Chapter 23: The Genius Booster

Jiang Qianqian chose to attend evening self-study at school. With exams approaching, the need to drill practice questions to stay in form was pressing, and for most people, collective study in a classroom setting generally offered higher efficiency.

This is the inertia of gregarious animals; if everyone were to return to their own private studies, it would be hard to say whether they would actually be studying or wasting time reading novels, surfing the internet, spacing out, or doing... other things.

Li Xingming considered it and, having no urgent need to return home tonight, decided to stay at school as well. He often skipped evening self-study; at Maple Sugar City No. 1 High School, the sessions were voluntary, and day students were free to go home whenever they wished after the final class of the afternoon.

As for Jiang Qianqian, whenever she needed to push herself to review, she didn't dare stay at home. The temptations there were too great; she would always find herself wanting to see what Ah Ming was doing, or looking for any opportunity to hug and cling to him.

"Brother Ming, that transaction record you had me prepare this morning came in handy," Ouyang, who was currently racking his brain over a mock mathematics exam paper, received a message and immediately reported back to Li Xingming.

"Thanks."

"No need to be so formal with me. But you should be careful with the jobs you take; don't get yourself caught up in them. I don't think the police department can handle catching this fugitive, so in the end, they'll either have to outsource it or go beg for reinforcements from the Psychic Bell Tower." Ouyang curled his lip, looking thoroughly distrustful of the public security sector.

"Don't worry about me." Li Xingming reassured him.

Only Ouyang knew of his identity as a Sun Knight. When he needed to create a smokescreen, Ouyang would use his family's resources to help him, and in return, he had helped Ouyang's father with jobs in the gray market. Li Xingming wasn't deliberately hiding this from Jiang Qianqian; he would tell her when she eventually asked. Confessing without being prompted just felt a bit too tactless. Besides, having led a team in his previous life where everyone except him was a girl, Li Xingming had learned many techniques for dealing with women. To coax a girl, you have to know how to keep secrets; if you honestly spill your guts and reveal all your cards, you won't have any room to maneuver when you actually need to act.

So, Ouyang went back to his exam paper. He was quite adept at liberal arts subjects, but he was focusing entirely on math tonight. As long as he didn't flop in math, he would pass the Awakening Test for sure.

Li Xingming wasn't doing any practice papers; he never did homework. He was not yet eighteen, so this Awakening Test had nothing to do with him. His birthday was in December, and according to regulations, no Awakening Tests were scheduled between the end of the November exams and the Lunar New Year.

This policy significantly influenced the behavioral tendencies of the public. The timing of the Awakening Test had followed this pattern for decades, leading young couples planning for children to try their best to avoid having their babies born in December or January.

Timing, kid!

However, this had little impact on Li Xingming. After all, the main reason for passing the Awakening Test was to obtain the Awakening Potion issued by the state. Li Xingming did not need the assistance of such potions; he could awaken whenever he was of age. His understanding of the path from his previous life was... to put it modestly, quite profound.

There were four sessions of evening self-study, from six-thirty to ten o'clock. Li Xingming estimated that Jiang Qianqian would be able to focus intensely for at most three sessions before she couldn't take it anymore and headed home.

Three sessions was a long time. Li Xingming took a copy of *Folklore of the Fresnel Region, Sixth Epoch*, which he had borrowed from the school library, intending to use it to kill time. The Fresnel Region referred to the underground ruins corresponding to the land of Maple Sugar City—it was a geographical designation from ancient times... and also an administrative one.

It was said that the captain of the legendary human party that set out to slay the Demon King hailed from Fresnel. After all, as the man who stood at the peak of human combat power in the previous epoch, he had a tragic, heroic quality, even though he ultimately failed.

Historical research and artistic creations regarding the Fresnel Region and "The Captain" had been popular for a decade, both in the Ser Kingdom and internationally. Ten years ago, a small ruin with little practical value was unearthed, and among the artifacts was the diary of one of the members of the Demon King-slaying party, which caused a massive stir in the historical community. The diary indicated that the root cause of the party's failure was infighting.

Specific speculations about the details of this infighting, along with the grand political and military struggles of the Eastern Continent at the end of the Sixth Epoch that it touched upon, had fueled the themes of movies and web series in the Ser Kingdom's entertainment industry for the last ten years.

Later on, the party was defeated, and The Captain was captured by the Demon King, taken to the Abyss to be a "trophy husband." This part of the historical background was frequently used in subculture works—manga, anime, visual novels, mobile games...

Li Xingming enjoyed the two genres mentioned above. There were also a small number of creators who liked to "ship" the male Captain with a male prince, or a male investigator from the Psychic Bell Tower, or a male heir to a local warlord... in strange pairings. Li Xingming never watched such content. But if he happened to scroll past it, he would habitually report it. It wasn't that he discriminated against any group, it was just that it wasn't his cup of tea, and the thought of himself being entangled with another man in someone else's imagination made him extremely uncomfortable. He was being merciful by not demanding mental distress compensation from the authors.

He was old enough now; he should be a bit kinder to the youngsters.

Compared to the artistic works mentioned above, *Folklore of the Fresnel Region, Sixth Epoch* was a relatively serious social science text. To Li Xingming, while it contained quite a few errors, it was at least logically rigorous. Reading through many chapters, one could appreciate the author's clever insights; in short, it was worth a look. People must always keep learning, and Li Xingming was also striving to learn the spiritual core and thought processes of modern people, to taste the perspective of the modern age.

Li Xingming remained glued to his chair, reading for two consecutive sessions without even moving during the break. This was one point that Ouyang truly admired about him: if Li Xingming was genuinely interested in something, the level of focus he could bring to bear was something that the high-achieving students who were "involutioning" just for grades could never compare to.

It wasn't until the break after the second session of evening self-study that Li Xingming put down his book and stretched. He went to the restroom to relieve himself. When he returned, he saw many students in the class taking out medicine boxes and using warm water from their thermoses to take medication.

He teased Ouyang: "I see you're having a rough time being ravaged by math. Why don't you join them?"

"Don't! Buddy here is a natural learner; I don't take drugs."

"I recall your stepmother arguing with you about this."

"Argued? More than a few times." Ouyang said helplessly, "She says students nowadays basically all use supplements, and if you don't, you definitely won't keep up with the pace. But, is it right just because everyone does it? Besides, I feel like... even if I took them, I wouldn't keep up."

"That's true."

"Math is just like that. If you don't get it, you don't get it."

"If you fail this Awakening Test again, I expect your stepmother will sneak in and drug you while you're fast asleep in the middle of the night..."

"Damn, that's actually kind of creepy coming from you... Well, if I really do fail, I'm planning to apply for a dorm and stay on campus."

Ouyang was extremely resistant to the popular drugs aimed at improving students' learning efficiency, always feeling that there was a catch. Don't let this guy's precocious and slick social skills fool you; deep down, he was as stubborn as a mule.