood at the front of the classroom, wearing a women's suit that accentuated her perfect figure and its astonishing curves. Her exquisite face and fair cheeks were framed by black-rimmed glasses, giving her an air of intelligence. She was a stunning, mature beauty who could make countless men lose their minds.

She was Xia Ping's homeroom teacher, Qiu Xue, known as Sister Qiu. Her martial arts cultivation was unfathomably deep.

"In five months, you'll be taking the College Entrance Exam. It's a turning point that will determine the course of your lives."

Homeroom teacher Qiu Xue braced both hands on the lectern and looked down at her students, her gaze and bearing imposing. "You need to decide whether you'll work hard to get into university or graduate and find a job. I'm going to hand out a questionnaire. Write down your plans for the future. Don't scribble nonsense. Understood?"

"Teacher, I'm only a Martial Apprentice Third Heaven. With grades like mine, will it be hard to get into university?" a female student asked, rising to her feet.

"Those grades are quite average."

Homeroom teacher Qiu Xue nodded. "Getting into a top-tier university would be impossible, but you could try for a third-rate one. Of course, you could also start working right away and earn money to support your family.

"There's a huge shortage of workers in society right now, so you could choose to work for a company. You'd earn a lot of money, buy all kinds of monster meat and take various spirit medicines to slowly improve your martial arts cultivation. Perhaps one day, you could become a true martial artist, earn more than ten thousand a month, and live without worries."

If Xia Ping had been an Earthling, he would have been completely baffled by their conversation. But he had his own memories of Yanhuang Planet, so he knew it was utterly different from Earth—a world where martial arts and technology had both flourished.

Yanhuang Planet had originally been much like Earth, except that its surface area was about a hundred times larger. More than a hundred countries were scattered across it. It had gone through the age of slavery, the feudal era, and then the modern capitalist era. Technology had advanced rapidly, and martial arts had been neglected.

But everything changed a thousand years ago. A black hole suddenly appeared in the sky above peaceful Yanhuang Planet, spewing strange black gas that soon spread across the entire planet.

"That strange black gas contained a terrifying virus. To this day, nobody knows how it works, but there's no doubt that it's extremely dangerous."

Xia Ping looked at the history book. "Yanhuang Planet was plunged into a tremendous disaster overnight. Half the population died. Everyone with a weak constitution perished.

"The virus also caused the animals and plants on Yanhuang Planet to mutate wildly. They became unbelievably powerful, impervious to blades and bullets, and difficult to kill even with artillery or missiles.

"Those monsters were mindless, bloodthirsty, and cruel. Countless people died at their hands, and the population fell by another forty percent. This period became known as the Great Cataclysm Era."

But if that had been all, Xia Ping would never have been born. Although the viruses were terrifying and caused animals to evolve wildly, they also brought immense benefits to humanity. The people of Yanhuang Planet evolved physically as well.

At the same time, Yanhuang Planet was frequently rocked by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, revealing one ancient ruin after another. Within them, humanity discovered martial arts techniques passed down from antiquity.

These martial arts techniques allowed humans to evolve even further. Skills such as the Hundred-Step Divine Fist, killing with a leaf, walking through the air, taking on a hundred opponents alone, splitting mountains and stones, subduing rivers and mountains with a fist, and changing the world all became reality. People could fight terrifying monsters without weapons and become superhuman.

And some of the ancient ruins held more than just powerful, complete martial arts techniques. They also contained incredibly advanced technology. Humanity quickly absorbed this knowledge, and its strength soared.

"With technology and martial arts techniques from the ruins, humanity grew far stronger and began to fight back against the mutated monsters. People reclaimed one human city after another, and after several centuries, they once again became the rulers of Yanhuang Planet, controlling the entire world. The nations were unified into the Federal Government and divided into nine regions."

Xia Ping flipped through the history book. "Five hundred years ago, once humanity no longer had to worry about survival on Yanhuang Planet, the Federal Government began sending countless powerful people to explore the black hole and uncover the source of the Great Cataclysm.

