"Strength has a thousand twists and turns, and qi changes in a hundred ways. Foundation Establishment means shaping the body with qi, erecting a spirit platform, then forging a spirit well and gathering spiritual energy within it. By circulating it with the right technique, you can keep strengthening yourself."
Evan Lin exhaled a mouthful of turbid air and slowly opened his eyes.
The sword-like currents of qi around him faded completely as Evan opened his eyes.
"This Grand Dao Foundation Art can actually gather new spiritual energy just by running the technique. On Earth, that's a pretty neat trick."
Evan slowly got up.
After digesting all five Nourishing Spirit Pills, plus the boost from the Grand Dao Foundation Art, Evan's spirit well in his dantian was now about a quarter full of spiritual energy.
This spiritual energy was incredibly precious. That’s exactly why Evan’s strength had stayed stuck at early Foundation Establishment for so long.
Evan got up and opened the door. Big Tank was already waiting outside, having prepared a meal.
Evan ate a quick bite, then headed out.
Brightsea City at night—by now it was 7 p.m. The streets were packed, with lots of outsiders mixed in, and quite a few people radiating a fierce energy.
Clearly, these people had all come for the upcoming battle between Morgan Yang and Master Lin on Thousand-Saints Mountain.
"Nothing urgent tonight. Might as well go see Old Man Liu. To be honest, he never treated me all that well before, but he was always a serious, responsible teacher."
Back in the early days of high school, Evan’s grades were terrible all around. Old Man Liu was famous for being strict and old-fashioned, so he was always frustrated with Evan, angry that he wasn’t living up to his potential.
But when Old Man Liu saw Evan’s talent in math, he immediately signed him up for the Olympiad and personally took him to see Professor Gordon Gu for extra tutoring.
All in all, Old Man Liu wasn’t like those teachers who acted one way in public and another in private. He was worth respecting.
Old Man Liu’s place was in an older, somewhat remote apartment complex. It was quiet, though, and Evan had been there once before.
Before coming over, Evan bought some fruit. He arrived at Old Man Liu’s door and knocked.
"Who is it?"
A moment later, the door opened. Old Man Liu, wearing glasses, saw Evan standing outside. That normally stern face broke into a rare smile. "Oh, it’s you, Evan Lin. Come on in."
"When did you get back? How’s school going in, uh, Jinnan?"
Old Man Liu walked back into the room, hands behind his back, asking questions as he went.
"Pretty good. I just got to Brightsea today, so I thought I’d drop by and see you," Evan nodded.
When he entered, he saw two people already sitting inside.
A boy and a girl.
Evan didn’t recognize the guy, but his looks and vibe just screamed 'top student.' Especially the way he sized Evan up when he walked in—like he was sizing up an intruder.
The girl was wearing a pink down jacket and cat-ear earmuffs. She was cute, with a touch of innocence.
At first, she didn’t look up when she heard footsteps, just kept working on her problems. Only when the footsteps came closer did she finally raise her head for a look.
That one glance made her freeze. "Evan Lin?"
"Long time no see." Evan looked at Mia Chen and nodded—a casual greeting.
"Mia, you guys know each other?"
Hearing Evan and Mia talk, the boy—who looked a bit like a cool anime basketball ace—immediately shot Evan a wary look.
"We were in the same class," Mia nodded.
She looked at Evan with a strange expression.
Ever since Evan transferred to Jinnan after summer break, she hadn’t heard anything about him. For some reason, that left her feeling a bit empty inside.
She still remembered that day—after Evan confessed to Rachel Liu and got KO’d in one punch by Buck Niu on the playground, making a total fool of himself at Brightsea No. 2, he suddenly ran up to her and invited her to walk home together.
It seemed like from that day on, Evan Lin from Class 7, Grade 2 at Brightsea No. 2, started changing. He shook off his old cowardice and even dared to go head-to-head with Trevor Liu.
"Oh," the boy nodded when he heard that.
"They’re here for math tutoring—college entrance exams are coming up," Old Man Liu explained to Evan with a grin. Then he asked, "How’d you do on the recent Hundred-School Joint Exam?"
"The whole test’s out of 750. How many points do you think you’ll get?"
Old Man Liu wasn’t one for beating around the bush.
Professor Gordon Gu had already discussed with Old Man Liu about recruiting Evan Lin for the Huaqing math department.
If Evan hadn’t come by, Old Man Liu was planning to call him in the next few days to check in.
"This test paper was pretty tough. You must be a strong student, right?" The boy glanced at Evan, lips curling slightly. "After the exam, Mia and I compared answers. She should get about 610, I’ll probably get around 630."
"You should score even higher, right?"
He sounded modest enough, but he was clearly trying to put Evan in his place.
Evan’s arrival had obviously made Mia Chen’s mood shift, and the boy noticed.
That shift annoyed him.
Mia looked at Evan seriously. "You may not be in Class 7 anymore, but I was your old class monitor. I really hope you get a good score."
"This paper was tough, so don’t get discouraged if it didn’t go well. Your math is a big advantage."
Mia looked at Evan with real conviction as she spoke.
In her mind, Evan was the guy who’d stood up to Trevor Liu and even Liu Tianxia at Brightsea No. 2, when nobody else dared.
He’d gotten braver, but when it came to grades, Mia still thought Evan was pretty hopeless.
Except for that out-of-nowhere first place in the Olympiad, his other subjects were all a mess.
And before he transferred to Jinnan, Evan hadn’t even taken the final exams at school.
Hearing Mia and the boy, Evan glanced at them and said calmly, "You really don’t have to worry about me. The test wasn’t all that hard."
"Not all that hard?"
The boy raised his eyebrows, Mia frowned. Both thought Evan was just bragging.
"I haven’t even bothered to estimate my score."
That line made the boy openly sneer, while Mia sighed softly.
Saying the test wasn’t hard, but not estimating his score? That just sounded like an excuse to cover up a low mark.
"But if you really want to know, I’d say I probably..."
Evan paused mid-sentence, and for some reason, Mia felt a little nervous.
—