Chapter 1: Li Ye’s Martial Arts Results Are Far From Ideal
Jianghuai Province, Ningjiang City No. 14 Middle School.
Sophomore Preparatory Class.
General Studies Teacher and Homeroom Teacher Yan Menglu pushed up her rectangular gold thread glasses, placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward, her slightly loose shirt revealing the outline of her slender waist in the motion, highlighting her voluptuous figure.
Nice features and a fine figure—she was clearly a beauty by popular standards. But her slightly messy hair, her sullen face without makeup, and the hawk-like eyes beneath her glasses made most of the students below shrink back in fear.
“In a certain place, wheat stalks in the farmland turned black like they were burned, wheat ears showed many barren spots, field mice were found gnawing on wheat ears, rice straw was mixed with rodent bone fragments, stored food molded, and locals knew it was moldy but insisted on eating it—what does this indicate!”
Yan Menglu scanned the forty-two students in the class, her gaze skipping over the few who appeared indifferent and focusing on the majority who were hanging their heads in silence.
“Deng Hao, you answer!”
A chubby boy stood up with a miserable expression. “Um, it means demonic creatures have appeared.”
“Very good, then what specific demonic creature is it?”
“Um, it is…”
Deng Hao hemmed and hawed, unable to answer a single sentence, finally lowering his head in silence.
Yan Menglu glared at him but didn’t tell him to sit, instead turning to a teenager in the back row by the window. “Li Ye, you answer.”
The seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boy named Li Ye stood up, answering directly without thinking:
“Field mice eating ears, spoiling the grain qi. Mice carrying ears, gathering baleful aura to form a spirit. Wheat stalks withered black with barren spots is the ‘ghost shave’ phenomenon—most likely hungry ghosts. Hungry ghosts cause food to mold and emit pollution, leading to famine in the area.”
Hearing this, Yan Menglu nodded. “What type of hungry ghost is it?”
Li Ye said, “The form that typically causes food to mold is chaff hungry ghosts. They manifest as humanoid rice straw skeletons, filled with rotten rice and mouse bone fragments, belly drum-like but torn open in the center, exposing moldy food. Throat thin as a needle, mouth large but unable to swallow anything.”
Yan Menglu asked again, “What to do if you encounter one.”
Li Ye thought for a moment and said, “The pollution from most types of hungry ghosts fears fire and light—burning with fire or shining light can force them back the fastest. But if conditions are insufficient, salt can briefly suppress them, as salt counters grain spirits. Also, Eastern Ying records mention a similar method: scattering clean rice can suppress them.”
Yan Menglu showed a satisfied expression. “Sit down.”
Then, she sighed and said earnestly:
“Martial arts requires talent, but memorizing doesn’t. High school general knowledge points aren’t complex—as long as you study hard and memorize well, it’s fine.”
“Why learn so much? We’re not going to encounter demonic creatures.” Deng Hao turned his head and muttered.
“Can you guarantee you’ll never encounter one in your lifetime?”
Yan Menglu glared over. “Demonic creatures aren’t myths—you think that because you live in a safe country! In ancient times, demonic creatures meant disaster. In modern times, after analysis, they permeate our lives!”
“For example, if you’re always slovenly, you’re prone to breeding demonic creatures! Deng Hao, what demonic creatures does filth and rot breed?!”
Deng Hao fell silent, but his unconvinced expression was obvious.
“Li Ye!”
“I don’t know.” Li Ye answered straightforwardly.
Yan Menglu pursed her lips, staring at Li Ye for a while, about to speak when the dismissal bell suddenly rang.
“Ring ring ring—!”
Yan Menglu sighed slightly and said, “Studying general knowledge is to help you better recognize demonic creatures, so you don’t face them clueless. Martial arts training is the same—to deal with demonic creatures. Summer vacation is coming soon—study well, don’t sabotage yourselves. Li Ye, come with me.”
After she left the classroom, the class atmosphere relaxed.
“Brother Ye, no need to say more!”
Deng Hao gave Li Ye a thumbs up, then called out, “It was obvious anyway—in this day and age, demonic creatures aren’t that easy to see. I’ve never seen one my whole life!”
A classmate in the front row turned back teasingly. “It’s required in both liberal arts and martial arts tracks—whether you see one or not, it’s on the Gaokao.”
Deng Hao looked disdainful. “Martial arts prowess is enough—good general knowledge just makes you a weak liberal arts scholar, at best helping me look up information later.”
“Brother Ye, he’s looking down on you.” That classmate immediately called out.
“No, Jia Dong, you…”
Deng Hao was stunned and quickly turned to Li Ye, who was packing his schoolbag to leave, saying urgently, “Brother Ye, that’s not what I meant.”
Li Ye waved smilingly. “Learning some general knowledge isn’t wrong—if you’re not a genius, those extra points can get you into a better university.”
“Brother Ye sees through it.” The one named Jia Dong chuckled. “Brother Ye, why’s the teacher calling you?”
Li Ye had just reached the classroom door, turned his head at the question, and smiled faintly. “Switching to liberal arts track.”
With that, he walked out of the classroom, leaving it momentarily quiet.
“Real or fake? Old Yan willing to let Brother Ye switch to liberal arts?”
Deng Hao exclaimed, but soon noticed something off. “Didn’t Brother Ye just test qualified yesterday?”
