Foundation Establishment? Xuanling!

A pink card was flung heavily into Jiang Ran's arms.

"Jiang Ran, you've gone too far. I told you not to give it back to me."

"You..."

Zhang Jingjing scolded him softly.

Tao Dapeng did not hear the rest at all. He froze on the spot, his eyes widening.

"Wait... Zhang Jingjing, what's going on between you two?"

The pink bank card was clearly Zhang Jingjing's personal belonging. Why would she give it to Jiang Ran?

Could the two of them really be having an affair?

But hadn't Zhang Jingjing always looked down on Jiang Ran...

Tao Dapeng was bewildered, his heart full of confusion.

Yet no one answered his question. Zhang Jingjing had already returned to her seat.

As for Jiang Ran, the male lead of the incident, he still had his eyes tightly shut and did not move.

"Jiang Ran, what's going on between you two?"

"I was only gone for two months, and Zhang Jingjing actually came looking for you?"

"You didn't confess to her again while I was away, and then she accepted, did you..."

Tao Dapeng's gossiping soul completely erupted.

If his best friend had successfully confessed, while he was the only one left in the dark, that would be a true failure!

Unfortunately, Jiang Ran remained silent, with no intention of explaining.

That reaction made Tao Dapeng even more convinced that something existed between Jiang Ran and Zhang Jingjing that he did not know about!

"Jiang Ran, are you really not going to tell me?"

Five minutes later.

"Heh... Jiang, you got yourself a girlfriend and decided you don't need your best bro anymore, is that it?"

No one answered. Tao Dapeng completely broke down.

"Fine, fine, fine. If you won't say it, forget it!"

In the sixth minute of his anger, Jiang Ran slowly opened his eyes.

"Stop yelling..."

"There's really nothing between us. I'll tell you later."

"Da Peng, do me a favor."

About half an hour later.

Under the vehement demands of Tao Dapeng and several male students.

The teacher leading the group had no choice but to stop the flying coach at a flight service area ahead.

Those boys were simply too rowdy. The trip was only two hours long, yet they insisted they were about to burst and had to stop to use the restroom.

They were all cultivators. Where would they get so much need to pee and poop...

But there was nothing the teachers could do. They could not stop the boys' "longing."

Once they reached the service area, the students happily scattered in all directions.

For high school students, opportunities for group outings like this were rare, so they were enjoying themselves.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ran, the student who had instigated the restroom incident, was the only one who actually rushed headlong into a stall.

"I can't hold it anymore..." Jiang Ran locked the door and swiftly entered a cultivation state.

He did not truly need the restroom. Rather, his divine radiance was overflowing, and his Qi Nourishment Realm cultivation was about to enter its final stage of completion. He could not delay any longer.

Cultivating the soul was profoundly mysterious. It was difficult to predict exactly when it would reach completion.

Jiang Ran knew he was about to break through, but he truly had not expected it to happen today, on the flying coach.

Completion of Soul Nourishment meant that all four stages of Qi Nourishment had been accomplished. The final step was to unite body and soul and achieve the true "Mystic Spirit Body."

According to the two Qi-Absorption Path techniques in his possession, achieving the Mystic Spirit Body was akin to being reborn. Many extremely noticeable changes would occur to his body.

Therefore, continuing his cultivation on the flying coach was definitely not an option.

In public, with Foundation Establishment Stage teachers nearby, someone would surely notice something unusual.

Fortunately, they had reached the service area. The restroom stalls were private, with formations that blocked odors and sounds.

Jiang Ran quickly took out a pink injection, accurately stabbed it into his neck, then calmed his breath and focused his mind, throwing himself wholeheartedly into cultivation.

Divine radiance overflowed, and his sea of consciousness was filled with light, clouds and rosy vapors swirling within it.

As the pink medicine entered his body, immense medicinal power flooded into his meridians.

