Back at the dorm, Zhang Hupan heard Hu Zhiming and the others making a racket from far away. He could not help shaking his head, thinking that those rascals must be playing cards again. For some reason, Zhang Hupan found himself becoming more and more integrated into their lives, and sometimes he even envied the ordinary life they lived.
He remembered one time when Hu Zhiming could not stand seeing Zhang Hupan run to the library every day. The others had insisted on dragging him into a card game, but with Zhang Hupan's photographic memory, who could possibly outcalculate him? Ever since then, Zhang Hupan had been expelled from the dorm's card games, and he could only helplessly accept the reality of his superpowers.
Sure enough, every single person in the dorm was there. They were playing Fangwu, a relatively popular variation in which three people played against two, so all five of them were involved. Hu Zhiming and Li Yong had probably lost miserably; the two of them wore bitter expressions. Somehow, they seemed to lose every time. Seeing them like that, Zhang Hupan could not help pitying their somewhat slow-witted minds.
When Hu Zhiming saw Zhang Hupan return, perhaps holding another terrible hand, he took the opportunity to fling his cards onto the table and say with a solemn expression, "All right, all right, the boss is back. We're done playing! Let's discuss next week's college sports meet."
Everyone had long since grown accustomed to Hu Zhiming's cheating behavior. They merely hissed at him, let him off, and then all looked at Zhang Hupan with a trace of guilt.
Although he felt embarrassed about using mind reading on his roommates, Zhang Hupan's keen spiritual sense still told him that something unpleasant was about to happen.
Sure enough, Hu Zhiming, who had been pushed forward by everyone as their representative, said timidly, "Boss, there's something I need to report to you!"
Although few things in this world could trouble Zhang Hupan, seeing Hu Zhiming hem and haw, he still said impatiently, "If you have something to say, spit it out!"
Seeing that Zhang Hupan seemed a little angry, Hu Zhiming took a deep breath and put on an expression that said he was throwing caution to the wind. "The college is holding a sports meet next weekend. You know that, aside from you being a little taller and having at least lived near Wudang Mountain, you're the only one in our dorm who can manage it. So we all chose you as our dorm representative and signed you up for several events."
Zhang Hupan looked around at his roommates. Although he had spent years in remote immortal valleys and had fair, translucent skin and refined features, he was at least 175 centimeters tall and of normal weight. As for the others, there was no need to mention Hu Zhiming's build; if he gained any more weight, even walking would become a problem. Chen Youliang was as thin as an African refugee, and not one of the others was over 170 centimeters tall.
Zhang Hupan nodded in complete understanding. "Well, since I'm tall and mighty, it's only right that I contribute a little to the dorm and the class." He rarely took the opportunity to show off.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" everyone chimed in.
"However, we accidentally signed you up for a few too many events," Li Yong muttered softly.
Everyone was surprised to find that Zhang Hupan did not interrogate them as they had expected. He merely gave an absentminded "Oh." After all, having a mid-Nascent Soul expert participate in a sports meet was as easy as drinking water. Whether he entered one event or two made no difference to Zhang Hupan.
Seeing that Zhang Hupan was not nervous, Li Yong assumed he had not heard clearly or had not realized how demanding the events were. He raised his voice slightly. "We signed you up for six events."
"Oh? Which six?" Zhang Hupan asked calmly.
"High jump, long jump, shot put, the 100-meter dash, the 1,500-meter run, and—and the 10,000-meter run. I wasn't the one who signed you up for the 10,000 meters. That was Fatty's idea!" In everyone's eyes, the 10,000 meters was an extremely grueling event, so Li Yong felt quite guilty about entering Zhang Hupan in it.
"It's fine. Isn't it just running?" Seeing everyone's uneasy expressions, Zhang Hupan found it very amusing. Fortunately, his other identity was that of a legendary immortal; otherwise, the events they had signed him up for would have tortured him to death.
When Zhang Hupan did not fly into a rage, everyone let out a long breath and finally set down the heavy stone in their hearts. They had not actually wanted to sign him up for so many events, but Su Xue, the college's famous beauty, was in charge of registration this time. Hoping to attract the beauty's attention, they had actually betrayed their dorm leader for a pretty face.
Since Zhang Hupan did not take the matter seriously, Hu Zhiming and the others immediately reverted to their old ways and shouted that they should continue playing cards, leaving Zhang Hupan aside. Zhang Hupan looked at these utterly disloyal brothers and could only shake his head helplessly before leaving the dorm and heading back to the library.
Although the tense period at the beginning had already passed, and he could now keep up completely with his classmates, he had even left everyone far behind in English.
Zhang Hupan no longer needed to study as tensely as he had at the start. However, he had now become deeply fascinated by the civilization created by these mortals, who were as weak as ants in the eyes of the cultivation world. It could be said that Zhang Hupan was now completely immersed in it. Through books, he continuously absorbed this world's civilization and enriched his knowledge. In the ocean of knowledge, Zhang Hupan felt immense satisfaction, and through studying, he also discovered the gaps in his understanding of many fields.
That day, Zhang Hupan deliberately looked for some books on culinary culture in the library. What he never expected was that food could be interpreted so richly, and that dining etiquette could be expressed with such elegance and nobility. It was no longer merely the simple act of filling one's stomach, but the accumulation of history and culture.
After spending the afternoon learning about it, Zhang Hupan gained an even deeper appreciation for the splendor and diversity of human civilization. He once again felt fortunate that his master had made him enter the mortal world to cultivate. Otherwise, he would have missed out on so many wonderful experiences in life, especially for cultivators like them, who possessed endless years. (To be continued)
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