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Lin Jin led Dai Mubai to the office building in silence, guiding him up to a room on the second floor.
Dai Mubai frowned as he stepped inside the empty room.
"Dean, why did you bring me here?"
Lin Jin turned around slowly, a mysterious smile spreading across his face.
The unsettling expression sent a chill down Dai Mubai's spine. Why is he being so weird...?
Without answering, Lin Jin retrieved a piece of chalk from his spirit guide, opened the system map, and—using its standard scale—carefully drew a square in the corner of the room.
"Get in," he said calmly.
After finishing the drawing, he tossed the chalk aside, clapped his hands, and pointed toward the square.
"???"
Dai Mubai stared at him blankly. What is this supposed to mean...?
"I said get in!" Lin Jin repeated, more firmly this time.
He knew his instructions sounded absurd, but he had no choice.
If Dai Mubai didn't cooperate, the next step couldn't begin.
'Xiaobai, you'll thank me for this someday...' Lin Jin thought to himself.
'With a dean like me, you should be secretly grateful. If you're not surprised by this, I'll make you kneel and call me Dad!'
Still suspicious, Dai Mubai hesitated, then stepped into the square Lin Jin had drawn.
"Very good," Lin Jin nodded approvingly.
He then pulled a special cultivation room marker from his spirit guide and placed it within the square.
"Now, try cultivating."
Dai Mubai raised an eyebrow. "Is this supposed to... boost my cultivation speed or something?"
Lin Jin grinned, clearly pleased. As expected of an SSR-tier student—quick on the uptake.
"Exactly. Inside this cultivation area, your training speed will increase by 50%."
"Fifty percent?" Dai Mubai repeated in disbelief.
His gaze shifted to the small wooden marker Lin Jin had just placed.
Is this tiny thing really the secret behind such a claim?
Sure, there were methods in the world to enhance cultivation—things like medicinal baths that refined the meridians.
But even those, which were expensive and widely used, only offered a 20–30% increase in efficiency at most.
And now this guy was saying a little wooden token could boost his training by half?
Lin Jin noticed his skepticism and tilted his head, curious.
"Wait... you didn't train last night, did you?"
What does that have to do with anything?
Dai Mubai shook his head, confused. The truth was, he had gone to bed early the night before.
Maybe it was because his budding hope had been crushed, leaving him feeling defeated.
That hope, of course, had been his initial excitement and expectations for Tianxing Academy.
But after what happened yesterday, those expectations had come crashing down.
He thought he had seen through everything the academy had to offer—and it left a bitter taste in his heart.
"That's a pity… but also kind of perfect."
Lin Jin sighed with feigned regret, but a bright smile quickly spread across his face. You're going to be even more shocked, Xiaobai.
"You go ahead and try it. I'll be waiting in the office."
With that, Lin Jin turned and left. Dai Mubai stood in the square, still frowning.
He couldn't understand where Lin Jin's confidence came from.
Can that little wooden card really do all that?
Suspicion lingered in his eyes as he glanced at the cultivation room marker.
But after a moment, he relaxed his brows and sat down cross-legged. Whether he's exaggerating or not, I'll only know if I try.
Meanwhile, in his office, Lin Jin sat leisurely in his chair. He had just boiled a kettle of hot water.
Using it, he brewed a humble pot of tea with nothing but leftover tea stems.
"Tsk, tsk... how pitiful," he muttered, eyeing the floating bits of stem in his cup.
"I'm so broke, I can't even afford real tea leaves."
Though he'd managed to trick—ahem, convince—a certain young master to invest a bit and tuition had helped replenish some funds, the academy itself had no steady income.
At this rate, they'd be running on fumes in just a few months.
Sighing, Lin Jin set the teacup aside and picked up his notebook, continuing his daily planning.
"As the saying goes—eat breakfast well, lunch fully, and dinner lightly. Let's see..."
"Eggs can be sourced from Yon Village… though they don't seem to have any milk. Alright, we'll skip that for now. Coarse-grain bread should still be available..."
He chewed the end of his pen, scribbling notes while thinking about meal balance.
Would nutrition impact cultivation efficiency?
Maybe I should ask the Master about it later...
BANG!
The office door suddenly slammed open with a thunderous crash.
Lin Jin jumped, nearly spilling his already pitiful tea.
His eyes snapped up—only to see Dai Mubai storming in, eyes bloodshot, chest heaving, practically glowing with excitement like a beast that had just broken free.
"Well? You felt it, didn't you?" Lin Jin grinned smugly.
Didn't believe me earlier, huh? Look at you now.
"You... how did you do it!?" Dai Mubai demanded breathlessly. His expression was wild, brimming with disbelief and awe.
He had just finished cultivating in the marked zone—and it had blown his mind.
Lin Jin hadn't lied. In fact, he had undersold it. At first, the boost had seemed like 50%, just as promised—but as he settled in, the effect grew stronger.
Eventually, his cultivation speed had increased by nearly 70%.
Seventy percent.
For someone like him, struggling in the shadows of his brother Davis, it was like a beam of sunlight piercing through thick, suffocating clouds. Hope.
Lin Jin casually sipped his tea—what little there was of it—and gave Dai Mubai a meaningful look.
"Calm down. Don't get cocky. Stay humble and focused."
Dai Mubai inhaled deeply, slowly regaining his composure.
But the look in his eyes had completely changed—now filled with respect, gratitude, and above all, hope.
Lin Jin studied him with satisfaction. Why was Dai Mubai always so arrogant and reckless in the original story?
Because he never had hope.
He couldn't see a future where he could surpass Davis.
He was trapped, crushed under expectations and failure—and so, he turned to decadence to drown out the pressure.
But now?
Now Lin Jin had handed him a weapon. A path. A chance to defeat Davis.
Dai Mubai's eyes burned with purpose.
"Davis… just you wait."
Lin Jin watched the fire in his gaze and felt a twinge of uncertainty.
'Uh oh… did I just unleash a monster?'