Chapter Summaries

Shi Tiexin perfected the second layer of Basic Mathematics, gaining Comprehension and a clearer grasp of several subjects. He left evening self-study to ask Teacher Chu for guidance with the third-layer textbook.

• The students of Class 28 learned that their reward for winning the sports meet was Huanggang exam papers.
• Shi Tiexin used twenty points of Heavenly Gifted Golden Light to perfect the second layer of Basic Mathematics.
• Shi Tiexin gained two points of Comprehension, bringing his total mind-art attributes to three.
• Shi Tiexin found that his improved Comprehension helped him solve Mathematics problems and cultivate Physics and Gale Leg.
• Shi Tiexin left class and asked Teacher Chu to guide him through the Mathematics third-layer textbook.

Shi Tiexin studied the third layer of Basic Mathematics under Teacher Chu and broke through to it, gaining hope of passing his final exams. Meanwhile, Zhou Nan misunderstood Shi Tiexin’s casual answer about Liu Jingsong and spread a rumor that Liu had suffered Teng Chaoguo’s humiliating fate.

• Teacher Chu gave Shi Tiexin meticulous guidance on the third layer of Basic Mathematics during two self-study periods.
• Shi Tiexin returned to class and broke through to the third layer, strengthening his thought energy and making progress on his homework.
• Shi Tiexin told Zhou Nan he would handle Liu Jingsong as usual, but said he would not go looking for him and would deal with him only if they crossed paths.
• Zhou Nan misunderstood Shi Tiexin’s words and passed around a rumor that Liu Jingsong had become the second-generation Urine-Soaked Phoenix Claws.
• By the end of the evening, the rumor had spread among the troublemakers in Class 28 and through the dormitory area.

Shi Tiexin agreed to teach Fang Qingjue athletics and martial arts after she asked to learn from him. They decided to exchange lessons, with Fang teaching him academics, and ended the conversation ready to test each other’s abilities.

• Shi Tiexin and Fang Qingjue coincidentally ran laps and did pull-ups together during their early-morning training.
• Fang Qingjue told Shi Tiexin that his athletic results were approaching or surpassing world records and asked him to teach her athletics.
• Fang Qingjue explained that she wanted to learn something unnecessary and follow her heart, despite knowing athletic success was not useful to her.
• Shi Tiexin agreed to teach Fang Qingjue Gale Leg, promising to teach her earnestly without holding back.
• Shi Tiexin asked Fang Qingjue to teach him academics in return, and they challenged each other to prove their abilities.

Shi Tiexin trained and studied with Fang Qingjue while spending Golden Light to improve his subjects and physical attributes. As the Provincial Youth Games approached, he asked Director Xin to register him for more than ten events, but Director Xin said the schedule made that impossible.

• Ling Xingjian watched Shi Tiexin recite outside her window and assumed he was trying to get close to her, then saw him leave with Fang Qingjue.
• Shi Tiexin and Fang Qingjue ate pastries, practiced martial arts, and studied together each morning and evening.
• Shi Tiexin advanced four academic subjects to second-layer perfection and raised his strength, bone structure, and qi channels to +3, using most of his Golden Light.
• Director Xin told Shi Tiexin that the athletics department would test him before the Provincial Youth Games and asked if he had any requests.
• Shi Tiexin asked to register for more events, but Director Xin said ten events already filled the schedule and could not be increased.

Shi Tiexin completed tests in all ten track-and-field events, passed a comprehensive examination of his ligaments and joints, and traveled with Fengming First High School’s athletes to the North Su Province Youth Games. After the weekend, Ling Xingjian learned that the competition had produced huge news about the school.

• Shi Tiexin agreed to let Director Xin test him in all ten events and drop some if his body could not handle the strain.
• Shi Tiexin ran the 100 meters in 9.62 seconds, then completed tests in all ten events while using the rest intervals to study Natural History.
• Director Xin took Shi Tiexin to a top-tier hospital, and the examination results reassured him that Shi Tiexin’s ligaments and joints were sound.
• Director Xin treated Shi Tiexin and the athletics teachers to dinner, then talked about Shi Tiexin’s chances to compete at future provincial games.
• Principal Liu led Shi Tiexin and the other student competitors by bus to the Youth Games, while Ling Xingjian promoted their departure on the school radio.
• On Monday, the station director gave Ling Xingjian a report about major news from the Youth Games, and she read it and exclaimed in shock.

