In the conference room of First High School, a meeting was underway.
Attending were the school leaders of First High School and admissions officers from Tiandu University.
A ten-meter-long oval conference table dominated the room, while a projector, suspended from the ceiling, diligently cast its display onto the screen at the far end of the room.
The meeting had already been in session for over an hour.
The presentation, titled “Arrangements for the Admissions Examination,” had reached its concluding ‘thank you’ slide.
“It’s truly a bother to inconvenience the esteemed school leaders every year,” the admissions officer began, “and we are deeply grateful for your cooperation this time as well.”
The admissions officer from Tiandu University was quite young, appearing to be no older than twenty-five or twenty-six, and wore a jacket emblazoned with the Tiandu University emblem.
Despite facing a panel of school leaders old enough to be his father, his demeanor remained impeccably composed.
“On behalf of Tiandu University, I extend our sincerest gratitude to the school leaders of Ying City First High School,” he said with a slight smile.
“Teacher Yue, not at all!” the principal, his hair already streaked with white, responded with a beaming smile, waving a dismissive hand.
“Cooperating with Tiandu University is not merely a task; it is our fundamental duty.
“To educate and nurture, to guide more exceptional students into higher institutions for further studies—this is the lifelong aspiration of us teachers!”
“Indeed, we hope to see even more of our students pass the examination and gain admission to Tiandu University.”
The Dean of Academic Affairs chimed in with an agreeable remark, ensuring the entire meeting maintained a harmonious atmosphere.
The vice-principal glanced at his wristwatch, then chuckled, “Teacher Yue, time is getting on. We’ve already arranged dinner for us. Perhaps we should head off to eat?”
“Very well, as the guests, we shall follow our hosts’ lead. Let us proceed to dinner then.”
Teacher Yue smiled, preparing to rise, when his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket.
He pulled out his phone, glanced at it, and offered an apologetic smile to the school leaders.
“My apologies, I need to take this call.”
“No trouble at all, work is important.”
****
Teacher Yue exited the conference hall, found an secluded corner, and answered the call.
“What’s the situation?” he asked, cradling the phone between his shoulder and ear. He then pulled a tissue from his pocket and began cleaning his glasses—their smooth lenses already clouded with a fine layer of dust.
“A high-potential target emerged during today’s physical examination,” a cool, clear female voice reported from the other end of the line.
“Oh? A high-potential target, how intriguing!”
Teacher Yue continued to polish his glasses, his tone even as he inquired, “What’s the rank? And what’s their name?”
“Their name is Huang Xiu, a student from Class 4, Second Year, at First High School. The preliminary assessment of their potential level is…”
The female voice on the phone paused, then uttered, “S-tier.”
A sharp click echoed.
“S-tier?”
Teacher Yue, his face devoid of expression, slipped his glasses into his pocket. “Are you joking, Yue?”
“This is hardly amusing.”
The concept of an S-tier, and all it represented, was something he, as an admissions officer for Tiandu University, understood with absolute clarity.
To call such a talent one in ten thousand would be an understatement.
Since the founding of Tiandu University, the number of S-tier individuals discovered could be counted on one hand.
And the last S-tier… Yue Zhengyang exhaled slowly, a flicker of nostalgia in his eyes.
“This is the AI’s assessment; I’ve just reviewed his examination report,” the female voice replied, tinged with a hint of disbelief. “His intrinsic energy level (TL Note: Refers to a supernatural energy or ‘void energy’ within a person, often a key factor in awakening special abilities) is exceptionally high and incredibly pure. It has completely met—no, even surpassed—the S-tier standard.”
“Even though he is currently in his larval stage, his intrinsic energy already exceeds that of many Mercury-tier abnormals.”
“An AI assessment?” Teacher Yue removed the phone from his shoulder. “Then it must be accurate.”
The woman named Yue quickly added, “However, this is merely a preliminary report. A final rating will be determined after considering the awakened lineage ability he manifests.”
“With such an exceptionally high intrinsic energy level, the awakened ability cannot possibly be subpar. Even if it’s not ideal, it will be at least A-tier, as intrinsic energy is ultimately the crucial factor,” Teacher Yue declared, a trace of barely suppressed excitement beneath his calm demeanor.
“This is precisely the kind of talent Tiandu University urgently needs right now. I’ll contact the professor immediately and have them come over in person.”
“Alright, as long as you have it handled,” the female voice responded, then ended the call.
‘S-tier…’
Yue Zhengyang leaned against the wall, his right hand covering his face, and then let out a soft laugh. ‘I truly wonder what the world of such a genius must be like.’
****
By the time Huang Xiu finished his physical examination and returned to his dorm, it was already seven in the evening.
He pulled four bags of instant noodles from his suitcase, distributed one to each of his roommates, then tore open his own package and began crunching away, utterly oblivious to his surroundings.
He was truly starving.
Ever since the strange changes began in his body, Huang Xiu’s appetite had inexplicably surged.
A single bread roll, an egg, and milk were simply not enough to sate him.
The others in the dorm lay sprawled on their beds, looking like neutered Hachiko (TL Note: Hachiko is a famous loyal Japanese dog, here used humorously to describe a listless, defeated state), utterly devoid of spirit, scrolling through videos on their phones with no intention of preparing for tomorrow’s exam.
“Aren’t you guys going to review anything?” Huang Xiu actually felt a slight urge to pull out his books, but it seemed out of step with the others.
“Review what, a ‘der’!” Guan Shuai sat up straight. “We’ve been studying for eleven years; we all know what we’re capable of.”
“Exactly, exactly! One more day or one less, what breakthrough could we possibly make?” Fang Yongyi grumbled.
“Besides, is Tiandu University really somewhere we could get into?”
“Do you know how many from our First High School got in last year?” Fang Yongyi held up a single finger. “Just one!”
Hearing this, Huang Xiu conceded that there truly wasn’t much point. The saying “sharpening one’s spear at the last minute, though not fast, still gleams” really depended on the context.
For this type of examination, a day or two of revision would indeed make no difference for underachievers like them.
With that thought, he sprawled out on his bed in a languid slump, pulled out his phone, and prepared to open Station 13 for some casual viewing.
He suddenly noticed a new friend request notification on QQ—[Bright as a Clear Sky, wishes to add you as a friend].
‘Bright as a Clear Sky?’
‘Who is that? Is it someone I know?’
Clicking on the notification, Huang Xiu looked at the verification message, which simply stated [I am Bright as a Clear Sky], offering no further clues.
The source was a QQ number search.
Generally, Huang Xiu would accept any friend request as long as it wasn’t from a group chat.
Thus, even without knowing who ‘Bright as a Clear Sky’ was, he accepted the friend request.
[Hello, may I ask who this is?]
Huang Xiu typed out the question, and seeing no immediate reply, he dismissed it from his mind and went back to playing on his phone.
****
Coldness, trembling…
It felt as though his face was covered, someone choking him, preventing him from breathing freely; as if he were plummeting into the depths of water, an infinite solitude enveloping his entire body, causing him to tremble uncontrollably.
The surface of the water broke open in layers, and within the profound darkness, a figure slowly began to emerge.
It had the head of a pig and the body of a human, clutching an enormous iron compass.
It opened its gaping, blood-red maw, and one pig-headed human after another stepped out. These pig-headed humans, in turn, all opened their own mouths…
Innumerable pig-headed humans instantly filled the seabed.
Then, from the darkness, a colossal pig-headed human, composed of countless smaller ones, rose to its feet.
The next second, its blood-red maw gaped open, swallowing everything.