Scores and Secrets

"Chapter 17: Scores and Secrets"

"I'm starving."

Qian Shen rubbed his stomach, utterly uninterested in the paintings on display before him. All he wanted was to find somewhere to gorge himself.

He had just finished making up his Body Tempering lessons before rushing over. Ravenous with hunger, he felt like he could eat an entire cow.

"I'll go see if there's anything good to eat."

After greeting the classmates who had come with him, Qian Shen began searching through the exhibition.

The students who had come to the art exhibition with him were already used to this.

They studied the Immortal Dao diligently every day and tempered their bodies bitterly, so the nutrients they needed and the amount they ate naturally far surpassed ordinary people.

For a top student like Qian Shen, who cultivated tirelessly twenty-four hours a day, his daily food intake was even greater. If he ate only five meals a day, his family tutor would worry that he had lost his appetite.

Just then, Qian Shen's eyes suddenly lit up, locking tightly onto the buffet table.

He strode over, grabbed a plate of prawns, and wolfed them down in a few bites. But after eating for a while, he frowned. "This food has so little nutrition?"

Qian Shen was a top first-year student at Songyang High School and had always ranked second in the grade. Besides his own talent and hard work, the most important factor was, of course, that his family was wealthy.

To improve the effects of cultivation, especially Body Tempering, the food he usually ate was rich in all kinds of Immortal Dao Elements.

To someone who believed only in scores, whether food tasted good was secondary. What mattered most was whether it could improve his cultivation efficiency.

He could naturally afford the seafood served at the art exhibition buffet in his daily life, but he had no interest in spending money solely to satisfy his appetite. Instead, he felt it was a waste of both his time and his stomach.

What seafood? What feast... It couldn't improve his grades? Then wasn't it just garbage?

So Qian Shen looked over the other dishes on the table while calling over an attendant, intending to ask if there was anything else that could be used for Dietary Supplementation.

"Everything edible is here. Take whatever you want."

Hearing the attendant's somewhat icy voice, Qian Shen could not help frowning. But when he looked up, he saw a familiar face.

Qian Shen glanced at the attendant uniform on her and said in surprise, "You work here?"

"Mm." Bai Zhenzhen said expressionlessly, "Is there anything else?"

Qian Shen frowned. "Are you short of money?"

"Then hurry up and sign with the Student Union. Otherwise, if you keep wasting time on this meaningless work, it'll only drag down your Immortal Dao path."

"By then, even if I surpass you, it won't mean much."

Qian Shen's tone was full of regret. After all, he had always regarded Bai Zhenzhen—the only girl in their grade who could surpass him in total score—as his rival.

In his mind, Bai Zhenzhen should have felt the same way.

Over the next three years of High School, the entire grade, even the entire school, would become the battlefield where the two great geniuses clashed head-on while cherishing one another's talents.

They should have broken through their limits again and again through competition, then entered elite universities together three years later.

Yet faced with Qian Shen's lament, Bai Zhenzhen merely said flatly, "Are you teaching me how to do things?"

Before Qian Shen could answer, Bai Zhenzhen continued, "A guy with just over 600 total points wants to teach me, someone with 650 points, how to do things?"

Faced with Bai Zhenzhen's naked score discrimination, Qian Shen, a staunch supporter of score supremacy, instantly lost his momentum. That fifty-point gap came crashing down on him like a mountain.

Your score was higher, so you were right.

At that moment, Qian Shen seemed to see three gleaming numbers—650—floating above Bai Zhenzhen's head, radiating an oppressive force so powerful that he could not utter a word of rebuttal.

Bai Zhenzhen frowned. "No, when you're talking to me, why are you staring at the top of my head?"

Qian Shen snorted coldly, turned around, and left.

"Just wait, Bai Zhenzhen. Keep wasting your time like this, and it won't be long before I surpass you."

Yet after taking only a few steps, he nearly bumped into two Security Guards.

They were Zhang Yu, who had come over to check on the situation, and Zhao Tianxing, whom he had dragged along.

Having just seen what appeared to be a conflict between Bai Zhenzhen and Qian Shen, Zhang Yu had hurried over as a Security Guard.

Looking at the two of them, Qian Shen recognized them at once despite their Security Guard uniforms—they were classmates, after all. "550 and 580?"

Zhang Yu froze slightly when he heard that form of address. The next moment, he realized that 550 was his total score from last month's Monthly Exam, while 580 seemed to be Zhao Tianxing's total score.

Good lord, there were only scores in this guy's eyes. He couldn't even remember his classmates' names? Another freak who had studied himself mad.

But Qian Shen did not merely fail to remember names. In fact, he could not remember the names or scores of students below 550.

After all, to him... below 550? Weren't they all NPCs? Was there any need to remember them?

In Qian Shen's eyes, the 550 standing before him was already a Demi-human.

Based on his observations during this period, the other party would most likely score below 550 in the next Monthly Exam. Starting next month, he would not even be worth remembering.

Seeing the Security Guard uniforms on Zhang Yu and Zhao Tianxing, Qian Shen shook his head again. "Why are you two working here too?"

Facing 550 and 580, the momentum that 650 had just crushed out of him instantly rose again. He said arrogantly, "Why aren't you two using your time to study and cultivate more? What are you doing wasting time here?"

Zhang Yu said, "Aren't you here too?"

