They had lunch at a small restaurant on campus. Over the meal, they got to know one another more thoroughly and ranked themselves by age. Hu Zhiming was the oldest by month and took the position of eldest brother, which delighted him so much he practically lost his head. Next was Li Yong, the second oldest, followed by Ma Guojie in third. Although Zhang Hupan was already a full hundred years old, he could only be ranked fourth according to the date on his ID card. After him came Zhang Zhipeng and Chen Youmi. After lunch, they toured the campus and took a boat ride on Huajia Pond. Then they went to the Academic Affairs Office to collect their textbooks, bought some pots, basins, and other daily necessities, and tidied up their dorm room in preparation for classes the day after tomorrow! Everything that happened was perfectly normal—except that after Zhang Hupan received his textbooks, he flipped through a few pages and then sat there in a daze for ages. This was hardly surprising. How could Zhang Hupan, who had grown up deep in the mountains and forests, possibly understand such profound knowledge as chemical symbols, English letters, and advanced mathematics?
The next morning, following the tradition of previous years, the school leaders gave a speech to all the freshmen in the auditorium. The boring remarks nearly drove even the meditation expert Zhang Hupan to despair and run wild. One could imagine how badly the freshmen were tormented by the school leaders on their first day! In the afternoon, the homeroom teacher and counselor led everyone around the campus and had them introduce themselves to one another. Zhang Hupan, with his ordinary appearance and country-bumpkin clothes, made no deep impression on anyone. The only impression he left was that this fellow was a rustic guerrilla! There were thirty students in the class. Since it was a science class, there were not many girls—only eight. Among them, there was neither a beauty capable of rivaling Diao Chan nor a super dinosaur; they could only be described as thoroughly average. Zhang Hupan, however, noticed that all the boys were extremely satisfied with this situation. Rumor had it that one of the previous two classes had only two girls, and both had been dinosaur-level. Now that their class had eight perfectly ordinary girls, the boys were already thanking heaven and earth.
After the day's activities ended, everyone received their class schedules. Since the next day was their first day of classes, the students in the dorm conscientiously and enthusiastically prepared the books they would need. Li Yong and Ma Guojie even did some previewing. They only had classes in the morning: advanced mathematics and inorganic chemistry. Zhang Hupan also wanted to preview the two subjects, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not understand a single thing. He had no choice but to put the books away and wait until after class the next day to decide what to do.
The morning passed quickly. Poor Zhang Hupan sat stupidly in class for half a day, craning his neck to listen, yet he failed to understand even half a sentence. Zhang Hupan had always been naturally intelligent and was not the type to admit defeat. He steeled himself and thought, How could I, a bona fide immortal in the eyes of the world, fail to learn even this much from ordinary people? When all the other students formed groups of three or five and went off to have fun that afternoon, Zhang Hupan alone went to the library, intending to find some foundational books. Unfortunately, his foundation was simply too foundational. After searching for ages, he still could not find a single book he could understand. Zhang Hupan then ran to Xinhua Bookstore, where he finally found some elementary and middle school textbooks. In them, he finally discovered the source of those strange symbols. Zhang Hupan became completely immersed in the ocean of knowledge. Everyone stared strangely at this very unfashionably dressed young man as he concentrated on elementary and middle school textbooks. They could not understand how an adult could read elementary school books with such enthusiasm! Zhang Hupan had no idea that he had already become a monster in the eyes of those around him. He was deeply shaken by another civilization created and discovered by humanity. Perhaps Zhang Hupan had once believed that only the Heavenly Dao and immortal cultivation arts were the truths of the mortal world, but the knowledge in these books completely overturned his former ideas. It turned out that the other civilization created and discovered by humanity was so profound and fascinating. Even a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg revealed such wondrous things. If he could fully learn this system of civilization, it would certainly be tremendously meaningful—and might even greatly advance his cultivation.
Thus, Zhang Hupan spent the entire afternoon collecting foundational books, then spent nearly five hundred yuan buying them all. Carrying dozens of books, he left the bookstore and found a place where no one was watching before tossing the books into his Universe Ring. After that, Zhang Hupan went to an electronics mall and bought a portable cassette player to use for learning English. Aside from some mathematics and natural science books, most of the books he bought that afternoon were English books and tapes. After all, he was completely ignorant in that area.
When he returned to the dorm, Zhang Hupan greeted Fatty and the others, said, "I'm going to the classroom for self-study," and vanished in a flash. Hu Zhiming and the others were left staring dumbfounded at Zhang Hupan's disappearing back. In unison, they cursed, "Damn! How can anyone in the world be this hardworking at studying?!"
"Come on, come on, let's ignore that old fossil and keep playing cards!" Hu Zhiming shouted. Everyone lowered their heads together and resumed playing Red Five.
Since the semester had just begun, most classrooms were practically empty. Zhang Hupan casually found a classroom, sat in a corner, and took out Foundational Natural Science, reading it with relish. After all, he was an expert at the Nascent Soul Stage, with extraordinary memory and comprehension. Although he had never encountered such concepts before, Zhang Hupan spent only one evening of self-study rapidly grasping some basic natural science, such as universal gravitation and the periodic table of elements. As for complex structures and organic compounds, he would probably still need to study them slowly.
The dormitory building was required to turn off the lights at eleven. By the time Zhang Hupan returned, it was almost eleven o'clock. The lights in the building had already been turned off, leaving only the corridor lights on. Many students wearing nothing but underwear had towels draped over their shoulders and washbasins and cups in their hands as they bustled back and forth through the corridor. From the bathrooms came the occasional howl like a wolf! Long before reaching Room 203, Zhang Hupan could hear Hu Zhiming and the others discussing romantic escapades, their laughter utterly lecherous.
"I'm back!" Zhang Hupan called politely as he pushed open the door.
"Get lost!" Everyone glanced at Zhang Hupan as if he were an idiot, then turned their gazes back toward the upper bunk by the window on the right. That was Hu Zhiming's bed.
"Big Brother, are you sure the person teaching us English tomorrow is a genuine Scottish cow?" Chen Youmi asked skeptically.
"How could that be false? I heard students from the School of Economics and Trade are taking classes with us tomorrow!" Hu Zhiming suddenly dropped another bombshell.
"Big Brother, are you really sure?" Chen Youmi asked, his voice almost trembling.
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