"They didn't discover the cause of the Great Cataclysm, but they did find that the other side of the black hole was a vast world. Humanity named it the Cloud Sky Realm.

"Nobody knew how many times larger it was than Yanhuang Planet or how much richer in spiritual energy. It was full of rare natural treasures and perfectly suited to human habitation—a paradise straight out of humanity's dreams.

"With the abundant resources of the Cloud Sky Realm, technology on Yanhuang Planet advanced rapidly. Five hundred years later, it had become a world where both martial arts and technology flourished. Everyone was a martial arts expert, and might made right."

The same was true at Xia Ping's school. Almost every student on Yanhuang Planet was required to practice martial arts, and it was even part of the exams. If you weren't strong enough, you couldn't get into university—and you might not even survive.

Xia Ping was now a senior in high school, facing the College Entrance Exam. Getting into a good university meant a great deal to any student. It promised better resources, better cultivation techniques, and even a better life.

"Whew!"

After reading through the history, Xia Ping's gaze immediately grew firm. "Forget it. There's no point in thinking so much. Whether I'm Xia Ping from Earth or Xia Ping from Yanhuang Planet, I'm still me—the one and only. No matter which world I live in, I'm going to make the most of it!"

Once he'd thought that, the pain in his head seemed to vanish completely. There was no longer any resistance. His newly awakened memories and the memories he already had had finally merged, leaving no distinction between them.

Just then, a metallic voice sounded in his mind, utterly devoid of emotion.

"Ding. Soul fusion complete. Super Hatred System has bound itself to its host."

Xia Ping blinked. "Super Hatred System?!" He hadn't even recovered from merging with another person's memories, and now a strange system had appeared. What was going on?

"Host, this system specializes in attracting hatred. As long as you earn Hate Points, you can exchange them in the system's shop for pills, rare natural treasures, peerless techniques, and more."

Xia Ping asked, "What are Hate Points?"

"Hate Points are the negative emotions of living beings. As long as you provoke negative emotions in other living beings, you can earn Hate Points. The more they hate you and the stronger they are, the more Hate Points you'll receive. Hatred is divided into levels: mockery, dislike, loathing, murderous intent, and hatred unto death."

"Getting people to hate me?!"

Xia Ping was speechless. This system seemed like a trap. If he went around attracting hatred, wouldn't he become a target for everyone—or even a street rat everyone wanted to beat? He'd be worse off than the treacherous Qin Hui.

And could those Hate Points really be exchanged for rare treasures and secret techniques? How could he believe this voice that had suddenly appeared in his head when he hadn't seen any of it for himself?

"Whether you want to go to university or graduate and start working, that's your choice. Those are your lives, and your teacher can't make the decision for you. But I want you to remember one thing: once you've made your choice, don't regret it. Keep moving straight ahead."

At that moment, homeroom teacher Qiu Xue told the female student to sit down, then raised her voice and delivered a dose of motivational talk.

"Yes, teacher!" the students shouted.

Qiu Xue frowned. She had noticed that one student seemed distracted. It was Xia Ping. She asked, "Xia Ping, stand up and tell us: what are your plans for the future?"

"Plans?!"

Xia Ping immediately realized that the teacher had noticed his distracted expression.

His homeroom teacher was new, having worked for only half a year. She wasn't one of those old hands who had taught for decades. She took her responsibilities seriously and often kept students who weren't paying attention in line.

He had planned to say he'd settle for a third-rate university, but then he had another thought: why not use this chance to see whether the Super Hatred System was real?

With that in mind, Xia Ping stood up and said at once, "I want to apply to Yanhuang University."

Huh?!

The entire class, including homeroom teacher Qiu Xue, was stunned.

Yanhuang University was the best university on all of Yanhuang Planet. It had been founded by countless human pioneers and had produced one powerful martial artist after another. Its graduates worked in every field: some were company presidents, others became military generals and marshals. There had even been more than a dozen presidents of the Federation.

