Life was simple yet fulfilling. He improved every day, and Chen Mu was deeply intoxicated by the joy of it.
As the story unfolded, the price of The Legend of the Mecha Master Card Films was driven higher and higher. Lei Zi no longer showed his face in public. He put the Card Films on the open consignment market, then spread the word. Shopkeepers and students who heard the news flocked there to stake it out. This greatly improved their safety; tracing a seller through the consignment market was simply impossible. More importantly, this sales method could raise the price substantially. Neither Lei Zi nor Chen Mu would ever complain about earning too much.
Chen Mu's control over his perception had become remarkably deft, which directly led to a great increase in his efficiency. He finished three hundred Card Films in very little time, prompting Lei Zi to exclaim that he was a card-making machine.
After finishing the Card Films, Chen Mu plunged straight back into Simple Water World to battle the aquatic weeds. He could now break free of eight strands. What amazed even him was how fast he could sprint now-he was practically a match for a cheetah. Over distances within three meters in particular, he was as fast as lightning. Sometimes his body even moved faster than his mind.
His perception range had expanded to 4.9 meters, leaving him just 0.1 meters short of five. Yet that last 0.1 meters seemed impossibly distant, refusing to shrink in the slightest. After his earlier soul-searching, Chen Mu had set his attitude straight and felt no urgency. He simply continued the Untangling Game with meticulous care.
Since worrying does no good, why bother? Do everything you can as well as you can, and the result will naturally be the best possible. If even then the result isn't satisfactory, that just means it wasn't yours to claim.
"Is it ready?" Wang Ze asked. The room was filled with exchange students from Star Academy. By the original schedule, they should have returned to Star Academy long ago, but they had approached East Guard Academy's administrators and requested an extension. East Guard Academy could not have wished for anything better and immediately agreed.
Yin Chenjiu adjusted his glasses and nodded. "It's ready. I've already sent it back to the academy. The principal should have received it by now." Then he asked hesitantly, "Senior, what exactly are we looking for? Or rather, what are we doing? To be honest, I think this academy is far too ordinary, and its students are far too weak. There's no value in us staying here."
The other students all looked as though they wholeheartedly agreed. They were outstanding students at their own academy, and naturally resented doing something they considered utterly meaningless.
Wang Ze's gaze abruptly sharpened. "I know you're all very puzzled," he said gravely, "but this isn't something you should be asking about. You need to understand one thing: we aren't here to tour the mountains and enjoy the scenery."
Just then, the Wrist Device on his arm suddenly rang. He looked down and saw that it was the principal. He had only just sent the information, and the principal was already calling him. Could the principal have discovered something?
He drew a deep breath and connected the call. The principal quietly gave him a few instructions, and wild delight immediately appeared on the normally composed Wang Ze's face. After the call ended, Wang Ze relayed the news from the principal to Yin Chenjiu and the others.
Cheers immediately erupted from the exchange students' dormitory. East Guard Academy students passing outside turned their heads, looking surprised.
The year 3485 of the Fang Calendar was destined to be a year in which Star Academy shone brilliantly. Known for its conservatism, Star Academy changed its strategy and began venturing beyond its grounds. East Guard Academy, a school no one had heard of, entered the public eye because of Star Academy.
That autumn, another major event shook the entire Federation, and once again, Star Academy took center stage.
For the first time in ten years, someone had finally emerged from Star Academy's Inner Academy. The news struck like a blockbuster bomb, sending unprecedented shock waves through the Federation. For ten consecutive days, every news outlet focused on the event. The shares of any corporation with even the slightest connection to Star Academy immediately soared.
Everyone knew that Star Academy had finally awakened after ten years of slumber.
Yet after releasing the news, Star Academy suddenly kept a low profile. No matter how people inquired, they could not discover who this genius was-the only person to emerge from the Inner Academy in ten years. Some even suspected the news was false, but the excitement overflowing from the faces of Star Academy's students proved it was no fabrication. Star Academy, already deeply mysterious in the public mind, became more mysterious still.
Soon, as though compelled by the pressure Star Academy had brought to bear, the other five of the Six Great Academies responded in turn. Whether it was the ever-aggressive Desert Camp, the traditionally moderate Zhongda Academy and Federation Comprehensive Academy, or even Bitter Solitude Temple and Frostmoon Cold Isle, which were almost cut off from the outside world, all took a series of measures.
All manner of activities sprang up one after another, but they shared one thing in common: a high profile.
As the Six Great Academies wrestled with one another, the other schools acted with remarkable unanimity. They all watched coldly from the sidelines; they were not yet qualified to wade into these muddy waters.
The greatest beneficiary of this event, however, was East Guard Academy. It had been nothing more than an utterly ordinary school, but thanks to Star Academy, countless people came to know its name, and its fame spread far and wide.
None of this meant anything to Chen Mu or Lei Zi, however. Chen Mu immersed himself wholeheartedly in Simple Water World, while Lei Zi was wrestling with the script for the next installment of The Legend of the Mecha Master. Though Lei Zi was irreverent toward the world, he was meticulous when writing scripts.
Aquatic weeds wrapped Chen Mu from head to toe, making him look exactly like a green rice dumpling. This was already the final stage, and nearly all the weeds nearby had wound themselves around him. Their tremendous binding force enveloped him tightly. In this state, never mind breaking free-even bending a finger was no easy task.
Chen Mu had already failed the final stage three hundred and fifty-two times. Yet on his latest attempt, he had come within a hair of breaking free. Who could have known that his breath would falter at the very last moment, leaving all his effort undone one step from the summit?
He rested for half an hour, fully replenishing his strength. He was about to make his three hundred and fifty-third attempt at the final stage.
He planted both feet and bowed his body slightly, though so many weeds covered him that the curve of his arched back was completely hidden.
His feet suddenly drove hard against the ground, and he lunged forward, seemingly about to pitch headfirst into the sand. Suddenly, Chen Mu's upper body snapped upward like a snake raising its head, while his waist and back bent backward.
Chen Mu's waist and spine were like a spring brimming with tension, flexible beyond belief. His feet remained firmly rooted in the sand, his legs bent forward, and his waist and back arched backward in an extraordinarily strange posture. Between that sudden surge and check, the weeds' force weakened considerably, finally giving Chen Mu a sliver of room.
With a muffled grunt, Chen Mu's backward-curving waist and back snapped forward like a spring bent to its limit and suddenly released, striking as fast as lightning.
An arch, a bend, a snap-the sudden explosive force was astonishing. At the same moment, Chen Mu drove hard with both legs. How could the weeds hold him any longer? He forcibly tore free of most of them, then twisted strangely like a swimming fish, slipping free of the few strands still wrapped around him.
The force unleashed in that instant was so fierce that even Chen Mu could not control his body. He shot forward like an arrow and plunged headfirst into the sand.
Before he could pull his head out of the sand, that aged voice sounded beside his ear.
(End of chapter)