School

Early morning!

Lin Feng got up early.

Because of the Nightmare's interference, he had barely managed to fall asleep at nearly three in the morning.

Excessive blood loss and insufficient sleep had left him in terrible shape.

"Holy shit!"

In the bathroom, Lin Feng gave himself a fright when he saw his reflection in the mirror.

His little face was so pale there was not a trace of blood in it, with faint dark circles beneath his eyes and a listless expression—he looked like he had indulged himself to excess.

Anyone who did not know better would have thought he had suffered some devastating blow.

Sure enough, when Lin Feng walked out of the bathroom, Lin Fang, who was coming from the kitchen, was startled and nearly dropped the rice in her hands.

"I'm fine. I just had a little insomnia last night."

Lin Feng explained somewhat awkwardly, but clearly no one believed him. Everyone looked at him with concern.

Seeing how pale Lin Feng was, Lin Fang, who had already prepared breakfast, hurried back into the kitchen and cooked another dish of braised Tusked Pig.

"Eat more. Your complexion looks awful."

At the table, seeing that Lin Feng had quite an appetite, Lin Fang seemed to want to say something but stopped herself. Her expression shifted several times before she could only let out a sigh.

Under his family's worried gazes, Lin Feng quickly finished breakfast before taking his younger sister downstairs.

"Brother Feng, morning."

The moment they reached the ground floor, Gao Hai was already waiting there as usual.

He was clearly startled by Lin Feng's appearance, but as though he understood something, he did not ask further.

"Morning."

Lin Feng nodded. Though breakfast had restored some of his blood and vitality, he looked even more lifeless now. His entire body felt weak, his head was muddled, and he was in dreadful condition.

"Brother Hai."

Lele greeted Gao Hai. When they passed an apartment building, both Gao Hai and Lele subconsciously glanced in that direction.

That was the direction of Yage's home.

They used to go to school together as a group of five. Now that Yage and her younger brother were gone, Lin Feng felt nothing, but Gao Hai and Lele were deeply unaccustomed to it. Still, both of them sensibly avoided that topic and name.

"Don't push!"

"What the hell are you pushing for? Push again and I'll beat you up."

As usual, the packed train was overflowing with people. Lin Feng and the other two struggled to reach a corner, where they huddled together like turtles in their shells.

In this era, although technology had developed at breakneck speed, convenient forms of transport such as airplanes had vanished. The primary reason was demonic beasts.

The skies were filled with too many unstable factors. For safety's sake, the main means of transportation in cities were hover trains and subways.

"Phew..."

Gao Hai let out a breath and wanted to straighten his clothes, but there were so many people that he could barely even raise his arms. It had not been long, yet his clothes were already nearly drenched.

"Lele, move further in."

Lin Feng pulled his sister in front of him, using his body as a shield.

In such a crowded environment, it was dangerous for a girl. Even if someone took advantage of her, it would be difficult to hold them accountable. With so many people around, bodily contact was perfectly normal.

"Brother Feng, when can we move into the Inner City? Being crammed onto this train every day is pure suffering."

"Soon. It won't be long." Lin Feng smiled at Gao Hai's complaint.

That was the trouble with living in the Outer City. Compared with those living in the Inner City, they had to get up before dawn. Even with hover trains, getting to school took over an extra hour.

"What are you looking at?"

There happened to be a small window beside where Lin Feng and the others stood. Seeing his sister staring outside the entire time, Lin Feng asked curiously.

"I'm looking at the scenery." Lele grinned.

Lin Feng followed Lele's gaze and spotted a red car.

It was a luxurious high-end sedan. Lin Feng knew little about cars, but he had heard something about this sedan called "Leap." Even its lowest configuration reportedly cost more than five million New Dollars.

A middle-aged man was driving. In the back seat, a little girl wearing a purplish-red school uniform ate breakfast while scrolling through her phone, looking utterly relaxed.

Lin Feng could see the envy in his sister's eyes. That little girl was about the same age as his sister, yet their lives were worlds apart.

And in the air, some people even drove flying cars. Those were the truly wealthy.

Aside from their rear wings, flying cars did not look much different from ordinary cars. However, they used special energy as fuel. Not only were they expensive, but a special license was required to drive them.

"It's Yun Tianqi!"

"He's so handsome! I want to be his girlfriend so badly!"

"Next Wednesday's Glory ranking match is Thunder versus War Wolf. It'll be a brutal battle. Yun Tianqi might appear. I'd take leave just to watch the livestream."

"If Ye Qiu joins Thunder Team, then in a few years, it'll be his position that he inherits."

A wave of exclamations rose from the carriage. Many students looked out the windows, discussing it excitedly.

