Chapter 106: Relying Only on Oneself

Damn it, are all these guys at the Sharpness realm like this? Always threatening to bash people's heads in!

Liu Qigang had essentially issued a direct threat, but this time, Shi Tiexin did not back down. He spoke with a resonant, firm tone: "Director Liu, a single conversation with you is worth ten years of study. As you said, simply listening to your discussion has yielded me a great harvest."

The progress bar for his Polymathy study had been steadily climbing, gaining over forty points in total. Combined with the natural growth he experienced during sleep, his Polymathy had reached eighty points, finally neck-and-neck with his Biology.

To gain so much from just a few sentences—the harvest was truly significant.

"But as for making a loss, you haven't lost anything either."

"Oh? And why is that?"

Shi Tiexin did not hesitate: "Because it offset the insults and offenses against my dignity."

"Hmph!" Liu Qigang let out a scoff. "Your dignity isn't worth that much."

"It may not be worth much right now, but it won't always be this cheap. Your information will depreciate, but my reputation will appreciate. Not only will it rise, but it will rise quickly, becoming more valuable by the day. Until one day, you will realize what a bargain it was to offset your humiliation of me with such meager information. At that moment, you will feel that you got the better deal."

With that, Shi Tiexin picked up his tray and turned to leave, unwilling to spare Liu Qigang another glance.

He held his head high, his spine straight. Although the crushing weight of life had worn him down, smoothing away some of his edges, the integrity deep within his soul had never been extinguished.

After Shi Tiexin left, Si Chongtian watched his receding figure for a long time. He then turned to Liu Qigang and said earnestly, "Uncle Liu, you shouldn't act like that. One shouldn't harbor such notions of superiority or inferiority, or look down on others. All people are equal. If someone provokes you, you are justified in reacting however you see fit. But to speak like that when someone hasn't bothered you at all? That is going too far."

Liu Qigang remained indifferent. "You have your ideas, and I have mine. A strong person does not care about the words of the weak. Much like the so-called rules and etiquette at a dinner table—they are all nonsense. Those in high positions make the rules as they play, while those in low positions can only smile and tread carefully. Today, I am stronger than you, so what I say goes. When you are stronger than me one day, then what you say will go."

Si Chongtian insisted, "Is the world really just about strength?"

Liu Qigang replied as if it were obvious, "Of course, that is how the world works. If you don't like it, you must become strong—stronger, stronger than anyone else—to change it. If your Sharpness is at its peak, you can influence a factory. If your Battle Energy is heaven-shaking, you can change a city. If you ascend to the Fourth Heaven, you can participate in politics and propose laws."

"If you soar to the Fifth Heaven, or even further to become a Saint, you can make your own rules apply to the entire world, just like the Saint of Origins. That is far more efficient than going around and arguing with people. So, what matters most for you right now is to accumulate and prepare, until the day comes when you have no more room to store your power and must release it—shattering your inner refinement and piercing the heavens in a single thought."

With that, Liu Qigang left. He believed that his actions would reach the ears of Si Chongtian’s father, who would surely appreciate the guidance he had provided to his son.

As soon as Liu Qigang departed, the workers began casting sidelong glances at Si Chongtian, wondering about the background of this soft-skinned, pampered youth. A figure approached him with a hesitant but sycophantic demeanor—it was Old Wei.

"Young Master, is there anything you are dissatisfied with?" Old Wei’s face crinkled into a smile like a blooming chrysanthemum. "I don't have many great skills, but I can certainly help you handle things here at work!"

When Si Chongtian arrived today, Old Wei had been enthusiastic, having heard the boy had connections. But he hadn't expected the connections to be this vast. Even the high-and-mighty Director Liu had personally stooped to visit the workers' canteen to find him—surely this young master’s status was incredibly noble?

This was a legitimate person of status!

If he didn't suck up now, what kind of old social dog would he be? Perhaps if he pleased him enough, it would become the turning point of his career.

And so, Old Wei’s expression became even more fawning.

But as Si Chongtian looked at Old Wei’s chrysanthemum-like face, he suddenly felt a sense of weariness. Looking around, he saw such expressions everywhere, and the more he saw, the more it proved that Liu Qigang was right.

It was truly suffocating.

Oh, wait—there were still some who were not like this.

"Supervisor Wei."

"I don't deserve such a title! Please, just call me Old Wei. What are your instructions, Young Master?"

Seeing Old Wei behaving like a lapdog, Si Chongtian’s resolve hardened. Even if he wanted to experience the life of the working class at the bottom, he had to choose his targets for observation and learning carefully; he must never associate with sycophants and flatterers.

Those who could not stand tall in front of him were truly not his equals.

Thus, Si Chongtian stiffened his expression and donned the aura of a superior for the first time: "Very well, Old Wei. I want to change my assignment..."

Elsewhere, Shi Tiexin had returned to the Earthwood Fortress.

He went straight to his bedroom and, without a word, took out paper and pen to write furiously on his desk. The stories in pulp literature about meeting noble benefactors and rising to wealth and power were all lies. Where were all these kind-hearted benefactors? The likes of Old Wei, who fawned on the powerful and trampled the weak, and Liu Qigang, who looked down on everyone—this was the true reality of the world.

He should have been used to this since he was a child.

He analyzed it rationally: he shouldn't have spoken out so rashly. If he had actually come into conflict with Liu Qigang, the consequences would have been unpredictable. To endure in silence, to remember in silence, to avoid making grand claims, and to focus steadily on his own work—that was the optimal strategy for this stage.

But, but... logic was one thing, and emotions were another!

Who the hell wants to be looked down upon like that?

Who the hell wants to be targeted like that?

No, to be precise, Liu Qigang wasn't just targeting him. In his eyes, everyone in the Orphanage, including all the workers at the Meat Packing Plant, and even all the readers of pulp literature, were trash.

"Become stronger, become stronger, become stronger!"

Shi Tiexin gritted his teeth, pouring all his pent-up fury into his writing. His brush strokes were a struggle against the suffocating reality. Sweat dripped down his face, but he didn't notice. He glared at the paper, venting every emotion through his pen.

Three hours later, he set down his brush and stood up.

*Snap.* A star flew over, and the earth shook.

Ninety-eight. Only one tick left until the limit.

One more tick, and he could use the Golden Light of Heaven's Gift to empower his mind, laying a perfect foundation for the first level of Basic Rhetoric!

"Sleep!"

Without a moment's delay, Shi Tiexin showered, cooled off, and closed his eyes to sleep.

In his dreams, the Scholar Stone and the Big Brother Steel worked together with heart and soul, soaring upward without pause.

I, Shi Tiexin, cannot rely on others; I must rely on myself.

The Scholar Stone is me—the other me.