“After the dimensional storms decades ago, multiple dimensional zones appeared across the world—gods, immortals, ghosts, monsters, angels, devils, elves, etc. All kinds of legendary dimensional creatures were discovered. Via hunting these dimensional creatures, humans acquire their powers…” As the grizzled Yu Qiubai lectured, he would occasionally cast his gaze to the corner seat at the back of the classroom.

The other students were listening attentively, but the boy in the corner had his textbook in front of him while sleeping with his arm lay outstretched on the table. From time to time, one could hear faint snoring.

Yu Qiubai shook his head indiscernibly as he sighed inwardly. So what if you are talented? What can you accomplish if you falter from a single setback? Although the setback from that failure was big, not recovering from it really doesn’t make him live up to the former principal’s approbation of him.

Yu Qiubai recalled what the former principal had said to him before his retirement. Looking back at the boy sleeping soundly on the table with drool hanging from the corner of his lips, he couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh.

“Qiubai, I’ve seen many geniuses in my life. In summary, there are two types of geniuses.” The former principal back then had very bright eyes.

“What are the two types?” Yu Qiubai had asked curiously.

“One type of genius is called Zhou Wen, the other type is the other geniuses.”

The former principal’s words left a deep impression on Yu Qiubai, but the student who was given heaps of praises by the former principal was now a degenerate, one who had no intention of improving himself. All he did was sleep in class. After class, he would be gaming on his cellphone.

Yu Qiubai had attempted to bolster Zhou Wen’s confidence in the past, hoping that he could rally him up. But despite the numerous pep talks, Zhou Wen remained the same. He continued sleeping in class and gaming out of class. He didn’t focus on cultivation as though he had lost all sense of enterprise.

Ring!

With the bell ringing to mark the end of class, Yu Qiubai saw Zhou Wen sit straight up, having awoken from his sweet slumber. Without even turning back, he grabbed his phone and rushed out of the classroom. This only disappointed Yu Qiubai as he muttered with a sigh, “Principal, I’ve tried my best. Unfortunately, Zhou Wen is a hopeless case.”

Zhou Wen jogged the entire way and soon left the building before coming to a secluded corner in the school compound.

He wasn’t oblivious to the strange looks his teachers and schoolmates gave him, but he didn’t take it to heart.

Others believed that Zhou Wen had wallowed in self-misery because he had failed to handle the setback, but he knew very well that he had never taken the defeat to heart. The reason he was “abandoning himself to vice” was due to an incomprehensible reason that even he couldn’t explain.

After unlocking his phone, with great familiarity, Zhou Wen launched a game program called “Ant Nest”. Soon, the phone’s screen revealed the dark interior of an ant nest. The meandering paths had countless black ants crawling about.

After ensuring that no one was looking at him, Zhou Wen pricked his finger and dripped a drop of blood onto the screen.

A strange scene happened the next second. The drop of blood seeped into the screen as a blood-colored avatar appeared in the game screen of Ant Nest. Beside the blood-colored avatar was a stat window.

Ever since the dimensional storms, all sorts of dimensional life forms had appeared. They were roughly categorized as Mortal, Legendary, Epic, and Mythical. Humans stood at the bottom of the totem pole as Mortals. By cultivating in Primordial Energy Arts, they could raise their constitutions and evolve to higher life forms.

However, simply cultivating in a Primordial Energy Art to hone one’s body and evolve was extremely slow. Hunting dimensional creatures and robbing them of their dimensional crystals for one’s own use allowed accelerated evolution.

Pan-dimensional creatures lurked in dangerous places. Other than the zones where humanity had explored, the other zones were almost a sure ticket to death. Not everyone was willing to risk their lives.

Furthermore, Earth’s federation had clear rules—underaged youths were forbidden entry into the dimensional zones.

The Ascetic Meditation, which Zhou Wen had cultivated, was also a Primordial Energy Art. It solely relied on arduously tempering one’s body to cultivate Primordial Energy without the reliance on external forces.

