Era of Mist

A rumor swept through the entire garbage class like a storm.

Black-Handed Hungry Tiger Teng Chaoguo had been defeated by an impossibly dominant top dog. This guy wasn’t just a loyal champion of the class; he was hardcore, despising evil as his sworn enemy. Not only did he take on five guys at once and effortlessly dismantle Teng Chaoguo’s entire clique without a scratch, but after leaving the filthy bathroom, he suddenly decided a simple beatdown wasn’t enough to satisfy the public’s outrage. He turned right around, marched back in, and shoved Teng Chaoguo’s head into a urinal.

Shoved his head in a urinal, people! That’s just too hardcore!

But someone immediately refuted this. "Wrong, wrong, that’s just hearsay! I’ve got the firsthand scoop. He didn’t shove his head in a urinal. He pissed directly on Teng Chaoguo. That’s right, he whipped out his junk—heard it’s massive, by the way—and then SPLASH, just let loose all over him."

When you think about it, that’s even more badass!

Then a third person immediately shot back, "Wrong, wrong, you’re both wrong! I was the first one to rush in, I saw the whole thing! It wasn’t shoving his head in a urinal, and it wasn’t pissing on his face—he made Teng Chaoguo drink it! That’s right, the big boss just stood there pissing, and Teng Chaoguo was kneeling on the ground, catching it with his mouth wide open."

Plenty of volume, a robust flavor... Black-Handed Hungry Tiger said he was quite satisfied with his drink~~

Uh... that last scene sounded a little gay, didn’t it? But never mind, no point dwelling on the details. Rumors like these were endless, each one more outrageous than the last. But no matter which version of the story you heard, one thing was clear: Shi Tiexin was a total badass. A true man of iron and blood. He couldn’t possibly be more hardcore.

When the bell rang for the end of third period, a huge crowd of students flocked to the doorway of Class 28, hoping to get a glimpse of this hardcore legend.

But they came up empty.

So where was this man of iron and blood, Shi Tiexin? He was in the dormitory area, vigorously washing his clothes. SPLISH, SPLASH. He had no choice. The grimy bathroom had already reeked, but then Teng Chaoguo had started flailing his head around, spraying everything. The ammonia concentration was high enough to make a person faint. He gave his own clothes a sniff—HSSSSS—and grimaced. They had absorbed some of the stench. He figured he might as well wash them.

Besides, third period was some geography class that he couldn’t understand a lick of anyway. Shi Tiexin couldn’t care less about skipping, so he’d simply strolled back to the dorms.

It was a good opportunity to organize his belongings and see if he could find any hidden gems.

The results were a mix of good news and bad news.

The good news was obvious: he had all sorts of Heart Skill Secret Manuals. This included his geography and history textbooks. He’d thought they were useless, but they turned out to be Basic Erudition Heart Skill Secret Manuals.

The so-called study of Erudition referred to the scholarship of broad knowledge and wide recognition of things. To put it plainly, it was about knowing everything from astronomy up in the heavens to geography down on the earth, from ancient history to current events. Or, to put it even more simply, it was a general knowledge course. It was no surprise, then, that the system had identified his geography and history books as "Erudition" manuals.

There was another course called "Politics." The system identified its textbook as "Rhetoric," though it contributed much less to the basics of the skill than the "Language Arts" textbook. Shi Tiexin skimmed through it and nodded in understanding. It was indeed a subject that taught one how to talk. He didn’t give it any more thought.

The number of supplementary manuals also exceeded his expectations. Thick volumes of them were piled in his luggage, a dazzling sight. He happily picked one up in his left hand, then another in his right.

But again, most of these were for the Second Layer of Heart Technique or the Third Layer, content he couldn’t use at all. It seemed that getting his hands on some elementary school textbooks and workbooks was now an urgent matter. He had to find a way to acquire them as soon as possible.

After finishing the laundry, organizing his books, and taking some time to wash up, Shi Tiexin stepped out, feeling refreshed and ready to head back to class.

But as he was walking through the honor class dormitory area, a thought struck Shi Tiexin. He changed direction and made a beeline for his former dorm building. He did this for one simple reason: he knew from some of his dissolving memories that the honor class dorms contained something he desperately needed right now.

Before long, Shi Tiexin entered the first-floor lobby of the building. The object he was looking for was sitting right there, free for anyone to use. It had a square base with a black, non-slip mat on top. To one side, a cylinder over a meter tall rose up, crowned with a dial the size of a dinner plate.

That’s right. It was a very, very old-fashioned physician’s... balance... scale!

Shi Tiexin had never seen such an old-fashioned scale before, but he was in no position to be picky. He would have to make do. His other consciousness told him how to use it, so Shi Tiexin took off his shoes and stepped onto the platform.

CREAK... The old scale groaned under his weight. The needle on the dial wobbled unsteadily, showing no sign of settling down soon. Shi Tiexin decided to do something else in the meantime, reaching out to pull up a black-lacquered rod next to the scale’s platform.

CLICK. CLACK. He extended the three-sectioned rod, piece by piece. It was an old-fashioned height ruler. The top of the rod had a small, hinged arm that, when flipped out, was supposed to be parallel to the floor. But the ruler was so wobbly, it was far from precise, with a margin of error of at least two or three centimeters.

Shi Tiexin was both intrigued and amused. He fiddled with the ancient height ruler for a while before finally figuring it out. He stood up straight, let the hinged arm tap the top of his head, and then bent down to read the measurement.

Height: 1.93 meters.

’1.93 meters... even accounting for the ruler’s inaccuracy, that’s 1.95 meters at best.’ Shi Tiexin muttered to himself, unable to stop the words from slipping out. "A little on the short side..."

The dorm manager sweeping nearby couldn’t help but stare at Shi Tiexin. He sized him up; the kid was nearly two heads taller than him. ’And he thinks that’s short?’

Then, Shi Tiexin looked back at the scale’s dial. After a long, shaky pause, the needle finally settled on a number.

Weight: 85 kilograms.

"Too light!"

The dorm manager rolled his eyes and walked away.

Shi Tiexin paid the dorm manager no mind, his thoughts already racing. ’A height of 1.93 meters is barely acceptable, but a weight of only 85 kilograms is completely unacceptable. At this weight, I’m as skinny as a bean sprout! This body is clearly malnourished!’

’That explains it. During the fight, when I threw that left hook, I felt the power was far less than I expected. One punch should have sent that heavyweight flying two meters for an instant knockout. Instead, it just made him stumble. He was even able to get back up. So this is the reason!’

When Shi Tiexin had muttered, "So weak," he hadn’t been talking about Teng Chaoguo. He’d been talking about himself.

If he’d had his original physique, dealing with these five amateurs-among-amateurs wouldn’t have been such a hassle. One punch each, and the ground would have been littered with groaning bodies. It was precisely because he discovered his punching power was unexpectedly low that Shi Tiexin had switched tactics. He had to rely on intimidation and that aerial attack to finally take down the fatty.

If that fatty had tanked the punch, blocked the door, and the others had swarmed him, then Teng Heniao wouldn’t have been able to drink any pee today.

’No, this won’t do. This body is too weak. I can’t even bring out the full power of my Excellent-Rank Basic Pugilism.’

’I have to build my foundation and nourish my essence. I need to completely reforge this body’s foundation for the physical arts!’

’After all, I’m ranked Excellent in the basic Essence Nourishment Technique!’