Cultivation Maniac

An hour later, the sun hung low in the west, gradually tinting everything around them orange.

Yang Yunhai finished his training and dragged his somewhat weary body back to the dormitory, planning to take a shower before heading to the cafeteria for dinner.

As he passed the corner of the stairs, he happened to catch sight of Tang San coming down from upstairs.

Had he just come out of Yu Xiaogang's room? In the original story, Tang San went to Yu Xiaogang's room after lunch on the first day of school, showed him his Twin Martial Souls, and then, under Yu Xiaogang's guidance, settled on a Control System development path focused on adding toxins.

Then tomorrow, they'll go out together to obtain a Soul Ring. Yang Yunhai instinctively recalled the plot.

Meanwhile, upon hearing footsteps from below, Tang San instinctively glanced down as well. Seeing that it was Yang Yunhai, whose body looked somewhat tired and whose face was visibly sweaty but showed no signs of a fight, he stopped paying attention.

He probably went out alone, got targeted by some noble Spirit Masters, and ran back on his own.

Since he's fine, there's no need for me to concern myself with him. With that thought, he turned away, stopped looking, and headed straight downstairs toward the dormitory.

Seeing this, Yang Yunhai, who was a few steps behind, said nothing. Tang San had ignored even the children his own age from the same village where he had grown up, let alone a stranger he had only met today.

Shaking his head, he headed straight for the dormitory as well.

When he entered, there was no one in the room besides Tang San, who was already lying on his bed with his eyes closed, resting. The others had presumably gone to eat. Yang Yunhai did not intend to disturb him, so he went into the bathroom, took a shower, and then left the dormitory for the cafeteria.

By the time he reached the cafeteria, it was already rather late. Most of the students had finished eating, and aside from a few teachers still sitting around and chatting, there were barely any people in the entire cafeteria. Yang Yunhai was happy enough to enjoy the peace and quiet. He filled a tray with food, found an empty table, and started eating.

Afterward, he went straight back to the dormitory.

Perhaps his timing was just right, because he did not run into any noble Spirit Masters trying to pick a fight or block his way.

For the time being, I'll stick to this schedule and avoid the noble Spirit Masters, Yang Yunhai thought to himself.

Given his current condition, if he ran into even a random group of Spirit Masters looking for trouble, he would only end up getting beaten. Avoiding confrontation was his only option.

Without strength, sometimes even drinking a mouthful of water could be considered a mistake. Others could bully and manipulate you however they pleased. That was reality. It was also a lesson Yang Yunhai had learned firsthand after being battered by society for many years in his previous life.

"Those who dare not cause trouble are mediocre." Regarding these words, spoken by Flender, the dean of Shrek Academy in the original story, Yang Yunhai felt that another line should be added afterward:

"Those who stir up shit for no reason are fucking idiots!"

If you're so damn impressive, try cursing in front of a Titled Douluo and see whether they slap you to death!

Without strength or backing, keeping a low profile and developing steadily was the true way forward. Yang Yunhai firmly believed this.

Lost in thought, he pushed open the slightly ajar dormitory door.

Looking inside, his dormmates were either lying down or sitting on their beds, resting. Only Xiao Wu was already leaning between two beds, craning her neck to examine Tang San. At that moment, she opened her mouth and softly called, "Hey!"

That one call instantly startled Tang San awake.

Yang Yunhai did not look any longer. He quietly entered and walked toward his bed in the corner of the dormitory.

"Xiao Hai, where did you go this afternoon?" a dormmate asked softly as Yang Yunhai passed by his bed.

"I walked around the academy to familiarize myself with the place, then found somewhere to train my body," Yang Yunhai replied.

"You really work hard," the dormmate said admiringly, nodding before turning back to look at Xiao Wu.

Cute girls would always draw attention more easily than rough men.

Yang Yunhai said nothing more. Reaching his bed, he shifted into a comfortable position, sat down, closed his eyes, and began cultivating Soul Power.

After a period of Physical Training to stimulate the body's functions, cultivating Soul Power afterward would surely have some accelerating effect. This hardly needed proving; the training regimen Yu Xiaogang had designed for the Shrek Seven Devils in the original story was enough evidence.

Though, in Yang Yunhai's view, those training programs had been rather crude.

"Tang San, let's go for a walk," Xiao Wu said from the other side, evidently unable to sit still any longer.

"..."

In the end, Tang San could not refuse her. After eating a few coarse cakes to fill his stomach, he was dragged out of the dormitory by Xiao Wu.

Yang Yunhai, already immersed in cultivation, felt nothing about it. By the time he opened his eyes again, it was already late at night. By the faint light from outside the window, he looked around the dormitory. Everyone was asleep, including Tang San and Xiao Wu in the distance. The surroundings were quiet.