In the federation, there were plenty of sixteen-year-old geniuses who could produce Primordial Energy from cultivation, but few people on Earth could do it simply by cultivating Ascetic Meditation and tempering his body to produce Primordial Energy, especially without any external help. He was the only one capable of doing so in the history of the small town of Guide City.

Shortly after, every teacher and student in Guide High School believed that Zhou Wen would achieve great things in the future. Then, one day a transfer student came to Guide High School and challenged him. To everyone’s surprise, the transfer student defeated him in one strike. Furthermore, it was done by a girl.

Zhou Wen stopped cultivating arduously after that. He appeared to abandon himself to vice. People imagined that he was mentally weak and couldn’t suffer the setback, but Zhou Wen knew very well that his change had nothing to do with the failure. It was completely because of the mysterious phone in his hand.

Zhou Wen looked down at his phone as he kept controlling the blood-colored avatar on it to slay the black ants in an Ant Nest.

“Killed Mortal creature, Vigor Ant… Killed Mortal creature, Vigor Ant… Killed Mortal creature, Vigor Ant…”

Notifications quickly flashed past as he killed every ant.

Ding!

After killing countless Vigor Ants, he suddenly heard a crisp sound as a special notice appeared on the screen: Killed Mortal creature, Vigor Ant. Discovered Primordial Energy Crystal.

Zhou Wen focused his gaze and saw a crystalline body resembling a diamond that appeared after a Vigor Ant was killed. On it was the number five.

He was delighted as he hurriedly controlled the blood-colored avatar to pick up the Primordial Energy Crystal. The moment the Primordial Energy Crystal touched its fingers, it immediately transformed into a strange aura that drilled into the blood-colored avatar’s body.

Simultaneously, Zhou Wen felt strength surge into his body from his phone as though he had been struck by lightning. It caused the Primordial Energy within him to be rapidly replenished.

The Primordial Energy entry in the blood-colored avatar’s stats went from four to five.

After killing a dimensional creature, there was a chance that various kinds of crystals would drop. The most common crystals were Strength, Speed, Constitution, and Primordial Energy Crystals.

The usage of Strength Crystals enhanced the Strength of humans, while using Speed Crystals increased one’s speed. The other crystals had similar effects.

But in reality, crystals didn’t have numeric displays. Humans couldn’t see their own stats and only knew that their Strength increased after using a Strength Crystal without knowing the exact quantitative increase.

The mysterious phone in Zhou Wen’s hand not only allowed him to obtain dimensional crystals that others had to risk their lives in dimensional zones to obtain, but it also allowed him to see the numeric values of the dimensional creatures, himself, as well as the dimensional crystals.

Ever since he had obtained that phone, Zhou Wen had spent nearly every moment grinding on it with a game. In turn, he received all kinds of dimensional crystals.

In the past, his Strength was 7, Speed was 4, Constitution was 7, and Primordial Energy was 1. After receiving the dimensional crystals from grinding, he had raised all these values in slightly more than a month. If it were in the past, it might have taken him years to develop so quickly.

After using large numbers of dimensional crystals, Zhou Wen realized a set of rules. No matter which dimensional crystal it was, as long as its value was higher than his, using it would result in his stats directly rising to the same value as the said dimensional crystal.

But if the dimensional crystal’s value was lower or the same as his, it could only replenish some of his energy. Then, by cultivating the Primordial Energy Art, he could raise his own stats instead of a direct raise.

This also meant that the higher the dimensional crystal’s value was, the better. Its effects on Zhou Wen would also be amplified. However, having killed so many Vigor Ants in the Ant Nest, the highest Strength Crystal he had seen was a 9. The highest Constitution Crystal was only an 8. Speed Crystals were all low in value. Primordial Energy Crystals were extremely rare. The 5 he had received today were the highest valued he had seen to date.

