Chapter 2: Gathering

Soon they arrived at Hai Shang Ming Yue Cheng.

"Jiang Xuan?"

"It really is you, damn!"

Just as Jiang Xuan entered the reserved room inside Ming Yue Cheng, a voice rang out.

"Zhou Yi, long time no see!"

Jiang Xuan recognized the other party, Zhou Yi, one of the initiators of this gathering. For this classmate, Jiang Xuan had a deep impression; in his memory, Zhou Yi's luck in the original plot was simply heaven-defying. Zhou Yi and another female classmate, Lin Jia, accidentally stepped into a formation and were teleported to the old firewood gatherer of the Ancient Heavenly Court. Later, when Ye Fan went to join the old man at the Heavenly Court ruins, these two had already reached Quasi-Emperor strength.

"Jiang Xuan, back in school you were the school hunk. After three years, how have you become even more handsome? How are we ordinary men supposed to live!"

Zhou Yi spoke, his gaze carefully comparing the Jiang Xuan before him with the one in his memory.

In his memory, although Jiang Xuan was handsome and voted school hunk by the busybodies of the school, his temperament absolutely did not possess the otherworldly refinement he had now, like a true cultivator walking the mundane world?

A true cultivator?

Exactly, that's the feeling!

With Zhou Yi's greeting, the classmates turned their gazes to Jiang Xuan, their eyes revealing amazement.

"Jiang Xuan, long time no see, where are you working these days?"

The one speaking was Liu Yunzhi.

Liu Yunzhi was also one of the initiators of the gathering. He had some background in this city, and relying on this background, he opened a company, said to be of considerable scale, the one developing best among the classmates. Having money but not showing off, like wearing fine clothes at night, so he was very active in initiating this gathering.

As for Jiang Xuan, Liu Yunzhi held him in awe, because he had once seen Jiang Xuan single-handedly lift an outside thug by the neck, and coupled with Jiang Xuan's own outstanding temperament, Liu Yunzhi suspected Jiang Xuan was a disciple of a legendary martial arts family.

"Same as before, traveling, reading, fitness, not doing anything in particular."

Seeing Liu Yunzhi ask, Jiang Xuan smiled slightly and said.

He actually wasn't short of money, so basically most of his time was spent on cultivation and researching the Hongmeng Treasure Mirror in his mind. After achieving minor success in martial arts, he had traveled back to the Tianlong World several times, first to learn some martial techniques, and second to use the information difference between the two worlds to resell things for money.

"Envious of Jiang Xuan, not like us, endless work, daily life is just work, eat, sleep, not knowing when it will end."

"Who says it isn't?"

The classmates once again chatted, each speaking in turn.

Feeling slightly bored, another person walked into the room. Sturdy build, yet slender, handsome features.

"Ye Fan!"

At this moment, a young man discovered him and smiled as he went up to welcome him.

"Fine, you Ye Fan, as the landlord of this city, you only arrive now, punish yourself with three cups."

The one speaking was Wang Ziwen, with a scholarly appearance, development also not bad, said to have bought a villa in the neighboring city, assets quite considerable.

The number of people at the gathering gradually increased. Not seen for a long time, yet they did not seem unfamiliar, chatting in twos and threes.

It had been three years since graduation, basically all twenty-five or twenty-six years old, many classmates had already become fathers and mothers.

Different people, due to fate and circumstance, had different life trajectories. Generally speaking, everyone was an ordinary person. The fantasies and ambitions of youth were gradually worn away by life. Perhaps in sleep they would recall previous oaths and grand aspirations, but after waking, they still had to work hard step by step for tomorrow's life.

People must return to reality. The vast majority clearly recognize they are just ordinary people. Living step by step, steadily and safely, is actually already very good.

"Jiang Xuan, Wang Ziwen."

Ye Fan also looked at the two. Wang Ziwen hadn't changed much; his brows had matured a lot, and the whole person had become more confident and flamboyant. Ye Fan was very familiar with this kind of change; money could give one confidence.

Turning his head to look at Jiang Xuan, he felt this old classmate had become even more surprising.

He himself had been a prominent figure in school. After leaving school, previous things were no longer important. Entering society valued personal development and career achievements more. Therefore, even if he liked exploring ancient civilizations, he ultimately had to eat and live, always dragged down by making money, unable to fully devote himself to exploration, ultimately carrying many mundane vibes.

