Around him were other students dressed in the same uniform as his, walking in pairs and smiling at each other. Tianlei saw two students feeding each other ice cream—perfect for this kind of sweltering weather, where the sun beat down like an unrelenting forge.
"Show-offs," Tianlei muttered under his breath.
Still, he felt a tinge of jealousy. That particular moment flashed in his mind: soft blue hair catching the light, a gentle laugh echoing in a quieter place. Whoever she was, she must have been more than a friend to him.
The memory tugged at him, sharp and incomplete, like a puzzle missing half its pieces. Why couldn't he grasp her face? It was as if his mind had been scrubbed clean, leaving only echoes.
He almost stared too long; Xue Ren was already ahead of him, not even bothering to check if he followed. In an unfamiliar place like this, any dumb ideas of escape were just dumb.
He had no map, no allies, and that inner heat still simmered beneath his skin, waiting for a spark.
Tianlei increased his pace and caught up with her.
"This is the central city area of Golden Earth Academy," Xue Ren explained, her tone clipped and professional. "You will get used to the view."
"I'm already tired of you and the view," Tianlei scoffed inwardly.
Of course, he didn't say it out loud. He was yet to find out about her cultivation level, and before that, he had to keep his mouth and his actions in check. One wrong move, and he could end up back in restraints... or worse.
They arrived at a five-storey building clad in black glass that reflected nothing and absorbed nothing, like a void given form.
The place seemed like some kind of secret hideout for agents, shrouded in an aura of unspoken authority.
Few students entered the building, and even those who did came out with annoyed looks etched on their faces. Others were cursing under their breath, some even wiping away tears of frustration.
"What is this place?" Tianlei asked as they reached the stairs.
Some kid bumped into him without so much as a glance back, let alone an apology.
"This is the evaluation hall," Xue Ren replied.
"I thought the evaluation was over," Tianlei pressed, rubbing his shoulder where the collision had stung.
"That was the pre-evaluation chamber, built for... people like you." She paused, her eyes flicking over him appraisingly.
"This is for everyone who wishes to join Golden Earth Academy. Those faces you see? They're proof this isn't your everyday academy."
Tianlei didn't care about the other words, but "people like you" stuck like a thorn. He was a deviator or in real terms, a mutant human.
That made him an alien, someone who had to be contained first before being allowed to interact with "normal" people.
A guard raised his hand as they approached the entrance.
"Sorry, Miss, the last batch just entered. Come back tomorrow."
Xue Ren narrowed her eyes at the man, her voice dropping to a dangerous silkiness.
"Continue blocking my way, and you'll be the last guard to ever stop me."
The security guard stiffened, his face paling as he stepped aside without another word.
The first floor was empty, lined only with counters and desks .
They proceeded to the next floor, where students with angry faces were emerging from side doors. Once again, another one bumped into Tianlei . This time harder, jostling him sideways.
Now Tianlei had had enough. He might not have muscles to show off or overwhelming strength, but that didn't mean everyone could disrespect him like he was invisible.
He turned and pushed the student slightly, just enough to make his point. The student turned around, furious.
"Oops," Tianlei mocked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I slipped."
The student took one step forward, eyes blazing, ready to engage but that's when Xue Ren turned, her presence cutting through the tension like a blade.
"Enough of this nonsense," she snapped, her gaze pinning the student in place. He backed off immediately, muttering something under his breath as he slunk away.
They passed through a corridor lined with glowing runes that pulsed softly, and emerged into a vast circular hall supported by towering crystal pillars that refracted light into rainbows across the floor.
They joined the last group near the edge, blending into the cluster of nervous candidates.
A silver-haired woman stepped forward, her hair tied into a precise knot . She raised her hand, and the murmurs died instantly.
"Welcome, candidates," she said calmly, her voice carrying an edge of authority that brooked no interruption.
"We are going to begin the first stage of evaluation. Those who can't withstand the external pressure will immediately be disqualified. This is not a test of strength alone . it's a measure of your will, your resilience, and your potential to survive in a world that devours the weak."
At the center of the hall floated a massive construct of rotating rings. Its presence pressed against Tianlei's skull, not painfully at first, but insistently, like a hand resting on the back of his neck, testing for weakness.
"The first stage begins now," she said calmly.
Golden light flared as fragments detached from the construct, descending slowly like falling stars. One stopped before Tianlei, hovering at chest level.
Pressure struck him immediately, making his heartbeat stagger. His bones felt too tight, as if his body had been assembled incorrectly, every joint grinding under an invisible weight.
Data rippled across the plate's, readings he couldn't decipher.
