C1 Rebirth.

Pain! It's everywhere.

Zhang Haoran squeezed and kept his eyes shut as the fiery red sunlight pierced through the veil of darkness. It was as if his skin was falling apart from the heat, and he could feel himself writhing uncontrollably. Where the hell was he?

Suddenly, everything stopped. The coldness settled in, and he froze. By now, he should've been killed by the Chaos Lighting Tribulation. Did that mean...he had actually lived through the mess?

Only then did he open his eyes and look around. The piercing sunlight was gone. Instead, it was replaced with flashes of headlights and sounds of rolling engine. He was in a bus that was rolling down the highway.

He glanced at the window to see crops and leaves frayed at the side, waving as if to say hello.

He then switched his focus back to the bus.

There were students surrounding him. Some of them had earphones on, bobbing their heads to the beat. There were others who were busy whispering about their days. A few were at the back, dozing off from the rough journey.

"Yo, Haozi, why are you looking around like that? You're freaking me out! Let's clearfy it fully, I have no interest in you."

The person who had just spoken out was a short-haired student. The boy was so thin and gangly that his blue and white shirt hanging around him like a sack. After he shot a look of disdain to Zhang Haoran, his gaze switched back to his textbook.

Zhang Haoran glanced at the cover of the textbook. "Isn't that textbook for third years?" He found himself saying uncontrollably, "That's the third chapter of Chi Luo Hua Ming. From what I remembered, this should be selected from the seventh section."

The student froze, and the book slammed close. A strange look flashed across his eyes as he swerved his head to look at Zhang Haoran,

"Hey! I was just flipping through this textbook, and you can even ponit out the chapter and the section so clearly? Wait, have we learned this already? We haven't, right?" The student immediately flipped through his book as if to see any new scribbles that would spring out of the pages.

What the student didn't know was how surprised Zhang Haoran actually was.

He's been reborn!

His hands shook.

He was originally a Void Refining Dao Integration Stage Tao Ancestor. He had wanted to enter the Chaos Lighting Tribulation, only to end in sickening defeat. He really thought it was the end of him.

What he didn't expect was that he'd be reborn back into his high school days.

Suddenly, all his memories started flashing back.

Zhang Pengde, his father in his previous life, had suffered from a terminal illness. They weren't planning on telling him, especially given that it was just after his college entrance examination. However, with no money to take, they had to. Zhang Haoran had to take up many odd jobs just to sustain his family, even working as a tour guide for a small company. What he didn't know was how that measly job would soon change his life.

While he was touring his clients around the cliffs of Mount Tai, he had fallen backward into the treasure cave that was said to be left behind by the Huatian Divine Sovereign. What could've been a curse had become a blessing for him, for without it, he wouldn't have stepped onto the path of cultivation. But all blessings wield a curse.

Turned out that several hundred years had passed when he stepped out of the cave. With his parents dead and him having no one else to rely on, he wholeheartedly trekked the path of cultivation. He never really bothered by the measly details. All he wanted was to do better and that was exactly what had made him surpass the Huatian Divine Sovereign. By then, he was already known as the famous Tao Ancestor of the cultivation world.

In his previous life, he had gone through many challenges. He had fought in battles that could've severed his life, helped hundreds of people even when they were close to their deathbed, and created miracles for many cities and nations. While rewarding, it was still exhausting. But now that everything had passed...it seemed that he finally had a chance of having peace and quiet.

Dozens of students from Woloong High School filled up the bus. They were actually just heading back after their school trip in Spring.

A smile curved his lips and he sighed. "You didn't change at all, Ling Hua."

Both of them came from average families, so they treated studying like their saving grace.

Ling Huan was like his brother–a friend he could tell anything about. It didn't help that they also shared the same goals. In fact, every time they had an exam, the two would always be seen vying for the top place. While Zhang Haoran always snagged the first place, he'd be coming in as a close second.

"What's up with you today, man? Look, if you're sick, you can go on ahead and rest for a bit, yeah?" He clasped his shoulder. "When you've recovered, you can always come back and take the entrance exam next year."

"Oh please, I definitely know what you're thinking." Zhang Haoran rolled his eyes. Of course, he'd want him to go back to his place and take a nap. That would make an opening for the top one spot.

While they were sitting on the left side of the bus, there was another girl sitting on the other side of the aisle with her head leaning against the window.

She gazed out the window, looking deep in thought as she rested against the back of the chair. Her long black hair fell onto her shoulders in waves, reflecting the bus's artificial lights. While half of her face was covered, any guy could see how much of a beauty this girl was.

She'd occasionally lift her hair and glance at Zhang Haoran, before staring right back out the window.

The girl was none other than Xu Qing. Everyone knew who she was the pretty girl who dreamt to be a surgeon. Not only that, but she also had a big crush on Zhang Haoran. However, no matter how confident she may look, she had never really taken the initiative to reach out to him.

Ling Huan nudged him. "Yo, let's change seats."

"It's not like she's looking at you. Why do you look so anxious?" he teased.

"Oh, fuck you, dude. Everyone knows that Xu Qing likes you. What she likes you for, I don't know." Ling Huan scoffed.

"But either way, I can't wait for the two of you to get together. That way, you wouldn't be in the mood to study, and I could easily steal your spot as the school's top 1 student. C'mon, let's change seats!"

If anything, Ling Hun was more excited about being number 1 rather than his friend's love life.

Even Zhang Haoran didn't know what to say.

"Fine." It wasn't like he could resist his pleas. However, just as he's about to stand up, he reeled into a stop.

"Wait!"

"What time is it now?"

His eyes widened, and he couldn't help but ask in a hurry.

"What? What's wrong?" Ling Huan furrowed his eyebrows. "Look–"

"Just tell me!"

"I..." He had never seen Zhang Haoran react like this. While the man was passionate about many things, he certainly couldn't care less about the man. Thinking that he'd go back on his word, he rolled his eyes.

"It's 2:30 PM on April 10, 2005. That's less than two months till the actual exam–fuck, what the hell are you doing, man? We're just passing the highway and you suddenly look like you've seen a ghost! Do you want to die?"

Zhang Haoran had already unbuckled his seatbelt and stood up. His body was frigid and his eyes were narrowed. He gazed over at the other students in the bus, feeling the hair at the back of his neck standing in attention.

"Where's Xiao Weiwei?" Zhang Haoran was so serioue as if a big thing was going to happen.

"Why did he suddenly call out Xiao Weiwei?" Xu Qing, on the other hand, couldn't help but glance in his direction. Her eyebrows furrowed over. "Could it be that he likes her?"

She frowned, feeling as if a dozen ants were crawling around her heart.