(The previous chapter was released. The automated review really had something wrong with it.)
Zhu Xiaoming hurriedly handed over a wad of tissues. Zhong Yue, sitting in the back seat, looked bewildered.
"What just happened?"
Zhang Fusheng took the tissues, pressed them against the crack in his brow, and asked hoarsely.
"Who the hell knows?!" Zhu Xiaoming shuddered. "You suddenly looked like you'd been possessed, frozen stiff. No matter how we called you, you wouldn't answer, and then your forehead just split open!"
He asked worriedly:
"Old Zhang, what the hell happened??"
Zhang Fusheng's gaze turned deep, then he smiled.
"It's nothing. Just now, I fought a remote battle of mystical arts with a reclusive master and lost by one move."
"Can't you be serious for once?" Zhu Xiaoming complained. "At a time like this, you're still joking? Have you messed up your Visualization Method lately? Want to go to the hospital and get checked out?"
"No, no."
Zhang Fusheng waved a hand.
"It was probably too dry. My skin lacked moisture, maybe I had a bit of an allergy or something."
Though he spoke with a cheerful smile, every hair on his back still stood on end.
It was the wound left by the thousand-bow aura in the Mental Spiritual Realm.
The illusion had clearly been false, yet the wound had carried over into reality.
Then what if he had died in the illusion just now?
A chill ran through Zhang Fusheng's heart. An illusion was not merely an illusion.
And there was Daoism—the Five Thunders Art.
He suddenly recalled his exchange with the School Master of the Snake Fist Gym in that alleyway.
At the time, the old man had formed seals with both hands as though cradling something, stomped his foot and pulled forward, shouted "Strike," and lightning had actually flashed between his teeth amid rolling thunder.
Thinking back on it now, wasn't that the posture Daoist priests in movies from his previous life used to summon heavenly lightning?
And that hand seal—wasn't it Daoism's Five Thunders Seal from his previous life?
"Old Zhang."
Zhu Xiaoming rubbed his shaved head and spoke anxiously.
"The way you looked just now, I really think your Visualization Method went wrong."
He tried to persuade him.
"Don't push yourself so hard. I've asked around. Even if you only meet the requirements in your freshman year, or even sophomore year, and reach Minor Accomplishment in either Visualization or a Breathing Technique, you might not necessarily be able to transfer into the Martial Arts Department, but you can still sit in on their classes. There's plenty of time."
Zhang Fusheng nodded absentmindedly, while three question marks seemed to pop up over Zhong Yue's head in the back seat.
Zhu Xiaoming patted Zhang Fusheng on the shoulder and said earnestly:
"Old Zhang, don't worry. Once we enroll, I'll share some of the resources the school gives me with you. Even if we aren't in the Martial Arts Department, we can still become martial artists!"
The question marks over Zhong Yue's head multiplied, and her expression became rather strange.
A... martial artist?
She blinked, recalling the words "2,000 jin" on the strength-testing machine.
Zhang Fusheng came back to himself and said with a grin:
"No need, Old Zhu. I'm already a martial artist. I'm about to reach the Third Refinement."
"Oh."
Zhu Xiaoming rolled his eyes and stepped on the gas.
"Right, right, you're a martial artist, you're at the Third Refinement. Oh, right—does Student Zhong plan to transfer to the Martial Arts Department?"
The strange-looking girl in the back simply nodded.
"Of course I do. As for whether I can make it, I don't know."
Through the rearview mirror, Zhang Fusheng glanced at this girl who was, in a certain sense, his own "granddaughter," and suddenly asked:
"Student Zhong, is the School Master of your Snake Fist Gym named... Huang Qiuxian?"
He had now remembered who Huang Qiuxian was.
The extraordinarily tenacious person the director of Ankang Hospital had mentioned.
A "Cancer Person" with more than a dozen kinds of primary cancer all over his body, every one in its terminal stage, along with who knew how many other incurable illnesses—and who was one hundred and forty-two years old.
"His name is Huang Qiuxian. Do you know him well?" she asked cautiously.
"Why are you calling him 'sir' already?" Zhu Xiaoming laughed as he drove. "This is my brother, Zhang Fusheng. Like you, he's also an incoming freshman in Jiang University's Computer Science Department."
After a pause, Zhu Xiaoming coughed.
"Little Yue, let me tell you, Old Zhang is really something. Didn't your Visualization Method fail to get started? Let me tell you—Old Zhang only practiced for a few days before he got his Visualization Method started."
"He only got off to a late start back then, and his Breathing Technique couldn't keep up. Otherwise, getting into Jiang University's Martial Arts Department would've been a piece of cake."
As he chatted with Zhong Yue, he described "Zhang Fusheng" as a genius whose talent had been delayed, speaking with utter conviction while making things up and winking furiously at Zhang Fusheng.
