Era of Mist

As his progress in the First Layer of Basic Mathematics slowed, Shi Tiexin considered whether he should continue to focus his efforts on math. After some rational thought, he realized he didn’t know when he’d be sent back to Tumu Castle. This chance to have the Champion Scholar Stone boost his level was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

In this situation, he should hurry and begin cultivating the Second Layer of Basic Mathematics and Rhetoric. He should first reach the Qualified or even Good level in the Second Layer, then use his spare time to grind up his realms in the other subjects. After all, with the Champion Scholar Stone’s fundamental skills, cultivating all the way to the Profound realm wasn’t much trouble.

But the effort required to go from the Profound to the Perfect Realm was far too great. It seemed the cost would outweigh the benefit. After all, the chance to have an expert boost his level was simply too precious.

But Shi Tiexin had spent all of last night thinking it over, right up until this morning. In the end, he decided to first go all-out and make a push for the Perfect Realm.

True, the chance for the Champion Scholar Stone to boost his level was too precious and the speed was insane. An opportunity like that should never be wasted. But on the other hand, the chance to strive for the Perfect Realm side-by-side with the Champion Scholar Stone was just as precious, and just as rare.

Qualified, Good, Excellent—Shi Tiexin believed he could achieve those levels on his own. Even the Profound Realm was attainable if the conditions were right and he pushed himself; it would just be a matter of patient grinding. He was practically guaranteed a spot in the lesser township exam, so he could do it just fine after returning. But as for this "Perfect" Realm, Shi Tiexin felt it would be nearly impossible to achieve without joining forces with the Champion Scholar Stone.

Besides, he’d discovered last night that cultivating mental arts was different from simply acquiring ordinary knowledge. He didn’t know if he could start on the Second Layer of Mathematics from his Profound First Layer mastery and still be able to go back and perfect the First Layer later.

Maybe he could, maybe not. The Orphanage certainly didn’t teach things like this. However, Shi Tiexin had a hunch that even if it were possible to go back and rebuild his foundation, the cost would be far more than he could bear. After all, even though he was studying academic subjects, cultivating mental arts was still, at its core, a form of cultivation. It wasn’t as simple as just learning facts. And in cultivation, who had ever heard of a foundation that could be casually repaired?

And so, Shi Tiexin finally made up his mind. He would first begin the arduous training to reach the Perfect Realm!

「An entire day passed.」

The progress bar increased by about thirty ticks, but this was for an entire day, not just one afternoon and evening. The pace was even slower than the day before.

By now, the progress bar had reached the ninety-fifth tick, with only five more to go. But Shi Tiexin had a gut feeling that the free ride from the Champion Scholar Stone was over. The Stone’s comprehension of the First Layer of Basic Mathematics had been completely depleted.

The real arduous training would begin now. No one could fast-track his progress anymore. He had to join forces with that other consciousness in his mind, that other self—the Champion Scholar Stone—and step into a realm they had never reached before.

「Another entire day passed.」

As expected, his progress plummeted.

Shi Tiexin was intensely focused, and the Champion Scholar Stone’s consciousness grew active as well. The two consciousnesses truly were researching, learning, and improving together, cooperating better than any pair of study partners could. After an entire day, Shi Tiexin was so exhausted his head was spinning. But when he checked the progress bar, it had only increased by two ticks.

’Ninety-seven. Only three more to go. I can do this!’

On Friday, after an entire day had passed, Shi Tiexin threw himself onto his bed at midnight, completely exhausted. Zhou Nan, ever the suck-up, had washed his clothes and sheets until they were spotless. ’Well, maybe he didn’t wash them himself. He probably found someone lower on the food chain to do the chore for him.’ In any case, the job was done beautifully.

But Shi Tiexin didn’t even have the energy to offer a single word of praise.

He was exhausted. Truly, utterly exhausted. Even his steadily growing mind-force was completely depleted. Shi Tiexin propped himself up and glanced at the progress bar. ’Ninety-nine. Just one more to go. Victory is in sight!’

Shi Tiexin clenched his fists. ’Tomorrow! Tomorrow is the day I will achieve a perfect foundation in the First Layer of Basic Mathematics!’

「Saturday.」

At 10:00 p.m., Shi Tiexin threw down his pen in frustration.

He had been training arduously all day, without a moment’s rest. Based on his previous rate of progress, he should have reached the Perfect Realm by the afternoon. But he hadn’t.

He hadn’t.

In the past few days, he had first finished *Extreme Practice*. Then came *Little Genius*, with its massive number of problems and extremely high difficulty, but to the current Shi Tiexin, it was nothing special. Just a moment ago, he had finished the entire *Little Genius* workbook. But he looked at the progress bar, waited... and there was nothing. Nothing. Not a single star flew out.

’This entire day, and not a single star has appeared!’

Shi Tiexin suppressed his frustration and carefully reviewed the problems he had completed. ’Hmm, no mistakes. None at all. They’re all correct. My performance has been excellent and consistent. Problems at the *Little Genius* level can’t even challenge me anymore. Could it be that I’m not getting any improvement precisely because I’m no longer being challenged?’

’Do I have to find even harder problems?’

The thought crossed his mind, but he shook his head.

’Impossible. That can’t be it.’

By this point, his understanding of the First Layer of Basic Mathematics was incredibly profound. He knew full well that this was, after all, only the First Layer—only the first step on his cultivation path. No matter how well you practiced the four basic arithmetic operations, you couldn’t expect a human brain to perform complex calculations in an instant like a computer. That wasn’t what building a foundation was about.

Using a human brain like a computer was something for more advanced mental arts. Developing a sensitivity for numbers and having a precise, accurate grasp of calculations—these were the requirements for the First Layer of Basic Mathematics.

’And I’ve already met those requirements.’

’So where’s the problem? What’s wrong? Why can’t I reach Perfect?’ Shi Tiexin couldn’t figure it out. ’Could it be... that this final step is simply beyond my mortal limits? After all, it’s impossible for a human to truly achieve "perfection."’

’But the realm is right there, at the very end of the progress bar. It can’t be impossible. If it were truly impossible, that word wouldn’t even be there. They could have just removed the final tick, leaving only ninety-nine, and written the word "Limit" at the end, right?’

’If the Perfect Realm exists, there must be a way to reach it.’

’I just haven’t found it yet.’

’Perhaps I need a greater volume of training, a longer period of cultivation, to let it all become second nature. Only then can I achieve Perfection.’ Shi Tiexin felt that his rapid ascent to Profound Ninety-Nine had indeed been a bit too fast.

’The Champion Scholar, Shi Han, had trained year in and year out—several years of hard work—just to reach Profound Ninety-Five. And my own Profound Ninety-Nine was achieved in, at most, a single week. Maybe the reason I can’t take this final step is because I’ve progressed too quickly.’

’I can’t be impatient.’ Shi Tiexin patted his cheeks, deciding to steady himself. His mind was exhausted, so he wouldn’t continue tonight. He would get a good night’s sleep and recover his spirits. ’No pride, no haste. The battle resumes tomorrow.’