An Chen didn't know why Ye Xinning lied, but he felt he had no reason to ask too many questions.
Since Ye Xinning intended to hide it from him, there was no need to get to the bottom of it; he wouldn't get any answers anyway.
It was just that this timing was rather sensitive.
An Chen found it hard not to connect this small matter with the Transmigration event.
However, there was no way to verify it, so An Chen could only silently put a question mark in his heart.
The morning was again for catching up on sleep, but An Chen woke up an hour early, attempting to Cultivate in the current low-concentration Spiritual Qi environment.
He had wanted to try last night, but there were always customers, and he hadn't finished his work on the computer, so he gave up.
The Spiritual Qi concentration on Earth was currently very thin; the efficiency of absorption might not even be one-tenth of that in Kyushu, though the compression and purification of spiritual power could still be done, but after that, he would have to take Qi Replenishing Pills to replenish his spiritual power.
An Chen had intended to use a Gathering Spirit Array, but the thought that this world was not entirely without Cultivator, and that there were beings like Yuan Lihuan, made him abandon the idea.
A Gathering Spirit Array would cause intense disturbances in Spiritual Qi, which Cultivator of a higher Realm, especially those who had reached the Soul Transformation Stage, could easily detect.
After an hour, An Chen's Cultivation speed was less than one-tenth of what it was in Kyushu; opening his eyes, An Chen couldn't help but sigh.
It was almost mealtime, and the students in the back rows no longer paid attention to the teacher's lecture; they even started doing warm-up exercises for running to the cafeteria, and An Chen also simply stretched his body in his seat.
He glanced over and noticed Ye Xinning was spacing out.
Ye Xinning also noticed An Chen looking at her.
Their eyes met, and both felt a hint of awkwardness, so they both looked away.
"You... why aren't you doing practice problems anymore?"
To break the awkwardness, An Chen spoke first.
"I don't know, I just feel a bit... meaningless, and pointless."
How could it be meaningless?
An Chen muttered to himself.
Only by improving one's grades in this way could one get into a good university and carve out a path for survival by oneself.
He hadn't interacted much with Ye Xinning, but An Chen believed he understood her.
Because they were both in the same boat.
"You might have misunderstood; no matter what you're thinking, it's definitely not what you imagine."
Ye Xinning looked at An Chen's somewhat strange expression and quickly explained.
"It's just that I feel like, no matter how hard I study and how good my grades get, it's pointless. Perhaps there's more than just this one path for us to survive."
For people like them, who had to rely on themselves early on, their goals and expectations were quite simple.
To survive was enough.
"But this path has been verified by countless people, and it's also the one with the most opportunities for us."
Ye Xinning clenched her fists tightly, and her lips were pressed together; An Chen was truly worried she might hurt her hands.
"I... might have found a faster Dao. Although this hasn't been tested by anyone, and the opportunity might not be as great as imagined, there might even be significant risks, but I can see success within reach."
After a pause, she added:
"I'm tired, I'm really tired. I don't want to wake up every day to endless test papers, I don't want to eat boiled instant noodles every day. I want to rest, I want to live an easier life as soon as possible, or rather... a normal life."
An Chen was stunned.
To be honest, he wanted that too.
But prolonged suffering seemed to have numbed him.
He had gradually grown accustomed to this laborious life, even if his daily sleep relied on napping at his desk, even if he only ate the kind of noodles that made him want to vomit every day.
This was also why, after An Chen became a Transcendent, he worked so hard to seize this opportunity to turn his life around in one fell swoop.
Sometimes An Chen himself would think about whether he should just give up and lie flat, live for a few days, as the days after Xiangzi the Camel's degradation weren't considered bad.
No wonder Ye Xinning had such thoughts.
And he also knew that, compared to Ye Xinning, he was lucky; after all, not everyone had his talent.
She still needed to study hard to keep hope alive for her future.
But Anping didn't need to study; he already had the ability to enter the highest academy.
"Wait."
An Chen re-chewed Ye Xinning's words.
"You... you didn't run into someone, did you? Although people like us are miserable, I don't recommend you take risks. This is a society governed by law..."
Ye Xinning's words roughly meant she wanted to make quick money.
There were only two ways to make quick money.
One was to work hard, and the other was to break the law.
An Chen didn't think Ye Xinning wanted to work hard, so it could only be the latter.
"No, no, no, you misunderstood! I'm not going to do anything illegal!"
"Then you weren't scammed, were you? Pyramid schemes are..."
"No! It has nothing to do with pyramid schemes..."
Ye Xinning suddenly became anxious, almost unable to keep her voice down.
She took two deep breaths, buried her head even lower, her cheeks flushed.
"I really found another Dao. I won't describe what kind of Dao it is, but its potential is very high. Perhaps by taking this Dao, I can be very happy very quickly. You tell me... what should I do?"
If An Chen had previously suspected Ye Xinning was a Transcendent with a thirty percent possibility, now it was about eighty percent.
At this time, if one found a way to make quick money that wasn't illegal, didn't harm oneself, then it could only be by seizing the current opportunity.
If Ye Xinning was a Transcendent, everything made sense.
"Actually, you've already made your choice in your heart, haven't you?"
An Chen stared at Ye Xinning's profile and asked.
Ye Xinning nodded, then shook her head, squinting and struggling for a long time before saying:
"I don't know, I really don't know. I don't want to make a choice, I just want to live a little easier, a little happier."
An Chen patted her shoulder.
"I don't want to say things like 'follow your heart'; that's meaningless. I just want to remind you of one thing: once you make a choice, give it your all. People like us must exert our full effort to catch up with others."
Ye Xinning looked up, staring blankly at An Chen.
The class bell rang, and before the teacher even finished dismissing the class, most people stood up and rushed towards the cafeteria, but the two in the corner remained still.
"Keep going, you can do it. Just don't let yourself regret it."
An Chen smiled and took a candy from his pants pocket.
Actually, his pants pocket contained a qiankun bag, and the candy was something he had casually put into the qiankun bag yesterday when packing everyday items.
Amidst the harsh class bell and the noisy human voices, Ye Xinning stared blankly at the candy.