Zhou Wen had considered the possibility that it had something to do with the Vigor Ants’ natural makeup. They were outstanding when it came to their Strength and Constitution, but their Speed was lacking. This was also why the Strength Crystals that he received were relatively high in value, while Speed Crystals weren’t much to speak of.

However, even low-valued dimensional crystals could be used as energy supplements, allowing Zhou Wen to quickly cultivate Ascetic Meditation; thus, it wasn’t completely useless.

The only regret was that the crystals that dropped in the game were directly absorbed upon contact with the blood-colored avatar. They couldn’t be brought to the real world; otherwise, just the sale of the low-valued crystals he had no use for would be enough to make him quite a wealthy person.

There were many ants in the Ant Nest, and whenever they discovered Zhou Wen’s blood-colored avatar, the number that gathered only increased.

After killing over a hundred Vigor Ants, another dimensional crystal dropped. Unfortunately, it was a Strength Crystal 3 and could only be used for energy replenishment.

The drop rate of dimensional crystals wasn’t high, and most of them were valued at 3 or lower. The higher-valued ones had extremely low drop rates, so Zhou Wen could only rely on massive amounts of grinding to raise the chances of him getting them.

This was also the reason he often slept in class and stopped cultivating—apart from classes, he spent the rest of his time grinding, even at night. He didn’t have the time or energy to cultivate or pay attention in class.

Even so, the rate at which he strengthened himself was incomparable to the past. If he had only cultivated Ascetic Meditation like before, the time it took to raise his Primordial Energy to 5 would have been several times or even dozens of times longer.

As the number of Vigor Ants increased, Zhou Wen was beginning to feel overwhelmed. Before long, the blood-colored avatar was inundated by Vigor Ants, and the screen went black.

Zhou Wen had no choice but to restart the game by dripping a drop of blood onto the game’s screen. His blood was akin to a 1-Up in games—one drop of blood was a life.

With the game launched, he embarked on his grinding again, killing one Vigor Ant after another. However, Zhou Wen wasn’t too lucky this time. Not a single dimensional crystal dropped despite killing over a hundred Vigor Ants.

Since Zhou Wen was a sedate person and not quick-tempered, he continued to patiently grind in the Ant Nest.

Suddenly, he saw a somewhat special Vigor Ant amidst the hordes.

This Vigor Ant was blood-red in color as though it was completely covered in blood. It stood out among the other black Vigor Ants, and its head was slightly bigger. Zhou Wen noticed it immediately.

Upon noticing the red Vigor Ant gearing for a charge, Zhou Wen cautiously probed it and found its Strength and Speed was far greater than other black Vigor Ants. However, it was still manageable for him.

After positioning the blood-colored avatar several times, it managed to hit the red Vigor Ant, but only dealt minor damage to it. He had failed to slay it.

However, there was still clear progress—the red Vigor Ant’s health bar was slowly dropping. Perhaps about a hundred strikes were needed to slay it.

Thankfully, the red Vigor Ant was only slightly faster than the typical black Vigor Ant. The blood-colored avatar had enough time to position itself and dodge, so killing it was only a matter of time.

However, the black Vigor Ants were increasing in number. The development worried Zhou Wen because, at this speed, he might be swarmed by the ant horde before he successfully killed the red Vigor Ant.

However, no idea came to mind for the time being. Zhou Wen could only do his best to control the blood-colored avatar’s speed to deal damage to the red Vigor Ant.

Just as the red Vigor Ant’s health bar almost depleted to zero, the surrounding Vigor Ants increased, giving the blood-colored avatar no space to circle around the former.

Crack!

The blood-colored avatar failed to dodge in time and was bitten by a black Vigor Ant. Instantly, its health bar was almost halved.

Zhou Wen knew that he was at the end of the rope. All he could do was to use the blood-colored avatar to deliver one final strike with all its might at the red Vigor Ant.

Boom!

When the punch landed, the red Vigor Ant’s vital spot was struck. Its final bit of health was depleted and its red carapace instantly exploded. Two crystals burst out from its carcass.

