Night had fallen. Shrek Academy's dormitory building was as quiet as a graveyard. The lights in most rooms had long since gone out. Only the dim wall lamp at the end of the corridor remained lit, casting a small patch of faint light against the wall.
The dorm room piled high with miscellaneous things, where four people lived, had finally quieted down as well.
Quiet, but not peaceful.
Han Li sat cross-legged on his bed, eyes half-closed, his breathing as steady as a dead pool. His face showed no emotion, but his mind was racing.
He had won his match against Ning Rongrong, cleanly and decisively, giving his opponent no chance. But that wasn't the point. What mattered was what he had revealed: a trapping formation, sword qi, control over spiritual power. He had shown a small part of his strength and concealed the vast majority.
The onlookers thought they had seen his trump cards, but all they had seen was what he wanted them to see. Han Li's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile.
Not enough. Still not enough. He wanted everyone to think he had a few tricks up his sleeve, but wasn't much of a threat. He wanted his enemies to underestimate him and his friends not to depend on him.
This was the most important rule of survival Han Li had learned over several thousand years: a tree that towers above the forest invites the wind to break it; hide your skill in clumsiness, and let your brilliance shine through obscurity.
The Heavenly Bottle grew faintly warm inside his sleeve. This supreme treasure had suffered no damage after crossing into this world. Instead, it had formed some wondrous resonance with the essence of the Sun and Moon here.
Han Li could sense that, given enough spirit herbs, the Heavenly Bottle could produce pills that would rapidly increase his cultivation. But where could he get spirit herbs? Buying them was too expensive and risked exposing him.
Growing them himself would take land and time. Stealing them was too risky, with so many powerful experts in this world. Han Li's brows furrowed slightly. The best solution was to establish an underground network: trade pills for spirit herbs, then use those herbs to refine even more pills, letting the operation snowball. But building a network required people, channels, and trust. All of that took time.
Han Li opened his eyes and looked at the other three.
Xiao Yan was curled up in the corner, breathing heavily, his brow tightly furrowed. Even in his dreams, he seemed troubled. The Heavenly Flames markings on his right arm still glowed faintly in his sleep, like a fire serpent at rest.
Han Li looked away. This man had plenty of trump cards: Heavenly Flames, Dou Techniques, and that strange rate of cultivation. His battle against Ma Hongjun had revealed some of his strength, but certainly not all of it.
Besides, he was impulsive and easy to manipulate, but just as likely to cause trouble. Han Li needed to keep his distance without making an enemy of him.
Shi Hao lay sprawled across his bed, snoring like thunder. His clothes were torn again, and his bare upper body gleamed a bronze color in the moonlight. The muscles in his chest rose and fell with each breath, every one of them seeming forged from iron.
Han Li glanced at him. He had extraordinary talent for battle and a physical body so powerful it defied reason, but his head didn't seem to work very well. He was easy to steer. Still, a madman's actions were often unpredictable, which made him impossible to control.
Wang Lin leaned against the wall, his posture as elegant as a statue. His breathing was so soft it was almost inaudible, so slow it seemed like he was feigning death. But Han Li knew he wasn't asleep.
The ashen light of the Heavenly Inverse Bead flickered in and out at Wang Lin's brow, like a half-open eye. Han Li's gaze rested there for a second before moving away. Of the four of them, Wang Lin was the most dangerous. The Power of Cause and Effect left no trace and could not be defended against.
Han Li wasn't confident he could break the methods Wang Lin had used against Zhu Zhuqing. He had to keep his distance and avoid becoming his enemy.
Han Li closed his eyes. Four people, four different hearts, each harboring their own schemes.
Deep in the night, moonlight flowed like water.
Han Li opened his eyes. He silently sat up in bed, moving as lightly as a falling leaf.
Xiao Yan rolled over and mumbled something in his sleep, too indistinct to make out. It was probably something like, "Thirty years east of the river..."
Shi Hao continued to snore like thunder, even louder than before.
Han Li swept his gaze over the two of them, confirming they were both asleep, then turned toward Wang Lin.
Wang Lin's eyes were open.
Those ashen eyes glimmered eerily in the darkness, like two cold pieces of jade. He looked at Han Li, and Han Li looked back at him. Their eyes met, and the air seemed to freeze.
Wang Lin spoke softly, quietly enough not to wake Xiao Yan and Shi Hao. "Where are you going?"
Han Li's expression didn't change. "The bathroom."
The corners of Wang Lin's mouth lifted slightly. His voice remained soft. "The bathroom is to the right when you leave. You don't need to climb out the window."
