Tall, towering school buildings, students of different grades clutching textbooks, bustling between various classrooms.
This school has an open teaching model, where a student's choice of classes, apart from a few mandatory foundational courses, is up to their discretion. If you feel energetic enough, you can even enroll in more than a dozen different courses.
Apart from compulsory courses in literature, mathematics, and basic foreign languages, Tang Qi also chose ancient history, appreciation of ancient art, global geography, basic biology, and a unique course called "Mystical Legends".
Throughout the day, Tang Qi, very honestly, carried his books and moved among these classrooms with the crowd.
He neither made friends nor performed any outrageous deeds, perfectly playing the role of an exceedingly honest and attentive Asian student, using this stereotype to truly blend in with the student body.
Of course, while mingling, Tang Qi continuously tested the derivative skill he had just acquired.
An unexpected surprise!
The Molten Furnace Eye!
After experimenting for most of the day, Tang Qi faintly understood the function of this skill.
As the special interface indicated, when he injected the spiritual power derived from his meditation into his eyes, his pupils would briefly turn a pale gold, producing a shocking effect that ordinary people could hardly withstand.
As for the so-called "Calming Spirit," Tang Qi was still exploring.
Although this could barely be considered a support combat skill, for Tang Qi at this moment, it was already a delightful surprise.
You know, hanging over his head was always the Sword of Damocles, especially when thinking of what was written in Old Morgan's diary about his mother, Samra, who had eerie nicknames like "Ukuru Guardian" and "Black Snake Witch".
Just snippets of information already terrified Tang Qi.
An old Black woman, yet possessed the evil power to kill hundreds.
Most crucially, Tang Qi had killed her son.
Tang Qi wasn't blindly optimistic. He did not expect this family to never come knocking.
The external force Tang Qi could rely on now was merely the ambiguous shelter of Saint Thorn High School; beyond that, there was none.
As for Mr. Ronald, after helping Tang Qi deal with the inheritance and giving two minor assists, his kindness was deemed exhausted.
In the end, Tang Qi had to rely on himself.
"Meditation Method, Molten Furnace Eye."
"Oh, and some Saha Continent combat techniques learned from the diary."
"These are obviously not enough, hope there could be some more time."
In the corridor, following a group of students, Tang Qi contemplated his own powers; no matter how he calculated, he knew he could confront a few ordinary people, but he was far from ready to face a Black Witchcraft family.
Tang Qi was very anxious inside, but maintained an absolute calm on the surface.
There were already some plans forming, just in need of time to implement.
Suppressing the sense of crisis in his heart, he followed a few sporadic male and female students into the classroom for today's last class.
The content of this class was "Mystical Legends".
A very niche course which mainly discussed mysterious legends from various parts of Blue Star, covering both domestic and foreign, ancient and modern.
Although Tang Qi was skeptical why a school that seemed like a noble institution would offer such a strange course,
for him, who was eager to enter the Transcendent Domain, just a glance at the course description was enough for him to enroll spontaneously.
Just as he walked into the classroom, Tang Qi's eyes flickered when he saw an unexpected person.
It was the female main character who had bumped into Tang Qi before, inadvertently involving him in a school bullying incident, her messy blond curly hair was very noticeable, the unlucky Sally.
There weren't many students in the classroom, just a few scattered here and there, and Tang Qi's entrance, however ordinary, still made some noise.
The girl named Sally looked up slightly, paused obviously when she saw Tang Qi, probably recalling something, and her face turned red with a "whoosh".
"She's really a very timid girl."
Tang Qi sighed inwardly, maintaining politeness on his face, giving the girl named Sally a kind smile.
Perhaps it had been a long time since she had been treated this way, and Sally was somewhat flustered by Tang Qi's smile, her face, hidden behind black-framed glasses, flushed deep red, her head almost burying into her chest.
Fortunately, at this moment, an unkempt old man who seemed to be the teacher walked in.
No pleasantries, no roll call; the old man just glanced at the few sparse students and began his lecture on his own.
"Today marks the beginning of the school year, so I will introduce a completely new topic, recording the archives of all the demons and ghosts slain by several Holy Warriors of the Divine Eagle Federation—[Monster Records], the complete book of which can be borrowed from the Messer Library."
