Chapter 85: An Ordinary Life of Cultivation (Thanks to the Alliance Leader

Evening.

Ning Qing carried the Mutton Soup she had packed back to the Dormitory.

She hadn't wanted to pack any herself, because she knew Zhang Suannai had already gone out to eat Mutton Soup today, and she didn't want to pack any because she found it troublesome and was too lazy to carry it. However, after Chen Shu heard that Zhang Suannai had invited her to have Mutton Soup and she had refused, he insisted that she pack some to take back for her roommate to taste.

In the end, Ning Qing listened to him.

Regarding these kinds of things, she would always listen to Chen Shu.

She opened the door and entered the room.

Walking past the hallway of Bedroom No. 3, the living room light was on. Zhang Suannai was lying listlessly on the sofa, one hand and one foot dangling down, resting on the floor. She stared at the ceiling with dull eyes, not knowing what she was thinking about.

Sensing movement, she instantly flipped up.

Still as a fool, moving like a rabbit.

Zhang Suannai stared at Ning Qing, her expression only then recovering: "You're back? Is the Mutton Soup good?"

Ning Qing looked at her indifferently, her voice very soft:

"It's good."

"I packed some of the one I had today for you, I'll go get it. You taste which one is better." As Zhang Suannai said this, she walked toward the dining room. When she passed by Ning Qing, she noticed that Ning Qing was also carrying something in her hand. She paused for a moment and asked curiously, "What are you carrying?"

"..."

Ning Qing gazed into Zhang Suannai's confused and pure eyes, which seemed to contain not a single impurity. Ning Qing's expression remained calm, yet a faint glimmer flickered in her eyes.

If she hadn't listened to Chen Shu, what would she be feeling right now?

Would she feel embarrassed?

Or should it be called shame or guilt?

"Why are you just standing there?"

Ning Qing only then withdrew her gaze, raised her hand, and lifted the item in her hand as well, saying indifferently: "I also brought you some of what I had today."

"Oh my!"

Zhang Suannai looked at her with great Surprise: "Did you get some kind of stimulation today?"

"..."

Ning Qing was expressionless.

Zhang Suannai continued to be puzzled and scratched her head: "Or is it that you've finally been moved by my enthusiasm? This won't do! After nearly a semester, you've already become the ice-cold goddess in my heart. If you turn into a goofball one day, I won't treat you as a goddess anymore, oh..."

Ning Qing just asked expressionlessly:

"Are you eating?"

"Hey! That's the flavor!" Zhang Suannai laughed all of a sudden, "That's right! It has to be like this!"

"Forget it if you're not eating."

"Eating! Why wouldn't I eat!"

Zhang Suannai hurriedly took the Mutton Soup from her hand and ran to the kitchen. Immediately, Ning Qing heard the sound of the stove being ignited—the kitchen had cooking utensils, almost all left behind by the two seniors who graduated last semester, and Zhang Suannai would occasionally cook instant noodles to eat.

A few minutes later, the two sat before the dining table.

In front of Zhang Suannai sat the Mutton Soup Ning Qing had packed, and in front of Ning Qing sat the one Zhang Suannai had packed. One could see a clear difference just from the visual appearance—

It is true that everyone has their own tastes, but some things truly have standards.

The Mutton Soup Zhang Suannai packed was not rich at all. The soup was indeed white, but it could only be called pale white, far from reaching the level of milky white. If a Mutton Soup of this grade were opened in a city that loved Mutton Soup, it definitely wouldn't be able to stay in business.

Looking at the bowl in front of Zhang Suannai, the soup base was milky white and thick, with small segments of lamb intestine floating in it, the slices of lamb inside were very substantial, and a few pea tips had been blanched in it.

"Did you dilute it with water?"

Ning Qing raised her head to look at Zhang Suannai.

"..."

How could this person slander someone's innocence out of thin air.

