Hunting God Era

Chapter 1: Li Ye's martial arts achievements were not ideal.

Jianghuai Province, Ningjiang City No. 14 Middle School.

Preparatory class for the second year of high school.

General Studies teacher and homeroom teacher Yan Menglu pushed up her rectangular-framed gold-rimmed glasses, put her hands on her hips and leaned forward. Her slightly oversized shirt revealed the outline of her slender waist and her full figure.

With her pleasant features and beautiful figure, she was clearly a beauty by most people's standards. However, her slightly disheveled hair, her gloomy face without makeup, and her eagle-like eyes behind her glasses silenced most of the students below.

"In a certain area, the wheat stalks in the farmland are blackened as if they were charred, the wheat ears have many blemishes, and field mice have been found gnawing on the wheat ears. There are also rat bone fragments mixed in with the straw, and the stored food is moldy. The locals know that it is moldy but insist on eating it. What does this mean?"

Yan Menglu glanced at all forty-two students in the class, her gaze sweeping over the few who appeared indifferent, and focusing on the majority of students who were bowing their heads and remaining silent.

"Deng Hao, you answer!"

A chubby boy stood up with a miserable expression. "That means a demon has appeared."

"Very good, then what exactly is this demon?"

"Yes, it is."

Deng Hao stammered and couldn't answer a single word. Finally, he lowered his head and remained silent.

Yan Menglu glared at him, but didn't let him sit down. Instead, she turned to a young man in the back row by the window and said, "Li Ye, you answer."

A seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy named Li Ye stood up and, without hesitation, answered directly:

"Field mice eating ears of grain spoil the grain's aroma. Mice carrying ears of grain gather evil spirits. Withered, blackened wheat stalks with barren spots are a phenomenon known as 'ghost shavings,' which most likely indicates the presence of hungry ghosts. Hungry ghosts cause food to mold and release pollution, leading to famine in the area."

Upon hearing this, Yan Menglu nodded: "What kind of hungry ghost is it?"

Li Ye said, "Those that typically manifest as moldy food are mostly chaff-eating ghosts. They take the form of a human-shaped straw skeleton, surrounded by rotten rice and rat bone fragments. Their abdomen is like a drum, but the center is broken open, revealing moldy food. Their throats are as thin as needles, and their mouths are large, but they can't swallow anything."

Yan Menglu then asked, "What should you do if you encounter this situation?"

Li Ye pondered for a moment and said, "Most types of hungry ghosts are afraid of fire and light, so burning and shining light can drive them away the fastest. But if the conditions are not right, salt can also temporarily suppress them, because salt can suppress grain demons. At the same time, there are similar methods in the records of Japan, where spreading clean rice can also suppress them."

Yan Menglu showed a satisfied expression. "Sit down."

Then, she sighed and said earnestly:
"Martial arts emphasize aptitude, but memorization doesn't. The general knowledge points in high school are not complicated; as long as you study diligently and memorize them well, you'll be fine."

"What's the point of learning so much? We're not going to encounter any demons." Deng Hao turned his head away and muttered.

"You guarantee you'll never meet someone like that in your lifetime?"

Yan Menglu glared at her. "Demons aren't myths. You think that way because you live in a safe country! In ancient times, the appearance of demons meant disaster. Now that they've been analyzed in modern times, they're even more prevalent around us!"

"For example, if you're always slovenly and unkempt, it's easy for demons to breed! Deng Hao, what kind of demons will filth breed?!"

Deng Hao remained silent, but his resentment was evident in his expression.

"Li Ye!"

"I don't know," Li Ye replied curtly.

Yan Menglu pursed her lips, stared at Li Ye for a while, and was about to speak when the school bell suddenly rang.

"Ring ring ring—!"

Yan Menglu sighed slightly and said, "Studying general knowledge is to help you better understand demons, so you won't be clueless when you encounter them. Practicing martial arts is the same; it's also for dealing with demons. Summer vacation is coming soon, so study hard and don't waste your time. Li Ye, come with me."

After she left the classroom, the atmosphere in the class relaxed.

"Brother Ye, no doubt about it!"

Deng Hao gave Li Ye a thumbs up and then exclaimed, "That's right! These days, it's not so easy to see demons. I've never seen one in my entire life!"

The classmate sitting in front of him turned around and teased, "It's a required subject in both academic and physical education. You'll see it, and it'll be on the college entrance exam."

Deng Hao scoffed, "As long as you're good at martial arts, that's enough. No matter how well you study general knowledge, you're just a weak scholar who can only help me look up information at best."

"Brother Ye, he looks down on you," the classmate immediately exclaimed.

"No, Jia Dong, you..."

Deng Hao was dumbfounded. He quickly turned to Li Ye, who was packing his schoolbag to leave, and said urgently, "Brother Ye, that's not what I meant."

Li Ye smiled and waved his hand, "It's good to learn some general knowledge. If you're not a genius, you can get into a better university with these extra points."

"Brother Ye sees things clearly." The man named Jia Dong chuckled. "Brother Ye, what does the teacher want with you?"

Li Yegang had just reached the classroom door when he heard this. He turned around, smiled calmly, and said, "Switch to humanities."

As he spoke, he walked out of the classroom, causing a brief silence to fall over it.

"Really? Old Yan is willing to let Ye switch to humanities?"

Deng Hao exclaimed in surprise, but quickly realized something was wrong, "Didn't Brother Ye just pass the test yesterday?"

Jia Dong said, "I'm calling you out. Who told you to talk so rudely just now?"

"You fucking."

……

Inside the office, Yan Menglu stared at Li Ye, who was sitting in front of her, with a complicated expression.

