At nine o'clock in the evening, Jiang Ning arrived at the river dam where pedestrians were as plentiful as ever.
Tomorrow evening, he planned to go to school for evening self-study, but he suddenly remembered in the afternoon that there was still something he hadn't done.
Jiang Ning descended from the river dam and walked to the woods below, where the terrain was low-lying with no street lights. The tree leaves overhead blocked out the light, creating a very gloomy atmosphere.
Moreover, there were many mosquitoes, so even couples who couldn't afford a hotel wouldn't choose such a place.
Powerful cultivators weren't afraid of insects. Jiang Ning's body occasionally emitted extremely fine sparks of electricity that numbed the swarming mosquitoes on contact.
He released his Divine Sense to ensure there were no couples hidden around.
Then, Jiang Ning performed several hand techniques in succession, casting Spiritual Power, and a mysterious, crimson arrow materialized and floated in the air, glowing faintly in the dark night and pointing straight towards the city center.
Jiang Ning reached out and grabbed the arrow, which clung to his palm like a piece of paper.
This was "Spiritual Consciousness Tracking," a profound technique from the Mysterious Techniques, which allowed one to track a person's location by using Spiritual Power if a Spiritual Sense Imprint was planted in their body.
The more Spiritual Power contained in the Spiritual Seed, the longer it lasted. If planted by someone with deep cultivation, it could last thousands of years.
Jiang Ning's magical prowess was modest, only allowing the imprint to last three days and within a limited distance; otherwise, he would lose the ability to sense it.
But it was enough for him, as he planned to deal with his classmate, Song Sheng.
Since he had hit Song Sheng, Jiang Ning noticed that Song Sheng's gaze towards him was off, filled with hatred as though he wished to kill Jiang Ning. Despite Song Sheng's good cover up, Jiang Ning, with his extremely keen senses, had long noticed it.
Song Sheng was like a venomous snake, never knowing when he might leap out and bite.
Maybe he couldn't harm Jiang Ning directly, but Jiang Ning had family and friends.
Normally, after disciplining Song Sheng, he might not dare to seek revenge, but Song Sheng was purely evil and couldn't be judged by ordinary standards. If Jiang Ning let his guard down, it might just allow Song Sheng to succeed one day.
Jiang Ning would not underestimate anyone, because in modern society, many times logic does not prevail; sometimes a rumor or a slander could lead to social death or even drive someone to suicide.
In a previous life in high school, Song Sheng bullied classmates, trampled on others' self-esteem, and forced people to transfer schools in despair, flaunting his authority due to his academic performance. Later in society, he even assaulted a colleague, causing serious injuries that required hospitalization; he had been utterly lawless.
To avoid those events, Jiang Ning decided that for this period, it would be better for Song Sheng not to attend school.
It was also for the sake of those who might be harmed by him in the future, doing something right.
Of course, the main reason was because he had messed with Jiang Ning himself.
And Jiang Ning always liked to eradicate potential threats early.
Initially, he didn't deal with him because it hadn't been long since he last hit him in the classroom. If he had taken bold action immediately, it might have caused suspicions about lasting damage from that fight and brought trouble upon himself.
Jiang Ning had been waiting, waiting for him to break through the First Layer of Qi Cultivation, waiting until he had fully mastered the "Concealing Qi Technique," capable of sustaining the spell for a long time.
Before the vacation, he had a premonition that he was about to make a breakthrough, which is why he had planted the Spiritual Sense Imprint in advance.
Now, ten days had passed since he last hit Song Sheng.
He decided to take action and eliminate this trouble.
Jiang Ning broke off a piece of tree branch, about as thick as a baseball bat and forty centimeters long.
He weighed it twice, and still it felt handy.
Then, he deployed the "Concealing Qi Technique", and in the next second, he disappeared into the woods.
Only the Spiritual Sense arrow in his palm reminded him of the target's direction.
Jiang Ning headed quickly towards the city center as indicated by the arrow; he was so fast that it took him only five minutes to reach the vicinity of the Spiritual Sense Imprint.
A fitness center whose neon lights flickered caught his eye; its entrance was large and looked quite upscale. Numerous vehicles were parked in front, including some that were worth between four and five hundred thousand.
Jiang Ning did not go inside, nor did he dispel the Concealing Qi Technique. He stood silently at the entrance, waiting while practicing the "Star Transformation Technique" to absorb Spiritual Energy.
At that moment, several figures walked out from inside. Jiang Ning, having practiced the Divine Sense Technique, had a strong memory. Although he couldn't remember everything at a glance, he could recognize a person with reasonable accuracy once he had seen them.
Among this group, he immediately recognized two faces—both students from Fourth Middle School; one was Zhuang Jianhui, who had performed a slam dunk on the basketball court that day, and the other, a chubby figure, was Lin Zida, who was energetically hawking that day.
Zhuang Jianhui walked in the center, clearly the focal point. However, what attracted Jiang Ning's attention was another girl by Zhuang Jianhui's side.
She was about 1.68 meters tall, wearing a white dress that highlighted her graceful figure, walking quietly with dark eyes and an almost perfect face shape.
Even Jiang Ning, with his discerning eye, could find no faults; compared with the fairies from the Cultivation World, she lacked a bit of their mystical aura, but the heroic spirit that radiated from between her brows gave her a distinct style.
In terms of appearance, she was slightly better than Xue Yuantong in the future.
Jiang Ning knew who she was—Ding Shuyan, from An City, who would transfer to Class One of the experimental class at Fourth Middle School in the future. Rumor had it that she had a profound background and her family had significant influence.
In the future, Jiang Ning heard from old classmates that Ding Shuyan was admitted to the best university in the country and was then recommended for study abroad, after which there was no further news of her.
Lin Zida came out of the fitness center disdainfully saying, "They say this gym is good, high-end but modest luxury with substance. I specially came here, but the actual environment astounded me."
"Not to mention these trainers—what third-rate stuff! Only good for selling memberships? Not professional at all, far worse than the gyms in An City!"
Zhuang Jianhui smiled, revealing a refined and handsome grin, "Of course, it can't compare with An City. If you use An City's standards to measure Yuzhou, there's really no contest."
They had been leading a superior life in An City, and their presence in Yuzhou City, a smaller city, was just a whimsical choice made one day.
They didn't belong here, merely passersby who would stay for three years.
"You think so too, right, Shuyan?" He looked towards the girl next to him.
Ding Shuyan slightly frowned, her eyes deep. She faintly sensed that a gaze was fixed on her from the shadows, yet she couldn't spot the person.
"Yeah, let's go back." Her voice was like the rhythm of a spring. Ding Shuyan didn't like being watched and subconsciously wanted to go back early to avoid that gaze.
What kind of person was Jiang Ning? He knew when Ding Shuyan looked over that the girl might have sensed something.
After engaging with the Cultivation Path, he understood the infinite mysteries of the human body, such as Ding Shuyan's sixth sense at this moment, which was a profound and mysterious existence.
Once in the Cultivation World, he had met a cultivator who could foresee dangers, always able to avoid risks and gain benefits ahead of time.
However, that cultivator was ultimately slain by him.
'Even if Ding Shuyan has keen sixth sense, she is still just a mortal. How could she detect him?'
It was destined to be futile.
Thinking this, Jiang Ning couldn't help feeling indifferent. Being the only immortal, isn't that a kind of loneliness too?