Xue Qiang grabbed her chair and slid it closer to Feng Fan before opening her lunchbox. The moment she did, a mouthwatering aroma spread through the air, instantly invading Feng Fan's nostrils.
He couldn't help but glance at her food, then at his own, the comparison almost depressing.
'Damn it,' he thought, 'whoever marries Xue Qiang is going to be the luckiest person alive. This girl can cook!'
Xue Qiang noticed his gaze shifting between her food and his own and immediately understood the reason. A soft chuckle escaped her lips.
"Fanfan, if you'd like, I can share some of mine. Or better yet, I wouldn't mind cooking for you starting tomorrow," she offered with a warm smile.
Feng Fan froze at her words, his heart skipping a beat. 'Damn it, what did I do to deserve such an incredible friend?!' he thought, feeling both touched and overwhelmed by her kindness.
Before Feng Fan could respond, a voice abruptly interrupted their conversation. "Feng Fan, how dare you use Xue Qiang as your maid? Have some shame!"
The voice's owner was a muscular high schooler, his broad shoulders and defined arms clearly showing the results of his intense training. His short, blond hair framed his sharp features, and his piercing blue eyes glinted with arrogance.
His tight, fitted clothes highlighted his athletic build, and his stance was one of challenge, as though he were always ready for a fight.
Feng Fan blinked in confusion, completely baffled. 'What did Gong Long have to do with it? Xue Qiang had offered to share her food of her own accord.'
But he already knew the answer. Feng Fan understood the situation all too well, as did everyone else in the class.
Gong Long had been infatuated with Xue Qiang for as long as anyone could remember. It was said to be love at first sight, and he hadn't exactly kept it a secret.
Since the very first day he laid eyes on her, Gong Long had declared that he would make Xue Qiang his girlfriend. No one questioned his confidence—after all, he was the most handsome, the strongest, and the smartest guy in the school.
Everyone believed that only someone like him could be with someone like Xue Qiang. A match made in heaven, they said.
The problem? Xue Qiang didn't share his feelings. She was always polite and kind to him, as she was to everyone, but when he confessed, she rejected him—flat-out.
A critical hit to the golden boy's ego!
Since then, Gong Long had persistently tried to win Xue Qiang's heart, and he especially focused on Feng Fan, who seemed to be the closest person to her in class.
Xue Qiang, usually so gentle, narrowed her eyes, her voice turning icy. "Gong Long, what does it have to do with you? Stay out of this."
Gong Long opened his mouth to respond. "Qinqin, I—"
"Don't call me that!" Xue Qiang snapped, her voice sharp. "I never gave you permission to."
The class, once absorbed in their studies, now shifted their attention, eagerly watching the unfolding drama.
This wasn't the first time such a scene had played out, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. But it was always fascinating to witness how quickly Xue Qiang's temper flared when something involved Feng Fan.
Feng Fan watched in silence, a smug satisfaction rising within him as the beauty defended him.
Forget about saving the beauty in distress, he preferred being saved by the beauty instead!
Unfortunately for Feng Fan and the curious onlookers, just as the tension reached its peak, Miss Yi entered the classroom, cutting the drama short.
"Class, is everyone here? The principal asked me to—"
Before she could finish her sentence, a brilliant, shimmering formation erupted around the entire class. In an instant, everyone, along with everything they were touching, vanished without a trace.
—
Red Pole planet, Black Turtle Continent.
A circle of both young and old stood in solemn unity inside a big hall. Their bodies radiated with spiritual energy, converging into a shimmering formation that pulsed with light as they channeled their qi into its core.
Clad in identical black robes adorned with the emblem of a white crow on their chests, they stood as one.
"Sect Master, the spell is nearly complete. The transmigrators will arrive shortly," an elderly man with a thick mustache spoke, his voice gravelly and filled with urgency.
The sect master, a man with a weathered expression, but a strong demeanor, gave a nod of approval. "Good job, Elder Jia. Our White Crow Sect needs fresh blood. If we don't win the upcoming young generation competition, we'll have no choice but to give our qi stone mines."
His gaze darkened as his tone grew stern. "And if that happens... our sect will wither. I won't let it end during my time as the sect master."
"I just hope we can get at least one with genius-level talent this time..." muttered Elder Jia, though his tone betrayed his lack of confidence. Genius-level talent was a rarity in their small sect, something akin to finding a phoenix feather or a qilin horn.
Even top-grade talent was rarely seen. Such great talents, from top grade or higher, would be reserved for the top sects within the Qian Empire, not their small White Crow Sect.
Moments later, Feng Fan, Xue Qiang, Gong Long, Yi Qiuyue, and the entire class found themselves standing atop the formation.
The air around them buzzed with an almost tangible energy. But as soon as they arrived, half of the powerful individuals who had channeled their qi into the formation collapsed, their bodies shaking from the overwhelming drain of qi.
Their unconsciousness was a clear sign of their qi depletion, the consequences of pushing their qi reserves to their limits.
Elder Jia's eyes sparkled with a glimmer of hope as he observed the newcomers. Despite their obvious confusion, he stepped forward, intending to calm them and explain the situation.
Before he could utter a word, a loud voice shattered the silence.
"HAHAHA! I'M FINALLY IN ANOTHER WORLD! PREPARE YOURSELF, DEMON KING! I, THE HERO CAO ZHU, SHALL VANQUISH YOU!"
The outburst echoed across the hall, leaving Elder Jia and the others blinking in silence, stunned. The class stared at Cao Zhu, some wide-eyed, others visibly cringing at his dramatic proclamation.
Even Feng Fan facepalmed, muttering, "What an idiot."
Cao Zhu, the self-proclaimed otaku and the class nerd, had clearly watched too many Isekai animes. Even so, one would expect him to assess the situation before bursting into a dramatic monologue.
Meanwhile, Feng Fan surveyed his surroundings, his sharp eyes catching the strange details of the scene. A thought began to take root in his mind. 'Why does this feel like I've stepped into a Xianxia novel?'
As a Xianxia web novel author, Feng Fan was more familiar with the tropes and intricacies of such situations than most people could ever hope to be.
Shimmering white formations appearing out of nowhere and whisking people away wasn't exactly a new phenomenon.
Over the past few years, countless reports of such mysterious disappearances have surfaced worldwide. Between half a thousand to a thousand people vanished annually under these inexplicable circumstances.
Speculations about the cause ranged from alien abductions to divine intervention, but with no one ever returning, the truth remained an unsolved mystery.
Now, standing at the center of this unfamiliar hall, surrounded by strangers in black robes adorned with white crow emblems, the reality began to set in.
Feng Fan thought grimly. 'We've been summoned to another world.'