A New Life

Leave your brains here.

The sky was a clear, cloudless blue.

The blazing sun was sinking in the west. It was around three in the afternoon.

Class Seven, senior year, Xinyuan Martial Arts High School.

"The homeroom teacher's coming, guys! Get back, quick!" sharp-eyed Liao Dong growled.

He was not only the class monitor of Class Seven, but also its guardian.

He had played his part in making Class Seven the worst class in the entire school.

"Heads down, stay under cover, and keep quiet."

Liao Dong kept an eye on the homeroom teacher's progress as he directed his classmates back into the classroom.

Fortunately, Class Seven was on the third floor. The balcony hid them from the homeroom teacher, who had already reached the bottom of the teaching building.

Once all his classmates had retreated into the classroom, he pushed off with both feet and darted inside like a gust of wind.

The classroom fell silent, leaving only the sound of pages turning.

When Zuo Tianchang, the homeroom teacher, arrived at Class Seven, he found all the students concentrating on their books. None of them noticed him, even when he deliberately made his footsteps audible.

He couldn't help smiling in satisfaction. His students' acting had improved; even when they entered society, he wouldn't have to worry about them being taken advantage of.

Still, wasn't it a little inappropriate for a bunch of poor students to act more absorbed in their studies than top students?

Besides, more than three hundred years had passed since the spiritual energy revival, and martial arts experts were emerging one after another. Academic subjects were important, but so were martial arts.

Research had shown that becoming a martial arts expert required a certain academic foundation, so the current trend was to give equal weight to academics and martial arts.

And what kind of students were in Class Seven? Put simply, they were poor students.

To put it less kindly, they were a bunch of good-for-nothings who could succeed at neither academics nor martial arts.

Then he noticed something. Anger rose on his face, and he hurried into the classroom. He clapped his hands, producing a thunderous crack that drew the attention of the entire class.

"Students, the schoolwide martial arts mock exam is in three days. Are you ready?"

"We're ready!" The whole class raised their heads and roared in unison, boys and girls alike.

Their momentum was overwhelming, their faces brimming with confidence. They looked like they had victory firmly in hand.

If Zuo Tianchang hadn't known his students' reputation at school, he might have thought they were all gifted in both academics and martial arts.

Ultimate Class Seven, bottom of the rankings for three years running.

"Are you really ready?" Zuo Tianchang asked again, his eyes fixed on a corner of the classroom. A student was fast asleep there.

"We're ready!"

This time, the roar was even louder. Without batting an eye or missing a heartbeat, the whole class answered with resounding conviction.

The championship was in their grasp, and their confidence was boundless.

"I don't believe you. Ning Yue, are you ready?"

Ning Yue sat alone in the back row, with no deskmate and a desk all to himself, in the legendary "premium VIP" spot, the highest seat of honor in the classroom.

There were rules for that seat: you had to be a poor student, stand out for your height, and love sleeping...

Only those who met all three conditions had priority in choosing that seat.

And so, Ning Yue, who stood 1.88 meters tall, was currently asleep.

Li Feng, who sat in front of Ning Yue, saw this and glanced at the homeroom teacher. He nudged Ning Yue, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "Brother Yue, time to eat."

"Where?" Ning Yue raised his head and opened his bleary eyes. When he saw his surroundings, he muttered to himself, "Am I dreaming?"

Then he lay back down again.

The sight left Zuo Tianchang and the students utterly speechless. They knew he was a sleep god, but they hadn't expected him to be this godly.

Zuo Tianchang gave a derisive chuckle. So you don't take me, your martial arts teacher and homeroom teacher, seriously at all.

A troublemaker like this needed to be taught a lesson.

Zuo Tianchang might have looked refined and scholarly, but there was no denying that, as a senior-year homeroom teacher, he was also a Third-Rank Martial Artist, an extraordinarily skilled martial artist who had forged his entire body into copper skin and iron bones.

He dug a finger into his nostril, picked out a black lump of solid matter, and flicked it with a snap.

