7:50 a.m.
First Class of the New School Year · General Profession Studies.
First-floor lecture hall, Career Theory Building.
This was a general course, attended by the entire year.
All 800 first-year students would take the class together in one enormous lecture hall.
By the time Ye Xiao and Fatty Wang reached the lecture hall,
it was already packed.
The 800 freshmen were seated in sections according to class.
The Genius Class sat at the front, the Elite Class in the middle, and the Ordinary Class at the back.
The divisions were as stark as the class barriers of this world—impossible to cross.
Sunlight streamed through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, casting square patches of light and shadow across the wooden floor.
The blackboard behind the podium displayed the day's lesson:
<General Profession Studies · Lecture One: The Origin and Nature of Professions>
An elderly man with graying hair stood at the podium, wearing gold-rimmed glasses as he leafed through his notes.
His name was Chai Hongxi, an authority on the study of professions.
It was said he had once taught a Transcendentalist.
The students whispered among themselves, discussing the first class of their university lives, which was about to begin.
When Ye Xiao entered the hall, the bell had yet to ring.
He wore a faded T-shirt and carried the old backpack he had inherited from his adoptive father.
The zipper was broken, so it was fastened with a safety pin.
He lifted his head and glanced over the densely packed seats.
The Genius Class was full, and so was the Elite Class.
Only a few seats remained scattered across the back rows of the Ordinary Class.
He headed toward the back.
As he passed through the Elite Class section, someone deliberately stuck out a foot to trip him.
He stepped around it without looking down to see who it was.
Laughter rang out behind him.
Fatty Wang glared angrily at the students who had tried to trip Ye Xiao.
But Ye Xiao paid them no mind. He kept walking and took a seat in a corner against the wall in the last row.
Sunlight couldn't reach this spot, and the blackboard was hard to see from here.
But he had a clear view of the window.
Outside, the spire of the Martial Arts Tower stabbed into the clouds.
Some students in the front rows were talking in hushed voices:
"I heard there's an S-Grade swordswoman among this year's freshmen. Her name's Su Muyun."
"A girl?"
"Yeah. She's gorgeous. She's already been tipped as the campus belle of our freshman class."
"How gorgeous can she be?"
"You'll see in a minute. She's sitting in the first row of the Genius Class."
"I heard a lot of outstanding third- and fourth-years have already tried to court her. Wonder who she'll choose?"
"Considering how exceptional Su Muyun is, I hear her family background is just as impressive. Whoever she accepts as her boyfriend is sure to be a remarkable man!"
"..."
While everyone was talking,
Su Muyun entered the lecture hall.
The moment she walked in, it felt as though all the light in the room gathered around her.
For an instant, sunlight shifted across the window frame and fell at an angle on her, enveloping her in a faint golden glow.
Her skin was porcelain-pale, the kind of pallor that came from rarely being out in the sun, yet it glimmered softly beneath the light.
Her features were like distant mountains brushed with delicate ink. She wore no makeup, yet her natural beauty shone through.
Her eyes were a rare, light amber, turning the translucent color of honey in the sunlight.
Her nose was high-bridged, and her lips were a soft pink. She wore no lipstick, yet they were full as dew-kissed petals at dawn.
Her jawline was gentle but sharply defined, giving her face both a young girl's softness and a hint of hidden stubbornness.
Her hair was the most striking feature of all—long enough to reach her waist, black as ink, uncurled and undyed, simply hanging loose.
A dark blue ribbon was loosely tied around the ends, swaying softly with her movements.
A few wisps fell beside her ears, lifted by the breeze from the window and brushing her cheeks.
As she stood there, it seemed as if she were surrounded by an invisible aura.
It wasn't the coldness of someone who kept others at arm's length. It was a kind of purity that made people hesitate to approach her.
Like moonlight, like fresh snow, like a still pool hidden deep in the mountains, untouched by human feet.
When she reached the Genius Class section,
Lin Yun stood up with an ingratiating smile.
"Su Muyun, take my seat. It's right in the center of the first row—the best seat in the whole hall!"
But when she spoke, her voice was soft and gentle, like a spring breeze passing through bamboo leaves:
"Thanks, but there's no need."
She took an empty seat at the far edge, beside another girl.
Everyone could see it.
Lin Yun was interested in Su Muyun and wanted to pursue her.
But even Lin Yun, with his SS-Grade profession, had been turned down by Su Muyun.
That only made people more curious.
What kind of man would catch Su Muyun's eye?
"Even Lin Yun, an SS-Grade Thunder Law Prodigy, can't impress Su Muyun?"
"Well, I can understand. Lin Yun's still too young."
"I heard there's an incredibly talented upperclassman at our school with an SSS-Grade profession!"
"Think about it. Su Muyun has an S-Grade profession herself, and she's the most beautiful campus belle around. Her guy would have to be SSS-Grade to be worthy of her."
"I think so too."
"..."
Ye Xiao didn't join the others in their discussion.
He simply watched the view outside, waiting for the bell to ring.
At eight sharp, the bell rang.
Chai Hongxi set down his notes, adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, and looked across the room.
The din gradually died away.
"My name is Chai Hongxi, and I'll be teaching you General Profession Studies. There's no practical work in this class, only theory. But if you think theory isn't important, you're wrong."
He paused. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly through the lecture hall.
"If you don't understand the history of the Martial Path world, you won't know how its rules came to be. And if you don't know where the rules came from, you'll always be a slave to them—not someone who makes them."
The hall fell silent. No one said another word.
Everyone stared intently at Chai Hongxi at the podium.
Chai Hongxi turned and wrote two large characters on the blackboard:
[Awakening]
"Ten thousand years ago, heaven and earth underwent a great upheaval, and spiritual energy returned. The first humans began awakening professions. Some could control flames, some could communicate with demon beasts, and some could cleave mountains and rivers with a single sword."
He turned back to face the students.
"From that moment on, humanity was no longer at the bottom of the food chain. We gained the power to stand against monsters, the means to explore the void, and..."
He paused, his gaze seeming to sweep over the corner of the last row.
His eyes settled on Ye Xiao.
For a full three seconds!
Then, meaningfully, he said:
"Class divisions!"
He had also been present at the Awakening Test Hall the day before.
Chai Hongxi had personally witnessed everything that had happened to Ye Xiao.
He had also heard the young man's defiant vow.
"I don't need anyone's pity. With nothing but my own two fists, I'll make you beg to let me into the Genius Class!"
From that moment on,
among this year's freshmen,
Chai Hongxi had remembered Ye Xiao more vividly than anyone.
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