State: Updated to: Chapter 1332, Claiming Territory
Synopsis:
During his summer vacation, Ning Chen accidentally strayed into an ancient teleportation array that activated once every two millennia, and was unexpectedly transported to the Cultivation World. Returning after attaining the Nascent Soul Stage, he thought Earth would have undergone drastic changes, but discovered only a single summer vacation had passed... Thus, among the new batch of freshmen at Qingzhou University, an old Nascent Soul monster made his appearance. "You know nothing of the power of a Nascent Soul cultivator."
Chapter 1: Return from the Cultivation World
In the outskirts of Qingzhou, an unnamed, desolate mountain.
"Boom!"
A sudden, earth-shattering roar broke the deep silence of the mountains.
From a cave covered in cobwebs, a figure shot out, slamming into the rock face faster than a bullet and shaking the earth with violent tremors.
"Cough, cough, cough, cough... Finally, I am back."
This was a young man dressed in ancient attire, with sword-like brows, starry eyes, and long, flowing hair.
His name was Ning Chen, and he had just returned from the Cultivation World.
To be honest, it was quite absurd. Two thousand years ago, during the summer vacation after graduating from his third year of high school, he—an avid wilderness explorer—came to this desolate mountain and accidentally crossed over into the Cultivation World through an ancient teleportation array.
Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Purple Palace, Golden Core, Nascent Soul...
With mediocre aptitude, it took him two thousand years to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage, hiding away until he became an ancestral master of his sect.
The teleportation array only opened for a split second every two thousand years. Today, he had intended to return to Earth to take a look, but unexpectedly, he was ambushed by a group of mysterious individuals!
"My Niwan Palace is shattered, my primordial spirit heavily damaged, my dantian ruptured... I am actually injured this badly?"
"This is bad. The teleportation array has also been destroyed. It is impossible to heal these injuries without returning to the Little Southern Heaven Realm. The Spiritual Qi on Earth is so barren."
Fresh, crimson blood trickled from the corners of Ning Chen's mouth, and his face was frighteningly pale.
With a shake of his shoulders, the rock face exploded. He landed in front of the cave and picked up a dusty, earthy-yellow mountaineering backpack.
"Huh? The backpack I left here back then—why does it still look so new?"
Ning Chen patted the dust off the top.
Suddenly, a mobile phone buzzed inside the backpack.
His expression shifted slightly.
Two thousand years had passed; even a Nokia couldn't stay on standby for that long!
He hurriedly pulled out a phone with only 1 percent battery remaining.
The contact displayed on the screen: Mom!
"Mom..."
Ning Chen's nose stung.
Having struggled and survived in the Cultivation World for two thousand years, the two words "parents" had long become distant memories.
He glanced at the date: August 29, 2025.
He was stunned.
Two thousand years in the Cultivation World, and only a single summer vacation had passed on Earth?
If not for the fact that his mountain-moving and ocean-filling cultivation was still intact, he would have suspected this was all a dream.
"Hello, Mom..."
He pressed the answer button.
"You brat! Are you trying to get yourself killed? You haven't answered your phone for a month, do you want to worry your old mom to death?! Tell me, where have you run off to play wild this time?!"
"Mom, being able to hear your voice again... it's really nice."
"Xiaochen, what are you saying? Don't scare Mom, where are you right now? Are you safe?"
"Very safe."
Ning Chen smiled.
To him, Earth was no different from a novice village. Barehanded demolition of tanks and slaying fighter jets with a single sword were mere child's play.
Yet, unless necessary, he would never do such things.
The rupture of his Niwan Palace meant he could no longer absorb Spiritual Qi from heaven and earth to cultivate.
Simply put, he was now like a broken power bank—he could only discharge power, not recharge.
Unless he found some heavenly treasures to repair himself.
"Xiaochen, school is starting soon. Remember to go to Qingzhou and look for Aunt Qiao. Mom still has some things to attend to, I'll hang up now."
His mother, Chen Lan, gave a few hurried instructions and hung up the phone.
Ning Chen's face was bitter.
Asking a Nascent Soul old monster like him to go to university—wasn't this pure comedy?
"Aunt Qiao is Mom's best friend. She is also originally from Dongyang County, and later married a wealthy businessman in Qingzhou."
"I heard I got accepted into Qingzhou University, so Aunt Qiao took the initiative to call and invite me to stay at her house, and Mom readily agreed. It feels a bit like she's trying to play matchmaker between me and Aunt Qiao's daughter..."
Thinking about this, Ning Chen's thoughts stirred, and he flew up into mid-air.
Feeling the spiritual power slowly draining from within his body, he let out a bitter sigh and had no choice but to drop back to the ground and walk out of the mountain.
...
At noon.
He arrived at the address designated by his mother—a café near the Qingzhou Railway Station.
Two young ladies had been waiting for a long time.
"Why isn't he here yet? I've already finished my coffee. Shuyan, why don't you just make a call to urge him?"