But as for this old classmate Jiang Xuan, Ye Fan didn't know how to describe him.

When studying, this classmate seemed to view many things with indifference. He never fought for or snatched the various limited welfare policies provided by the school, and when facing confessions from many girls, he always politely declined.

Ye Fan asked himself he couldn't do that.

And now, looking at this old classmate again, three years passed, his face was instead younger and more handsome. In temperament, if one had to describe it, it was like floating as if independent from the world, feathering and ascending to immortality. Ye Fan felt using this timeless famous phrase to describe him was very fitting.

"Ye Fan, long time no see."

Jiang Xuan smiled slightly. As for this future Ye Tian Emperor, he always maintained a calm mind, not deliberately making friends, but because they had many commonalities, their relationship was therefore not bad.

The gathering was in full swing, divided into small groups. Some were excitedly discussing the past, some were pouring out their hearts. Jiang Xuan, Ye Fan, Wang Ziwen, Zhou Yi naturally sat at one table, Liu Yunzhi, Wang Yan, Lin Jia and others sat at another table.

After a round of speeches, the atmosphere became more casual. Some active classmates frequently moved around to toast each person, and there was also a group of classmates surrounding one person to toast, such as Liu Yunzhi.

Three years, said long not long, said short not short. But it was these three years that the life trajectories of classmates from the same class underwent earth-shaking changes. Some were proud and pleased, some were secretly grieving.

Some hated their boss for being extremely strict, working overtime day and night, but the salary was pitifully small. After deducting their most basic living expenses, there was almost nothing left each month.

Some male classmates boasted that their girlfriends were the daughters of company bosses. Then came a round of everyone's flattery, greatly satisfying their vanity.

"Jiang Xuan, I've always known you like reading ancient books. What book are you reading recently?" Ye Fan asked.

"Just reading casually. Recently reading the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic." Jiang Xuan answered casually.

"I'm reading this book too." Ye Fan immediately became interested.

"I'm really curious what kind of era the ancient era was. At the beginning of the book, the Yellow Emperor asks Qibo: I heard that people in ancient times could live over a hundred years old, and their movements did not show aging. Now people, at the age of fifty, their movements are already weak and powerless. Is this caused by the difference in eras, or because people today don't know how to cultivate health?"

Qibo answered: People in ancient times, those who understood the way of cultivating health, could take the principle of the natural changes of yin and yang of heaven and earth as a model and adapt to it. They regulated the methods of cultivating health to make them reach the correct standard. Diet had moderation, daily routines had certain rules. They neither engaged in futile labor nor avoided excessive sexual activity, so they could be full of spirit and form, coordinated and unified, living to their natural lifespan of over a hundred years before leaving the world. People today are not like this. They treat wine as water and broth, drink without restraint, make an abnormal life a habit, have sex while drunk. Because of indulging desires, their yin essence is exhausted. Because of satisfying hobbies, their true qi is dissipated. They do not know how to carefully keep their essence and qi full, are not good at governing their spirit, and only seek momentary pleasure of the mind, going against the joy of life. Their daily routines have no rules at all, so by the age of fifty they grow old.

Jiang Xuan said, "There is some truth to that. Qibo answered that those who understand health cultivation, comprehend the natural way of heaven and earth and adapt to it, can cultivate the same lifespan as the people of ancient times. Actually, if one could truly do these things, the cultivated lifespan would not just be over a hundred years."

"It seems you know more than I do. Could it be that there really is some method of cultivation?" Ye Fan was amazed.

"Perhaps. The world is so vast, nothing is strange. Five thousand years of civilization, compared to the eternal universe, is like a grain of millet in the vast sea. Is it not normal that there are things we don't know?" Jiang Xuan spoke.

The next activity was singing. Many couples, because of graduation, had to part. Meeting again, they had nothing to say, only tears in a thousand rows. Some couples, although they continued to maintain that pure and beautiful campus relationship after graduation, after entering society, for various reasons, could not continue.

Each had their own bitterness, each had their own joy.

When the gathering ended, it was already very late. When they dispersed, there was no occurrence of Liu Yunzhi being slapped in the face by Ye Fan's Mercedes. Everyone left in twos and threes, agreeing to climb Mount Tai the next day.

(Chapter End)