Everyone Is Non-Human Except Me [Rebirth] Chapter 10

When he took the written exam, Wei Huan had actually held back on purpose—yet he still ended up ranking first.

“No way… is there really no one competent in this batch?” Wei Huan muttered under his breath, sensing the growing number of candidates turning their eyes toward him, with hostility intensifying in their gazes.

Great. At first, he was targeted just for being human—now he was truly the thorn in everyone’s side.

Grinning broadly, Wei Huan flashed his teeth and began backing away, laughing, “Thank you all, much appreciated, wishing you all great success, may all your wishes come true, prosperity, fortune and blessings in advance in case I forget at New Year…”

With that, he grabbed Jing Yun and slipped away.

At Shanhai University, the entrance exam was split evenly between written and practical combat tests. Though he had now become everyone’s target, ranking first in the written test at least gave him a significant edge in overall score. Even if he had lost the powers of Nine Phoenix, his hand-to-hand combat foundation meant he could still take down weaker opponents in the early stages of the practical round.

That meant he still had a shot at getting into Shanhai.

Jing Yun had also scored decently on the written test, but his performance in the practical round was a bit concerning. Wei Huan found it odd—Chongming was supposed to be a prominent clan too. Although their branch was far off in the Beiji Tianguit so unfamiliar with Nine Phoenix’s family, Jing Yun didn’t act like a child raised by a prestigious household. He was always cautious, overly careful.

Could this be one of those “lost young master” storylines?

Wei Huan slapped himself on the head to banish the melodramatic soap opera forming in his mind. The first rounds of the combat test were conducted simultaneously in multiple venues, so he and Jing Yun had to separate. Jing Yun looked more worried about him, though.

“If it gets bad, raise your hand and tell the referee right away. I’m worried that—”

“It’s fine. They can’t go too far. That’s a violation of the rules. There are referees watching each round—any excessive action will be stopped.” Wei Huan lightly bumped Jing Yun’s narrow shoulder with his fist. “You’ve got this. Who knows, maybe we’ll even face each other later.”

To all the demon students and teachers, a human entering the Shanhai combat trial was an absolute joke. Years of war between humans and demons had long established demons at the top of the food chain. If not for a few pro-human and neutral factions, humans would’ve already been reduced to livestock under demon rule.

Now, Wei Huan was the first human to ever reach this stage at Shanhai. That alone was enough to stir up a storm.

But even so, not a single demon doubted the outcome. What everyone wanted to see was a demon crushing a human in the arena—like squashing an ant.

What no one expected was that this lean human boy was far more formidable than they imagined.

In the first round, Wei Huan faced a vine-type wood-attributed demon. The rules were mostly unchanged from the freshmen trials he had participated in ten years ago—the first half was a restriction round, with both sides forbidden from using demon powers. If either party left the match boundary or was unable to stand, the opponent would be declared the winner.

Such rules were inherently unfair to humans—Wei Huan didn’t even have any demon powers to use in the second half. No matter the opponent, he could only rely on physical combat.

And no one would change the rules for him just because he was human. The real world was that cruel. If you were weak, your options were few.

Wei Huan knew better than anyone that he couldn’t afford to let the match drag into the second half. If it did, he’d be wrapped in vines and flung out of the arena—he’d never have a chance. So he held back nothing in the first half.

A vine demon without professional training was no match at all for someone who had once been Shanhai’s top close-combat fighter.

Before even half the sand in the hovering hourglass above the arena had run out, his opponent had already been knocked off the platform.

For a moment, the stands surrounding the duel arena were dead silent. No one could react. No one had expected this outcome.

A demon… had been defeated by a human with no powers.

“This must be a fluke.”

“Yeah, probably just a weak opponent. That little vine demon clearly had no close combat skills—no wonder they got eliminated so quickly.” At the end of round one, most of the audience comforted themselves with that logic.

But then came round two, round three, round four—and the results were the same.

