I Just Wanted to Live, but I Somehow Became Better Than the Main Character - Chapter 14: Gifting Mental Art

After years of exile, Marcus is coming back home. A powerful mage with few equals, Marcus lives in a world full of monsters and powerful adepts, many of which have bad histories with him. But he has not come back to pursue vengeance or start a fight. All Marcus wants to do is reconnect with old friends, build himself a house, and maybe train a successor or two.Alas, the world didn’t stop just because Marcus went into exile, and not everyone is content to let go of old grievances. Strange things are happening in the world at large, too, hinting at a looming disaster of unknown nature. Still, where there is a will, there is a way.If nothing else, Marcus has a lot of magical power to throw at problems.+++Zenith of Sorcery is set in its own original setting and isn’t related to Mother of Learning… beyond being written by the same person, of course. This is a more classical fantasy story than my previous one, with a lower level of technology and stuff like elves and dwarves, but it has a lot of worldbuilding effort put into it and its own complex magical system. The story has significant xianxia influences, but isn’t meant to be a xianxia story.For those of you not familiar with my previous work, I write relatively slowly. I intend to publish chapters at the rate of one chapter every three or four weeks, subject to further delays as life intervenes.

“We live in a world of gliphs. The left arm chamber, right arm chamber, left leg chamber, right leg chamber, wind chamber and the heart chamber. These are the six chambers of gliph that represent a glipher’s quality.”

In his previous life, he was the best metalsmith on the continent; even the most powerful fighters came to him for weapons. He was no doubt a powerful man, but sadly, his incapability to retaliate left him at the mercy of others.

Chui Yim, once dead, reincarnated into the world of gliphs, accompanied by Heaven’s Flame. However, the violent introduction of Heaven’s Flame crippled his heart chamber.

Born with a heart deficiency, he was unable to perform strenuous exercise, let alone engage in physical fights. As such, his father who worked as a doctor made him study hard and sent him to the Riding Clouds Academy, where he met a close friend who was escaping from his family’s mu*derer.

Determined to write his own destiny, Chui Yim vowed to break limits and take up the path of a cultivator.

Crimson Vale Academy—where reputation is currency, and failure is a stain you wear on your sleeve.Behind gothic walls and spotless uniforms, students aren't just educated—they're measured, ranked, and pitted against each other in a brutal meritocracy. Privileges are earned, not given. The strong rise. The weak vanish.Enter Kairon Vale, a transfer student marked Rank D—the bottom of the bottom. No badge. Just a stitched black fang, branding him as “Obsidian”—a warning to others.In a system where points dictate your value, Obsidian-ranked students claw for every opportunity to ascend into the prestigious Golden or Platinum ranks—where comfort, power, and influence await. But for most, it’s a losing battle.Yet Kairon isn’t here to fit in, impress, or play by their rules. Cold, calculating, and impossible to read, he watches the system… and waits. Because while the academy judges worth by numbers and names—he understands something deeper:Everyone wears a mask. And every mask can be cracked.Let the games begin.