As December gradually arrived, the weather grew colder, but thanks to the barrier at Xuan Huang University, it wasn’t too chilly on campus.
Bai Maomao wore a thin beige knit sweater, paired with gray casual pants, his slightly long hair softly falling by his ears, softening his overly striking features.
On his fair wrist was a pink, oddly shaped jade bracelet, making his skin appear even paler and more jade-like.
Such a girlish color didn’t look feminine on him at all, instead making him even more unique.
Today was the last exam at school, and it happened to be Bai Maomao’s best subject—
Lingli Yunyong Xue—so he arrived at the exam room just in time, strolling in lazily.
He picked a seat at random and sat down, propping his chin up with one hand as he stared out the window.
The girls sitting behind him exchanged glances, tacitly pulling out their phones to secretly snap photos.
Bai Maomao seemed unaware, blinking and switching hands, tilting his head slightly to reveal his rounded jawline.
Proctor: ……………
Do you all think I’m dead?
“Get ready for the exam!”
The proctor knocked on the lectern, reminding the students that the exam was starting.
Bai Maomao pouted in protest.
Those photos of him on the forum had actually turned out pretty nice.
As the name suggests, Lingli Yunyong Xue mainly tested how well students could use spiritual power.
The exam was divided into two parts.
The first part tested students’ spiritual power storage and endurance.
There was a fist-sized stone on each desk, and students had to use spiritual power to lift the stone, getting points based on how long they could hold it up.
This stone wasn’t ordinary, but a Qianjun Stone from the cultivation world, with extremely high density—a fist-sized piece weighed over a thousand jin.
The second part tested spiritual power flexibility.
At the start of the exam, countless small spheres would be projected above the classroom, each the size of a fingernail and brightly colored, weaving through the ceiling in a visually dazzling but very hard-to-catch display.
Students had to use spiritual power to strike the moving spheres.
The more they hit, the higher their score.
The crisp bell rang, and the exam officially began.
Bai Maomao easily lifted the Qianjun Stone with one hand using spiritual power, the fist-sized stone floating steadily above his right hand.
The examinees around him looked on with envy, jealousy, and hatred, sweating as they tried to keep their Qianjun Stones from falling.
The first part of the exam lasted half an hour.
Throughout the half hour, students gradually lost strength, their Qianjun Stones dropping to the desk with dull thuds.
Unsurprisingly, Bai Maomao lasted till the end.
Only after the teacher announced the end did he gently place his Qianjun Stone on the desk.
The proctor gave him an approving look and swiftly marked his score.
After a half-hour break to let everyone recover their spiritual power, the second part of the exam began.
The classroom curtains were drawn, dimming the light.
On the ceiling, the colorful spheres slowly slid out, weaving through the air.
Bai Maomao reacted quickly, dividing his spiritual power into five strands and shooting them at the spheres diagonally in front.
The spiritual power, like transparent threads, pierced through the spheres one after another, causing the number of spheres in front of him to visibly decrease.
The surrounding spheres quickly filled the gaps, but the rate at which they disappeared didn’t slow at all.
Other students stared blankly, looking at Bai Maomao, then at the ceiling, then at Bai Maomao, then at the ceiling……………
Sir, please, have mercy on us mere mortals!
Bai Maomao’s spiritual power strung the colorful spheres around the ceiling like playing snake, the strings of spheres growing longer and longer.
With five spiritual threads racing together, he ended up having to circle the ceiling over and over, making the other students nervous, worried the threads would tangle any second.
Bai Maomao had his fun playing “snake” for a while, then, feeling satisfied, took his five long strings of spheres to the proctor to report his score.
The proctor looked at Bai Maomao with a complicated expression, then gave him a perfect score.
Bai Maomao had good eyesight and saw it instantly, contentedly handing the strings over to the teacher and leaving the exam room early.
The results came out quickly.
