Chapter 43

Inside the small mountain pavilion, Liu Rushi's figure was no longer present. She had left a note on the table: "I left half of the refined elixir. After you leave, study hard and strive to become a life master who can save the world. Whether you enter the inner courtyard or not, you are still my disciple. This jade slip contains the foundational classics you need to study, and I will send someone regularly to check your progress."

"Jade slip?" When Hero picked up the jade slip that was pressing down on the note, the note instantly shimmered with patterns, and a crest appeared on it. The note then turned into fragments, forming a faint shadow, which was a divine consciousness avatar left by Liu Rushi.

This divine consciousness avatar glanced at Hero, and after sensing his current cultivation, nodded in satisfaction, saying, "Very good, very good. But you must remember one thing: in this world, there are many geniuses with even greater talent than you. Do not be arrogant or look down on others. Even in the outer courtyard of Tianzhen Academy, there are many peers who are stronger than you, and they are all working hard for the next inner courtyard recruitment."

After saying this, the divine consciousness avatar dissipated, and there was a knock on the door of the small pavilion.

It was Xiaoya, holding Grandpa Turtle, shouting at the door of the mountain pavilion, "Hey, Junior Brother Hero, are you out of seclusion?"

When Hero opened the door and saw Xiaoya again, he couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised. A day apart felt like three autumns, and this girl had grown a bit.

When he saw the Grandpa Turtle in Xiaoya's arms, he was quite surprised. This old guy had also cultivated to the eighth-level ability awakening, just like him. What did he eat to become so powerful in such a short time?

Hero scanned Xiaoya up and down, lingering a bit longer on a certain part, which made Grandpa Turtle very unhappy. He snorted sarcastically, "Grandpa Turtle isn't as dirty as you. I have exceptional talent!"

Grandpa Turtle indeed had exceptional talent. Hero quickly changed the subject and asked Xiaoya what she needed.

"Care for me?" Xiaoya blinked, reaching out to touch Hero's forehead and said, "Hey, Junior Brother, are you confused from practicing? You've been in seclusion for over a month. The teacher said to take you out of the secret realm after you emerged."

Hero was stunned. He had been in the alchemy room for half a month. Then Xiaoya added, "Junior Brother, come with me!"

Thinking about finally getting rid of this troublemaker, Xiaoya was as happy as a bird.

Let's go, Hero thought. He felt he had gained a lot here. He didn't know what had happened in the outside world during the month he had suddenly disappeared, and some people were going crazy looking for him everywhere.

Hero followed Xiaoya to a patterned war mount, which looked like a cute little white rabbit.

In the first year, class five of Tianzhen Academy, the old man teaching physics finished his lecture and started preparing for the next class.

Seeing the old man finish his rant, the students below became lively. Some fat and thin students gathered in groups to play cards; some girls whispered about how their boyfriends performed last night or where they saw a certain boy and a class beauty; a few self-proclaimed charming boys smoked and boasted about their progress or achievements with the girls they were pursuing; and a few usually lecherous guys discussed where to go this weekend.

One of the guys with a large face chuckled and suggested, "We had more fun on weekends when Leader Lei Jun was here."

Another guy with a pockmarked face sneered, "Why mention that waste? Tonight, I'll take you to a great place. It's a new venue, and the girls are hotter than in the imperial palace. And..."

When he said "and," he winked at his fellow students, hinting that they understood.

While these lecherous guys were discussing how to spend the weekend, no one noticed that a pair of students in the corner were communicating telepathically, with the girl looking particularly anxious.

The boy, however, was indifferent, tapping his fingers lightly on the table and saying, "Today is the organization's final deadline for you. If Hua Hero doesn't appear, you will gain nothing. The organization has its rules, and I can't help you with this."

This boy was the Earth Spider, and the girl was the Black Spider.

They were using the living masks of two students in this class.

According to the rules of the ability users' convention, no organization can harm innocent students on campus. The explicit rule means they can't do it openly, but for organizations like the spiders, it means they can do it secretly.

As long as it's not discovered, it didn't happen.

Thinking of her only sister being implicated, Black Spider was anxious and at a loss.

To prevent Black Spider from revealing her anxiety in front of the students, Earth Spider changed the subject, "I heard the Hua family is having an internal conflict, and it seems the boss is involved. He's just a nouveau riche, but if it weren't for the rumor that the Hua family obtained that item, we wouldn't be involved now."

In fact, a very few people could see that there was another powerful force behind the Hua family influencing this internal conflict. Only those at a certain level could see this, and most people didn't know the Hua family's background.

Black Spider knew that Earth Spider was reminding her to control her emotions.

At that moment, a foul smell wafted into the classroom, almost making the girls sitting near the door or window vomit.

The smell was like a sudden appearance of a pile of dead pigs, the putrid stench penetrating the lungs and making people feel as if they had been filled with the water from a dead pig's carcass.

Even the old man teaching physics gagged and stared at the classroom door, inwardly roaring: Dead pigs in front of the classroom?

There were no dead pigs, but there was a live person. A man with sticky clothes and a beard stood at the classroom door and shouted, "Report to the teacher, I'm back."

These days, there were many little masters who skipped class for ten days or more. The old man, despite his nausea, carefully examined the student in front of him and finally recognized him. He wondered what wind had blown this guy back.

He had heard that this guy had changed his soft demeanor half a month ago and went deep into the Tianzhen Mountains with a young woman from outside the school for several days. His family had asked the school to help search for him in the mountains, and after he returned home with his family, he had been skipping class ever since.

Others also recognized him.

Where had this guy been for the past ten days? Did he fall into the Huangpu River?

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