A cute girl wearing a Hello Kitty short-sleeve shirt rested her chin on the coffee table, her small mouth puckered high. "My stomach is flattened with hunger."
"His phone won't go through at all. I'll give him five more minutes, and if he doesn't show up, I'm leaving!"
"I really can't figure it out. With so many people in the company, why did Mommy have to make me come pick up this Ning Chen? I was supposed to go to the cat café this afternoon."
A cold, elegant, and tall girl crossed her arms and complained.
She was about seventeen or eighteen years old, with a slender and delicate figure, quite tall at a full 170 cm. A head of slightly wavy, champagne-colored hair cascaded down to her waist, and her pretty, unpainted face carried a cold expression.
"Because he's the son of your mother's best friend, duh."
The cute girl rested her head on her hands and chuckled, "By the way, Shuyan, do you think Aunt Qiao is trying to set you up with this Ning Chen?"
"Xiaotang, what kind of nonsense are you spouting!"
Xu Shuyan retorted unhappily, "He got into university from a small county town; how could Mommy possibly look down on him? Isn't this pushing her own daughter into a fire pit?"
The cute girl smiled mischievously again, "What if he turns out to be a major hunk?"
Xu Shuyan's delicate brows relaxed, and her face flushed slightly. "Then... then we might consider it, maybe date a little. Marriage would be a bit difficult though."
The cute girl stuck out her tongue. "Hussy!"
"Are you Aunt Qiao's daughter, Xu Shuyan?"
At that moment, a gentle male voice came from behind the cute girl.
"Ah!"
Startled like a rabbit, the cute girl bounced up from her chair. "Who are you? Why are you suddenly popping out?"
"You're Ning Chen?"
Xu Shuyan pointed at the young man standing in front of her, covered in scratches and mud stains, and carrying an outrageously tacky mountaineering backpack. Her pretty face gradually grew stiff.
What happened to the promised hunk?
Was she really going to have dinner with this bumpkin?
Wuwu, no way. If anyone she knew saw this, how embarrassing would it be?
"That's right, she is Xu Shuyan!"
At the critical moment, Xu Shuyan used the cute girl as a scapegoat, leaned over, and whispered in her ear, "Please, Xiaotang, save my life! I'll buy you a tube of lipstick later."
The cute girl, whose name was Jiang Tang, whispered, "Three tubes, Givenchy!"
Xu Shuyan patted her shoulder. "Deal!"
Ning Chen: "..."
Did these two little girls take him for a fool?
"Hello, classmate Ning Chen. Thank you for coming all the way from Dongyang County; you must have had a hard journey."
Jiang Tang greeted Ning Chen with a bright smile. "Let's go eat first, we can chat while we eat."
"That works too."
Ning Chen rubbed his belly.
He wasn't really hungry, but his shattered Niwan Palace had caused a tiny wisp of spiritual power to leak away.
Though negligible, if this continued, his spiritual power would keep weakening.
"To think that I, a mighty Nascent Soul cultivator, would one day have to rely on mortal food to maintain my cultivation from dropping."
A bitter smile played at the corner of Ning Chen's mouth as he followed the two girls out of the café.
To his surprise, Aunt Qiao's daughter actually drove a car.
And it was a pricey Porsche Panamera, no less.
Keep in mind that Xu Shuyan was the same age as him and had just started her freshman year of university. For her family to buy her such a luxury car showed how deep their financial pockets were.
"How's that? This car's not bad, is it?"
Xu Shuyan took out her keys to unlock the car and glanced at Ning Chen out of the corner of her eye.
To her surprise, this small-town youth didn't have stars in his eyes at all.
Ning Chen nodded. "Mm, not bad. Just too slow."
Hearing this, Xu Shuyan was instantly displeased. "Slow? Hmph, pray tell, classmate Ning, what kind of car do you drive?"
Ning Chen said casually, "I don't have a car. I usually ride the clouds and the mist, and occasionally fly on a sword."
"Ride the clouds and mist? Fly on a sword? Pfft..."
Jiang Tang burst out laughing. "Classmate, you've read too many xianxia novels, haven't you? So cute."
Total idiot!
Does he actually think he's being funny?
Xu Shuyan rolled her eyes and added, "If you think my car is slow, you can take a taxi yourself and let's race to see who's faster."
Ning Chen looked indifferent. "Sure."
Xu Shuyan never expected Ning Chen to take up the challenge. Surprised, she asked, "Are you sure? We're going to eat at West City Yintai City, about six or seven kilometers away from here. Do you dare to race? Whoever loses pays for the meal."
"If you want to race, let's race."
Ning Chen spoke with an absent-minded casualness, like an adult dealing with an impatient child.
"But let's make it clear beforehand, I have a huge appetite."
Chapter 2: I Told You Already, I Have a Huge Appetite
Xu Shuyan thoroughly detested Ning Chen's indifferent and dismissive tone.
Hearing him agree, her face bloomed into a smile. "Great! Then I'll see you at Gate 1 of Yintai City!"
With that, she stepped on the gas pedal and drove off.
