Zhao Cheng's thoughts wandered freely, leaving his mind completely relaxed.
This state was excellent for restoring the mind. At times, it worked even better than sleep.
It was a little trick for recovering mental energy. The only drawback was that it interfered with class.
But you couldn't have both fish and bear's paw; in the end, some things had to be sacrificed.
Cultivation in reality wasn't like the immortal cultivation in so many works of fiction, where the more you practiced, the more energetic you became. It drained both the mind and the body, and the time and number of times you could train each day were limited.
Zhao Cheng's rapid progress in cultivation over the past six months had, in no small part, come from giving up on his academic grades.
Of course, by "giving up," he didn't mean abandoning them entirely. He gave up his time in class and instead set aside an hour and a half each night to study on his own.
Self-study naturally couldn't compare to regular lessons. There was no such thing as casually flipping through a book and then scoring top marks, but it could keep his grades above the passing line.
Ding-a-ling!
The school bell rang, once again interrupting Zhao Cheng's thoughts.
At the lectern, the teacher didn't dismiss the class right away. He continued teaching with an unchanged expression, as if he hadn't heard the bell at all.
Only after two minutes, when he had finished explaining the point he was covering, did the teacher calmly announce that class was over.
As the teacher walked out, the quiet classroom suddenly grew noisy, like a spark landing in a pan of oil.
Some students turned their heads to chat with their deskmates. Others twisted around to talk to the boys or girls behind them. And some even crossed half the classroom to chat during those brief few minutes between classes.
The conversations covered all sorts of topics: some talked about studying, others about the news or celebrity gossip. Naturally, there were far more people discussing the latter.
You could hardly find this kind of youthful bustle once you left school.
Back in his previous life, Zhao Cheng had felt melancholy after graduating. Everything had suddenly grown quiet, as if the whole world had turned a little colder.
He hadn't expected that, through one twist of fate after another, he would get to experience that liveliness again.
Though the world was different, campus life in this life wasn't fundamentally different from what it had been in his previous one.
The only real change was that the young men and women here seemed more vigorous and full of life than those in his previous world.
That was one change brought about by cultivation becoming widespread: the overall quality of humanity had improved.
"Old Zhao, heard the news? Senior Huang'er's going to make another movie."
"They say it's a remake of Shang Tragedy, and Senior Huang'er's playing Da Ke'er. They've even posted her costume photos online."
Zhao Cheng's deskmate leaned close to him and spoke in a hushed, secretive voice.
His deskmate was named Zhou Yu. Yu meant "light and graceful," but unfortunately, Zhou Yu was anything but.
He was only seventeen, yet nearly six feet three. Broad-backed and burly, he had thick hair and eyebrows and a square face. When he put on a serious expression, he looked the very picture of righteousness, like a hero of justice.
Now this towering fellow, who looked as if "Invincible" might as well be written across his face, was whispering about gossip with a knowing, mysterious grin. The contrast was almost too much.
"I'm telling you, someone leaked these costume photos. The official account hasn't even announced them yet. I only got my hands on them because I've got connections."
"Look. She's gorgeous!"
Zhou Yu looked as if he were demonstrating the meaning of loyalty as he held his phone in front of Zhao Cheng.
The photo on the screen undeniably showed a beauty.
She had an oval face, willow-leaf brows, and skin fair as snow. She seemed to float with an immortal's grace. But what stood out most wasn't any of that—it was her eyes, as clear and pure as a mountain spring.
Zhao Cheng didn't follow celebrities, but he had heard of Li Huang'er.
Two years ago, in this life, he had watched the TV series Divine Land Knight-Errant, starring Li Huang'er as Luo Goddess.
That was when Li Huang'er became famous and earned the nickname Little Luo Goddess.
Most importantly, Li Huang'er was also a student at Qingyuan Middle School. That was why Zhou Yu called her senior.
Even though Li Huang'er rarely came to school more than a few times a year,
every time she did, she caused quite a stir.
Hearing Zhou Yu, Zhao Cheng felt a ripple in his heart. It wasn't because Li Huang'er was a famous star, but because of the movie Shang Tragedy.
After recovering his memories, Zhao Cheng had searched for all kinds of information about the supernatural powers of this world, driven by curiosity. Some of it was true, some false.
Yet everything, true or not, pointed to the same dynasty: the Shang.
It was said that before the Shang, there had been no such thing as cultivation.
Then, in the early Shang, the Dark Bird descended, and from that point on, extraordinary people appeared in the world.
Naturally, this aroused Zhao Cheng's curiosity.
As someone who had crossed over into this world, Zhao Cheng was fairly certain that the emergence of cultivation was deeply connected to the era of the Shang.
Perhaps it had nothing to do with the Heavenly Mandate Dark Bird descending into the world, but something had definitely changed in that era.
Zhao Cheng had discovered that, before the Shang, every historical figure in this world was no different from those in his previous one.
It was only with the appearance of the Shang, and then the extraordinary people, that history suddenly took a turn and went down a different path from the world of his previous life.
In this life, as an ordinary person, Zhao Cheng had limited ways of learning about history.
The Shang Dynasty in particular was simply too ancient.
Given his abilities, the most reliable information about the Shang he could find wasn't in some ancient text. It was in the movie Shang Tragedy.
The film's screenwriter was a stickler for historical details and, more than that, a renowned expert on Shang history in the country.
In that case, the movie's contents were more authoritative than many documents of uncertain authenticity.
"She is pretty."
Zhao Cheng agreed. He wasn't lying through his teeth. She really was beautiful; he was simply stating a fact. It was completely different from complimenting someone on social media.
"Of course!"
Zhou Yu grinned, but his expression changed in an instant, as if he'd put on a mask of agony. He wailed, "I just don't know which bastard's going to end up with a senior as lovely as a celestial maiden!"
"Probably not you."
Zhao Cheng replied offhandedly.
"Then what about the small chance?"
Zhou Yu laughed as he asked, putting on a little show of changing expressions right in front of Zhao Cheng.
"Hmm..."
"The small chance."
"The small chance is that you master an unrivaled sword art, transcend the mortal realm, and become invincible beneath heaven."
"By then, your nature will be as monstrous as a demon's. You probably won't even look twice at such a vulgar woman."
Zhao Cheng was joking, though some of it was true.
"Besides, as long as you have a woman on your mind, there's no way you'll master an unrivaled sword art."
"So, in conclusion, when you want to marry your senior, you won't be qualified to. By the time you are qualified, you won't want to."
Zhao Cheng was joking, but there was some truth in what he said.
If one's cultivation reached a certain height, their temperament would be far beyond that of ordinary people. Or rather, only those with extraordinary temperaments could reach such heights.