Director Xin warned the sports team that Shi Tiexin’s success had brought intense attention to Fengming First High School and urged them to produce results of their own. After a media interview and celebratory dinner, Shi Tiexin walked alone across the field, reflecting on his sudden rise, when Zheng Kaiming called out to him.

• Director Xin confronted the sports team about the attention Shi Tiexin had drawn and scolded Liu Jingsong for his poor performance.
• Shi Tiexin introduced Director Xin to a reporter from the Southern Zhili Daily, and Principal Liu invited the interview group to dine at the school cafeteria.
• Shi Tiexin drank with the interview team until most of them were incapacitated, while the reporter promised to promote his image.
• Shi Tiexin walked the athletic field at night and considered his new fame, resources, and the unchanged Destiny Mission.
• Zheng Kaiming called out to Shi Tiexin as he walked across the field.

Zheng Kaiming offered Shi Tiexin a better place to live on the school committee’s behalf, but Shi refused to move until after the final exams. Ling Xingjian then asked Shi for an exclusive interview, and he told her to prove her sincerity by figuring out how she could help him.

• Zheng Kaiming asked Shi Tiexin whether he preferred Dormitory Building One or the teachers’ apartment building.
• Shi Tiexin declined to move, explaining that he wanted to avoid the appearance of accepting special privileges before the final exams.
• Shi Tiexin admitted to Ling Xingjian that his refusal was partly out of spite and a desire to settle his grievance through exam results.
• Ling Xingjian repeatedly called Shi Tiexin Senior Brother until he agreed to hear her request.
• Ling Xingjian asked Shi Tiexin for an exclusive interview, and he told her to observe and think about how she could help him.

Ling Xingjian tried to charm Shi Tiexin into accepting an interview, but he ignored her until she offered him food. After he agreed, Shi Tiexin asked her to teach him Rhetoric in exchange for an interview.

• Ling Xingjian prepared her appearance and tried to catch Shi Tiexin’s attention, but he walked past her with Fang Qingjue without noticing her.
• A flirtatious-looking boy warmed the food on Ling Xingjian’s desk with cups of boiling water, and she took it without noticing his help.
• Ling Xingjian gave the warmed food to Shi Tiexin at the broadcasting station and persuaded him to accept her interview invitation.
• Shi Tiexin explained that he wanted to improve his Rhetoric and offered to let Ling Xingjian interview him in exchange for lessons.

Ling Xingjian agreed to teach Shi Tiexin broadcasting and pronunciation in exchange for an exclusive interview, and they sealed the deal with a pinky promise. During lunch, she taught him how expressive language could draw information from others or plant ideas in their minds.

• Shi Tiexin asked Ling Xingjian to teach him pronunciation, and she proposed lessons in exchange for an honest exclusive interview.
• Shi Tiexin and Ling Xingjian agreed that he could refuse to answer questions, then sealed their agreement with a pinky promise.
• Ling Xingjian went on air, while a boy in First Year Class 3 decided to warm her meals every day after hearing her cheerful voice.
• At lunch, Ling Xingjian began teaching Shi Tiexin broadcasting and explained how expressive language helped people obtain information and influence others.

Ling Xingjian taught Shi Tiexin how to color his voice and gave him basic vocal exercises, helping his Rhetoric cultivation advance. As they continued spending time together at school, Shi Tiexin realized Ling Xingjian had an extraordinary talent for inhabiting different personas.

• Ling Xingjian explained that Shi Tiexin could improve his expressiveness by adopting a persona and matching his voice to it, then demonstrated a convincing homeroom teacher.
• Ling Xingjian taught Shi Tiexin basic vocal exercises, guiding him through making small throat sounds and gargling with water.
• Over the next few days, Shi Tiexin's studies improved, and his Rhetoric reached Advanced 80 before he spent three Golden Light points to complete its second level and begin the third.
• Shi Tiexin and Ling Xingjian kept meeting after her tutoring mission had ended, while her interviews with him continued without a clear end.
• Shi Tiexin recognized that Ling Xingjian was a natural actor who could create and inhabit distinct personas with exceptional skill.

Shi Tiexin tested Ling Xingjian’s acting by asking her to imagine surviving in an anarchic Tokyo, and her answer revealed a calculating approach to winning protection through flirtation. The chapter ended with Ling Xingjian choosing a wine-red dress for the role.

