Era of Mist

To master the first level of Basic Rhetoric, you had to train in four fundamental skills: speaking, mimicking, teasing, and singing... Ahem, my mistake... ’Although, that’s not too far from the truth. It’s basically the same idea.’

The four principles of listening, speaking, reading, and writing essentially covered every aspect of cultivating Basic Rhetoric.

The auxiliary manuals for Rhetoric were very different from those for Mathematics; there was no need to grind through practice books one after another. There were only so many Chinese characters, and you just had to memorize their pronunciation, shape, and meaning. The key was self-practice. That was why Shi Tiexin had spent the entire morning cultivating with two auxiliary manuals: a set of Chinese Pinyin flashcards and the *Wang Xingshun’s Hard-pen Regular Script Copybook*.

Speaking of the copybook, Shi Tiexin had compared it to his other auxiliary manuals and realized this one was by far the best.

’Peerless! This is a Peerless-grade auxiliary manual!’

Before seeing the attributes of this manual, he hadn’t even known the Peerless grade existed!

[Auxiliary Manual: Basic Rhetoric, First Level]

[Quality: Peerless]

[Attribute 1: Legacy of a Master. The script in this copybook has a strict and balanced structure, flowing lines, and a dignified style. Its subtle details form a unique school of its own, possessing the legacy of a great calligraphy master. When practicing with this copybook, cultivation speed is increased by 30% at Excellent proficiency or higher. At Profound proficiency or higher, there is a chance to learn a Fine-quality Regular Script font.]

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

[Attribute 3: Reusable. The characters are finite, but cultivation is endless. Use it again and again, cycle after cycle.]

Just look at those attributes. Shi Tiexin couldn’t help but be impressed. No matter how many times he looked at it or rubbed it in his hands, he felt this auxiliary manual was absolutely insane.

No speed penalties, no difficulty penalties, just buff after buff! A 20% base speed increase, a 20% difficulty reduction, a 20% attribute speed increase, and at Excellent proficiency or higher, another 30% speed boost! In other words, if he got his Basic Rhetoric to Excellent proficiency, this copybook alone would increase his speed by 70%!

And that wasn’t all. That last "Reusable" attribute was just speechless-making.

’Peerless, truly peerless!’

Have you ever seen a Desert Eagle with increased power, a higher rate of fire, reduced recoil, improved accuracy, trajectory correction, wall-penetrating rounds, and unlimited ammo?

You haven’t?

Neither have I.

But I have seen *Wang Xingshun’s Hard-pen Regular Script Copybook*...

This copybook alone could definitely be traded for a small apartment in Tumu Castle. Granted, it was only an auxiliary manual for the first level of Basic Rhetoric, not all four, and a normal one would be useless after he was done with it. But a Peerless-grade item like this was a once-in-a-lifetime find. Besides, the "Reusable" attribute meant this auxiliary manual could be passed down as a family heirloom, usable by every generation of his descendants.

And what if this Wang Xingshun became famous later on? If this person became a renowned calligraphy master, a Grandmaster of the art, then the copybook’s value would likely far exceed its value as a mere auxiliary manual.

Looking at the "Legacy of a Master" attribute, it wasn’t an impossibility.

Of course, none of this really concerned Shi Tiexin. No matter how peerless the manual was, he couldn’t take it back to Tumu Castle or trade it for a small apartment. The only things he could take with him were his cultivation of the Mind Arts, the knowledge gained from the manual, and the Thought Energy acquired through practice.

So Shi Tiexin had done nothing else all morning but enjoy the pleasure of practicing his calligraphy.

Studying literature and cultivating mathematics used different parts of the brain. After blitzing through math with explosive progress the past two days, he was starting to get a little tired of it, even after a good rest. Switching to Rhetoric was a refreshing and interesting change. Over the course of the morning, Shi Tiexin could clearly feel that his character recognition, pronunciation, and writing skills had greatly improved, and his progress bar gave him clear feedback.

When Shi Tiexin went to lunch, all the stars came pouring out. For a full three minutes, they didn’t stop. CRACKLE! They were like a faucet that had been turned on and forgotten, flowing endlessly toward the progress bar.

[Basic Rhetoric, First Level cultivation progress has been raised to Good.]

It wasn’t over.

The stars that had accumulated all morning were like a bladder that had been held all morning; a massive release was imminent.

Sure enough, the "Insight" sigil sacrificed itself, leaping into a blaze of glory. At the same time, the progress bar filled up once more and erupted with a brilliant light.

[Basic Rhetoric, First Level cultivation progress has been raised to Excellent.]

GLUG GLUG GLUG GLUG GLUG... Shi Tiexin tilted his head back, tipped his hand, and poured the soup into his cavernous mouth. It flowed unimpeded down his esophagus and into his stomach, like a great waterfall had opened up in his throat. Shi Tiexin wolfed down his food with incredible speed. While the system slate was still waving at him like a lucky cat, showing off his awesome achievements in various poses, Shi Tiexin had already slapped his knees and stood up.

’Time to cultivate my essence and qi, and then... get back to it!’

’I’m feeling great today! I’ve gotta at least grind the first level of Basic Rhetoric to Excellent!’

Shi Tiexin walked off, brimming with ambition and fighting spirit. The four lackeys he’d been squeezing dry just looked at each other, wondering what this big shot had to be so happy about.

But the fatty immediately realized something and whispered, "Hey, did you guys hear? Big Brother Yang from the senior class came back to school this morning. The Four Celestial Kings held a special summit on Celestial King Mountain!"

A second guy immediately chimed in. "How could we not have heard? The rumor’s spreading like wildfire. Big Brother Yang is the leader of the Four Celestial Kings, and he’s held the position of East Celestial King this whole time. For him to come back to school and hold a meeting on Celestial King Mountain, it must be about abdicating and succession. Did Big Brother Yang name a successor?"

A third guy shook his head. "I asked around. Big Brother Yang didn’t name a successor at all. Now that one of the Four Celestial Kings’ spots is open, all the bosses from the first- and second-year classes are going to be fighting for it. Who knows who’ll end up on top."

"If this were before, our Brother Guo might have..."

At the mention of this topic, all four fell silent. Teng Chaoguo had completely vanished from campus. They couldn’t find him, couldn’t hear from him, and had no idea what was going on. Still, a guy known for piss-soaked chicken feet could never become one of the Four Celestial Kings.

No more talk of Teng Chaoguo. That Clean Street Tiger was past tense; the present and future belonged to other people!

"Right, do you guys think that dude is planning to make a play for power?" The fatty jutted his chin in the direction Shi Tiexin had gone. "Look how pumped up he is. He must have his sights set on the Four Celestial Kings’ position. He beat down Brother Guo, and he’s got the Square-Headed Baleful Star shamelessly backing him. There’s no one left in the first year who’s his match. The possibility of him succeeding as a Celestial King is huge!"

The other three thought about it and realized he had a point. If they were talking about top contenders, then that big guy was the number one seed.

If that guy really became the new Celestial King, then... then maybe being bullied by him wouldn’t be such a shameful thing after all.