The whole class saw it happen. The students sitting in the line between Ning Yue's desk and the lectern ducked and dodged with a speed too swift for thunder to cover its ears and steal a bell, leaving the bullet free to fly without a care.

Smack!

"Holy shit! Which asshole dropped something from up high? That's fucking low-class!"

Ning Yue had only just drifted off and hadn't even seen what he was dreaming about when a sharp pain struck his head, as though he had been hit hard with a hammer.

Ning Yue opened his eyes in anger and once again saw his surroundings. Familiar, yet strange...

Where am I?

How did I get here? Wasn't I hauling bricks?

Those boys and girls around me, with a hint of endearing stupidity about them, must be students, right?

And who's that standing at the lectern? He looks to be in his thirties and dresses like a beast in human clothing.

Thoughts crowded his mind, but before he could find an answer, a stream of memories entered his mind. They steadily merged with his original memories, settling into a new set of memories.

As the memories merged, he couldn't help exclaiming in shock, "I actually transmigrated!"

From the lectern, Zuo Tianchang saw Ning Yue shout, then sit unresponsive for a long while, a vacant look on his face that made him look just like a complete idiot.

He was a little worried that he hadn't made a move in so long that his control over his strength had grown rusty, and he had knocked Ning Yue silly.

When he reached Ning Yue's desk, he heard Ning Yue mutter something under his breath.

Fortunately, he was a Third-Rank Martial Artist, with hearing beyond that of an ordinary person. Otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to make out what Ning Yue had said.

He couldn't help chuckling. "You slept all afternoon. That's not much different from transmigrating. I can even help you reincarnate, believe it or not?"

"Teach, I appreciate the thought, but don't scare me. I'm easily frightened," Ning Yue said, startled. He had only just managed to catch the last train to transmigration.

Reincarnation? Don't even think about it.

At the same time, he grew wary. How did I end up muttering that out loud? I have to watch what I say and do from now on.

After that, Zuo Tianchang saw that Ning Yue had no other problems apart from a small bump swelling on his forehead, and returned to the lectern.

Ning Yue watched him explain the key points of the mock exam a few days away, give the students reminders, and pass on some of his so-called experience in improving their rankings.

His expression was somewhat complicated, and more than half his attention was on the memories.

As the memories merged, he gained some understanding of the world.

It was now the year 3029 of the Blue Star calendar, and more than three hundred years had passed since the spiritual energy revival.

With the revival of spiritual energy and the advent of martial arts, great divine abilities once found in myths-flying through the heavens and burrowing through the earth, moving mountains and crossing seas, holding stars in one's hands-had become reality.

Of course, the arrival of the spiritual energy revival had brought not only opportunities, but even more crises. According to Blue Star's historical records, in the more than three hundred years since the revival, Blue Star had faced nearly a hundred crises that threatened to wipe out its people.

Even now, more than three hundred years later, Blue Star's human race still faced numerous threats: ferocious beasts slaughtered entire cities, alien races destroyed worlds, and cultists carried out activities that destroyed human nature.

Martial arts were not only a path of war, but also a path of protection. That was why martial arts high schools had been established.

More than ten minutes later, Zuo Tianchang finished explaining the various key points of the mock exam and strolled out of the classroom.

"Brother Yue, what do you think about the mock exam?" Li Feng asked, turning around from the row in front.

He mainly wanted to get a look at the bump on Ning Yue's head, for no other reason than to amuse himself.

That was how people were: they had to live each day happily.

"How else am I supposed to look at it? Sitting down, of course," Ning Yue said irritably.

We're both poor students. Why are you being so serious? If you want to laugh, laugh. It's just a big bump on my head.

I'm showing the first signs of greatness.

He had his own thoughts on the matter, too. I've transmigrated, so how could I not have a golden finger?

It's just a schoolwide martial arts mock exam. Watch me come back with first place in the whole school.

"I've transmigrated already. System, aren't you coming out yet?"