The moment Lin Chen saw the girl, he instinctively took a step back.
This was reverence for beauty.
Like a tomb raider entering the burial chamber of Tutankhamun—
Facing that exquisitely crafted golden mask that seemed to have sealed time itself,
One could only admire it in silence, not daring to reach out and remove it,
Afraid of disturbing the slumbering beauty, fearing that the instant it awakened, it would wither into age.
The girl chuckled softly as she looked at Lin Chen.
From her pupils, Lin Chen seemed to see a version of himself—awkward and restrained.
As a faint stabbing sensation flared in his mind, a memory was triggered.
Lin Chen instinctively took another step back.
This time, it was no longer reverence for beauty, but reverence for strength.
Because the girl standing before him was named Xia Mi. (TL/N: She is from Dragon Raja, search it up.)
She was the class monitor—and like him, an orphan.
A flawless face, natural approachability, coupled with the background of having lost both parents—
And the name "Xia Mi."
This was a dragon.
Even though she currently looked like a harmless little dragon girl.
In the Dragon Clan worldview, dragons and humans were enemies.
So where were the high-level figures of this high-martial-arts world? How could they allow a little dragon girl to blend into human society like this?
Lin Chen complained inwardly.
Jotaro was one thing—at least Old JO was human, and a good person at that.
But Xia Mi, even if her human form was fine—if she switched to the Jörmungandr account—
She could crush Lin Chen to death in minutes.
"What's wrong, Lin Chen? Could it be that you have absolutely no resistance to the beauty of a pretty girl like me?"
Xia Mi leaned closer, teasing the visibly stiff Lin Chen with shameless banter.
She was naturally outgoing, and with her looks and overwhelming affinity, she was close with everyone in the class.
Being approached by a flawless beauty was, in most cases, a pleasant experience.
But right now, Lin Chen felt his heartbeat accelerating.
Every instinct in his body screamed rejection—like watching a bomb that could explode at any moment drawing closer.
"It's nothing, Class Monitor," Lin Chen said stiffly. "I'm fine. I'll go practice my sword now."
He fled in a panic, looking exactly like a hot-blooded senior-year boy awkwardly escaping after facing a girl he liked.
Xia Mi narrowed her eyes as she watched his retreating back.
She felt that something about Lin Chen's behavior was a little off, but she didn't dwell on it.
Right now, her identity was Xia Mi—a cute human girl who had lost her parents. Nothing more.
Her goal was to blend into this fascinating world, absorb its knowledge, and grow stronger by using this world's unique traits.
Stronger than the White King. Stronger than Odin. Even stronger than the Black King.
Hiding her identity and integrating into the world came first. Increasing her strength came second.
Everything else was unimportant.
More importantly, Xia Mi hadn't sensed anything special from Lin Chen.
He was just an ordinary high school boy.
People like him were everywhere in this world—there was no need to invest much attention.
"Hah…"
Only after reaching the corner of the classroom did Lin Chen finally relax, letting out a long breath.
Distancing himself from Xia Mi had already been the best move he could make.
As for acting it out or matching performances—he wouldn't even consider it.
Even though Xia Mi's human persona sometimes conflicted with Jörmungandr's core personality,
Her foundation was still there.
Her experience and wisdom were far beyond what an ordinary high school student like him could match.
Keeping distance might arouse suspicion, but forcing conversation while constantly tense would only make his abnormality more obvious.
"This world is seriously messed up," Lin Chen muttered weakly.
After encountering Jotaro and Xia Mi, he could be completely certain of one thing—
This high-martial-arts world was definitely not normal.
Characters from anime or novels of his previous life had intruded into it.
The original body's memories were still too fragmented.
Over the next period of time, he needed to quickly familiarize himself with this borderline insane high-martial-arts world and figure out what was really going on.
The shock Xia Mi brought gradually faded.
For now, the only piece of good news for Lin Chen was that his cheat was almost done loading.
The standard cheat for a high-martial-arts protagonist—the Martial Arts Panel.
From zero percent in the infirmary to now, it had reached ninety-five percent.
Suppressing his excitement, Lin Chen stared at the progress bar in front of him,
As if doing so might somehow speed it up.
"Class begins."
A well-built, gentle-looking middle-aged man entered the classroom, carrying a wooden sword.
Swordsmanship was a combat course—there was no podium and no desks.
The swordsmanship instructor stood at the front, explaining key techniques.
The students gathered around to listen.
Standing in the last row, Lin Chen's attention was still mostly on the Martial Arts Panel.
"Before we begin practice, I need to emphasize this once again," the teacher said.
"Breathing techniques come before swordsmanship."
"Even though this is a swordsmanship class, if you master breathing techniques well, you won't suffer no matter which combat discipline you switch to later."
"There is no hierarchy of strength among breathing techniques—whether it's Wind Breathing, Flame Breathing, or Water Breathing. Only the one most suited to you is the best."
"So you must carefully feel the rhythm of breathing techniques. If you can create a unique breathing technique of your own, that would be ideal."
"?"
Listening to the instructor, Lin Chen raised his head.
Something about these words sounded strangely familiar.
As memories were triggered in his mind, the Martial Arts Panel in front of him finished loading at the same time.
[Host: Lin Chen] [Class: Breathing Technique Swordsman] [Breathing Technique: Water Breathing LV1 (9/10)] [Water Breathing Swordsmanship: LV1 (6/10)] [Combat Power Level: Weak—Crushing Stone] [Combat Evaluation: Only slightly stronger than an ordinary person; far inferior to Tanjiro during the Hand Demon battle at Mount Fujikasane.]
"As expected…"
Lin Chen tugged at the corner of his mouth as he looked at the panel.
The memories stimulated by the swordsmanship instructor's words had already been absorbed.
He now clearly understood that the swordsmanship he was practicing was none other than the breathing technique sword arts from the Demon Slayer world.
It's just that in this world, breathing techniques were divided into two distinct categories—Breathing Technique Swordsmanship and the Breathing Technique itself. Unlike in the original Demon Slayer world where they were simply referred to as one unified system, here they were separated for clarity: the Breathing Technique Swordsmanship referred to the actual sword forms and combat moves, while the Breathing Technique itself represented the breathing rhythm and elemental attributes that powered those moves. In essence, one was the martial skill, the other was the energy cultivation method.
At the same time, he also understood why characters like Jotaro, Xia Mi, and Demon Slayer breathing techniques had appeared here.
This world was not a simple modern high-martial-arts setting.
At some unknown point in time, spatial passages had begun appearing randomly, connecting this world to others.
Most of those worlds were anime worlds Lin Chen had seen in his previous life.
Through exchange, assimilation, or conflict with those worlds,
Their unique techniques, cultivation systems, and knowledge systems eventually converged—
Forming this strange high-martial-arts world.
A modern urban high-martial-arts system constructed from anime-based techniques and power frameworks.
As for those connected anime worlds—
Based on the fragments of memory he possessed,
Lin Chen could roughly infer how this main world dealt with them.