Not just frail vine demon—Wei Huan even defeated burly and aggressive wolf demons. The name “Candidate Wei Heng” appeared repeatedly on the floating light screen above the stadium—as the victor.

Shanhai might be large, but word traveled fast.

“Hey, did you watch the combat trials this year?”

“No, I just got out of class. Any big demon bloodlines showing up this time?”

“Nope! You won’t believe this—a human, and he’s already won five matches with pure close combat!”

“What the—?! I gotta go watch that!”

With only half the rounds complete, more and more people flocked to the stadium to see for themselves.

After his fifth win, Wei Huan went into rest between matches, heading to the candidates’ break room. Sure enough, the potion Jing Yun gave him was the real deal. Wei Huan felt half his body lighten when he stepped into the ring—he could practically flip midair to dodge incoming attacks.

Not only that, his strength had increased. Though it still couldn’t compare to a high-tier demon’s physique, against average demons, as long as he kept the fight in the pre-demon-power phase, his chances of winning were strong.

After a few rounds, Wei Huan had sustained quite a few injuries. He picked up some medicinal ointment and bandages from the school infirmary station and leaned back on a chair in the break room, wrapping his fingers and arm wounds. The injuries looked rather frightening, but to Wei Huan—who had become used to bullets and war in his past life—they were nothing significant. Once he finished bandaging himself, he left the break room and followed the floating virtual screen to Jing Yun’s match. He was still somewhat worried.

Just as he squeezed into the spectator stands, he saw the small-framed Jing Yun being pinned to the ground and beaten, blood spilling from his mouth.

“Jing Yun!” Wei Huan panicked and instinctively shouted out. The hourglass flipped, the match paused—the first half was over. Jing Yun laid on the ground, unable to get up. His chest heaved like a fragile little fish. Upon hearing Wei Huan’s voice, he turned his face slightly and gave a faint grin.

“Are you okay?!” Wei Huan tried to jump down but was immediately surrounded by a dozen small bee-demons flashing sharp stingers at his face. “Warning! Warning! Warning…”

Wei Huan raised his hands. “Okay, okay, I won’t go down. I won’t.”

He looked at Jing Yun with concern, but Jing Yun shook his head. Then he reached up to remove his glasses and, just as the countdown for the rest break ended, staggered to his feet and stuffed the old glasses into his shirt pocket.

Wei Huan clearly saw that Jing Yun’s usually concealed eyes were now glowing with a strange light.

The crocodile demon opponent swung his heavy, scale-covered tail and sneered, “You might as well surrender now—I’ll make your loss quick.”

“No.” Jing Yun wiped the blood from his mouth. As he lifted his head, his eyes revealed a pair of semi-overlapping pupils, and crimson wings burst from his back.

“I won’t surrender. I’m a Chongming. I won’t be looked down on.”

The opponent lunged toward him, but Jing Yun darted away into the air. It was the first time Wei Huan had ever seen him unleash his demon power.

After missing him several times, the crocodile demon grew furious, his body swelling to several times its original size. He grabbed Jing Yun out of the air. “Let’s see if I don’t throw you straight out of the arena!”

While fearing for him, Wei Huan was also thinking hard—what exactly was the ability of the Chongming race?

Jing Yun, throat being crushed, struggled and grabbed at the demon’s thick wrist, his eyes reddened.

“Good… very good…”

Right! It was strength!

Just as that thought struck Wei Huan, tiny Jing Yun—only a tenth the size of the crocodile demon—suddenly reversed his grip and lifted the massive beast over his head. Hovering mid-air, his face flushed red with effort, the yellow family crest on his wrist burst into dazzling light. The glow surged up his arm to his neck, and with a loud shout, he hurled the enormous crocodile demon straight out of the arena.

The whistle blew—

Exhausted, Jing Yun’s body went limp, his wings flapping weakly. Wei Huan was elated. “Jing Yun, you’re awesome!”

Jing Yun looked up and smiled at him. Wei Huan waved excitedly, just about to shout something when his comms bracelet chimed.

