Chen Mochuan

Star Calendar 2666, October 8, Songjiang Province, Antu City.

Before dawn, only the even breathing of a boy filled a bedroom in Star Lake Residential District.

"Beep, beep, beep—" A shrill alarm shattered the silence.

Chen Mochuan reached out and switched off the alarm pointing to half past four. He had no lingering attachment to his warm bed and got up briskly to put on his school uniform.

The house was quiet. His parents were away on a business trip, and no one had prepared breakfast for him.

After washing up, he took bread, milk, and a few packets of instant beef from the kitchen. He ate as he watched the Songjiang Province morning news.

"Yesterday, the 23rd World's Number One Martial Arts Tournament concluded in grand fashion. Wu Kong, a Martial Artist from our nation, claimed the championship..."

Though he had already watched this report the day before, Chen Mochuan still stared unblinkingly at Wu Kong on the screen, brimming with vigor, his eyes shining with yearning.

"Early this morning, large numbers of Ferocious Beasts appeared on the outskirts of Qingyan City in our province, intent on attacking the city... The garrison spotted them in advance and intercepted them, successfully scattering the horde... No ordinary citizens were injured in the incident..."

Since it concerned a neighboring city, Chen Mochuan paid it some attention, but didn't dwell on it.

The government would handle major incidents like that. It was hardly something a high school senior needed to worry about.

The news ended just as he finished breakfast. He slung his schoolbag over his shoulder and headed out.

Jogging to warm up along the way, he arrived at Eighth High School at five thirty on the dot.

Inside the school building, motivational banners filled his view.

"Study till your hair hangs from the beam and your thighs are stabbed by an awl; the day you claim top honors will come! Rise with the rooster and dance with your sword; now is the time to pluck the osmanthus branch in the Moon Palace!"

"Break the cauldrons and sink the boats; fight till the sun rises and sets! With our backs to the river, make this a battle without regret!"

"One thousand days of struggle in high school, and eighty years of reward in the future!"

Passing beneath the banners, Chen Mochuan went straight upstairs. After verifying his identity, he entered the training arena reserved for the senior-year Martial Arts Department honors class.

After taking a Blood Qi Supplement, he began targeted training with the equipment.

An hour later, students from the honors class began arriving one after another, each throwing themselves into morning practice.

"Chen Mochuan, come here a moment."

Chen Mochuan, immersed in his training, turned at the sound of the voice. He saw his homeroom teacher, Han Zhen, standing at the entrance to the arena and beckoning him. He turned and headed out.

With no time to change his sweat-soaked shirt, Chen Mochuan grabbed a towel, quickly wiped his face and arms, and hurried after him.

Behind him, he faintly heard whispers like "his Blood-Qi Value is too low" and "the class dead last," but he didn't care.

In the office, Han Zhen picked up a sheet of paper from his desk. "Take a look at this first."

Chen Mochuan took the paper and saw that it was his monthly exam report. A striking red line marked his results.

His Martial Arts cultivation and Academic Subjects were his strengths, ranking first and sixth in the grade.

But because his Blood-Qi Value was low, his Physical Fitness score ranked only 256th in the grade.

As a result, his Simulated Combat score on the school's Battle Net ranked only 72nd in the grade.

That dragged down his overall results. He ranked last among the 70 students in the honors class, and 75th in the grade.

Han Zhen said, "Your grade ranking has dropped another four places. At this rate, you have almost no chance of getting into one of the Thirty-Six Elite Schools next year."

Chen Mochuan had expected this. He nodded calmly. "I understand, teacher."

"Don't lose heart. Your mastery of Foundation Building Fist and Root-Solidifying Stance has consistently ranked first in the grade. That proves all your hard work hasn't been wasted."

"Keep it up. If you can bring both techniques to Perfection before the College Entrance Exam, there may still be a chance."

As he spoke, Han Zhen opened a drawer and took out a small booklet with worn edges.

"This is a set of fist-training notes from an outstanding graduate two years ago. Take it home and have a look. It might give you some ideas."

"Thank you, teacher!" Chen Mochuan accepted the notes with both hands, solemnly.

He hadn't expected his teacher not only to refrain from criticizing him but to offer him extra help as well. Deeply moved, he was just about to say something more when Han Zhen cut him off.

"Save the formalities. Getting into one of the Thirty-Six Elite Schools would be the greatest support you could give my work... All right, I still have lessons to prepare. Go back and finish your morning practice."

Han Zhen waved him off and sat down at his desk.

