Chapter 1: A Cliché Beginning
Friday.
Ningcheng No. 1 High School, Senior Year Class (2).
Lu Yuan suddenly shot up from his seat, staring wide-eyed as he looked around.
The familiar classroom, the familiar classmates, and on the right side of the blackboard, inside a small box, it read:
Distance to the college entrance exam: [35] days.
Distant memories gradually became clear.
This was… twenty years ago?
He… had been reborn?
On the podium, the homeroom teacher Wu Jishan frowned.
"Lu Yuan, what's the matter with you?"
Lu Yuan opened his mouth, but for a moment didn't know what to say.
He couldn't exactly say, "Teacher, I've been reborn," could he?
Luckily, his deskmate stepped in just in time.
"Teacher Wu, it's nothing. A wasp just flew in and scared Lu Yuan silly."
His deskmate Ma Jin grinned as he pulled Lu Yuan back down into his seat.
Wu Jishan nodded, accepting the explanation.
He then continued the topic Lu Yuan had interrupted.
He pointed at the college entrance exam countdown on the board.
"Although there's still a month before the exam, cultivator universities belong to the early admission batch. If you're interested, you need to sign up next week."
After speaking, he tossed a stack of forms onto the podium.
"These are the application forms for cultivator universities. Class monitor, hand them out."
The class monitor Jia Xuanxuan stood up and began distributing the forms.
Taking advantage of the moment, the classroom buzzed with discussion.
"Are you applying to cultivator uni?"
"How could I? Applying would just waste money."
"Last year only one person from our school got in, right?"
"I heard it's even harder this year."
"I really want to become a cultivator, marry a rich and handsome guy, and reach the peak of life."
"Wake up, stop dreaming!"
...
Lu Yuan didn't hear any of it. He was still in disbelief.
He had really returned to twenty years ago, to the eve of the college entrance exam?
Seeing him like this, Ma Jin impatiently put down his math book and asked, "Lu Yuan, you got reborn, right? I'm not seeing things, am I?"
Lu Yuan heard him clearly this time.
He turned his head in disbelief and looked at his calm deskmate.
Why was it that the moment he got reborn, someone knew about it?
Was this kind of thing common?
"You… how could you possibly know?!"
"Tch, how would I know?" Ma Jin sneered. "You think I read all those novels for nothing?"
"You suddenly stood up in class, looking completely shocked, and now it's right before the college entrance exam. Do you know what this is?"
"What?" Lu Yuan looked confused.
"This is the most cliché rebirth novel opening!" Ma Jin sighed. "I've read countless novels—every trope is crystal clear to me."
At this point, Ma Jin gave Lu Yuan a thumbs up.
"But honestly, Lu Yuan, your acting was way too exaggerated. You'd only fit in short dramas!"
Lu Yuan recalled that his high school deskmate loved reading novels.
Not only did he love reading them, he also fantasized all day about what he would do if he were reborn or transmigrated.
After the college entrance exam, everyone went their separate ways, and they never met again.
As for the book Ma Jin had just put down—although the cover said "Mathematics," the contents were all about treasures, adventures, and boobs. Those who knew, knew.
If math were really that interesting, that would be great!
Lu Yuan calmed himself.
In his previous life, he had lived a tiring existence, struggling at the very bottom.
Since he had a chance to start over, he believed that with his foresight, he could surely achieve something extraordinary.
He quickly began recalling which industries had been especially profitable in these past years. Cryptocurrency seemed pretty good—if he invested a few thousand now, in a few years he'd be a billionaire.
Hehehehe...
Just as he was secretly reveling in it, a booming voice like a great bell suddenly echoed from outside.
"Ningcheng No. 1 High School!"
Lu Yuan was startled, thinking it was the school broadcast, but the students clearly knew what was happening.
"Wow, it's a cultivator!"
Someone exclaimed.
Immediately, all the students rushed out of the classroom despite the ongoing lesson. They crowded along the corridor, gazing into the distance at a figure standing atop the clock tower, their eyes full of longing and envy.
Ji Yin stood with his hands behind his back at the highest point of the school. In his thirties, tall and imposing, his gaze carried natural authority.
"Silence!"
The noisy students immediately fell quiet. The authority of a cultivator was unquestionable.
"Recently, cultists have been active near Ningcheng. The Internal Affairs Bureau is making every effort to apprehend them. All students and faculty should remain vigilant. Report any abnormalities to the Bureau immediately!"
After making the announcement, Ji Yin was about to leave for the next location.
