Xiao Wu looked back at Tang San, then at Dai Mubai. Her lips moved, but in the end she said nothing and left with Ning Rongrong.
Zhu Zhuqing hadn't looked at Dai Mubai once from beginning to end.
When she saw Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong leave, she too turned and headed toward the dormitories.
Dai Mubai opened his mouth, wanting to call after her and explain.
But he had barely taken half a step when Zhu Zhuqing suddenly stopped and whipped her head around.
Her icy gaze landed on him. It was so cold it held not a trace of warmth, and even carried a potent hint of murderous intent.
At that look, Dai Mubai's feet seemed nailed to the spot. The words he'd wanted to say were instantly choked back.
Zhu Zhuqing didn't linger. She turned and left.
Ma Hongjun stood beside Dai Mubai with his head bowed,
like a wilted chicken.
The two of them stood rooted there, not saying a word.
And from that moment on, an invisible crack appeared within Shrek Academy.
Night.
The principal's office at Omphalos Academy.
Ye Qiong leaned back in his chair, eyes closed as he rested.
[Task complete. Reward issued.]
The sudden notification made Ye Qiong open his eyes. He quickly tapped into the system and saw a card in his inventory.
"A special card? Last time it gave me a medicinal field card. What is it this time?"
Thinking this, he reached out and tapped it open.
A burst of light flared, and the system's notification sounded again:
[Level Two Academy Upgrade Card activated.]
The next second, a long string of information appeared on the interface before Ye Qiong:
[Academy funds doubled. Current balance: six million Gold Soul Coins.]
Ye Qiong raised an eyebrow.
"That much?"
He continued reading, but his gaze suddenly stopped:
[New facility: Simulation Realm.]
[Function description: Students may enter the realm to train. It will automatically generate a suitable instance based on the user, featuring a variety of modes, including combat, exploration, and puzzles. Each instance contains a boss. Defeating it grants rewards such as increased Soul Power.]
Ye Qiong stared at the information for a good ten seconds.
Only then did it sink in.
WTF, wasn't this just a youth-plus version of the Simulated Universe?
Ye Qiong's lips gradually curled up. "Interesting."
He put away the panel, rose from his chair, and walked to the window to gaze at the campus under the night sky.
"If Phainon goes in, will it generate Romantic Knight again in his instance?"
At the thought, an image instantly surfaced in his mind.
In a golden wheat field, a pink figure slowly turned around, revealing a bizarre face beneath its pink hair.
"This must be a Romantic Knight unlike any other. You think so too, right?"
Stop, stop, stop!
Ye Qiong shook his head hard.
Why had he suddenly thought of something so bizarre?
Terrifyingly powerful.
It had to be Aha's doing!
Damn Aha.
The next morning.
Everyone gathered in two rows in the square at Omphalos Academy.
Ye Qiong stood on the steps in a white robe, his hands behind his back.
Wang Sheng was the first to notice something new in the square. He pointed at a door that had appeared out of nowhere beside the teaching building.
"Teacher! What's that? It wasn't there yesterday!"
The door was translucent, with pale-blue ripples flowing across its surface.
Phainon followed his gaze and furrowed his brow too.
"Yeah, I didn't see it yesterday."
"Teacher, what did you do while we were sleeping last night?"
Ye Qiong smiled faintly and stepped forward.
"This is the Simulation Realm."
Everyone exchanged bewildered looks.
The Simulation Realm? What was that?
Ye Qiong briefly explained how it worked.
But before he could finish, Wang Sheng's eyes had already widened.
"What? It can generate instances based on us? And we can get cultivation rewards after beating them?"
Ye Qiong nodded.
"That's right, but only if you can beat them."
Bai Chenxiang drew in a sharp breath.
"That's unbelievable... The academy didn't even have this yesterday. It appeared overnight?"
Anaxa pushed up his eyepatch, a glimmer of excitement flashing in his single eye.
Is this a spatial construct, or some sort of formation? I'd love to study how it works.
Keleradra stood at the very edge of the group. Her blue eyes swept over the door, and for once, a hint of interest entered her voice.
"If its function is truly as thou hast described, then we have gained a rather useful place to train our troops."
Standing among the crowd, Castorice's gaze quietly settled on Ye Qiong.
She watched him standing on the steps, the morning light falling across his shoulders,
his composed smile making her heart skip two beats for no reason.
She lowered her head unconsciously and raised a hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Polyxena noticed her sister's little gesture and pressed her lips together to hide a smile.
She didn't know a thing.
While everyone was marveling at the new facility, Phainon stepped forward. "Teacher, I'd like to go in and try it."
Seeing this, Mydei quickly chimed in. "I'll go too."
"Me too! Me too!"
The others came to their senses and raised their hands one after another.
Ye Qiong raised a hand to calm them.
"Don't rush. One at a time. Only one person can enter the instance at a time."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the group.
Phainon and Mydei exchanged a look, then stepped forward together.
Wang Sheng was about to dash ahead, but Jiang Zhu grabbed him by the collar.
"Hold on. Let Phainon and Mydei go first."
Wang Sheng pouted and grudgingly stepped back.
Phainon and Mydei entered the door one after the other.
Wang Sheng craned his neck to look. "They went in? I can't see a thing."
Anaxa had already moved up beside the door. He carefully reached out and touched the ripples on its surface.
"Constant temperature, soft texture, no obvious energy fluctuations... Fascinating."
He immediately pulled a notebook from his robes and quickly scribbled something down.
Wang Sheng could no longer hold himself back. At last, he dashed forward.
"I want to go in too!"
As he spoke, he charged straight toward the door without a second thought.
The others went in as well. Anaxa was the only one left, still studying it.
He circled the door three times, and half a page of his notebook was already densely covered.
"Energy circulation pattern, self-consistent structure..."
Without looking up, he asked Ye Qiong:
"Teacher, do you have a diagram of this door's construction?"
Ye Qiong shook his head.
"No."
Anaxa sighed and lowered his head to continue taking notes.
A moment later, Anaxa finally decided to go in. He closed his notebook and stepped through the door.
Only Ye Qiong remained in the square.
As he looked at the door, a thought suddenly stirred in his mind.
At that moment, he could suddenly feel something inside the door drawing him in.
"What is it?"
Ye Qiong lowered his head and pondered for a few seconds, then shook it.
"Never mind. I'll go in and have a look too."
With that, he walked up to the door.
He had only just touched it
when a flash of white light swept across his vision.
Genshin Impact, activate!
Wrong one.
Simulation Realm, activate!
When Ye Qiong opened his eyes, he found himself standing inside a train car.
Beyond the window stretched an endless sea of stars.
Soft leather seats and classical hanging lamps surrounded him.
At the end of the car stood a black-and-gold metal door.
Seeing this, Ye Qiong was stunned.
"This is... the Astral Express?"
Before you continue