As expected, Bai Maomao got a perfect score in Lingli Yunyong Xue, but in his other theory classes, like Yaozhi Xixing Yanjiu and Yaozhi Wutu Zaipei Lilun Fenxi, he’d failed miserably.
Staring at the tragic Chengji Dan, Bai Maomao’s face turned black.
Lang Junxian patted his head comfortingly, though without much sincerity,
“You’ll definitely pass the makeup exams.”
Bai Maomao’s mood got even worse.
He snatched Lang Junxian’s Chengji Dan, and seeing the row of perfect scores, he ground his teeth in secret.
He was really, really annoyed.
Too annoyed to hold it in, Bai Maomao went to Xiao Shulin again.
Since they had to feed Little Vine every night, it had become their base of operations.
There were some very old trees in Xiao Shulin.
Bai Maomao vented his frustration on one, pounding it until the leaves fell in a shower.
After a thorough venting, Bai Maomao finally calmed down, slumping against the tree in a daze.
Yan Miao, who had quietly followed him, peeked at him from behind a tree.
Bai Maomao raised his head, gaze icy.
Yan Miao shivered, stammering,
“M-Maomao. How about I tutor you? You have makeup exams, right?”
Bai Maomao’s eyes were sharp and his face cold.
Yan Miao looked like he was about to cry when Bai Maomao asked,
“You know pharmacology?”
“A-a little.”
Yan Miao kept stammering.
Bai Maomao was half convinced, but thinking of his tragic grades, it was unlikely anyone did worse than him, so he gloomily agreed.
And so, their secret tutoring arrangement began.
After exams came winter break.
Mo Qin lived far away and had told them early on he’d be leaving first.
Yan Miao seemed to have no family.
Bai Maomao, remembering he’d be tutoring him, simply invited him home.
Yan Miao was overjoyed.
Being invited to a friend’s house for the first time, he was so excited he didn’t notice the dark look in Lang Junxian’s eyes.
Su Yao hadn’t returned yet, so the house felt a bit empty.
She hadn’t gone far, not wanting to leave the two kids alone.
She’d only gone to a nearby city while they were at school.
But not long ago, she suddenly felt a strong sense of something calling her.
Not daring to miss the chance, she told Bai Maomao and hurried off to the southwest.
So this winter break, Su Yao wasn’t home.
With three boys, things were more relaxed.
Bai Maomao always slept in Xiao Heifang, while Yan Miao took his own room.
At night, seeing Bai Maomao and Lang Junxian go into a room together, Yan Miao felt like he’d discovered a huge secret: these two really were a couple.
When Mo Qin came back, he’d definitely have to tell him.
Thinking of a certain chattery someone, Yan Miao smiled and soon drifted off to sleep.
A month of winter break felt short, but for Bai Maomao, it was long and torturous.
Yan Miao was like a set alarm, coming to tutor him right on schedule.
Bai Maomao was about to explode, but since he had makeup exams after school started and didn’t want to fail again, he could only study on with red-rimmed eyes.
Yan Miao turned out to be surprisingly gifted at pharmacology theory.
A lot of things that left Bai Maomao completely confused, he could explain clearly.
Bai Maomao started to think there was something wrong with this school.
Yan Miao was obviously a pharmacology genius, yet they had him assigned to Wuji Yuan.
Meanwhile, Bai Maomao’s head would explode at the sight of those theories, yet he was forced to learn them!
Bai Maomao panted, clearly exhausted, collapsing limply on the sofa, looking utterly hopeless,
“Don’t come any closer, it’s almost New Year, can’t we just enjoy it?”
“…………”
Yan Miao looked innocent, sitting down across from him, both helpless and amused at his state.
At school, Bai Maomao was always cool and aloof—who knew he’d immediately revert to his true self at home, just like a child?
If he didn’t want to study, he’d slack off and hide.
When he wanted sweets, he’d act cute and get Lang Junxian to make them.
In short, he’d shamelessly refreshed Yan Miao’s worldview.
After all, there aren’t many people who are so different at home and outside.