High School

It was almost morning time when Ye Qing left the gaming cabinet. He made quick work of the immersive capsule by resupplying the nutrients, cleaning the interiors, and allowing the machine to rest on standby mode.

After going through the little details that accompanied the end of every gaming session, he went into the bathing chambers for a quick, cold shower. Very refreshing was the cold shower, and Ye Qing felt better than ever.

Although he was yet to become an official internal energy cultivator, according to Madam Ye, the process should only take a couple more days of intensive meditation during times of the day when the pure energy of the world is at its densest. Thinking about it, Ye Qing wondered if he should try the internal energy cultivation methods from the real world in the Realm of Titans.

Although he couldn't remember the full 'cultivation sutra', or so Madam Ye called it, Ye Qing knew he could somewhat remember the first few volumes and the title of this sutra, in addition to some superficial knowledge that seemed to be itched in his memories.

The sutra is called the Book of Changes, with Nine Yin volumes and Nine Yang volumes, and apparently, the Nine Yin volumes focus on internal energy cultivation. He can recite the first chapter of the first volume completely, but the remaining eight chapters are very vague, with each more fragmented than its predecessor.

It would require a lot of meditation for Ye Qing to figure out the remaining eight chapters of the first volume, let alone the entire Book of Changes. Of course, this time is something he doesn't really have since Madam Ye kept warning Ye Qing to not enter meditation cultivation without a responsible guardian watching over him.

Madam Ye is always busy with her Auction House during the evening while Ye Qing would very soon start attending high school, just like any ordinary seventeen-year-old teenager. With a schedule so packed, he wouldn't find the time to peacefully cultivate, leading him to the possibility of practicing meditation cultivation in-game. With the time dilation ratio of 3:1 between the in-game world and real life, and the provided safe zones for players, he wouldn't need to worry about some guardian or some unwanted disturbances.

"Let's do this then. Since I already plan to study talismans in the Floating Academy project, I can multitask studying and meditation cultivation in-game, while I focus more on school and the Kaiser Troupe in real life…" Ye Qing murmured to himself, even as he stood face to face with a tall vertical mirror in the depths of the wardrobe, examining a silver mask equipped with tinted lenses for the eyes.

Ye Qing reached over for the mask with one hand and reached even further for a pommel canister on another shelf. If he would have to let loose his hair during school hours to hide his facial features, then during business hours, he'd have to do just the opposite.

Ye Qing spent a considerable amount of time in the wardrobe testing out various outfits that wouldn't only help conceal his true identity, but also provide some sense of mystery.

"Breakfast is ready!" Maid Ya's shout echoed from the hallway, together with the muffled noise of her soft knuckles striking the door to Ye Qing's bedroom. This little maid had learned her lesson and no longer dared to barge in from behind closed doors, especially when the person behind the door was Ye Qing.

"Got it!" Ye Qing shouted back from the wardrobe, hastily putting together a casual outfit with his hairstyle in a disorderly mess. It was like a dark curtain, with heavy bangs covering the upper half of his face. Despite that, his sharp jawline provided a clear outline of his handsome features, though the messy hair provided somewhat of an offset by drawing the attention of the onlookers. Ye Qing arrived downstairs in blue jeans, a white shirt, and a black windbreaker jacket.

As he entered the dining hall, a table full of warm dishes with a fragrance so dense it could tranquilize the taut nerves greeted him. Taking an instinctive, deep whiff, Ye Qing began to uncontrollably salivate, hastily rolling that water down his throat with consecutive gulps.

"This is… breakfast?" Asked Ye Qing, not finding the words to aptly describe how exaggerated of a meal this was. Plates of eggs, bacon, french toast, seafood, rice, natural orange and apple juice, salad, and was that curry? Wasn't this a little too much?

"That's barely enough," Madam Ye's voice drifted over as she walked in through the side hall's door, dressed in a tight formal skirt that reached below her thighs, attracting one's gaze to a pair of pitch-black leggings. She wore a short-cut jacket and a dark gray blouse, not to mention an expensive-looking necklace that hung around her neck. Black hair and ivory eyes.

She looked the table over. "Your appetite will keep increasing the more you practice cultivation, and it would double many folds when you start practicing dharma techniques that harness the energy inside your body. They're exhausting, both mentally and physically."

"Also… why do you look like this?" After she sat down, Madam Ye gave Ye Qing a curious look, head tilted to the side just a bit. Ye Qing felt a bit awkward, not knowing how to respond cohesively since he wasn't very apt at expressing himself to adults.

Ye Qing fumbled for an explanation and said, "I'm not used to being… good-looking? I guess…"

Madam Ye closed her eyes to recall the first time she saw Ye Qing; emaciated, short, and gave the vibe of someone very weak. Then, she compared the former Ye Qing to the current one, and she immediately realized the difference. Indeed, this is a judgmental society where first impressions are forever lasting.

Madam Ye could never think of Ye Qing as some handsome young master because of that first encounter, and the same would go for anyone else. However, cultivators tend to look dashing and above average when compared to normal people, and thus, external appearances weren't too much of a blockage in Madam Ye's social life.

But Ye Qing is different; he would have to interact with high schoolers for extended hours starting from Monday, but he lacks the social experience of being in the spotlight or the center of everyone's attention. His personality was shaped through the experience of being overlooked as a background character, not some handsome young master.

"I understand," Madam Ye nodded her head. "You can't hide in the shadows of your former self for too long, though. This will affect your concentration in the future, and you won't be able to cultivate efficiently. I don't care how you do it, but you need to gain some self-confidence; that's essential as the next Kaiser."

"Yeah," Ye Qing lowered his head slightly and sat at the table. He wasn't worried too much about the self-confidence department, but he simply didn't want to get involved with high schoolers while knowing that his life is no longer considered normal.

His interests simply won't align with people of his age group, unless they're also some rich young masters playing Clash of Titans Online, but what are the odds to have so many rich kids in a public high school? Pretty low.

All this time, Maid Ya simply stood to the side without saying a word. However, her eyes seemed to notice something off with Ye Qing's current demeanor, as though he had experienced something earth-shattering. Madam Ye wasn't someone to bother with the trifles so she wouldn't pick up on these little things, but Maid Ya knew best how flustered or nervous a seventeen-year-old should be when confronted with the prospects of dealing with underground syndicates.

Maid Ya had no idea that in Ye Qing's subconscious mind, handling some underground gangs doesn't come even close to the predicament of his involvement with the Gods in the Realm of Titans— especially after he witnessed their decisive cruelty and extreme measures of crowd control. That scene of bodies exploding and organs flying around, young and old, men and women.

After experiencing something like that, Ye Qing realized how trifling a matter or how playfully childish were the tactics of the so-called syndicates. No matter how they blockade customer traffic in the real world, they can't blockade the internet, right?

What would they do then? Hunt him down in the game?

No matter how lawless these people are, they wouldn't reach the point of committing mass genocide in an open auction house… right?

Other than that one conversation, the dining hall was quiet throughout the breakfast.

Madam Ye would occasionally check her phone, Maid Ya would refill water, and juice, or pack up the empty dishes, while Ye Qing simply ate in silence. Around 40 minutes later, this dull breakfast finally ended as Madam Ye and Ye Qing left the villa in a black Maserati.

Sunday, January 7th, 2020.

Ye Qing's first entry to public high school in Haikou City.