Chapter 54: Studying the Arts and Practicing Martial Skills—Racing Against Time! (Part Two)

Shi Tiexin was still puzzled as the English teacher droned on at the front of the class, dragging out the lesson. The clock’s hands crept toward the end of the period. Suddenly, his ears picked up the sound of footsteps in the hallway—few in number but strikingly rapid, like ninjas darting past the windows, carrying an air of stealth and speed.

The students poised to bolt at the bell grew visibly agitated at the sound.

"Uh... hmm... time’s almost up..." drawled the English teacher, speaking slowly, sticky as molasses, clearly intent on squeezing in a few more words. Suddenly, the bell rang out, and the corridor erupted in a tide of stampeding footsteps.

"Let me just finish this question—"

Everyone who’d been bracing themselves to leap up was on edge, nearly frantic. Any other time the teacher was never so conscientious—why pick now to be so particular?

"Don’t want to listen anymore? Then..." The teacher deliberately stretched out the word "then," finally waving a hand, "Class dismissed..."

Whoosh!

The instant the words "class dismissed" left her lips, many students had already sprung from stillness into action, bursting from the room like crazed rabbits, each scrambling to be the first out the door.

They accelerated, pushing themselves to their limits, racing at their highest speed as if wild beasts in the struggle for survival—chasing food, freedom, life itself at full tilt!

This was a contest where only victory mattered—nothing else counted. In this race, only those at the front could claim success.

And the first step to victory was being the first to charge out of Class 28’s door.

Everyone was fast, but location mattered. Look, the boy seated nearest the door had a smirk of triumph and mockery—he was closest to the win!

But just then, someone dared challenge his reign.

Who was it?

Zhou Nan—of course, it was Zhou Nan! Even with his bruised and battered face, Zhou Nan, nimble as a swallow and notorious for scaling walls and sneaking off-campus, seemed possessed by the spirit of a sprinter. In a flash, he slipped through the chaos!

No one could block him. His movements were dazzling, as if wings had sprouted beneath his ribs. In a split-second, he ducked and sprinted, dodging the guy ahead and bursting through the door first, plunging into the surging crowd outside!

“What incredible agility,” Shi Tiexin couldn’t help but marvel at Zhou Nan’s dexterity. No wonder he’d managed to escape a beating from four attackers the previous day—he was truly nimble.

But where on earth had he honed such skills?

Shi Tiexin’s curiosity grew, and a sudden intuition made him turn to the window beside him. Peering outside, he finally understood how Zhou Nan had developed his light-footed agility.

Outside, a raging torrent surged.

Shi Tiexin still didn’t fully get why these students acted this way—he hadn’t had the chance to join them in the past two days. But today, he witnessed firsthand the spectacular rush of students stampeding toward the cafeteria—like a pack of wild dogs pouncing on a solitary bone.

And really, think about it: the lunch line stretched as far as the eye could see, and the cafeteria auntie’s ladle shook with every scoop. To eat enough, and to eat on time, you had to fight for every second, every inch!

Outside, cries rang out, brimming with animal fervor.

“Woof, woof, woof, woof—!”

Such spirit, such attitude—truly admirable.

Scenes like this played out twice a day, every noon and evening. Of course, as someone who could lord over others, Shi Tiexin didn’t need to be so tense. By the time he strolled into the cafeteria, Zhou Nan and his four cronies had already secured a prime spot.

“Damn, the teacher ran late and ruined my chances!”

Zhou Nan still fumed at missing out on being the fastest in the whole school—honestly, if he put that kind of energy into studying, he wouldn’t be stuck in the worst class.

After eating, Shi Tiexin took his customary three laps around the track.

From a practical point of view, since only his consciousness had crossed over and not his body, no matter how much he cultivated his vitality here, he probably couldn’t take it back with him. So rather than training physical energy, it might have been better to focus on cultivating mental techniques instead.

But Shi Tiexin still circled the track three times, accumulating three more wisps of primal energy.

He had his reasons.

First, he couldn’t maintain peak concentration on mental work all day—his levels of vitality and mental energy limited his performance. Since he needed breaks to recover his mind, using that time to practice physical techniques made sense.

Second, accumulating primal energy aided his mental cultivation as well. As his primal energy increased, his stamina and focus improved, enabling him to concentrate longer and more effectively—it was sharpening the axe before chopping wood.

And third... How could a man like himself tolerate being this physically weak? Strength techniques were a warrior’s romance—since practicing them here was almost like racing cars, how could he suppress the blaze of his inner warrior’s soul?

A bull-headed warrior never stops training his strength.

So train, old friend!

As expected, interest is the best teacher. This time, while practicing Vitality Cultivation, Shi Tiexin even saw a progress bar appear. By the end of the lunch break, five stars popped up—pushing the progress from “Excellent” to five notches into “Profound,” already nearing the halfway mark.

Not a bad pace at all!

If he had more time, Shi Tiexin would’ve loved to push basic Vitality Cultivation all the way to Profound, or even beyond, just to see what miraculous effects might emerge.

For now, though, he kept at it.

After a midday nap, he was refreshed for the afternoon. He yawned through dinner, napped again at dusk, then wrote furiously through evening self-study. All told, the day’s progress was delightful. Focusing wholeheartedly on cultivation was a tremendous pleasure.

Zhou Nan skipped evening self-study, sneaking out to fetch middle school textbooks for Shi the Boss. Middle school texts weren’t like elementary ones; there were more of them, covering more subjects. Zhou Nan said his secret stash couldn’t cover the cost if he had to buy them all, so he asked if Shi the Boss would mind using his own old textbooks from home, since he lived in the city and could get them tonight.

“Have they been used?” Shi the Boss asked.

If so, the auxiliary secret tome’s durability would be lowered.

Zhou Nan thumped his chest, beaming with pride—“Don’t worry, perfectly brand new, not a word written! Not even a name on the cover. Try finding books as new as mine anywhere else!”

What exactly he was so proud of was anyone’s guess...

Not bothering with Zhou Nan, Shi Tiexin played it smart today—when the time came, he marched straight to the regular self-study room instead of hoping the elite-class guard would always be absent. Reserving a seat in the regular room was the only sensible way.

By the end of the day, he’d completed two whole “Advanced Difficulty” workbooks. Progress soared at meteoric speed. As he sat in the self-study room, the progress bar burst into a brilliant glow.

[Basic Mathematics, First Level Cultivation Progress: Advanced]