Era of Mist

Zhou Nan instinctively clutched his chest, his voice trembling like a frightened fawn. "B-b-b-boss, what are you doing?"

He was terrified that the next words out of the man’s mouth would be "I’m going to fuck you." If that happened, his life would probably be plunged into darkness. Besides, rumor had it that a certain part of this man was exceptionally large, so there was also the risk of torrential bleeding in his rear region.

But Shi Tiexin just stared at him intently and asked a question that Zhou Nan couldn’t make heads or tails of: "What year is it?"

’So he isn’t going to screw me... But why ask something like that? He sounds like an alien.’ Zhou Nan was full of questions, but in the end, he answered truthfully, "It’s 2020 in the Western calendar. What’s up, Boss?"

"The Western calendar... 2020?"

Zhou Nan had no idea what Shi Tiexin was thinking, but in that moment, the pair of eyes in the darkness seemed to fill with endless confusion and reminiscence.

’This guy... could he have amnesia? Did studying arithmetic make him stupid, so stupid he can’t even remember what year it is? Amnesia would be great! If he doesn’t remember, doesn’t that mean the time I framed him will be wiped clean? Mwahahaha...’

"I need a complete set of middle school textbooks and workbooks." Shi Tiexin gripped Zhou Nan’s shoulder firmly. "Get them as soon as possible."

’Okay, so he remembers everything perfectly...’

A dejected Zhou Nan closed his eyes to sleep. He rolled over, let out a couple of snores, and completely forgot about Shi Tiexin’s strange question, writing it off as a top student’s daily bout of idiocy. But after Shi Tiexin climbed into his own bunk, his mind was anything but calm. He lay with his arms pillowed behind his head, gazing at the bright moonlight filtering through the opposite window as a hundred emotions welled up inside him.

After a long while, he picked up a booklet from his side and unconsciously held it up before his eyes. The cover read: *Wang Xingshun’s Hard-Pen Regular Script Copybook*. He focused his gaze, and text materialized.

[Auxiliary Secret Manual: Basic Rhetoric, First Layer]

[Quality: Peerless]

[Usage Progress: 0%]

[Effect: Increases the cultivation speed of Basic Rhetoric, First Layer by 20%.]

[Attribute 1: Master’s Legacy. The script in this copybook has a precise and balanced structure, with fluid strokes and an august style. Its subtle details form a unique school of its own, possessing the legacy of a great calligraphy master. When using this copybook for practice, reaching the "Excellent" level or above increases cultivation speed by 30%. At the "Profound" level or above, there is a chance to learn the Master’s Regular Script.]

[Attribute 2: Easy to Learn and Practice. This copybook is easy to learn and practice, making it very friendly for beginners. Reduces practice difficulty by 20%.]

[Attribute 3: Reusable. The characters are finite, but cultivation is infinite. Start over from the beginning and use it repeatedly.]

’It’s actually a Peerless-grade Auxiliary Secret Manual!’

’This is the first time I’ve ever seen a Peerless-grade Auxiliary Secret Manual! Reusable? Is there really such a badass attribute?!’

Shi Tiexin stared at the text in his vision for a long time, then gazed at the copybook for just as long before finally setting it down. He let out a long breath, a sense of solid confidence finally settling in his heart.

’Regardless of whether things are as I imagine, at least I now hold a tangible power in my hands—the power to change my destiny.’

’And that is enough.’

With that, he rolled over and fell into a deep sleep.

「The next day.」

Shi Tiexin woke up bright and early. He had gone to bed late, but with his reserves of primal essence qi and mental energy, he was even more rested than the day before. As the saying goes, a good night’s sleep cures a thousand woes. As long as he could get a good sleep, nothing, no matter how monumental, could throw him off balance.

He rolled out of bed, washed his face, and brushed his teeth. Instead of eagerly grabbing the Calculation Book to continue studying, Shi Tiexin got ready, left the dorm feeling refreshed, and went for a light jog on the athletic field.

Primal essence qi was one thing, but physical exercise was another. Merely stockpiling essence qi without corresponding training would make it impossible to succeed in martial arts. Of course, the presence of the qi made his workouts more efficient and the results more potent. Just half an hour of jogging was enough to warm up his whole body, leaving him with the pleasant feeling of having loosened up.

The four little calves arrived right on time for the meal, respectfully ushering Lord Shi into the cafeteria.

"Buns. Ten of them."

At Shi Tiexin’s single sentence, the four calves scrambled to do his bidding. One fetched soup, another saved a seat, and in no time, ten steaming hot buns were placed before him.

Seeing these buns, Shi Tiexin was so moved he nearly burst into tears.

’So many times, truly, so many times, and I finally get to eat these big buns!’

’Today, I, Shi, am going on a rampage!’

Open wide. CHOMP. CHEW CHEW CHEW. GULP—Huh? Missed the filling?

’Again!’

Open wide. CHOMP. CHEW CHEW CHEW. GULP—Hmm! The filling’s already gone!

Suddenly, the bun in his hand tasted completely bland...

"Boss, are you not satisfied?" the fatty asked with a look of shared suffering. "The buns from the regular class window are always like this. Some people have even gotten ones with pure dough filling. Now that’s tragic. But I hear the buns from the honors class window are better. Just you wait, we’ll go find a few bean sprouts and have them show their respects..."

The other three calves exchanged glances, suddenly thinking the fatty had a great idea. ’That’s right! If offerings have to be made, it shouldn’t just be the four of us. We have to expand the disaster zone!’

SMACK! Shi Tiexin slapped the back of the fatty’s head, nipping the four calves’ crooked idea in the bud.

’I only want offerings from the four of you. No one else!’

Despite the bad start, not all of the remaining nine buns were so pure; there were still some impurities known as "meat filling." Shi Tiexin didn’t dwell on it. After eating his fill and downing three large bowls of soup, he rose and left the cafeteria under the deferential gazes of the four calves.

He walked two laps around the athletic field and practiced the basic Essence Nourishment Technique twice, adding two more wisps of primal essence qi to his lower abdomen. Although it wasn’t like yesterday’s lunch and dinner, where each meal added three wisps, Shi Tiexin was still very satisfied.

’With those crappy buns, getting one wisp would have been decent. Two is an absolute pleasant surprise!’

Even the food at Fengming First Middle School was determined by rank. This made Shi Tiexin feel even more strongly that he had to get into the elite class. Once in the elite class, he would have access to better body-nourishing spirit food, allowing him to advance his cultivation of Force Arts more quickly.

’So what am I waiting for? Time to start on math—wait, hold on. There’s still one thing I need to figure out first.’ Although his mood had stabilized considerably after a night’s sleep, he really didn’t have the heart to study without clearing this up.

So, first thing in the morning, Shi Tiexin headed to the classroom of Class 28. At this hour, there were only two or three people inside, one of whom was Zhao Qingmiao, who was in charge of opening the door.

"Morning, Boss!"

Zhao Qingmiao stood up to greet him sincerely. Shi Tiexin nodded at him and sat back down in his own seat. He rummaged around inside his desk for a moment and finally found what he had previously paid no mind to but was especially interested in today—his history and geography books.

The labels for these two high school textbooks in his vision were identical.

[Secret Manual: Basic Natural History, Third Layer (Fragment, 1/8)]

[Secret Manual: Basic Natural History, Third Layer (Fragment, 2/8)]

As fragments of a secret manual that were also beyond his current cultivation level, most Mind Arts were impossible to practice. It was just like basic mathematics; without first learning to recognize numbers and do arithmetic, one couldn’t even begin to think about higher-level cultivation.

But Natural History alone was different.