The stall owner rushed to offer him a mung bean porridge, to which Wang Qi only took two mouthfuls.

Wang Qi’s family in this life wasn’t exactly rich, but they didn’t lack food and clothes either. They even used condiments in daily life. The stall he was at catered to average workers at best, and could spare no expense for fancier condiments, such as sugar. With no sugar in his porridge, Wang Qi picked up the beans from his bowl.

Mao Zimiao noticed how he played with the food and frowned. “Little Qi, don’t be picky.”

The youth huffed, picking a few bites of mackerel to eat.

The girl didn’t like that, evident by her twitching cat ears. “Eat properly!”

Wang Qi turned a deaf ear as he played with the porridge.

Mao Zimiao frowned, thinking Wang Qi wouldn’t just ignore her. Seeing him picking on his food as he did with the fried rice, the girl smiled. “Fascinated, nya?”

Wang Qi eased a breath. He picked on the porridge out of habit. Back on the boat, he tried reining in his motion sickness with Store Thoughts Art. The result was most disappointing, the sickness was related to his physiology and not the mind. After long sessions of visualizing the flame energy cloud pattern, Wang Qi got into the habit of drawing the image with his hand. Realizing what he was doing, inspiration struck, that of using it as an excuse to skip eating porridge.

This example showed our bookworm was no different from a child.

There’s a saying back home, on Earth, ‘a hardworking man is attractive.’ In the case of immortal cultivation’s customs, it was deep thinking. Mao Zimiao felt elated as she watched him make patterns in the porridge.

[Now that I think about it, we hardly get the chance to be alone, nya.]

Wang Qi felt her gaze and knew he had to go for broke in his act. [This is porridge. Liquid food, for that matter! It’s not like paper, where you can draw on it.]

Contemplating the highly important fluid mechanics while eating porridge was the hallmark of a distinguished scientist. [For me to admit it was all an act, a fake, a lie, then all the glory will turn stale. Failing at faking will make a fool out of me!]

[We’ll this ain’t no tantrum, but true research!]

A true fortune Wang Qi’s forceful act and Mao Zimiao’s enjoyment didn’t last.

“Hey, it’s bad…” Wu Fan’s voice came from afar. From the sound of it, he wasn’t alone. Wang Qi gave an inward like to Wu Fan and faked being roused from his fake reverie, frowning in his direction.

Mao Zimiao’s ears twitched, straightening her expression at lightning speed and faking indifference. “Little Qi, Wu Fan’s in trouble by the sound of it, nya.”

Wang Qi nodded. “Mm.”

He recognized the three Argent Apex Immortal Institute freshmen by Wu Fan’s side but wasn’t too close with them. Unlike Wu Fan, however, they were crying. At the sight of Wang Qi, one of them flung himself on the table and wailed. “Senior Brother Wang! You have to help us!”

[Oh my, is this the classic face slapping cliche?]

Wang Qi gave Wu Fan a doubtful look, who, like a good lackey, picked up on his thoughts and explained with sorrow. “We got into a fight with Langde Immortal Institute’s disciples.”

It just so happened that Langde Immortal Institute arrived at the same time Argent Apex Immortal Institute did. The former’s spirit boat docked in the same area as well, just a few spirit boats away from Argent Apex Immortal Institute’s. The two Immortal Institutes’ disciples were bound to meet up while they roamed the area.

Langde’s people were tough and its youths were full of themselves, of course. Would such characters ignore this examination’s opponents? The result was a predictable challenge, or maybe a taunt, at the Argent Apex Immortal Institute’s expense.

The Argent Apex Immortal Institute’s freshmen held it in, but Langdi’s people kept with the taunts, growing wilder by the minute. One Argent Apex Immortal Institute freshman couldn’t take it and picked a fight with one of them.

Wang Qi said, “Jiongli City allows fights?”

“Little Qi, you’re so focused you ignore everything, nya.” Explained Mao Zimiao, who didn’t realize that she was leaning toward virtuous behavior. “Langde and Argent Apex have different rules, nya. Fighting is allowed in some areas.”

Except for Wang Qi, the cream and butter of bookworms, Argent Apex had, at best, a couple more. One was Wu Shiqin, a disciplinary officer and his good friend, who had no reasonable excuse for vetting her participation in a street brawl unless she broke the rules. Wu Shiqin asked. “Why, did you lose?”

The one in charge of the three freshmen nodded. “When it comes to a formal duel, Brother Long and Senior Sister Liu can handle them, but no one can take on those brutes in a fight.”

Modern cultivation’s so-called formal duel was about two people writing an equal number of questions and exchanging them to answer them. Both sides had to give thorough answers of the problems and questions received, with the fastest being declared a winner.

Back on Earth, such a duel had been contagious among the scientist circle at some point. However, as the 19th and 20th centuries came with a comprehensive academic system, scientist duels became like celebrities’ duels—seizing a magazine’s cover. The only difference was scientists only appeared in academic tabloids.

Wu Fan added, “They came pleading with me to find you. Since I couldn’t handle their problem, I couldn’t deny them.”

Argent Apex’s best bookworm kept picking his porridge. “I know. I’m not going.”

“Great- eh? Wha-?” The three beamed at first, thinking Langde’s disciples were finished, but then their mood sank as Wang Qi finished.

“Why?” They voiced. “Argent Apex Immortal Institute’s name is on the line.”

“Got nothing to do with me.” Wang Qi stated. “It’s not like refusing to fight makes me weaker than them.”

The three choked on their words, but one recovered. “But they clearly slapped our faces…”

Wang Qi halted his chopsticks, turning towards him. “Aren’t you mistaken about something?”

“Huh?”

“My face is sitting right here. Let them come hit it if they want to.” Wang Qi was stern. “But what’s Immortal Institute’s face got to do with me?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read