"Now, let me recite Chapter One to you, about the great Holy Axe Justice Lincoln who slew a demon in the Ze Xi Swamp, its shape resembling a gigantic bat, with the head of a dog, the face of a horse..."
After hearing just a few sentences, Tang Qi began to understand why such an odd class existed.
If he wasn't mistaken, this likely stemmed from a historical legacy issue.
Saint Thorn High School was originally a Church school, naturally promulgating the greatness of God and faith, and so some brainwashing education was essential.
The so-called Monster Records were secondary; more important was the glory belonging to God's warriors, who under the guidance of the power of faith, vanquished the monsters.
As modern civilization advanced, it was entirely normal for such courses to be dismissed and perhaps soon abolished.
Tang Qi's original self was religious, but unfortunately, the present Tang Qi was not a believer.
Even though the old man spoke flamboyantly, Tang Qi's focus was on the descriptions of those monsters.
After listening for a while, a peculiar feeling emerged in his mind.
Real!
Yes, it was a sense of reality.
In the year 1841 of the Divine Eagle Old Calendar, in Jersey, Mrs. Liz gave birth to her thirteenth child. She felt utterly dissatisfied with her recurrent pregnancies and exclaimed loudly, "I am tired of children, let the Devil take this one away!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the baby immediately transformed into a winged monster, swiftly devoured Mrs. Liz's other children, and then flew away through the chimney.
This legend sounds absurd to ordinary people, but for some reason, it struck Tang Qi with an intensely eerie sense of reality.
Shaking his head, he suppressed the strange feelings.
Tang Qi continued to listen as the old man moved on to the story of the second monster, the Deep Mountain Snow Monster; this time the main character was the Holy Spear Warrior, Morgan.
…
Time passed quickly, and the bell signaled the end of the class, while Tang Qi still appeared eager to hear more.
The old man had just reached a crucial part, but showed no intention of dragging out the lecture, quickly rolled up his books and left the classroom like a gust of wind, and the already few students in the classroom lazily stood up and left.
Tang Qi also stood up, brainstorming Messer Library as one of his next destinations.
After the last class, Tang Qi, carrying his books, exited amidst the bustling crowd of male and female students just like when he arrived.
Although it was the first day, overall, it met Tang Qi's expectations.
Except for the unpleasant beginning, Tang Qi had almost perfectly integrated into Saint Thorn High School, achieving the effect he desired—who would care about an exceedingly ordinary male student?
However, just as this sense of satisfaction arose, it was immediately destroyed.
Because as soon as Tang Qi stepped out of the academic building, he felt a wave of malice and looked up to see, beyond a few obstacles on a nearby lawn, a group of tall, brawny youths, all Caucasians, led by the Ancient Sword Team captain whom Tang Qi had previously shocked.
After a day at school, Tang Qi had also found out who the prominent figures from the morning were.
It was as he expected; the girl named Angela, the cheerleader captain of Saint Thorn High School, whose father was one of the city councilors and mother a lawyer, a prominent family, explosive figure, pretty face, and sharp personality.
And the Caucasian youth Ryan Clooney, whose father was a tycoon, mother a director of Messer City Hospital and school, and he himself was the high school basketball team captain, ancient fencing team captain, and boxing club president, considered the perfect boyfriend by all female students.
For an ordinary student, facing such prominent figures, bootlicking would be too late, definitely not wanting to offend.
Yet, Tang Qi had managed to offend both.
What was likely to unfold now was probably a typical post-school, group brawl scene.
If Tang Qi really were a hormone-driven teenager, he might be interested in participating, but unfortunately, he was not.
Tang Qi was somewhat troubled; he was not worried about being brutally beaten by a few high school students, despite his original body's average physical condition, but the combat techniques he learned from Old Morgan's diary seemed quite practical.
However, those techniques were rather fierce.
Just as Tang Qi hesitated, a somewhat familiar figure suddenly walked past him from the side, messy blonde hair sweeping across Tang Qi's nose, accompanied by a pleasant yet faint voice that said, "Follow me."
After speaking, she walked through the corridor on the side of the academic building towards a secluded corner.
Tang Qi paused for a moment, then smiled lightly, and without hesitation, followed her.