Qian Shen chuckled confidently. "I specifically cleared time from my makeup lessons today so I could come comprehend the peerless Martial Arts within the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram."

Zhang Yu said, "Mm, we're here to comprehend the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram too."

"And we can earn 800 an hour while we're at it."

"Making money while comprehending divine Martial Arts—isn't that much more worthwhile?"

"Hm?" Qian Shen froze slightly, looking at Zhang Yu in surprise. Even something said by a 550-point student has some logic to it?

He looked at Zhang Yu and said, "550, I'll remember you."

"My name is Zhang Yu!" Zhang Yu could not help looking above his own head again. "Why do you keep staring at my head?"

But Qian Shen quickly came to his senses. "No, wait. You two think you can comprehend the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram?"

Zhao Tianxing only felt more and more gazes turning toward them. Qian Shen's contemptuous stare made his cheeks flush slightly, and he hurriedly waved his hands. "No, no, no. I never said I wanted to comprehend the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram."

Qian Shen could not be bothered with Zhao Tianxing's explanation. He merely shook his head and sighed. "The Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram was personally painted by a Golden Core master. The peerless Martial Arts it contains were specifically meant to select true geniuses. Even I have no absolute confidence in mastering it, let alone you?"

Having said that, Qian Shen lost interest in looking at 550 and 580 any longer and turned to leave.

Watching Qian Shen's departing back, Zhao Tianxing's expression became even more miserable.

This time, not only had the other party seen him working as a Security Guard, but Zhang Yu's nonsense had also made him think Zhao Tianxing had come to comprehend the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram.

Zhao Tianxing was filled with bitterness, as though he could already see the many classmates in their class laughing at him.

This time, I've really lost face big time.

Zhang Yu, meanwhile, did not have nearly as many thoughts spinning around in his head. He looked at Bai Zhenzhen and asked, "You okay? Are you and Qian Shen not on good terms?"

Bai Zhenzhen curled her lips and said casually, "What could happen to me? Most of the time, he's just asking for humiliation."

Then she looked at Zhang Yu with an odd expression. "You're planning to comprehend the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram too?"

Seeing Zhang Yu nod confidently, Bai Zhenzhen thought, Yu Zi is getting more and more unhinged from that enormous debt. With his level... he actually wants to comprehend Martial Arts left behind by a Golden Core True Person?

Zhao Tianxing only wanted to leave as soon as possible. He tugged at Zhang Yu's clothes, intending to go, only to find him exchanging meaningful looks with Bai Zhenzhen.

Then Bai Zhenzhen secretly slipped a serving of seafood into Zhang Yu's arms.

Zhang Yu said, "Old Zhao, want a serving?"

Zhao Tianxing said anxiously, "The captain said we aren't allowed to eat the buffet."

As he spoke, he hurriedly used his body to shield Zhang Yu, terrified that someone might see.

Zhang Yu said easily, "Isn't A-Zhen working here too? We can take a little fleece from the company's wool while we're at it."

Just as Zhang Yu sampled the prawns on the plate, a voice came from behind Zhao Tianxing.

"What are you doing?"

The voice startled Zhao Tianxing. When he turned around and discovered that the speaker was their classmate Zhou Tianyi, he relaxed instead.

Without realizing it, Zhao Tianxing seemed to have gradually grown accustomed to wearing a Security Guard uniform in front of his classmates.

Zhang Yu looked at Zhou Tianyi in surprise. "Old Zhou, you came too?"

Zhou Tianyi smiled. "Mm, I came with Qian Shen and the others."

Zhang Yu said, "Really? How come I didn't see you just now?"

Zhou Tianyi said, "Heh heh, how did you end up here?"

The two chatted a little about their respective situations, while Zhao Tianxing once again urged Zhang Yu to continue their patrol.

But Zhou Tianyi suddenly put on a mysterious expression. "I've got some gossip about a Golden Core True Person. Interested in hearing it?"

Seeing the curiosity on Zhang Yu's face, Zhao Tianxing said, "The captain's already urging us in the group chat, asking where we are..."

Zhang Yu nodded. "Forget it. Work comes first. Tell us next time."

Just as the two turned to leave, Zhou Tianyi said, "Spark True Person only planned to return to the First Layer because half his cultivation was taken away after he resigned."

"Hm?"

Zhang Yu and Zhao Tianxing immediately turned back, waiting for Zhou Tianyi to continue.

Though Bai Zhenzhen did not turn around, she perked up her ears to listen as well.

Zhou Tianyi smiled and continued, "Golden Core True Persons can live up to four hundred years, but Spark True Person was already three hundred and fifty last year. He was optimized out by the Myriad Laws Sect."

"When he resigned, half his cultivation was reclaimed. Unable to support the expenses above, he planned to return to the Kunxu First Layer, focus on raising descendants, and train disciples."

Zhang Yu was once again shocked by this damn world. "Wait... they take away half your cultivation when you resign?"

Zhou Tianyi said matter-of-factly, "The Sect trained him and gave him the opportunity and resources for Core Formation. Isn't it perfectly normal to hand over half his cultivation when leaving?"

While the three listened to Zhou Tianyi's news about Spark True Person, a stir suddenly arose among the crowd in the distance.

A guest whispered, "Ms. Li is here. The Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram is about to be unveiled."

(End of Chapter)