Chapter 4: Return
"Shen Shouqiu!"
The roar snapped through the air, followed by a sharp whoosh.
A piece of chalk shot across the room and smacked him square on the forehead.
Blinking in confusion, Shen Shouqiu raised his head from the desk, brows creased as he looked around the classroom. The place felt both strange and familiar, like stepping into an old dream he couldn't quite piece together.
All eyes were on him. Some amused, some gloating, a few just bored. The classroom buzzed with barely suppressed laughter.
Standing at the front was a balding middle-aged man, face flushed with anger. Chalk dust clung to his fingers like the tail end of a crime scene.
And just like that, it all came flooding back, like a dam breaking inside his mind. Names, voices, faces.
Chen Nan…
Fang Yue…
Zhong Mingbin…
"Am I… back?" Shen Shouqiu whispered under his breath.
"What's wrong with you, Shen Shouqiu? You sleepwalked into class and thought that my words are just air?" the bald man on the podium barked, looking personally offended.
The class broke into snickers.
"Hahaha!"
"Did Shen Shouqiu get hit so hard he's still dreaming?"
"This guy's crazy napping in Old Wang's class like it's nothing!"
The murmurs swelled until Old Wang slammed his palm on the desk.
"Silence! Shen Shouqiu, get out. Wait outside. After class, come see me in the office."
Still dazed, Shen Shouqiu stood and left his seat, but there was a faint smile on his lips, the kind that comes when a homesick soul finally steps across the threshold.
After nine lives. Nine entire reincarnations.
He was finally back. Back on Blue Star.
Of course, that smile looked more like smirking nonsense to Old Wang, who ground his molars watching him walk out.
Outside the classroom, a scrawny kid with dark skin and a face full of acne leaned against the wall.
"Hey, Brother Shen, you too? What is this, a buddy system? You came to keep me company?"
Shen Shouqiu stared at him for a moment, taking in the weasel-like grin and familiar awkward posture.
Xu Yong. His high school deskmate. They are close. Real close.
Xu Yong shifted under his gaze. "Uh… why are you looking at me like that? Something on my face?"
Shen Shouqiu chuckled softly. "Nah. Just… it's been a long time. Kinda missed you."
Xu Yong recoiled like he'd been slapped with a wet towel. "Whoa! Brother Shen, are you okay? If you're lonely, sure, but don't start looking at me like that. Man-on-man? Nah, I gotta save myself for my future wife."
"Get lost." Shen Shouqiu laughed and gave him a light shove.
God, it felt good to be back. The school air, the childish jokes, the silly banter.
But something tugged at his mind, and he suddenly asked, "Hey, what day is it today?"
Xu Yong raised an eyebrow but answered, "June 5th, 2027. Brother Shen, you seriously forgot the date?"
"Probably just overslept," Shen Shouqiu muttered.
But deep down, his heart stirred.
June 5th. That was the day it had all changed. In his past life, on this exact day, he'd been "chosen" by the so-called Divine Dump Truck, and flung straight into another world.
Nine lifetimes.
Nine brutal, exhausting lifetimes of grinding through trials and systems and missions.
But he made it and survived.
And now…
He closed his eyes for a moment and called inward, checking for the panel — the status screen that had once been chained to his soul.
Name:** Shen Shouqiu
Cultivation: ???
World: Blue Star
Note: Due to the completion of the Nine Reincarnation Trials, all insights and cultivation from past lives have been merged into your current self.
"???" Shen Shouqiu stared blankly.
Blue Star had its own cultivation system, sure, but it was weak. Very weak.
Forty years ago, strange spatial rifts opened across the world, and monsters — real ones — started spilling out. That's when Spiritual Energy began returning. The world changed.
But even now, the Qi here was so thin, cultivation crawled at a snail's pace. Anyone in the Nascent Soul Realm was already considered a top-tier powerhouse.
In his past lives, Shen Shouqiu never needed to cultivate as the system simply assigned his level. Now, all nine lifetimes' worth of cultivation had been dumped into him at once.
