Shen Ning blankly shifted her gaze away, having no desire to explain.
She was just thinking things over — pondering the possibilities of the future — who’d waste time staring at that part of you?
Xu Chuyao swallowed the last shrimp, wiped her little mouth with a napkin, and sat up properly to face the white-haired girl.
“Okay, we’re done eating. If you have something to say, just say it.”
Shen Ning put her chopsticks down as well.
“There’s nothing to say. It was just a meal.”
“Just a meal?”
“Yeah.”
Xu Chuyao frowned, utterly baffled.
“So what you mean is, even though I’m always messing with you, and yesterday I even stole your takeaway chopsticks, you just purely wanted to treat me to dinner?”
Shen Ning felt her fists clench.
She could hear the veins throbbing at her temple.
Yep — in the future, she must have been so powerful that she simply grabbed this big-chested girl and used her like a drinking glass.
There was no other explanation. That was all this girl was good for.
Still, the task was already halfway done.
Shen Ning bit the bullet, grabbed a milk carton, and held it out to her.
“Here, a drink after the meal.”
“I don’t drink plain milk, it doesn’t taste good,” Xu Chuyao waved it off.
“I only drink chocolate milk.”
“Chocolate?”
Never heard of that in the mining district.
“It’s a kind of candy, only available outside — the school doesn’t sell it because it’s not considered healthy food.”
Seeing that Shen Ning really didn’t have anything else to say, Xu Chuyao quietly slipped away.
The meal had been tasty and abundant, but this whole thing was too weird and gave her the creeps.
Better go back and talk to Xiaolu.
…
“You mean Shen Ning prepared all that delicious food just to invite you to dinner?”
After hearing Xu Chuyao’s story, Mi Xiaolu was dumbfounded too.
“I thought she was usually super frugal — this is splurging like crazy for someone like her!”
At the Ascension Academy, all students received a monthly stipend for their expenses.
Even so, Shen Ning was known to be one of the most frugal.
“Exactly. That’s why I’m telling you it was so strange,” Xu Chuyao said as she kicked off her shoes and crawled into bed.
“What do you think she’s up to?”
Mi Xiaolu obviously didn’t have an answer, but she gave her a lead.
“When you were eating together, did she act like she had something to say?”
Chuyao lay on her stomach, propped up her chin with her hands, and thought for a moment.
“I feel like she’s still holding a grudge,” she decided.
“There were a few times I could see a glint of murderous intent in her eyes — she was just holding it in. She definitely still wants revenge.”
Then Xu Chuyao recalled the way Shen Ning had watched her eat.
“And there was this one look she gave me — really off. She even sneaked a glance at my… chest.”
Her face heated up as she spoke.
But then she thought to herself — wait, why am I blushing?
That bottom-of-the-barrel heroine ought to be the one embarrassed.
Mi Xiaolu yawned.
“That’s not surprising. You’re both girls. If you’ve got a big chest, of course she’ll take a couple extra looks — unless there’s something wrong with her preferences.”
“Oh, there’s definitely something wrong with her.”
Xu Chuyao winked mysteriously and went on to regale Mi Xiaolu with more of Shen Ning’s childhood stories — about how she used to follow the miners around at the mining site, and how those rough-and-tumble uncles would sometimes look at girlie magazines together, with Shen Ning squeezing in to look too.
The miners hadn’t minded, thinking it was fine because she was a girl. Who would’ve guessed Shen Ning would pick up some weird habits from them?
Mi Xiaolu just listened without taking it too seriously.
“So going by your logic,” Mi Xiaolu concluded, “on one hand, she’s out for revenge, and on the other, she has impure intentions toward you. Does that mean she wants to… kidnap you and do S&M stuff?”
That sent a shudder through Xu Chuyao.
She was speechless for a while.
No way, right?
That was Mi Xiaolu’s wild theory, but she didn’t actually believe what Xu Chuyao was saying about Shen Ning’s childhood.
“Or maybe you’re overthinking it,” Mi Xiaolu suggested.
“Let’s just focus on something else. Shopping day is coming up for our class — want to go?”
At Ascension Academy, students weren’t free to leave whenever they wanted.
It was rumored that they could in the past, until one time a male student snuck out to hit up a nightclub, drank too much, got into a fight, and ended up killing five people on the spot.
Even a low-stage spirit user could overpower regular humans without question.
“Forget it. You shouldn’t go either — it’s dangerous these days.”
Xu Chuyao pulled up her blanket and lay down, thinking about the world they were in.
The changes brought about by the first spiritual energy explosion were subversive.
Spirit wielders had an innate aura that could neutralize all kinetic and energy attacks from firearms and explosives.
The world order had been shattered overnight.
Plus, some creatures had mutated due to spiritual power too.
Caught between inner chaos and outside threats, humanity had plummeted to a tenth of its original population.
After years of struggle, order was restored, and the world had recovered to the current level of three billion people.
Though it wasn’t like the old days before spiritual power, it was enough to rebuild some semblance of prosperity.
Civilian technology had also clawed its way back to the level it was at before the chaos began.
Peace was never guaranteed.
Mutant beasts prowled outside the city walls, and inside the cities, an evil force was making its move — they’d begun targeting students on shopping trips outside school, murdering them to cause terror.
And if she remembered correctly… that was going to happen very soon.
“Alright then,” Mi Xiaolu replied, pulling up her blanket too.
Although they hadn’t really done much that day, it had felt fulfilling.
Meanwhile, in a different single-person dorm room, the silver-haired girl took off her training gloves and looked at the light screen hovering before her.
[Novice Task Complete!]
Novice Task Reward: Peak First-Stage bodily control. (Note: this strength is drawn from your future self six months ahead.)
Just by clenching her fist, Shen Ning could feel strength surging through her veins, flowing smoothly into every part of her body — stronger and more refined than before.
That felt amazing. This dinner had been worth every penny.
And aside from that reward, the light screen displayed one more message—
[Congratulations, host, for reaching the achievement: “A small step for you, a giant leap for happiness.” (Requirement: complete your first task)
Achievement points +1
Achievement perks: Summon your future phantom to provide tactical guidance (sometimes brute force isn’t enough — experience matters too).
Tip: A new “Daily Task” will refresh randomly within one week. Each one will earn you different points. Save up enough points to draw a reward.
“Random refreshes and random draws,” Shen Ning thought, quickly grasping the key points as her brow furrowed.
“And it’s not every time I’ll get a reward like this?”
[Correct. However, you may attempt Milestone Missions. Rewards are rich, and you can attempt them at any time.]
“Milestone Missions?”
[Milestone Missions: A star-graded mission system. Complete all one-star tasks before moving on to two-star tasks, and so on.]
(For example, you must complete all one-star tasks before tackling two-star tasks.)
Current preview of missions—
First time holding hands (1★): Walk hand-in-hand with your dear wife for at least five minutes.
First time holding her feet (2★): Hold your dear wife’s jade feet — whether massaging or doing her nails — for at least five minutes.
First kiss (3★)…
First time fooling around (5★)…
First attempt at %#￥%#￥ position (7★)…
“…”