As the head teacher of the martial arts preparatory class, she has a special task in addition to teaching.

That meant persuading students who weren't suited to continue martial arts training to switch to humanities, so they wouldn't waste any more time and money. But now, it's the other way around; Li Ye wants to switch to humanities, and she wants to persuade him to train for another year.

After staring at Li Ye for a while, she said, "Li Ye, to be honest, your general knowledge is better than the teacher's. Are you sure you don't want to try for another year?"

Seeing that Li Ye didn't speak, she continued to persuade him: "You know that you just took the test yesterday and your score was 'Excellent'. If it were just 'Pass', the teacher definitely wouldn't say anything, but isn't it a bit of a pity now?"

The physical tests for the preparatory class were divided into three standards: physical fitness, running three kilometers with a 30-pound load in fifteen minutes; agility, clearing a 100-meter obstacle course in one minute without any collisions or delays; and strength, being able to withstand a punch from a martial arts instructor without retreating three steps.

Li Ye did all of these very well, exceeding the passing grade.

“If you train for another year, you will have more options once you step into the world of martial arts. In addition, with your general knowledge, your achievements will definitely be much higher than your teacher’s. You have always been very mature and should know that what martial artists can obtain in society is something that ordinary people need to work twice as hard to achieve.”

Seeing that Li Ye still didn't speak, Yan Menglu intensified her efforts and continued to persuade him:

"Practicing for a year won't hurt. Your humanities grades are quite stable, so if things don't go well, you can just take the humanities exam. If you're not confident, you can repeat a year, and I'll pay for your tutoring out of my own pocket!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Li Ye looked up and said something that left Yan Menglu speechless.

"Teacher, my family has no money."

The atmosphere was silent.

Yan Menglu opened her mouth, but realized that saying anything would be a waste of time.

This is a reason so powerful that no one can take it lightly.

"I don't have any money," she finally said dryly, "There's really nothing I can do about it."

Li Ye nodded. "Teacher, martial arts isn't something you can only practice now. When conditions are better, I can continue practicing. There are examples of this in the world. Fu Yan, a famous martial artist in our province, entered the martial arts world at the age of twenty-eight and is now a master of the third realm."

Yan Menglu's expression turned strange.

He used all my words!
She often used this phrase to discourage unqualified students.

Helpless, she could only sigh: "You're someone who can make decisions, fine, then I won't try to persuade you anymore. But I hope you'll think about this matter again. Leave the application form with me for now. If you still haven't changed your mind after the summer vacation, then you can switch to humanities."

"Thank you, teacher. Goodbye, teacher."

Li Ye nodded, walked out of the office, glanced at the increasingly dusky sky outside, and couldn't help but shake his head, "Martial arts, huh?"

Li Ye, a time traveler, is a high school student preparing for martial arts training who will turn eighteen in six months.

I must have been incredibly lucky in my past life to be born into this ambiguous world.

History, technology, and life are not much different from the previous life. The only difference is that this is a world with martial arts and demons.

The legacy of six generations nurtured the First Emperor, who used the black dragon's energy to transform the ancestral dragon's energy, sweeping across the six kingdoms and unifying the world.

Emperor Gaozu slew a white serpent demon as large as a mountain, and, wielding the Crimson Emperor Sword, fought with the Overlord for control of the Central Plains.

Liu Xiu really could summon meteorites from the sky, and the Great Teacher of Wisdom really did have the ability to turn beans into soldiers.

There are also Iron Fist Invincible and Forest Piercing Leg.
Historical events have all been tinged with the backdrop of martial arts and demons.

Although it's somewhat ambiguous, the people recorded in the book aren't from the textbooks of my previous life, and the world is much larger than it was in my previous life, but the rest of the events are pretty much the same.

In this world, martial arts masters truly possess the power to burn mountains, boil seas, and destroy the heavens and the earth.

Another demon that appeared alongside martial arts is a being with corrupting power, an enemy of humanity since ancient times, and a synonym for disaster.

Only martial artists can deal with these demons, which makes martial artists the mainstream in the world.

Starting from elementary school, schools will distribute basic guiding exercises, similar to radio calisthenics, which are practiced daily to improve blood circulation.

In the second year of high school, students will be divided into different majors. Those who are passionate about martial arts will enter the martial arts major, while others will switch to the humanities major.

However, most of them are in the middle, wanting to continue practicing martial arts but lacking the aptitude. After testing, these people will enter the 'Martial Arts Preparatory Class' to prepare them for entering the martial arts world.

Li Ye was in the preparatory class, but he doesn't want to continue now.

Because those who are truly suited for martial arts have already embarked on their own path and entered the martial arts class when they were divided into different disciplines.

Instead of evaluating students as excellent or qualified in the preparatory class and then deciding whether they can stay in the senior year preparatory class.

Only students in the martial arts training program can receive resources provided by the school to strengthen and improve their martial arts skills. Students in the preparatory program can only rely on their own efforts.

How can we make an effort?

Of course, it costs money.

Could it be that I'm adding points to Deep Blue?

Students in the preparatory class cannot rely solely on the basic training provided by the school; most of them enroll in martial arts schools outside of school for training.

This is a huge expense. Li Ye has squandered his family fortune by practicing martial arts over the years, and as a result, he still failed to enter the martial arts path, just like other preparatory students.

Therefore, in terms of qualifications, he belongs to the masses.

From a family perspective, he comes from an ordinary family.

Realistically speaking, he should be treated like a beast of burden from now on.

But from a systemic perspective...
He was born with a system.

A 'god-slaying system' that grants power by killing gods.

(End of this chapter)