Zhang Suannai's face flushed a bit red, but she still stubbornly insisted: "Just because the soup isn't that white doesn't mean it's not good! Maybe yours was cooked with milk!"

Ning Qing said no more and lowered her head to take a small sip.

She silently raised her head, looked at Zhang Suannai, said nothing, and only gestured for her to taste the one in front of her.

"..."

Zhang Suannai also said nothing and lowered her head for a mouthful.

Damn, the difference is really huge!

For some reason, her face felt a bit hot.

Zhang Suannai was a person who cared very much about her reputation. Being compared and defeated so easily, the boasting she had done earlier kept echoing in her mind, which was a bit stinging.

"It's good, it's good!"

Zhang Suannai lowered her head and took another sip to cover up her embarrassment: "Is your fellow villager sister's cooking that good?"

"..."

"By the way—"

Zhang Suannai suddenly remembered the important matter and said to Ning Qing: "I heard that many perverts have recently appeared in the University City, specifically loving to stalk pretty female students. You're so pretty, won't you be targeted? Have you noticed anyone stalking you these past two days?"

"No."

"You definitely just didn't notice! You're so pretty, and you go to every single class, and even go to audit other classes, you'll definitely be targeted!"

"So?"

"..." Zhang Suannai fell silent for a moment, "Why is it that every time you ask like that, I feel like you know what I'm going to say?"

"..."

"Alright, alright..." Zhang Suannai suppressed her talkative nature, "So you must be vigilant in the coming days and protect yourself well. After all, no one can say for sure what those perverts might do to you! If you notice someone stalking you, you must tell me immediately, and I'll go help you solve it!"

"Oh."

"Also, it's best to eat with me usually. You know I'm a Sword Cultivator of the Sword Sect; my Spiritual Sense is very sharp. If someone has ill intentions, I can sense their prying gaze in an instant!"

"Oh."

Ning Qing still finished the Mutton Soup that Zhang Suannai had brought back.

Zhang Suannai, needless to say, drank hers clean, ate the meat clean, and didn't even let the last bits of meat residue go.

When Chen Shu returned to the Dormitory, only Jiang Lai was inside.

This guy had gone to fight in the Arena again; his face had quite a few new injuries, but he was still enduring the pain to watch a Net Class in the living room.

Chen Shu walked over: "Win or lose?"

"Won."

Jiang Lai said to Chen Shu excitedly: "Chen, your Rune is so awesome! Those opponents who used to be evenly matched with me can't beat me at all now. As of today, I've already won six matches in a row. By the way, someone asked me about the Rune today, and I recommended you."

"Are you making more money than before?"

"A bit more!"

"Didn't I tell you? You have to invest more in yourself!"

"It's still your Rune that's good, Chen. If it were ordinary Runes from outside, a set wouldn't enhance me much at all."

"Did you have Mutton Soup?"

"Huh?"

"I asked, did you have Mutton Soup?"

"No, no time..."

Jiang Lai felt a bit uneasy facing this question.

"On the table."

Chen Shu pointed casually behind him.

"Thanks, Chen!"

Jiang Lai immediately got up and headed to the dining room.

Chen Shu took out his Mobile Phone.

Nameless Person: Had Mutton Soup tonight, it was delicious. This is the first time in my life I've had Mutton Soup on the Winter Solstice, and also the first time I've ever eaten Mutton Soup!

Nameless Person: It was especially delicious with fried dough sticks soaked in it!

Nameless Person: Thank you, Qingcai! And thank your boyfriend too, please pass the message on for me!

Qingcai Keke: You're welcome.

Qingcai Keke: He says you're welcome too.

Haoran: /eating melon seeds

Qingcai Keke: The group owner has fallen in love with this emoji lately.

Haoran: This emoji better reflects my current mood.

Nameless Person: What mood?

Haoran: /eating melon seeds

Grandma Always Says: Qingcai, don't let me catch you. If I catch you, I'll definitely give you a beating.

