Chapter 95: Chapter 96: Provincial Capital Student

The big fish won’t take the bait.

But the small fry come to stir up trouble.

Chen Che held his bowl, watching his uncle’s family walk into the distance, his eyes filled with a cold sneer.

’Look at the big picture?’

’What a naive thought.’

’They didn’t even bother with the word "borrow." They just opened their mouths and demanded it as a "gift"!’

’If they had actually treated me well, giving away a few mere Spirit Fields would have been fine. I’d just consider it repaying a favor.’

’But the key is, this family would eat you alive and not even spit out the bones...’

’Do they deserve it?’

As he thought this, his gaze shifted back to the corpse on the ground, now burned to a pile of ash.

’What exactly is Li Hong trying to do? Doesn’t he know this will only make me more vigilant? Or is he trying to use these people to lull me into a false sense of security, only to strike when I let my guard down? Or maybe... he’s just using this cannon fodder to continuously probe my strength?’

Chen Che mulled it over, trying to figure out his opponent’s intentions.

But one thing was certain:

Li Hong’s move was a clever one, allowing him to seize the initiative.

’Since you won’t take the bait, I’m done playing your game.’

The world remained a monotonous gray, and Chen Shan’s family was long gone. Chen Che mulled it over for a moment before finally making a decision.

’Since my opponent refuses to show himself, there’s no point in wasting any more time on him.’

’Worse comes to worst, I’ll just wait until my Cultivation reaches the Qi Refining Seventh Layer and go kill him myself. If I’m strong enough, who needs to bother with all these schemes?’

’It’ll only take a single sword strike!’

Besides.

He had homework to do.

...

He closed the door and went back inside.

He set down the bowl.

He sat quietly for a moment. When he opened his eyes again, Chen Che was on Earth Element Star.

Unlike the bleak and desolate Yunzhou.

With Chinese New Year approaching, Earth Element Star was festooned with lanterns and decorations. The incessant POP-POP-CRACKLE of firecrackers filled the air, and the sounds of children playing echoed throughout the neighborhood.

DING DING~

He had just returned when his phone chimed several times. He unlocked it to see his classmates chatting in the group chat.

His class, Class One, had two group chats.

One with the teachers, and one without.

Almost no one spoke in the group chat with the teachers. The only exception was Huang Zhongfei, who posted daily check-ins for everything from morning reading and combat practice to homework and Alchemy.

He’d been doing it every day since the start of winter break.

In fact, just a moment ago.

He had posted a "Homework for today: complete" check-in.

The private, teacher-free group, on the other hand, was buzzing with activity. Everyone was sharing what they’d been up to during winter break. Some had gone traveling, others had spent all their time online. The only message related to academics came from Zong Yudao:

"Anyone finish the winter break homework? Let me copy."

Huang Zhongfei immediately jumped in. "Copying homework is wrong! If anyone asks to copy homework again, I’m telling Old Li."

Zong Yudao: "Class Monitor, I saw you at Bifeng Tang the other day. You were getting wrecked by someone. Care to share how that felt?"

Huang Zhongfei: "I refuse to speak to the student ranked last in our year."

Zong Yudao: "I qualified in the combat competition, but you got eliminated. You can only watch me and Old Chen go to the provincials in April. Jealous? Hahaha..."

The next second.

System prompt: Zong Yudao has been removed from the group chat by an administrator.

Chen Che cracked a smile.

This was the daily routine for this group of students—endless, noisy bickering.

After returning from the treacherous world of Yunzhou, this kind of life was a welcome relief. He was about to put his phone down when a message suddenly popped up from Lin Yi. He was asking for the answers to the "extracurricular enrichment" section of the winter homework.

A few of the enrichment problems were beyond the scope of the curriculum and were even a bit difficult for him. For Lin Yi, they were nearly impossible.

He didn’t hesitate to snap a few pictures and send them over.

Lin Yi replied with a grateful emoji, then asked, "We’re going for tea later. Qi Fengzhu told me to invite you. You in?"

