Chapter 40: Striding Further Along the Path of Academic Excellence

Chen Meng followed the old man’s instructions and began rummaging around in the back room.

He searched for quite a while but found only a few high school textbooks that might have belonged to Mo Xiaoyi. As for ancient martial arts manuals, there wasn’t a single one in sight.

“Old man, there’s nothing here!” Chen Meng shouted from the back, tossing the textbooks aside.

The old man was about to leave, but upon hearing Chen Meng’s call, he rode his little electric scooter straight to the back room and looked around. “I remember they used to be stacked on the west side of the narrow table back here. Search again.”

Chen Meng pointed at the empty table. Did he think I was blind?

The old man noticed as well and pointed in another direction. “Check under the table—the square one. See if what’s propping up the table leg is what you’re looking for.”

Chen Meng glanced over and, sure enough, there were two yellowed books wedged under the table leg. To think they’d been used to prop up furniture—who on earth did that? What a waste.

“But there are only two books!” Chen Meng picked them up without even checking the titles. This was the “several” the old man had mentioned—did he have a strange idea about what “several” meant?

The old man thought for a moment and suddenly recalled, “Maybe someone else took the rest. Oh, I remember—there were a few more left in the bathroom out back. I don’t know if they’re still there, but you can have a look.”

The bathroom?

Chen Meng remembered there was indeed a bathroom out back, but it was just a squat toilet, and at least a month had passed since anyone had cleaned it. It was so filthy that the first time he’d looked in, he’d turned right around and eventually gone to use the school facilities instead.

“Who’s so devoted that they’d read in the bathroom?” Chen Meng muttered, somewhat admiringly, and immediately thought of Mo Xiaoyi.

Without further ado, he hurried off toward the bathroom, pinching his nose as he opened the door. He immediately spotted half of a yellowed book propped against the side wall.

Why only half? Because the other half had been torn out and thrown into the wastepaper basket, now stained with yellowed marks.

“Who did this?” Chen Meng almost shouted. He’d thought someone had left a book in the bathroom to read, but it was obvious now—the book had been used as toilet paper.

As for the half that remained, he couldn’t bring himself to touch it; it was simply too filthy, and a swarm of flies was already gathering on it.

“Old man, who did this? I’m going to fight them!” Chen Meng stormed out, shouting at the old man, fuming with anger.

The old man shook his head. “I don’t know. No one’s bought toilet paper for ages. Keep looking—if you find something, read it; if not, that’s all there is.”

Chen Meng was speechless. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. “Those are ancient martial arts manuals, martial techniques! How could you let them be treated like this? This is supposed to be a martial arts school—don’t you think this is wrong?”

The old man fell silent at these words.

After a moment, he looked at Chen Meng and offered a helpless smile. “Everyone practices Divine Body techniques now. Ancient martial arts… are nothing but a joke.”

With those words, he ignored Chen Meng and rode off on his little electric scooter.

Chen Meng was silent as well. The old man’s words made it clear: ancient martial arts had become a relic of the past.

Afterward, Chen Meng tried analyzing Ghoststep Lotus, and for the first time in ages, the analysis progress bar began to move.

“So the old man’s explanations really do help the analysis progress,” he muttered, feeling satisfied. But after spending ten knowledge points, he’d only managed to raise the progress to six percent.

He glanced at his stats, feeling a bit dispirited.

Knowledge points: 20
Pages turned: University Runes (0/1998), High School Alchemy (602/909), High School Forging (0/712)
Analysis progress: Ghoststep Lotus (6%), Hidden Spear (44%)
...

That evening, after returning from tutoring, Chen Meng leafed through the only two remaining ancient martial arts manuals. One was called Mountain-Lifting Technique, the other Iron Shirt.

The Mountain-Lifting Technique was essentially a method for strengthening one’s grip—lifting mountains was, of course, impossible, but once mastered, your hands became like eagle claws, and grabbing anything was effortless. The Iron Shirt, on the other hand, was purely defensive—mastering it greatly improved your resistance to blows.