The pressure intensified, testing resilience. Pain lanced through his arms as blood vessels surged outward. His muscles clenched against his will and a cracking sound echoed softly as his shoulder joint shifted, then snapped back , sending fresh waves of agony through him.
Tianlei gasped.
Around him, many students experienced the same torment, but unlike him, they collapsed when they couldn't withstand it and instructors moved in swiftly, helping them aside .
Plates flared red for those who failed and green for those who passed, the colors casting eerie glows across strained faces.
Xue Ren's eyes narrowed beside him. "Why is it taking so long for yours?"
Tianlei's plate finally flared red, signaling failure, but the pressure didn't retreat. It crushed into him harder, holding him tightly, squeezing the air from his lungs.
"Catastrophic deviation identified," a mechanical voice intoned from the construct, echoing through the hall.
"As expected," Xue Ren said softly, stepping forward with a hint of satisfaction.
"He is a deviant of the highest class."
All eyes turned to Tianlei. Whispers rippled through the crowd filled with fear, curiosity and disgust.
"Stop the procedure!" the silver-haired woman yelled.
Tianlei staggered forward as the pressure finally retreated, his hands clutching his chest.
But it was too late. Small veins burst from his skin like blackened roots, ripping through flesh without spilling a drop of blood.
"What the…?" Tianlei stared at the veins, horror mixing with a twisted fascination.
This wasn't the first time he'd experienced this—flashes of the arena, chains snapping, blood on his hands but this time, they emerged without him summoning them.
Another proof he possessed monster genes, teetering on the edge of full mutation.
His secret was exposed. The air in the hall thickened with tension.
The nearest student stared, bewildered, his face paling. Others stepped away, eyes fixed on Tianlei, but they didn't run. It was as if they were looking at something interesting, a freak show come to life.
The silver-haired woman yelled again, "Seal him! Now!"
"No," Xue Ren interjected, stepping in front of her with unyielding poise. "He is under my care. And I have every right to decide what should be done."
The central ring lowered to Tianlei's waist, clamping around him tightly like a vice. He struggled to breathe, panic rising as the metal bit into his skin.
"Miss Xue Ren, what the heck?" Tianlei screamed, his voice hoarse with rage and fear.
Xue Ren turned to the silver-haired woman.
"Unlock it. Now," she ordered, her tone leaving no room for debate.
The woman snorted, crossing her arms defiantly. "Miss, according to the rules, a deviator of the highest class should be taken back immediately. I'm just doing what the rules require."
"F– ck you and the rules," Xue Ren snarled, a spear materializing in her hand with a flicker of energy.
She swung it in a precise arc, striking the woman's shoulder and tearing through her attire and flesh in a spray of blood.
The woman gasped, staggering back but refusing to fall. Blood soaked her uniform, but her eyes burned with defiance.
"I don't follow rules," xue Ren hissed through gritted teeth. "I make them."
Tianlei's gaze locked on the woman's blood, then his own, seeping from the veins on his arms.
The sight stirred something primal.
"You want her blood... everyone's blood," the voice inside him whispered, seductive and insistent. "Just kill them. Let me show you how."
"No," Tianlei muttered aloud, shaking his head. "I'm not a murderer."
"Your choice," the voice sneered. "But I think you love being behind others—weak, pathetic, useless. Just wait; they'll slaughter you like the animal they think you are. If it wasn't for me, you couldn't have survived that fall from the arena. Just let me out... and we'll paint this hall red."
Tianlei's eyes shifted to the students and instructors, sensing the killing intent radiating from some of them .
The voice grew louder, drowning out reason.
"Kill all of them," it urged. "Just kill all of them."
He pressed his fingers against the cold ground, staring at the blood he coughed up, staining the floor. His eyes turned blood red, vision tunneling as the heat exploded within him.
"You madmen want to kill me?" Tianlei growled, his voice distorting into something inhuman.
"Then I'll feed on your greedy blood first."
The nearest student turned, eyes widening in shock but too late. Tianlei's hand pierced through his chest in a blur, ribs shattering like brittle glass. His fingers dug deep until they closed around the beating heart, ripping it out with a wet, tearing sound.
The body collapsed in a heap, blood pooling around it.
Tianlei stared at the heart pulsing in his hand, an undesirable hunger gnawing at him to devour it, to absorb its essence. But he resisted, crushing it instead until it exploded in a spray of gore.
Xue Ren and the instructors turned around. Two more black veins tore from Tianlei's skin, lashing out like whips before piercing two guards through the throat and impaling a fleeing student against a pillar.
Tianlei turned, feeling too strong. Power coursed through him, intoxicating, as if his body had become a vessel for something ancient and ravenous.
The thing inside him surged higher, exultant, hungry, pushing his body past limits that no longer mattered.
