Two days later.
Night, by the river dam.
Jiang Ning rode his mountain bike against the evening wind, which whipped his Adidas clothing and trousers, blowing away the heaviness in his heart.
The mountain bike was a gift from Jiang Junlong, who insisted he use it for convenience in getting to school. Jiang Ning did not refuse; he would simply compensate him with a few Medicinal Pills in the future.
The Adidas clothes and Nike shoes he wore were bought by his eldest uncle. His uncle had bought him two complete sets costing over two thousand yuan. His uncle treated him very well, often giving him pocket money in the past. Later, when his parents worried he would spend it recklessly and mentioned it to his uncle, his uncle switched to buying him clothes instead.
He had been having all his meals at his uncle's house over the past two days, and his relationship with his uncle's family was growing smoother and warmer.
In his previous life, living at his uncle's house, various conflicts arising from daily habits had gradually become irreconcilable day after day, turning good relatives into strangers in the end.
Looking at them from a different perspective now, he made different discoveries, and it was undoubtedly much more comforting.
Things from his past life were worth referencing, but after being reborn, under the butterfly effect, many people and events had already changed, and Jiang Ning would not view them entirely through an old lens.
This was a brand-new life.
Jiang Ning pressed the brakes, came to a stop beside the transformer box, and began to circulate his cultivation technique.
As his physical strength continued to increase and he grew more adept at absorbing electrical current, after two days of tempering, Jiang Ning's slender frame concealed a strength rivaling that of an adult man. Not just strength, but his physical constitution had improved in all aspects.
In modern society, some men who worked desk jobs year-round possessed decent strength, yet their bodies remained in a sub-health state, plagued by various ailments like sore lower backs and aching joints, always harboring some hidden injuries or flaws.
Jiang Ning's body, however, through the continuous tempering and strengthening of the electrical current, was in a state of absolute perfection everywhere. If he maintained this, even without breaking through realms, he would still enjoy longevity and live to a ripe old age.
Tomorrow, however, he would probably only be able to come over in the evening.
Today was August 30th, and tomorrow, August 31st, was the start of the school term for the freshman year at Yuzhou No. 4 High School.
Classes would be assigned, military training uniforms distributed, and the upcoming military training lasting over a week would begin.
Now that his body had adapted to the current, in another week he could make further attempts.
Meanwhile, his cultivation of the magical arts could not be neglected. After all, when he went to retrieve the golden urn in the future, he would have to rely on his magical power to take the urn away without anyone noticing.
Body refinement relied not only on cultivation techniques; nutritional supplementation had to keep pace, or the person would be ruined through over-training.
His appetite had grown considerably lately. He could sponge off his uncle's family for a short time, but in the long run, it wouldn't do.
Jiang Ning needed money to supplement his nutrition. Milk, pork ribs, and fruit—if he ate these in large quantities, his allowance certainly wouldn't be enough.
Jiang Ning pondered various details until the dead of night, then got up and headed back.
Xue Yuantong was quite capable of staying up late. She had enjoyed this summer vacation immensely, going to sleep after 12 o'clock every night. Hearing the sound of the door opening from next door, she thought with a strange feeling:
"Jiang Ning is running around outside all day, coming back at 11 o'clock every night. Could he be going to the internet cafe to surf the web?"
There were many internet cafes in Yuzhou City these days, and even minors could have internet cafe staff set up cards for them to go online. CrossFire and Dungeon & Fighter were at the height of their popularity, and League of Legends was beginning to rise. Even though the trend of smartphones was just starting to emerge, internet cafes were still in their heyday.
"Whatever!" Xue Yuantong blew at the electric fan and went back to playing her mobile game.
...
August 31st, the first day of school.
At 7:00 AM, Jiang Ning wheeled his mountain bike to the front door and lightly tapped his temples with his fingers.
Last night, he practiced the Divine Sense secret technique, training all the way until 3:00 AM before falling asleep out of sheer exhaustion.
The results of just a few hours of tempering were already beginning to show.
