It wasn’t just Xiang Ning, even Qi Jiuming hadn’t expected a crowd of this size on the first day. More than once, he had received a notice from the school security that there were students from other schools climbing over the walls to sneak inside. He had underestimated Xiang Ning's influence. That wasn’t all—there were many people standing outside, too. 

Xiang Ning robotically walked up to the center stage in a daze. What should he do next? He didn’t know. He had already planned the class at home, but he suddenly couldn’t recall anything. 

There were just too many people, it was out of control. 

Most of them were students, but there were also members of the public there to spectate. They all knew about his feats and strengths, to a certain extent, and were extremely curious and excited to see this genius’ comprehension of combat. They hoped to learn something from him. 

He gulped, slightly panicking. Su Muhan, who was standing below the stage, understood his situation all too well, because she had embarrassed herself on her first lecture too. But with such a trusty assistant, would that happen on her watch? 

“Xiang Ning, calm down. Introduce yourself, then wait for the next part of the program,” came Su Muhan’s gentle reminder. 

“Right, right, right. Introduce myself!” Xiang Ning cleared his throat. 

But the crowd was still noisy and he slightly frowned, instinctively holding his arms out and pressing down. He hadn’t spoken in public before, but he had some sense. 

When he gestured, the entire venue fell to pin-drop silence. He was satisfied, but to the public, they were extremely impressed by his incredible crowd-control skills. The young man in traditional Han clothing grew more handsome in their eyes; many girls even blushed. 

“Uh… my dear teachers, students, leaders from various departments, and esteemed guests, good morning! My name is Xiang Ning, a student from Qiling Academy, upper-first Class 8. I’m seventeen this year and I don’t really have any hobbies, just reading sometimes. Oh, right, I have a younger sister, she’s very cute.… I like her very much. Oh, and in reality, you guys might actually know more than me…” Xiang Ning blurted out various details about himself, slipping in an explanation. What he meant was: I’ve said what I said, so don’t blame me if the classes aren’t good. 

Qi Jiuming’s face twitched, while the headmasters of various schools around him laughed. “Old Qi, you didn’t send Xiang Ning up there without making him practice, did you?” 

When Qi Jiuming heard them, he grimaced and turned to the headmaster of Third School. “There’s a few too many people today, I’ll need to limit the number next time.”

“Forget I said anything.” Third School’s headmaster immediately surrendered, though he couldn’t help but smile at the teenager on stage. How nice it was to be young. 

Fortunately, Su Muhan was there and Xiang Ning quickly finished. To the amazement of the teachers and various members of the public, all the students were paying a lot of attention. 

“What’s this? Every time they attend my lectures, they act as if they were up all night working, but why are they so focused now? And it’s just a self-introduction?” 

“Let me check them out.”

“You don’t have to. I just returned from the washroom and I saw the students even taking notes on his personal details like his favorite food, his hobbies.…”

The teachers were speechless. All of those common, irrelevant topics had been enough to catch the students’ attention. Everyone fell in deep thought, especially the teachers. 

Suddenly, a teacher gasped. Many heads turned to look so he covered his mouth. Something had just come to his mind! 

“What’s the matter?” 

“I understand now!” 

“What? 

“I understand why the kids are so focused.” 

“Spit it out!” 

Since there were many teachers present, they all looked at him in anticipation.

The teacher put on a pretentious voice and said, “The reason is the ‘character’. As teachers, we put the ‘teacher’ character at a higher point, above the students. We should instead close the gap between teacher and student.” 

“Mm, it makes sense. My students don’t even treat me as a teacher, they always joke around me during reading time in class or during recess. It used to bother me, and I thought they were naughty until I realized that they were quite serious in class,” a chubby teacher said, rubbing his chin. 

“Shh, let’s not talk, it’s starting soon.” 

Xiang Ning stood on the stage, scratching his head and looking at the crowd. He now had some inkling of what to do under Su Muhan’s prodding. He took out the pen that she had given him before he left and pressed a button. Above him, in the center of the arena, a three-dimensional image appeared. “Many students are curious how my fighting techniques are performed so immaculately, right?” 

“Yeah, yeah!” The students widened their eyes while footage of Xiang Ning in battle was played. It was specially edited to slow down during critical moments, and even do a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree orbit around him to analyze his movements from every angle. 

Although they had watched the footage countless times, they were impressed every time. But it felt even better appreciating it together with many people. 

They looked forward to his next words, where he would reveal his secret. 

“To be honest, and I don’t want to lie to you guys, the reason for this is talent.” Based on the words, it sounded like he was being arrogant, but in reality, he was awkwardly smiling and didn’t know what to do with his hands, so he scratched his face. 

What he didn’t expect was that no one would find anything wrong with his statement. But they wanted to ask him: but can you do whatever you want just because you have talent? 

They indeed had to admit that it was talent. Looking at the times he dodged attacks by just millimeters, anyone else would have died. 

“But… today, I want to show you all another method.” He smiled. You all don’t have Keen Observation, but I can tell you the things I see using it. Both humans and beasts had similar behavior; some of their flaws were even the same. 

The students grew excited.

MC has plot armor. All misunderstandings will work in his favor