Chapter One

Beicheng District, Xijing City—Beixi No. 1 High School.

The early summer breeze already carried a hint of warmth. Inside the campus walls, trees flourished with dense, lush branches, and in the tranquil school grounds, the clear voices of youths reading aloud could occasionally be heard.

Suddenly, an angry outburst shattered the calm, startling a flock of birds outside the window.

“Zhou Wanli! You’re already a senior and you still dare to sleep in class?!”

“Was it me or you who failed five out of six subjects on the last finals?!”

Half-awake and half-dreaming, Zhou Wanli only heard a furious female voice by her ear. She wanted to open her eyes to see who it was, but her head was still foggy and heavy, her spirit utterly lacking.

Just yesterday, a major research breakthrough had been achieved in her lab, and the entire team had gone out to celebrate at a karaoke bar, partying all night. The result was that she, having drunk too much, spent the night dizzy and vomiting, collapsing in bed as soon as she got home.

As expected, one should never get too carried away—this hangover was absolute agony.

Zhou Wanli, muddled and groggy, was just about to ignore the commotion and slip back into sleep, when a rough shove on her arm jolted her further, the force increasing until she felt even worse.

“Wanli, wake up, the teacher’s calling you!” someone whispered nearby.

Irritated—very irritated—Zhou Wanli didn’t even have time to think. She brushed the hand away in annoyance, stood up without thinking, opened her eyes, and turned her head to snap, “Didn’t the lab already finish the project? The professor said we could rest today, so unless it’s urgent, don’t disturb my slee—p?!”

“What the hell is going on?!”

She stood frozen, eyes wide in disbelief at the youthful faces before her—faces beautiful and vibrant, full of life. Her classmates stared back, equally stunned. Holy crap! What a bold move!

The classroom was so silent, it was as if the air itself had solidified, even breathing sounded muted and faint.

While both sides stared at each other in shock, the homeroom teacher, Jiang Kejun—sharp in a fitted suit—could no longer restrain herself and let out a furious roar: “Zhou Wanli, get out and stand in the hall as punishment!”

And so, on the very first day of her rebirth, Zhou Wanli was promptly awarded a class-long penalty stand.

——

The period drifted by in a haze.

When the bell for the second class rang, Zhou Wanli stiffly walked back to her seat. Looking around at those faces—familiar yet distant, once only fragments in her remote memories—she finally realized she had truly been reborn.

But how could this be? Just last night she’d been singing with her lab mates to celebrate their research triumph, and now, in the blink of an eye, she was back in her final year of high school?

No matter how hard she racked her brain, Zhou Wanli couldn’t figure it out.

“Wanli, don’t be too upset. Now that the homeroom teacher has punished you, it should be over,” whispered Chen Xiaoxiao, her seatmate, who’d been keeping a close eye on her and noticed her odd expression.

“But honestly, how could you fall asleep in the homeroom teacher’s class? Didn’t you stay up all night reading novels again?”

Zhou Wanli blinked at Chen Xiaoxiao—her former best friend and desk mate—forced a sheepish smile, but said nothing, unsure what to say.

Unconcerned, Chen Xiaoxiao continued, “This period’s Extraordinary Biology. I wonder if Mr. Cao will do a spot check. And with the college entrance exam just around the corner, do you think we can still improve our Brain Domain Development?”

So this was biology? That’s a relief. Zhou Wanli recalled her past life as a bioengineering major—this high school biology should be a piece of cake for her.

But then she froze at Chen Xiaoxiao’s last words—Brain Domain Development? What was that supposed to mean?

Still confused and thinking she’d misheard, Zhou Wanli listened as Chen Xiaoxiao sighed beside her, “And besides Brain Domain Development, my Brain Nerve Tendrils still haven’t reached the standard either. With only half a month left until the Global Beastmaster Entrance Exam registration, looks like I have no hope of qualifying.”

Huh? What’s that? Brain Nerve Tendrils?

Global Beastmaster Entrance Exam? What on earth was all this?

Zhou Wanli was completely dumbfounded. Even the slowest person would realize something was off.

“I…” She opened her mouth to ask, but was interrupted by a loud bang as the classroom door swung open and someone walked in.

Mr. Cao, wearing a dark plaid shirt, stood at the podium. His face was lean, his gaze sharp as he swept the room. He spoke crisply, “Take out Volume Five of Extraordinary Biology and turn to page twenty-eight. Today we’re reviewing: What are the known contractible extraordinary species? And, the multiple evolutionary routes for the Grass-type Flower Rain Worm.”

Zhou Wanli: ??

Zhou Wanli: …Am I sure I’ve only been reborn and not gone insane? I don’t actually have a mental illness, do I?

Or perhaps… the world has simply gone mad before I did.

As for the rest of the lesson, Zhou Wanli didn’t register a single word.

Mr. Cao, known as Beixi No. 1’s legendary biology teacher, was as succinct and cold as ever. When the bell rang, he didn’t care if he’d finished—he simply shut the book, turned on his heel, and left.

Watching him walk away, Zhou Wanli still felt dazed. Or perhaps it was the intense surge of emotion that stirred up dormant memories in this body, giving her a brief but genuine understanding of this unfamiliar Blue Star.

——

At first glance, this world didn’t seem much different from the Blue Star of her past life, but history here had diverged two centuries ago.

In the year 2135 of the Star Era, mysterious spatial rifts abruptly appeared all over Blue Star. People panicked, fearful, convinced the apocalypse was at hand.

But after a few years, the rifts simply existed quietly, unchanged. Slowly, people let down their guard—until one day, all the rifts vanished as suddenly as they had come.

Soon after, humans discovered that Blue Star’s environment had inexplicably begun to change. The continents expanded, new mountains and rivers emerged, and eventually, entirely new forms of life appeared—species never seen before.

Most of these strange creatures possessed considerable intelligence and extraordinary powers, some even strong enough to withstand modern weaponry.

With humanity caught unprepared, the creatures invaded cities, wreaking havoc and destruction.

These extraordinary beings would later be known as—Transcendent Creatures.

After decades of mutual conflict and intense research, as humanity’s territory steadily shrank, people finally discovered a way to coexist.

Among humans, some special individuals could, through ongoing development of their brain domains, grow nerve tendrils and awaken a psychic field.

Within this psychic field, they could achieve resonance and form contracts with Transcendent Creatures. Those who succeeded would develop a “Sea of Spirit” in their brains to nourish their contracted creatures.

These individuals were honored as Beastmasters. The contracted creatures were known as Transcendent Companions.

From then on, Blue Star’s course was forever altered—beast mastery became the new mainstream!

There hadn’t been enough time for Zhou Wanli to absorb all these memories in detail, but she’d grasped the basics. The rest would take time to digest.

Even so, her heart could not calm down.

To be honest, she’d only seen things like this in the novels and dramas of her previous life. To be thrust from a peaceful, ordinary world into such a thrilling and bizarre Blue Star—the first rush was not fear, but a wild pounding of her heart.

She couldn’t say if it was excitement or anxiety, or simply a thirst for the unknown.

No matter what, Zhou Wanli knew she had accepted her rebirth—and was beginning to look forward to a new life.