Zhou Wen didn’t have the luxury to see what type of dimensional crystals they were. His blood-colored avatar was in a critical state as the two crystals were picked up.

Moments after the blood-colored avatar picked up the two dimensional crystals, it was swarmed by the Vigor Ant horde, and before long, the screen went black.

Zhou Wen looked at the two notifications that appeared on the screen. He heaved a deep sigh of relief for he had had similar experiences. As long as he could pick up a dimensional crystal before dying, the effects would be applied.

“Killed Mortal creature, Vigor Ant. Discovered Primordial Energy Crystal.”

“Killed Mortal creature, Vigor Ant. Discovered Vigor Ant Crystal.”

Upon seeing the two notifications on the screen, Zhou Wen couldn’t help but be taken aback. He had seen a Primordial Energy Crystal drop plenty of times, but a dimensional crystal named after Vigor Ants was a first.

After a brief pause, Zhou Wen reacted. Although he had never seen such dimensional crystals, he had heard of their existence. In textbooks and videos on the Internet, people had used similar crystals. However, they weren’t Vigor Ant Crystals, but crystals of other dimensional creatures.

Could it be that this is one of those legendary dimensional crystals? While Zhou Wen was feeling exhilarated, he felt a strange force from his phone spread through his body.

A force surged through Zhou Wen’s body like a bolt of lightning. He was no stranger to such a feeling for it was the feeling he received when absorbing Primordial Energy Crystals. However, this absorption was far more intense than anything he had previously felt. It was many times more intense than his past absorption of the five-valued Primordial Energy Crystal.

What’s the value of this Primordial Energy Crystal? Why is it so intense? As Zhou Wen reeled in delight, he felt another force surge into his body.

Unlike the Primordial Energy Crystal, this force surged through his body like an electric snake, opening up his originally sealed meridians, opening up a strange new path.

It’s true… The Vigor Ant Crystal is a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal as spoken in legends… However, I wonder what this Vigor Ant’s Primordial Energy Skill is… Zhou Wen was filled with anticipation.

As the electric snake-like force flowed through his body, Zhou Wen’s Primordial Energy was being stirred as it began circulating in the newly opened pathways.

Zhou Wen was surprised to discover that with the circulation of the Primordial Energy, his hands turned blood-red with a metallic sheen. Furthermore, he had a strange swollen feeling. Although his palms didn’t increase in size, it made him feel that his hands contained an immense strength, one that was eager to blast out his palms.

Now, Zhou Wen had the urge to deal a punch, but he ultimately held back. He was on campus, and it wasn’t in his best interest to cause a commotion. Furthermore, any damage to public property required him to pay compensation.

Nearly twenty minutes later, the swelling feeling gradually subsided. His hands recovered to normal as the Primordial Energy in him stopped circulating. However, Zhou Wen knew that this Primordial Energy blast skill had been imprinted deep in his body and soul. It had seemingly become innate to his body, something he could not forget no matter how he tried.

Zhou Wen couldn’t wait to look at his phone. The game interface had already gone black. He immediately restarted the game and dripped a drop of blood in. When his in-game avatar appeared, he immediately checked his character stats.

Zhou Wen

Age: 16 years

Lifeform level: Mortal

Strength: 9

Speed: 5

Constitution: 8

Primordial Energy: 9

Primordial Energy Art: Ascetic Meditation

Primordial Energy Skill: Vigor Divine Fist (Rank 7)

Companion Beast: None

Zhou Wen was overjoyed. His Primordial Energy had risen all the way to 9. It meant that the Primordial Energy Crystal he had absorbed was valued at 9. And the Rank 7 indicated behind Vigor Divine Fist was similar to seven-valued stat crystals. Without any cultivation, Zhou Wen’s Vigor Divine Fist had reached a rather high rank.

