Ch74.1 - First Meeting

Jian Mei stood on the path to the dormitory, his emotions in a tangled mess.

The little boy slipped on his gloves, grabbed his small suitcase, and froze. Since Jian Mei hadn’t moved, neither did he. They stood there in a silent standoff, like a game of “if the enemy doesn’t move, I won’t move.”

Jian Mei hesitated before asking, “Why aren’t you moving?”

After a long silence, the boy finally looked up and spoke in a soft, low voice. “Aren’t we supposed to walk together?”

Jian Mei froze for a moment before it hit him—he had invited the boy to walk together earlier. He’d been so shocked that he completely forgot. He hadn’t expected this child to take his words so seriously, remembering every promise with such genuine sincerity.

Suddenly, Jian Mei felt less afraid. He smiled and nodded. “Mm, let’s go together.”

They walked along the forest path, the afternoon sun casting warm, slightly scorching rays.

After winding through turn after turn, they finally reached the heart of the forest. A golden dormitory building stood before them, with a fountain in front flowing gently. Leaves drifted down lazily, and the iron gate at the entrance swayed gently in the breeze.

Just as Jian Mei was about to step inside, the little boy moved to the side, pulled out a golden card, and scanned it at the center of the iron gate. Jian Mei followed suit, scanning his own card before asking, “The gate isn’t even locked. Couldn’t we just walk in without scanning?”

The little boy fell silent for a moment before replying, “Then you’d be sent back.”

“Sent back? Back where?” Jian Mei asked, confused.

He stared into the boy’s calm eyes, an almost unbelievable thought crossing his mind. “You don’t mean… back outside the forest, do you?”

After a brief pause, the little boy nodded.

Jian Mei was still shaken. The walk had nearly exhausted him, while the little boy hadn’t even broken a sweat. If he had to turn around and walk all the way back, he might’ve lost his mind. Thankfully, he had scanned the card. Lowering his head, he said to the boy, “Come on, let’s go inside.”

They stepped into the dormitory building one after the other, only to find that the interior looked completely different from the outside.

Before they could even make it upstairs, a sudden, thunderous bang erupted from above. The impact was so strong that the floor beneath them trembled, and the deafening noise rattled their eardrums.

TaI tIvJwH-YSJJb LQwHJL tkHHIwSN tLkwV JrIw, GwH tJhIJwI SIGrIH QwEJ EaI GQb. ektE Gt aI LGt GiJkE EJ SGwH, AQwIt trbJkEIH YbJh EaI VbJkwH. F NJkwV hGw Qw NISSJL SGwHIH VbGvIYkSSN Jw JwI BwII, tEIGHNQwV aQhtISY Jw EaI AQwIt EaGE aGH LJAIw EaIhtISAIt QwEJ rSGvI, G rSGNYkS thQSI Jw aQt YGvI.

EfPn g prfkv Mp nfT bCfTP, nw TwOP MdP JMCw ZfOwT, Tvfrrpdrrj bwgZfOx PnwJ fOPM g OwP PngP kgdxnP Pnw wJYwC pgrrfOx pCMJ gYMZw.

“QNyAJyq!!!” Ny ftNmJ AJoNLJ FOfhJ ICODmJz AtOo NgOFJ. s qftL fy tJz CDtLJz mEO AftJgNLLI mOENtz mCJ qtODyz, CJt ANhJ mEfImJz EfmC NyqJt. “vA eOD zNtJ DIJ oe AftJ ztNqOy mO hOOX eODt oJNLI NqNfy, lDIm mte Nyz IJJ ECNm CNRRJyI!”

Nanfeng retracted the vines and stuck his tongue out at the girl, making a playful face. “Don’t be such a miser. I was just borrowing it for a bit.”

The girl in red was about to continue scolding him when she noticed two people standing by the entrance. Raising an eyebrow, she said, “Oh? Looks like we have new students.”

At her words, Nanfeng glanced over and looked their way.

Jian Mei noticed their gazes and gave a polite bow. “Hello.”

“Hey there,” Nanfeng greeted. “New here?”

Jian Mei nodded.

“Your little brother?” Nanfeng leaned in a bit closer, the fresh scent of grass lingering around him. He grinned playfully. “Oh~ the young master of the Xiwu family, huh?”