Qingcai Keke: So scary, sob sob sob.

Chen Shu turned off his Mobile Phone.

Subconsciously, he wanted to shout to the dining room to remind Jiang Lai to wash the bowl later, but then he shook his head. Jiang Lai was self-aware enough; he himself was becoming more and more long-winded. So, he walked back to his room silently to continue solidifying "Absolute Spiritual Perception."

He had learned quite a few Spells; most of the Controlled Spells had never been used once, but some small, functional, daily-life Spells were used often.

However, the sense of security brought by Controlled Spells was always present, continuously growing, and irreplaceable.

Sharpening the Sword and tilling the land, neither neglected, is the way to happiness.

Daily Cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the month.

At this time of year, it had become the norm for it to snow in Yujing.

It would be the twelfth lunar month soon.

Generally, universities in Yujing would start their final exams in the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, and once the tests were over, they would go on break until the start of the new semester after the Lunar New Year. From the first half of the twelfth lunar month until the start of the semester in the second half of the first lunar month, there was a winter break of over a month, with varying lengths.

Chen Shu had reached the late stage of the Third Tier.

Recently, Brother Meng, who prided himself on being a literary genius and a pure stream of the current age, was rote memorizing every day; as a member of the Imperial Family, he was more afraid of failing than ordinary students.

The pressure on the children of the Imperial Family in this era was truly great.

Jiang Lai was also under a lot of pressure.

It seemed like he was just a martial brute, and a frequent winner in the Arena, as if he could pass exams easily, but that was not the case.

Martial Artists at Yujing Academy also had to take theory courses.

In this day and age, the training direction for Martial Artist majors at all universities could not possibly be things like wandering knights, assassins, or Arena champions; at the very least, the ostensible training direction was mostly related to educational talent. Therefore, besides practicing martial arts, they also had to study theoretical subjects like pedagogy, educational psychology, introduction to Martial Artists, human science, Martial Artist anatomy, and Martial Artist pharmacology. Places like Yujing University also required studying subjects related to Beast Bloodline.

These things gave Jiang Lai a huge headache.

He was just a crude martial brute; even getting into this school was through a special recruitment based on his fists.

He even had to check the dictionary every time for some characters in Martial Artist pharmacology, and he still couldn't remember them to this day. He heard that when he studied "Martial Artist and Exotic Beast Bloodlines" later, many of the characters for exotic beasts would have a huge number of strokes, one being worth two, and just thinking about it made him feel miserable.

The only one who was relaxed was Chen Shu.

Looking at the courses for Spell Principles, the few classes he was taking were a piece of cake for him.

The only thing that was a bit troublesome was the Elementary Cultivation Course.

This course does not have a theoretical exam; at the end of the term, there is a direct practical test to assess the comprehensive level of your Spirit Sea, and if you fail, you must retake the course.

Because of the qualitative change at the Intermediate Stage, Chen Shu is unable to test at the Fourth Stage level while at the Third-tier Peak, as he could at the Second Tier. When the time comes, if Teacher Fu takes one look and sees him suddenly transform from a trashy Third Tier into a top-tier Third Tier, it would be very easy to guess the reason.

But there is no use in fretting over this problem.

Chen Shu is very clear on the principles of the Spirit Power testing machine, and of course, he is even clearer that he has no way to cheat.

Consequently, for the past few days, Chen Shu has loved hanging around Meng Chunqiu and Jiang Lai, listening to music, scrolling through short videos, eating snacks, playing games and cursing at his teammates, ostentatiously going out to date girlfriends he isn't in a relationship with, and so on and so forth.

When he is in a good mood, he cooks them a meal.

When the mood strikes him, he acts sarcastically: "Oh my, you two are so hardworking, your lives are so fulfilling; unlike me, I'm just so bored~"

Occasionally, he pays attention to Qingqing and her roommates.

An ordinary life of cultivation.