Initial Entry

By the time classes ended at noon, the students left the classroom. The lingering sleepiness that had gathered and swirled around them gradually dissipated in the breeze.

It was time for lunch, so Chen Nan and his three friends headed to the cafeteria.

Since the academy was fully enclosed and outsiders couldn't get in, students could order any meal they wanted for their three meals a day. Of course, this only applied to ordinary meals.

They hadn't figured out what the special meals were like yet, so most of the new students ate in the first-floor hall of the cafeteria. Students who ate special meals used a different entrance to go up to the second floor.

The four of them ordered their food, which included plenty of meat, vegetables, and fruits. Chen Nan was quite satisfied.

They sat around a table and started eating.

It's actually best not to talk while eating, as it divides the attention between the mouth and the stomach, which can easily make the stomach throw a small tantrum. If this tantrum lasts too long, it can turn into a chronic illness and eventually cause problems.

However, the mouth is an outsider, and adhering to the twisted logic that brothers are like limbs and wives are like clothes, it's hard for the stomach to win over. Therefore, people love to talk the most when they eat.

Shen Congyun started by complaining about how Li Guodong's lectures were so hypnotic, and everyone chimed in. The conversation, like a fart, had a beginning and then scattered somewhere unknown.

Chen Nan ate silently, listening to their childish chatter, feeling a bit helpless.

Finally, something useful came out of Shen Congyun's mouth.

He lowered his voice and said with mock seriousness, "Do you guys know? Our academy has a tradition. It seems like similar academies worldwide do this, but it's very disadvantageous to us."

Shi Lei, with unusually wide eyes, asked, "What tradition?"

Shen Congyun whispered, "This tradition is that during the first month after new students enroll, upperclassmen can bully them as they please, as long as they don't cause any serious injuries."

Lu Butong's eyes widened as he declared, "Who's afraid of whom!"

Shi Lei glanced at him dismissively and said, "Isn't that too unfair? We just got here, we don't know anything, aren't we just asking to be dealt with? What's the point of this?"

There was indeed some point to it, and a positive one at that. Unfortunately, it was like opium, which was originally a very rare medicine, but through constant development by humans, it became something harmful.

Because of this unwritten rule, the newly admitted students learned how to spend money, form cliques, flatter others, and act cute and obedient...

Shi Lei was one of them. After speaking, he sat there, stroking his sparse stubble, his sly gaze only visible through the slits of his eyelids.

Chen Nan was also stunned, and the food in his mouth suddenly didn't taste as good. This rule seemed even more problematic for him.

Shen Congyun asked everyone how they should be careful about this matter. Shi Lei said, "From now on, let's try to avoid the upperclassmen, come to class early, leave for meals late, and prepare some money. If we really can't avoid them, we'll..."

Lu Butong slammed the table and exclaimed, "Are you talking nonsense? How can a dignified man do such a thing? If someone comes looking for trouble, instead of facing them directly, they resort to such despicable means."

Shi Lei chuckled and shook his head at Lu Butong, "You, you'll be a hero in the future."

After this, everyone fell silent.

After eating, they went back to rest. In the afternoon, they were given their schedules and a list of their instructors.

Chen Nan took it and looked, first searching for Li Guodong's name. Seeing that his course was "History of Transcendent Beings," he let out a long sigh of relief and felt a sense of closure.

No wonder listening to him lecture felt like time was passing incredibly slowly. It was because he carried the resonance of history, naturally possessing a profound historical texture.

The morning courses, on the other hand, were the more novel "Meditation Class" and "Body Cultivation Class." For each class, students had already been assigned.

This meant that these two classes were not attended by all nineteen of them together. Some would attend Meditation Class, some would attend Body Cultivation Class, and some would attend both.

Chen Nan looked at the class assignments. He and Shi Lei were assigned to Meditation Class, while Shen Congyun and Lu Butong were in Body Cultivation Class.

These practical courses were offered right away, and it wasn't until the afternoon that they had cultural classes.

Cultural classes included courses like "History of Transcendent Beings," "Basic Runes," and "Incantations."

Among them, the "Nature Master Overview" course was taught by Lu Fangliang. Chen Nan naturally had a very clear impression of this person.

With no classes in the afternoon, the day passed quietly.

The next day, the first-year freshmen went to class with extreme excitement. After all, it was Meditation Class and Body Cultivation Class!

