"Alright, it's settled then."
Evan Lin nodded at Mia Chen, then turned to head for his seat.
Bang.
A loud crash suddenly echoed from the doorway of Class 7.
Every student in Class 7 turned to look.
Trevor Liu!
Someone cried out in surprise, spotting Trevor Liu standing at the door without anyone noticing when he'd arrived.
Trevor Liu was the undisputed tough guy of the 11th grade, swaggering around thanks to his older brother Tyson Liu's fearsome reputation in 12th grade. Nobody in the whole school dared mess with him lightly.
Trevor Liu wore his long hair down to his shoulders, with thick bangs over his forehead. Right now, his face was dark as he glared viciously at Evan Lin.
Clearly, he'd seen Evan talking to Mia Chen.
Trevor's fist slammed against the door, showing just how angry he was.
Evan Lin calmly stared at Trevor Liu at the door, meeting his gaze without a hint of fear.
Every time Mia Chen finished explaining a problem to Evan Lin, Trevor Liu would lead his crew to ambush Evan and beat him up. Eventually, Evan was too scared to ask Mia for help anymore.
This was a grudge Evan Lin had bottled up for years. All the regrets and fury of his past life fueled his legend as the Nine Mysteries Immortal Lord who, in three hundred years, reached the Tribulation stage in another world.
"Evan Lin, haven't beaten you up in a few days and you're already getting bold, huh?"
Trevor Liu glared at Evan Lin, his face dark and menacing.
"And you know all about it? Wow, you're amazing."
As soon as Evan Lin's calm words left his mouth, everyone in the class froze.
"Did Evan Lin just say that?"
"Is he actually mocking Trevor Liu?"
"Damn, Evan Lin must've totally lost his mind!"
Everyone around started buzzing, clearly shocked by Evan Lin's reply.
In their eyes, Evan Lin was just a country kid with no background, lousy grades, and a cowardly streak.
No one could've imagined Evan Lin would suddenly say something like that.
Trevor Liu's face twitched, feeling his authority challenged and his pride wounded. He jabbed a finger at Evan. "You're pretty gutsy, Evan Lin. Get out here."
Evan Lin gave a faint smile. He'd wanted to beat up Trevor Liu for ages and was about to step out, but just then, Mia Chen—who'd been silent—suddenly stood up, frowned at Trevor, and said, "Have you made enough trouble? This is Class 7, not Class 11! If you keep it up, I'll tell the teacher!"
It was an open secret that Trevor Liu was after Mia Chen, but she never showed any interest in him.
Now that Mia Chen was standing up for Evan Lin, Trevor was so furious he could've ground his teeth to dust. "Fine, fine! Evan Lin, just wait for me after school! I guarantee you won't be walking out of here in one piece!"
After spitting out those words, Trevor Liu stormed off in a rage.
"Thanks."
Watching Trevor Liu leave, Evan Lin sighed inwardly, thinking he'd just have to pay him back later.
Turning to Mia Chen, Evan Lin thanked her from the heart.
Mia Chen shook her head. "Maybe you should ask for leave now. Otherwise, Trevor Liu will definitely ambush you after school."
As class monitor, Mia Chen was simply worried about Evan Lin's safety. Deep down, she felt partly responsible for the mess. What she couldn't figure out was why Evan seemed like a completely different person now.
Evan Lin grinned. "Thanks for worrying about me, monitor. But don't forget—I'll walk home with you after school. I never go back on my word."
With that, Evan Lin headed for his seat.
That last line made Mia Chen glance at Evan a couple more times, but she figured he was just trying to save face.
The classroom buzzed with gossip about Evan Lin's behavior, but he didn't care at all, ignoring everyone else completely.
Back at his desk, Evan Lin opened his textbook, running his fingers over the pages as he couldn't help but sigh.
He'd spent endless effort on studying before, but his grades never improved. Now, as Evan Lin reborn with the mind of the Nine Mysteries Immortal Lord, he faced these textbooks with absolute confidence.
"Studying is just understanding and memorizing. Back then, my grades sucked because my brain couldn't process info efficiently. But after a trip through the Immortal Martial World, having a photographic memory is no big deal. Compared to those cryptic cultivation techniques, these textbooks are a breeze."
Evan Lin used to be the absolute bottom of the class. The thought of tasting what it's like to be a top student in this life actually felt kind of fresh to him.
The bell rang for the last class of the morning—biology.
Evan Lin sat at his desk reading.
He skimmed through the textbook and could basically memorize it, though real studying meant doing exercises. Evan wasn't in a rush about that.
After biology, Evan Lin pulled out his Chinese and math books, wanting to skim those too.
But just as Evan was buried in his books, he suddenly heard the click-clack of heels approaching, followed by a wave of killing intent.
Killing intent?
Startled, Evan Lin snapped his head up and saw—
Uh...
Evan Lin was stunned for a moment, a single word flashing through his mind.
Big.
She wore a black business suit, black-rimmed glasses, shoulder-length light blonde hair, a white blouse underneath, a pleated skirt, black stockings, and high heels.
Biology teacher Lily Zhong bent over, her eyes smiling as she leaned in close to Evan Lin, carrying a whiff of perfume.
Evan's gaze swept quickly, but finally landed somewhere it definitely shouldn't have—on her mountainous curves.
High and low, enough to make anyone's mind wander.
Only then did Evan Lin remember this was biology class. Back in school, as an innocent boy, he'd fantasized about the hot biology teacher Lily Zhong just like every other guy, but that was ages ago. Now, that feeling suddenly hit him all over again.
"Evan Lin, spacing out again? This is biology class, and you're reading Chinese and math? Is your biology that good?"
Lily Zhong had graduated from teacher's college two years ago and finally landed a job at Brightsea No. 2 High School as a biology teacher.