Han Li fell silent. The window was to the right of the beds, and the door was to the left. He had started toward the window, not the door. His lie had been exposed to his face, but Han Li still showed no emotion. He looked at Wang Lin without explaining or coming up with another lie, then simply turned his gaze away.
He swung out the window in one fluid motion, like a prowling cat. Wang Lin watched Han Li's back disappear outside. The curve of his lips slowly faded, and he closed his eyes.
Han Li found a hidden hollow in the mountains behind Shrek Academy. It was surrounded by mountains on three sides, with only a narrow entrance. Moonlight couldn't reach it, leaving the area in complete darkness.
He sat cross-legged. The Heavenly Bottle slowly floated out of his sleeve and hovered three inches above his palm. Its green light glowed in the dark like a cold, ghostly lamp.
Han Li closed his eyes and poured spiritual power into the Heavenly Bottle. Its body trembled faintly, releasing a low hum. The green light grew brighter and brighter. Moonlight poured down from the sky, then was absorbed, transformed, and compressed by the bottle, becoming a drop of green liquid that slowly gathered at its mouth.
Creation Spirit Liquid—the Heavenly Bottle's most basic function. It absorbed the essence of the Sun and Moon and condensed it into spirit liquid, which could be used to cultivate spirit herbs.
Han Li took a seed from his robes. He had picked it up in the academy's back hills that day. It was the seed of an unknown plant, but it contained a trace of spiritual energy.
He placed the seed at the mouth of the Heavenly Bottle and let the drop of green Creation Spirit Liquid fall onto it. The seed sprouted, grew, sent out leaves, and bloomed at a speed visible to the naked eye. In just a few breaths, it had become a foot-tall medicinal herb. Fine patterns covered its green leaves, and it gave off a faint fragrance.
Han Li carefully examined the herb's medicinal properties. He smelled it, tasted it, and finally nodded slightly. It wasn't a spirit herb from the cultivation world, and its medicinal effects couldn't compare to the pills he had refined before, but it could indeed help increase Soul Power in this world.
More importantly, the Heavenly Bottle still worked. That meant he could refine pills in this world, trade them for resources, and establish an underground network. First, he would speed up his own cultivation.
Han Li tucked the herb away, put away the Heavenly Bottle, and looked up at the sky hidden behind the mountains. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. Then he stood and silently disappeared into the night.
In a mountain cave behind the academy, Xiao Yan didn't know how he had found the place. After fighting Ma Hongjun on the training grounds, the pain of the backlash from the Heavenly Flames had tormented him nonstop. He needed somewhere quiet to cultivate, heal, and grow stronger.
The cave was deep, and vines concealed its entrance so thoroughly that it was impossible to spot from outside. It was spacious within, filled with the damp smell of earth and faint fluctuations of fire-attribute Soul Power.
Xiao Yan sat cross-legged in the middle of the cave. The Heavenly Flames markings on his right arm gave off a faint blue glow in the dark. He closed his eyes and guided his Xuanhuang Flame Martial Soul to devour the fire-attribute Soul Power around him.
The process was slow, far slower than his cultivation in the Great Thousand World had ever been. But it worked. Each wisp of fire-attribute Soul Power was devoured and refined by the Heavenly Flames, then transformed into his own Dou Qi. There was very little of it, but its quality was improving.
An hour later, Xiao Yan opened his eyes. He raised his right arm, and a blue flame appeared in his palm, a shade brighter than the day before. Xiao Yan clenched his fist and crushed the flame. Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—he would return to his peak!
In the forest behind the academy, Shi Hao couldn't sleep. It wasn't insomnia; he just hadn't had enough of fighting Dai Mubai. Dai Mubai was strong, and that layer of white armor was as hard as a tortoise shell. Shi Hao had punched it so hard his own hand hurt.
But Dai Mubai had still gone down. It wasn't because Shi Hao had knocked him flat; he had smashed him into a wall. Thinking about it made Shi Hao want to laugh, but he knew Dai Mubai wasn't satisfied—and neither was he.
Shi Hao leaped out of bed and climbed through the window, taking the same route Han Li had, but heading in a different direction. He went to the forest behind the academy. If he couldn't sleep, he might as well find something to do—like fight a Soul Beast.
Thousand-year Soul Beasts had a strong sense of territory. By the time Shi Hao stepped into its domain, it was already awake. A gigantic black bear rose from the woods, more than two zhang tall, its blood-red eyes gleaming ferociously in the darkness.
Shi Hao grinned and charged barehanded. The black bear roared and swung a paw down at him. Shi Hao didn't dodge; he punched straight at it. Fist met paw with a muffled boom.
Shi Hao staggered back three steps. The black bear retreated one. Shi Hao's eyes lit up. There weren't many opponents who could make him take three steps back. This is what I'm talking about! He charged again, and the fight lasted from midnight until dawn.