Seeing this, Chen Mochuan thanked him sincerely once more, then gently closed the door behind him.

Once the door shut, Han Zhen sighed.

He knew that Chen Mochuan had fallen from third in the grade during his first year to his current ranking because his Blood-Qi Value had grown far too slowly. But there was nothing he could do about it.

Still, he had never considered giving up on this student. He had seen Chen Mochuan's diligence and hard work over the past two years.

No matter how his grades stood, he had always remained humble and steady. He was the first to arrive and the last to leave each day, never slacking in Academic Subjects or Martial Arts training.

It was that character that made Han Zhen value him so highly.

At nine the previous evening, Han Zhen had finished calculating the monthly exam results. As he passed the training arena on his way home from work, he discovered that Chen Mochuan was still practicing his punches.

The monthly exams had ended that afternoon, and the school had unusually let the senior class leave early. The other students had long since gone home to rest, yet he alone had kept training.

Moved by the sight, Han Zhen had gone home specially to find that booklet.

"I hope it helps him. A student like that shouldn't be buried."

Outside the office, Chen Mochuan clutched the notes, feeling his homeroom teacher's concern.

I can't let teacher down... But my Spirit Talent should be awakening soon.

His thoughts stirred, and a translucent Golden Light Screen unfolded before his eyes.

[Spirit Master: Chen Mochuan]

[Status: Qi and blood abundant]

[Spirit Talent: Spirit Devourer (Awakening-99%)]

[Blood-Qi Value: 2.92]

[Techniques:]

[Root-Solidifying Stance: Mastery (96%)]

[Foundation Building Fist: Mastery (97%)]

This Golden Light Screen, visible only to Chen Mochuan, had appeared more than two years ago, when he had just entered Eighth High School.

After exploring it, he had discovered that the screen wasn't a "system" that let him directly spend points to become stronger, as in the novels. Rather, it was a tool that monitored his physical condition in real time and gave him a clear understanding of himself.

Even so, Chen Mochuan hadn't been disappointed.

Being able to observe every tiny improvement and know that his efforts hadn't been wasted had become a source of motivation, sustaining his hard training day after day.

At the same time, real-time monitoring let him arrange his training intensity scientifically and avoid injuries from overtraining.

Thanks to this, in just two semesters he had stood out among the first-year Martial Arts Department students and climbed to third in the grade.

But at the start of his second year, a new message had suddenly appeared on the screen:

[Spirit Talent: Spirit Devourer (Awakening-0%)]

All things possessed spirit. Since Spirit Power first emerged in Star Calendar 2012, more than six hundred years ago, Blue Star's people had undergone certain unknown, profound developments of the body, harboring special talents known as "Spirit Talents."

Spirit Talents came in all varieties: some could strengthen the body, some granted extraordinary memory, and some heightened the senses...

Yet Spirit Talents lay hidden deep within the body, showing no trace before awakening. The trigger for awakening differed from person to person and was hard to predict, so the vast majority of people could never awaken one in their lifetime.

Among the thousands of students at Eighth High School, only a handful had awakened Spirit Talents.

Now, that stroke of fortune had fallen to him as well.

But the awakening of Spirit Devourer was extremely slow. Its progress increased by only about one percent every four days, and a full awakening was expected to take more than a year—far longer than the longest awakening period of two months recorded online.

What was more, after the awakening began, his appetite had increased dramatically, while his Blood-Qi Value grew abnormally slowly, as if his entire body were providing nourishment for his Spirit Talent's awakening.

This directly affected his Martial Arts results, causing his ranking to fall from third to fifth, then tenth... until he had slid to the bottom of the honors class.

But as someone who had transmigrated, he was more mature than his peers. He knew this age was the golden period for laying the foundations of Martial Arts, and never wasted time, despite his body's unusual condition.

That was right: Chen Mochuan was a transmigrator.

He had come from Earth and was living a second life on Blue Star.

Perhaps he had forgotten to drink Meng Po's soup when he was reborn, because he had retained his memories of his previous life with perfect clarity.

His previous life had ended while he was doing a good deed. One night, while out running, he had jumped into an artificial lake to save someone, only to be clutched tightly by the drowning victim. In the end, he had drowned after running out of strength.

When he opened his eyes again, he had been born on Blue Star, a world that revered Martial Arts, as a newborn child in Hua Nation.

In this life, both his parents were alive. His family wasn't wealthy, but they were warm and happy.

After glancing once more at the "Awakening-99%" message on the panel, Chen Mochuan dismissed the screen and returned to the training arena to continue his morning practice.