Chapter 56: Today, We Are No Longer as We Have Been

Ethereal Dao College’s Lower Academy Island only broke up for holidays once a year.

Whenever the holidays came, some of the students of Lower Academy Island would remain behind. Most of the students, however, would use the two-month break to return home or to venture out to gain experience and grow tougher.

Among them, many older students went for expeditions or worked with organizations affiliated to the Federation, in a mutually beneficial arrangement. As for the freshmen who had left home for the first time, their priority during the holidays was to go back home.

As the holidays arrived, Wang Baole left the Spirit Cauldron Cave and walked to the Dharmic Armament faculty’s mountain peak only to find numerous students carrying their bags, talking and laughing about their memories of home as they stepped onto the cruiser to return.

It was the same as when the new students arrived. As the wilderness held many dangers, every holiday, the Dao College would take on the responsibility of sending and receiving homebound students, taking them to a designated location in the city.

“See you when school reopens, Head Prefect.”

“Head Prefect, we’re leaving.”

Before they left, all the students who bumped into Wang Baole greeted him warmly. It seemed as though the respect that they held toward the Dao College’s Head Prefect during regular school days had dimmed due to the arrival of the holidays.

Wang Baole laughed and nodded at all the students who greeted him, infected by the atmosphere of the departing students. It seemed that he had lost all his previous longing in the one year he lived at the Dao College, and he missed his parents even more.

Anxious to return home as soon as possible, Wang Baole walked faster. He returned to the cave abode to pack his luggage, threw everything into his storage bracelet, and bought many bottles of Ice Spirit Water.

Ice Spirit Water is the specialty of the Dao College. It tastes different from Ice Spirit Water elsewhere. I should bring more home for Mom to try.

Then he contacted Zheng Liang and used his Spirit Stones to buy many top quality pills suitable for regular people. Once he had settled everything, he stepped out of the cave abode and turned back to look at where he had lived for an entire year. He inhaled deeply and sealed the array formation shut. When he turned around, his gaze was bright.

Home!

He laughed and ran down the mountain. In this moment, it was as if he had forgotten that he was a Head Prefect and had returned to his old self from a year ago. He ran all the way down the mountain, heading straight for the huge hanger at the Green Forest Lake.

The scene was almost the same as when school started. The space was filled with students, with laughter resounding as the students bade each other farewell, stepping onto different cruisers. When Wang Baole arrived, he squeezed through the crowd and immediately heard someone calling him.

“Head Prefect, here, here!” Wang Baole looked up and noticed Liu Daobin waving at him from a nearby hot-air balloon cruiser.

There were many familiar faces with Liu Daobin. All of them were those students who had initially arrived with him from Phoenix City. Du Min and Bunny were among them, having arrived earlier. When they saw Wang Baole, Du Min snorted whereas Bunny smiled at him.

Chen Ziheng was also there. Although his expression was normal at first, he became stiff after seeing Wang Baole. No doubt he was thinking of the harm Wang Baole had caused the Combat faculty and also of Wang Baole’s meteoric rise during the past year.

Upon seeing Liu Daobin and the others, Wang Baole hurriedly squeezed through the crowd. His usual status as Head Prefect was useless now as there were simply too many people. Finally, after much difficulty, Wang Baole managed to squeeze onto the cruiser. Just as he wiped his sweat and was about to take out a bottle of Ice Spirit Water, Liu Daobin offered him one.

“Head Prefect, I’ve already prepared some for you.” Liu Daobin smiled. “I’ve even bought some for you to take home to your parents.”

As Wang Baole looked at Liu Daobin, more than ever, he felt that Liu Daobin was indeed capable. Laughing, he patted Liu Daobin’s shoulder and drank from the offered bottle.

When Du Min saw this, she turned her head and snorted again. Clearly, she did not like what she was seeing.

As he drank the Ice Spirit Water, Wang Baole looked at the people on the cruiser and then at the faraway mountain peak of the Dharmic Armament faculty. His yearning for Phoenix City increased all the more. However, he was still brooding over an uncertainty, which was… where his father got the obviously halved mysterious mask from, and where was the other half?

This issue had been weighing on his mind for a long time. He knew that the mask was extraordinary, and if other people knew of it, it would invite unnecessary trouble for his family. So, he had restrained himself and did not send a voice transmission to ask about the mask. Instead, he had decided to wait till he returned home and to get the answer by beating around the bush.

