Chapter 51: What Strengths Do I Have?

Keyboard Immortal

“I ended up getting stalled by Yuan Wendong and the others for too long. It’s going to be afternoon classes soon, so I’ll be heading back first,” said Chu Huanzhao.

There was hardly anyone left in the canteen at this point. She casually wiped her mouth before rising to her feet.

“What class are you in?” Zu An asked out of curiosity.

“I…” Oddly enough, Chu Huanzhao suddenly began fidgeting uncomfortably. Her voice also became a little weaker. “I’m from the Black class.

“Laugh if you want to. My older sister was a prodigy in the Sky class, reputed to be the strongest amongst the students, whereas I’m nowhere near in comparison to her. I have been mocked many times in the past, so I can’t be bothered with it anymore.”

Yet, who could have thought that Zu An would pat her shoulders and said, “You must have had a hard time, huh? You don’t need to worry anymore, I’m here to lower the bars. I’m from the Yellow class, remember?”

He could remember how everyone seemed to carry ill will toward him when he first arrived in this world. This lass was the only one who stood forward for him when everyone in the ancestral hall was trying to get him punished. Seeing how downcast she was upon mentioning this matter, he couldn’t bring himself to make a jab at her.

Chu Huanzhao was taken aback by his remark. She stared at him deeply for a moment before muttering softly, “Thank you.”

Zu An continued consoling, “Everyone has their own strengths. Perhaps your strength just doesn’t lie in cultivation.”

A slight misty layer cloaked Chu Huanzhao’s eyes as she looked at him, touched by his words. “What do you think my strength is then?”

Zu An was rendered speechless by that question.

I was just comforting you. I didn’t expect you to take it for real!

Nevertheless, faced with Chu Huanzhao’s eyes of anticipation, there was no way he could bring himself to say that she had no strengths at all, right?

However, the two of them had only known each other for a short period of time, and no matter how Zu An thought about it, he was unable to figure out her strengths. It took him a long while before he finally squeezed out an answer, “Your legs… are long?”

As ridiculous as it might sound, it was actually his honest thought. Even right now, he could still remember that pair of slim and well-proportionate legs shaking around while she was seated on a table that night. Those were a good pair of legs that could easily walk into the heart of any man.

It was no wonder why people said that those who tended to be lacking in the chest area were compensated by their legs.

On the other hand, Chu Huanzhao hadn’t expected to receive such an answer, and she spat, “Pui, you pervert!”

Then, she quickly ran away with a reddened face.

Zu An stared at her departing back with a stifled look on his face.

What’s the point of just scolding me like this? Where is your Rage points? Why didn’t I receive anything at all? This is unfair!

Meanwhile, Wei Suo walked over fawningly and said, “Boss, I find myself more and more in awe with you. I reckon that you are the only one in the academy who can make the tomboyish Second Miss Chu reveal such an embarrassed expression.”

“Of course. Who do you think you are talking to?” Zu An replied gleefully. “Ah right, what classes do we have in the afternoon?”

He was still thinking of escaping from the academy once he was done with lunch, but he unexpectedly received a huge wave of Rage points. That changed his mind about the academy, and he suddenly felt that things were not that bad here after all.

“I think it’s an etiquette and music class,” replied Wei Suo.

“Etiquette and music?” Zu An’s eyes lit up.

From elementary school all the way till university, he noticed that there was a common pattern—the Music Department always had the most beautiful female teacher. Be it their refined disposition or their graceful profile, it was hard to pick a flaw in them. Now that he was in a world filled with ki, the music teachers should be even more beautiful, right?

Zu An had never looked forward to a class that much before. He quickly returned back to the classroom, only to see that fatty Man Yu chatting loudly with his sidekicks. However, their group quickly fell silent upon noticing Zu An’s presence.

They had no choice but to lie low for the time being. They were no match for Zu An, and their backing wasn’t as strong as the latter’s too. Thinking about it now, Ye Chenliang was probably still getting ravaged by Lu De at the field at this very moment.

