Chapter 1: Public Opinion
Tianyuan Federation, Taibai Kingdom.
At Hanyang University in Zanglong City…
Li Pin, wearing a light blue short-sleeved shirt, was currently practicing a set of fist arts in a clearing inside a forest.
The Fist Force produced from his practice was mediocre, and his practice seemed more targeted at nurturing the body.
At this moment, a small smile appeared on his face.
"Indeed, the merging of souls caused some unique changes within me. I can now accurately sense when even one cell has been strengthened and when there are slight improvements in my qi and blood. In consideration of these changes, I came up with a brand-new training regime. The rate at which I'm strengthening my qi and blood is now 2.4 times what it was before."
With his previous training plan, he would have needed a year to reach his peak state, but he now only needed five months.
In fact, if he continued in his attempts, he could get there even faster than that.
Ring, ring!
A ringtone rang out. Li Pin's fist paused in midair momentarily. However, he continued through with the motion in the end.
His phone rang incessantly, but he did not react to it.
On one hand, he was still in the middle of a set of fist techniques. On the other hand, he wasn't sure how he should even respond when he picked up the call.
After all, anyone would feel uncomfortable if they suddenly got a new mother out of nowhere!
Li Pin's phone continued ringing non-stop, only coming to a halt after fifty seconds. Then less than half a minute later, it started to ring again.
"Running away has never been a good way to solve problems," muttered Li Pin.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and finally picked up the call.
A worried voice quickly rang out from the other end of the call.
—Son, are you all right?
"I'm fine," answered Li Pin.
—Good, good. I am just concerned about you….
"I won't do anything stupid again," said Li Pin resolutely.
—Good, good. I believe you. Do you still have enough money? If you don't, I will transfer you some.
"It's alright. I've got enough."
—Just take it! You're on your own over there, and you will soon be looking for an internship. You'll have a tough time, so you should eat better!
"Yeah, I know," replied Li Pin.
The woman continued nagging for a few more minutes before changing the topic.
—Your older sister wants to talk to you.
Soon, a soft feminine voice rang out from the other end of the line.
—Little Pin, I bought a stick of Concentration Incense for you. When will you come back and try meditating with it?
"Concentration Incense?" Li Pin frowned. "One stick of that costs hundreds of thousands. Where did you get the money for that?"
—You don't have to worry about that. I've worked for so many years, so of course I've got some money saved up.
Li Pin was speechless.
Who're you trying to kid? Those aren't hundreds we're talking about, but hundreds of thousands of yuan!
—You've always been smart, even when you were a kid. You definitely have the aptitude for cultivation; I'm sure you can make a name for yourself.
The young woman gently tried to persuade him.
"I meditated on the Astral God for a decade. I would have succeeded long ago if I had the aptitude for cultivation! One stick of Concentration Incense won't change anything," said Li Pin. "Get a refund."
—It's too late now that I've already bought it. Let's just take this as a loan from me. Little Pin, if you become an Astral Cultivator in the future, what will the price of one stick of Concentration Incense be to you then?
"Only one in ten thousand have the aptitude for it. I don't think I'm that lucky," replied Li Pin, rejecting the gift. "I should just learn to accept that I'm ordinary. Sell that Concentration Incense. I won't use it. Yep, that's that."
With that, he hung up.
Looking at the gradually darkening phone screen, Li Pin felt a bit envious.
The average person only earned a thousand a month, yet his "older sister" had forked out over a hundred thousand to buy a stick of Concentration Incense just like that…
How wonderful.
Nevertheless, an outsider like him wasn't qualified to accept such an expensive gift.
Yes, he was an outsider. He wasn't actually Li Pin; he was the soul of a young man who had transmigrated over from the Blue Planet.
During his early years, sickness had claimed the lives of his parents on Blue Planet.
Realizing how fragile life was struck a deep chord with him, and he then started training in martial arts to strengthen himself.
He put in ten times more effort than the average person, and before his physical condition started going downhill, he finally brought his Force to the next stage—Transformative Force.
