Huo Yuhao heard him and opened his eyes slightly. Looking at Cao Jinxuan's stunned face on the opposite bed, he shook his head.
"I'm not going to sleep. I'll just cultivate until tomorrow morning.
You should get some rest. Good night."
With that, he closed his eyes again. The fluctuations of Soul Power around him steadied as he sank back into a state of absolute concentration.
Even his breathing grew long and even, as though he had become one with the spiritual energy of the world around him.
He was going to cultivate until morning? Was he really that hardworking?
Cao Jinxuan stared wide-eyed at Huo Yuhao, who sat cross-legged on the opposite bed, perfectly still. He felt a little surprised and impressed.
During their meal and casual chat earlier, he had learned that Huo Yuhao had only twelve ranks of Soul Power and one ring, and had been specially admitted.
Was he trying to make the most of every second because his Soul Power foundation was weak, so he could catch up with everyone else?
What a diligent guy!
Cao Jinxuan clicked his tongue in admiration, rolled over, and pulled the covers over his head, intending to close his eyes and sleep.
But he tossed and turned, rolling around in bed several times, while his eyes stayed wide open. He wasn't sleepy at all.
What was going on? Why couldn't he sleep?
Was it because this place was unfamiliar, and he hadn't gotten used to it yet?
No, that couldn't be it. This had never happened before!
Half an hour slipped by. The insects outside the window gradually fell quiet, but Cao Jinxuan was still staring at the ceiling, his mind in a muddle.
For some reason, Huo Yuhao's image kept surfacing in his mind: sitting cross-legged in cultivation, utterly absorbed. A strange sense of guilt suddenly welled up inside him.
They were about the same age, yet Huo Yuhao had started cultivating all night to hone himself as soon as he arrived at school, while he lay here sleeping soundly. That was just too disgraceful!
How could he possibly sleep?!
At the thought, it was as if sleeping itself had become a sin.
"Should I get up and cultivate for a while too?"
The thought suddenly popped into Cao Jinxuan's head, and once it was there, he couldn't push it back down.
He could already imagine it:
If his parents found out that his new roommate had cultivated all night while he had slept straight through, they would surely grab him by the ear and lecture him, telling him to take Huo Yuhao as an example and work harder.
This was bad, really bad. Now he couldn't sleep at all!
Cao Jinxuan abruptly sat up in bed and glanced resentfully at Huo Yuhao, who was still cultivating with complete focus. Resigned, he sighed.
He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, circulated his Soul Power, and began cultivating too.
But he had barely been sitting for a while when he started feeling restless.
Still, whenever he opened his eyes and saw Huo Yuhao sitting as steady as a mountain across from him, Cao Jinxuan could only grit his teeth and keep at it.
As the two cultivated—one still, the other fidgeting—time trickled away.
The horizon gradually paled, and the first rays of morning sunlight streamed through the window lattice and into the dormitory.
After cultivating all night, Huo Yuhao slowly withdrew the Soul Power surrounding him and opened his eyes.
A night of cultivation had left him not the slightest bit tired. On the contrary, thanks to the physique Zhao Ze had reshaped for him, he felt refreshed, and both his Soul Power and spiritual power had improved considerably.
He stretched hugely, his joints cracking in a string of crisp pops, then looked toward the bed opposite. His gaze met Cao Jinxuan's exhausted eyes.
"Hey, Jinxuan, you cultivated all night too?"
Huo Yuhao sounded full of energy, his face bright with surprise.
He had assumed he was the only one cultivating, so he hadn't expected to find a companion who was working just as hard.
Cao Jinxuan's head drooped. He nodded listlessly, his voice full of despair.
"Yeah... This is my first time cultivating through the night."
As he spoke, he looked at Huo Yuhao with deep resentment.
If this guy hadn't been so absurdly competitive, Cao Jinxuan would have slept comfortably and woken up feeling refreshed. He wouldn't have ended up looking like this.
Huo Yuhao didn't notice his resentment at all. He glanced at the Soul Tool clock on the wall, his expression changing instantly, and cried out in alarm.
"Shoot! It's almost time for our first freshman class! We'd better hurry!"
Before he had even finished speaking, he swiftly changed into a brand-new Shrek uniform.
Cao Jinxuan jolted upright too, scrambling into his uniform.
After washing up, the two of them dashed out of the dormitory and sprinted toward the teaching building.
Perhaps because of the commotion during registration the previous day, Cao Jinxuan wasn't assigned to Class Ten as he had been originally. Instead, he was placed in Class One with Huo Yuhao.
As soon as they entered, they saw that the classroom was already full of freshmen. The space in front of the podium was still empty, so the teacher clearly hadn't arrived yet.
"Whew... We made it!"
Cao Jinxuan leaned on a desk, panting heavily. He patted his chest and spoke to Huo Yuhao, still shaken.
"I heard from some upperclassmen that Zhou Yi, the teacher in charge of Freshman Class One, is famous for being strict.
If we'd been even a little later, she would've punished us terribly on our very first day!"
Huo Yuhao heard this and couldn't help thinking to himself:
A strict teacher...
That must mean she's good at teaching, right?
As he was thinking, the classroom door opened again.
A graceful figure walked slowly into the room, instantly drawing every freshman's gaze.
The girl had a cascade of pinkish-blue hair that fell smoothly over her shoulders, its strands glimmering faintly in the morning light.
Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, with brows like distant hills and eyes like autumn water. The well-fitted Shrek uniform accentuated her slender figure.
She had a cool, aloof air about her, as if warning strangers to keep their distance, yet somehow no one could look away.
"Wow! We've got a gorgeous girl in our class!"
"My heavens! Her looks are off the charts! Look at her hair—it's pinkish-blue. It's so pretty!"
"We actually have a beauty like her in our class? Coming to Shrek was worth it!"
"Mom, I think I'm in love!"
Listening to the undisguised gasps and praise from everyone around her, Wang Dong'er's lips curled into a faint, proud smile.
That's right!
That's more like it!
You people should be amazed by this young lady's beauty!
This was exactly what she wanted to see!
Being exposed by Huo Yuhao in front of everyone for disguising herself as a boy yesterday had been the greatest humiliation of Wang Dong'er's life.
She had been ready to be expelled from the academy. Fortunately, thanks to her connection with the Clear Sky Sect and Mu En's personal intervention, she hadn't been kicked out.
Instead, she had merely been ordered to change back into girls' clothes and move to the girls' dormitory.
Though her plans had been thrown into disarray, the moment she returned to her original appearance, she had become the center of attention. At least she had reclaimed the face she'd lost yesterday.
Huo Yuhao stealing the spotlight from her yesterday had been nothing but a fluke!
Being the center of everyone's attention today was how things were supposed to be!
Wang Dong'er lifted her chin with satisfaction and scanned the entire classroom for an empty seat.
But when her gaze passed over the back rows, it landed right on Huo Yuhao, who was cultivating.
Tch!
That little brat!
Wang Dong'er pouted in annoyance. A flash of anger crossed her pinkish-blue eyes.
It was all his fault!
If not for him, she could still be quietly passing herself off as a boy. She wouldn't have ended up in such a mess.
Not only had he ruined her whole plan, he'd knocked her unconscious and made her lose face in front of everyone!
She hadn't settled that score with him yet!
At the thought, her competitive spirit flared.
Without another moment's hesitation, she strode forward on her long legs, ignoring the eager gazes all around her, and headed straight for the back of the classroom.
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