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"Ethan Ashford, Language Fundamentals: 8 points. Arithmetic: 9 points. International Language: 7 points…"

On the podium, Beatrice Mercer's voice was filled with disappointment.

"Remarkable! Not a single subject scored above ten. Another new record low!"

"A real genius! Once ranked first every time, now consistently ranked dead last!"

"Indeed! He even refused the guaranteed admission to Jianghua Advanced Academy, and now he might not even make it into a regular advanced academy! What a genius, truly!"

Whisperings of ridicule swirled around Ethan Ashford's ears, his head buried deep amidst the stack of books on his desk.

Yes, he was a genius — though that was three months ago.

Three months ago, Ethan Ashford excelled in every subject, topping the entire academy in every exam. He had been offered guaranteed admission to Jianghua Advanced Academy, envied by all his peers, and cherished by every instructor.

And now? Ethan Ashford spent his days in a daze, perpetually ranked at the bottom, a disappointment to instructors and a source of despair for himself.

"Instructor! I’d like to request a change of seats! Ethan Ashford’s behavior has already severely impacted my academic performance!"

Sitting beside him, Rosemary Holt suddenly raised her hand to address the instructor.

Beneath the desk, Ethan Ashford's hands clenched tightly in frustration.

This Rosemary Holt… Three months ago, she had cried and begged Beatrice Mercer to let her sit next to Ethan Ashford, insisting that he could help boost her grades.

After moving, she had continuously tried to curry favor with him, always eager to gain his attention.

She couldn’t believe it! She actually said something like this now!

"Change seats? You just changed seats not long ago. Changing seats too frequently isn’t fair to the other students," Beatrice Mercer frowned and said.

"Huh? But… Does it mean I have to keep sitting next to Ethan Ashford forever?"

A hint of disappointment and grievance was written all over the attractive Rosemary Holt’s face, making her look pitifully fragile. But the words coming from her mouth were undeniably cruel.

"The one who should be changing seats isn’t you…"

Standing at the lectern, Beatrice Mercer looked down from her elevated position, shook her head, and after a brief pause, she suddenly raised her voice:

"The one who should change seats is Ethan Ashford!"

"What?!" Ethan Ashford jerked his head up.

"As the last place in the class, how do you even have the nerve to occupy the prime seat at the center of the room? Ethan Ashford, move to the corner of the classroom in the last row! Right now! Immediately!"

Beatrice Mercer jabbed her finger toward the corner of the classroom and sternly shouted orders at Ethan Ashford.

"Armand Langley, you go take Ethan Ashford’s seat."

Beatrice Mercer paused again, her expression shifting to a smile as she spoke warmly to Armand Langley, a trust-fund kid from the group.

Dressed head to toe in designer brands, Armand Langley swaggered up to Ethan Ashford, casually gave him a shove on the head, and said with complete disdain, "Hurry it up, you useless waste. Even if you drag this out, there’s no way you’ll stay by Rosemary’s side!"

After finishing, he gave Rosemary Holt a triumphant smile.

Rosemary Holt cast a fawning, coquettish smile at Armand Langley.

Ethan Ashford clenched his hand tighter, his nails digging into his palm, though he didn’t seem to notice.

In the end, all he could do was pick up his books dejectedly and walk over to the very last row of the study hall, to the solitary seat in the corner.

“Hmph!”

A contemptuous scoff from Rosemary Holt sounded from behind Ethan Ashford.

The back row of the study hall didn’t have any paired seats. Ethan Ashford had a desk to himself.

And no one was willing to share a desk with him, either.

In fact, during the entire group study sessions, none of the students wanted to talk to Ethan Ashford.

Except for the group leader, Amanda Rook.

“Ethan Ashford, don’t lose heart. It’s just that your scores weren’t ideal for the last few exams. I believe you’ll do great next time!”

After school, a long-haired girl with stylish see-through bangs, a flawless figure, and stunning beauty approached Ethan Ashford and spoke to him with concern.

