Chapter 30: Is There Any Justice

This was mainly because he lacked common knowledge about cultivation. One must understand that ordinary people might not advance a single rank even after months or years of cultivation. For someone as resilient as Plum Blossom Twelve, twenty-plus years of diligent practice yielded results comparable to what he achieved in just one night. If word got out, his speed of progress would be considered astonishing.

Of course, besides the keyboard's effect, the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra was indeed extraordinary. It found a unique path to advancement through being beaten, and its effects far surpassed those of ordinary cultivation methods. This led to Zu An's misconception that the Vitality Fruits were not very effective.

He then continued to draw prizes, pulling Vitality Fruits again. He eventually used up 22,200 Rage points, leaving only 69, and had drawn a total of 16 Vitality Fruits.

"Am I only going to draw these things from now on?" Zu An muttered with some disdain. He calculated that, on average, he drew one Vitality Fruit every 14 draws.

He wondered if the winning probability was one-tenth or one-twentieth. If it was the former, his luck was truly bad; if it was the latter, it proved his character was good.

"Hmm, since I'm so handsome, it must be the latter."

Zu An swallowed the Vitality Fruits one by one. He found that filling the fourth formation required 3 fruits, the fifth required 5, and the sixth required 8, which perfectly used up all his Vitality Fruits.

Zu An couldn't help but swallow. The number of Vitality Fruits needed to fill each formation—could this pattern be the Fibonacci sequence?

As a keyboard warrior, he had a passing familiarity with various sophisticated concepts online, which allowed him to brag on forums. He knew that many natural phenomena exhibited the Fibonacci sequence, such as the arrangement of pine cones, pineapples, and leaves, the number of sunflower petals, honeycombs, dragonfly wings, the golden rectangle, golden ratio, and equiangular spirals.

Now, even this 'cheat' system followed the Fibonacci sequence. Could it be that all these subtly conformed to the fundamental laws of the universe?

However, Zu An couldn't feel happy at all. This was because the numbers in the Fibonacci sequence grow larger and larger. If it truly followed the Fibonacci pattern, the number of Vitality Fruits required later on would likely be astronomical.

He suddenly remembered that he had previously taken several Marrow Cleansing Pills. Fortunately, they had improved his aptitude; otherwise, he would probably need even more of these.

From this perspective, getting beaten was still more effective.

Zu An compared the speed of his advancement when he was struck by the Wail of the Whip to the speed from eating Vitality Fruits. He felt that getting beaten seemed to lead to faster progress, and at that time, his aptitude was still at the lowest D-grade.

In the end, he could only comfort himself. It wasn't bad that these fruits offered a stable way to increase his level. After all, he couldn't go around begging women to hit him every time, could he?

He wanted to pour himself some water, but as soon as he reached for the cup, he crushed it. Zu An blinked, taking a moment to fully grasp what had happened. How had his strength suddenly increased so much?

He then continued to experiment. He gradually grew accustomed to the changes in his body and generally understood his new strength.

Previously, at Rank 2, Stage 3, his strength was roughly equivalent to that of 4 ordinary adult men. Now, at the peak of Rank 2, Stage 6, he possessed the strength of 20 adult men.

Zu An suddenly thought of something. He took out a pen and paper and wrote down a sequence of numbers. His expression became complicated. "It really is the Fibonacci sequence! The sum of the first six numbers is exactly 20."

"What are you doing?" At that moment, a chilling voice came from the doorway.

Zu An looked up and saw Old Man Mi standing there. His face was as wrinkled as dried orange peel, and his entire frame seemed so frail he might be blown over by the slightest breeze.

"You've arrived, sir," Zu An said, not daring to underestimate him in the slightest. He always felt that this old man was full of mystery and danger.

"Huh, why do I feel a sense of danger? Is it because he's too ugly?"

Of course, he wouldn't dare say such a thing aloud. Even if he wanted to earn Rage points, he had to consider if he'd get beaten to death.

"Huh, your power seems to have increased again," Old Man Mi said, staring at him with a mix of surprise and uncertainty. *He's advanced so quickly again? It seems this Phoenix Nirvana Sutra is indeed formidable.*

"I got into a few more fights today when I went out," Zu An said with an honest expression.

"Try hitting me with a punch," Old Man Mi said, showing no suspicion. He mainly couldn't conceive of any other way for Zu An to level up.

"This... isn't a good idea, is it?" Although Zu An considered the old man to be a master, he looked frail and weak. What if he accidentally caused a problem?

"Don't worry," Old Man Mi said calmly. "Just hit with all your might. You still can't hurt me."

"Alright, I'll hit you then." Zu An thought to himself, *What am I worrying about unnecessarily?* So he swung a punch towards Old Man Mi's chest.

However, he didn't use his full strength, only about a third of it. As a keyboard warrior, how could he expose all his trump cards? Hiding behind a computer screen... *Pah pah pah*, surviving until the end was the way to go.

He also wanted to use this opportunity to verify a theory.

As expected, Old Man Mi tremblingly raised his hand, effortlessly blocking the punch. "Not bad, not bad. You're almost at the peak of Rank 3, Stage 4."

"Really?" Zu An showed a surprised expression. But he thought to himself, *Just as I suspected, it's hard for others to discern your exact rank by simply looking at you.* Both this time and last, Old Man Mi only determined his stage after seeing him throw a punch.

Of course, if someone's rank was much higher than his, they could generally tell his rank by observation without much trouble.

"With your cultivation speed, reaching the Grandmaster rank someday isn't impossible," Old Man Mi said, his eyes full of smiles. *I thought he was a good-for-nothing, but I found a great talent instead! This significantly shortens the time until I can possess his body.*

After laughing for a moment, Old Man Mi continued, "By the way, I heard you're going to Brightmoon Academy tomorrow."

