Nova City was massive. Anti-gravity trains zipped through the air between towering skyscrapers, while floating billboards and futuristic air balloons displayed ads and news.
In Sector 6 of the city sat Nova-5 High School, one of the many schools run by the Nova City Governor.
Inside the teacher’s office, Teacher Jared frowned at a student standing before him.
"Grey, you know why I called you here, right?" he asked.
The student, Grey Lockhart, looked at Teacher Jared, confused. He was 17, with long black hair that always seemed messy, short black eyes, pale skin, and a rather fat build—completely average.
Grey raised an eyebrow. "Is this about not telling anyone what happened with Miss Rachel yesterday?"
Teacher Jared’s expression changed slightly and a slightly embarrassed look appeared on his face and with a twitching face, he spoke up in a cold tone. "You should already know what will happen if you speak about it to others."
This was an outright threat and Grey clearly caught it, but he didn’t care, the previous grey would’ve been shaking in his boots as of now, but he wasn’t the same anymore.
He was a proud citizen of Earth who lived in the peak of the internet age, something like a threat from an evolver wasn’t going to faze him.
He originally crossed over 10 days ago and over the past 10 days, he had completely absorbed and learned everything about this world.
This world was completely different from his old Earth, not only was it more technologically advanced than his old world, it was also far more dangerous.
Evolvers. They are supernatural beings with superpowers. Almost 10,000 years ago an energy storm from the Blue Star’s core swept towards the planet’s surface and humanity came in contact with Cosmic energy, additionally, with the energy storm, three special records along with a special artifact was found by the pioneers of the old era. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel[f]ire.net
Those special records were the three great evolutionary paths of Blue Star, they were the Immortal Cultivation Path, Martial path and Esper Path.
From there on, the great era of evolvers began.
Originally, only one in a million could cultivate the three great paths at first, and with Blue Star’s population at ten billion, this caused serious issues among evolvers and ordinary people.
The scientists of the old era later adapted the original paths, creating countless new ones. With time, anyone with enough money and the right affinity could become an Evolver. At the same time, As the years went by, the people of Blue Star gradually adapted, and more and more of them became capable of cultivating the three great evolutionary paths.
As Grey thought, Teacher Jared’s cold voice cut through. "Grey, I’ll get straight to it. I want you to drop out of the school—voluntarily."
Grey stayed calm hearing this. He felt nothing.
He, Grey Lockhart, had no talent. No evolutionary path in Blue Star was compatible with him—not a single one out of hundreds. Even with the old scholars creating paths for ordinary mortals, some still lacked the compatibility needed to harness cosmic energy.
Talent—or compatibility—was everything, and Grey had none. He was supposed to remain a mortal, watching his classmates soar while he stayed grounded.
But that was the old Grey’s mindset. Not his.
Since arriving in this world, he had been thrilled. Humans flying through the sky, shooting energy beams from their hands—things that were impossible on Earth were now real. And he wasn’t going to stay powerless.
How could he—a guy from Earth who had read countless NovelHubs—just accept staying a mortal?
No. He wouldn’t rest until he became an evolver, strong like the experts of Blue Star.
"No." Grey slowly said with an indifferent look on his face.
"No?" Teacher Jared sneered. "I won’t take no for an answer, Grey. This is for your own good—and for the school. You’re the only one in your class who hasn’t become an evolver. Nova-5 isn’t suited for you. You’ll never be an evolver here, and staying will only ruin the school’s reputation."
He paused, then added, "If you drop out now, I’ll personally arrange your admission to Scholar University in Nova City. And..." He fished in his pocket and pulled out a small glass card with a chip.
It was a bank note—scanning it with a phone would instantly transfer the money to the user’s account.
"5,000 Union Credits," Teacher Jared said. "Take it if you leave—and keep this between us. Don’t tell your sister."
Thinking of Grey’s sister, Teacher Jared felt a twinge of worry.
Alissa Lockhart was the same age as Grey but already a licensed evolver under the Nova City Evolver Association. A 1st-rank prodigy in Nova-5’s Elite class, she was someone few could challenge.
Jared feared that if she found out about his dealings with Grey, she might interfere. But then he remembered their sibling dynamic: Alissa despised her "good-for-nothing" brother. She probably wouldn’t make things difficult—even if she did find out.
Grey stared at the bank note in Teacher Jared’s hands and laughed.
"No thanks." Grey smiled. "I don’t plan on leaving the School until the third year ends and according to rules no one, not even the principal can directly expel a student unless they break rules and so far, I have done no such things."
He then paused as if thinking of something and he took out his phone and played a rather special video. "If you try to frame me, I will directly publish this into the school chat group."
Grey had crossed over from Earth. After reading thousands of novels with similar scenarios, he was fully prepared for something —and had already made his plans.
"YOU!" Teacher Jared snapped, leaping to his feet, rage written all over his face. But he couldn’t act. Hitting a student here would lead to serious consequences—and with Grey holding that video, he couldn’t risk it.
"Despite your build, you’re rather..." Grey looked at Teacher Jared with pity and shook his head. "Maybe even becoming an evolver cannot fix that huh..."
"Bastard..." Teacher Jared’s expression was incredibly ugly right now. He wanted to snap Grey into two pieces but he couldn’t, he had to hold it in!
"Anyway, I’ll take my leave," Grey said with a small smile. "I hope we don’t make things difficult for each other. I won’t bother you, and I hope you won’t bother me. Farewell, Teacher Jared."
Outside Nova-5 High School.
Grey waited at the bus stop. It was past noon. He had only come to Nova-5 High to meet Teacher Jared—otherwise, he wouldn’t have shown up, as classes were no longer mandatory for final-year students like him.
Then, something stirred in his mind. A massive lotus appeared, glowing with intricate patterns, its petals radiating a bright, mysterious energy.
"Is it fully charged?" Grey muttered, eyes shining as he focused.
This mysterious lotus had been in his head since he crossed over, he believed that it was some sort of cheat.
Just as he was musing, words formed clearly in his consciousness emerging from the lotus:
"Defy Death. Defy the Dao. Defy Heaven. Defy Reality itself."