Invisible Class, Su Nianyi

Zhou Yibai's return piqued the curiosity of quite a few classmates.

But after asking around and learning he had a legitimate reason to stay in the classroom and show off, the people nearby rolled their eyes and dispersed.

Not long after, the midday bell rang.

Li Xijun was dragged by Zhou Yibai as usual, bypassing the female obstacles linking arms and blocking the stairwell, before walking all the way to the cafeteria.

"Today my brother's treating, Brother Li, eat your fill."

"Huh? Didn't you say even Elite Class students have purchase limits?" Li Xijun asked.

"That's what the school rules say, but in reality, the Nourishment Meal Sets on the second floor are ridiculously expensive. One meal costs thousands per person. Not all Elite Class students come from wealthy families—how could they eat that every day? With my brother's connections, borrowing an ID is a piece of cake."

Saying this, Zhou Yibai swelled with pride.

Li Xijun said nothing more, just listened as usual to the other's bragging and boasting.

It wasn't until they reached the cafeteria stairs that Zhou Yibai grew visibly excited, as if stepping onto the staircase of the elite. Every few steps, he'd turn to look down at the students eating on the lower floor.

This made Li Xijun, who usually prided himself on his steady mindset, feel a bit embarrassed on the sidelines.

After dawdling their way up to the second floor, Zhou Yibai looked around, carefully taking in the surroundings.

Li Xijun was also curious about the legendary second floor, but a single glance told him it wasn't much different from the fancy restaurants of his past life.

The only change was that there were no meal windows or trembling-handed aunties; instead, it had been replaced with a restaurant-style serving method.

The tables and chairs had been swapped for high-end, antique wooden ones, spaced farther apart.

If anything stood out, it was the wall-side windows where a few old-fashioned private rooms had been built, mimicking ancient TV dramas. All the tableware looked antique and premium, complete with incense burners, tea sets, and a stage set up like an ancient tavern, where an elderly man in classical attire was tuning a guqin.

"I heard that cultivating the Third Realm's Artistic Conception depends heavily on mental state and mindset. Before the Great Cataclysm, things like tea ceremony, calligraphy, and playing the qin helped with comprehension. By university, you'll see many people dressing, acting, and living like ancients. That's why a lot of Elite Class students start learning these things early on."

Zhou Yibai explained, sharing the knowledge he'd picked up from his brother-in-law.

At the same time, he glanced at his phone to see the room number his cousin had sent, then walked ahead straight into the antique private room.

The room wasn't large—just one table and four chairs, two of which were already occupied.

The male was Zhou Shenghao, good-looking and wearing a black nano-integrated suit.

The female was also in a nano-integrated suit but with a white-and-cyan Hanfu over it, giving off a gentle, warm, fairy-like charm of ancient elegance.

Seeing Zhou Yibai bring someone over, Zhou Shenghao simply clapped his hands. Soon, someone entered the antique room, lit the incense in the burner, the qin player outside began a melody, and waitstaff in ancient costumes filed in with dish after dish.

Once everything was set, feeling he'd thoroughly shown off in front of his friend, Zhou Yibai began the introductions:

"Let me introduce you—this is my cousin Zhou Shenghao, and this is Liu Yunmeng, from a family with ties to mine. Both are in the Elite Class."

"And this is Li Xijun, a friend I often eat and walk home with."

Since he was here to freeload off the Nourishment Meal Set, Li Xijun took the initiative to greet them.

But Zhou Shenghao's expression remained cold. He only gave a slight nod before turning his gaze to the chat interface on Liu Yunmeng's phone.

Liu Yunmeng, on the other hand, smiled and responded a few times, displaying the etiquette of a noble lady. Still, she was only a high schooler, and a hint of distance inevitably slipped through her words and demeanor.

"Heh, let's just eat first."

Zhou Yibai, thinking the meeting had gone well, took the initiative to speak with Zhou Shenghao and started eating.

Li Xijun, fully aware of his place—he was just here to freeload a meal with Zhou Yibai—kept quiet and silently observed the effects of the nourishing food.

In truth, these Nourishment Meal Sets lived up to their price.

Each grain of Spirit Rice was fragrant and fresh, and the mythical beast meat was especially tempting, quickly dissolving into rich, savory juices in his mouth. It required almost no digestion, and the energy was gently absorbed by his body.

This was the first time since taking the Greater Blood Essence Pill that Li Xijun felt a satisfying fullness from his body.

It made him wonder—if, besides his daily Medicinal Bath and Greater Blood Essence Pill, he could also have this level of nourishing meals every day, his blood energy improvement speed could increase by at least thirty percent.

Soon, the Nourishment Meal Set was finished, and a few plates of tea snacks were brought up.

A special notification sound came from Liu Yunmeng's phone chat.

Seeing it, Zhou Shenghao finally showed a hint of delight. He then took out a box of tea leaves, triple-wrapped and stored in a high-end little case.

"This is the Spirit Nourishing Tea Xiao Zhou brought from home. It's not some legendary treasure that boosts mental power, but it does have a slight effect of warming and nourishing the spirit. Even Third Realm martial artists are willing to trade resources for it."

"I only managed to get Nian Yi to come for tea, and that's when he was willing to take it out from home."

Liu Yunmeng's way of speaking had a childish imitation of her family's mannerisms, but Li Xijun understood the meaning immediately.

A cousin getting promoted to the Elite Class, bringing a friend along, treating him to a meal—that was fine.

But the Spirit Nourishing Tea was something precious, not something to be shared with just anyone.

"I happen to feel my blood energy is quite active—I should be about to break through. I'll take my leave first."

Li Xijun saw the situation clearly, stood up directly, and added a truthful remark as he left.

But none of the three in the room paid him any attention.

Even after Li Xijun walked out the door, he could still hear Zhou Shenghao's impatient voice:

"You're an Elite Class student now. Watch more, listen more, talk less. Learn to make friends like Ye Liuyun, who's at the top of the grade. Stop wasting time on meaningless socializing."

"Oh, oh. I get it. I'll only be in class for one more afternoon anyway, and we won't cross paths after this."

Zhou Yibai subconsciously followed his cousin's advice and chimed in without thinking.

Li Xijun, whose senses had sharpened after Orifice Opening, heard every word clearly, but he felt no urge for some 'don't bully the youth' outburst.

Different circles—no need to force his way in.

He simply descended the stairs, thinking to himself that since the Da Sheng World had Medicinal Baths and Greater Blood Essence Pills, it should also have something like a Nourishment Meal Set, right?

He couldn't afford a Nourishment Meal Set at school, but in the Da Sheng World, how could he not?

Just as this thought crossed his mind, he saw a girl in a Deep Purple Silk Robe, with long purple hair, climbing the stairs step by step.

The hair color wasn't strange. After the Great Cataclysm, the geographical environment had changed drastically, causing many people from the Federation's Western Alliance States—with their blonde hair and blue eyes—to experience changes in their iris colors. Later, influenced by the consumption of various resources from the Mythical World, many martial artists underwent hair color changes and other phenomena, which were then passed down through heredity.

But when the girl's gaze locked onto Li Xijun's eyes, It was like a human staring down a tiger.

His spirit instinctively plunged into a soul-sensing 'Bullet Time,' with a starlike, brilliant luster swirling within his irises.

Under the slowed-down perception of time, he saw the girl across from him reveal a thoughtful expression.