A Poor Scholar's Road to the Imperial Exams Through Practical Learning

Shen Yan, a master's graduate in education, transmigrates into the body of a poor scholar and is bound to the Education Evolution System. The System's demand: use modern educational ideas to reform the rotten imperial examination system! Thus, he becomes a disruptive force in the exam hall: applying calculus to policy essays on mathematics, turning rigid eight-legged essays into project-based learning reports, and even founding a “Practical Studies Society” at the academy, where he and his classmates verify Tiangong Kaiwu through experiments. When powerful court officials denounce him for heresy, he counters with a plan to reform the examinations around the principle of applying knowledge to real-world affairs. From “Madman Shen” to “Master of Practical Studies,” his rise from humble beginnings even brings Eastern and Western civilizations into conversation across the pages of an eight-legged essay.