• Shi Tiexin praised Ling Xingjian’s voice acting and asked her to perform a mysterious, alluring style that reminded him of the Girl in the Red Dress.
• Shi Tiexin promised to fund Ling Xingjian’s acting career someday, and she reacted with interest despite pretending to doubt herself.
• Shi Tiexin proposed an acting exercise set in an anarchic Tokyo where Ling Xingjian had to survive among gangs and Evil Cults.
• Ling Xingjian said she would target a powerful but reasonable gang Boss and keep him interested without letting him take advantage of her.
• When Shi Tiexin asked what her character would wear, Ling Xingjian suggested a wine-red dress.

Shi Tiexin used Rhetoric thought energy to draw out Ling Xingjian’s ideas about manipulating a gang Boss and realized the Girl in the Red Dress had been only a persona. As rain fell, Big Guy walked Ling Xingjian to her dormitory and thanked her for telling him her name, Youyou.

• Ling Xingjian explained how a woman could use a wine-red dress, black leather clothing, and carefully timed attention to manipulate a gang Boss.
• After Ling Xingjian left the cafeteria, Shi Tiexin realized the Girl in the Red Dress had been a lie and a trap, and told the Scholar Stone that he had used Basic Rhetoric to encourage Ling Xingjian to speak.
• Ling Xingjian found herself caught in the rain outside the cafeteria, and Big Guy appeared with an umbrella.
• Big Guy walked Ling Xingjian to the Elite Class dormitory compound and gave her the umbrella so she would not catch a chill.
• Big Guy thanked Ling Xingjian for telling him her name, Youyou.

Shi Tiexin crossed the rainy city and found Liu Jingsong plotting with street punks, then confronted him over their old grudge. He forced Liu Jingsong to drink with him and warned him against seeking revenge.

• Shi Tiexin left campus in the rain and spotted Liu Jingsong drinking with tattooed punks at a roadside restaurant.
• Liu Jingsong tried to hire Brother Dali and the others to cripple Shi Tiexin, but they eagerly greeted Shi as Big Brother Tie when he arrived.
• Shi Tiexin recognized Dali and told Liu Jingsong he had come over to speak with him, prompting Dali and the punks to leave.
• Shi Tiexin ordered Liu Jingsong to sit closer and drink, warning that he could call the punks back and reveal whom he had wanted to cripple.
• Shi Tiexin downed a bottle of liquor and ordered Liu Jingsong to finish his, so Liu reluctantly began drinking.

After learning that the Girl in the Red Dress had approached him for protection, Shi Tiexin drank heavily and ran through the rain, confronting his tangled feelings about trust and friendship. His wild run gave Formless Wind Tribulation Leg the special attribute “Drunken Wind,” and the chapter ended with Fang Qingjue finding him and accompanying him to study.

• Shi Tiexin drank bottle after bottle with Liu Jingsong while reflecting on the Girl in the Red Dress and questioning why her actions upset him.
• Shi Tiexin admitted to Scholar Stone that he understood people sought strength for protection, but he had hoped to form a true friendship with her.
• After Liu Jingsong passed out, Shi Tiexin paid the bill and ran through the rainy streets, gaining progress in Gale Leg as he recalled painful memories.
• Shi Tiexin’s run produced the special attribute “Drunken Wind” for Formless Wind Tribulation Leg, which let him remain balanced while drunk.
• Shi Tiexin ran back to campus and continued across the athletic field until exhaustion brought memories of Mai Ba’s death to mind.
• Fang Qingjue found Shi Tiexin in the rain, and he invited her to study with him instead of returning to the dormitory.

Shi Tiexin perfected the first level of Formless Wind Tribulation Leg and continued cultivating Cloud Veil Leg, the Six Fundamental Mind Arts, and his body refinement. With final exams and his Destiny Mission approaching, he conserved his remaining Heavenly Gifted Golden Light while preparing for a chance to grow rich.

• Shi Tiexin noticed that perfecting Gale Leg consumed less Heavenly Gifted Golden Light than expected and concluded that the Cool Group’s version might be incomplete.
• Shi Tiexin studied and cultivated Cloud Veil Leg, learning to improve his leg strength, agility, and mobility.
• Shi Tiexin caught up on his classes, completed his missing assignments, and attended Principal Liu’s weekend tutoring sessions as he aimed to return to the Elite Class.
• Shi Tiexin perfected the Minor Prostitution Method, gaining Essence Lock +9 and raising his essence absorption to 540 strands per day.
• Shi Tiexin’s body refinement advanced rapidly, with the Pink Mist fill rate passing eighty percent as he saved 140 points of Heavenly Gifted Golden Light for the coming exams and Destiny Mission.

