**Rongcheng Security Bureau.**
"Bai Hongtian!!"
Cheng Wugang had just returned to the bureau, barely catching his breath, when a furious female voice echoed faintly from above.
He frowned, wondering who would dare come to the bureau and shout a grandmaster’s name so brazenly.
Was there no respect left?
Moreover, if not for the grandmaster’s intervention today, the entire city of Rongcheng might have faced disaster. Countless lives could have been lost.
A glance at his colleagues—all avoiding the situation—told him everything.
Approaching the break room, Cheng Wugang peeked inside.
There stood the Seventh-Realm Grandmaster, who had just slain an S-class mutated beast despite his injuries, his face flushed with anger as he growled:
"I had to eliminate that monster first—"
Before he could finish, he was cut off.
"Don’t give me excuses! I just want to know—why didn’t you save your daughter first?"
The one shouting at him was a beautiful woman, though her face was now twisted with fury.
Cheng Wugang’s heart sank. This must be the grandmaster’s wife.
"If I had gone to save Little Xi first, even a few seconds’ delay could have cost countless lives in Rongcheng. As a Seventh-Realm Grandmaster, my duty is to the nation and its people!"
The grandmaster’s words resonated with unwavering conviction, leaving Cheng Wugang standing solemnly outside.
"You couldn’t even protect your own daughter—how can you protect a nation?" The woman roared, pointing accusingly.
The grandmaster’s face twisted with grief, but he remained silent.
Cheng Wugang couldn’t take it anymore. Steeling himself, he stepped inside and announced loudly:
"Grandmaster Bai, I bring good news! Just now—"
---
**The next day.**
**Rongcheng Martial High School.**
Wang Xian slung his backpack over one shoulder, a breakfast bag in hand.
He stood at the school gates, staring at the familiar gilded characters above.
A wave of nostalgia washed over him.
Walking in, the familiar sights—the classroom buildings, the martial arts training grounds, the cafeteria, even the frost-covered forest path—all merged into a faded, ancient painting in his memory.
At the end of this painting stood a teaching building.
**Yifu Building.**
The greatest distance in the world is not space, but time.
Sixty years apart, yet standing in the same building, learning the same things.
Suddenly, a sharp voice cut through his thoughts:
"You there! Martial students are forbidden from climbing buildings! What class are you from?"
Wang Xian turned to look.
A fairly handsome boy stood nearby. With a single leap, he effortlessly cleared several meters, landing on the second-floor corridor. Glancing down, he replied lazily:
"Teacher, I’m from Class One."
The patrolling teacher’s expression softened immediately.
"Xia Sichen, be more careful."
Murmurs rose from passing students:
"Xia Sichen’s showing off again… Damn it."
"Well, if you had an innate vitality of 0.6 and raised it to 1.2 in a single semester, you’d show off too."
"He’s already broken past 1? And he’s good-looking on top of that?"
"With talent like that, even the worst martial awakening would still get him into a top-tier martial academy."
"I’ve got him on FlyChat. He spent all yesterday grinding ‘Martial Infinite’—soloed the Asura mode several times…"
Wang Xian glanced at the scene, recalling faint memories.
Xia Sichen—the kind of "elite" student who shone brightest in high school.
Top grades, handsome, gifted.
The type who never studied but aced everything anyway.
The "child of other families" everyone envied.
In his past life, Wang Xian had admired him too.
But later, he’d seen too many martial prodigies…
In comparison, even someone like Xia Sichen—who later awakened the high-tier martial trait **[Flaming Bones]**—faded into mediocrity.
*If I remember right, he ended up as a teacher at some elite academy?*
Shaking his head, Wang Xian entered the school building.
As he passed Class Nine, he paused, glancing inside.
This was where Ye Miyue studied.
It was only 6 a.m. The classroom was small, with forty desks.
Ye Miyue sat in the very first row, center seat—the so-called "Throne" of any class, reserved only for the most diligent.
She wore a faded school uniform, eyes closed as she recited silently.
Wang Xian scanned the empty room, then frowned.
Without hesitation, he walked in and rapped his knuckles on her desk.
"Teacher, good morn—"
Ye Miyue’s eyes flew open mid-greeting… and froze when she saw him.
"Looking lively, Miss Ye." Wang Xian grinned. "Had breakfast yet?"
"...Yes."
"Where?"
"The school cafeteria."
"What did you eat?"
A pause.
"Noodles."
"What kind?"
"Beef…"
"Stop lying. The cafeteria doesn’t serve beef noodles on Mondays." Wang Xian cut through her act and dropped the breakfast bag on her desk. "You haven’t eaten at all."
"......"
The aroma wafted between them.
"I don’t want it." Ye Miyue shook her head.
"Better eat it now while no one’s around." Wang Xian ignored her refusal. "Or I can’t guarantee what might pop up on the school forum later."
"......"
He turned and left before she could protest.
"Hey—you—!"
By the time she stood, he was already gone.
Glaring at the breakfast, Ye Miyue hesitated.
A crispy pancake stuffed with two layers of juicy meat, paired with a cup of warm milk.
Enough to fuel a student through the morning.
After a furtive glance around, she picked up the pancake, took a stealthy bite, and chewed with puffed cheeks, eyes darting like a thief.
---
**Class Four.**
When Wang Xian returned, a few students were already there.
"Holy hell, did the sun rise from the west? You’re not cutting it close for once?"
The moment he sat down, a boy—somehow both dorky and decent-looking—leaned over, gaping at him.
"What’s the point of coming early? Planning a rebellion?"
"......"
Wang Xian gave him a sidelong glance.
Zhou Xukun—his high school best friend.
Ugly from afar, borderline handsome up close, but ultimately an odd mix of both.
Top-tier in both academics and martial studies.
If Xia Sichen was the school’s "chosen disciple," then Zhou Xukun was its "core elite."
As for Wang Xian at this point?
Probably the equivalent of a lowly servant under some minor branch family of a sect’s outer disciples.
In his past life, Zhou Xukun had gotten into a top Dragon Country university, later diving deep into medical research.
He’d also been the last person by Wang Xian’s side before his death.
"Just bored," Wang Xian shrugged.
"Where’s the breakfast you usually bring Chen Yuting?" Zhou Xukun asked, as if this were just another oddity.
"Gave it to someone else."
"Who?"
"Ye Miyue from Class Nine."
Zhou Xukun blinked, then smirked.
"You gave it to the ‘Ice Queen’? What, trying to chill the food first so Chen Yuting gets frostbite from eating it?"
"......"