His spine arched painfully as something shifted beneath the skin not quite changing shape, but twisting into something no longer fully human.
"No... this is..."
Tianlei stumbled backwards, clutching his head. He felt as if something else was pressing its fingers into his brain, reshaping thoughts, erasing restraint.
"Containment breach!" the silver-haired woman shouted, her voice cracking with urgency as she activated a hidden alarm. Sirens wailed faintly in the distance.
The instructors channeled their killing intent as they advanced . But Xue Ren stomped her foot, sending a shockwave of raw power rippling outward. It collided with them like a tidal wave, hurling bodies back and slamming them into walls with bone-crunching force.
Whatever her cultivation was, it was definitely far stronger than anyone else present in the room.
The other students screamed, finally breaking into panic, scrambling toward the exits in a chaotic stampede.
"Demon Puppet Control Art," Xue Ren intoned
Her aura exploded outwards in a web of invisible threads, freezing all the students in their steps.
She then slammed her palm onto a stone tablet at her waist, the artifact shattering in a burst of light. A vast aura erupted outward, freezing the air itself into crystalline shards that hung suspended.
Space ripped apart with a thunderous crack, a tear in reality widening like a wound.
A figure stepped through, her long dark hair seeming to swallow all light. Every movement bending the space around her slightly, as if the world itself yielded to her presence.
Her expression was calm, utterly unruffled, as if nothing in this world or any other could bother her, even upon seeing the slaughter that had just unfolded.
The pressure in the hall vanished instantly, replaced by an overwhelming sense of power that made even Tianlei's inner monster quail.
She looked once at Tianlei, her eyes piercing through him like she could see every fractured memory, every hidden gene. Then she swept her gaze over the hall, taking in the frozen chaos.
Xue Ren dropped to one knee immediately. "My Lady."
"Just call me Feng Lanying," she said softly, waving off the formalities. "No need for titles here."
She approached Tianlei, placing a single finger on his forehead. A cool energy flooded him and the black veins retreated and his wounds sealing with a faint glow.
"He's early," Xue Ren said, rising but keeping her head bowed slightly.
"I know," Feng Lanying replied, a trace of regret in her voice. "That's my fault. I pushed the resurrection too soon."
She turned to Xue Ren.
"Erase the record. All of it concerning the deviation classification, even the governing prophet shouldn't intervene ."
"Yes, My Lady—I mean, Feng Lanying."
"You will be his caretaker from now on."
Xue Ren hesitated, glancing at Tianlei's still-trembling form. "His mutation... it's unstable. If it progresses—"
"It will stabilize," Feng Lanying said firmly.
"Or it won't. But no one touches him without my permission. He's family, after all." She paused, her eyes softening as she looked at Tianlei.
"When he chooses a path, guide him toward Beast Master. It will help him control the monster within "
Feng Lanying waved her hand, and the room regained its light. She traced a circle in the air with her finger, and time seemed to rewind: blood flowed back into wounds, sealing them seamlessly, the dead gasping back to life as if nothing had happened
"It seems that old man isn't around," she mused, a faint smile playing on her lips.
"If he was, he could have sensed my presence and tried to stop me."
"Haha, even if he came, that old fool couldn't touch me," she added with a light laugh that belied her power.
"This is the last intervention I will ever make in Tianlei's life. The rest will be up to him ."
Xue Ren nodded, bowing deeply. "As you wish."
The aura faded, and time resumed its flow. The students exhaled collectively, blinking in confusion, unaware of the slaughter that had been undone. Whispers resumed, but now laced with unease rather than panic.
The ring above Tianlei retreated, glowing green as if he'd passed all along.
"My head hurts," Tianlei said, shaking his head, fragments of the violence lingering like a nightmare he couldn't fully recall.
The silver-haired supervisor stared at her tablet, her breath catching in surprise.
"Out of the last batch," she said quietly, her voice steadying.
"Only five qualify. As a security measure, you will each be bestowed an armor to aid in your training."
Stone platforms rose beneath their feet with a low rumble, and incomplete armor constructs surged up from hidden compartments in the floor. They locked onto their bodies .
The armor shell around Tianlei felt heavy, familiar like a tortoise's carapace, protective yet burdensome.
Black Tortoise Armor, he thought, recognizing the design from half-remembered texts. It wasn't the supreme version; an academy like Golden Earth wouldn't grant that to a newcomer, no matter how rich and powerful it was. But even this base form surpassed anything his old life had ever offered.
It felt as if he was wearing his permit into hell, a ticket to deeper dangers.
Tianlei's eyes widened, a flash of blue hair and blind eyes piercing through the fog of his amnesia. Who was she?