Hello, Let's Get Acquainted Again. My Name Is Gu Yue

Gu Yue's eyes widened slightly.

She looked at Zhong Shenxiu, at those golden vertical pupils, at that sharply defined, expressionless face—

Then she suddenly smiled.

Her smile was faint and gentle, yet it carried a trace of genuine warmth.

Gu Yue suddenly rose to her feet, extended her hand, and said, "Hello, let's get acquainted again. My name is Gu Yue."

The night breeze outside the window stirred Gu Yue's hair, and her smile appeared especially gentle in the lamplight.

Zhong Shenxiu looked at the hand extended before him.

It was slender and fair, its fingertips carrying a slight chill—just like those black eyes, cold and aloof, yet concealing a warmth that was hard to detect.

He considered it.

Then he stood up.

A faint smile appeared on his sharply defined face, so fleeting it could almost be said to have vanished in an instant.

He reached out and took her hand.

"Hello, my name is Zhong Shenxiu."

His hand was not large, but it was unexpectedly strong.

Time passed slowly, and autumn in Eastsea City grew deeper.

The plane trees lining the streets began to shed their leaves, golden foliage carpeting the academy's bluestone paths.

The morning mist carried the salty dampness of the sea breeze, and from time to time, several seabirds swept across the sky with clear cries.

Zhong Shenxiu still kept to himself.

Every morning, he appeared on the training ground on time and completed his daily morning exercises alone.

Those movements were simple to the extreme—horse stance, punches, kicks, repeat, then repeat again.

There were no flashy techniques, no dazzling Soul Skills, only the most basic and tedious foundational training.

But if anyone observed closely, they would discover that every one of his movements was terrifyingly precise.

The angle of each punch, the height of each kick, the rhythm of his breathing, the balance of his body—not the slightest deviation.

He was like a precision machine.

After morning training, he went to the cafeteria for breakfast.

He used to sit alone in a corner, quietly finish his meal, and leave. Now, there was one more person in that corner.

Gu Yue.

She always arrived a little later than him, carrying her tray and naturally sitting down opposite him.

The two rarely spoke. Most of the time, they simply ate their own food in silence.

Yet that silence was not awkward.

Instead, it carried an indescribable understanding.

During class, Zhong Shenxiu remained silent. He sat by the window in the last row, sunlight slanting in through the window and casting alternating light and shadow across his sharply defined profile. He listened, took notes, and occasionally looked out the window, his gaze as calm as stagnant water.

Gu Yue sat two rows ahead of him.

At some point, she had developed a habit—whenever she turned around, she would unconsciously glance in that direction.

Once she saw that he was there, she turned back and continued listening.

The movement was light and natural, and even she herself did not notice it.

Yet all of this was seen by someone else.

Tang Wulin sat on the other side of the classroom, several rows of desks away.

His gaze drifted in that direction from time to time—toward that beautiful, refined back framed by long black hair, toward that expressionless profile always seated by the window.

Then his brows would unconsciously furrow.

It was not anger.

It was an indescribable irritation.

It was as though something were lodged in his chest, impossible to swallow and impossible to spit out.

He knew this feeling was strange.

Gu Yue was his friend.

Since arriving at Eastsea Academy, aside from Xie Xie, Gu Yue had become one of his most important friends. They attended school together and cultivated together. He should have been happy for her—happy that she had finally made a new friend.

Zhong Shenxiu was also his classmate.

Though he was quiet and never said more than necessary, Tang Wulin could tell that he was not a bad person.

Those golden eyes truly made people reluctant to meet his gaze, but there was no malice in them, only a calmness utterly unsuited to his age.

What was wrong with them becoming friends?

Nothing.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with it.

But why...

Tang Wulin withdrew his gaze and looked down at his textbook. His fingertips unconsciously tightened, creasing the page.

He thought of Na'er.