Meditation Class was the foundation for spellcasting-type transcendent beings, and Body Cultivation Class was the foundation for martial arts-type transcendent beings. Entering this stage was considered stepping through the gate of transcendent beings.

This initial glimpse and entry into the realm were extremely exciting. Once they became familiar with it, they would likely find it rather dull.

Chen Nan attended Meditation Class, which took place in a large hall. The environment was very simple, with only a sound system at the front and futons spread out on the clean floor. Each futon had a student's name on it, allowing them to take their assigned seats.

Once everyone was seated, the teacher arrived as the class bell rang.

Chen Nan already knew her name from the list he'd been given: Xu Xiaojing. She looked pleasant, and her voice felt like cotton candy, soft and sweet. Fortunately, the students below had good kidney function; if it were some middle-aged men in their forties or fifties, their urine sugar levels would surely be "+++".

"Hello, everyone," Xu Xiaojing said with a smile. "I'm sure you all know my name. I need to get to know you too, so let's go around and introduce yourselves."

The introduction session began. When Chen Nan announced his name, she said, "Oh, so you're Chen Nan. Very good."

This drew the attention of the other students.

Afterward, Xu Xiaojing distributed a small booklet to everyone, which contained an introduction to basic meditation methods.

"Meditation is the basic and effective method for us transcendent beings to improve and recover our strength," she said, drawing out her words as she walked. "It is the foundation of our growth, so you must all take it extremely seriously.

As the saying goes, 'A ten-thousand-foot building starts from the ground up.' Without a solid foundation, the building cannot be built high, and..."

Ten thousand words omitted here.

Chen Nan and all the students were frustrated. Couldn't they encounter a teacher who got straight to the point? What was the meaning of all these grand speeches?

At least, they started meditating at nine o'clock in the morning. This meditation was completely beyond Chen Nan's expectations.

Generally speaking, meditation requires a very quiet environment, preferably in nature. However, the meditation here was nothing like that.

Teacher Xu Xiaojing turned on the stereo, and an extremely piercing sound played from it. Fortunately, the volume wasn't high, but if someone with a heart condition were here, it could have triggered an attack.

She instructed the students to meditate in a specific posture, then calm their minds and let their consciousness follow the sound.

But the problem was, the sound was like countless claws scratching furiously on frosted glass. Occasionally, there were roars resembling those of wild beasts, and even screams like those of women.

With these sounds mixed together, how could anyone calm down?

Within fifteen minutes, some students turned pale, broke out in a cold sweat, and vomited directly onto the ground.

Out of the nine students in total, fewer than five remained.

Teacher Xu Xiaojing smiled and raised her hands, and the small boxes on the podium floated over to the children who had vomited.

"They're earplugs. Plug them in yourselves and recover," Xu Xiaojing said.

The children still had some mobility. After putting on the earplugs, they immediately felt the world quiet down. The sensation of millions of poisonous insects gnawing at their minds slowly disappeared.

Half an hour later, more children couldn't hold on, and only three were left.

Among these three were Shi Lei and Chen Nan.

Chen Nan was also sweating profusely. He found it hard to understand how such noise could possibly help with meditation. His mind felt like it was being roasted over a fire.

However, slowly, the AI within his nervous system began to function. In fact, the AI had been running all along, searching for patterns in the sound – its audio frequency, timbre, pitch, and so on – and calculating the underlying rules.

Gradually, the AI found the pattern and began to synchronize his brain's electromagnetic waves with it.

This still took some time, but it was much more convenient when done by the AI integrated into his nervous system.

Chen Nan's brain's electromagnetic waves started to change in sync with the sound's pattern, causing the sound to gradually lose its noisy quality and transform into a very pleasant melody.

His thoughts began to be influenced, spreading outwards into the surrounding environment like gentle flowing water…

"Ugh!"

"Ugh!"

The last two, including Shi Lei, finally broke down. They put in their earplugs, and Shi Lei looked enviously at Chen Nan's calm expression.

About forty-five minutes had passed. Xu Xiaojing checked her watch and showed a surprised expression, thinking: What perseverance, what talent! To last this long on the first try, I haven't seen that in a long time.

She recalled that the academy's record was only one hour and two minutes. Even nationwide, the most outstanding genius, the one who now stood at the pinnacle of Transcendent beings in Qingyang Kingdom, only managed one hour and forty-five minutes.

Seeing Chen Nan like this, could he break the academy's record? Of course, breaking that adult's record was impossible.