“I, Henry Carter, also want to become a genius like Miss Grace, to be a martial artist as valued by the family as my cousin Edward Carter, to become the pride of the family, admired by others. But... why is reality so cruel!”

Henry Carter harbored far too much unwillingness in his heart. He had tried countless times, even attempting dangerous things like breaking through his sea of consciousness, but all ended in failure.

Years of bitter cultivation had ultimately yielded nothing. This kind of pain was not something an ordinary person could endure.

Although Henry Carter had never given up, reality could not be changed.

Henry Carter pressed his lips together slightly, a faint bitterness lingering in his heart. His fingers unconsciously fiddled on the desk, completely uninterested in the lesson. Lying quietly on the desk before him was a book made of hard cowhide cardboard. The book was already very worn, as if it had been burned by fire, covered in charred marks.

On the book’s cover, a towering green mountain soared into the clouds, standing tall and imposing.

There seemed to be a few blurry large characters on the mountain, though it was impossible to make out what they said. Yet, a faint sense of grandeur seemed to emanate from them.

This tattered ancient book was something Henry Carter had picked up from a pile of junk in the family’s basement. According to legend, the Ye family had once been extremely powerful, an imperial clan, with ancestors who were mighty at the level of an emperor. But that former glory had long since vanished into the dust of history... Now, the Ye family was merely a second-rate clan in the inconspicuous Qingyue City on the western border of the Great Zhou Divine Dynasty!

Henry Carter unconsciously stroked the cover of the tattered ancient book. The cover had a rough texture, giving off an indescribably strange feeling.

What Henry Carter didn’t know was that as he stroked the old book, waves of strange, invisible power were rapidly spreading out from his fingertips, like ripples on the surface of water, expanding circle after circle.

Henry Carter yawned, suddenly feeling very sleepy. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and in a daze, he lay down on the old book and fell into a deep sleep.

Henry Carter fell into a long dream!

It was a very, very long dream. Henry Carter dreamed of a towering green mountain, lush with pines and cypresses. Gazing intently, he saw countless mysterious patterns faintly fluctuating on the mountain. Suddenly, the entire mountain shattered with a roar, transforming into blazing divine stones. One of the divine stones shot straight toward Henry Carter, and the mysterious patterns on it seemed to come alive, frantically drilling into Henry Carter’s mind. Instantly, all kinds of knowledge about divine patterns exploded in his mind, making Henry Carter’s head feel like it was splitting apart.

At some point, the green mountain on the cover of the old book had quietly disappeared...

The tattered pages turned to ashes and vanished without a trace.

Chapter Two: Awakening from a Great Dream

Henry Carter had a long dream, dreaming of the first year of the Primordial Era, when a divine mountain descended from the heavens; dreaming of the Dao Sage observing the divine mountain, comprehending divine patterns, and creating three thousand divine arts; dreaming of the Sword Sage refining barbarian bones to forge divine weapons; dreaming of the Martial Sage creating the Divine Scroll and spreading the Dao across the world!

A great dream spanning thousands of autumns, his thoughts drifting and ethereal.

Grace Hamilton was still explaining divine patterns. She spoke vividly, citing classics and references, helping the students understand the properties of divine patterns and the greatness of the three ancestral sages of humanity. All the students in Junior Class Three were listening attentively—except for Henry Carter, who sat in the very back.

“How long does he plan to sleep?”

Grace Hamilton glanced at the back, where Henry Carter had been sleeping through most of the class. A hint of displeasure flashed in her clear eyes, and her delicate brows furrowed slightly. She had worked hard to make the lesson on divine patterns interesting, but to Henry Carter, it was like playing music to a cow!

Even when angry, she still exuded an elegant and captivating aura.

A few boys sitting to the left of Henry Carter looked at him snoring away and showed expressions of disgust! Sleeping in Miss Grace’s class—this was simply intolerable!

“That idiot Henry Carter, actually sleeping in Miss Grace’s class! He’s really disgracing us!”

“Looks like last time’s lesson was too mild!”

A boy about thirteen or fourteen years old looked coldly at the sleeping Henry Carter, his words laced with icy hostility. His name was Brian Cooper, the top student in Junior Class Three, a five-star apprentice. His father was a senior instructor in the Advanced Class at Nanxing Academy, and he was also one of Miss Grace’s many admirers!

Brian Cooper was quite talented. With both parents being senior instructors at Nanxing Academy’s Advanced Class, he had absorbed much by osmosis, and his grasp of divine pattern knowledge far surpassed that of the other students. Miss Grace also appreciated him quite a bit. Her praise made Brian Cooper even more confident, and he practically saw himself as Miss Grace’s protector. Henry Carter sleeping in her class made Brian Cooper very angry.

“Idiot Henry Carter, actually sleeping in Miss Grace’s class—Brian Cooper definitely won’t let him off!” a few students whispered, schadenfreude written all over their faces.

Up to now, Henry Carter was still stuck at the one-star apprentice level, while Brian Cooper was already a five-star apprentice! For Brian Cooper, teaching Henry Carter a lesson would be all too easy.