"It's alright. Your spirit power has improved enough during this time. There's no rush to cultivate further; it's better to consolidate it properly first," Zhu Ziyang said with a smile, not noticing Jiang Nannan's little thoughts.
The Senior Sister the girl mentioned was Xian Lin'er, Old Song's daughter, and Jiang Nannan was Old Song's disciple, so calling her Senior Sister was perfectly reasonable.
"Hehe!" The girl giggled upon hearing this.
"Oh, by the way, did Old Song ask you to go to the Inner Courtyard?" Zhu Ziyang asked.
"He did, but I refused," Jiang Nannan said with a cute, naive expression. "I want to wait until I reach Spirit Ancestor before going to the Inner Courtyard."
"Is that so? That's good too," Zhu Ziyang smiled and said, "I'm also planning to go to the Inner Courtyard after reaching four spirit rings. We really are on the same wavelength."
"Hehehe!" The girl laughed, swaying like a flower in the wind.
"Where's the dorm that Senior Sister arranged for you?" Zhu Ziyang asked again.
"It's next to Sister Lexuan's," Jiang Nannan said. "But I don't plan to move in. Firstly, Big Brother, you're still living in the Outer Courtyard, and secondly, I don't want to be separated from Xiaoya yet."
"Hmm, as you wish," Zhu Ziyang smiled faintly. "Speaking of Tang Ya, have you told her about your experiences these past few days?"
"I did," the girl replied with a light smile on her pretty face. "When I first came back, Xiaoya kept pestering me with questions. Big Brother, you know my changes were quite significant."
As she spoke, the girl raised her hand and played with her silver hair.
"That's true. With Tang Ya's personality, it's impossible for her not to be curious," Zhu Ziyang thought for a moment and then laughed out loud.
"Exactly! So I told her everything," Jiang Nannan also smiled helplessly, then added, "However, I haven't told her about my apprenticeship yet."
"Old Song's request?" Zhu Ziyang immediately understood the reason upon hearing this and said.
"Mm!" The girl nodded her head.
Zhu Ziyang couldn't help but feel a bit helpless. Sure enough, in the eyes of the Inner Courtyard bigwigs, Outer Courtyard students were ultimately not true Shrek disciples. But thinking about it, it was quite normal. Only about ten Outer Courtyard students made it into the Inner Courtyard each year, and most Outer Courtyard students would return to their respective countries and families after graduation, with only a very small number truly serving Shrek Academy.
They arrived at the classroom.
"Oh! The class leader is back!" Sharp-eyed students immediately noticed the two and exclaimed in surprise, instantly attracting the attention of other students.
"Hello, class leader!"
"Class leader, long time no see!"
"Class leader, you're finally back! We missed you so much!"
"..."
The students' reactions varied, but the essence was the same: their conviction in Zhu Ziyang, their exceptionally strong class leader.
After the class division, Class One of the first year, as the strong attack and control class, had a total of eighty-seven people, making it the largest class among the four first-year classes. The position of class leader undoubtedly fell to Zhu Ziyang, and no one was unconvinced.
After all, the title of strongest in the first year wasn't just for show.
Zhu Ziyang responded to each of his classmates one by one, then returned to his seat.
"Hey, Zhu Ziyang, what have you been doing this past month?" As soon as he sat down, Tang Ya leaned over Jiang Nannan and asked with a face full of curiosity.
"Cultivating in seclusion, what else?" Zhu Ziyang replied with a matter-of-fact expression.
"Then you're too amazing! You've been in seclusion for over a month! Even your appearance has changed a bit," Tang Ya exclaimed, saying.
"It's alright," Zhu Ziyang said, trying to brush it off.
Tang Ya's words were not wrong; after cultivating in seclusion, Zhu Ziyang's appearance had indeed changed slightly, but this change was more in terms of his temperament.
After his seclusion with the Golden Ancient Tree, his temperament had undergone a huge transformation. If Zhu Ziyang's temperament before was sunny but always carried a natural and somewhat unapproachable arrogance, now that arrogance had disappeared, or rather, it had become internalized. His entire demeanor had become elegant and magnanimous, gentle and refined, making people feel as if they were bathed in a spring breeze upon seeing him, inspiring a sense of closeness, a feeling of trust, and an inability to harbor rebellious thoughts.