"Yes," Zu An replied, looking depressed. The private school would surely be full of relatives from the collateral branches of the Chu clan. His identity as a live-in son-in-law would inevitably bring a lot of trouble, just like in all the novels he had read.

He wasn't afraid of trouble now; he simply felt it was a waste of time. After all, there was still so much to do.

"Once you arrive at the academy, find a young man named Wei Hongde. No matter what it takes, you must get on good terms with him, preferably becoming his friend," Old Man Mi said slowly.

"Wei Hongde?" Zu An was taken aback. "Who is that? Is he a relative of yours? Is there a specific reason to approach him?"

"You don't need to concern yourself with that, and don't reveal my identity to anyone," Old Man Mi said, a smile appearing on his face. However, his appearance made the smile look rather sinister. "I've taught you a divine cultivation manual; asking you to do this for me isn't too much, is it?"

"Of course not, it's not too much at all! I'll do my best to get close to him," Zu An replied with the most sincere smile he could muster. Yet, he wondered, *How could there be someone from another family name in the Chu clan's private school? Could he also be a live-in son-in-law, like me?*

"Well then, get some good rest," Old Man Mi said, patting his shoulder before slowly tottering away.

After Old Man Mi left, Zu An lay down to sleep. He began to ponder how he could obtain Yu Yanluo's bellyband. Unfortunately, he wracked his brain so much he nearly pulled out a patch of hair, yet still couldn't come up with a solution. With curses directed at Divine Physician Ji, he drifted into sleep.

The next morning, Cheng Shoubing came to wake him up and brought him breakfast.

Zu An immediately found him more agreeable. He thought, *Having such a young page to serve me hand and foot doesn't seem so bad.*

After breakfast, Zu An was dragged to school by Cheng Shoubing. *No choice,* he thought, *I'll just go and deal with it for now, then find an opportunity to slip away.*

"Huh, why are we leaving the Chu manor?"

"Brightmoon Academy is in the east of the city."

"Oh," Zu An said, feeling a bit puzzled. *Why would Duke Brightmoon arrange his family's private school so far away?*

However, when he saw the grand and magnificent academy buildings before him, he was stunned. The academy gate was tall and imposing, with the words "Brightmoon Academy" written in elegant, powerful calligraphy. Each character seemed to exude a palpable sword energy. Looking around, various school buildings and structures stretched endlessly, as far as the eye could see. For a moment, he felt as if he had returned to his university in his previous life, yet everything before him was far grander than any university campus he had ever known.

"The Chu family's private school is this big?" Zu An asked, utterly bewildered.

"What private school?" Cheng Shoubing also looked confused.

"Isn't Brightmoon Academy Duke Brightmoon's private school?" Zu An realized his previous understanding might have been mistaken.

"Young Master-in-law, you mustn't say such things carelessly; it could bring trouble to our master," Cheng Shoubing said, his face paling as he quickly pulled Zu An aside to explain. "Brightmoon Academy is a direct educational institution under the Grand Minister, who is the head of the Nine Ministers of the imperial court. It's specifically for cultivating talent for the imperial court..."

After Cheng Shoubing's explanation, Zu An largely understood the situation. It turned out that in this world, all officials, from the highest-ranking Three Dukes and Nine Ministers down to the village-level Elders and Tax Collectors, were cultivators.

To prevent official positions from being monopolized by children of powerful aristocratic families—as these families had a natural advantage in cultivating their descendants—the state vigorously promoted cultivation schools. These schools were open to all, allowing commoners to participate.

Everyone, whether noble or commoner, had to gain student status at a county-level cultivation school. Only then would they be qualified to take the unified three-tiered examinations: the Provincial Examination, the Metropolitan Examination, and the Palace Examination.

The names were similar to ancient examinations in Zu An's previous life, but the content tested was completely different. In his previous life, they tested the Four Books and Five Classics; in this world, they tested cultivation.

The first level of assessment was conducted by the county school in each city. For instance, Brightmoon Academy was Brightmoon City's county school. The county schools would then select a group of excellent students through entrance examinations.

After passing the county school, one would be qualified to go to the provincial capital to take the Provincial Examination. There, they would compete with gifted students from other prefectures and counties within the province. Cultivators who passed the Provincial Examination gained the qualification to become officials. However, at this level, they could only hold low-ranking minor official positions at most.

Therefore, most would choose to continue to the capital to take the Metropolitan Examination. There, they would compete with prodigies selected from various provinces for the qualification to enter the highest echelons.

Those who successfully obtained the qualification would then participate in the Palace Examination, personally presided over by the Emperor. Achieving a good rank there could mean a meteoric rise. Furthermore, the Emperor was the strongest person in this world, and a single word of guidance from him was worth years of arduous cultivation.

Of course, these were the paths of favored talents. But many more were eliminated at the county school level. These individuals either continued to strive or transitioned into civil service. Officials at all levels were cultivators, primarily concerned with cultivation. They were often too lazy to handle the myriad minor governmental affairs themselves, so they would recruit subordinates and advisors to assist with management.

These were often those who failed at the county school or lacked cultivation talent. However, it was still a good career path.

Chu Zhongtian's arrangement for Zu An to attend Brightmoon Academy clearly indicated his intention for Zu An to take this path. Besides cultivation, the academy also taught practical subjects like economics, arithmetic, and legal codes.

"Young Master-in-law, don't just stand there; let's go in," Cheng Shoubing reminded him. "I'll wait for you by the school gate when classes end."

Zu An: "..."

*Damn it, how old am I? In my previous life, I finally finished school after so much effort. Now in this world, I have to go to school again? Is there no justice?*