His eyesight had improved by a huge margin. In the distance, several electric wires connected to a utility pole, with a few sparrows standing on them, their beaks preening their brown feathers. At the crossroads of the veins on the leaves of the big Chinaberry tree in front of the house, a black bug was clinging to the surface. Everything reflected in his eyes with absolute clarity down to the finest detail.
In the third year of junior high, Jiang Ning's vision had worsened due to his obsession with smartphones, reaching about fifty degrees of myopia, but he had felt that the world wasn't as clear as before. Now, having tempered his Divine Sense, his five senses had improved immensely, and his vision had completely returned to normal, even surpassing it.
The grandpas from several neighboring households had just returned from their morning jogs, carrying teacups filled with toasted oatmeal tea, the characteristic spicy fragrance drifting out. A yellow dog trotted behind, panting with its tongue hanging out.
The entire world was within his perception, extraordinarily wondrous. This was the effect of enhanced Divine Sense.
If Jiang Ning cultivated the magical arts and broke through to the 4th Layer of Qi Refining, his Divine Sense would gain even greater benefits.
He mounted his mountain bike and rode forward along the Huishui River Dam. Although it was summer, the morning was crisp and cool.
Halfway through the ride, Jiang Ning saw a tiny figure ahead. Xue Yuantong next door was also starting school.
"Xue Yuantong, I'll give you a ride!"
Jiang Ning rested one toe on the ground and invited her.
Ordinary mountain bikes didn't have rear seats, but the mountain bike sent by his younger cousin Jiang Junlong not only came equipped with front and rear fenders, but also had an extra, very sturdy rear seat with a soft cushion. Carrying someone was completely unproblematic.
Xue Yuantong looked at Jiang Ning's mountain bike and felt a tiny, tiny bit tempted, but given her personality, she couldn't bring herself to ride on a boy's bike:
"No need, I'm used to walking."
Jiang Ning said, "Get on the bike quickly, you're going to be late."
He was going to dig up someone's house after a while, so he inevitably felt a bit guilty inside. Being able to make it up to her a little bit now would at least make him feel more at ease.
Seeing Jiang Ning's resolute attitude, Xue Yuantong almost agreed. It was three kilometers to No. 4 High School, and she would have to walk for over forty minutes. She would be so tired before even walking halfway.
However, the moment she thought about how she and Jiang Ning weren't close, and on top of that, he rented her family's house and paid rent, she felt too embarrassed to hitch a ride on his bike.
Xue Yuantong lowered her head and muttered in a muffled voice:
"You go on ahead first, I get motion sickness."
Jiang Ning almost laughed out loud. It was his first time hearing of someone getting motion sickness from a bicycle.
"Alright then, bye-bye."
Jiang Ning pedaled twice and stylishly sailed past Xue Yuantong.
Once Jiang Ning's figure disappeared, Xue Yuantong's head drooped. Her family actually had an electric scooter that she could ride to school.
But the very first time she rode it, she had charged right off the dam, hurtling all the way down the slope and nearly scaring her out of her wits. If she hadn't been blocked by a tree, she probably would have plunged headfirst into a muddy puddle. Even so, her arms and legs were scraped up, and it hurt for a long time.
From then on, she never dared to ride the electric scooter again, and every time, her mother would take her.
Back in junior high, her mother used to drop her off and pick her up from school. Now she was a high schooler, a mature adult, and when her mother offered to take her to school, she had casually and lightly brushed it off.
What a joke? Did she, Xue Yuantong, need other people to pick her up and drop her off?
Now, looking at the long road ahead of her, Xue Yuantong could only sigh with dejection and swallow the bitter fruit alone.
She had originally planned to take on a part-time job during the summer vacation, but she looked young for her age and hadn't fully developed yet, always being mistaken for a primary school student. Finding a suitable part-time job was very difficult.
Later, her mother told her to focus on studying with peace of mind, so Xue Yuantong simply spent the entire summer vacation playing at home. The happiness was real, and she had long since forgotten what going to school felt like.
Now that school had started, she instantly felt that hardship had descended, and her heart felt extreme resistance.
Why on earth was there such a thing as the start of a school term?
She wasn't boasting, but even if she studied at home by herself, she could easily take first place.