Shi Tiexin and Fengming First High School’s athletes traveled to the North Su Provincial Games, where reporters and provincial officials gathered to focus on him. After Director Xin warned him not to disappoint the officials, Shi Tiexin headed onto the track with his body-forging progress at 93%.

• Principal Liu led Fengming First High School’s three qualified athletes to the Provincial Games in a luxury coach.
• Shi Tiexin reflected on Donghua Nation’s lack of confidence in foreign goods while studying physics during the ride.
• Reporters crowded around the coach and questioned Shi Tiexin about his events, expected results, world-record prospects, and a possible place on the national team.
• Shi Tiexin ignored the questions, entered the venue, and remained silent as reporters followed him.
• Director Xin told Shi Tiexin that provincial officials had come to watch him and urged him not to disappoint them.
• Shi Tiexin checked that his body-forging progress had reached 93% and stepped onto the track.

Shi Tiexin competed at the North Su Provincial Games before a huge crowd of supporters and shattered the world record in the 100-meter sprint. He went on to break another world record in the 110-meter hurdles, while Principal Liu basked in the attention from provincial officials.

• Fengming First High School students and citizen supporters filled the stands to cheer for Shi Tiexin.
• Shi Tiexin tested his leg training and body tempering without Chamber Burst or vital essence in the Men's 100m preliminary heat.
• Shi Tiexin ran the 100 meters in 9.40 seconds, breaking the world record, and told reporters, "Not bad."
• Shi Tiexin broke another world record in the 110-meter hurdles as the Provincial Games grew increasingly lively.
• Principal Liu spoke with provincial officials and promised to cultivate Shi Tiexin as a sports talent for Donghua Nation.

After Shi Tiexin broke multiple records at the North Su Province Provincial Games, Fengming First High School celebrated his return as a hero. He discovered he had accumulated 520 points of golden light and began wondering whether he could compete in the upcoming Olympics.

• Director Xin asked a General Administration of Sport leader whether Shi Tiexin could join the national team for the Olympics, but the leader gave an ambiguous response.
• Ling Xingjian announced that Fengming First High School had won ten provincial championships, set five national records, and that Shi Tiexin had broken five world records.
• Students flooded the school entrance to welcome Shi Tiexin, and Ling Xingjian used the broadcast to calm the crowd and clear him a path inside.
• Shi Tiexin saw that his Vision System showed 520 points of Gifted Golden Light Refining Liquid and decided to ask about the Olympics.

Shi Tiexin learned that he could not compete in the upcoming Olympics because he lacked the required qualification, but he accepted that he could aim for future international competitions. He activated the Minor Gambling Method’s Winning and Losing attribute and set up a lunch bet with Director Xin, triggering a new Vision System change.

• Principal Liu told Shi Tiexin that the school and the North Su Province Sports Commission were still trying to get him into the Olympics, but Olympic qualification rules made it unlikely.
• Shi Tiexin accepted that he could pursue the Olympics in four years and left the principal’s office.
• After Shi Tiexin left, Principal Liu privately lamented that political maneuvering had given Olympic quota spots to others and hoped they would perform well.
• Shi Tiexin activated the Minor Gambling Method and gained the Winning and Losing +9 attribute.
• Shi Tiexin invited Director Xin to lunch and bet that the cafeteria would serve braised pork knuckle; when Director Xin agreed, the Vision System displayed a spinning Gamble character that transformed into a Win-and-Lose rattle drum.

Shi Tiexin discovered that winning a small wager granted him a brief, slight boost, then went to Jinling’s largest outskirts cockfighting ring to test whether a bigger bet would produce a stronger effect. After betting two thousand yuan, he watched two fighting cocks clash and found that observing them improved his Cloud Veil Leg cultivation progress.

• Director Xin paid for the braised pork knuckle after losing his bet, and Shi Tiexin received a temporary all-around boost from the Win badge.
• Shi Tiexin concluded that the boost was slight because the wager had been trivial and decided to test a larger gamble with a stranger.
• Shi Tiexin disguised himself, traveled to the outskirts, and found the cockfighting ring Over-the-Shoulder Dragon had mentioned.
• Shi Tiexin bet two thousand yuan on a match between Hua Caiyu and Iron Leg Black.
• As the fighting cocks battled, Shi Tiexin studied their movements and saw his Cloud Veil Leg cultivation progress increase.