She was a local of Qingzhou, knew the roads like the back of her hand, and had a head start.
Looking down on a female driver? This meal—he was definitely paying for it!
"Shuyan, you just left him behind like that?"
In the passenger seat, Jiang Tang asked worriedly, "It's his first time in Qingzhou and he doesn't know the way. Aren't you afraid Aunt Qiao will beat you up if she finds out?"
"What's there to be afraid of? Such a big guy, it's not like he'll get lost."
Xu Shuyan snorted coldly.
Though she said that, she thought to herself: *Idiot, trying to be a tough guy. Wouldn't it have been better to just admit defeat and get in the car?*
Not long after the two girls left, Ning Chen also turned into a blur of motion and vanished.
His speed was so fast that even surveillance cameras failed to capture him.
For a Nascent Soul cultivator to shuttle through a city, there was no need to mobilize spiritual power; foot power alone was more than enough.
In less than two minutes, Ning Chen appeared at West City Yintai City—and a full minute and a half of that time had been spent asking for directions.
He didn't want to cover the entire city with his spiritual sense.
Any operation that consumed spiritual power had nothing to do with him; don't ask him to do it.
Five minutes later, outside Gate 1 of Yintai City, two girls ran over—Xu Shuyan and Jiang Tang.
"Yay, we won!"
The two girls high-fived with a laugh.
Little did they know that by this time, Ning Chen was already ordering food at a restaurant on the fifth floor.
"This, this, skip this one—bring ten of everything else!"
"Forget it, make it two portions instead."
Another ten minutes passed.
"Damn guy, making me wait again!"
Xu Shuyan stamped her feet in anger. "I've never waited for anyone this long in my life!"
Jiang Tang suddenly thought of a problem. "Oh no, Shuyan, you don't think he got lost, do you? At this hour, every restaurant has lines, plus it's the meal you paid for."
"That's right! I paid for it, why shouldn't I eat?"
Xu Shuyan suddenly froze, turned around, and began walking back.
Unexpectedly, a young man walked up from the opposite direction, his face revealing pleasant surprise. "Shuyan, what a coincidence! You're at the mall too? We really are destined!"
"Chen Zhihao?"
Seeing this young man wearing designer brands and sporting dyed yellow hair, Xu Shuyan felt a trace of imperceptible disgust deep in her eyes. "Why are you here?"
Chen Zhihao had been her classmate in their third year of high school, an unadulterated school bully who frequently threw his family's power and influence around to pick on classmates at school.
He was also one of her many pursuers.
"Just here to hang out, of course."
Chen Zhihao hid the burning desire in his eyes and forced out a gentlemanly smile. "Shuyan, you haven't eaten lunch yet, right?"
"There's a newly opened French restaurant, two Michelin stars. I've already booked a table, do me the honor."
"Xiaotang, you should come too."
Chen Zhihao's smiling gaze then landed on Jiang Tang.
Her petite, cute face paired with an explosive figure that completely defied her adorable appearance caused a trace of intense heat to flare up in the depths of his eyes.
Xu Shuyan and Jiang Tang were the most famous pair of beauties at Qingda Affiliated High School.
Xu Shuyan was a renowned natural beauty, pretty since childhood with an impeccable appearance, matched by supermodel-like long legs that secured her throne as the school belle, becoming the object of countless boys' nocturnal consolations.
Jiang Tang walked the cute route, though she suffered from the curse of being overly well-endowed, usually only daring to wear the loosest clothes.
Chen Zhihao's ultimate dream in life was to conquer this pair of best friends.
"So disgusting!"
Xu Shuyan caught the strange look in his eyes and grabbed Jiang Tang, wanting to leave.
Jiang Tang, however, came up with a wicked little idea.
"Shuyan, why don't we let Chen Zhihao come with us? With his personality, he'll definitely butt heads and fight like dogs with Ning Chen. Then we can just sit on the sidelines and watch the show—wouldn't that be hilarious?"
Xu Shuyan's eyes lit up slightly. "That's right! Why didn't I think of that? You're so smart, Xiaotang."
So, she turned back and gave Chen Zhihao a stiff smile.
"Zhihao, why don't I invite you to dinner instead?"
Chapter 3: Don't Disturb Me While I'm Eating
"Zhihao?"
Chen Zhihao thought he was hallucinating.
The goddess called him Zhihao and wanted to treat him to dinner?
Holy crap, he had a chance!
"Sure, Shuyan, where are we eating?"
Chen Zhihao suppressed the excitement in his heart and asked.
"Follow me."
Xu Shuyan gave him a pretty smile, then turned around and rolled her eyes.
Chen Zhihao obediently followed behind, desperately trying to strike up conversations with all sorts of awkward topics while secretly setting his phone to silent.
That way, whichever girl he had originally brought out on a date wouldn't be able to find him once she came out of the restroom.
Arriving at the restaurant where Ning Chen had ordered his food, the two little beauties led Chen Zhihao inside, only to find Ning Chen tucking into a hearty meal with gusto.