She was none other than Amanda Rook, the group leader and also the campus belle of the academy.

“I don’t need your pity.”

Ethan Ashford’s voice was icy.

“Ethan Ashford, I understand how you feel…”

Amanda Rook's face paled slightly. She forced herself to endure it but still tried to speak.

"Understand? What could you possibly understand? Leave! I'll say it again—I don't need your pity!"

Ethan Ashford's voice was cold to the extreme.

"You!"

Amanda Rook’s eyes immediately turned red, brimming with tears. Her voice carried a sobbing tone as she spun around and ran out of the study hall.

"Such pitiful pride!"

Amanda Rook's desk mate, a short-haired female student, spat the words at Ethan Ashford with a look of disdain before grabbing her bag and hastily running after Amanda.

"Keep your distance from me, Zhi Ruo. I'm already a worthless failure..."

The way Amanda Rook turned away seemed to strike Ethan Ashford in the most tender part of his heart. He lowered his head, nearly choking on his emotions, as tears threatened to spill from his eyes.

"Damn it, Ethan Ashford, you pathetic loser! If I ever catch you talking to Amanda Rook again, don’t blame me for teaching you a lesson!"

Seeing that the study hall had cleared out, Derek Lawson, accompanied by a few others, surrounded Ethan with menacing expressions.

As he spoke, Derek intentionally swept Ethan's neatly piled books from the table with a loud crash, sending them scattering to the floor.

"None of your business."

Ethan Ashford replied coldly, bending down to pick up his books.

"Oh! My bad! Didn't mean to step on them!"

Derek Lawson casually stretched out his leg, his foot landing squarely on Ethan Ashford's hand as Ethan reached down to pick up his book.

It was anything but an accident—it was totally intentional!

Ethan Ashford stiffened for a moment, forcefully pulling his hand out from under Derek Lawson's foot. A bold, black shoe print marred his skin, glaringly obvious.

And yet, Ethan Ashford merely patted the dirt off his hand, stoically picked up his book, and placed it back on his desk without a word.

"Pathetic. You sure can endure, huh?"

Derek Lawson sneered as he spoke, extending his hand toward Ethan.

Not too heavy, but not too light either—he gave Ethan a few taps across the face.

The force was ambiguous: any lighter, it might have seemed affectionate; any harder, it would have been a slap in the face.

A profound insult!

Crash!

Ethan Ashford shoved the desk forward, his face flushed red, and suddenly stood up.

Smack!

Before he could react, Derek Lawson slapped him sharply on the back of the head, forcing Ethan's face down onto the desk with a loud thud.

"What's wrong? You dumbass, you think you can fight back?"

Derek Lawson jeered, his arrogance on full display.

"Ahhhh—!”

Ethan Ashford roared in anger, shaking his head frantically. His veins bulged on his neck as he struggled to lift himself up.

However, Derek Lawson suddenly pressed down harder, forcefully pinning Ethan Ashford’s face against the desk, even rubbing it cruelly back and forth!

“Damn it!”

Ethan Ashford’s head was firmly restrained, leaving him unable to move. All he could do was let out a furious, powerless shout.

“Ethan Ashford? You dare curse in the academy and even start a fight? Stop this at once, or I’ll have you both expelled!”

Beatrice Mercer happened to pass by the classroom door. Glancing inside, she raised her voice sternly.

“Hmph, I’ll let you off this time! But next time, don’t expect it to be this easy!”

Derek Lawson kicked Ethan Ashford once more before striding off with his lackeys, leaving the classroom behind.

It wasn’t until a long while later that Ethan Ashford dusted off his clothes, grabbed his bag, and dragged his weary body toward home. His heart felt hollow and lifeless.

In the past three months, not only had his memory deteriorated and his academic performance plummeted, but even his physical condition had worsened day by day. Simply sitting in the classroom for a short while left him utterly drained and achy all over.