As Primordial Energy Skills were relatively rare, they were rather expensive. However, after receiving this Skill, he would make use of it. He could greatly enhance his various abilities, unleashing combat strength that far exceeded his normal standards. It gave him the important means to protect himself and kill enemies. No one would dislike having too many Primordial Energy Skills.

In the past, Zhou Wen had lacked the finances to purchase Primordial Energy Skill Crystals and with him fully focused on cultivating Ascetic Meditation, he lacked the time and energy to practice the Skills. This Vigor Divine Fist was his first Primordial Energy Skill, and from its name and effects, it was likely a skill that enhanced the strength of both his fists.

Indeed, the Ant Nest in the game is identical to the dimensional zones in the real world. Does this mean that the game will also drop Companion Beasts? Zhou Wen felt slightly pumped.

As he began grinding again in the game, his avatar was similarly able to use Vigor Divine Fist. Eagerly, Zhou Wen made his avatar use Vigor Divine Fist to see its might.

Boom!

The blood-colored avatar struck a Vigor Ant, bashing its head into its body. Then, its body exploded due to the immense pressure. Its flesh, blood, and carapace splattered everywhere, reducing it to a blob.

Zhou Wen was alarmed and delighted upon seeing this. The blood-colored avatar was equivalent to a clone. If it could produce such might, it also meant that he could do the same in reality.

In the past, he had needed several strikes to kill a Vigor Ant, and that had needed him to strike a vital spot. Vigor Divine Fist could ignore the Vigor Ant’s carapace’s defense and directly blast them apart. Its strength was frighteningly potent.

However, although Vigor Divine Fist was powerful, this punch expended 4 Primordial Energy. With Zhou Wen’s maximum Primordial Energy at 9, he could only deliver two strikes before he was drained.

Although Primordial Energy could recover on its own, it happened rather slowly. Zhou Wen took an hour to recover one point, so it was sorely insufficient to keep up with his expenditure.

Of course, he could also use Primordial Energy Crystals to quickly recover Primordial Energy. To most people, this was an extremely extravagant act.

Although he had received a Primordial Energy Skill, he could only use it as a trump card for now. Zhou Wen continued patiently grinding as before, hoping that a more magical drop would appear.

Grinding was undoubtedly dull and boring. However, for a person who could hone his body and cultivate Primordial Energy through Ascetic Meditation before the age of sixteen, this boredom was nothing.

While Zhou Wen was holding his phone and engrossed with grinding, he suddenly sensed someone approaching him. Looking up, he saw a tall girl in a high-school uniform walk over.

Zhou Wen turned to look around her. Students typically didn’t come here, and it was the same at present. He was apparently the only person around for dozens of meters, and it was for this reason that he chose this spot to game.

Don’t tell me Fang Ruoxi is looking for me? Zhou Wen looked at the girl walking straight towards him, and in response, he could only put away his phone for he didn’t wish for anyone to see what was on it. Otherwise, it could invite huge trouble for him.

Fang Ruoxi was tall, standing at a height of 1.75 meters. At this age, she wasn’t short among men and would stand out among women.

Although she was tall, her body proportions were excellent. Together with her slender body and constant training, she didn’t seem too big in size. Her long, slender legs and exaggerated curves gave quite a strong visual impact. She had a primal charm of a feral nature.

Fang Ruoxi’s name was quite a demure name for a girl, but it didn’t match her character. She was a rather proud girl. Before An Jing transferred over, Fang Ruoxi and Zhou Wen were considered the two most illustrious geniuses in Guide High School.

However, the two of them weren’t in the same class. They both had asocial characters, and as Zhou Wen spent most of his time focusing on cultivating Ascetic Meditation and honing his body, the two never had much interaction other than the polite greeting from time to time.

Fang Ruoxi was clearly here for Zhou Wen. It left him perplexed, unsure why she was looking for him.

“Zhou Wen, I wish to invite you to join my team for the combat test at the end of the graduation exams.” Fang Ruoxi came before Zhou Wen and said those startling words to him.