Despite having an ordinary background and no famous masters training him or excellent teachings to inherit, he'd managed to make achievements in cultivation. However, he'd wrecked his body in the process. This meant he had to condense his qi to form a Core. Then he would be able to slowly recuperate from there. Otherwise, he wouldn't have much longer to live.
He spent three years trying to find a solution, but he failed to find one. So, he resolved to try forming his Core.
In the end… he failed to form his Core, and his consciousness dissipated.
When he opened his eyes again, it was because he was awakened by the sensation of gagging and choking on lake water.
He then discovered that he'd reincarnated into the body of Li Pin, a third-year university student who had attempted suicide by jumping into the lake. Li Pin had been unable to endure public opinion accusing him of "molesting the goddess An Wanyi."
"You had a healthy body, a mother who loved you, an older sister who cared for you, and a younger sister who saw you as a role model. Yet, you jumped into the lake because of public opinion? Do you have a screw loose?"
Ultimately, nothing was more important than staying alive.
Looking at his fair hands, Li Pin could feel his body throb with great vitality.
The body that now hosted him was that of a healthy twenty-two-year-old young man, who bore infinite possibilities for his future.
How lucky am I to be reincarnated into this body?
A moment later, Li Pin calmed down and gazed upward at the foreign yet familiar sky.
"I have transmigrated, but it's not into an orphanage. I have a mother and two sisters…"
Over the past half a month, his mother had tried to care for him, his older sister Li Yunyan had supported him with all her might, and his younger sister Li Yunyao had racked her brain for a way to get him to accompany her out on strolls.
"You were healthy, young, and rather good-looking too…"
Yet, the original Li Pin had not treasured a life like that…
Li Pin stood up and patted the grass stains on his pants.
"From today onwards, I am Li Pin, and I believe that I will do better than you.
***
"Over here, sir!!" someone called out from a path leading through the forest.
Two youths who had been hiding behind a tree quickly went up to two people. One was a man in a suit, and the other was a plump middle-aged man.
"Sir, that's Li Pin—the one who molested Miss An Wanyi and damaged Hanyang University's reputation." One of the youths pointed at Li Pin as he spoke to the plump man. "I feel like our university's reputation is being tarnished just by having someone like him here! Is the university going to expel him??"
"I'm afraid we can't. Otherwise, if he tries to kill himself again and dies inside the school, the school will have to bear the responsibility for that," replied the other youth.
"Seriously… He even came up with the idea of attempting suicide in the lake to threaten the university? Why didn't he just drown?!"
"Good people never live for long; it's the bad people who live long lives. This Li Pin is a malignant tumor hated by everyone in our school now and will definitely be cancerous scum to society as well when he graduates!"
The two youths were merciless with their words.
Right then, the man in a suit spoke up. "Alright, just words alone won't do much, you know. Make his time here so unpleasant that he won't want to stay here anymore. Then he'll be out of sight, out of mind."
Li Pin's gaze fell on that group of people.
The man in a suit was Jing Yunshan. He was the vice president of the student council and one of An Wanyi's admirers.
As for the plump middle-aged man, he was Wang Gang, Head of the Academic Affairs Office.
Li Pin looked at him calmly. "How could you spread rumors without witnessing anything firsthand? Especially you, Jing Yunshan. It was you who got people to post on the forums, wasn't it? Aren't you afraid of losing face when the truth comes to light?"
Jing Yunshan smirked. "Who said that the school didn't find out what you did? The higher-ups originally intended to expel you for good. We're only showing leniency and giving you disciplinary probation because of your poor mental state!"
"The results of the investigation are out…?"
They're placing me on disciplinary probation?
The original Li Pin had a strong lingering resentment, so the current Li Pin had very clear memories of the events leading up to the original Li Pin's death.
Li Pin and An Wanyi were classmates.
Back then, a rich young master had been harassing An Wanyi. An Wanyi wanted to use Li Pin as a shield by getting him to act as her boyfriend, but fearing it would bring trouble to him, he refused without hesitation.
Li Pin didn't know what happened to An Wanyi afterward.