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Soon, the cruiser began to shake. All the other cruisers in the hanger slowly started to rise, entering the clouds in the firmament, and sped off in all directions.

At this moment, the Sword Sun in the sky seemed to be overlooking the world, looking at those homebound cruisers.

Even the soul suppression released from sun’s incomplete halo and the ancient greenish-bronze sword seemed different from before.

This year… was the 38th year of the Spirit Inception Era.

Some time later, the cruiser bound for Phoenix City finally flew out of the clouds and mist, hurtling through the vast firmament.

Looking over, the dark blue skies and the open area that stretched beyond what the eye could see contrasted with the Earth’s wilderness. Occasionally, birds would appear, flying across the silky blue skies.

These occasional sounds from the birds made them seem, from afar, to have a sort of beauty. But if one looked closer, they would see their bloodthirsty and cruel eyes, their claws, and their teeth, beasts that shocked the eye.

This was the wilderness in the Federation; danger lurked everywhere. Unlike the war many years ago, these beasts did not have a single leader and were in a state of disunity. However, even a single beast in the wilderness posed a significant threat to humans.

Because of the appearance of Spirit Qi, these beasts and plants were the ones who were affected the most directly and significantly.

As humans had won the war many years ago, the Federation’s cities were confident of dealing with the scattered Beast Tide under normal circumstances. Even in the current Federation, the rise of ancient martial arts and cultivation meant that there was increased hunting of these beasts.

As Ethereal Dao College was considered a titan among organizations in the Federation, the cruisers ferrying students were equipped with many powerful numinous treasures, and there were even bodyguards onboard. With these precautions, the danger of this journey was minimal.

On the Phoenix City-bound cruiser, all the students from Ethereal Dao College were extremely excited. After all, this was their second time on this long journey. They had just ended the year, and they had grown closer since the start of term. As such, they had much to say among themselves. Even subtle feelings between the male and female students began to grow during this journey.

In fact, there were already many students who had paired off and spent their time on the cruiser engaging in lovers’ talk. While it made many single people jealous, they also whispered about how those couples’ relationships would die out fast.

Wang Baole was no exception. As he sat in the ship’s hold, he shook his head and spoke regretfully.

“My generation’s students need to establish ourselves, watch our speech, and finally mind our conduct. It seems that they have forgotten all of what the Chancellor has said. How improper to engage in such lovers’ talk.”

There were many students in the ship’s hold, including Liu Daobin and the others. After hearing Wang Baole’s words, Du Min let out a loud “tch!”, Bunny covered her mouth and laughed, while Chen Ziheng rolled his eyes and ignored Wang Baole.

“The Head Prefect makes sense.” Only Liu Daobin was approving. He held an expression of receiving wisdom, ignoring the looks from the people around him. After all, he was simply following what his father had told him—his superior was always right!

There were also other inspectors from the Dharmic Armament faculty among the students, and they all nodded and chimed in with their agreement.

Seeing that he had gathered so many supporters, Wang Baole felt extremely satisfied. Soon, he became talkative and looked at the people around him with gratification and emotion.

Wang Baole placed his hands behind his back, his expression filled with recollection, as though he was remembering memories from many years ago. “We have all grown up. I still remember vaguely when we were handsome and fresh youths going to school. We had slim bodies, strong eyebrows, and bright eyes, and all of you were still children, innocent and pure. But time spares no man. In a flash… today we are no longer as we have been. Don’t you guys agree?”

It had only been a year since the start of school, so Wang Baole pretending to be old and experienced put everyone at a loss. Even Liu Daobin paused, his brain working rapidly to think of a way to react to Wang Baole’s words. If he agreed, it was as though he was saying Wang Baole was old, but if he did not agree, he would not be adhering to his father’s golden advice.

Finally, Liu Daobin inhaled, feeling that it was a very thorny issue. “This is a trick question!”

Bunny could no longer resist and giggled till her stomach started to hurt. Chen Ziheng pretended that he had not heard anything. Du Min, on the other hand, could no longer bear it.

“Master Wang, may I know your age?” Du Min sneered.

Hearing Du Min’s mocking, Wang Baole looked blankly at her. He shook his head and sighed. “Today we are no longer as we are, Min-er. See, your chest has even gotten bigger.”