I Was So Good-Or So I Pretended

Back at the dorm.

A thick stack of printed pages lay on the desk. It looked hastily put together; even the cover was just a sheet of printer paper marked "Third-Tier Spiritual Cultivation Method."

Chen Shu was in a fine mood.

Yi Nation placed few restrictions on spiritual cultivation methods. Truth be told, they were hard to regulate anyway—If I can't get the latest version, can't I just cultivate with an old one? Ancient cultivators used such backward methods, and some still reached the higher tiers. It's not like a full bladder could keep them from peeing.

So the government only imposed a few restrictions on newer cultivation methods. Starting with Third-Tier Cultivation Art, you had to apply, pass a review, register, and pay a small fee.

Third-Tier Cultivation Art was the road to the middle tiers.

Once you reached the Fourth Tier, you underwent a transformation.

Third Tier cultivators were also powerful enough to cause some harm to society, even with primitive methods.

That was why registration and review were required.

Most ordinary people could pass the review, though, and the fee was low. There was no need to risk finding another source.

The Fourth Tier was much stricter.

Generally, you needed a letter from your employer or school proving that you had some need for that level of cultivation. Only after a rigorous review could you obtain a Fourth-Tier cultivation method. Otherwise, the government would advise you to stay at the Fourth Tier: cultivating any higher offered little benefit and more harm than good.

Chen Shu had originally planned to buy an older version and modify it if the university refused to give him Third-Tier Cultivation Art early. He would get it as close as possible to the latest version's efficiency, then switch over whenever he got the new one.

He had studied cultivation principles, after all.

The textbooks contained the roots of it all.

He hadn't expected things to go so smoothly. He had gotten the method right away, and even secured a Fourth-Tier method in advance.

Applying to Yujing University really had been the right decision.

Flowers for everyone!

Chen Shu opened the cultivation method and gave it a quick inspection.

Yes, this was the real thing.

He soon closed it and put it away carefully.

Breaking through from the Second Tier to the Third Tier remained the problem at hand. He needed to work for the money to buy the potion.

For now, he had several ways to make money—

First, there were the Black Gold Coins in the Crystal Disk. Worth considering, but he wasn't quite that desperate yet;

Second, he could seduce Qingqing. Barring any surprises, that would net him a generous sum in medical expenses;

Third, he could borrow from a bank or lending company. Banks offered low-interest loans specifically for students buying Sea-Opening Potions or Advancement Potions;

Fourth, he could keep selling out his fellow countryman.

Chen Shu opened his laptop and logged into Wide and Narrow Alley.

Greens and Jade-White Soup: Brother Cat

Greens and Jade-White Soup: Got any jobs lately?

Mr. Cat: Depends on you.

Greens and Jade-White Soup: What do you mean?

Greens and Jade-White Soup: I'm really short on cash right now / desperate

Mr. Cat: Have you studied the combat systems for a frigate's spiritual-energy secondary guns? They don't have to be that advanced. The level used by Northern Continent countries will do.

Greens and Jade-White Soup: No.

Greens and Jade-White Soup: Bye.

Tuesday, July 22.

The first long class that morning was Spell Development. It mainly covered the development of Ancient Spells, the chief differences between modern and ancient spells, and the broad direction spells might take in the future. It was meant to point students of Spell Principles Studies toward improving spells—or even creating them—one day.

The second long class was Introductory Runes.

This class was important too. It familiarized students with Runes and the principles behind combining and using them, preparing them to study Spell Principles.

It was also popular. Every seat was taken, and plenty of students from other majors had come to sit in. Some stood at the back; others sat on the floor. The teacher didn't mind.

The enthusiasm for learning seemed to rub off on Chen Shu as well.

The teacher was elderly, but he still insisted on teaching. His voice rang out: "The simple Runes people first discovered were called Basic Rune. Before long, they found that these could be developed further, producing higher-level Runes that were more complicated to write, more specific in function, and more powerful.

"We now call them First-Level Runes.

"Later, people discovered and mastered Second-Level Runes, and even Third-Level Runes.

"The higher a Runes's level, the more specific and powerful its function.

"Modern spells generally use Second-Level Runes as their foundation, supplemented by a handful of Third-Level Runes...

"Now, some of you must be wondering: are there Fourth-Level Runes?

"I'm here to tell you.

"There are."

The old man's eyes shone. These subjects still fascinated him; the dark, unexplored reaches of knowledge still stirred his curiosity. "There is one Fourth-Level Rune, said to have been left behind by the Sacred Ancestor five thousand years ago. It is the only Fourth-Level Rune in the world today. Astonishingly, First-Level Runes were still prevalent in China at the time, while outside the Great Xia Dynasty's borders, foreign cultivators were still using Basic Runes—or had yet to develop a cultivation civilization at all. Yet the Sacred Ancestor had already discovered a Fourth-Level Rune back then, and to this day, we have not found a second.