However, the next day, news of him having molested An Wanyi was all over the university. Everyone was up in arms against him. Unable to bear the pressure, the original Li Pin then jumped into the lake and drowned.
Was the disciplinary probation that the university had given him meant to serve as proof of his alleged crime against An Wanyi?
Li Pin gazed at Wang Gang. "Is this the result of the university's investigation?"
"Li Pin, haven't you thought about how public opinion on the commotion you've caused will negatively affect the university?" Wang Gang said matter-of-factly.
"The shift in public opinion was caused by some people fanning the flames of unfounded rumors. You should deal with them instead."
"Right now, what's most important is dealing with the problem."
"So, the problem that you're speaking of is me?"
"Leaving aside what actually happened, can you say with absolute certainty that you didn't do anything wrong? Would things have progressed to this stage if you'd just apologized to An Wanyi at the time of the incident?"
"Apologize?"
Li Pin was going to ask why he had to apologize when he hadn't done anything wrong. But there was no point when they clearly didn't care about the truth of the matter.
"Li Pin, you should rejoice that you jumped into the lake. Otherwise, you wouldn't be getting off with just disciplinary probation," Jing Yunshan said with a smirk. "Still, it doesn't matter. Once this matter has died down, don't you dare dream of staying at Hanyang University for even one more day."
"Just because your grandpa is a director of the university?" Li Pin asked.
The corners of Jing Yunshan's lips rose, appearing rather complacent. "Hah, young man, this is me giving you an early lesson on what society is really like."
Li Pin didn't bother arguing with him and gazed at Wang Gang instead.
"Remember to prepare a 3000-word essay reflecting on your actions. Go accept your notice of criticism," Wang Gang said sternly.
The higher-ups wanted to quickly resolve this matter.
So, they gravitated toward the more favorable course of action.
Compared to dealing with An Wanyi, who seemed destined for greatness, choosing to deal with Li Pin, who was just an ordinary guy, was obviously the better solution.
"An essay reflecting on my actions?" Li Pin chortled, "Do you have a screw loose? You're targeting me so openly, yet you still want me to meekly write an essay reflecting on my actions?"
Wang Gang's eyes widened in anger. "You—what kind of attitude is that!?"
"What, are you unhappy with what I said? Expel me, then!"
Li Pin didn't say anything else and turned to leave.
Wang Gang's cheeks turned red. "You…"
He, the head of the Academic Affairs Office who earned a hundred thousand a year, was actually humiliated by a poor student who hadn't even graduated yet?
However, if Wang Gang were to expel Li Pin now… and Li Pin went on to successfully commit suicide in the university, then the university would have to bear the responsibility for that!
"He won't be happy for long. Once the matter dies down, just find a reason and have him expelled. He's already in his third year, so there is no point for him to study from scratch again. Without a college degree, he's destined to just fish for scraps in the bottom rung of society as a laborer," Jing Yunshan said disdainfully.
After all, who was Jing Yunshan? Against an ordinary student who had no power or connections, was it not a given that Jing Yunshan's word would be law?
On Li Pin's way back to his dormitory room, people were constantly pointing at him.
An Wanyi's elder sister, An Youran, was a superstar of Star Palace Entertainment. An Wanyi, on the other hand, had not debuted in the entertainment circles, but she was extremely popular in Hanyang University.
Her image was that of a talented, competent girl, and she possessed both the brains and the looks.
Over the past half month, the university had already been in an uproar over the matter of Li Pin purportedly molesting her.
Once the university's punishment was announced to the public, it would be hard for Li Pin to salvage his reputation.
After all, being condemned by the public would lead him to social death.
People without a high mental fortitude wouldn't be able to withstand the onslaught of negative public opinion.
"They're so dead certain that an ordinary guy like me won't be able to do anything about it."
Li Pin quickly returned to his dormitory.
Technically, it was indeed the case that an ordinary person wouldn't be able to do anything in such a situation.
If an ordinary person were to go up against a university, with all of its connections and influence, they would be kicked to the curb, powerless, and unable to fight back at all.
The old Li Pin was an ordinary person.
But the new one wasn't.
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