That silver-haired, silver-eyed girl, the girl who called him "Brother," the girl who had stayed by his side when he was at his loneliest. On the day she left, he had searched all of Aolai City, yet never caught sight of Na'er again...

Afterward, he came to Eastsea City, to Eastsea Academy, and Gu Yue appeared.

Black hair, black eyes, cold and aloof, yet she always offered a helping hand whenever he needed one.

Sometimes, Tang Wulin felt that Gu Yue and Na'er were very similar. Not in appearance, but in something deeper.

That loneliness, that strength, that tenderness hidden beneath coldness.

But now, Gu Yue had someone else by her side.

Someone who was as quiet, as proud, and as different from everyone else as she was.

When they stood together, there was an indescribable harmony between them.

Like two of the same kind.

And he...

Tang Wulin shook his head, trying to throw those messy thoughts out of his mind.

He truly had been too tired lately.

His forging had hit a bottleneck.

For the past two months, apart from cultivating, he had spent all his spare time soaking in the forging room. He had swung his hammer tens of thousands of times, yet he still could not break through that threshold. His teacher said he was too impatient and needed to calm down. But he could not calm down.

Whenever he did, those inexplicable thoughts surfaced in his mind.

About Na'er.

About Gu Yue.

About the boy sitting by the window.

"Tang Wulin."

A cold voice interrupted his thoughts.

Tang Wulin abruptly raised his head and discovered Wu Zhangkong standing at the podium, those indifferent eyes fixed directly on him.

"Come to my office after class."

Tang Wulin froze for a moment, then nodded instinctively. "Yes, Teacher Wu."

He looked around and realized that the other students had already begun packing up. Class was already over, yet he had not noticed at all.

At that moment, Wu Zhangkong spoke again. "Gu Yue, Zhong Shenxiu, Xie Xie, you as well."

The four of them raised their heads at the same time, exchanged glances, and answered in unison, "Yes."

The office was on the top floor of the teaching building, Wu Zhangkong's private office.

The room was not large, and its furnishings were simple.

There was a desk, several chairs, and a landscape painting hanging on the wall. A pot of orchids sat on the windowsill, showing a faint green hue in the autumn sunlight.

Wu Zhangkong sat behind the desk, dressed in white as pure as snow, his expression indifferent. As he looked at the four children standing before him, a complicated feeling could not help rising in his heart.

Class 1-5.

This class had been all but abandoned by the academy's higher-ups, a class made up of "poor students" filtered out from other classes. Yet the four children standing before him at this moment possessed talents that would tempt any teacher.

His gaze first settled on Zhong Shenxiu.

The boy who always stood at the very edge and never uttered a word. His sharply defined features, pale golden vertical pupils, and an aloof aura wholly unsuited to his age.

Two months.

From level seventeen to level twenty-one.

Four levels.

Ordinary Soul Masters needed a year or even longer, while he had needed only two months.

Wu Zhangkong had taught for so many years and seen countless geniuses, yet he had never seen such a rate of advancement.

Even more frightening was how incredibly stable Zhong Shenxiu's foundation was. Every level of Soul Power was incomparably solid, without the slightest sign of instability.

It was as if...

It was as if he had already walked this path once before, and was merely walking it again now.

Wu Zhangkong withdrew his gaze and looked at Gu Yue.

Black hair, black eyes, delicate and refined features, and a cold, aloof temperament. This girl had only been level fifteen when she first arrived, but now she was already level seventeen. Two levels in two months—though not as terrifying as Zhong Shenxiu, she was still a genuine genius.

Moreover, Wu Zhangkong had noticed that Gu Yue's Soul Power was exceptionally pure, so pure that it did not seem human.

He then looked at Xie Xie.

Level nineteen, one level higher than at the start of the school term.

This boy, outwardly cold and proud but actually lively and restless, possessed equally remarkable talent.

His Twin Martial Souls, the Light Dragon Dagger and Dark Dragon Dagger, were merely tool-type Martial Souls, but they possessed immense potential for growth.