Chapter 3

Gu Huai: "......"

Should I say, one really shouldn't be blindly confident? Is the Continent's Number One Ability Academy truly as treacherous as they say, with no safe moments?

How can one be so thoroughly proven wrong just by thinking about it?

Though inwardly exasperated, he maintained his composure, walking into class with a steady gait and a poker face, as if the remark had nothing to do with him.

Which, of course, it wasn't.

Gu Huai had arrived just in time; the students were already mostly in their seats.

As he'd expected, these elite, one-in-ten-thousand freshmen were all proud and aloof. The classroom wasn't chaotic like a typical school opening; students stood or sat in aloof clusters, none deigning to interact with the others.

Unless something unexpected happened, they wouldn't likely warm up to each other in the first few days.

Alas, perhaps even the other world follows the rule that "wherever the Children of Destiny go, chaos follows." The first day of school still managed to devolve into a commotion.

Most students were now gathered around a dispute at the front of the class.

Gu Huai followed their gaze and spotted a black-haired, black-eyed youth at the center of the commotion.

A red string disappeared into the collar of the boy's shirt, and his mid-length hair was casually tied back with a light cyan ribbon—every detail matched the photograph the System had shown him one by one.

This was Qin Fenglin, the Children of Destiny of this continent.

However, he was far from the majestic figure described in the System's future. His emaciated frame, simple clothes, and the gloom that shadowed his brow concealed his handsome features. Like a pearl covered in dust, he was utterly unremarkable in this class.

His lips were pressed tightly together, and the emotions in his ink-black eyes were impossible to discern.

A red-haired youth in luxurious robes stood before him, his expression arrogant. It was the same youth who had spoken earlier. "What? No words now?"

Qin Fenglin replied calmly, "My Special Recruit status was personally approved by the Academy's admissions officer. If you have any objections, you can take it up with the Academy."

The red-haired youth didn't take the bait. "Ha! Don't try to use the Academy to pressure me. I just don't want dead weight in my class!"

He pointed at Qin Fenglin and addressed the class:

"You might not know this, but I fought Qin Fenglin during the entrance exam. Not only were his physical skills terrible, but he couldn't even use his Ability! Of course, he was defeated in less than a round. Normally, I wouldn't remember such a loser, but today, I saw him at Linyuan Academy!"

His words hit the class like a stone, sparking a wave of excited discussion.

Gu Huai's eyes widened slightly. He now understood the situation.

While in the System Space, the System had once revealed Qin Fenglin's past to Gu Huai, solemnly declaring that this man was the key to overcoming the catastrophe facing the God-Fall Continent.

Contrary to most people's expectations, Qin Fenglin, the Child of Destiny of the God-Fall Continent and the Savior chosen by both the System and the world, had no illustrious lineage or hidden identity. Instead, his origins were exceptionally humble.

His father served as a gate guard for the Xingqi Empire's Eldest Princess, while his mother was a laundry maid for the same princess.

The glorious Xingqi Empire, one of the Three Great Empires of the God-Fall Continent, was led by the Eldest Princess, who was also the empire's heir apparent—a position of immense honor and prestige.

Yet this prestige offered little benefit to the lowest-ranking attendants. As servants of the royal family, they carried the royal imprint from birth to death.

For a millennium, the God-Fall Continent had been ravaged by the Abyss, fostering a culture where martial prowess reigned supreme.

Though nearly everyone possessed some form of special ability, most of these abilities proved useless. Only those who could fight the Abyss were recognized as "special ability users," the most respected profession on this disaster-prone continent.

Even a mediocre special ability user could be treated as an honored guest in small towns.

If this special ability user were from the royal family's retinue, their only path to advancement would be within the royal court. However, resources were limited, making it extremely difficult to rise through the ranks.

In essence, their family's situation was worse than that of commoners.

Under these circumstances, Qin Fenglin displayed a remarkable talent for swordsmanship at a young age. On one occasion, he accidentally witnessed the prince practicing the Xingqi Empire's secret, the Xingqi Sword Technique. When he returned home, he was able to mimic the complex movements of this technique using a small wooden stick.

Most parents would have been overjoyed at this discovery. Though the path for royal servants was narrow, a child with such talent could still offer hope for improving the family's circumstances.

However, Qin Fenglin's parents loved him dearly. They didn't want him to follow this arduous path; they only wished for him to live a happy life, free from the need to serve others like them, bound by circumstances beyond his control.

Thus, their joy was tempered by deep anxiety.

Stealing the royal sword technique was a capital offense! Yet they couldn't ignore their child's burning desire to improve himself.

How could they not feel guilty for failing to provide him with a normal environment?

After much deliberation, his parents decided not to report Qin Fenglin to the royal family. Instead, they secretly concealed his talent.

His father carved him a wooden sword, while his mother took on the task of mending clothes. Together, they created precious practice time for Qin Fenglin at night.

They warned him that this technique could only be used for training and must never be revealed to others.

