“Come, I’ll take you to meet your Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters. You’re quite late; they’ve already been studying with me for about two or three months.”
“Little girl, you come along too,” Nangong Wan said to Ling Xiaoshu, who was running wild in the courtyard.
Although this big sister looked kind and benevolent, Ling Xiaoshu couldn’t help but feel a little timid. She immediately quieted down and obediently shuffled step by step to Liu Sheng’s side, grabbing her hand.
Nangong Wan led the two of them towards the bamboo house in the center.
“These Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters are quite quiet when they study; I haven’t heard any noise from here at all.”
“And they aren’t gossipy or curious; they don’t even look when they hear a newcomer has arrived.”
“It’s clear they are dedicated to their studies.”
“No wonder they can enter Nangong Shijie’s Dharma Eye.”
“It seems I need to learn more from the Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters.”
However, Nangong Wan pushed open the bamboo door, took one look, and immediately roared.
“Lu Shen, Zhong Youzhi! What are you doing?!”
“Not studying, but playing chess? Do the imperial examinations test xiangqi?”
“Qu Chunyan! What’s in your hand?! Don’t hide it behind your back; I have Divine Sense!”
“Buying snacks again! What did I tell you to control your diet and train your Body Refining for?!”
The sheer volume and severity of her words truly showed the demeanor of a school Instructor.
Then, Nangong Wan strode in aggressively, disappearing into the darkness of the bamboo house.
Liu Sheng and the others were so terrified by Nangong Shijie’s high-decibel roar that their souls almost left Liu Sheng’s body collectively.
Liu Sheng and the cowering Ling Xiaoshu exchanged a puzzled glance.
There was no sound in the bamboo house, and it was dark inside, without a trace of light. It didn't look like anyone was studying; if they could study, they must be reading luminous textbooks.
Moreover, Nangong Wan disappeared after walking in, so there must be something extraordinary inside.
So Liu Sheng, holding Ling Xiaoshu’s hand, quickly followed.
Indeed, as soon as they stepped into the bamboo house, the world instantly changed.
The dim light of the bamboo house suddenly brightened. Liu Sheng was a little unaccustomed to it for a moment, blinking her eyes, her heart greatly shaken.
Before her was a spacious room with walls as white as jade. Two walls were embedded with a row of windows. Outside one side of the windows were lush green trees, and the other side was a corridor, but outside it was incredibly dark, without a trace of light.
Fortunately, there were glowing white tubes hanging from the ceiling, illuminating the space.
The room mainly consisted of neatly arranged wooden tables. The items on the tables were quite messy, and besides books, the things on each table were different, haphazardly placed with some boxes, notebooks, toys, lunchboxes, water cups, and so on.
In front of these tables was a podium, and on the wall behind the podium was a large black wooden board, almost filling the entire wall. Many white characters were written on it, faintly visible as “Spiritual Qi,” “Strengthening the People’s Soul,” “Righteousness Dispelling Evil,” and the like.
Four Xuezis were sitting in the front row of seats. Except for one quite quiet girl, the other three were being scolded by Nangong Shijie, their heads bowed so low they were almost touching the tables.
“This, seems to be a classroom?”
“And it’s a classroom that doesn’t belong to this world, this era.”
“And it’s a Weird Domain!”
However, Little Tentacle quietly told Liu Sheng that the Guai Qi here was not heavy; instead, Spiritual Qi was abundant.
What a magical place! Liu Sheng never expected such a unique space to be hidden within the bamboo house.
“Liu Sheng, come and meet your Senior Brother and Senior Sister.” Nangong Wan finally finished her lecture, her tone still a bit stiff, not yet adjusted.
Only then did the four realize a newcomer had arrived, and they all turned their heads.
“Hello, Senior Brother and Senior Sister, my name is Liu Sheng, Liu as in willow tree, Sheng as in sheng song.” Liu Sheng stepped forward a few paces and introduced herself respectfully, as if she had returned to her childhood when she first entered school.
“The new Junior Sister is a lovely little girl!” the man on the far right said happily. When he stood up, his whole body jingled.
“My name is Zhong Youzhi, Zhong as in freedom, You as in Ren Zhi.” He introduced himself.
Liu Sheng looked over and even felt a bit dazzled.
This Senior Brother wore a jade crown, a seven-treasure golden ring around his neck, and a luxurious brocade robe. The robe was exquisitely embroidered with white cranes and auspicious patterns in gold and silver threads. A jeweled jade belt was tied around his waist, with golden rings connecting the jade belt, swaying and making sounds as he moved. His entire being exuded an Aura of wealth.
“Senior Brother Zhong, truly a Dragon and Phoenix figure, a splendid talent.” Liu Sheng’s myriad words condensed into this one sentence.
“Junior Sister is clearly a smart person, with good taste!”
Zhong Youzhi happily unfurled his folding fan and gently fanned it a few times. The landscape painted on the fan’s surface had powerful brushstrokes and a majestic style, refreshing to behold, clearly the work of a Great Master.
“Splendid on the outside, a straw bag on the inside,” a slightly plump woman beside him said coolly.
“Qu Chunyan! Be careful, I’ll steal all your snacks!” Zhong Youzhi gritted his teeth.
“You wouldn’t dare!” Qu Chunyan drew her long sword.
Immediately, Spiritual Qi surged on Zhong Youzhi’s folding fan.
The quiet girl beside them whispered, “Do you two remember that Teacher Nangong is here?”
Nangong Wan, feigning sleep on the podium, said calmly, “Don’t mind me, fight if you want.”
She even smiled very gently: “It’s best if you kill each other, then you won’t have to take the exam.”
Qu Chunyan put away her long sword, and Zhong Youzhi closed his folding fan.
The quiet girl apologized to Liu Sheng, “Junior Sister, don’t look at them like this, they are actually good people, and we have a very good relationship.”
Liu Sheng watched Zhong Youzhi and Qu Chunyan turn their faces away, not looking at each other, and inwardly wondered if this was what they called a good relationship?
The quiet girl introduced herself: “My name is Lin Shuying.”
“This one you already know, Senior Sister Qu Chunyan.”
Then she pointed to the silent, honest-looking man on the far left and said, “This is Lu Shen.”
So Liu Sheng bowed in turn: “Hello, Senior Sister Lin, Senior Sister Qu, Senior Brother Lu!”
“Hello, Junior Sister, welcome.” Senior Brother Lu was still very silent, dressed in coarse cloth, with dark skin and a sturdy build, looking honest and loyal. It was impossible to tell that he would also be scolded by Nangong Shijie for secretly playing chess during study time.
“Junior Sister, sit next to me, I’ll give you something delicious later,” Qu Chunyan whispered.
“I can hear you,” Nangong Shijie said coolly. “I’ve told you all, don’t eat snacks randomly. Only by maintaining the best muscle ratio can you face the martial test in the best state.”
“Moreover, do you think everything the convenience store owner sells is a legitimate product? Many are unregulated products!”
Qu Chunyan nervously swallowed, muttering, “Of course I know, but it’s delicious.”
“Convenience store????”
“Who can save me? I don’t want to go crazy yet!”
“What kind of setting is this?”
“These words coming from Nangong Shijie’s mouth have a beautiful, crazy feeling.”
“Um, I want to ask.” Liu Sheng couldn’t hold it in any longer and raised her hand.
“Raising your hand to ask questions, a sign of a good student.”
“Speak,” Nangong Wan saw her and nodded, signaling Liu Sheng to speak directly.
“Where exactly is this place?”
Liu Sheng blinked her big eyes.
“Or rather, what exactly is this?”
I once wanted to write about an Immortal Qi-filled cultivation environment, but it ended up like this…