On this planet?
He was invincible.
He could level cities with a flick of his wrist. Turn continents into ash. Probably rip a hole through space if he tried.
But his heart didn't waver. Not even a ripple.
After so many lifetimes of death, betrayal, despair… he just wanted peace.
He just wanted to live life.
The school bell rang.
Old Wang stepped out of the classroom and waved them over.
"You two, come with me."
Xu Yong groaned. "Ah, we're doomed."
Shen Shouqiu followed, calm as a lake in winter.
In the office, Old Wang poured himself some tea, then fixed his gaze on Shen Shouqiu.
"You think you're sleeping in class for my sake? If you don't cultivate properly, you won't get into a good university. No resources, no future. What then? Gonna live off air?"
He wasn't yelling anymore, but just tired.
He knew Shen Shouqiu's background better than anyone. Orphaned young. Raised in the welfare center. Adopted once, but the adoptive parents were killed in a beast attack last year.
Old Wang had always gone a little easier on him. But seeing him snooze through class lit a fire under his patience.
"Sorry, Teacher. I overdid it last night while cultivating. Won't happen again."
The apology was quick, sincere and perfectly timed.
Old Wang blinked.
That deflated him fast.
"…Just don't let it happen again. If anything's going wrong at home, you come talk to me. Go on, get back to class."
A warmth rose in Shen Shouqiu's chest. Strange. He hadn't felt that in a long, long time.
Beside him, Xu Yong tried to copy his tone. "Teacher! I'm sorry too! Won't do it again, promise!"
Old Wang narrowed his eyes. "You? You weren't just sleeping. You were flirting with your classmate."
Xu Yong blinked. "Wait, huh? That's not fair you treated us totally different!"
"Bring your parents tomorrow."
"Nooo! If my dad hears about this, he'll skin me alive!"
"Out! You give me headaches." Old Wang kicked him out, grumbling.
Outside, Xu Yong caught up, sighing like a condemned man.
"Ugh… There's only thirty-something days left till the entrance exam. Brother Shen, got any tips?"
They were the stragglers of Class 5, dead last in nearly everything. And now, with the big exam looming, which tested not just knowledge, but raw cultivation, they were basically done for.
Qi test. Strength test. Speed test. Divine Sense test. Score below 500 and you're not getting into college. No college? No resources. Just a lifetime of scraping by.
In Shen Shouqiu's last life, he'd dreamed of making it in. Fought tooth and nail, but still failed.
Now? He had the power, but none of the old desire.
"Just eat well, sleep well. Doesn't matter — you're not getting in anyway."
Xu Yong looked like he'd just been stabbed. "That's your advice?"
"Why stress about something you can't change?" Shen Shouqiu shrugged, smiling.
"That's brutal, man… and you're in the same boat."
They both knew the truth: without a college placement, life was one long grind. Best-case scenario? Become some rich clan's lackey.
Even that required decent cultivation. Which neither of them had. Not in the world's eyes, anyway.
As they reached the school gates, Xu Yong nudged him excitedly.
"Brother Shen, look! Isn't that your goddess, Chu Siqi?"
Sure enough, a pink-dressed girl climbed into the back of a Rolls-Royce. Her hair shimmered in the sun like spun silk.
Xu Yong sighed. "Money really is magic. Brother Shen, give it up, girls like that don't even see guys like us."
Shen Shouqiu didn't respond. He just watched the car drive off and let out a quiet, self-mocking laugh.
In his last life, he was a proper simp. Letters, poems, subtle glances — all ignored.
She barely spoke to him. Just an occasional "Mm" if she felt generous.
To be fair, it wasn't just him. Half the guys in school tried their luck. All had failed. She was icy to everyone.
Now, thinking back…
It all seemed so childish.
Xu Yong kept muttering about missed chances and lost causes. When he finally turned around, he saw that Shen Shouqiu had already walked far away.