1 Chapter 1: You are too weak

"Students, summer vacation is just around the corner, and I can't bear the thought of not seeing my dear students for almost two months. My heart is filled with reluctance, and the emotion of parting has kept me toss and turn at night for several days..."

On the podium, a woman in her thirties with a touch of makeup, wearing a black ladies' suit and black-framed glasses, spoke with a sorrowful expression full of reluctance.

But no matter how hard she performed, all the students below slightly bowed their heads in a serene Zen-like state, as if meditating.

"Wang Lan, what big move do you think Extinction Master is holding back today?"

"To deal with us, does she even need to hold back a big move? With Extinction Master's BOSS level, just one glare from her is enough to empty our health bars. By rights, our class did well on the exams, so Extinction Master should show some mercy."

"Did well? That's just you, isn't it?"

In the back row, Wang Lan and his best friend Zhang Hao, who had been desk mates for two years, had already perfected a method of Morse code communication that allowed them to exchange messages silently or with minimal sound, sometimes telling dirty jokes.

"After much thought, I've decided to give each student a parting gift. The gift may be small, but it's the thought that counts. During the summer vacation, whenever students see the gift from the teacher, they'll be reminded of me. After class, the boys should come to my office to carry them."

"I have a bad feeling about this..."

"Me too!"

"This final exam was a citywide mock college entrance exam in Suzhou City. Our class... did fairly well. We had three students in the top ten for the entire city, and our class ranked first in average scores, with a 77% pass rate for the top university admission tier."

"Yay—" The heavy atmosphere suddenly relaxed, having thought that Extinction Master was up to her tricks again.

"It's right to be happy, but there's no need to be proud of our performance. We are Class One of Suzhou No.1 Middle School. It's only natural to get these results. But is that enough? This was just a mock exam, not the actual college entrance exam. And who will our real competitors be in the actual exam? The students from Suzhou City? No! It's all of Jiang Province.

Tong City's seven high schools have held Jiang Province's top college entrance exam spots for thirteen years, and no one has been able to shake their status. Students, do you have the confidence to challenge Tong City's dominance in a year's time?"

"Wow?" The whole class exclaimed in unison.

"Has Extinction Master gone mad?" Wang Lan whispered.

"Maybe you gave her the courage," Zhang Hao shot a murderous look at Wang Lan.

"Wow what? A hundred years is too long—we only fight for the day. This isn't the neighboring Star Martial Arts Campus. Whether your future path is a broad avenue or a thorny road depends on the college entrance exam, which is less than a year away.

To get into a good university is to have a future to speak of. Think about your parents, compare those who commute to work through wind and snow on e-bikes, to those who drive to work and sip coffee in their offices.

Your talents are all the same; none of you are Star Martial Warriors but the difference in your future lives could be night and day. Why? Because of effort. Because those who live comfort lives have worked harder than those who commute in harsh weather.

The college entrance exam is the battlefield that can change your life, even determine your entire future. Win, and you have wealth and glory; lose, and you can only pin your hopes on the next generation. That is, if you can have a next generation."

This time, Class One did well, so the thirty-year-old single homeroom teacher didn't explode but merely delivered a lesson filled with motivational speech.

The dose of motivational speech was enough, quite satisfying.

As the bell for the end of class rang, Wang Lan took out a box of milk from his drawer. At an age where he was still growing, Wang Lan was quite concerned about his height from his previous life. In this life, he was determined not to be short again.

"Can you still eat? Haven't you had enough of Extinction Master's motivational speech?"

"Ah Rat, that might be motivational speech to you, but to me, it's poison. With the demands of Extinction Master, I can do it with my eyes closed. I didn't drink a sip of her speech."

"Uh, Lan, I'll excuse myself for a moment."

"Hmm?" A strong sense of killing intent suddenly loomed over Wang Lan's head like a dark cloud.

Wang Lan looked up to find several good buddies and some top-notch students from the class gathering around him.

Cornered, Wang Lan shrank back against the wall, "Dear seniors... may I ask what brings you here?"

"What brings us here? Honorable top student, do you know how many points you scored in this citywide mock exam?"

"Four hundred... four hundred and sixty... what about it?" Wang Lan was quite pleased with such a high score, but hey, life is all about playing your part, right? Without a bit of pretense, where's the fun in life?

So the more incredible others find it, the more nonchalant you should act.

Just think of these guys here. After every exam, they all exclaimed how they bombed it.

But when the scores came out, each of them was somewhere between three hundred ninety-something and over four hundred. They're all bad news.

"What about it? Do you even have to ask? With a perfect score of five hundred, you scored four hundred sixty? Tell me, what about it?"

"Last year, the admission scores for Yanda and Jingda were four hundred and seven. Tell me, why bother exerting so much effort on a mock exam? Aren't you afraid you might hurt yourself?"

"Wolfie, look at yourself, inflating Extinction Master like that. Even planning to challenge the dominion of the seven high schools in Tong City. After the class committee's discussion and decision, for the whole of senior year, your total score must not exceed the second place by more than ten points; if not, I'll be representing Li Dameiren to take you down."

"Damn!" Wang Lan, faced with someone even more anxious than Li Kui, immediately flipped the bird.

