One year later, Silver City.
A tour bus pulled up outside a school, and a crowd of excited passengers filed out.
The tour guide held up a flag and smiled at the tourists. "Look, everyone! This is Silver City No. 3 High School, where the Fish God once studied, and where he first made his mark! Now, please follow me. We'll be heading to the Fish God's former classroom, Class 3 of Senior Year 3, to get a sense of those glorious days when he strove right here on campus."
The tourists followed along, snapping photos as they walked into the campus.
Not far away, a street vendor selling spicy turkey noodles grumbled to two customers beside him, "People come to look every single day. I've no idea what's so special to see—aren't all high schools the same?"
"Right? Exactly. I think Silver City No. 3 High School is pretty ordinary myself," a burly youth agreed with a chuckle. He lowered his head and shoveled noodles into his mouth, slurping them down with absolute relish.
Beside him, an ordinary-looking youth asked with a smile, "Isn't it good to have lots of tourists? More people should mean better business for you, right?"
"If only that were true," the vendor sighed.
About fifteen minutes later, the tourists came trailing back out behind the guide, bustled onto the bus, and then the tour bus sped off toward Yu Xian's house in a puff of exhaust, without leaving so much as a fart behind.
"See that?" the vendor said helplessly.
The youth could only offer the vendor an awkward yet polite smile before ducking his head to slurp his noodles.
"Salty Fish, what've you been up to lately?" Having finished his bowl, the burly youth looked at his friend still eating and asked.
The ordinary-looking youth swallowed a mouthful of noodles and replied, "Traveling, fishing, taking photos. A few days ago I met a pretty interesting friend who just taught me a new dish. You should try it next time."
Without a doubt, the two were Zhang Shou and Yu Xian in disguise. Only, Zhang Shou had merely put on light makeup, while Yu Xian had changed his entire face.
Otherwise, with their current fame, they would be swarmed by passersby in seconds.
"Must be nice to have so much freedom," Zhang Shou said with an envious look.
Yu Xian asked with a smile, "What about you?"
"Attending classes, doing missions," Zhang Shou sighed, looking thoroughly tormented.
Yu Xian asked curiously, "Are college courses that hard?"
"Brutally hard! I'm already regretting going to Yanjing Vocational and Technical College," Zhang Shou lamented at once.
Smiling at Zhang Shou, Yu Xian mused with a sigh, "I wonder where everyone is now and what they're up to."
A year ago, extraordinary education had been popularized. Each of their classmates had their own circumstances, and after the gaokao, they had gone their separate ways.
Zhang Shou had been admitted directly to Yanjing Vocational and Technical College without exams through special recruitment, while Nora had gotten in through her own hard work.
Although Yu Xian had really wanted to team up with Nora for the examination back then, he was unfortunately far too famous.
If he teamed up with her, many people would label Nora as someone who got in through connections, and no matter how hard she worked, she would never gain the recognition she deserved.
Her success would be taken for granted by the public—after all, she had "Yu Xian" on her side.
It was precisely out of those considerations that Yu Xian had ultimately stepped aside to cheer Nora on from the sidelines. He watched her hack her way through every obstacle, protected by the rings and bracelets forged by Zhenwo Changjing, trampling geniuses and dark horses alike beneath her feet.
Those geniuses had exhausted all their tricks without being able to breach her defense in the slightest. Word was that after that battle, many favored darlings of heaven suffered shattered Dao hearts.
Nora had also earned herself a title: the Genius Crusher.
"How's Chen Ling doing these days?" Yu Xian asked, curious as he recalled Nora's deskmate, the Gossip Queen, Chen Ling.
At the thought of Chen Ling, Zhang Shou was at a bit of a loss for words. "Her? She's a reporter for Huaxia Entertainment now. She hits me up every day badgering me for scoops and asking where you are. Make sure you stay far away from her—if she latches onto you, you're done for."
"Hahaha! Chen Ling becoming a reporter—that really suits her," Yu Xian laughed heartily upon hearing this.
Zhang Shou said miserably, "You've never experienced the misery of being harassed by her in the middle of the night. I was so angry back then that I almost shot myself on the spot. It was terrifying."
"So you and Chen Ling hooked up?" Yu Xian looked at Zhang Shou with a beaming smile, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.
Zhang Shou's expression turned sheepish. He scratched the back of his head and nodded. "Yeah, we did."
If the two of them weren't sleeping together, how could he be harassed in the middle of the night?
"I knew it! I could tell you liked her all along. Calling her 'Queen' day in and day out—it was plain as day to anyone," Yu Xian teased.
Zhang Shou looked at Yu Xian and fired back, "What about you and Nora, then?"
"Ever since Marcus passed away, Nora has been obsessed with cultivation. She said that before reaching the Snake rank, she'll continue living according to the plans Marcus laid out for her in the past. It's her way of honoring his memory," Yu Xian replied with a long sigh.
In other words, she had no intention of dating early, focusing instead on going to school, studying hard, and striving to grow stronger every day.
"I see. Sounds a little sad," Zhang Shou said thoughtfully.
Clearly, Nora had not yet moved past the grief of losing her father. Although she had hated how controlling Marcus had been, only after truly losing it all did one realize just how precious what one once had really was.
"One step at a time," Yu Xian said with a smile.
Just then, Zhang Shou's phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, he instantly wore a thoroughly guilty look.
He glanced at Yu Xian, made a shushing gesture, and picked up.
"Hello? You're not at school, and you're not with Sister Qingniao. Where are you?"
"I got hungry, so I'm out grabbing a bite."
"Eating where?"
"Uh, outside Silver City No. 3 High School. I was missing the old turkey noodles."
"Silver City No. 3 High School? Is Salty Fish with you?"
"Holy crap! Come on, how could that be? Not at all."
"Why would you go all the way to No. 3 High to eat for no reason? I don't buy it. Put Salty Fish on the phone right now."
"He really isn't here, I swear!"
Sweat broke out on Zhang Shou's forehead. He urgently gestured for Yu Xian to run. Knowing Chen Ling, she was definitely rushing over here as fast as she could right now.
"Bye-bye!" Yu Xian said with a mischievous grin.
Then, in an instant, he soared into the sky, fading into the distance under Zhang Shou's despairing gaze.
Even as he flew high above, he could still hear Chen Ling interrogating Zhang Shou over why Yu Xian's voice could be heard, demanding that Zhang Shou make him stay—and warning that Zhang Shou was a dead man if he failed.
"Made up your mind?" Zhenwo Changjing asked, looking at Yu Xian.
Sitting inside a bubble, Yu Xian looked out at the distant sky and nodded with anticipation. "Yeah. It's time to leave. But... I will come back!"
Over the past year, he had traveled across Earth, enjoying its mountains and waters, making many new friends, and learning a great deal of knowledge he had never understood before, but his strength had not grown in the slightest.
His potential was completely exhausted. Even sunbathing only served to store up energy; only by acquiring new bloodlines could he continue growing stronger.
The extraordinary bloodlines on Earth were far too low-grade; most couldn't even boost his combat power by a single point.
Now, it was time to step onto a wider stage.
Chapter 204