Yet Zhong Yue did not doubt him in the slightest. Instead, she nodded very seriously.
Zhang Fusheng rubbed his forehead.
The three chatted idly, and before they knew it, they had passed the checkpoint. The bright red sports car drove into District Three, and Jiangzhou University was close at hand.
As the best university in all of Jiangzhou City, Jiang University might have been located in a small city and amounted to nothing on the scale of the entire Federation,
but within Jiangzhou's little patch of land, it was a place of utmost importance.
In fact, within Golden Province, Jiang University could squeeze into the top ten. Its ranking was even one place higher than the best university in a certain medium-sized city.
"See that building up ahead with the words 'Tianbao' on the wall? That's the library."
Zhu Xiaoming led Zhang Fusheng and Zhong Yue down a tree-lined path. Pointing at the building ahead, he was clearly well prepared.
"That entire building is the library. One of Jiang University's trustees paid to build it, and the building was named after that trustee. It's called Tianbao Building. The forum says that trustee is an incredible figure even in the city."
Zhang Fusheng scratched his head. Uh, Master?
He grinned. Hong's business really covered a wide range—Martial Arts Academy, lending money, apparently managing an assassin organization... and even serving as a trustee of Jiang University.
When they reached the foot of Tianbao Building, Zhu Xiaoming excitedly pulled out his phone.
"Hello, hello, Lu Yao? Me, Old Zhang, and Zhong Yue from Class Ten are already downstairs. Where are you?"
"Huh? Watching gossip? What gossip?"
"Genius Chen is that popular? Oh, she sent someone flying with one slap? Six-six-six!"
Zhang Fusheng and Zhong Yue looked at him curiously.
A moment later, Zhu Xiaoming hung up and said regretfully:
"Damn it, we came one step too late and missed a good show. It's all your fault, Old Zhang, dawdling around!"
Zhang Fusheng's teeth ached. Zhong Yue, beside him, asked curiously:
"What happened?"
Zhu Xiaoming explained:
"Lu Yao said an upperclassman confessed to Chen Nuanyu in public in the library just now. Genius Chen shattered his face with one slap. Lu Yao also said that even before officially enrolling, Chen Nuanyu is already a celebrity at Jiang University."
He hurried excitedly into the building.
"We can't eat the gossip while it's hot, but we can still scavenge a mouthful of leftovers. Come on, come on, let's go watch!"
The three entered the seven- or eight-story Tianbao Building. They did not even need to call Lu Yao for directions; they immediately found the scene of the incident.
It was on the first floor, with dozens of onlookers. It would have been hard not to find.
"Lu Yao! Lu Yao!"
Zhu Xiaoming shouted at the top of his lungs. The students all turned to look at the bald man in large earrings and a thick gold chain as if he were an idiot.
Zhang Fusheng and Zhong Yue silently shifted away from Zhu Xiaoming at the same time. Among the crowd, a pretty-faced girl also covered her face and lowered her head.
Zhu Xiaoming seemed to realize he had been rather abrupt. He twisted his butt, then accurately spotted the girl covering her face in the crowd and pulled Zhang Fusheng and Zhong Yue over.
"Lu Yao, Lu Yao! Where's the excitement?"
Zhu Xiaoming squeezed into the crowd—though there was no need to squeeze at all. As soon as he approached while rubbing his bald head, the crowd had already scattered like birds and beasts, opening up a path.
Zhang Fusheng silently pulled up his collar, trying to cover his face.
"Keep it down, big brother!" Lu Yao said through gritted teeth. She politely greeted Zhang Fusheng and Zhong Yue, then covered her face again.
"This is a library!"
Zhu Xiaoming gave an embarrassed laugh.
"Aren't they all muttering away too? Besides, I was in a hurry to find you. Where's Genius Chen?"
He looked around.
Lu Yao pursed her lips. The three followed her gaze and saw, not far away, a student lying on the floor with his face covered in blood, clearly unconscious.
Beside him, a cool and aloof girl with wine-red hair sat calmly under the gaze of dozens of pairs of eyes, quietly flipping through a thick book.
Sunlight streamed through the glass window and fell right over her, making her look like a fairy untouched by the mortal world.
Zhang Fusheng saw that the collarbone beneath her neck was white as jade and raised his brows. Where was the wound?
Had it healed that quickly?
It did not look like concealer. Was it some expensive medicine, or... a special physique?
The fairy suddenly seemed to sense something and turned her eyes toward him. When she saw Zhang Fusheng, she visibly froze, then raised her brows as well.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, she rose gracefully, cradling her book as she slowly walked over.
"Are you a Jiang University student too?"
She raised her chin slightly, her neck slender and graceful, and asked Zhang Fusheng softly. Her voice was crisp and sweet like a frost-covered peach, but an imperceptible anxiety flashed through her eyes.
The entire crowd turned to stare.
Before you continue