Jia Dong said, “She’s pointing at you—who told you to run your mouth earlier.”
“You damn…”
……
Inside the Office, Yan Menglu stared complexly at Li Ye sitting before her.
As the homeroom teacher of the Martial Arts Preparatory Class, besides teaching, she had a special task.
That was to persuade students unsuitable for continuing martial arts training to switch to liberal arts, to avoid wasting time and money.
But now, it was reversed—Li Ye wanted to switch to liberal arts, and she wanted to persuade him to train one more year.
After staring at Li Ye for a while, she said, “Li Ye, to my shame, your general knowledge level is better than the teacher’s—really not trying one more year?”
Seeing Li Ye silent, she continued persuading, “You know, yesterday’s test results were ‘excellent.’ If it was just qualified, the teacher wouldn’t say anything, but now isn’t it a bit of a waste?”
The Preparatory Class physical test was divided into: endurance standard of running three kilometers with thirty jin weight in fifteen minutes; agility standard of clearing a hundred-meter obstacle course in one minute without any collisions or delays; strength standard of taking a punch from the Martial Arts Teacher without retreating three steps.
Li Ye had done all these very well, exceeding the qualified line.
“Train one more year—once you step into martial arts, your options multiply. Plus your general knowledge level, your achievements will surely surpass the teacher’s. You’ve always been mature—you should know that in society, what martial artists get, ordinary people need double the effort for.”
Seeing Li Ye still silent, Yan Menglu pushed harder, continuing to persuade:
“Training one more year isn’t a loss—your liberal arts scores are stable too. If it really doesn’t work out, just take the liberal arts Gaokao. If you’re unsure, repeat a year—the teacher will pay for your tutoring class out of pocket!”
Just as she finished, Li Ye looked up and said something that left Yan Menglu speechless.
“Teacher, my family has no money left.”
The atmosphere fell silent.
Yan Menglu opened her mouth, finding anything she said pointless.
This was a reason powerful enough that no one could dismiss it.
“No money, huh.” Finally, she could only say dryly, “Then yeah, no way around it.”
Li Ye nodded. “Teacher, martial arts isn’t something you can only practice now—when conditions improve later, I can continue. There are examples in the world; my province’s famous martial artist Fu Yan entered martial arts at twenty-eight and is now a Three Realms expert.”
Yan Menglu’s expression turned odd.
He’s using my own words!
She often used this to persuade unqualified students to quit.
Helpless, she could only sigh. “You’re decisive—fine, the teacher won’t persuade you. But think it over more; I’ll hold the application form. If you still want to switch after summer vacation, then go to liberal arts.”
“Thanks, Teacher. Goodbye, Teacher.”
Li Ye nodded and left the office. He glanced at the increasingly dim yellow sky outside and shook his head. “Martial arts, huh.”
Li Ye, a traverser, a sophomore Martial Arts Preparatory Student who would turn exactly eighteen in half a year.
Last life, he got lucky crashing into his mother’s womb, arriving in this similar-yet-different world.
History, technology, life—not much different from last life. The only difference: this was a world with martial arts and demonic creatures.
Six overlords of the Warring States nurtured the First Emperor, transforming black dragon qi into ancestral dragon qi, sweeping the six states to unify the world.
High Ancestor slew a white snake demonic creature as huge as a mountain, wielding the Red Emperor Sword against the Hegemon in contending for the Central Plains.
Liu Xiu really summoned meteors from the sky, and the Great Worthy Good Teacher really could scatter beans to make soldiers.
There were also Iron Fist Invincible and Piercing Forest Northern Legs.
History was infused with martial arts and demonic creature backgrounds.
Though similar-yet-different, the figures in textbooks weren’t the same as last life’s, the world area was much larger, but other events were largely the same.
In this world, martial arts powerhouses truly had the power to burn mountains, boil seas, destroy heaven and earth.
And demonic creatures, which appeared alongside martial arts, were beings with polluting power—humanity’s enemies since ancient times, synonyms for disaster.
Only martial artists could deal with these demonic creatures, making martial artists the world’s mainstream.
From elementary school, schools distributed the foundation guiding method—like radio calisthenics, practiced daily to enhance qi and blood.
In sophomore year, students divided into tracks: those whose qi and blood leaped into martial arts entered the Martial Arts Track; others switched to Liberal Arts Track.
But most were in-between: wanting to continue martial arts training but slightly lacking talent. After testing, these entered the ‘Martial Arts Preparatory Class’ for targeted preparation to step into martial arts.
Li Ye was in Preparatory Class, but he didn’t want to continue now.
Because those truly suited for martial arts had already stepped into it, entering the Martial Arts Track Class at division.
Not evaluating excellent or qualified in Preparatory Class to decide if they could stay in senior-year Preparatory.
Only Martial Arts Track Class students received school resources to consolidate and strengthen their martial arts. Preparatory students could only rely on self-effort.
How to effort?
Of course, by spending money.
What, deep blue add points?
Preparatory students couldn’t rely solely on school foundation training—most signed up at external Martial Arts Schools for training.
This was a huge expense; Li Ye had depleted his family fortune over the years practicing martial arts, yet still failed to step into it, like other preparatory students.
So in terms of talent, he was among the masses.
In terms of family, he was ordinary.
In terms of reality, he should end up as a wage slave.
But in terms of system…
He was born with a system.
A ‘Godslayer System’ that gains authority by slaying gods.
