Changes

Shining City, Inner Fortress.

In the tranquil meditation room, Xie Man sat cross-legged on the ground, his eyes tightly closed.

In the unseen void, energy particles seemed to be invisibly drawn into his body and vanish.

After about half an hour, Xie Man opened his eyes and let out a long breath.

He stood up, opened the door and went outside, looking at the lush green flowers and plants in the courtyard with a faint look of daze on his face.

Since the day he participated in the test, his life had undergone tremendous changes.

A beautiful dream fantasized for over ten years came true in one day. He moved into the dream castle, enjoying the services of servants like a noble, and could even receive a gold coin every month.

During this time, Xie Man had returned home once. Old Roger mentioned that after Xie Man moved into the castle, many people came to ask about him and sent many gifts to curry favor with Old Roger.

At the mention of this, Old Roger couldn’t stop laughing and kept praising Xie Man for his success.

Seeing Old Roger’s joyful and gratified look, Xie Man felt very happy as well.

But what made him happiest and most amazed was the knowledge taught by Su Nan—now should be addressed as ‘Teacher.’

A miraculous knowledge called meditation!

After spending twenty-five days successfully mastering the basics of the Star Ring Meditation Technique, Xie Man first sensed the energy particles.

Since then, he felt he had touched a whole new world.

In just two months of meditation, he transformed from a skinny kid into a strong young man.

His originally frail body, whose ribs were once clearly visible, became robust almost visibly.

According to Lady Amy, he now had the physical qualities of a sword-bearing squire!

The blacksmith Caro from the Firehammer Forge in the north of the city used to often boast in front of him about once being a sword-bearing squire.

If Caro knew that a twelve-year-old kid like him already had the strength of a sword-bearing squire, would he be so shocked that his jaw would drop to the ground?

Xie Man suddenly felt a little curious to see that scene.

But it was just a thought; he didn’t have that leisure now.

After mastering the basics of the Star Ring Meditation Technique, the teacher officially took him as a student and gave him a large pile of books to study diligently, saying that there would be a progress test every month.

If he satisfied the teacher, he would receive rewards.

To be honest, the content of those books was very complex and unheard of.

Books like ‘Basics of Demonic Plant Studies’, ‘Demonic Plant Cultivation’, ‘Basics of Alchemy’, ‘Biology’, ‘Mutation Studies’, ‘Principles of Enchantment’, ‘Origins of Wizards’, looking at them made Xie Man’s head spin.

Although he was literate, it was only at the level of reading everyday words, and it was really difficult for him to digest these tomes.

To keep up with the progress, he had no choice but to secretly ask Lady Amy for guidance, at the cost of having to massage Lady Amy for half an hour every day.

Xie Man was lost in thought when the door in the distance suddenly opened, and Artil walked out from inside.

Seeing Xie Man, Artil showed a gentle smile and said, ‘Finished meditating just now?’

‘Yes.’

Xie Man glanced at the book in Artil’s hand and nervously pursed his lips.

Today was the monthly examination.

In a little while, the teacher would come to assess their learning progress for the month.

At each such moment, he couldn’t help feeling nervous.

Noticing Xie Man’s unease, Artil softly comforted him, ‘Don’t worry, you’ve been studying hard all along, you’ll be fine.’

Others might not know, but Artil was aware of how much effort Xie Man put in.

She and Ke Lei would occasionally take a break from the monotony of studying, but she had never seen Xie Man rest.

Every time she saw Xie Man, he was engrossed in learning with a book in hand.

This focused and untiring attitude made Artil secretly admire him.

Xie Man may not be as efficient in learning as she and Ke Lei, but his progress wasn’t necessarily lagging behind.

‘Thank you.’ Xie Man nodded gratefully toward Artil.

Just then, the door on the other side of the corridor opened, and Ke Lei walked out.

Seeing Artil and Xie Man standing in the hallway, his steps paused, his gaze swept over Xie Man, faintly furrowing his brows, then he nodded to Artil and walked silently towards the courtyard entrance.

Seeing this, Xie Man couldn’t help but smile wryly.

Ke Lei had always looked down somewhat on his commoner status, and since Xie Man was the first to master the basics of the Star Ring Meditation Technique two days before Ke Lei, Ke Lei seemed even more displeased with him.

As if a sense of competition had been sparked, every time the teacher assessed their knowledge, Ke Lei seemed determined to fight for supremacy with him, making Xie Man both amused and helpless.

‘Don’t mind it, Ke Lei isn’t a bad person, he just has a strong competitive spirit.’ Artil said in a low voice.

Xie Man nodded to indicate his understanding.

He had seen many noble young masters with far worse temperaments, and by comparison, Ke Lei was already quite good.

At least Ke Lei didn’t insult him to his face, calling him a brat or a commoner.

Seeing that it was getting late, Artil and Xie Man also went to stand at the entrance of the courtyard, preparing to greet the teacher.

After a short while, footsteps could be heard coming from afar, gradually approaching.

Soon, Su Nan appeared in sight.

‘Teacher!’

Xie Man, Ke Lei, and Artil bowed in greeting.

‘Mm.’

Su Nan spread his mental energy, scanning around the three of them, and faintly nodded.

‘It seems that you three haven’t slacked on your meditation lately, very good.’

Receiving Su Nan’s praise, the three of them showed happy expressions.

‘Meow, Su Nan, you’re here!’

Amy suddenly appeared out of nowhere, landing on Su Nan’s shoulder, the bell on its neck lightly jingling, producing a clear and pleasant sound.

The three of them looked on calmly at this scene.

At first, when they saw Amy’s Spatial Traversal ability, they found it astounding.

But later, having seen it many times, they got used to it.

However, there was another presence they still weren’t accustomed to.

Just as they were thinking about it, a massive figure appeared silently in front of them, its black-red scales and sharp claws shining with an icy gleam in the sunlight.

That primitive and ferocious aura made the three instinctively tense up.

By Truth Above, they had never seen such a terrifying beast before!

The first time they saw the real appearance of the Hidden Dragon, the three of them almost fell to the ground in fright.

The Hidden Dragon ignored the three little ones, letting out a low hiss and approached Su Nan.

Su Nan petted the coarse head of the Hidden Dragon, smiling as he said, ‘Have you been wandering outside the city again?’

Hidden Dragon: ‘Hiss hiss!’

Amy: ‘Meow, I’m not afraid to go out alone, just thought it was boring with you here, so I took you along!’

Hidden Dragon: ‘Hiss hiss!’

Amy: ‘What’s so good about sleeping, you’re not really a dragon, why stay in the nest all day?’

Su Nan chuckled silently, interrupting the quarrel between the cat and the lizard.

‘The base outside the city is already built. I’ve reserved a place for you to stay, it’s more spacious, you can move there.’

Hearing this, the Hidden Dragon had no objections.

Amy glanced at the three of them: ‘Meow, what about these three?’

Su Nan glanced at his three students and said, ‘Once they’ve learned the knowledge to my satisfaction, they can also move to the base.’

After hesitating for a moment, Amy shook its head: ‘Then I’ll stay here for now, meow.’

Su Nan looked deeply at Amy, nodded, and didn’t say more.

Waking up after a thousand-year sleep, Amy’s owner and friends were all gone, almost leaving it a stranger in this world.

Apart from Su Nan and the Hidden Dragon, only Xie Man, Ke Lei, and Artil could barely be considered in the same ‘circle’ where it could have shared experiences.

Therefore, when Su Nan was often too busy to be seen, Amy preferred spending time with these three.