The manuals included detailed instructions. Chen Meng understood them at a glance—there was no need to expend knowledge points to learn them. Besides, his “pages turned” section didn’t have space for these books.

After reading them, he started to understand the old man’s point. Ancient martial arts really did seem outdated. Now that Divine Body techniques were mainstream, what use was there in learning these old methods?

Divine Body techniques could be paired with runes to control the body’s energy, unleashing powerful attacks, whereas ancient martial arts were nothing more than physical skills, many of which required grueling training. Time spent learning them would be better invested in Divine Body techniques.

It was only people like Chen Meng—ordinary folk who hadn’t yet advanced to Divine Body status—who still came to the martial arts school.

“Ah, ancient martial arts really aren’t what they used to be.”

He couldn’t help but sigh. In a new era, some old things simply can’t keep up.

...

“Son, what are you reading?” His mother, hearing that Chen Meng was home, came out as usual to check on him.

Chen Meng smiled. “Just picked up a couple of books on the way home. I’m flipping through them to see what they’re about. Mom, you don’t have to wait up for me every night. You have to work and get up early to cook—you should rest more.”

“No, that won’t do. Your father sleeps like a log, and if I don’t wait up, what if something happens to you at night and you don’t come home? We wouldn’t even know.” His mother spoke earnestly. “Don’t worry, I’ll go to bed as soon as I know you’re home safe.”

“Alright then,” Chen Meng replied.

“Oh, by the way, around seven or eight this evening, someone from the National Bureau of Statistics came by for the census. You weren’t home, so your father and I registered your information for you,” his mother added casually. “It’s been years since the last census—now they’re doing it again. I wonder if the population has grown by a few hundred million this time.”

“Maybe so. The government’s been encouraging people to have more kids,” Chen Meng replied with a smile, thinking no more of it.

...

The next day, someone sought out Chen Meng—his forging teacher, an elderly man named Xu Shan.

Xu Shan found Chen Meng and addressed him sternly. “Chen Meng, you scored over 130 in Runes class, and in Alchemy, when you said you’d get ninety, you got ninety. I hear you want to apply to Jiangdu University—that’s some ambition. But in my Forging class, you’ve never even passed an exam. Do you have a problem with me? If you do, you can tell me. If there’s anything wrong with my teaching, I can change—how about that?”

Chen Meng was startled. Was Teacher Xu having a fit today?

“Teacher, there’s nothing wrong with your teaching—I’ll change, not you.”

“If you say there’s nothing wrong with my teaching, then next time, score at least a passing grade. No—since you’re aiming for Jiangdu University, passing isn’t enough. Next time, make it at least 120.”

One hundred and twenty? Chen Meng was dumbfounded. Only the top ten students in the class usually manage that, and he hadn’t even started on Forging—asking him to get 120 was basically asking for his life.

“Teacher, 120 is way too much.” Chen Meng pulled a face. This Forging teacher was really something.

“So you do have a problem with me. Then call your parents here. Clearly, there’s a misunderstanding between us. With your parents present, I’ll apologize to you in person—how about that?” Xu Shan said, his face serious, which startled Chen Meng.

If he apologized to me, my parents would think something terrible happened—I’d be in big trouble.

This wily old man—he’s really devious.

“Sigh, what’s your parents’ phone number? I’ll call them right now.”

“Teacher, 120—fine, 120. It’s a deal.” Chen Meng gritted his teeth. To avoid calling his parents in, he’d just have to give it everything he had and master High School Forging before the next test.

“Settled, then. We’ll have the test next Monday, and I’ll be writing the questions myself—they won’t be too hard.” Xu Shan said, but from the look in his eyes, Chen Meng felt he was being anything but sincere.

As Xu Shan left, Chen Meng could only sigh inwardly.

Looks like I’m destined to walk further and further down the path of the academic elite. What a helpless fate!