Before long, Ethan Ashford arrived at the door of his home. Just as he was about to push the door open, he heard the voices of his parents coming from inside.

“Sigh, Chen's grades have dropped so much recently. He must be feeling awful about it! Even though he’s not our biological child, I’ve always treated him like he is. Seeing him like this makes my heart ache.”

“Sigh, back when we found Chen in that garbage heap, what that old Taoist said seems to have come true, doesn’t it?”

“Could it be that Chen is truly destined to face this tribulation in his life?”

Ethan Ashford's hand, poised to push the door, froze abruptly in mid-air.

"I... I’m not... their biological child?"

Ethan Ashford felt as though a bolt of lightning had pierced through a clear sky!

"Boom!"

Dark clouds suddenly rolled in, thunder echoed across the heavens.

"Crash!"

Rain poured down in torrents.

Ethan Ashford spun around, throwing himself into the storm as he began to run wildly.

Why?

Why does it have to be like this?

If I were meant to be a fool, why didn't they let me be one from the start?

If I were destined to be a genius, why wasn't I allowed to stay a genius all along?

The world mocks me, humiliates me, and now even my parents—they’ve been lying to me!

I'm nothing but an abandoned child, a castaway no one wanted!

Ethan Ashford ran like mad, not knowing how far he'd gone until his strength finally gave out and he collapsed.

The sky gradually darkened.

Ethan Ashford lay sprawled on the ground, staring up at the heavens.

Rainwater poured down relentlessly, washing over his body. The bone-chilling cold made him curl up, his body trembling uncontrollably.

"Boom!"

Another rumble of thunder rolled through the air.

"Crack!"

A flash of lightning suddenly tore through the night sky.

It struck straight down toward Ethan Ashford!

"Ahhh!"

Ethan Ashford let out a wretched cry.

Damn heavens, come on, strike me dead if you dare!

Roaring his fury in his heart, Ethan Ashford suddenly felt everything go black and lost consciousness.

…

What Ethan Ashford didn’t know, lying unconscious, was that a massive eye had silently appeared in the pitch-black, ink-like sky.

The enormous eye blinked once, then quickly locked its gaze onto Ethan Ashford's body.

“Damn heavens, I didn’t think you’d actually catch me this time! Today, it’s either you fall, or I live!”

In a bizarre twist, Ethan Ashford, who had been struck by lightning and fallen unconscious, suddenly leaped up. With one hand pointing to the sky and the other to the ground, he raised his head and roared out in rage.

Swish!

Another bolt of lightning came crashing straight down toward Ethan Ashford.

Strangely enough, his body shifted sideways half a meter in an instant, narrowly avoiding the strike.

After dodging, Ethan Ashford raised one hand to the sky, and a beam of violet light shot from his fingertip, hurtling toward the massive eye in the heavens.

However, the violet light was far too weak. Before it even reached the looming eye, layers of dark clouds intercepted it, scattering the light into nothingness amidst the blackened sky.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

One lightning strike followed another relentlessly, bypassing the towering structures in the area and aiming directly for Ethan Ashford.

“This is bad—after all, this isn’t my own body. Evading these heavenly bolts is far too taxing!”

While his body darted rapidly from side to side, Ethan Ashford muttered to himself under his breath.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Finally, exhausted and unable to dodge in time, Ethan Ashford was struck by several consecutive bolts of lightning square on his head.

“Bang!”

Ethan Ashford's body collapsed heavily to the ground, charred black as if scorched, completely still, appearing utterly lifeless.

The colossal eye in the sky blinked once more and then, seemingly satisfied, closed shut and slowly dissipated.

A long moment passed.

The downpour began to lessen gradually.

"Hey! You brat, wake up already! If you don't come to your senses soon, I'll truly vanish into thin air!"

Suddenly, a weak and aged voice echoed inside Ethan Ashford's head.