When Qin Fenglin grew older, they hoped to petition the kindest Eldest Princess for a special favor, allowing him to study at the Academy of Supernatural Abilities.

But fate had other plans. When Qin Fenglin turned fourteen, the Eldest Princess met with disaster.

Qin Fenglin didn't know the details, and the System couldn't provide Gu Huai with answers either.

The official explanation was "data error" and "incalculable."

The System had always been reliable, and this was the first time such a situation had occurred. Gu Huai could only speculate that since it was so closely related to Qin Fenglin, a Child of Destiny, the truth might be deeply connected to the secrets of this continent—secrets beyond his current understanding.

In summary, the public narrative was that the Eldest Princess had attempted to usurp the throne and was executed by the King. Overnight, her palace, officials, attendants... were all erased, including Qin Fenglin's parents.

Qin Fenglin had been out buying ingredients at the time and narrowly escaped, but he was still hunted down.

His pursuers, several times stronger than him, relentlessly chased him. His wooden sword, which he never left behind, snapped, and his body was covered in wounds. He faced life-or-death crises multiple times, yet miraculously survived each time.

He fled all the way to the neighboring city, shaking off his pursuers, and encountered the recruitment team from Linyuan Academy.

Linyuan Academy, the Continent's Number One Ability Academy, had always been Qin Fenglin's dream.

Consumed by hatred and with no other options, he staked everything on it and registered for the entrance examination.

He had no training and didn't even know if he possessed an Ability, let alone what it was, so he had little hope of passing the selection.

As expected, Qin Fenglin was defeated in two matches against the elites cultivated by other families. Just as he was about to lose the third, a turning point occurred.

In that instant, the world froze before his eyes.

So, Qin Fenglin's Ability was actually Time Stop!

Although he could only stop time for a mere second, and this ability could only be used once every minute, it was the most mysterious and rarest of all the Time System abilities!

It was this very ability that had unconsciously allowed him to escape the clutches of the Xingqi Royal Family.

With his broken sword, Qin Fenglin unleashed the ultimate secret of the Xingqi Sword Technique during the time stop, turning defeat into victory.

This ability also caught the attention of the teachers. Despite his previous losses, the recruitment teacher recognized his potential and approved his special admission.

This was the sum of Qin Fenglin's fifteen years of life so far.

From secretly practicing in the palace to the sudden destruction of his family, his past had been a tumultuous ride, with few days of peace. The only kindness fate had shown him, perhaps, was allowing him to enter Linyuan Academy by chance.

...But now it seemed his constitution had followed him even to Linyuan Academy.

The red-haired youth confronting Qin Fenglin was Long Peng, his opponent in the first round of the entrance exam.

That had been Qin Fenglin's most humiliating defeat. After fourteen years of self-study in a confined room, it was his first real battle against a human—and against the son of a city-state's City Lord, no less. The outcome had been entirely predictable.

Normally, having successfully enrolled, the entrance exam would have been forgotten. Long Peng might not even remember such a defeated opponent.

But the problem was that Qin Fenglin had reported with the main group of recruits. In the crowd and chatter, his status as a Special Recruit—and the reason for his special admission, "due to the rarity and power of his Ability"—had been noticed by everyone.

Special Ability Students at Linyuan Academy? Those were the cream of the crop, the true geniuses!

As soon as Qin Fenglin entered the classroom, he immediately became the center of attention, also drawing Long Peng's gaze.

After a moment's thought, Long Peng recalled Qin Fenglin's pathetic performance during the entrance examination. Now, to see him transformed into a Special Ability Student...

The contrast was stark, the difference immeasurable.

How could a 15-year-old boy tolerate this? He immediately stood up to call him out.

In fact, Gu Huai had deliberately avoided the main registration crowd, delaying his arrival until the process was nearly complete, to prevent exactly this situation.

Special Ability Students attract unnecessary attention—but would those admitted through parental connections face less scrutiny?

Gu Huai had lost all his family at the dawn of the Blue Star apocalypse, growing up in various bases. He knew the world's indifference all too well.

Clearly, Qin Fenglin, who had only just left his home, was unaware of this.

The initial attention he'd received wasn't his doing, but now he had to endure the disappointed gazes of everyone around him.

Qin Fenglin's fingers tightened slightly. The moment Long Peng finished speaking, he felt the gazes around him shift.

A Special Ability Student who was terrible at physical combat and couldn't even use his own Ability?

The situation Long Peng described was beyond their imagination. The students instinctively turned to Qin Fenglin, and his silent expression seemed to confirm it.

A wave of murmurs swept through the crowd.

Being slightly weaker might be acceptable, but how could someone who couldn't use their Ability at all be a Special Recruit?

This was the Continent's Number One Ability Academy!

The division into classes at Linyuan Academy wasn't arbitrary; there would inevitably be class-based activities later. If Qin Fenglin was truly useless, it would harm their interests.

Gu Huai knew Qin Fenglin was about to get into trouble.