Seeing this, the smile on He Junze’s face vanished instantly.
At that moment, the compass at his waist suddenly vibrated, its needle swinging wildly as if sensing an extremely dangerous aura rapidly approaching from the distance.
He Junze looked down at the compass, then looked up just behind Lin Yuan, his expression shifting slightly.
It was an instinctive sense of crisis that made him want to flee immediately.
“Haha, just kidding, all a joke!”
He Junze pressed his palms together, pleading for mercy repeatedly as he backed away, his eyes still fixed on the space behind Lin Yuan.
His expression didn’t look like he was joking at all; it was as if he had truly glimpsed something but chose to remain silent about it.
After backing away a considerable distance, He Junze quickly turned and ran toward the tree-lined path at the other end of the park.
After a few steps, he suddenly looked back and shouted:
“Thanks, brother! I’ll treat you to a meal another day! I have things to do, so I’m heading out first!”
As luck would have it, not long after he ran off...
Several young men carrying weapons rushed from behind Lin Yuan with aggressive momentum.
The leader wore a sophomore uniform and had a sturdy build. He held a metal short rod glowing with an earthy yellow light, and his strength was at Tier 2 Peak.
He stopped a student playing cards by the road and asked fiercely:
“Have you seen a guy in a white shirt? About this tall, with a particularly sleazy smile?”
The student’s hand trembled, dropping his cards. He hurriedly pointed in the direction He Junze had fled.
Seeing this, the group immediately gave chase, their rods dragging on the ground and kicking up harsh sparks as they cursed under their breaths.
“Daring to flirt with my girlfriend... once I catch him, I’m going to tear him limb from limb!”
Lin Yuan watched their departing figures, looked down at his own fist, and then looked back toward where He Junze had run.
A bloody disaster?
He recalled He Junze’s gaze from earlier—it hadn't been frivolous at all, but rather a look of genuine confusion at discovering something abnormal.
“Could it be... forget it.”
Lin Yuan didn’t dwell on it. There was no need to worry about that right now.
Jiang Ruyuan walked over, an iced Americano in her hand at some point. She bit her straw and looked at Lin Yuan.
“You know him?”
“I don’t. We just met,” Lin Yuan said as he turned to walk forward.
“He might not be right in the head. He was bothering a girl in the park in broad daylight just to see her ankles.”
Jiang Ruyuan nodded, a playful smile curling her lips.
She had thought He Junze was using a new pick-up line, but seeing Lin Yuan’s indifferent reaction, it clearly wasn’t the case.
She followed behind Lin Yuan and continued to lead him through the campus.
Over the next few hours, Jiang Ruyuan took Lin Yuan through the rest of the academy’s areas.
How to book cultivation rooms, where to exchange exam credits for items, the course schedules for various departments, which canteen windows served the best food...
Lin Yuan listened the whole way, committing everything to memory.
When they reached the first floor of the living area’s mall, Lin Yuan spoke up, offering to treat Jiang Ruyuan to a meal as a gesture of thanks.
Jiang Ruyuan chose a Sichuan restaurant and ordered a table full of spicy dishes.
She ate gracefully, but her chopsticks moved incredibly fast. A plate of poached spicy beef was emptied in no time.
Watching her eat, Lin Yuan silently estimated the price, though he didn't really mind.
He still had over several million in his account. Just the Tier 4 lightning combat technique Han Feng had given him was worth enough for many such meals.
Thinking of this, he realized he had forgotten to ask Han Feng if that combat technique manual had been delivered to the hotel in Hangzhou.
Whatever, he’d ask later.
By the time they left the Sichuan restaurant, the sky had already darkened.
Jiang Ruyuan stood at the mall entrance and mentioned she was heading to the cultivation rooms. Lin Yuan nodded politely. “Thank you, Senior.”
With that, he turned and walked toward the villa area.
Lin Yuan walked quickly with steady strides because he was eager to see what the villa looked like.
Jiang Ruyuan stood in place, watching his receding back. The empty coffee cup in her hand crinkled as she squeezed it.
Her face was calm, but a clear trace of disappointment was hidden in her eyes.
Along the way, she had deliberately tried to get close several times.
She had brushed her shoulder against his while pointing the way, leaned into him while crossing the street, and even feigned a stumble on the stairs to try and grab his arm.
But every single time, Lin Yuan had perfectly and wordlessly dodged her.
It wasn’t hatred or resistance; it was an instinctive detachment.
“So handsome, yet no interest in girls... he’s actually gay. How boring...”
She tossed the empty cup into a trash can, shoved her hands into her pockets, and turned toward the cultivation rooms.
...
On the other side, Lin Yuan reached the entrance of the villa area and found his dormitory number on the floating guidance screen.
Villa No. 7, a detached individual unit.
The villa area was nestled between an artificial lake and slopes of Glowgrass. Each unit was a two-story building with significant spacing between them, surrounded by greenery and winding paths.
Even the streetlights were high-brightness Glowgrass cultivated into spherical shapes, floating on metal poles and emitting a soft blue light.
At the entrance of Villa No. 7, the heavy wooden door slid open automatically after scanning Lin Yuan’s iris.
The sensor lights in the foyer flickered on, their warm yellow glow illuminating the entire first floor.
The first floor had an open-plan layout, featuring a living room, a kitchen, and a private cultivation room.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was a small courtyard with a broad-leaved tree, its trunk wrapped in Glowgrass.
The second floor contained the bedroom, a study, and a private bathroom. The bedding and curtains were a plain gray—clean and tidy, clearly never lived in before.
His suitcase and personal belongings had already been transported here from Donghai City and were neatly stacked in a corner of the bedroom.
Inside the wardrobe hung several sets of brand-new, dark gray academy uniforms, with the silver lightning emblem of the Thunder Academy embroidered on the left chest.
Lin Yuan took Purple Lightning out of his space ring and leaned it against the wall of the cultivation room.
...
The villa’s living room was exceptionally quiet.
Lin Yuan leaned back on the sofa and made a call to Grandma Wang.
He didn’t mention passing through Hangzhou, only saying he had arrived safely in Magic City, was staying in a detached villa, and that the canteen food was delicious—everything was fine.
On the other end of the line, Grandma Wang kept rambling about the pickled radishes in the fridge, waiting for him to come home and eat them during the holidays.
Lin Yuan simply smiled and agreed before hanging up, then sent a message to Jiang Ran to let him know he was safe.
He tapped on the chat box with Bai Li. The last message was from her the previous night: “I’m very worried about you.”
Lin Yuan typed a reply: “Arrived in Magic City. Don’t worry, get some rest.”
The moment the message was sent, a reply came back instantly: “Mm.”
Lin Yuan placed his phone on the coffee table and checked the time.
August 21st, 6:42 PM.
Across the artificial lake outside the window, Villa No. 8 was glowing with a faint light. That was Su Qingyue’s dormitory, separated from his Villa No. 7 by only a stretch of sloping land.
Then, Lin Yuan closed his eyes and released his perception to investigate.
He didn't sense any ice ability fluctuations, which meant Su Qingyue hadn't returned yet.
He slowly stood up and looked down at the space ring on his finger.
Talking to himself, he walked straight into the first-floor cultivation room.
“It’s time to absorb this Purple Thunder Profound Pulp Fruit.”
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