Shi Hao was covered in injuries. The black bear had struck him in the chest, leaving five dark bruises in the shape of its claws. Its paws had raked three deep gashes across his arm. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth, and he had scraped his knee. But standing beneath the rising sun, Shi Hao laughed heartily.
The black bear panted heavily across from him, sprawled on the ground. Shi Hao had pounded it with hundreds of punches, and it could no longer stand. Shi Hao told the bear where it lay, "That was satisfying. Much better than sleeping." Then he turned and left.
The black bear watched him go, and its eyes held a trace of relief at having survived a calamity. The lunatic was finally gone.
Wang Lin hadn't gone to the back hills, looked for a Soul Beast, refined pills, cultivated Heavenly Flames, or done anything at all. He sat on his bed, leaning against the wall, without even changing his posture from deep night until dawn.
The Heavenly Inverse Bead slowly rotated at his brow, its ashen light growing brighter with each turn. Wang Lin was sensing the lines of cause and effect in this world: the ties between people, the interweaving of fate, the entanglements of past, present, and future.
The laws of cause and effect in this world were different from those of the cultivation world. They were looser, more fragile, and easier to interfere with. In Wang Lin's perception, the lines of cause and effect formed a vast web covering the entire world.
Every person was a node in the web. Every thread connected them to others, to the past, and to the future.
Wang Lin searched for the thickest and brightest lines, those connected to the most important people, the most pivotal events, and the destiny nodes most likely to affect the course of this world.
He found one. The line of cause and effect was so thick it was alarming. It stretched out from where he sat, passed through the wall, crossed the corridor and the entire dormitory building, and connected to another room.
Tang San.
The corners of Wang Lin's mouth lifted slightly. Tang San had more than one thick line of cause and effect around him. He had many. One connected him to some supreme power, as if he had received the favor of a god.
Another connected him to a woman, like a bond of blood and bone. And there was one most important line, connected to some core of this world, as if fate itself were beckoning him.
Interesting. Wang Lin opened his eyes. I'll see for myself who's standing behind you, you floor tile.
The Heavenly Inverse Bead vanished into his brow, and its ashen light faded. Darkness returned to the dormitory as the sky outside began to lighten.
Morning, in the cafeteria.
The four of them appeared in the food line almost simultaneously.
Han Li held his bowl, faint dark circles beneath his eyes, but his expression was as calm as ever.
Xiao Yan stood behind him, carrying a faint smell of something scorched. He had cultivated in the cave all night, and the smell still hadn't quite faded.
Shi Hao stood behind Xiao Yan, covered in mud from head to toe, with several dark bruises on his chest. A foolish grin spread across his face.
Wang Lin stood at the very back, dressed in white as bright as snow, his long hair as black as ink, and looking full of energy. He stood in stark contrast to the other three.
They got their food and each found a seat. Han Li slowly sipped his porridge, Xiao Yan shoveled down mouthful after mouthful of rice, Shi Hao stuffed buns into his mouth with his hands, and Wang Lin picked up a single green vegetable with his chopsticks, as gracefully as if he were savoring some rare delicacy.
The four of them glanced at one another. No one said a word. They understood each other without speaking and ate their meals.
Tang San came out of the crowd holding a bowl of porridge. He spotted the table where the four were sitting and hesitated, but still walked over.
A gentle smile hung on his face, and his voice was just as gentle. "Good morning, everyone."
All four pairs of chopsticks paused at once. Four mouths opened at the same time, all uttering the same syllable: "Get lost."
One word, clean and decisive, without any unnecessary chatter.
Tang San's smile froze on his face. He stood there holding his bowl of porridge, unsure whether to stay or leave.
In the end, he silently turned and walked away, taking a seat in the farthest corner of the cafeteria.
Xiao Wu carried her bowl over and sat beside him. Seeing that the porridge in Tang San's bowl had almost gone cold, she said with concern, "Third Brother, your porridge is getting cold."
Only then did Tang San come back to himself. He lowered his head and took a sip. The porridge was cold, but it still held a little warmth. He sipped it slowly without saying anything.
Xiao Wu studied Tang San's profile, wanting to say something but stopping herself. She asked something she seemed to have asked many times before: "Third Brother, are you really okay?"
Tang San still didn't speak, but he raised his head and looked at Xiao Wu. Then he smiled.
Xiao Wu stared at that smile for a long time, then turned her head away and lowered it to eat her own meal. She stopped looking at him.
Because she was afraid Tang San would start shouting in the cafeteria again, yelling, "Resurrect, My Love!" How embarrassing would that be?
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