"Sadly, we still don't know what it does. We can only confirm that the rune is genuine and functional. It absorbs energy, but we cannot activate it."

Chen Shu listened quietly. The Crystal hung just as quietly around his neck. That Runes was inside it.

The old man then spoke about the discovery of Runes.

As Runes grew increasingly complex, discovering new ones became harder and harder. Fifty years ago, Yi Nation spent a fortune building the world's first rune exploration base. Using a series of the world's most advanced computing devices at the time, it searched for new Runes by brute force, prompting countries everywhere to follow suit.

At first, it worked. Quite a few Third-Level Runes were found, but the method gradually yielded less and less.

Eventually, more than a decade passed without the discovery of a new Third-Level Rune.

People thought perhaps every Third-Level Rune had been found, just like all the Basic Runes and First- and Second-Level Runes. They nearly dismantled the machines.

Then a new Third-Level Rune was discovered.

That Runes had already been checked by the brute-force search.

This showed that Runes had not all existed since the universe began. They came into being over time; before the world brought a Rune into existence, searching for it was useless. A few exploration bases still operated around the world, searching for new Runes while periodically rechecking ones they had already tested.

That was interesting. Chen Shu had never read about it before.

Bai City.

Autumn had come to Bai City too, bringing back weather that was neither hot nor cold. The leaves on the trees by the sea had turned yellow, and the city's most beautiful season was nearly here.

The little girl sat alone at the dining table. The dining room opened into the living room, making for a large space, but she was the only one in it.

Breakfast was takeout: a serving of cumin potatoes. She had arranged for the owner of the snack shop to deliver potatoes every day, prepared differently each time and, if possible, without serving the same kind two days in a row.

Her schoolbag sat beside her.

She had been alone at home these past few days. Her sister had gone to Jade Capital, and so had her brother-in-law. Her parents were rarely home. She hadn't felt much at first, but after a couple of days, a strange feeling had begun to grow inside her.

It was an uncomfortable feeling.

She couldn't describe it.

The little girl sat in silence. She hadn't spoken in two days, and there was no one to talk to.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs behind her.

President Ning came downstairs carrying his briefcase. He glanced at the little girl eating alone, with only one serving of food on the table. He said nothing and felt nothing in particular. After a sip of water in the living room, he made to leave. The company would have breakfast ready for him.

But then the little girl called out to him.

"Dad."

"?"

President Ning stopped and turned to look at her.

Summoning her courage, the little girl said, "I want to go to school in Jade Capital."

President Ning frowned. "Why?"

"I want to find my sister."

"Where would you live in Jade Capital?"

"With my sister."

"Would she let you live with her?"

"She would!"

"Don't be difficult."

"I want to find my sister!"

"Don't be difficult. Going to school in Jade Capital isn't that easy. My business hasn't expanded there, either, so I can't get the paperwork done." With that, President Ning left.

"..."

The little girl watched his back in silence. One hand gripped her chopsticks tightly; the other curled into a fist.

Clunk.

The door opened and shut.

Only then did the little girl look away. She turned back to the food in front of her and ate without a word.

After eating, she put on her schoolbag and went to school.

The classroom was bustling on the first day back. So many interesting things had happened over the break, and everyone had plenty to tell their friends. But when the little girl walked in, the room fell briefly quiet. Then quite a few students glanced toward a boy in the class.

Some well-meaning classmates tried to help by asking indirect questions. "Ning Ji, why didn't you reply when I messaged you over the summer?"

"Ning Ji, why couldn't I reach you at the number you gave me?"

"Ning Ji, where did you go after the last exam at the end of last term? I wanted to ask you to dinner, but I waited at the school gate and never saw you."

"..."

The little girl ignored them all and silently took her seat.

"What's wrong?"

The class monitor came over and bent slightly, bringing his eyes level with hers as she sat. He leaned in close. "Are you in a bad mood? Did you not want to come back to class, but your parents made you?"

At once, the other students glanced their way, their eyes gleaming with curiosity.

"You're not allowed to talk to me anymore."

"Huh? Why?"

"You just aren't."

"Are you unhappy today?"

"Shut your mouth and go back to your seat. That's the last thing I'm saying to you."

"I'm just checking on you."

"..."

The little girl rose silently, her fists clenched.

The class monitor straightened up with her. At first he was puzzled, but then realization struck. "Did you find out that last term I..."

Wham!

A straight punch!

Please throw this little nobody some more votes, waaah...