Looks like I cultivated for quite a long time this time. After a moment of silent surprise, he lay down and went to sleep.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, just as expected, Tang San did not attend the opening ceremony. Instead, he followed Yu Xiaogang to the Soul Hunting Forest to obtain his First Soul Ring. As for the rest of Dorm Seven, they naturally could not escape being brainwashed by the dean. Fortunately, the opening ceremony did not last long and ended in less than half an hour. Afterward, as expected, the members of Dorm Seven, being work-study students, were kept behind to clean.

Once they were done, they went to the cafeteria together for lunch.

After returning to the dormitory and taking a brief rest, Yang Yunhai left for the Back Mountain, intending to continue cultivating as he had yesterday. Since they had already finished cleaning in the morning, there was no cleaning to do in the afternoon, leaving him just enough time to cultivate.

By the time he returned to the dormitory again, evening had arrived.

After taking a shower, he went to eat shortly before the cafeteria closed, when there were fewer people. Then he returned safely to the dormitory, rested for a while, and continued cultivating.

"Xiao Hai works so hard at cultivating."

After two days in a row of this, all of his dormmates could sense Yang Yunhai's focus and enthusiasm for cultivation.

Seemingly inspired by him, they all began entering cultivation states as well.

Only Xiao Wu leaned against the head of her bed with a carrot in hand. She swept her gaze over everyone, curled her lips, and started gnawing on it.

The next day, Yang Yunhai's routine remained unchanged except that he had to spend a little over a quarter of an hour sweeping the flowerbeds in the afternoon.

Then, several days later, while practicing his horse stance on the Back Mountain, he suddenly heard a commotion in the distance.

He could not help but put down the hardwood staff he had worn smooth from gripping, then strode out of the woods. Eventually, he stopped behind a clump of bushes and secretly checked the situation outside.

"Xiao Wu... Xiao Chenyu?" Seeing the two people standing at the front and confronting each other, he immediately understood what was happening.

The familiar plot played out once again.

After all, they were roommates. Yang Yunhai immediately stepped forward, intending to help. But after instinctively glancing behind him, he stopped.

Looking over, Tang San was sprinting over from behind.

What happened next unfolded exactly as it had in the original story. Xiao Chenyu was defeated by Tang San, and Xiao Wu became the academy's Elder Sister.

"..." After some thought, Yang Yunhai ultimately chose not to step out of the bushes. Instead, he returned to where he had been cultivating and continued training. It was not until dusk approached and the sky began to darken that he left Back Mountain and headed straight for the cafeteria.

After eating, he bought a large bag of carrots.

Because they were cheap to purchase and easy to store, the cafeteria kitchen had plenty of carrots in stock, available for purchase at any time.

They had even been washed and could be eaten directly.

Upon returning to the dormitory and seeing his other roommates cultivating, he walked straight to Xiao Wu's bed, where she was chatting with Tang San.

Under Xiao Wu's slightly puzzled gaze, he set the bag on his shoulder down on the floor and said somewhat sheepishly, "Sister Xiao Wu, I bought these carrots at the cafeteria just now. I know you like them, so I got you some. On my way back, I heard that you and Tang San took the lead in defeating Xiao Chenyu. You helped us Work-study students get out of the afternoon cleaning duty, while we can still collect the pay."

"I clearly didn't do anything. I didn't even show up to support everyone, yet I got so many benefits for nothing."

"The elders in my village once told me not to be too greedy. I'm already satisfied that you helped me secure the afternoons for cultivation. Consider these carrots my thanks. I won't take the wages for sweeping in the future either. You can collect them on my behalf."

"Don't refuse. The elders in my village left me some money before I came to the academy, so I won't have any trouble paying for meals."

No matter how much he disliked Tang San and Xiao Wu, their actions had indeed helped him, even if unintentionally.

He did not want to owe them this favor.

In the future, they were destined to become enemies. That had been decided the moment he chose to join Spirit Hall.

"Xiao Haizi, I never thought you were such a little rich kid." Seeing the huge bag on the floor, Xiao Wu's face immediately lit up. She sprang off the bed, patted Yang Yunhai on the shoulder with the air of an Elder Sister, and lifted her chin. "You're quite sensible. I'll look after you from now on."

He really was a good child who knew how to repay kindness. Tang San's opinion of him improved as well.

Yang Yunhai smiled faintly. "Then I'll go back and cultivate."

With that, he turned and left.

"What a cultivation maniac." Seeing Yang Yunhai run back to his bed and sit down to cultivate, Xiao Wu could not help but curl her lips.

As soon as she finished speaking, she crouched down and rummaged through the bag, took out a carrot, and sat back on the bed. While munching on it, she turned to Tang San.

"Little San, want one?"

"No need. You eat." Tang San shook his head slightly and closed his eyes to cultivate as well.

"How boring!" Crunch, crunch. Only the sound of chewing remained in the air.

PS: Consider this a transitional chapter.