"I think a verbal warning won't be very effective, maybe we should..."

"Makes sense..."

About a dozen of them, top students of the class, any of whom could potentially fight for the second spot. But alas, even if they beat everyone else, they could only ever hope to be second best.

Because above their heads reigned a Demon King they would never surpass. An academic god worshipped by a hundred thousand elementary school students in Suzhou City, already deified while alive.

"Gentlemen giants, don't start with me, let's talk this out, just hear me out..." Wang Lan got a little chicken when he saw the situation.

"Explanations, what more is there to explain? We've put up with your long reign in first place, but constantly rubbing us into the ground is something we simply cannot bear. Choose between treating us to milk tea or getting trampled over."

"Can I have both?" Wang Lan's face broke into a lecherous grin, "I'll treat you to milk tea, and let Li Dameiren and the others do the trampling..."

"Hey? That could work!" Wang Xuebin stroked his chin in contemplation.

"Ugh! Wang Lan, you're learning bad habits too." Several girls blushed and spat out.

"Alright, alright, no more joking. I'm serious too. All these years, rubbing you all into the ground hasn't been very sportsmanlike. Treating the whole class to milk tea as an apology is only right, I'll order delivery, lunch today on me.

But as for not outperforming you in future tests... that's a bit difficult for me. You're the pride of Greater Su City, high school prodigies, any one of you could explode to the top with your potential...

But after all, we're only human, and even if I wanted to go easy, my ability wouldn't allow it. Take this time for instance; scoring over 480 wasn't supposed to be that hard. I intentionally got a question wrong, thinking to leave you all some dignity.

But... I didn't expect you to fold so easily. I let oceans of space for you and still overestimated my peers..."

Initially, the pack of academic aces could somewhat agree, recognizing that everyone's performance and ability were quite similar — even though the ranks from second to fifteenth seemed widely spaced, the actual score margins never exceeded ten points.

But by the end of that sentence, those aces were livid.

Listen to this, is that even something a person would say? What do you mean by 'I've already gone easy like the Pacific Ocean, but still overestimated you'?

The atmosphere turned deathly still for a moment, as murderous intent simmered in the eyes of the students before him.

"What are we waiting for? Take him down—"

The mood in the classroom instantly livened up, as the academic aces fully unleashed their playful sides, and the other students weren't about to miss out. Boys and girls surged forward together, seizing a rare chance to take down an academic god was too good to pass up.

"Buzz— Congratulations to the host for completing the great perseverance trial, first place in a thousand consecutive exams, lasting six years and nine months. Destiny System successfully activated, initiating system startup..."

A notification suddenly sounded in Wang Lan's mind, and in that very instant of the system's activation, his body and soul became distinct.

His physical form was being lovingly caressed by the hands of youth and embraced by the bosom of young girls. Meanwhile, his soul descended into his Spiritual Sea of Consciousness, eagerly awaiting the activation of the Destiny System.

In reality, the Destiny System had appeared when Wang Lan was seven years old. As someone transmigrated, he naturally accepted the existence of the system. After all, cheats were the standard for transmigrators.

But this Destiny System was a bit capricious. Before activating it, one had to complete a trial test, passing which was the only way to enable the system.

Back then, Wang Lan was so thrilled he was bouncing on his bed, thinking the apex of his life was right before his eyes. But upon seeing the trial's test question, he was staggered.

"As a chosen one, you must embody great wisdom, perseverance, and fortune. To pass the trial of destiny, you must complete one of these tasks.

The task of great wisdom: The chaotic beginnings of the Different Dimensional Space and the mystery of the Demon Clan's origin has troubled the human civilization for thousands of years. Countless Pioneers have entered the Different Dimensional Space, risking their lives. The Demon Clan has invaded our world time and again.

You, boy of wisdom, use your clever intellect to unravel these mysteries!"

"I'll unravel your grandma's footbinding cloth! A problem that has confounded the whole world for thousands of years, that the collective efforts of human civilization have failed to solve over millennia, and you expect a child to solve it? Have some shame!"

"The test of great perseverance, as a chosen one, you can't just rely on destiny to achieve greatness. You must put in an unimaginable amount of effort, have perseverance beyond what the average person can endure.

In any kind of examination or competition, achieve first place, and do so a thousand times in a row. No interruptions are allowed; should you break the chain even once, the experience resets to zero."

A thousand consecutive first places, talk about shameless? And I wasn't even a slacker in my previous life, but certainly no prodigy. Just thinking about a thousand consecutive firsts made me feel loveless.

"The test of great fortune, as a chosen one, you must be accompanied by great fortune. Buy a lottery ticket and win a top-tier prize, with the first ticket you purchase being the only valid one. Young man, take on this trial and prove yourself as the one most favored by fate, the luckiest lad."

Seeing this one, Wang Lan wanted to slam the table.

One lottery ticket, seven numbers, winning a top-tier prize. What are the odds of that? Is that even a task that mortals can accomplish?

After much deliberation, Wang Lan eventually decided that the second task, the test of great perseverance, was the only one attainable by mere mortals. The first and the third, you've got to be kidding...