Following their gazes, Lin Feng looked over. On the light screen atop a high-rise not far away, a long-haired young man in black battle robes held twin blades as he darted through a dense jungle. Demonic beasts attacked from time to time, but with a casual sweep of his blades, the young man cut them in half at the waist. Demonic beast blood dripped down the blades, forming four large scarlet words: "Heavenly Soldier Manufacturing."

Clearly, it was a short commercial.

Lin Feng was no stranger to this young man. He was the captain of Thunder Team, Twin Blades Yun Tianqi.

There were plenty of people in the Glory Alliance who chose twin blades as their weapons, but no one was faster than Yun Tianqi. With these swift blades, he had carved out a fearsome reputation in the alliance.

Everyone knew that Yun Tianqi had been born in Nine Generals Residential Area, government low-rent housing in the westernmost part of River City. Like Anbian Residential Area, it was known as one of River City's four great slums.

Not only that, Yun Tianqi's father was disabled, and the family's expenses had all depended on his mother's hard-earned income.

Yun Tianqi was not a martial arts genius. His talent could at most be considered above average, and on Awakening Day, he had only refined a sixth-grade Gale Mantis. After the college entrance examination, he had not even gotten into any of the Nine Elite Joint Schools.

Thunder Club had discovered and signed him for one reason alone: his blades, blades that were fast to the extreme.

In the alliance, no one swung a blade faster than him!

Thunder Club had forcibly piled up his strength with vast amounts of resources. The originally sixth-grade Gale Mantis had also evolved into an eighth-grade Ghost Shadow Mantis with the club's help.

The Ghost Shadow Mantis was only an Eighth-grade Demon Spirit. In the Glory Alliance, where Ninth-grade Demon Spirits were everywhere and even Earth Ranking Demon Spirits were not uncommon, a demon spirit of this grade was actually somewhat weak.

But a demon spirit was not necessarily better just because it was stronger. Only the suitable ones could unleash the greatest power.

The Ghost Shadow Mantis was a combat-type demon spirit, specifically an agile attack type. It lacked powerful spell-type damage, relying against enemies on ghostlike speed and a pair of sharp forelimbs.

Eighth-grade Demon Spirits like this were not rare, but only Yun Tianqi had pushed one to its limit. After demon spirit possession, those scythe-shaped forelimbs became equivalent to Yun Tianqi's weapons. Combined with his twin-blade mastery, his attack speed became even more terrifying. Beneath that storm-and-tempest barrage of slashes, few could keep up with his attacks.

Almost everyone who had watched Yun Tianqi fight became his fan. He was also the idol of countless students from ordinary families.

It was said that at his current value, even a single endorsement could fetch the sky-high price of five hundred million New Dollars.

Along the way, nearly every building's light screen displayed commercials, many endorsed by Glory players. It was a trend.

"Linli Station has arrived. Please prepare to disembark."

One hour and twenty minutes later, as the announcement sounded, the three hurriedly got up and followed the crowd off the train. Unable to resist the tide of people in the slightest, they descended amid a muddle of mixed smells.

"Phew..."

After getting off, all three sighed in relief. They straightened their clothes in unspoken coordination, looked at one another, and nodded before running toward the school.

Half an hour later, they finally reached their destination.

Lin Feng took out his phone and saw that it was already seven fifty. Class would begin in ten minutes.

He had gotten up at five, eaten breakfast, and rushed nonstop to school. It had taken nearly two and a half hours.

"Brother, I see my classmates. I'm leaving first." Lele called out before running after her classmates.

"Don't fool around after school. Go home early."

Lin Feng called after her. He and his sister did not attend the same school. Lele's school, Ziwei First High School, was not far from Jiangxin Middle School.

"Lin Feng, Big Head."

"Lin Feng, why does your complexion look so awful?"

"I heard you were injured on Awakening Day. It can't be this serious, can it?"

As soon as they reached the school gates, classmates came up to greet them from time to time.

In the past, most of them would chat with Lin Feng. After all, his grades ranked above five hundred in the year, while his combat strength ranked among the top two hundred. He was somewhat well known.

Gao Hai, as the little sidekick, had been inconspicuous.

Most classmates' impression of him was: Lin Feng's lackey, Lin Feng's deskmate, Lin Feng's best brother.

But today, Lin Feng was the one being neglected. Everyone enthusiastically gathered around Gao Hai instead.

"Big Head, I heard you became a Demon Spirit Master. You really did it."

"A second-grade Mighty Demonic Ox. It's only a low-grade demon spirit, and it's a strength attribute, so it can't add elemental damage. Still, becoming a Demon Spirit Master is already no easy feat."

"Big Head, show us your demon spirit possession."

The classmates' enthusiasm made Gao Hai somewhat unaccustomed to it. His smile was a little awkward, but it was obvious that he still enjoyed it.

He did not refuse their goodwill. Gao Hai closed his eyes and concentrated. More than ten seconds later, his nose began to swell, blade-like ox horns grew from either side of his forehead, his arms thickened, and his body became more robust.