The light of his soul bloomed with boundless splendor, finally breaking through a certain limit in a single instant.

His soul had reached completion...

The final piece of the Qi Nourishment Realm puzzle had finally fallen into place.

His flesh, heart meridians, vital essence, and soul became perfectly unified, silently drawing close and undergoing a wondrous transformation.

If someone had been beside him, they would surely have witnessed a strange sight—Jiang Ran was glowing.

Every pore on his body relaxed, faintly expelling all sorts of filthy impurities, which dissolved within the light.

The "Mystic Spirit Body"—this was the Mystic Spirit Body that represented the very foundation of Qi-Absorption Path cultivation.

After a long while, Jiang Ran slowly opened his eyes. A sharp glint flashed through them and vanished, while the light around him withdrew into his body.

I seem to have changed...

He could clearly sense that his entire body had undergone a qualitative transformation.

It was not an increase in strength, nor had his spiritual power risen by even the slightest amount.

The change originated in the deepest parts of his body, yet spread through every minute corner of it.

His senses had become sharper, his limbs more relaxed, his muscles filled with power... even his spiritual roots seemed to have become more active.

Jiang Ran had the illusion that even without using spiritual power, he might still be able to cast spells.

Unfortunately, this was not the time to ponder it carefully. So many classmates and teachers were still waiting outside.

"It smells awful..." Jiang Ran's nose kept catching a faint yet persistent stench.

The restroom had cleaning formations. The source of the odor... seemed to be himself.

Only upon closer inspection did he discover a sticky, dark layer of substance on his skin.

Jiang Ran understood that these were likely impurities produced by the Mystic Spirit Body's cleansing of his meridians and transformation of his physique.

Fortunately, the service area had shower rooms. He hurriedly gave himself a thorough cleaning in the shortest time possible.

After all that fuss, quite a bit of time had indeed been wasted.

While Jiang Ran was enjoying a nice shower inside, the teachers from Pingjiang No. 1 High School outside had already begun to grow anxious.

"Why is one person still missing?" The teacher leading the group called roll one by one and discovered that not all the students had returned.

"Class Three, Class Three students, take a look. Who from your class hasn't come back yet?"

"It's Jiang Ran... Jiang Ran hasn't returned yet." Several Class Three students exchanged glances.

"That's strange. I went to get something to eat just now and didn't see Jiang Ran. Did any of you see him?"

The teacher leading the group overheard their conversation and immediately frowned as he walked over.

"What's going on? Which student from your class is missing?"

The school rarely organized long-distance trips for its students. If a student disappeared along the way, that would be a serious problem.

Tao Dapeng's eyes darted rapidly. "Teacher..."

"Jiang Ran doesn't seem to be feeling well. He might still be in the restroom."

"How about I go take a look?"

"Alright. Hurry up and find him."

The people on the coach wore all kinds of expressions.

Cheng Qian, the Class Three monitor, was somewhat worried. She took the initiative to stand and catch up with Tao Dapeng to check on him together.

Most of the other students looked around curiously. After all, the name Jiang Ran was fairly well known at Pingjiang No. 1 High School...

Just as everyone was looking around, a handsome figure suddenly entered through the coach door.

Tall and graceful as rosy clouds rising, with an unrestrained air that soared into the skies; bright as a jade mountain reflecting snow, pure as moonlight through pines.

Everyone had seen plenty of handsome men, but handsome men with such transcendent bearing were truly rare.

"Is that Jiang Ran?"

"Damn... Has Jiang Ran always been this handsome?"

Jiang Ran politely apologized to the teacher leading the group. "Sorry, Teacher. I'm late."

The teacher subconsciously nodded. "It's fine. Go back to your seat."

He looked at Jiang Ran's upright figure and the water droplets clinging to the tips of his hair, feeling dazed for a moment.

He was clearly only a high school student in the Qi Refining stage, so why did he give him the illusion of being a fellow Foundation Establishment cultivator?