The Water's Boiling

Though he couldn't understand why Zhu Jun Xiang insisted on going to wash up with him, the gesture still moved Xian Wu.

"Come on, let's go take a look. Maybe there's still some hot water left." Xian Wu patted Zhu Jun Xiang on the shoulder.

They put their towels in the washbasin and left the dormitory together.

"How did things go when you went to see the Vice Dean this afternoon?" Zhu Jun Xiang asked with concern.

If Xian Wu was going to be expelled over the fight, he would feel terribly guilty.

If he hadn't put his tray on the table to save a seat, none of this would have happened.

Xian Wu didn't answer Zhu Jun Xiang directly. Instead, he asked, "Did you go to the cafeteria for dinner tonight?"

Zhu Jun Xiang nodded.

"There was a cafeteria worker serving food who looked exactly like you, as if you'd been carved from the same mold. Isn't that strange?"

"What do you mean, carved from the same mold? That was me serving the food." Xian Wu pursed his lips. "Why didn't you come to my station? I could've given you a little extra food."

"Zhang Ming said the line at your station was ridiculously slow, and that your attitude was terrible, so we didn't go," Zhu Jun Xiang answered honestly.

Terrible attitude? Xian Wu didn't think so.

"Vice Dean Ye Sheng didn't expel me. He punished me by putting me in charge of serving food in the cafeteria," Xian Wu told him honestly.

He left out the fact that he was also paid 100 Demon Spirit Coins a month. If he mentioned that, Zhu Jun Xiang would definitely be jealous.

At Xian Wu's words, the weight on Zhu Jun Xiang's heart lifted at once. "Good. You weren't expelled. That's all that matters."

If Xian Wu had been expelled, Zhu Jun Xiang would have felt even more guilty.

After a roundabout trip, the two of them arrived at the bathhouse.

There really wasn't much hot water left. Xian Wu and Zhu Jun Xiang got only half a bucket each.

"Just wipe yourself down with a towel. There's not enough to soak in." Zhu Jun Xiang poured the hot water into the washbasin and wet his towel.

Xian Wu poured his own hot water into Zhu Jun Xiang's bucket, then said, "You wipe yourself down. I'll take a cold shower."

With that, he picked out a large wooden tub and began filling it bucket by bucket with cold water.

A Strength of 49 was no joke. He could carry a bucket in one hand without a problem.

Zhu Jun Xiang reached into the tub and tested the water.

The moment his fingers touched the cold water, goosebumps sprang up all over him.

"Xian Wu, this water's too cold. If you get in, you'll freeze yourself sick. Just wipe down with the hot water. You can soak tomorrow." Zhu Jun Xiang tried to talk him out of it.

Though it was already early summer, City of Brilliance was still very cold. In some places, the snow and ice hadn't even melted.

Who would take a cold shower in weather like this?

Xian Wu didn't think much of it. "It's fine. It's summer now. A cold shower won't hurt."

As he spoke, he stood beside the large tub and lowered his Demon Left Hand into the cold water.

His Demon Left Hand could break anything in the world down into atoms, and water was no exception.

Water's chemical formula was H₂O. Breaking it down produced two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.

Atoms were highly unstable, and after being separated, they would automatically recombine.

So when Xian Wu's Demon Left Hand broke down the water, it would produce three substances: hydrogen, oxygen, and water.

Since water molecules were more stable than hydrogen and oxygen molecules, hydrogen and oxygen would preferentially bond to form water molecules.

Forming one mole (6.02 × 10²³) of H–O bonds released 463 kilojoules of energy.

One liter of water weighed about 1,000 grams, and the molar mass of water was 18 g/mol.

That meant one liter of water contained about 56 moles of water molecules. The large tub held around 400 liters, so it contained roughly 20,000 moles of water molecules.

If all the water in the tub was broken down, then the hydrogen and oxygen atoms were allowed to recombine freely into H–O bonds, nearly 18 million kilojoules of heat would be released.

Water's specific heat capacity was about 4.2, meaning it took 4.2 kilojoules of heat to raise one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius.

Water had a density of about 1 kg/L, so 400 liters of water weighed 400 kilograms.

Therefore, it would take no more than 4.2 × 100 × 400 = 168,000 kilojoules of heat to bring a full tub of water to a boil.

Since 168,000 was less than one percent of 18 million, Xian Wu's Demon Left Hand could indeed bring the water in the tub to a boil.

And he wasn't trying to scald pig bristles off himself. Thirty or forty degrees would be plenty.

Back in high school, Xian Wu had been the chemistry class representative. Calculating a simple water-heating problem was child's play.

It was worth mentioning that the Demon Left Hand's decomposition happened instantaneously.

The hydrogen and oxygen atoms wouldn't take long to bond, either. Just imagine how quickly hydrogen and oxygen burned.

With his left hand providing the heat and his right hand testing the temperature, Xian Wu began heating the water.

Gloop, gloop...

Hydrogen and oxygen bubbled up out of the water one after another.

Zhu Jun Xiang was wiping his armpits when he heard the noise. He stared in confusion.

"What's that sound? Is the water boiling?"

Following the sound, he spotted the strange bubbles rising in Xian Wu's tub.

He slapped himself twice and rubbed his eyes, but the strange sight remained. His whole worldview shattered in an instant.

He reached into Xian Wu's large tub and tested the water. Though he could hardly believe it, the water was warm.

What was going on?

A moment ago, the cold had given him goosebumps. How had it gotten warm? What had Xian Wu added to the water?

"Shh—" Xian Wu put his index finger to his lips, signaling Zhu Jun Xiang to stay quiet.

He warned him coldly, "Don't ask questions, and don't tell anyone. Everyone has secrets they can't reveal, and mine is especially hard to talk about."

"Swallow all your questions for now. When the time is right, I'll tell you the truth."

"I'll heat your bathwater for you as payment for keeping my secret. Go get some water with a bucket. Don't just stand there."

Xian Wu patted Zhu Jun Xiang on the shoulder meaningfully, wondering whether he should kill him to keep him quiet and destroy the body.

The wicked thought flashed through his mind.

Forget it. He'd see how Zhu Jun Xiang behaved from now on. Xian Wu wasn't Cao Cao; he didn't want to kill an innocent man by mistake.

"Don't worry. I won't go blabbing to everyone," Zhu Jun Xiang promised, patting his chest.

Now that he'd accepted Xian Wu as his big brother, he wouldn't betray him.

The Demon Left Hand was like a super-efficient electric water heater. It took less than five minutes to heat two tubs of water.

Splash! Splash!

The two of them jumped into the steaming tub one after the other.

"Big bro, classes officially start tomorrow. Are you excited?" Zhu Jun Xiang asked as he scrubbed his back with a towel.

They were about to learn techniques for cultivating Soul Force and martial arts. They were about to set out on the path to becoming warriors and Spirit Masters. How could they not be excited?

Xian Wu leaned against the side of the tub, holding onto its rim. He rested the warm, damp towel on his forehead and spoke with his eyes closed.

"There's nothing to get excited about. If you lack talent, it doesn't matter what you study—it'll all be useless. You can't see the difference until you start cultivating. Once you do, the gap becomes obvious. Then you'll realize that in the face of talent, hard work isn't worth a thing."

Seeing Zhu Jun Xiang's spirits sink, Xian Wu changed tack. "But if you work hard, you might at least catch a glimpse of those geniuses. If you don't, you won't even see their shadows."

"Don't compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to who you were yesterday. As long as you're a little better than you were the day before, that's already great."