Yuzhou Fourth Middle School was established 59 years ago and ranks among the top three high schools in Yuzhou High School. Although it is not as good as the best, Second Middle School, it has its unique advantages.
In front of the Academic Affairs Office, several large wooden boards were set up, with the class assignments for first-year high school students posted on them.
A large group of students had gathered and were making a racket.
Jiang Ning had come to look two days earlier. There were twelve classes in total for the first year, with classes one, two, and three being experimental classes, also known as key classes. The perfect score for middle school exams was 925, with ordinary classes requiring 640 points and key classes requiring 700 points to enter.
He was in class eight, consistent with his previous life.
Since he knew his class, Jiang Ning didn't join the crowd; he headed straight for class eight.
If nothing unexpected occurred, his classmates would not be any different.
Class eight of the first year was located on the first floor in a conspicuous position. For some reason, key class one was next door. Jiang Ning knew that in a month, class eight would move to the second floor of the building next door.
Jiang Ning entered the class, which was already more than half full of students; he saw faces that were both familiar and strange at once, able to match less than a handful to names.
What they did in high school, how they performed, and how their futures unfolded—all but a few notable individuals had largely slipped from Jiang Ning's memory.
Inside the class was a noisy scene; acquainted students chatted together on various topics, with some bolder students sitting directly on top of the desks, and some quietly playing with their phones.
Shen Qing'e had already arrived. She sat in the third row, chatting with two girls.
Jiang Ning's entry into the class only attracted a moment's attention before things calmed down again.
He had an average appearance and had come from a rural town, naturally without anything to set him apart.
Shen Qing'e noticed him and initially wanted to greet him but thought better of it. Getting to know someone like Jiang Ning wouldn't bring any benefits for herself. He paled in comparison to her cousin, Jiang Junlong, who went to Second Middle School's experimental class, which had caused quite a stir among the new girls she was talking to.
The entry requirements for Second Middle School's ordinary classes were on par with Fourth Middle School's experimental classes, let alone Second Middle School's experimental classes. Those classes were undoubtedly a cradle for students headed for top universities with the 985 designation.
Jiang Ning chose a corner by the window and started playing with his phone, while letting his Five Senses spread out. The classroom noise, as if manipulated by an invisible hand, suddenly became layered and defined, like individual strings on an instrument which he could pick out and listen to deliberately.
Jiang Ning filtered out most of it, only leaving a couple of pleasant female voices and then immersed himself in his own world.
Body Cultivation was progressing step by step without needing his attention. His Divine Sense was being tempered by a secret technique. However, the most important Cultivation Method remained undecided for Jiang Ning, though he was already narrowing down the choices.
The present world had scarce Spiritual Energy, so the Cultivation Technique could not require a high amount of it. Jiang Ning had two techniques in hand to choose from. One of them was "Evergreen Longevity," which did not demand much Spiritual Energy and emphasized natural growth with the slow progress reliant on the accumulation of years. Even with Jiang Ning's Heavenly Spirit Root, choosing this technique meant only advancing his realm through the passage of time. Its advantage was stability.
The other technique, "Star Transformation Technique," was comprehensive. Noteworthy was its capacity not only to absorb Spiritual Energy but also to convert various energies efficiently, such as Star Power.
After weighing the pros and cons, Jiang Ning decided to cultivate the "Star Transformation Technique."
In his previous life, he had deduced this technique many times, always feeling it contained Tao Rules. Sadly, he never managed to unravel its Tao Rules.
Now he considered that if he could grasp a thread of the Tao Rules during the Nascent Soul Stage, he might be able to use the rules to avoid the Divinity Transformation thunder tribulation.
However, the Tao Rules were elusive; Jiang Ning had even had people comb through the history books of Luoyun Sect's founding for ten thousand years and had never heard of a Cultivator below Divinity Transformation controlling the Law in the Cultivation World. It was probably just legend.
'For me, the scarcity of Spiritual Energy in the world means Elixir Pills are indispensable. Although Spirit Grass is extremely rare in this world, consisting mostly of common herbs, reaching the Golden Core Stage with the ability of the "Star Transformation Technique" is not difficult.'
After all, before reaching the Nascent Soul Stage, there were no bottlenecks for someone with a Heavenly Spirit Root, with no need to strenuously seek various breakthrough Elixir Pills.
In his previous life, he led a mediocre and unremarkable existence without any particular skills, but upon entering the Cultivation World, he learned he was actually a Heavenly Spirit Root bearer, an ironic twist of fate.
Next to Yuzhou City laid the famous medicinal hub Qiao Zhou, home to the largest traditional medicine wholesale market in central China. Once he got the gold from Xue Yuantong's house, he intended to make a thorough purchase.
As Jiang Ning mulled things over, a familiar set of footsteps reached his ears. With his hearing, identifying someone by their footsteps was effortless.
He looked up to see Xue Yuantong entering the classroom, her little face flushed and a fine sheen of sweat on her forehead, looking quite exhausted.
