The Most Melancholic Person

A few days passed in the blink of an eye, and today was finally the first day of school.

One thing worth mentioning was that every time he went downstairs to eat, he would happen to run into Ning Tian.

Once or twice could be called a coincidence, but for several days in a row, they had run into each other at every meal...

He even suspected that Ning Tian waited downstairs at the dormitory building whenever mealtime came, or perhaps she had bribed some student to tip her off.

In any case, the persistence of this young mistress of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan was somewhat outrageous.

After Ling Tianchen declined three times, all the meal expenses naturally fell upon Miss Ning. Reimbursement was a fine tradition.

Since it was practically free food, he naturally did not hold back.

At the freshmen cafeteria, he ordered a serving of every dish that benefited his bloodline tempering.

As a result, Ning Tian watched helplessly as this refined-looking, distinguished young man ate enough for ten people all by himself.

The key was that he ate in a leisurely, elegant manner, without the slightest appearance of someone wolfing down food like a starving ghost reborn. There was not even anything to criticize.

In the end, Ning Tian could only pay the bill with silent tears in her eyes.

That was a lie. The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan was wealthy enough to rival a nation.

A few meals... well, they could worry about the future later. At least for now, that expense was not enough to pain her.

On the other hand, seeing her look so pained every time she paid, Ling Tianchen genuinely thought she was nearly unable to afford feeding him. He had even mentally prepared himself for his iron rice bowl to be smashed at any moment.

Yet when mealtime came the next day, Ning Tian still appeared downstairs at the dormitory building right on time, occasionally with a red-hot little fire dragon in tow.

Wu Feng, however, had become much more obedient lately. Unless Ning Tian took the initiative to let her speak, she rarely interrupted. Ning Tian must have kept her firmly in hand.

Still, there was never such a thing as a free lunch.

Ning Tian had yet to make any requests of him, which instead left Ling Tianchen somewhat confused.

Did she think a few meals could buy him over? Did he look like that kind of person?

Could someone really pay to treat him to meals just to chat with him?

Over the past few days, their conversations had mostly been about amusing stories from the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and all sorts of information about Shrek Academy.

Unfortunately, Ling Tianchen had no interest in this so-called exclusive intelligence.

What insider information could possibly compare with what he knew through his Heaven-Opening Eye?

Every time he listened for a while, he would start to feel sleepy.

"So, Tianchen, I'll come find you at Class One's door after class tomorrow."

Ning Tian said with a smile.

"Sure. But don't bring that little follower of yours along."

"Fine. I'll try talking to Sister Feng."

During those days, Huo Yuhao had also successfully gotten into a fierce fight with Wang Dong.

The outcome was naturally the same as in the original timeline.

Huo Yuhao won by a narrow margin.

And in the process, he successfully drew the attention of a certain God King's daughter.

Dog leash, activated.

Ling Tianchen was disdainful of this.

If he recovered the strength he possessed as the Phoenix God King, let alone one Tang San, even ten Tang Sans tied together would not be enough for him to beat with one hand.

Unfortunately, he was still in his developmental stage. This dog leash was something he could touch—or not.

Of course, if Wang Dong truly became his roommate, he would not mind turning the tables.

But since everything was the same as in the original timeline, he could not be bothered to deliberately steal the opportunity.

Since fate had arranged things this way, it naturally had its reasons. Rashly defying fate would inevitably lead to being eroded by fate.

That was the great truth he had learned from a television drama that had suddenly been getting roasted like crazy lately.

Ling Tianchen arrived at the Class One classroom ten minutes early.

He usually had a habit of arriving exactly on time, but since today was the first day of school, arriving early meant he could pick a good seat.

The instant he pushed open the classroom door, the previously noisy class fell strangely silent for a moment.

Countless gazes landed on him in unison.

Ling Tianchen was already used to this and showed no change in expression.

He walked straight to the second-to-last seat by the window in the back row, pulled out the chair, and sat down.

Then, ignoring the girl beside him trying to strike up a conversation, he crossed one leg over the other. His left hand tapped lightly against the desk in a steady rhythm, while his right hand propped up half his face as he stared out the window in boredom.

Through the window, he could even vaguely see the shimmering Sea God Lake in the distance. It seemed this place was not too far from Sea God Lake. Was that a privilege for freshmen?

At that moment, quite a commotion had already broken out in the classroom.

"Damn, this guy's pretty handsome. His looks might not even be beneath mine."

A boy touched his face with a serious expression.

The companion beside him immediately looked at him as though he were an idiot.

"Are you crazy or blind? Haven't you heard what happened downstairs at the dormitory building a few days ago?"

"What happened? This guy caught a three-meter-long anchor from a two-ring Great Soul Master with his bare hands, then casually crippled the other guy's martial soul!"

"Holy shit?!"

The boy was so startled that he nearly jumped out of his seat.

"Wait, you mean he's that eleven-year-old Soul Elder?"

"Who else could it be? The entire freshmen dormitory district has heard about it by now."

"Forget it. I suddenly think I look pretty average."

The girls' discussion on the other side had clearly gone off in a different direction.

"Wow... I'm totally in love with this cold, aloof male god. His strength is simply the least worth mentioning of his advantages!"

"Doesn't anyone think his temperament is especially melancholic?"

"Girl, I get you!"

One girl's eyes lit up.

"That faint sense of melancholy is absolutely perfect! I don't think even Wheelshield City has anyone more melancholic than him."

"I thought the boy from my hometown who looked through old photos at eighteen and cried until he vomited blood was already melancholic enough. I never expected someone even more melancholic than him. Which family's young master is this?"

"He's unbelievably handsome from the front, and his profile is even more incredible. And the way he looks out the window... it's like he's carrying some heavy story on his shoulders."

Ling Tianchen took in every word of their discussion, and the corner of his mouth could not help twitching.

When had his image become that of a melancholic male god?

Back in Tianshui City, he had had plenty of wild fun with his classmates. Every now and then, he even led a group of people in skipping class to slack off. How was he melancholic?

But thinking about it carefully, that label did not seem too bad. At the very least, fewer people would come over to chat him up.

Hmph. In their eyes, he had probably become one of those pure and immaculate melancholic male gods, untouched by the mud from which he rose.

By their standards, it felt like he could already apply for a Guinness World Records title as the world's most melancholic person.

Since that was the case, he might as well add a few more bricks to this image.

He looked at the shimmering Sea God Lake outside the window. His gaze gradually unfocused, and a perfectly measured trace of wistfulness appeared on his face.

Then Ling Tianchen could not help humming softly.

"A phone call divides the world into two sides, yet we never meet. The me in the mirror occasionally wears red makeup..."

"Classmate, may I sit in the seat beside you?"