Chapter 36

For the disciples of a sect, Song Shuhang joining at his age was like a ninety-year-old illiterate man, with one foot already in the coffin, suddenly wanting to start primary school. Even if this old man managed to enter school through various connections, how much could he learn? What achievements could he have? He might not even have a future—how could anyone know if the ninety-year-old would still be alive tomorrow?

Even if Song Shuhang successfully established his foundation, the time and resources he would need to advance in the future would be more than half of what those who established their foundation at four or five years old would need.

On one side, there were the genius disciples who advanced quickly, consumed fewer resources, and had limitless futures.

On the other side, there was Song Shuhang, who would find it difficult to advance, consume more resources, and have a bleak future.

As long as the sect's higher-ups were not brain-dead, they would not waste too much time, teaching resources, and precious cultivation resources on Song Shuhang.

And the fellow daoists from the Nine Provinces Group who introduced Song Shuhang to the sect could only take care of him for a short while, not for his entire life!

Copper Trigram Immortal was at a loss for words. He hadn't thought as much as Northern River's Loose Cultivator. He only thought about how difficult it was for loose cultivators and didn't consider that the sect wouldn't be much better for Song Shuhang.

"So, whether it's a sect or a loose cultivator, it doesn't make much difference for Song Shuhang. In this case, the best way is to let him choose for himself. Even if he makes a wrong choice, he can't blame anyone else," Northern River's Loose Cultivator said calmly.

As their seniors in the loose cultivator community, the best they could do was to help Song Shuhang when he needed it.

***

In the Jiangnan University City dormitory, Song Shuhang leaned back in his chair, looking at a sealed small cup on the computer desk. Inside was the remaining body-tempering liquid. This liquid, when used with the basic meditation technique and boxing form taught by Medicine Master, would better bring out its medicinal effects.

At this moment, a melodious ringtone sounded—it was his phone.

Song Shuhang pressed the answer button, and Tubo's voice came through: "Shuhang, have you finished packing your two large suitcases? If you're done, come over. Yangde has found a place! Come and take a look, and then we'll go out for a meal."

"Alright, I'll come right away. Send me the address," Song Shuhang replied.

"I'll text it to you," Tubo said before hanging up.

After ending the call, Song Shuhang put down his phone and looked out the window to the balcony.

Perhaps, he also needed to rent a place off-campus like Yangde.

He didn't need to live outside, but occasionally, when he wanted to refine pills or practice in the future, he needed a place where he wouldn't be disturbed.

"If I want to rent a place outside, maybe I should get a part-time job?" Song Shuhang was just an ordinary student and didn't have the computer skills like Li Yangde. If he wanted to earn money, he probably had to get a part-time job.

Speaking of which, how did the seniors in the Nine Provinces Group earn money? They weren't isolated from the world and would need money in their daily lives, at least for electricity and internet bills.

While lost in thought, Tubo's text message with the address arrived.

221d Building, 602 Room, Daji Street.

This was a street very close to the university city.

...

...

"The location is good, and it's close to the school. Yangde found a great place," Song Shuhang said, looking at the map on his phone and heading towards the address Tubo sent.

Daji Street was an old residential area. Due to the lack of planning when it was built, the houses were of various shapes and sizes, and the narrow alleys crisscrossed, looking somewhat chaotic from a distance.

"From this position, I can take a shortcut and save a lot of time," Song Shuhang thought, entering the alley and moving through it like a nimble fish.

These secluded alleys were usually the gathering places for delinquents from the school.

Speaking of delinquents, one couldn't help but mention the group of delinquents who were wiped out a few days ago.

After being wiped out and beaten so badly that even their mothers couldn't recognize them, they finally woke up after being unconscious for two days and two nights.

Afterward, a member of the school news department specifically asked them about their experience.

However, strangely, none of the delinquents could recall what had happened. Their memories of that day were missing, and they didn't even know why they were in the hospital. In their memories, they were smoking and acting tough in the alley one second, and the next, they woke up in the hospital, all looking confused.

The hospital couldn't detect any reason for their condition and could only conclude that it was a case of collective amnesia. The matter had to be dropped there.

This incident had become one of the new "unexplainable events" in Jiangnan University City.

"Clearly, someone tampered with their memories," Song Shuhang thought.

If it was just one or two people with fuzzy memories, it could be due to being hit on the head. But for over ten people to all have fuzzy memories and lose their recollection of that day, there was no such coincidence in the world.

Thanks to the delinquent group wipe-out incident, the delinquents who gathered in the deep alleys near the university city had become much more restrained recently. These alleys, which were once the gathering places for delinquents, had seen a sharp decrease in their numbers.

As a result, the local security had improved significantly.

There's a saying: "If you say you're going to do it, do it!"

Oh, no, it's "If you say you're going to do it, do it right away."

Just as the word "delinquent" popped into Song Shuhang's mind, a group of delinquents smoking in a cluster appeared right in front of him.

There were seven of them, each with long, colorful hair, and they had all sorts of piercings—earrings, lip rings, and nose rings. They had cigarettes in their mouths, and they might as well have had "I'm in my rebellious youth, I'm a delinquent" written on their foreheads.

The seven delinquents weren't targeting Song Shuhang, a tall and strong man. Even delinquents rarely picked on students who looked like they could fight.

The delinquents were grinning evilly, surrounding a girl. One of them, about 1.72 meters tall, was pinning the girl against the wall in a "wall-bang" position.

"Hey, beautiful, are you feeling lonely here? Why don't you play with us a bit?"

"It's free, all kinds of fun."

"It'll feel really good."

"We'll play with you, too."

"There's a nice little shop right nearby, not far at all. You'll want to play again after we're done."

They were teasing and provoking her in various ways.

Song Shuhang looked at the girl being pinned against the wall.

She was about 1.5 meters tall, with short hair and a naturally pretty face. Due to her petite figure, she looked like a high school student, though she might be a bit older.

A cute and beautiful girl, alone in an alley—no wonder she attracted these delinquents. So, girls shouldn't go to sparsely populated areas alone.

At this moment, the girl's eyebrows furrowed, and her face showed clear disgust.

Even with a disgusted expression, her small face looked very cute.

"Hey, even when you're angry, you're so cute. Why don't you let big brother take good care of you?" The blonde delinquent who was pinning her against the wall grinned like a CEO, one hand supporting the wall, the other reaching out to touch her face.

Song Shuhang sighed; he couldn't stand it anymore.

He clenched his fist and took a big step forward.

Because he had just undergone body-tempering, he couldn't control his speed. With a slight effort, he shot forward with a "whoosh."

The delinquent who was teasing the girl only saw a blur, and then Song Shuhang, who was still seven or eight meters away, suddenly appeared beside them.

Song Shuhang reached out his large hand, fingers spread, and grabbed the back of the blonde delinquent's head with his broad palm.

The blonde delinquent was about 1.72 meters tall, and Song Shuhang was only slightly taller.

"Hey... don't you see that the girl doesn't want to play with you?" Song Shuhang applied a little force and actually lifted the blonde delinquent by the head.

Holy crap! Song Shuhang himself was surprised. He knew his strength had increased a lot after the body-tempering, but he didn't expect that lifting a person weighing over a hundred pounds would be as easy as lifting a stick.