Reflection

After lights-out, Chu Fei sat cross-legged on his bed. Instead of meditating immediately, he reflected on everything that had happened today.

Why had he gained the favor of Huang Gang, Cao Liwen, Liu Tingyun, and the others?

As he thought, a soaring figure quietly emerged in his mind—Liu Tingyun leaping from the cliff, pure white wings spreading behind her.

Chu Fei murmured, "An Awakened!"

The image of Liu Tingyun soaring through the sky had already been branded into his heart.

It was not merely Liu Tingyun's beauty, but also her confidence, her composure, her pride.

Then he thought of his own actions lately, especially his disputes with Li Honggang and Lu Hong, and suddenly felt an indescribable sense of boredom.

Rookies pecking at each other!

So what if he trampled Li Honggang and Lu Hong beneath his feet? He would still only be a boy with a Potential Index below 7.6.

"I've already caught the Principal's attention, and I've gained the attention of Huang Gang and Liu Tingyun. I've even received the clearance reward ahead of time.

"So what matters most to me now is studying and grades—the Potential Index.

"As for some treasure map or whatever, does it really have anything to do with me?"

Chu Fei shook his head slightly, a look of relief appearing on his face. "It was an accidental discovery to begin with. Fine if I get it; fine if I don't."

Once he leveled out his mindset, he felt much more relaxed.

Still, that was one thing to think, and another to actually do. What needed to be fought for still had to be fought for.

Calming his mind, he looked upon the dazzling Wisdom Tree Seed deep within his consciousness and the radiant Wisdom Dewdrops. A faint smile appeared on Chu Fei's face.

After a period of accumulation, the Wisdom Dewdrops had reached eleven drops.

As for the Wisdom Tree Seed, it remained the same as ever. He could not sense any change.

Using another Wisdom Dewdrop, Chu Fei began his perfectly ordinary night routine:

He challenged a new level of thought training difficulty—a regular octahedron model;

He rested after midnight, sleeping until the alarm rang and waking up.

Chu Fei got up briskly, but rather than climbing out of bed to wash up, he meditated briefly and checked his progress.

"I feel like my rate of improvement has increased a little. It isn't obvious, but it can't be ignored.

"It must be the Superbrain Potion's effect. This is only the first day; it won't reach peak effectiveness until the seventh day.

"The Superbrain Potion isn't as effective as Wisdom Dewdrops, but it lasts a long time and can be stacked with them.

"I'll need to find a way to get more potions in the future.

"As for drug resistance, I'll find out by trying it.

"Huang Gang said drug resistance would only develop after one or two months, though it varies from person to person.

"I have six bottles of Superbrain Potion now. At one bottle every seven days, that makes exactly one 'course of treatment.'"

As he spoke, Chu Fei stretched lazily. "Ahhh, another perfectly ordinary day."

This perfectly ordinary day began with him taking first place in the morning run.

But Li Honggang and Lu Hong were not having such an ordinary day—they had fallen behind!

For some reason, both of them looked listless. Maybe they had not rested well last night.

Today, Li Honggang came in fourth, while Lu Hong came in fifth.

Zhang Shaojie took second place, and Zhang Xuan took third.

The whip came down viciously. Li Honggang and Lu Hong gritted their teeth and looked toward Chu Fei.

Chu Fei pondered it. Had yesterday's takedown of Tang Zhengang affected the two of them?

Unfortunately, Chu Fei had already risen above such low-level interests. He no longer regarded the two as competitive targets.

At that moment, Chu Fei had only one goal, one clear goal: that figure spreading her wings and soaring—the Awakened!

Over the past few days, however, Chu Fei had noticed that Zhao Xiaofeng seemed to be whispering something secretively with Li Honggang and Lu Hong.

As for overhearing whispered conversations, Chu Fei had not encountered any more.

Time flowed like water, and before long, it was Saturday again.

That evening, Chu Fei bid farewell to the four elderly men and made his way step by step to the classroom.

Saturday night meant an exam!

Cao Liwen came in and handed out the test papers, and the atmosphere began to grow tense.

Last week, Cao Liwen had not administered corporal punishment, but something even harsher had happened—five students had been eliminated.

And such eliminations would continue. The next one would be three weeks later.

Under that immense pressure, even everyone's breathing trembled.

The exam ran from 17:30 to 21:45, over four hours;

Yet before 20:20, Chu Fei stood and handed in his paper, drawing many looks.

"You're not going to check it?" Cao Liwen looked at Chu Fei.

"I already did." A confident smile rested on Chu Fei's face.

Today, the Superbrain Potion's effects were nearing their peak. Combined with the gains from his recent thought training, his academic performance had improved rapidly. The current test held no difficulty for Chu Fei.

Cao Liwen had Chu Fei sit beside him. "You can proctor. I'll look over your paper. There's more than enough time."

Chu "Proctor" Fei was online.

Below, Li Honggang, Lu Hong, and several others could not help looking up.

Chu Fei quietly watched everyone, his heart utterly calm. He did not deliberately target Li Honggang, Lu Hong, or the others.

Over the past few days, Chu Fei's mindset had changed rapidly.

Liu Tingyun was like a lighthouse, guiding the direction of his advance.

Compared with Huang Gang's "mechanical modification" and Zhao Hongyue's "genetic modification," Liu Tingyun had shown Chu Fei the true bearing of an Awakened.

And Liu Tingyun was only a "true Awakened." Above that were the Fully Awakened!

What kind of bearing would a Fully Awakened possess?

When he had first entered Dawn Academy, it had been for the so-called Big Data Cultivation—to become an Awakened.

Nothing unrelated to Big Data Cultivation was worth distracting himself over.

Of course, if anyone dared interfere with his grand plan of cultivation, then he would simply take them out. Like Tang Zhengang.

As he proctored the exam, Chu Fei split his attention, reviewing the knowledge and cultivation content he had learned during this time and sorting out his Path of Cultivation.

For now, his thought training progress had only reached the regular octahedron. Beyond that were the regular dodecahedron, the regular icosahedron, a complete Euclidean geometry system, and only then matrix structures.

He had only been studying for a month and a half. There was no rush. He needed to stay steady and not get reckless.

As he thought, time passed bit by bit.

Cao Liwen finished grading the paper.

"Full marks! Four hundred yuan as a reward!"

Chu Fei smiled. Looking at several tense figures below, he spoke, "Teacher, there's still over half an hour left. I'll go read in the office."

Li Honggang and Lu Hong abruptly looked up, but all they saw was Chu Fei's departing back.

Chu Fei kept reading until lights-out before returning to the dormitory. After washing up, he began meditating. The next day, he voluntarily joined the morning run, went to learn about whips from the four elderly men after breakfast, and then headed straight to the office to read.

At this moment, Li Honggang and Lu Hong were also in the office. But they were flipping through books a little quickly.

Well, not a little quickly—very quickly. That speed was not reading at all. They were looking for something.

Were they getting anxious?

Chu Fei said nothing.

Seeing that Chu Fei was alone and there were no teachers nearby, Li Honggang and Lu Hong continued searching without restraint.

Time passed bit by bit. Suddenly, Chu Fei looked up at the wall clock and said, "It's almost eleven. Time to go to the classroom."

Li Honggang put down the book in his hands and frowned at Chu Fei. "Let's go together."

Chu Fei shook his head and smiled. "My paper was graded last night, so I'm not going. You two go ahead. I'll read for a while."

Before he had even finished speaking, Li Honggang and Lu Hong's eyes turned sharp.