"When you're poor, strike with precision. When you're rich, blast the bastards!"
As soon as Chen Mo finished saying those twelve words,
the classroom fell utterly silent.
Everyone's mouth fell open as they stared at Chen Mo with strange looks.
Even the seasoned Jing Hongchen, upon hearing that answer,
was left stunned, unable to react for a moment.
Inwardly, he exclaimed,
That answer was so damn crisp!
He wanted to say something to correct Chen Mo's understanding of soul tools.
But on second thought,
there didn't seem to be anything that needed correcting.
When you're poor, strike with precision. When you're rich, blast the bastards!
The words were crude, but the reasoning wasn't.
Take soul cannons, for example.
When money was tight, you adjusted every aspect of a cannon's accuracy until it could strike without fail. When you were rich, who cared about accuracy? Once you had identified the target, you simply opened fire.
Chen Mo saw that Jing Hongchen hadn't spoken for quite some time.
Chen Mo wasn't in any hurry.
He didn't think there was anything wrong with what he'd said, anyway.
After all, before transmigrating,
He had been a proud member of China's Young Pioneers.
Having a fear of insufficient firepower wasn't unreasonable, was it?
The silence lasted almost half a minute.
Only then did Jing Hongchen wave a hand and break it.
"It seems that Chen Mo has a unique understanding of soul tools."
"That's very good."
"Would anyone else like to share their opinion?"
Everyone: ...
"All right. Since nobody has anything to say, we'll leave that question there."
Jing Hongchen glanced around and saw that the others had absolutely no intention of speaking.
He didn't force the issue.
Then, as he wrote on the blackboard, he said casually, "I forgot to tell you that my class includes participation marks, which account for fifty percent of your final grade. I'm also rather lazy, so I only ask one question per lesson. Since Chen Mo was the only one who answered that question, he's the only one who'll receive participation marks for this lesson."
Hearing that,
the others were filled with regret.
If they'd known, they would have stood up and spoken.
But one student refused to accept it.
The student stood up and challenged Jing Hongchen. "Sir, isn't the participation grading system only supposed to start in the third year? Aren't you breaking the school's rules by doing this? If the Director of Education found out, wouldn't that reflect badly on you?"
"Rules? Hmph..."
"My rules are the rules!"
"If you have a problem with that, you can go report me to the Director of Education right now."
"Otherwise, follow my rules and behave yourselves!"
Jing Hongchen fixed the student who had challenged him with an icy stare.
Under Jing Hongchen's gaze, that student
silently lowered their head, not daring to speak.
"If there are no further objections, let's begin."
At that,
everyone opened their textbooks.
Unexpectedly, Jing Hongchen said, "All right, all right. Close your books, all of you."
"What's worth learning from that outdated material?"
"Here's another rule. From now on, textbooks aren't allowed in my class. You only need to bring a notebook and a pen."
"I'll teach you the most advanced knowledge of soul tools!"
"Now, since this is our first lesson, we'll start with something simple today..."
The lesson flew by.
Chen Mo had to admit
that Jing Hongchen truly lived up to his reputation as a Level 9 Soul Engineer.
His teaching ability was outrageously good.
Difficult points Chen Mo had encountered while studying on his own became clear after just a few words from Jing Hongchen.
When the bell rang,
Jing Hongchen stopped teaching.
"That will be all for this lesson. I'll see you in this afternoon's practical formation class."
With that,
Jing Hongchen hurried out of the classroom.
He piloted a soul airship toward the testing area.
He still had to teach the students of the Illustrious Virtue Hall.
The second lesson was formation configuration.
This class required the students to engrave precise lines on soft lead plates while maintaining a steady output of soul power.
Chen Mo gripped his Engraving Knife tightly, carefully carving the lines that would form a core formation.
The morning lessons soon passed.
After lunch, he returned to his dormitory and cultivated for a while.
Then it was time for the afternoon lessons.
Under Jing Hongchen's guidance, everyone in Class One arrived at the practical workshop in the teaching building.
This was a place dedicated to developing the students' hands-on skills.
Since everyone had already performed some simple practice engraving during the morning's formation configuration class,
Jing Hongchen only gave a brief explanation before assigning their task.
"You have only one task this lesson: complete a Magic Array Core before class ends."
"Other teachers might not care about quality. As long as you've finished engraving it and it looks passable, they'll count it as complete."
"But my requirement is that your finished Magic Array Core must contain three inscription lines with deviations of less than one millimeter. Otherwise, you'll have to engrave it again."
"Ah—"
"We've only just started learning about soul tools! How could we possibly do that?"
"Exactly! He's clearly making things difficult for us."
"I really wish I could transfer to Class Two. I heard their homeroom teacher treats them really well."
Everyone began complaining when they heard the requirement.
Chen Mo wasted no words. He went straight up to collect an Engraving Knife, sat down at a table, and began carefully engraving.
Seeing this, Jing Hongchen nodded in satisfaction.
When the others saw that Chen Mo had already started, they also picked up their engraving knives and got to work.
If the morning's formation configuration class had been addition and subtraction, then the afternoon's practical class was quadratic equations.
It was outrageously difficult.
No matter how much care Chen Mo took, the inscription lines he engraved still came out crooked.
By the time he reached the fifth line, his forehead was covered in sweat.
Seeing this, Jing Hongchen quickly reminded them, "Formation inscriptions can't be carved with an Engraving Knife alone. You also need your martial souls to support the process."
Realization dawned on Chen Mo.
He inwardly cursed himself for being so stupid.
He had actually forgotten about his martial soul.
He quickly activated his martial soul and began engraving again.
This time, his inscription lines were still some way from meeting the requirement of a deviation under one millimeter.
But they were much better than before.
With ten minutes left before the end of class,
Chen Mo finally completed the first Magic Array Core of his life.
After handing it to Jing Hongchen, he was allowed to leave class early.
As Jing Hongchen examined the Magic Array Core, a pleased smile appeared on his lips.
Clearly, Chen Mo's performance had exceeded his expectations.
Although this Magic Array Core was still a long way from being usable,
it was already quite an achievement for a beginner.
Chen Mo's Magic Array Core had eight lines with deviations of less than one millimeter, all neatly engraved.
"Making such a huge platter of dumplings just for this little dish of vinegar wasn't a wasted effort."
"This boy really does have a talent for soul tools."
Jing Hongchen left the classroom in high spirits.
As for the others' Magic Array Cores, they were practically unfit to look at.
Fortunately, however, everyone had completed Jing Hongchen's assignment.
Chen Mo's school life had officially begun.
During the first month, Chen Mo followed the same daily circuit between three places. He cultivated as soon as he got up, then went to the cafeteria for breakfast before heading to Jing Hongchen's class. At noon, he meditated and cultivated, and in the afternoon, he attended practical lessons. After dinner, he returned to his dormitory to cultivate a little more, then went to sleep.
During the second month, under Jing Hongchen's strict instruction, Chen Mo could already engrave a reasonably well-formed Magic Array Core. He had also assembled a model of his first Level 1 soul tool.
By the third month, Chen Mo could engrave Level 1 Magic Array Cores with ease, and nearly all the cores he produced were usable. Even Jing Hongchen couldn't help being surprised by his rapid progress.
Before you continue