That Baldhead was really a pervert. Anyone who got caught by him would suffer an experience they would never forget.

On the other hand, Zu An couldn’t be bothered to give a damn about them. He looked at the doorway of the classroom as he waited excitedly for the beautiful teacher who would soon walk in.

However, when the one who walked in turned out to be a trembling old man, he suddenly saw all of his dreams shatter right before his eyes.

Where are the promised refined disposition and graceful profile? At the very least, I should get a female teacher, right? Why in the world did I get an old man?!

“Cough cough. Open your textbooks, we shall be starting a new chapter today—Rules of Propriety.

“Values and morals are meaningless if not based on propriety. Reforming the society and improving the culture will be for naught if propriety is absent. Distinguishing between right and wrong will be impossible if propriety is not put in place.

“A liege and his subject, a father and his son; how could these ties be established if propriety is not upheld? A teacher and a student; how can a conducive relationship for the inheritance of knowledge be constructed if there’s a lack of propriety to dictate the relationship? A military commander and his soldiers; how should authority be maintained if propriety is neglected? Rites to worship the deities and the deceased; how could sincerity be conveyed if rituals were to lack propriety?

“Thus, men should learn respect, humility, and concession to uphold propriety. Parrots are capable of speech, yet mere birds they are. Apes are capable of speech, yet mere beasts they are. If humans lack propriety, even if they are capable of speech, what is there to differentiate them from mere beasts? It’s the lack of propriety that fathers and sons share a woman.

“Thus we have sages who determine propriety and educate the people. It’s the existence of propriety that humans know to set themselves apart from beasts…”

…

Save me!

Zu An was utterly despaired. Not only was there not the promised beautiful music teacher, but he even had to go through the torture of listening to the teacher’s chanting. This was even worse than being in prison!

He took a look out of the window as he wondered if he could escape from this classroom if he were to use Grandgale’s ability. However, considering how Wei Suo had mentioned that the teachers in the academy were all experts, he felt that the likelihood was very low.

Putting everything aside, that vile Baldhead, Lu De, was still in the field at the moment. If he were to escape right now, he could just fall right into that evil man’s grasp.

Besides, it was simply not worth revealing his trump card in public over such a minor reason.

So, Zu An could only dispel those thoughts.

That being said, there was no way he was going to earnestly listen to the lessons. It was not as if these preachings would help him in life anyway even if he could understand them.

So, he decided to secretly do his own personal work in class, similar to how he secretly played mobile games under his desk in his previous life. He summoned the keyboard out before turning warily toward Wei Suo to ask, “Do you see anything here?”

Wei Suo was bewildered by Zu An’s abrupt question, and he replied subconsciously, “I see your hairsome face.”

“It’s handsome, not hairsome,”

Black streaks filled Zu An’s face. I know that he has buck teeth, but he really needs to work on his pronunciation.

But in any case, after confirming that no one could see his keyboard, he heaved a sigh of relief.

Let me see how many Rage points I have. Hm?

Zu An rubbed his eyes in disbelief. To his astonishment, he actually had 57,454 Rage points in total! That was more than the grand total he had earned thus far!

He quickly recalled what he had done for the day, and it would seem that he had earned quite a bit earlier in the morning at the academy gates, as well as bits and pieces over the day too. Of course, the bulk of it came from the main show earlier in the afternoon with Ye Chenliang, Yuan Wendong and the others. The crowd was simply too kind that they kept offering him their Rage enthusiastically.

This newly-gathered data compelled Zu An to rethink his strategy. No matter how he tried to squeeze an individual dry, the amount of Rage points he could earn from an individual was still severely limited. It would be much wiser for him to spread his net out and earn it from a crowd instead. That would be far more efficient.

Yeap, it looks like I should focus more on AOE skills in the future. The more butthurt people there are, the better it would be for me.

After deciding on his new plan, Zu An moved on to look at the keyboard’s lottery. However, he soon realized that he wasn’t in a good position to do his usual hand washing ritual.

Forget it, I’ll just compromise a little.