His school uniform could no longer bear the strain and began splitting apart, exposing a belly with a reddish bronze sheen.

"Wow!"

Some girls cried out in surprise. One short-haired girl boldly stepped forward and touched Big Head's ox horns, then mischievously pinched his big belly. Gao Hai was so startled that he hurriedly stepped back and nearly fell over.

"Haha!"

After a round of laughter, Gao Hai soon withdrew from the demon spirit possession state.

With his Soul Power, he could only maintain demon spirit possession for one or two minutes.

Although refining a demon spirit did not mean one could immediately use it in battle.

At this stage, the demon spirit was only in its infancy. Like a newborn baby, it was frail and had little combat power. It needed to be nourished with spiritual power and Soul Power.

That required considerable resources and time, so even if one became a Demon Spirit Master, it did not mean one could immediately become an expert.

Even so, compared to martial artists, Demon Spirit Masters were the true protagonists. Every youth who became a Demon Spirit Master was surrounded by many classmates. Students undergoing demon spirit possession could be seen from time to time, followed by waves of surprised cries.

When Lin Feng and Zhou Sheng arrived at the classroom, half the class was gathered around one seat. It was Yage's seat.

Yage was now the undisputed star of Class Seven, Grade Three.

Even in Jiangxin Middle School, which had three hundred thousand students, she was a prominent figure.

An eighth-grade Bewitching Butterfly was comparable to a Ninth-grade Demon Spirit. She had already qualified to enter one of the Nine Elite Joint Schools.

On top of signing with Juxing Club, with resource support, as long as she reached the Body Cultivation Eighth Stage before the college entrance examination, even the Three Hero Academies might not be out of reach.

"Yage, have you gone to Juxing Club yet? How was it? Did you see Ye Xing? I'm his fan."

"Nonsense. Ye Xing is a main player on Juxing Team. How could he be in River City?"

"Yage, how much was your signing fee? I heard you bought a house. Where is it?"

Everyone surrounded Yage and asked question after question. Some students even had a fawning note in their voices.

But when Lin Feng approached, the lively atmosphere abruptly fell silent, as if the air had instantly frozen solid.

Everyone turned around and looked at him with strange expressions. Their gazes held sympathy, disdain, schadenfreude, and pity.

Yes, pity.

Just like in his previous life!

Lin Feng sighed inwardly.

His Class Seven, Grade Three, had around six hundred students.

From his morning chat with Gao Hai, Lin Feng knew that only eighty-three students in their class had reached the Body Cultivation Fifth Stage and participated in Awakening Day.

Only twenty-three had refined demon spirits and become Demon Spirit Masters. In other words, nearly thirty people in a class produced just one Demon Spirit Master, a probability of around one in thirty.

Demon Spirit Masters were a minority, after all. Those who had failed felt some regret, but not enough to lose hope for the future.

In truth, many people had already made their future plans clear.

Those with poor martial arts talent but decent school grades wanted to become ordinary white-collar workers or take civil service examinations.

Those lacking both martial arts talent and academic achievement planned to go into business and become their own bosses.

Those with martial arts talent but only average gifts also had their own career plans: becoming pharmacists, artifact refiners, or alchemists. Failing to become a Demon Spirit Master was no great matter to them.

But simply because Lin Feng and Yage had been a couple, once Yage became a Demon Spirit Master, the formerly outstanding Lin Feng became synonymous with failure.

In Lin Feng's memories, Yage had refined only a seventh-grade Ice Egret in his previous life. During those three months, his classmates had looked at him with this same pity.

For students, the most painful thing was not discrimination or mockery, but pity.

He was not missing an arm or a leg, so what was there to pity?

There were still three months until the college entrance examination!

Three months, ninety days!

Lin Feng still clearly remembered those days. Every day had felt like a year. Nothing held any flavor, and even the sky had been gray.

Whenever his classmates chatted and laughed softly, he thought they were talking about him. A casual glance made him think it carried mockery.

The once confident and optimistic him had become insecure and sensitive.

Because when everyone thought you had failed, over time, even you would deny yourself.

In his previous life, Yage had refined only a seventh-grade Ice Egret. Now, however, she had a rare eighth-grade Bewitching Butterfly and had joined Juxing Club. It could be said that she had soared into the heavens in a single leap.

Now, that pity was even stronger.

Fortunately, he no longer cared.

After so many years, Lin Feng had forgotten where his seat was. Fortunately, throughout all three years of high school, he had shared a desk with Gao Hai. After seeing Gao Hai sit down, he went to the seat beside him.

"It still feels like a dream..."

Sitting in his chair, looking at the youthful faces of his classmates and hearing their carefree laughter, Lin Feng was dazed for a moment.

Countless times in the middle of the night, he had dreamed of this scene. Now that he was sitting here, it still felt unbelievable.