“Candidate Wei Huan, please proceed to Duel Platform 132 within ten minutes. Your match is about to begin.”

It was his turn. Wei Huan pointed at his wrist at Jing Yun, then left the arena and headed toward the designated platform.

Based on the rules of the advancement tournament and the number of written test passers from Shanhai, this would be his sixth straight win—he was likely now in the middle tier. The opponents would only grow stronger from here on. If he wanted to stay in Shanhai, he absolutely could not lose this round.

Wei Huan entered the stadium. Platform 132 was completely different from the earlier ones—it was a round dueling platform suspended entirely in midair, its surface divided into black and white sections by a Taiji symbol.

Then, all of a sudden, a deafening cheer erupted from the stands. Wei Huan thought, Could it be that I’ve become a sensation from my previous matches? Gained a ton of fans all at once?

Just as he was trying to organize his expression and raise a hand to wave to his “fans,” a petite figure flew up on the opposite side of the platform—and it was only then that he realized the cheers weren’t for him at all.

Awkwardly, he lowered his half-raised hand and looked up at the impossibly high dueling platform.

This kind of height really wasn’t friendly to his current human body, which couldn’t fly.

A voice sounded over the speaker: “Referee, please take your position!” A diamond-shaped floating platform appeared at the edge of the ring. A tall figure in a white military uniform landed on it, wings folding in. Every movement was elegant and aloof—not like a demon, but like a noble archangel drawn in delicate ink.

D*mn. Yun Yongzhou is the referee?

Wei Huan hadn’t even realized it himself—despite the distance and not having seen his opponent’s face yet, he immediately recognized the figure on the referee’s platform. At that very moment, Yun Yongzhou, high above, unexpectedly lowered his head. Their eyes met.

Taking advantage of the moment, Wei Huan frantically waved like an excited grasshopper. “Referee! Look over here! Referee-brother! I can’t get up—help me out, yeah?”

Yun Yongzhou’s brows knit slightly, but he stayed completely unmoved. Clearly not inclined to help. Wei Huan fretted over how to sway this cold-hearted guy, when suddenly a breeze picked up beside him. He turned to look—an extremely handsome young man smiled at him, dark blue wings on his back, dressed in the uniform of a Fuyou Academy instructor.

Wei Huan froze. It felt like a lifetime had passed.

“Yang…”

He almost called the name out loud.

But Yang Sheng, standing at a distance, didn’t hear the human boy’s muttered word. He just beamed and said warmly, “Need a hand?”

Though death had dulled his sense of time’s passage, seeing the childhood friend he grew up with again left Wei Huan filled with complex emotions.

Of course—it was just like Yang Sheng. Even when facing an outsider who’d barged into Shanhai, he wasn’t the least bit hostile. He was even willing to lend a helping hand.

Wei Huan looked up and gave him a smile, pretending not to recognize him. “Sure.” Judging by the standard instructor uniform Yang Sheng was wearing, he was probably just here to help maintain order or to observe the match. But even so, being an instructor must keep him busy—what was he doing here?

“You’re really nice, mister,” Wei Huan said, taking a step toward Yang Sheng. But just as he moved, a blade of light shot toward him and stabbed into the ground only a few centimeters from his toes.

Holy sh*t. Wei Huan jerked his foot back in fright and turned to see who had attacked him.

Yun Yongzhou had his chin slightly raised. His gaze was no longer just cold—it carried something else, though Wei Huan couldn’t figure out what.

Even more baffling, in the next moment, a staircase made entirely of level-one light conjuration appeared at the edge of the dueling platform. Step by step, it descended until the final step touched the ground.

The dazzling golden staircase instantly drew loud cheers from the entire crowd. Who would’ve thought a mere advancement round would showcase a Golden Crow’s signature technique?

Wei Huan stared dumbfounded at the blinding light-staircase, completely confused.

Then, Yun Yongzhou’s cool, clear voice cut through the roaring crowd like the golden light, reaching Wei Huan’s ears directly:

“Get up here yourself.”