"So hungry."
Qian Shen rubbed his stomach, completely indifferent to the paintings around him. He wanted food, not art. He'd just finished a body-forging tutoring session and rushed over. His stomach felt like a bottomless pit. He could eat an entire ox.
"I'm going to find something to eat."
He excused himself from his classmates and set off through the exhibition. His companions didn't think it strange. Cultivators who trained day and night, forging their bodies relentlessly, needed far more nutrition than ordinary people. Their appetites were monstrous.
Someone like Qian Shen — who cultivated twenty-four hours a day without rest — ate even more. His private tutor worried about his appetite if he only ate five meals a day.
Then Qian Shen's eyes locked onto the buffet table. He strode over, grabbed a plate of shrimp, and wolfed it down in a few bites. But he frowned.
"Why is this so nutritionally worthless?"
As a top student at Songyang High — the perpetual second place — Qian Shen's success came from talent, effort, and, most importantly, money. His family was wealthy. To maximize his cultivation results, especially body-forging effects, his daily diet was packed with Daoist nutritional elements.
For a score supremacist like him, taste was secondary. If it didn't improve his cultivation efficiency, it was irrelevant.
The buffet's seafood was something he could easily afford at home. But spending money merely to satisfy his appetite? A waste of time and stomach capacity.
Seafood, fine dining — if it couldn't raise your score, it was garbage.
He scanned the buffet for alternatives and flagged down a server. "Is there anything else available for food cultivation purposes?"
"Everything edible is right here. Take what you want."
The voice was cold. Qian Shen frowned and looked up — into a familiar face.
He stared at the server's uniform. "You work here?"
"Yeah." Bai Zhenzhen's expression was blank. "Anything else?"
Qian Shen frowned deeper. "Are you short on money? Just sign with the Student Council. Wasting your time on a pointless job like this will only drag down your cultivation path."
He sighed, genuinely emotional. "When I eventually surpass you, it won't mean anything if you've held yourself back."
In Qian Shen's mind, Bai Zhenzhen was his sole rival — the only person in their grade who could beat his total score. He assumed she felt the same. The next three years would be their battlefield. Two geniuses, pushing each other to break limits, eventually ascending to top universities together.
Bai Zhenzhen replied flatly, "Are you teaching me how to live?"
Before Qian Shen could respond, she continued. "A guy with barely 600 total score wants to teach me — 650 — how to live?"
The raw score discrimination hit Qian Shen like a freight train. As a devout believer in the supremacy of numbers, his aura instantly shrank. That 50-point gap loomed over him like a mountain falling from the sky.
*You have a higher score. You're right.*
In that moment, Bai Zhenzhen's head seemed to glow with three shining digits — 650 — radiating an oppressive pressure that crushed every word of rebuttal from his throat.
Bai Zhenzhen frowned. "Why do you keep looking at the top of my head when you talk to me?"
Qian Shen snorted and turned away.
*Just wait, Bai Zhenzhen. Keep wasting your time like this, and I'll surpass you soon enough.*
He'd barely taken three steps when he nearly collided with two security guards — Zhang Yu, dragging a reluctant Zhao Tianxing behind him. Zhang Yu had spotted the tension and come to investigate.
Qian Shen recognized them despite the uniforms. "550 and 580?"
Zhang Yu blinked. Then it clicked — 550 was his own score from last month's exam. And 580 must be Zhao Tianxing's.
*This guy only sees scores. Can't even remember his classmates' names. Another study-crazed maniac.*
In truth, Qian Shen didn't just forget names. Anyone scoring below 550 simply didn't register as a person. They were NPCs. Why bother remembering? The 550 in front of him was barely a sub-human in his eyes. Based on his observations, this one would likely drop below 550 next month. After that, even remembering the score would be unnecessary.
Seeing their security uniforms, Qian Shen shook his head. "Why are you two working part-time too?"
Facing two sub-600s, his confidence — freshly crushed by the 650 — rebounded instantly. "You two should be studying and cultivating every spare moment. Why waste time here?"
Zhang Yu shrugged. "You're here too."
Qian Shen chuckled, confident. "I specifically rescheduled my tutoring session today to come comprehend the Celestial Combat Painting's supreme martial art."
