Grades

"Hey!"

"Ling Wuyuan, I'm looking for a book called [Detailed Explanations of Rare Characters in the Common Tongue]. Do you know where it is?"

The speaker was a boy three to five years older than Ling Wuyuan. Though he too was a newcomer studying literacy at the Gang Academy, he was not in the same class as Ling Wuyuan, having joined in a later intake.

In this regard.

As a force that recruited newcomers every three months, the White Crow Gang's Gang Academy had a total of five classes.

Four of those classes were responsible for teaching newcomers, with nearly two hundred students between them.

The remaining class was separate, with an uncertain number of students. It was specially for older members whose academic performance was poor—those who could barely read and write, and who would run into all sorts of problems halfway through their martial arts training.

It was said.

At its peak, that single class alone had two or three hundred students...

All one could say was that people who struggled with studying were indeed an extremely common life-form...

Even in a world with Extraordinary Power, that remained true.

At that moment.

Hearing the other's voice and question, Ling Wuyuan, who was reading, did not feel annoyed at being interrupted. Without even raising his head, he answered:

"Those books should be on bookshelf number nineteen on the first floor."

There were only so many newcomers across the various classes, so while they were not particularly familiar with one another, most at least recognized each other's faces.

Therefore.

He did not refuse to answer.

He casually gave the boy the answer.

There was no need to grow close.

Likewise, there was no need to make enemies.

Having received the answer, the boy was immediately delighted and said with a smile:

"Thanks!"

Ling Wuyuan replied, "It's nothing."

And so, knowing that Ling Wuyuan did not like making small talk with others, the boy turned and left without another word.

After walking a few steps, he quickly returned to his companions.

"Well?"

"Did he know where the book was?"

Hearing his companions' questions, the boy immediately answered, "He knew. He already told me."

"That's good."

"Let's hurry and get the book so we can review."

"I don't want to get whipped at the Punishment Hall again in two days..."

As the speaker recalled his last experience of being whipped, a chill ran down his spine.

The Punishment Hall truly showed no mercy. If they had a whip, they really would use it!

And every time, they struck with just the right degree of force, leaving the punished person wishing for death while avoiding any real damage to the muscles and bones.

To avoid being whipped again the following month, seamlessly connecting old wounds to new ones, the punished often had to attend class the next day with their wounds wrapped.

After saying that.

He turned back for another glance at Ling Wuyuan, who had never raised his head and remained crouched in the corner, silently reading. With a mixture of envy, jealousy, and resentment, he said, "Reading is ultimately just laying the foundation for martial arts training later on. A bookworm like him, who squats in the library all day, must be the type with limbs that never work. When he cultivates martial arts later, he'll probably get half the results for twice the effort."

Hearing this.

The boy who had asked Ling Wuyuan about the book could only scratch his head helplessly.

Naturally, he understood the envy, jealousy, and resentment in his companion's heart.

After all, even he had been whipped twice—and the whips had been dipped in wine or salt water. Physical damage paired with magical damage, while they even healed you as they beat you. That feeling was truly etched into his bones; merely recalling it was enough to make him shudder...

So far, among all the newcomers in the four classes, only three had never been whipped.

Ling Wuyuan was one of them.

Therefore.

Even he, despite having fairly decent grades, felt a little envy, jealousy, and resentment toward Ling Wuyuan.

However.

Having just spoken to Ling Wuyuan and asked him where to find a book, he certainly could not start badmouthing him now.

That would be somewhat shameless and ungrateful...

So he could only casually soothe his companion:

"All right, all right. Let's go find the book while we can."

"If we're too slow and someone else takes it, we'll really be in trouble..."

Moreover.

Thinking of what his companion had said, then thinking of Ling Wuyuan's height—which was considered tall even among his peers...

He actually knew very well that no matter how poor Ling Wuyuan's aptitude for martial arts might be, it could not be all that poor...

After all, Ling Wuyuan had already passed the White Crow Gang's physical fitness test a year ago.

In the years to come.

Ling Wuyuan would probably truly excel in both literary and martial pursuits. It was indeed enough to make one feel envy, jealousy, and resentment...

Ling Wuyuan was not particularly aware of the conversation taking place not far away.

Of course, even if he had known, he still would not have taken it to heart.

It was merely envy, jealousy, and resentment.

It was hardly a big deal...

He had long grown used to such things while striving and struggling in his previous life.

There would always be people who could not stand those who climbed high, wouldn't there?

Especially when the other party came from a background inferior to their own; that sort of displeasure was often especially intense.

Thus, even if their conflicts escalated into physical clashes, he would not care.

As long as life maintained a general surface-level stability, that was enough.

Right now.

Unlike the poor students who had been beaten so much they were nearly developing physical resistance, and who had already received more than enough of the Punishment Hall's whips.

Ling Wuyuan's performance in class had always been extremely steady. He was the sort of student who consistently held third place while contending for first.

First place, second place, third place—no matter which rank he achieved, everyone found it perfectly normal.

In fact, because he was obsessed with reading and read every kind of book, even the instructors said that if he focused on books related to the curriculum rather than reading anything and everything—from astronomy and geography to tales of ghosts and strange occurrences—and devoted himself wholeheartedly to his studies, then no one would be able to compete with him for first place.

However.

The instructors did not know that, in Ling Wuyuan's very first month at the Gang Academy, he had already completely mastered the knowledge they intended to spend a year teaching, and had even surpassed it in some areas.

For Ling Wuyuan, who had already been a genius to begin with.

Studying.

Had never been difficult.

Especially after his memory and various other qualities had been strengthened, it had become even easier.

As long as he understood certain key points, he could grasp the general idea of most basic knowledge with a single glance.

Therefore.

Over the past year, exam scores had been nothing more than something he could score as high or as low on as he wished.

However, the examinations were about to reach their end...

Ling Wuyuan knew that the final assessment would take place in three days.

After passing it, he could officially cultivate martial arts.

At that thought.

Though his eyes continued to scan the contents of the book, his mind began to turn to other matters...