Jian Mei furrowed his brows. “You recognize him?”

Nanfeng pointed at the boy’s gloves. “The young master of the Xiwu family naturally repels living creatures, so he always wears gloves. And considering where we are, I highly doubt he’s just some random visitor strolling around in them.”

Jian Mei thought to himself—he had guessed right all along.

“As for you…” Nanfeng stroked his chin. “I heard there are only two new students this year—one is the young master of the Xiwu family, and the other is Yunshi, the young master of a prestigious medical family. Could you be him?”

Jian Mei quickly shook his head. “I’m not.”

Nanfeng raised an eyebrow. “Then why are you here? Since when do students bring their own attendants to school?”

Realizing the misunderstanding, Jian Mei hurriedly explained, “I’m not a servant, I’m a student too.”

Nanfeng scratched his head before turning to the girl in red with a grin. “Well, that’s a first! A transfer student… and an unannounced one at that.”

The girl in red shot him a glare. “You’re making a big deal out of nothing. What’s so surprising about that?”

Ever the lively one, Nanfeng turned to Jian Mei. “So, what’s your ability? Can you tell us?”

Jian Mei scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. “I don’t know.”

That simple statement left the three of them utterly stunned.

The girl in red narrowed her eyes. “You’re not joking, are you?”

“I’m really not,” Jian Mei said, feeling wronged. “I honestly don’t know. That old gentleman just told me to enroll first and see what happens… then he handed me a dorm card and sent me here.”

Since Jian Mei was new, he had no idea just how difficult it was to get into SA.

Even the wealthiest and most influential noble families couldn’t get into SA without an ability. Everyone here possessed exceptionally high-risk powers, each mastering their own field to a degree that was both impressive and intimidating, all while receiving advanced education.

Nanfeng found this intriguing. “Not knowing doesn’t mean you don’t have one. Want me to give it a try?”

Jian Mei looked at him in confusion. He had no idea what Nanfeng intended to do.

Before he could react, vines suddenly shot up from the ground, sprouting out of nowhere. They coiled around his legs and torso, slowly lifting him into the air. Jian Mei lost his balance, feeling disoriented, which made a scream burst out of him. “Ah!”

Nanfeng watched as Jian Mei struggled in the air, yet still made no attempt to use his divine power. He shouted, “Use your own divine power to save yourself!”

Jian Mei remained suspended, completely unable to get down.

The little boy beside them hesitated for a long time before finally raising his hand to remove his gloves. But before he could act, the girl in red moved first. She leaped effortlessly into the air, catching Jian Mei as he lost all sense of gravity. With no other choice, he clung to her tightly.

With a quick flick of her wrist, she hurled a fireball straight at Nanfeng. “Nanfeng! Bullying the newbie? Go to hell!”

Bang!

A massive fireball shot toward the ground. Nanfeng quickly conjured a green shield to block it, but to his surprise, the vines began to crack, unable to withstand the heat. He dodged just in time, barely avoiding the blast as the fireball slammed into the ground, leaving a deep crater nearly a meter wide.

“Whoa!” Nanfeng exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock. “You crazy woman—were you trying to kill me?!”

The girl in red landed with Jian Mei, still stunned. “That’s impossible… I didn’t even go all out. I used the same strength as before, and you blocked it just fine back then.”

Nanfeng narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Are you sure it was only half?”

“I was still in the air! How could I possibly go full power?” The girl in red glared at him. “Use your brain for once, will you?”

Nanfeng frowned. “Then what happened? How did your fireball suddenly get that powerful?”

Back where they had landed, Jian Mei coughed lightly as the smell of scorched earth stung his throat. Nanfeng, whose clothes were slightly singed from the blast, leaned over and asked, “You okay?”

Jian Mei ignored him.

“Alright, alright! I was wrong!” Nanfeng said quickly. “I really didn’t think you wouldn’t use your divine power.”

Jian Mei shot him a glare and muttered, “I told you, I don’t know.”

The girl in red leaned in. “That’s impossible. If you didn’t have one, the principal would never have let you in.”

Nanfeng nodded in agreement, but the commotion quickly died down when someone entered from behind them. A man in long, flowing blue robes stepped inside, his waist-length hair cascading down his back. In a gentle voice, he asked, “Excuse me for interrupting—this is the student dormitory, correct?”