Nature Master

The matter concerning Chen Nan's talent was quickly suppressed. Apart from a few people in the know, no one else learned of it.

The academy continued operating as usual, and before long, afternoon classes arrived.

There were two classes that afternoon: an Overview of Transcendents class and an Overview of Nature Masters class.

The first was the Overview of Transcendents class. Chen Nan listened attentively and discovered that the matters of Transcendents were very similar to science. What they emphasized were all kinds of principles and experiments.

Even the Meditation Qi Yin Art had been born from the scientific nature of Transcendents, and it had even more detailed classifications.

Of course, since this was an overview class, the content taught was all foundational.

The teacher also made it clear that Transcendents absolutely could not try to grasp too much at once. Human energy was limited; only by diligently researching and cultivating in a single direction could one achieve great accomplishments.

Chen Nan understood this quite well. After all, Earth was also a planet that valued the power of technology, so there were similarities in that regard.

This class could be said to have yielded quite a lot. Soon, it was time for the next class: Overview of Nature Masters.

The teacher for this class was Lu Fangliang. The moment he entered the classroom, the students inside were so shocked that they did not dare speak.

The aura he gave off made the students feel that he was no ordinary Transcendent.

Lu Fangliang still wore a smile. He first introduced himself, then got acquainted with the students, but afterward stood silently at the podium for a long time.

The students began whispering among themselves, not knowing why this teacher had gone cold and was not teaching anything at all.

Yet as Chen Nan watched him, he sensed an immense loneliness from his body.

Only after several minutes did Lu Fangliang raise his head and say, "Do you all think I need to teach this class?"

What kind of savage nonsense was that? This was an Overview of Nature Masters class. If he was not going to teach, was he going to fool around instead?

"Is it necessary?" he continued. "What are Nature Masters, anyway? Even if I explained things here, which of you would care about Nature Masters?

But I still have to teach. I have to tell you, one by one, what Nature Masters are and what the long-standing heritage of our Qingyang Kingdom is.

People can only see that a long-standing heritage represents decay and backwardness, yet they never investigate why it has endured for so long.

There are countless things that originated in ancient times. Like the stars in the sky, why is it that only the heritage of Nature Masters has been passed down?

Because Nature Masters differ from Western Transcendents!

Transcendents are nothing more than people using the power of technology to train those with exceptional gifts into powerful tools of destruction.

But Nature Masters are different!"

He turned around, and the chalk danced across the blackboard, writing the three grand and sweeping, dragon-flying-phoenix-dancing characters: "Nature Master."

"Nature—Master," Lu Fangliang said. "Remember, this 'master' does not mean that we are some sort of Transcendents. It means learning from nature. A Nature Master is one who takes nature as their master!

What is nature?

The earth, trees, flowing water, and gentle winds are nature;

Kabudan Planet, and even the entire universe, are also nature.

All things in the universe follow an invisible, untouchable law in their operation. That is nature. We must emulate nature, comprehend the Great Dao, and attain the realm where heaven and humanity become one.

In the end, there is self within nature and nature within self. The freedom that comes naturally, ethereal and void, is our highest realm.

What we seek is not to force every surrounding thing to serve our commands; that is the way of Western beasts.

Nature Masters are not like that. What they seek is harmony and unity with nature.

The so-called great freedom of the West requires all things to obey their will. We, on the other hand, cultivate ourselves. A great sage is not one who oppresses others until they dare not resist, but one who lives on a single basket of food and a single gourd of drink in a shabby lane. Ordinary people cannot bear such sorrow, yet we do not abandon our joy.

To gain the great freedom and great ease of the Heavenly Dao is to never disturb any living being in the slightest.

That is what a Nature Master is—the only way to save Kabudan Planet, yet a path that has declined until no one cares to ask about it."

Lu Fangliang gave a bitter laugh before saying, "All right. You are still children, so I will not use the state of the world to interfere with your happiness. Cherish every moment you have now. Strengthen yourselves, but more importantly, strengthen your hearts.

That is all for this first class. As for other matters concerning Nature Masters, we will discuss them next class.

Class dismissed!"

After saying that, Lu Fangliang left without looking back even once.

As Chen Nan watched Lu Fangliang leave, he felt deep regret for the Nature Master school. However, he did not think he would join their ranks.

After all, having come from Earth, Chen Nan was not particularly opposed to the power of technology. Although Nature Masters were a long-standing heritage and undoubtedly contained great wisdom,

to blindly emphasize the wisdom of Nature Masters would inevitably be somewhat one-sided.

Rather than oppose each other, why not draw on each other's strengths and make up for each other's weaknesses? As someone from the Chinese Region before his transmigration, Chen Nan understood the meaning of seeking harmony while preserving differences very well.