At that moment, he caught sight of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.
His heart stirred. He leapt into the air, covering hundreds of meters in just a few bounds.
Under the admiring gazes of the entire school, Ji Yin gracefully landed in front of Wu Jishan.
"Teacher Wu, long time no see." Ji Yin slightly bowed in respect. "I've been busy with official duties and haven't visited often. Please forgive me."
Wu Jishan's old face bloomed with a smile like a flower.
"It's alright, it's good for young people to be busy."
More than ten years ago, Ji Yin had been admitted to a prestigious cultivator university from Wu Jishan's class.
This was the greatest pride of Wu Jishan's entire teaching career.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the principal hurried over, hoping to speak with the cultivator.
But Ji Yin merely nodded at him before taking off again. He still needed to patrol other locations.
On one hand, it was to warn residents. On the other, it served as a deterrent, preventing the cultists hiding in the shadows from acting recklessly.
Only after he had gone far away did the students reluctantly return to their classrooms.
Cultivators were truly enviable—capable of flying through the sky and burrowing into the earth, able to do anything.
Not to mention their outrageously high incomes.
What student wouldn't want to become a cultivator?
But to become one, you first had to get into a cultivator university.
Out of five to six million examinees each year, fewer than twenty thousand were admitted. That was roughly a 200-to-1 acceptance rate.
So difficult!
Ningcheng No. 1 High School wasn't a top school. Last year, only one student was admitted.
It could be said that most students here had no hope at all.
But if they gave up, they would only live ordinary, mediocre lives forever.
So unwilling!
Facing the application forms, the students of Class (2) fell into hesitation.
Lu Yuan, however, wasn't hesitating—he was panicking.
Just now, he had been standing next to his homeroom teacher.
He had personally seen a human named Ji Yin leap hundreds of meters through the air and then leap away again.
Not a single person in the entire school found it strange. Instead, they admired it.
This was definitely not the Earth he had come from!
Just moments ago, he had been full of confidence, believing that with twenty years of foresight, he could carve out a great future.
Now, Lu Yuan realized things were far more complicated than that.
He took a deep breath.
"Ma Jin, I have a question."
Ma Jin put down his collector's edition "math book" and glanced sideways. "What?"
"If someone is reborn, what should they do? You've read a lot of novels, you should have experience, right?" Lu Yuan asked humbly.
At the mention of novels, Ma Jin perked right up.
"Rebirth is easy. First thing—don't even think about it—you make money.
With past-life experience, there's no way you'd miss any opportunities to get rich.
Once you have money, you start leveling up and fighting monsters, while collecting all the school beauties and empresses into your harem…"
"Stop!" Lu Yuan quickly cut him off.
"What I mean is—after being reborn, you find the world has changed, and there are many extremely powerful people. What should you do in that situation?"
"You mean, an ordinary person reborn into a primordial world? The kind where gods and demons are everywhere and emperors roam the streets? That's not rebirth—that's transmigration!" Ma Jin corrected seriously.
"...Whatever."
"For transmigration, you need a system," Ma Jin analyzed professionally. "Rely on the system to lie low for tens of thousands of years, then come out and wipe out all those ancient monsters! Then take all the school beauties and empresses into your harem."
"How could there be school beauties in a primordial world?!" Lu Yuan pointed out the fatal flaw.
Ma Jin sneered disdainfully. "Ever heard of 'I Opened a Girls' School in the Primordial World'? Sounds fine to me!"
Alright, fair enough!
But Lu Yuan didn't need a girls' school—he needed a system!
"How do you get a system?" Lu Yuan pressed.
"A system needs a 'ding,'" Ma Jin answered without hesitation.
Lu Yuan was confused again. "What 'ding'?"
"The 'ding' of a microwave," Ma Jin said. "Have you heard a 'ding'?"
Lu Yuan shook his head heavily.
"No system? Then just wait to die!" Ma Jin made a threatening expression. "You'll get crushed like an ant!"
Lu Yuan fell silent.
The dismissal bell rang at the perfect moment. Lu Yuan stuffed the application form into his bag and left with his head down.
"Oh right, Lu Yuan, which novel are you reading?" Ma Jin called after him. "The power level sounds maxed out—it actually sounds pretty interesting.
"Tell me the title, I'll check it out tonight."
"I don't feel like talking to you right now," Lu Yuan waved weakly as he left.
"'I Don't Feel Like Talking to You Right Now,' got it," Ma Jin waved back. "Hope the bookstore doesn't get smashed!"
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