Insomnia's Cao Jinxuan, Fired Up!

Huo Yuhao opened his eyes slightly at these words, looked at the shocked Cao Jinxuan on the opposite bed, and shook his head.

"I'm not sleeping. I'll just cultivate like this until tomorrow morning."

"You should get some rest. Goodnight."

As his voice fell, he closed his eyes once more. The soul power fluctuations around his body stabilized, and he sank back into a state of extreme, focused cultivation.

Even his breathing became long and even, as if he had merged into one with the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy.

Cultivate until tomorrow morning? Is he really that diligent?

Cao Jinxuan stared with wide eyes at Huo Yuhao, who sat cross-legged and motionless on the opposite bed, feeling a mix of surprise and admiration.

During their meal and chat earlier, he had learned that Huo Yuhao only had a level twelve, one-ring soul power and had been admitted through a special recommendation.

Is it because his foundation is weak that he wants to seize every single second to cultivate and catch up to the others?

What a hardworking person!

Cao Jinxuan clicked his tongue in admiration, turned over, pulled the quilt over his head, and prepared to close his eyes and sleep.

Yet, no matter how much he tossed and turned, rolling back and forth on the bed, his eyes remained wide open, and he felt not a shred of sleepiness.

What is going on? Why am I suffering from insomnia?

Could it be that I'm not used to being in a strange place yet?

That's not right; it was never like this before!

Half an hour passed quietly, and the chirping of insects outside the window gradually faded, but Cao Jinxuan still stared at the ceiling, his mind in a chaotic mess.

For some reason, the image of Huo Yuhao sitting cross-legged in focused cultivation kept repeating in his mind, and an inexplicable sense of guilt suddenly welled up in his heart.

The guy is about the same age as me, and he started grinding away with all-night cultivation the moment he enrolled, yet here I am lying down and sleeping—this is just too unreasonable!

How could I possibly fall asleep now?!

Once this thought took hold, it felt as if sleeping had become a sin.

"Should I get up and cultivate for a while, too?"

This thought burst into Cao Jinxuan's mind, and he could no longer suppress it.

He could already imagine that if his parents knew his new roommate had cultivated all night while he had slept through it, they would definitely grab him by the ears, nag him endlessly, and use Huo Yuhao as a role model to urge him to cultivate.

It's over, it's all over—I'm completely unable to sleep now!

Cao Jinxuan sat up abruptly, cast a resentful glance at Huo Yuhao, who was still focused on his cultivation, and sighed in resignation.

He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, circulated his soul power, and began to cultivate as well.

But no sooner had he sat down than he felt uncomfortable all over.

Yet, every time he opened his eyes and saw the rock-steady Huo Yuhao opposite him, Cao Jinxuan could only grit his teeth and persist.

Time slipped away bit by bit amidst their silent and active cultivation.

The horizon gradually turned a pale white, and the first rays of the morning sun filtered through the window lattice, spilling into the dormitory.

Having cultivated all night, Huo Yuhao slowly withdrew his soul power and opened his eyes.

The night of cultivation had not left him the least bit tired; on the contrary, thanks to the physique reshaped by Zhao Ze, he felt refreshed, and both his soul power and spiritual power had improved significantly.

He stretched his body with a loud crack of joints, then looked toward the opposite bed, meeting Cao Jinxuan's exhausted eyes.

"Oh? Jinxuan, you cultivated all night too?"

Huo Yuhao spoke with great energy, his face full of pleasant surprise.

He had originally thought he was the only one cultivating, and he hadn't expected to find a companion working just as hard.

Cao Jinxuan let his head droop, nodded weakly, his voice filled with despair:

"Yeah... it's my first time pulling an all-nighter for cultivation."

As he spoke, his gaze toward Huo Yuhao was filled with resentment.

If this guy hadn't been so ridiculously hardworking, he would have woken up feeling refreshed by now, instead of being reduced to this state.

Huo Yuhao didn't notice the resentment in his eyes at all. He glanced at the soul guidance clock on the wall, his expression changed instantly, and he shouted anxiously:

"Oh no! The time for the first class for freshmen is almost here! Let's hurry!"

Before his voice had even faded, he nimbly changed into his brand-new Shrek uniform.

Cao Jinxuan also jolted awake, springing from his bed and scrambling to put on his uniform in a panic.

After washing up, the two of them rushed out of the dormitory and sprinted toward the teaching building.

Perhaps because of the commotion caused during registration yesterday, Cao Jinxuan hadn't been assigned to Class Ten as originally planned, but had instead joined Class One along with Huo Yuhao.

As soon as they entered, they saw that the classroom was already filled with freshmen, and the space in front of the podium was still empty, clearly indicating the teacher hadn't arrived yet.

"Phew... thank goodness we made it!"

Cao Jinxuan gripped the desk, gasping for air as he patted his chest, still shaken as he spoke to Huo Yuhao.

"I heard from the other seniors that this teacher, Zhou Yi, who is leading our Freshman Class One, is famous for being strict.

If we had been even a step later, the two of us would have been severely punished by her on our very first day!"

Hearing this, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but think to himself:

A strict teacher, huh...

Then her teaching standards must be very high, right?

Just as he was thinking this, the classroom door was pushed open once again.

A graceful figure walked slowly into the room, instantly drawing the gaze of every freshman present.

The young girl had a waterfall of powder-blue hair that draped softly over her shoulders, shimmering with delicate luster under the morning light.

She possessed a face of peerless beauty, with brows like distant mountains and eyes like autumn waters; the well-fitted Shrek uniform only served to accentuate her slender, elegant figure.

Her temperament was cold and aloof, radiating a sense of detachment that kept others at a distance, yet it was precisely this that made it impossible for anyone to look away.

"Wow! What a beautiful classmate!"

"My god! Isn't this level of beauty just heaven-defying? Look at her hair, it's powder-blue—so gorgeous!"

"We actually have such a beauty in our class? Coming to Shrek was definitely worth it!"

"Mom, I think I'm in love!"

Listening to the undisguised exclamations and praises from those around her, a faint, imperceptible smile of pride curled the corners of Wang Dong's lips.

That's right!

This is how it should be!

All of you should be marveling at this young lady's beauty!

This is exactly what I wanted to see!

Being exposed by Huo Yuhao for disguising herself as a boy in front of everyone yesterday was simply the greatest humiliation of Wang Dong's life.

She had originally prepared herself to be expelled from the academy, but fortunately, thanks to her connections with the Clear Sky Sect and Mu En personally intervening, she hadn't been kicked out.

She had only been ordered to change back into female clothing and move to the girls' dormitory.

Although her plans had been disrupted, now that she had returned to her original appearance, she became the center of attention the moment she appeared, finally reclaiming the face she had lost yesterday.

That Huo Yuhao stealing the spotlight yesterday was nothing more than an accident!

This scene of being the center of everyone's attention today was the normal state of affairs!

Wang Dong lifted her chin in satisfaction and scanned the classroom, looking for an empty seat.

However, as her gaze swept across the back row, it locked directly onto Huo Yuhao, who was currently in the middle of cultivation.

Tsk!

That brat!

Wang Dong curled her lips in annoyance, a flash of anger instantly crossing her powder-blue eyes.

It was all because of him!

If it weren't for this guy, she could still be safely disguised as a boy; why would she have ended up in such a sorry state?

Not only was her plan completely ruined, but she had also been knocked unconscious by him and humiliated in public!

She hadn't even settled that score with him yet!

Thinking of this, the competitive spirit in Wang Dong's heart was instantly ignited.

She hesitated no longer, striding forward with her long legs and ignoring all the fervent gazes around her, heading straight toward the back of the classroom.