Zu An wanted to forsake the hassle and simply press the enter button and get the lottery done and over with, but his trembling hands simply wouldn’t heed his orders.

No, I can’t skip any step at all. Even if I don’t wash my face, the least I should do is to wash my hands so as to cleanse my luck!

So, he spat in his hand and rubbed it all over before finally hitting the enter button at ease.

The light marker swiftly flashed across the keyboard before finally stopping at the number ‘4’. Ki Fruit!

Zu An was delighted.

It looks like washing my hands is really important. I actually got it in a single shot!

Meanwhile, his deskmate, Wei Suo, watched as he spat saliva onto his own hands and froze on the spot. Wei Suo quickly shifted his chair discreetly away from him, wanting to keep a distance away.

I know that my boss is a master moocher, but I didn’t think that he would have such horrid hygiene practices. I wonder if my Chu Chuyan and the others know that he does such stuff.

Zu An had completely no idea how bizarre his actions were in the eyes of others. He was too focused on the lottery at the very moment.

Thanks for playing!

“Shit, yet another wave of ‘Thanks for playing’!”

…

Oh, another Ki Fruit.

…

Thanks for playing… Ki Fruit… Thanks for playing… Ki Fruit…

Zu An continued drawing for over a hundred times, and the light marker finally landed on a key that was different from before— number ‘1’. It was Faith in Brother Spring!

Zu An heaved a sigh of relief. In truth, he had really wanted to draw this. The last time he got injured, he used Divine Physician Ji’s medicine, but the rate of recovery was less than satisfactory. Were he to be in a dire situation, there was no way his enemy would wait for him to heal up before continuing their assault!

With Faith in Brother Spring around, he would at least have another trump card in hand. The ability to instantly restore himself back to full health was almost the same as having an additional life.

Zu An continued drawing the lottery, hoping to get something different. After all, the products from the keyboard tended to be high in quality. However, it would appear that fate wasn’t on his side. All he got afterward was just ‘Thanks for playing’ and Ki Fruits.

Damn it, I don’t believe that my luck would really be that bad!

So, Zu An spat another mouthful of saliva on his own hands and rubbed them thoroughly between his fingers and into his fingernails before resuming the drawing once more. It was fortunate that he had 50,000 Rage points this time around, so he could draw a total of 574 times.

Meanwhile, Wei Suo gulped a mouthful of saliva as he wondered if his boss was out of his mind.

No, I shouldn’t harbor such thoughts. Boss is the man known as the master moocher! How can I dare evaluate him using common logic? Could this be his secret to how he managed to court so many beautiful women? I must learn from his example!

So, Wei Suo also spat in his hand and began rubbing his saliva all around. He couldn’t resist the urge to raise his hands up and smell them, and the sheer stench was so powerful that it nearly knocked him out.

Moving back to Zu An, a wide smile of excitement had broken out of his face once more. The light marker had landed on a different number this time around—number ‘9’!

Fortune Pill!

Artifact Effect: Maximizes your luck to the greatest degree for two hours. Any event or trial that is luck dependent will end in an outcome favorable to you.

Zu An’s eyes lit up. This was exactly the thing he needed right now! With this, wouldn’t he be able to draw something useful on the keyboard every single time?

Perhaps it was because the keyboard had guessed his thoughts, but a small disclaimer suddenly appeared at the bottom, “Note: The Fortune Pill doesn’t work on the keyboard’s lottery system.”

Shit!

Zu An nearly smashed the keyboard on the spot. It was true that the keyboard had brought him many conveniences, but the sheer frustration he went through using it was also the real deal too.

If he couldn’t use the Fortune Pill for the lottery, what use did he have for it? He was in the real world right now! It was not as if he was playing a game where luck could improve the equipment drop rate when he killed mobs.

Rather than luck, I would rather get something to improve my looks.

Hmm… but my looks don’t need any more improvement though.

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Propriety, in Chinese, is a much more expansive word, encompassing the ideas of manners, etiquette, and values.

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