Era of Mist

News of the school-wide arithmetic test spread quickly. Unlike the teachers, who were resistant and annoyed, the students found it quite interesting. However, they mostly thought it was just for fun—a way to relax, like a game—and didn’t take it seriously.

In their eyes, what was so hard about arithmetic?

Even in Class 1-28, the atmosphere was the same.

Only one person wore a grave expression.

’Hard. So hard. It’s really hard...’ Shi Tiexin stared at the *Extreme Practice* in his hands, his face a mask of caution. He hadn’t actually noticed what others were saying, nor did he know the school had decided to hold a unified test over the weekend. Of course, even if he had known, he probably would have just grunted "Oh" and paid it no mind.

The only thing on his mind right now was the cultivation progress of Basic Mathematics, First Stage.

Over the past few days, his progress in other subjects had been smooth. Following Basic Biology, he had successfully reached the "Good" level in Basic Chemistry, First Stage last night, and had even achieved "Profound" in Basic Rhetoric.

Aside from Basic Physics, which he hadn’t touched yet, and the Second Stage of Mathematical Rhetoric, which he hadn’t started cultivating, he should have already secured his qualification for the Lesser Township Examination.

Everything had been progressing smoothly. Only in mathematics had Shi Tiexin hit a wall.

Advancing beyond the Profound level was far more difficult than reaching it.

In the dissolving memories, the Champion Scholar Stone was a top student who excelled in the sciences, especially math, consistently getting full marks on tests since he was a child. Even at the Profound level, the Champion Scholar Stone could still help him raise his score. Coupled with the supreme-grade supplementary secret manual providing a brutal 60% acceleration, his progress should have been lightning-fast.

But in reality, from afternoon until night, his continuous study had only raised the progress bar by a little over thirty ticks. For Shi Tiexin, who had been advancing by leaps and bounds these past few days, this was a first.

The next day, the situation didn’t improve at all. At a little past nine in the evening, the bell rang to signal the end of class, and the students from the trash classes bolted like wild rabbits, scrambling to claim the high ground at the laundry sinks. Shi Tiexin stood up and stretched his back and shoulders, but the stars that popped into his vision weren’t as dense as usual.

All told, there were only about ten stars. Combined with the four hours of intense grinding he’d done in the afternoon when he was in better form, the entire day had only yielded just over thirty stars.

The inscription slate popped out and shook vigorously, as if to cheer Shi Tiexin on: "On a hundred-mile journey, ninety miles is only halfway!"

Shi Tiexin froze for a moment. He suddenly felt that even the inscription slate was more cultured than him, using idioms and proverbs! But the saying was true. From Unqualified to Qualified, to Good, then to Excellent and Profound, he had already passed more than four hundred ticks on the progress bar. But these last few steps were truly difficult.

His vision seemed to understand the difficulty, as even the stars that popped up were different now. Every star was golden, and each one that hit the progress bar sent a world-shaking tremor through it. It was as if to say that the last few steps to the summit were more arduous and more critical than the hundred steps that came before.

"You must be Shi Tiexin. I’m looking for you!" A hooligan appeared at the doorway of Class 28. He was the big brother of Class 31, the top dog of the trashiest of the trash classes, and someone who had once been able to go toe-to-toe with Teng Chaoguo.

Lately, the rumor about the third-year King Zhou choosing a successor had been causing a stir. As the boss of the trashiest class, he felt he needed to accomplish something noteworthy to prove he was the rightful heir to the Celestial King’s throne.

So today, he decided to confront him directly, cornering the currently trending Brother Tie at his classroom door.

Shi Tiexin strode out with his bag on his back. He hadn’t heard what the guy said and just gave him a strange look.

’Who’s this guy?’

’What’s he doing blocking the door?’

’Blocking the door this late at night... Is he confessing his love? Trying to give someone a love letter?’

"Hey, kid, you—" The guy reached out to stop Shi Tiexin, but Shi Tiexin simply swatted his hand away. "No time."

’If you want to deliver a love letter, get someone else to do it. I have to hurry and grab a seat in the study hall. If I’m late, there won’t be any left. Nobody’s stopping me!’

The guy started to get angry, but before he could, his whole world tilted. SLAM! He found himself plastered against the nearby wall. It didn’t really hurt—he wasn’t injured, after all—but he was suddenly drenched in a cold sweat.

’Strong!’

’That strength... it’s insane!’

He had been caught off guard, but it seemed like the guy had just casually brushed him aside and sent him flying into the wall. That strength was monstrous! Watching Shi Tiexin’s back as he strode away, the boy was too horrified to speak.

He didn’t know that thanks to Shi Tiexin’s physical training and accumulation of primordial essence, his physique was growing stronger by the day, his muscles filling out. Even without the boost from his essence, just his own physical strength, combined with his large frame and heavy build, was more than an ordinary boy could handle.

Sending a man to the wall with a single sweep of his hand!

Some of the other hooligans who were leaving late saw this from a distance. Their eyes went wide and they held their breath, feeling like they had just witnessed a duel between masters of the martial world. That night, the story spread like wildfire among the smokers’ circles, embellished by the hooligans until it became legendary. They saw it as proof that Brother Tie of Class 28 was finally making his move for the Celestial King’s throne.

Look, he didn’t even make the first move; he just waited for a challenger to come to him. What do you call that? That’s prestige! The challenger arrived, but with just two words—"No time"—and a single sweep of his hand, he hung the guy on the wall. What do you call that? That’s dominance!

Prestige and dominance combined—isn’t that the greatest asset one could have in the bid for the Celestial King’s throne?

Shi Tiexin once again became the top contender to succeed the Celestial King.

Of course, this "Celestial King-in-waiting" at the center of the storm was currently sitting primly in the study hall. With one last subject remaining, Shi Tiexin decided to grind Basic Physics to "Good" or higher tonight. Since he was already at the "Qualified" level for the First Stage, he might even be able to reach "Excellent."

But after carefully examining the textbook, Shi Tiexin discovered something interesting—the cultivation manual for the First Stage of Basic Physics was not presented sequentially.

In Shi Tiexin’s world, the content for the First Stage of Basic Physics was basic mechanics—specifically, fundamental forces and motion. In the secret manuals sold at Tumu Castle, all this material was compiled together. But in this world’s textbooks, it was scattered across different grade levels in the middle school and high school physics curriculum.

He took a closer look and realized the middle school textbook seemed to cover topics from all four stages of Basic Physics, but none of them in depth. It was like a story synopsis or a research abstract—just scratching the surface. To read the complete manual for the First Stage, he would need to pick out and read through all the relevant material from both the middle school and high school books.

No wonder Fengming First Middle School was on the Third Stage for all other subjects but only the Second Stage for physics. They had simply happened to be covering Second Stage content that day.