"Nah, I’m not going."

Chen Che refused flatly. "I have homework to do."

Some of the enrichment problems required a lot of research.

If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t have even shown his face on Earth Element Star this winter break.

Lin Yi: "Every time we’re on break, I ask you to hang out and you never come. Are we not even bros anymore? [Angry emoji]"

"Yep!"

Chen Che glanced at the group chat and saw that everyone was asking about Huang Zhongfei getting wrecked. A lot of people were tagging @Huang Zhongfei, saying they should get a group together for revenge. Even Ye Youwei, the student who had transferred, chimed in. But Huang Zhongfei was playing dead, staying completely silent.

"What’s the deal with Huang Zhongfei getting beaten?"

"He’s always like that—talks the biggest smack, takes the hardest hits."

Even though Lin Yi had just said they weren’t bros anymore, the moment Chen Che asked, he spilled the whole story:

Apparently, two days ago.

Huang Zhongfei was at Bifeng Tang for tea when he ran into Qi Fengzhu and his cousin, so they decided to share a table.

Since they were students, the conversation naturally turned to their academic performance.

But young people aren’t exactly subtle.

Qi Fengzhu’s cousin goes to school in the provincial capital and had that typical "big city kid looking down on small-town folk" attitude. As they talked, his tone subtly implied that the quality of education at Six Continents First Middle School was inferior to schools in the capital. Huang Zhongfei didn’t take kindly to that, and an argument broke out.

"So they got into a fight?"

Chen Che asked.

To be fair, there was some truth to what he said. But lies don’t hurt people; the truth is a sharp knife.

"Nah, they didn’t fight. They competed using Gongfu tea, and Huang Zhongfei was utterly defeated."

Lin Yi continued.

"That cousin of Qi Fengzhu’s must be pretty strong. Is he a sophomore too?"

Chen Che’s curiosity was instantly piqued.

To be able to crush Huang Zhongfei like that, he had to be at least on Xiao Yang’s level.

"Yep. His cousin’s name is Qi Tianhai. He’s a student at He City Eighth Middle School with a Mid-stage Sixth Layer Cultivation. He’s top ten in his class and top one hundred in his year. Old Qi told me he’s even deskmates with Jiang Jingyuan!"

’Jiang Jingyuan?’

’Isn’t that Weng Dazheng’s student? The one Old Li told me to take out?’

"Oh yeah, Qi Tianhai is going to be at Bifeng Tang later too. Old Qi basically wants you to show off your skills a little so his cousin won’t look down on our First Middle School."

Lin Yi added, a hint of regret in his voice:

"You’re really not coming?"

"He’s going to be there too?"

Chen Che’s eyebrow twitched. He mulled it over for a second.

"Alright then. I’ll go check it out."

After tidying up a bit, Chen Che headed for Bifeng Tang.

Bifeng Tang was one of the larger teahouses in Six Continents.

It was popular among students because it was cheap, had a nice atmosphere, and also included an arcade and game rooms for chess and cards. The place was always packed during school breaks, but Chen Che, who spent most of his time in Yunzhou, rarely visited.

His main reason for going was to gauge Qi Tianhai’s strength and use it to estimate the overall level of the students at He City Eighth Middle School.

Of course,

since Qi Tianhai was Jiang Jingyuan’s deskmate, he would surely know more about him than any file could provide.

Half of the students on Li Xiaoshuang’s "Dangerous Group" list were from the provincial capital, He City. Three of those were from the Eighth Middle School. The other seven were from He City First Middle School and Sixth Middle School. Most of them were considered to be on the same level as Jiang Jingyuan.

If he could gather a bit more intelligence, it would be a huge help for the provincial tournament.

This was because...

the format of the provincial tournament was completely different from the city-level one, and far more brutal.

While you might be able to get through the city tournament on pure luck, the provincial tournament was designed to eliminate that possibility entirely. It was practically indistinguishable from a real battle.

However,

when Chen Che arrived at the entrance to Bifeng Tang, the scene outside the door made him stop in his tracks.