Campus Commotion

Aaron rose from his seat and strode out of the room, heading towards the bathroom where he proceeded to take a soothing shower. As the warm water cascaded down his face and body, Aaron's tense mind began to unwind. Today had been a tough day, and the thought of dying had been weighing heavily on him. But in that moment, with the water easing his worries away, he began to feel a sense of comfort.

Once he was done, Aaron dried himself off and gazed into the mirror. His skin looked smoother and whiter, perhaps even better than his sister's. As he thought of her, his heart grew heavy. He missed her dearly and couldn't help but wonder how she was doing.

Back in his previous life, his little sister was the apple of his eye, with long black hair that reached her hips, a gorgeous face with curly eyes and cherry lips, and a tall, graceful figure. To Aaron, she was like an angel.

Feeling melancholy, Aaron stepped out of the bathroom and climbed into bed. He had classes tomorrow and he needed his rest. But before he drifted off, he whispered softly to himself, "I miss you, sis"

***

Aaron was deep in thought, scanning his system to ensure he hadn't missed any important details. Suddenly, he was jolted out of his concentration by the cold voice of Adrian. The tone was laced with a hint of killing intent, making Aaron realize that he had let his guard down.

"I could have been killed in another situation" Although Adrian had a reputation for being petty, Aaron knew that he wouldn't resort to anything crazy in a public place like the Republic of Terma. Breaking the law so blatantly would be foolish, even for someone with a privileged background like Adrian.

"No, I'm busy right now" Aaron replied, shaking his head.

He didn't want to engage in any unnecessary competition, especially now that he had attained the 5th Realm so quickly. It was already enough to raise suspicions about the source of his crystals, and he didn't want to fuel any rumors about illegal activities.

Adrian felt annoyed by Aaron's refusal, but he was more annoyed by Lisa's warning "If you dare bully Aaron, I'll make sure to do to you what you do to him three times worse"

"Coward" Adrian grinned. "At least you know your place now" He walked away after, surprising the other students.

"Did Adrian just back away that easily?"

"Since when did that shit work? So you're telling me I could have just said no all this time??!!"

Students muttered among themselves, but with Aaron's 5th Realm cultivation he heard them clearly.

Aaron shook his head and went on with his day.

***

"Ring, ring, ring…" The bell signaling the end of the lesson rang, and the entire school campus stirred from its stupor as noise erupted from everywhere. Seconds later, waves of students gushed out of the different classroom buildings, chatting and smiling in small groups as they walked out of the school gates.

"Ugh, the weather is so hot today!" someone complained angrily.

"Aaron, let's go to the Wild Boar Pub for a drink tonight," a voice called out, pulling Aaron back to reality.

"Micheal!" Aaron exclaimed, recognizing him as one of the members of the Cultivators Group Chat. They had met that morning at Micheal's request.

"I won't be joining you tonight. I have a headache. You can have fun," replied Aaron.

Micheal was quick to respond, "Hey, don't be like this. There aren't many people in our circle. If you don't come, it will be meaningless. Besides, we haven't gathered in a long while and it'd be great for you to meet the others. Why don't we find another day to meet? How about tomorrow or the day after? What do you think?"

Aaron shook his head helplessly. "Tomorrow is good."

"No problem. I will inform Little John and the rest that we will be gathering tomorrow instead," said Micheal, smiling brightly.

As they walked towards the school gates, a huge commotion caught their attention. "Hey, what happened in front? There's a crowd there," said Micheal, looking puzzled.

"Let me take a look," he added as he squeezed through the crowd to get to the front.

On the other hand, Aaron just placed his hands in his pockets and walked forward slowly, releasing some pressure. Although it wasn't anything major, to ordinary people, it felt like the hairs on the back of their necks were rising. A few students saw him and voluntarily made way for him, afraid of provoking him.

He walked out of the crowd and looked at the open space in front. A lady had managed to knock down a few gangsters with dyed hair. The thugs were lying on the ground, crying in pain, fear in their eyes as they looked at the young lady.

As Aaron listened to the discussions around him, he gained a basic understanding of what had happened. Isabelle had encountered these gangsters after her lessons. Finding her quite pretty, they teased her and said some nasty things to her, thinking that she was just a weak and easily bullied lady. But unexpectedly, she was a rose with thorns, and she attacked them angrily, beating them until they couldn't get up from the ground.

"Wow, Goddess! She is indeed an advanced stage cultivator. These gangsters offended the wrong person!" A male student beside Aaron waved his fist around feverishly. Even the pimples on his face turned slightly red with excitement. From his words, it was evident that he regarded Isabelle as his goddess.

"I've heard that Isabelle was a star student, but I didn't expect her to fight so well," said another student.

"Indeed. Honestly speaking, it's rare to see such long legs. She's only a high school student, but her figure is already so good. Imagine how she will look in the future!" commented a third student, admiring Isabelle's beauty.