Class 7 was the first class Lily Zhong ever taught, so she took it especially seriously.
Class 7's biology grades were usually decent, but Evan Lin was a real headache for Lily Zhong—his scores were so bad, "dragging the class down" didn't even begin to cover it.
But instead of the panicked reaction Lily Zhong expected, Evan Lin didn't look flustered at all.
Honestly, Lily Zhong found Evan Lin kind of amusing, just a bit slow-witted.
But today, something felt off.
Following Evan Lin's gaze, Lily Zhong glanced down, her face flushing before she grew annoyed.
"Evan Lin! Get out and stand in the hallway! Stay there until school's over!"
Evan Lin stood up calmly, a little embarrassed inside.
He wasn't really shaken up—he'd just spaced out for a second there.
Back in the Immortal Martial Continent, there were plenty of beautiful sect maidens, but their chests were all basically A-cups. Maybe the more talented a woman was, the more likely she'd be an A-cup.
Under the stares of everyone in the classroom, Evan Lin walked out.
"What's Evan Lin doing now?"
"No idea, probably pissed off the biology teacher again."
"Getting punished twice in one day—Evan Lin's something else."
Plenty of people whispered and snickered.
Mia Chen glanced at Evan Lin being punished, then bowed her head and kept writing her notes, not showing much emotion.
From that angle, nobody really understood what had happened.
Lily Zhong adjusted her tone, getting serious. "Let's get back to class. No more talking!"
Evan Lin stood outside the classroom until school was over.
When the dismissal bell rang, Lily Zhong walked out and stopped in front of Evan Lin.
Evan Lin looked up, this time letting his gaze briefly sweep across her curves before settling on Lily Zhong's expressionless face, giving an awkward smile.
"Come to the office with me."
Lily Zhong's voice was flat, showing no emotion. She finished speaking and strode off in her high heels.
"Evan Lin just got called to the office."
"He's in for it now."
Evan Lin watched Lily Zhong's perfect S-shaped figure up ahead—total goddess vibes.
Black-stocking queen types are the best.
A flood of words popped into Evan Lin's mind.
"Evan Lin, you should sneak out through the back gate, or Trevor Liu's crew will definitely ambush you later. I can talk to Ms. Zhong for you."
Mia Chen walked out just then, giving Evan a calm look.
"It's fine. Just wait here for me a bit."
Evan Lin's warm, easy smile made Mia Chen frown even more. She seriously thought Evan's brain was fried and couldn't make sense of him at all.
This guy was way too weird.
How could he still smile like that when he was about to get beaten up?
"Alright, I'm heading to the teacher's office. See you in a bit."
Evan Lin waved at Mia Chen. Even Trevor Liu wouldn't dare cross the line with Mia at school.
Evan figured things had to be handled step by step. Right now, his top priority was dealing with the black-stocking goddess biology teacher.
Hands behind his head, Evan Lin strolled off toward the biology office.
To everyone else, his carefree swagger looked downright ridiculous.
Class 7 was on the second floor.
All the teachers' offices were up on the fifth floor.
It was after school, and the hallways bustled with students coming and going.
In the biology office, Lily Zhong had just set her teaching materials on her desk when a man in a short-sleeved T-shirt walked over with a sunny smile.
"Ms. Zhong, are you free tonight? I heard they're showing 'Titanic' at the theater. It's a great romance movie—you'd probably like it. Want to go together?"
"Sorry, Mr. Zhang, I have something to do tonight. Maybe another time."
"How about just grabbing dinner, then? There's a new Western restaurant outside the school. It's pretty nice, and I've been wanting to try it, but it feels weird going alone. We could eat together—it won't take long."
Zhang Jian smiled warmly at Lily Zhong.
He was the school's PE teacher, got in thanks to family connections after graduating from sports college. His sunny smile and basketball skills made him the subject of much gossip among female teachers and students alike.
"No need, really."
"It won't take much of your time."
Zhang Jian kept smiling, but his gaze lingered on Lily Zhong's body with a look every man would recognize.
Ever since Lily Zhong started at the school, Zhang Jian had made up his mind to conquer this little fox with his manly prowess.
Her seductive figure, fair skin, crescent eyes when she smiled, and those mouthwatering curves—
Any one of those was enough to motivate Zhang Jian.
All the other teachers had already left the office, leaving only Zhang Jian and Lily Zhong.
"No, thank you, Mr. Zhang."
Just as Lily Zhong finished speaking, Zhang Jian stepped forward and reached for her wrist. "It's fine, Ms. Zhong. It's just dinner."
Just as he was about to grab her wrist, Zhang Jian suddenly realized his hand had been caught by someone else.
A hand had appeared out of nowhere.
"Oh, hi Mr. Zhang! Ms. Zhong is tutoring me today, so she probably doesn't have time for dinner."
Zhang Jian turned his head and saw Evan Lin.
His first impression was that Evan Lin looked skinny, stiff, maybe even malnourished.
Evan Lin wore a broad smile.
Who are you?
Zhang Jian was clearly stunned.
I'm Ms. Zhong's student—Evan Lin from Class 7, 11th grade.
Zhang Jian didn't teach Class 7, so he didn't know Evan Lin.
But now that he'd been interrupted, Zhang Jian's expression soured.
Then Zhang Jian forced a smile. "Oh, Evan Lin, right? Studying is the most important thing, sure."
Zhang Jian narrowed his eyes, annoyed at being interrupted, and squeezed Evan Lin's left hand harder.
Zhang Jian gave Evan Lin a fake smile, but his grip kept tightening.
He thought, "If I don't teach this dumb kid a lesson, how will he ever contribute to building socialism?"
Evan Lin was a bit skinny, but the hand he'd extended was his left hand.
His left hand—a dragon.
The dragon symbolizes strength.