Anyone who got into Yanhuang University could be called a prodigy of humanity.

At 95th Middle School, no more than five students were qualified to apply to Yanhuang University. In any given year, the school might not even have one student get in.

If someone did get in, the entire school would hang banners and celebrate for three days and three nights. They'd send messages to every parent, and every student would even get a chicken leg.

Yet Xia Ping was just an ordinary student with the cultivation of a Martial Apprentice Third Heaven. Even getting into a third-rate university would be a struggle, let alone Yanhuang University.

And now this kid dared to say he wanted to apply to Yanhuang University. Was he crazy?!

"Xia Ping, are you—are you serious?" Xia Ping's answer had been so shocking that homeroom teacher Qiu Xue forgot to keep scolding him for not paying attention. She just stared at him, stunned.

Xia Ping nodded. "That's right. In five months, I want to get into Yanhuang University, become a powerful martial artist, earn over a hundred million a year, marry a beautiful rich woman, and reach the pinnacle of life."

"Get real! With your level of martial arts cultivation, you'd be lucky to get into a third-rate university. And you think you can get into Yanhuang University?"

"Don't be so full of yourself. You need to know your limits."

"You never study properly; you're always trying to make a big splash. You've got your priorities backward, you know?"

"Come on, that's a bit much. Even a couch potato needs a dream. Who knows, maybe he really will turn things around."

A group of students sneered at Xia Ping.

Unfazed, Xia Ping looked at the student leading the ridicule and said, "Yang Wei, just because you can't do it doesn't mean other people can't. But some men are born useless, and there's no cure for that."

"Xia Ping!"

Yang Wei was so furious that his nostrils flared. Anyone could tell Xia Ping was mocking him and making fun of his name, calling him impotent.

He usually treated that nickname as taboo, and nobody dared call him that. Yet Xia Ping had said all this in front of the entire class. It was infuriating.

"Hahaha! Who'd name someone Yang Wei? What was your dad thinking?" a chubby boy in the corner burst out laughing. He had a bit of a feud with Yang Wei, and seeing him make a fool of himself was the perfect chance to kick him while he was down.

"Gao Wan, what are you laughing at? You're no better."

Xia Ping drawled lazily.

Good grief! Gao Wan's face turned green. He shot to his feet and glared at Xia Ping, looking as if he wanted to eat him alive.

The other students looked at Xia Ping strangely. Usually, he was just an unremarkable student, neither good nor bad at school and never standing out. But today, he seemed like the sort of person who'd kill anyone who got in his way. He was savage.

Yang Wei was a little stunned. So this guy wasn't picking on him specifically; he'd just woken up spoiling for a fight and was going after everyone.

"Enough!"

Homeroom teacher Qiu Xue couldn't take it anymore. She glared at Xia Ping and scolded him. "Xia Ping, what's gotten into you? Why are you always giving your classmates nicknames? You can't just call people whatever they look like."

Xia Ping nodded in agreement. "You're right, teacher. I'll reflect on that."

"Waaah... You—you're bullying me! I—I'm not like that, I swear!"

Hearing the teacher say that, Yang Wei's face turned pale. He broke down crying, like a wronged girl. He stuck out his bottom, kicked away his chair, and ran from the classroom, bawling.

"Ah!"

Homeroom teacher Qiu Xue's face flushed. She seemed to realize she'd said the wrong thing. She tried to call Yang Wei back, but he had already fled the classroom, too fast for her to stop him.

"Xia Ping!" She glared at him. This whole mess was that bastard's fault.

Xia Ping spread his hands. He thought he was completely innocent. "I didn't think he was so fragile."

"Get out! Out, now, and think about what you've done!" Homeroom teacher Qiu Xue snapped, pointing at Xia Ping.

Xia Ping didn't object at all. Just then, he heard a string of cold, metallic voices in his mind: "Hate Points +1, Hate Points +1..."