Chapter 76: The Crimson Roll Hangs High, Heaven’s Golden Light Bestowed! (Part Two)

After 1919, this timeline diverged completely from the original path of Shi Tiexin’s world, branching into two entirely different roads. In other words, from that point onward, the history here became unique to this world. Shi Tiexin tried studying this unique history, but found it did not advance his progress in the natural sciences, though he could not discern the deeper reason. Nonetheless, Shi Tiexin was deeply intrigued by such differences; with time being tight, he could only glance through a few pages to satisfy his extracurricular curiosity.

“The New Culture Movement?”

Even before the Year of the Mist, the New Culture Movement had already begun to show signs of emergence. In this world, the movement was strengthened and pushed further. Through campaigns to topple the old Confucian village and replace the eight outdated customs with eight new ones, many traditional cultures and forms of address were severed and thoroughly reformed.

“No wonder the students here use different terms than those in my world,” Shi Tiexin mused.

Here, they spoke of elementary, junior high, high school, and university students; there, they referred to young scholars, examinees, academics, and scholars. Here, there were secondary and college entrance exams; there, it was the local preliminary exam and the provincial exam.

The difference in nomenclature stemmed from divergent histories, which bred distinct cultures. People here revered the New Culture, or perhaps a certain degree of Westernization. In Shi Tiexin’s timeline, things were entirely different. There, the ideal was Sinicization—at least for a period, especially in the domains of language and art.

In that world, Old Bai and Old Hei would be mortified not to exchange a few words in Chinese when greeting someone. The root cause lay in the fact that after the Sage’s twelve-day sermon illuminating the world, only the Sinosphere embraced and mastered martial arts at the highest speed and depth. While foreign nations across the sea were still cluelessly shouting “W, T, F” and debating what kind of new weapon this overwhelming noise represented, the eastern country already had people practicing and quickly mastering the art.

A step ahead meant staying ahead in every step. The international balance of power was overturned, and the people of the eastern realm regained their place atop the world, thanks to the treasures of their ancestors. Naturally, they would never destroy the old customs or erect entirely new ones.

For a time, under the instigation of a handful of schemers, a wave of total retrogression nearly swept the eastern state back to a feudal imperial dynasty.

Fortunately, those schemers were eliminated by an anonymous hero.

History books did not record the hero’s name, but it was widely believed that he was the first practitioner in the Mist Era worldwide to break through the Refining stage and enter the Sharpness stage—in other words, the world’s champion at that time.

Surrounded by dozens of gunmen, the hero moved unhindered, slaying one with each stride, leaving no trace behind, shattering the conspiracy of imperial restoration. Thus a legend was born, and the reputation of force arts practitioners was established.

Recalling such times, Shi Tiexin could not help but feel his heart surge.

Compared to the sophisticated and technical mind arts, the straightforward force arts suited Shi Tiexin’s temperament far better. But in this era of exams, one had to study either force or mind arts—otherwise, one would be deemed unskilled and entirely useless.

Since ancient times, martial arts have always been expensive, and mind arts are no exception. Yet, if one truly lacked the means, a person could still learn a bit from the simplest manual, even if only meeting the basic requirements of the first stage. Such a person would not be considered an illiterate and might find some minor employment.

Force arts, however, demanded far more resources. The nourishing essence foods were costly, and at certain critical stages, progress felt like rowing upstream—failing to advance meant falling back. Without breaking through that barrier, one had to retreat. At such times, the nourishing foods were a daily necessity, which Shi Tiexin simply could not afford.

So, no need to overthink—since he had arrived in the world of Zhuangyuan Shi, he might as well let Zhuangyuan Shi lead the way, break through the advanced stage of natural sciences, and rack up points!

Once he achieved mastery in all advanced fields, he could focus entirely on pushing rhetorical studies to their limits. Then, with a single effort, he would reach excellence in the second stage of cultivation. Let’s see who could stand in his way during the local exam!

He would make the fools widen their eyes in astonishment!

With that thought, Shi Tiexin picked up his book and prepared to delve into natural sciences.

Just then, a figure came running from afar, waving and shouting, “Big Brother! Big Brother!”

Hmm? Zhao Qingmiao?

Zhao Qingmiao rushed forward, his face flushed with excitement. “Big Brother, is it true? Is it really you?”

What? What is true? What does he mean by “really me”?

This made no sense—was his rhetorical studies still too poor?

Seeing Shi Tiexin’s bewildered expression, Zhao Qingmiao asked in surprise, “You don’t know?”

Know what?

Without another word, Zhao Qingmiao grabbed Shi Tiexin and pulled him along. “Come, come, this way!”

What? What’s going on?

Apparently, he was being dragged toward a crowd, though that gathering was supposed to be an elite class event.

Zhao Qingmiao, too excited to speak, pressed forward regardless, pulling Shi Tiexin through the crowd’s outer layer. The people ahead turned irritably, intending to curse, but upon seeing a powerful face bearing down from above, quickly fell silent and stepped aside.

Riding on borrowed authority, Zhao Qingmiao hurriedly dragged Shi Tiexin to the very front of the grand red bulletin board, pointing excitedly to the highest spot. “This! This is it! Big Brother, you’re ranked first in the entire school!”

Whoosh—students all around turned their heads in unison, staring at Shi Tiexin, who stood out like a crane among chickens. So this was the legendary top scorer from the so-called “trash class.”

Shi Tiexin ignored them, gazing at the golden letters at the top of the list, finally realizing that this was the place for publishing grades and rankings.

—How extraordinary.

Another consciousness in his mind suddenly trembled—what’s so extraordinary… isn’t it always… like this…

Shi Tiexin scratched his head—no, it’s not like this where I come from. We rarely had proper exams. To be honest, this was my first time taking first place in an assessment or competition. Even as a joint first, it felt quite good. What do you think, Zhuangyuan Shi?

The tremors in the other consciousness grew more intense—I feel… very happy…

A clear, melodious chime rang once again in his mind, accelerating the dissolution of consciousness. That indescribable, exquisite sensation spread from the depths of his spirit, filling every corner of his body.

He seemed to ascend, as if his mortal form of clay was gradually transforming into some higher material. Shi Tiexin could not articulate the feeling, but he was stunned to discover that his Destiny Task 2 had been completed!

No—more precisely, a part of it had been completed. On closer inspection, both destiny tasks were now marked as [Phase Complete].

This so-called phase completion—what could it mean?

Before he could ponder further, another mutation occurred.

Shi Tiexin suddenly saw a beam of golden light descend from the heavens, enveloping him completely.