If Chinese people had not possessed such powerful cultural inclusiveness, then after the later upheaval that transformed the world, when the entire world became one republic, there would not have been a Chinese Region.

Still, Chen Nan cared greatly about the great ease and great freedom Lu Fangliang had spoken of. When he had the chance, it would not hurt to study the knowledge of Nature Masters as well.

After Lu Fangliang left, among the nine students in the class, only Chen Nan remained deep in thought. The other children had already begun cheering.

Clearly, Lu Fangliang had not taught for the full class period. There was still nearly half a class left. The children wanted to leave early and go out to play.

Shi Lei also came over to Chen Nan, speaking with an inexplicable respectfulness. "Let's go. If we get to the cafeteria earlier, we can pick better food."

Chen Nan nodded and left the classroom with Shi Lei.

They claimed a table, selected four portions of good food, and waited for Shen Congyun and Lu Butong to arrive.

Soon, the dismissal bell rang. Shen Congyun and Lu Butong hurried over as well, and the four began eating and drinking.

Shi Lei treated Chen Nan respectfully the entire time, which annoyed him greatly.

After eating, the four went to play for a while before heading toward the dormitory. But shortly after they had left, they encountered several people ahead.

"Stop!" the man at the front shouted.

The four stopped. When Chen Nan saw who it was, he frowned. That person was Wang Bodan. Beside him stood two others—one tall and foolish-looking, the other monkey-faced. He did not look particularly clever, but he did have a mean, sharp-featured look.

Those two were Li Huaming and Teng Hewang.

Chen Nan fixed his gaze on Wang Bodan and asked, "What do you want?"

The other party sneered, then shouted, "Everyone, come look! This is that little hero who made the news!"

There had already been plenty of people gathered nearby, attracting attention. With that shout, even more people rushed over.

Although there were not many people in the Preparatory Academy, with only a little over a hundred students, they still formed a circle around them.

It was clear that whether they were Transcendents or not, their love of watching a spectacle was no different.

What was more, everyone knew this was the unlucky month for new students, so there would naturally be plenty of good shows.

When enough people had gathered, Wang Bodan smiled and said to everyone, "Do you know who this little hero is?

He is Chen Nan, an orphan.

I heard his father was a broker, while his mother was a whore. And this guy learned quite a few skills for receiving male clients in the Orphanage.

You all understand, right?"

Bursts of laughter came from all around.

Chen Nan frowned. These parents did not hold any special emotional significance for Chen Nan, a transmigrator. But this was still an insult directed at him. It was impossible for him not to be angry.

Li Huaming, on the other side, burst out laughing. "So he's a lowborn bastard! Chen Nan, it'll be easy if you want us to let you off today. Just drink my piss, crawl under my crotch, and call me Grandpa whenever you see me from now on. Then I'll let you go."

Chen Nan glanced at him and asked, "Call you what?"

Li Huaming widened his little tiger-like eyes and shouted, "Grandpa!"

"Ah, good grandson." Chen Nan immediately replied.

"Hahaha..." A wave of laughter erupted, and quite a few girls laughed so hard that they clutched their little bellies.

Li Huaming finally realized what had happened. He cursed, then rushed up and threw a punch at Chen Nan.

Chen Nan immediately retreated and pushed Shen Congyun and the other two farther back.

The others all knew the rules and made room for a fighting area.

Shen Congyun immediately said to Chen Nan, "He's a third-year student. How could you possibly beat him? Let's run!"

Shi Lei immediately stepped forward, intending to offer money and plead, but Li Huaming did not care about that. He threw another punch, fierce as a tiger in the wind. Shi Lei met the hard fist with a smiling face, and with a whoosh, he flew away.

The spectators shouted excitedly. Shi Lei had already fallen to the ground without moving, completely unconscious.

Chen Nan said to Shen Congyun, "Go take care of him. Don't worry about anything else."

Li Huaming continued cursing as he charged over, while Chen Nan stepped into the fighting circle.

Wasn't this just about giving the new student a show of force?

Today, Chen Nan would give them a reverse show of force. He was not someone who repaid grievances with virtue. Unless the insult he had suffered today was washed clean with the other party's blood, he would absolutely not let the matter rest.

Unless there was no other choice, a grudge had to be repaid on the spot!

Outside the crowd stood several teachers. Knowing the rules, they did not step in to stop it. Among them were Lu Fangliang and Xu Xiaojing. This female teacher had already been assigned as Chen Nan's observer, tasked with observing whether there was anything else unusual about him.

Naturally, Li Yu and Xun Xin were there as well.

Li Huaming and Chen Nan glared at each other as they circled around. A new round of battle was about to erupt at any moment.

The people around them shouted encouragement. Of course, almost without exception, they were urging Li Huaming to teach this raw first-year kid a lesson.

Chen Nan shut out those distracting sounds and began analyzing the big fool before him.