The afternoon passed quickly as he focused on the books.
"This is an unusual world…" Shen Zhe shook his head with mixed feelings.
That was a continent of scholars. Calculating and studying was the foundation of surviving and thriving. All the cultivators had astonishing grades and could've been at the top places in the national College Entrance Exams in his previous life.
Take the Mages for example. Filling the Learning Ocean and casting spells both required complicated calculations. One mistake might result in the wrong construction of power; all their efforts would have been made in vain.
Therefore, bad grades and weak calculation abilities would limit one's future achievements. They could become rich, but it was impossible for them to become dominating experts.
Wealth was vulnerable in front of power.
That was the reason why Ling Xueru despised the idea of inheriting the family fortune instead of studying.
Shen Zhe was in a Class of Talents. He should have been working hard, trying to calculate the precise locations of the Learning Ocean or the Elixir Land to build up power in his body.
If he broke the Learning Ocean, it would be possible for him to become a Mage; if he broke the Elixir Land, chances were that he could become a Martial Artist!
The two classes mastered the greatest power on that continent. Mages in particular, were revered for the laws they established.
However, not everybody could break the Learning Ocean or the Elixir Land. They had to locate seven special acupuncture points, known as the Seven Stars, in their bodies through calculation.
Those acupuncture points were not fixed; they kept changing all the time. It required fast and accurate calculations to locate and illuminate them, and the work could only be done in person.
The former Shen Zhe had studied the calculation method for nine years since he was eight, but due to his limited gift, he had only illuminated the two simplest stars.
If the Seven Stars of a student were not illuminated after nine years of education, it meant that they would be hopeless. They would lose the eligibility to study further and sink to the bottom of society with their useless money.
Lu Zihan, whom Shen Zhe had defeated, and Ling Xueru, the most beautiful girl in his class, had both illuminated the Seven Stars and were qualified to break the Learning Ocean or the Elixir Land.
"No wonder I was considered a scum student…" Shen Zhe smiled bitterly.
There were detailed criteria for a semester final's rank, including the time it took to complete the test, the number of illuminated stars, the level of the stars, etc. Otherwise, it would've been impossible to determine the rank of the students whose grades were the same.
The former Shen Zhe had the fewest illuminated stars and the lowest average grade. That was why he was in the last place.
"After the stars are illuminated, one will be in the Seven Star Stage. It's no real cultivation, but it will nurture you physically and mentally. The more stars are illuminated, the better one's body and mind will be. So, those with better grades will be better, and those with worse grades will be worse…"
The strong stayed strong, and the weak remained weak. It was a law that had never changed.
"No wonder my body is weak!"
After the former Shen Zhe's soul was replaced, the two illuminated stars died out. Also, his previous wounds had yet to heal. He might not even be able to stand for a long time, much less taking a slap from the teacher as a punishment.
"I have to train myself…"
Rubbing his eyebrow, Shen Zhe was considering how to resolve the imminent trouble, when he saw a delighted middle-aged man.
"Third Young Master!"
He had returned to his dormitory from the library without him realizing it.
All the dormitories in the school had four beds each, except for Shen Zhe's. The other parents had moved their children away, fearing that they might be affected by him.
So, he was the only one living in the dormitory. He enjoyed the spaciousness.
He wondered who the guy was, but he didn't ask. Since the guy called him young master, he had to be from his family. He asked, "Why are you here?"
"The master…" Shen Qing hesitated but refrained from continuing. Eventually, he handed a bag to Shen Zhe and said, "The Master asked me to bring you some herbs. He said that being a Body Practitioner was not a bad choice if you really couldn't cultivate!"
Shen Zhe nodded.
Through the books, he had learned that few people wanted to become Body Practitioners, not just because their future achievements were limited. More importantly, it was because the Mages and the Martial Artists could also fortify their bodies with the power of the Learning Ocean or the Elixir Land.
Polishing the body without any help would be hard and boring.
Shen Zhe accepted the herbs and was relieved since he could recognize them.
He felt lucky that he spent the afternoon in the library, or he wouldn't have recognized any of them.
"Those herbs can be refined to make a Body Polishing Liquid with this recipe. It's very simple, but it demands a lot from the furnace! All you need to do is to prevent the furnace from being broken by the high temperature, with the power of the stars in your body."
After giving him the instructions, Shen Qing hesitated for a moment and said, "Young Master, you probably shouldn't come home soon. If you can't illuminate four stars, I'm afraid…"
"Of what?"
"I'm afraid that you would be beaten to death!" Shen Qing shook his head and left.
"What a dangerous world…"
His teacher wanted to beat him, his monitor wanted to beat him, and his family also wanted to beat him. There was truly no way for a weak student to survive…
Shen Zhe sensed an enormous pressure.
He observed the herbs in front of his eyes.
Since they were no real medicines, it was indeed easy to refine them, but it still required the power of the stars in his body!
However, since the two stars had died out, he was no different than an ordinary person. There was no star power at all!
He couldn't let anyone know that, or his identity as a transmigrator would be exposed!
"Actually… I'm expected to heat those herbs until they are liquefied. It's not complicated at all. I can try a few furnaces and see if they can bear the temperature."
Without any hesitation, he went to one of the special refining rooms in the school and placed a standard furnace that he had just bought on the burning coal.
According to the procedures, he introduced the herb with the highest melting point into it and boosted the fire.
"Crack!"
The furnace fell apart, and the herb didn't change at all.
He bought a few more furnaces, but the result was the same.
The furnaces were all simple, because the power of the stars could guarantee that they wouldn't break when herbs were refined. But Shen Zhe didn't have such power at the moment…
"The furnaces are too lousy…"
While complaining, Shen Zhe suddenly thought of something. "I seem to recall that my chemistry teacher kept saying that a certain item was heat-proof and could be used as a container of liquid metal. What was it called…?"
Some of the knowledge he overheard during classes in his precious life was currently useful.
His chemistry teacher mentioned a container which could be used for melting metals. If such containers existed in that world, wouldn't they be perfect furnaces to refine the herbs?
"I believe it was called cru… crucible!"
Shen Zhe's eyes glittered.
"I'll ask if there is such a thing first… After all, I'm just refining herbs, and it doesn't matter if it's done in standard furnaces or not…"
Shen Zhe walked out of the refining room.
It finally occurred to him that it was already eight at night. He hadn't eaten anything for supper yet, and he was starving.
"I'll have supper first. Perhaps I can find out if and where crucibles are available…"
Nodding his head, he went to the cafeteria again. Because it was too late, few students were around. The vendors all cried.
"Dear customer, have some steamed dumplings!"
"Cheap fried rice here!"
"Have anything you want…"
Looking around, Shen Zhe was going to have something random before he continued his research, when something he heard changed his mind.
"Spicy lobsters! Griddled spicy lobsters, thirty wen apiece!"
Shen Zhe hurried to turn his head over.
He was looking for a crucible (griddle), and it was right there.
It seemed that he was truly lucky!