'A three-kilometer walk in the scorching heat—this girl is tough,' thought Jiang Ning to himself.
Xue Yuantong was almost the last student to arrive in the class. Not long after, a man in his thirties with a round face holding a roll call list stepped over the classroom threshold. As he took his place at the lectern, the classroom gradually fell silent.
He wrote three large characters on the blackboard: Shan Qingrong.
The students quickly understood—this man was to be their class headteacher.
Shan Qingrong's gaze swept the room, his voice booming: "My name is Shan Qingrong, and from now on, I will be the headteacher of Class eight, first year. I will be responsible for all our class affairs for the coming time."
As his voice faded, the class went completely silent. During high school, the presence of the headteacher was quite formidable.
"Clap clap," Jiang Ning clapped in the corner. The other students in the class, finally catching on, joined in the applause, creating a resounding wave that filled the whole classroom.
Shan Qingrong noticed Jiang Ning and nodded to himself in approval, recognizing a sensible student.
He gestured downward with his hand, and the clapping stopped instantly.
"Let's start with roll call. Students, please raise your hand when you hear your name."
"Huang Zhongfei"
"Bai Yuxia"
"Dong Qingfeng"
"Xue Yuantong"
"Shen Qing'e"
"Ma Shicheng"
As each familiar name was called out, those distant memories gradually pieced themselves back together.
Huang Zhongfei's name sounded rather old-fashioned, but in person, he was tall and handsome—the most attractive boy in the first-year high school cohort. He would become the class president in the future and was very popular among his classmates, especially the girls.
Dong Qingfeng came from a well-off family and had good grades; he was good-looking too but looked down on those with poorer academic performance and students who came from smaller towns and counties.
Yes, the likes of Jiang Ning were the ones he looked down upon. Back then, Jiang Ning had had a conflict with him, leading to unpleasantness.
Starting over, Jiang Ning had long forgotten the details of those conflicts, probably trivial matters in hindsight.
Then there was Bai Yuxia; she was recognized by Class 8 as the most popular girl. Just within their class alone, seven or eight boys were surreptitiously in love with her.
Bai Yuxia surpassed Shen Qing'e in looks, consistently ranked in the top three of the class in academic performance, and also came from a decent family—her mother was the deputy chief physician at the city's People's Hospital, and her father was an associate professor at Yuzhou University of Finance and Economics. In a third or fourth-tier city like Yuzhou, theirs was undoubtedly an upper-middle-class family.
After Shan Qingrong finished calling the roll, he drew some straight lines on the blackboard with a ruler, marking them from 150 to 180.
"Come up and measure your height to get your military training uniform."
Huang Zhongfei was the first to step forward, easily passing the 180 line—likely around 182 centimeters. And since he was only in his first year of high school, around fifteen or sixteen years old, he still had the potential to grow taller. His allure of being both tall and handsome prompted whispers among many of the girls.
Next up, the heights were much more average, with most of the boys falling within a five-centimeter range around 170—after all, boys could continue to grow until the age of eighteen.
Jiang Ning stepped up to measure, 165 centimeters. He sighed inwardly; this height placed him below the middle range among the boys in his class. In the future, Jiang Ning would grow to 175 centimeters.
Though height wasn't all that important, especially once you'd entered society where money truly reigned, given the choice to be taller without any cost, most people would still welcome those extra few centimeters for their benefits.
Later, when Jiang Ning began cultivating, although he was able to change his physique, he never did.
Actually, Jiang Ning's parents had good genes. However, in his previous life during his crucial growth years in high school, he often skipped meals because he couldn't stand his aunt's behavior, which in turn stunted his growth.
On the girls' side, Xue Yuantong was displeased to be the shortest in the class. Some boys privately called her a primary school student, driving her nearly to the point of explosion from anger. She wished she could tear them apart limb from limb.
Jiang Ning silently observed, knowing that in the future, Xue Yuantong would grow to be over 160 centimeters tall and wouldn't be teased for her height anymore. But the year she started to grow taller would also be her last year of life.
"Jiang Ning, have you noticed that our class has quite a few good-looking girls?" Ma Shicheng's face, speckled with acne, lit up with excitement.
Before Jiang Ning could reply, a boy with a center-parted haircut beside him said:
"Yeah, my friends and I are all stunned."
Jiang Ning's mouth twitched slightly. What a vintage joke...
"The one with long hair is so pretty. Her eyes are beautiful, and her skin too, not a pimple in sight."
"Right, I think she's pretty too," another classmate joined the chat.
"You're still young; you guys don't understand," Ma Shicheng feigned profundity.
"Oh, you understand, do you?" the classmate challenged.
"You can really tell who's good-looking when they put on their military training uniform," Ma Shicheng said with conviction.
The group went from discussing the attractiveness of girls in their military uniforms to talking about soldiers, then veered off to retired veterans they knew, from national enmities to military power comparisons, and finally, they put themselves in the picture, passionately discussing strategies and politics.
And Jiang Ning, listening in, actually felt a bit of that youthful spirit.