"Right," Zhang Yu said. "We're here to comprehend it too."
He paused. "And we're getting paid eight hundred an hour while we're at it. Earning money AND comprehending a divine martial art — pretty good deal, right?"
Qian Shen paused. Something shifted behind his eyes. *A 550 actually made a decent point?*
He looked at Zhang Yu. "550. I'll remember you."
"My name is Zhang Yu!" He glanced at his own forehead. "Why do you keep staring at the top of my head?"
But Qian Shen recovered. "Wait — you two think you can comprehend the Celestial Combat Painting?"
Zhao Tianxing felt the weight of gathering stares and Qian Shen's disdainful gaze pressing down. His cheeks flushed. "No, no — I'm not trying to comprehend anything."
Qian Shen ignored him. He shook his head with theatrical pity. "The Celestial Combat Painting was painted by a Golden Core master. The martial art hidden inside is designed to screen for true geniuses. Even I'm not certain I can master it. Let alone you?"
He lost interest and walked away.
Zhao Tianxing's expression turned bitter. Not only had Qian Shen seen him in a security uniform, but Zhang Yu's big talk had made it seem like Zhao Tianxing wanted to comprehend the painting too.
*This is so humiliating. I'll never live this down.*
Zhang Yu, blissfully free of Zhao Tianxing's spiral of shame, turned to Bai Zhenzhen. "Everything okay? You and Qian Shen don't get along?"
Bai Zhenzhen shrugged. "I'm fine. Most of the time, he just humiliates himself."
She studied Zhang Yu with an odd look. "You're planning to comprehend the Celestial Combat Painting?"
When Zhang Yu nodded without hesitation, she thought, *Yu's gone. The debt has finally broken his mind. With his level — he wants to comprehend a martial art left by a Golden Core True Person?*
Zhao Tianxing tugged Zhang Yu's sleeve, desperate to leave. But Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were exchanging looks. She slipped a plate of seafood into his hands.
"Old Zhao, want some?"
"The captain said we can't eat the buffet!" Zhao Tianxing hissed, shielding Zhang Yu with his body.
Zhang Yu waved him off. "Zhenzhen works here. We're just skimming a little off the company."
As Zhang Yu sampled the shrimp, a voice came from behind Zhao Tianxing.
"What are you two doing?"
Zhao Tianxing jumped. But when he saw it was Zhou Tianyi — their classmate — he exhaled. Somehow, he was already getting used to being seen in uniform by classmates.
Zhang Yu raised an eyebrow. "Old Zhou, you're here too?"
Zhou Tianyi grinned. "Yeah, came with Qian Shen and the others."
"I didn't see you earlier."
Zhou Tianyi deflected. "Heh. How did you end up here?"
They compared notes. Zhao Tianxing urged Zhang Yu to resume patrol, but Zhou Tianyi leaned in with a conspiratorial gleam.
"I've got some gossip about a Golden Core True Person. Interested?"
Zhang Yu's eyes lit up, but Zhao Tianxing interjected. "The captain's asking in the group chat where we are..."
Zhang Yu nodded. "Work first. Tell us next time."
But as they turned to leave, Zhou Tianyi called after them.
"Starfire True Person had half his cultivation confiscated after he resigned. That's why he's retreating to Layer 1."
Zhang Yu and Zhao Tianxing stopped cold. Turned around.
Bai Zhenzhen didn't look over, but her ears perked up.
Zhou Tianyi smiled, enjoying the attention. "A Golden Core cultivator can live up to 400 years. Starfire True Person is 350. The Wanfa Sect... optimized him."
"When he left, they reclaimed half his cultivation base. He couldn't afford the cost of living on the upper layers anymore. So he's coming back to Kunxu Layer 1 to focus on training descendants and grooming disciples."
Zhang Yu was stunned all over again by this garbage world. *They confiscate half your cultivation when you quit?*
Zhou Tianyi spoke as if it were the most natural thing. "The sect raised him. Gave him the opportunity and resources to form his Golden Core. Returning half when you leave — isn't that normal?"
Before anyone could respond, a ripple of excitement swept through the crowd. Someone whispered, "Ms. Li is here. The Celestial Combat Painting is about to be unveiled."