"Oh! Now that Xiaoya mentions it, Big Brother does seem a bit different!" Jiang Nannan finally noticed this, as if she had discovered a new continent, utterly astonished, her small hands feeling all over Zhu Ziyang's body.
"Alright, Nannan!" Zhu Ziyang grabbed the girl's small hand, stopping her from continuing to touch him.
"Hehe~" The girl immediately laughed, a little embarrassed.
——
Day passed, and night fell.
Outer Courtyard, first-year dormitory building, Zhu Ziyang's dorm.
After seeing Jiang Nannan off, Zhu Ziyang finally had some time alone. He immediately sat on his bed, eagerly controlling his mind to enter his sea of consciousness.
"Hahaha~ My good disciple, long time no see!"
As soon as Zhu Ziyang entered his mental force sea, he heard a hearty laugh, followed by an old but authoritative voice. His heart filled with pleasant surprise, and he immediately knew who the owner of the voice was.
Indeed, he looked in the direction of the voice and saw a spry old man floating above his mental force sea. The old man wore a gray robe, with silver-gray long hair and a joyous expression on his old but spirited face. His hands were clasped behind his back, his eyes were stern without anger, and the aura around him, even as a mere divine soul, could not conceal its brilliance.
"Teacher, is that you?" Zhu Ziyang looked at the unfamiliar old man, his tone questioning.
"Hahaha, exactly! It is I!" The old man laughed heartily and replied.
He was Electrolux!
"That's great, Teacher! You've finally awakened," Zhu Ziyang said excitedly upon hearing this. "Is this your original appearance?"
"It should be," Electrolux sighed. "Thanks to you, Ziyang. If your mental force breakthrough hadn't nourished my divine soul, I probably wouldn't have woken up so quickly."
From the day Electrolux fell into slumber until today, exactly half a year had passed.
"Does that mean, Teacher, your strength has recovered?" Zhu Ziyang asked.
"How could that be?" Electrolux couldn't help but give a bitter smile upon hearing this. "At most, it has made this divine soul of mine more stable and allowed me to access more memories. How could it be so easy to recover my true strength?"
"Then you, a while ago, still…?" Zhu Ziyang began.
"Hehe, as a teacher, one must always give a disciple a meeting gift," Electrolux naturally knew what Zhu Ziyang meant, so he said with a smile, "I can't let that other teacher of yours outshine me."
"Teacher, you know about my apprenticeship with Old Mu?" Zhu Ziyang was a little surprised to hear Electrolux's words.
"Naturally. Although I was in slumber, I still retained a trace of consciousness, paying attention to the rules and affairs of your World, so I now have a seven or eight-tenths understanding of your Douluo Continent," Electrolux explained with a smile.
"I see," Zhu Ziyang said, enlightened.
"That teacher of yours is quite strong. If judged by the rules of my World, his strength should be around five hundred thousand spiritual power," Electrolux commented, his tone like that of an elder.
"Five hundred thousand spiritual power? Is that the cultivation system of your World, Teacher?" Zhu Ziyang was very curious, directly ignoring the issue of Electrolux's tone.
"That's right," Electrolux nodded and said, "I've also noticed the cultivation system of your World. How should I put it… Although your World has true deities, it is subject to too many constraints. That spirit ring is very frustrating. In my World, although physical bodies are not allowed to become deities, there aren't so many constraints. Relatively speaking, each has its own merits."
"Then, Teacher, what is your true strength in terms of spiritual power?" Zhu Ziyang asked, very curious.
"This? It's a bit shameful to say, but due to special laws, my spiritual power has always remained at 999,999 points," Electrolux said with a look of shame.
This left Zhu Ziyang puzzled, but he still asked, "Does that mean one million points of spiritual power allows one to become a deity?"
"That's right," Electrolux nodded and said, "The complexities involved are too great, so let's not talk about it yet. I'll tell you when your strength becomes greater."
"Alright," Zhu Ziyang reluctantly nodded in agreement.