Reunion

Tao Xue got up early in the morning, ready to head out for the Academy. It was the day he had to make his appearance, but he still was really calm and didn't feel nervous at all. It was only a matter of time until he becomes a strong and authoritative figure of the new generation, even without his ability. His Cultivation speed was incredible, all thanks to his Master.

Soon, it was time for him to head out from home. Previously, he had different timings, as he would come to the Academy early, and leave from there late. Now that he had to go to the Academy and attend the regular classes, he had to arrive at the regular time. Right now, there wasn't even one 1st level Cultivator among the first year, first season students, and Tao Xue was the first one to advance in his batch.

He had to deal with his friends and other classmates today, which was going to be quite difficult. As he knew that Ju Yuan and Ling Shen would be asking a lot of questions regarding the topic of his absence, he was well prepared and fully equipped with answers and rebuttals of all types and kinds.

He walked along the road, heading towards the Academy, as he was spotted by Ju Yuan and Ling Shen. They shouted to him, as they came running towards him. The scene afterwards wasn't very neat.

Ju Yuan was ahead of Ling Shen, who ended up cramping his leg, and falling down in the middle of the street, as Ling Shen sneered as he had managed to overtake Ju Yuan, who didn't look nice, spangled across the ground.

Ju Yuan couldn't take this, as he gripped Ling Shen's ankle, and yanked him down to the ground. Well, they were pretty much competitive, but that was just crossing the limit. They were causing a huge racket, as they had a brawl on the street.

Tao Xue had seen the both of them after quite a while, so he was a bit startled. As he looked around, he started to notice that there was a small crowd of people looking at the two of them. Currently, Tao Xue didn't need to be in the spotlights anymore, so he quietly walked off, in a casual manner. He didn't need people to think that he was even acquainted to the two of them in the slightest degree, not mentioning being their good friend, or rather, accomplice.

After he reached the Academy, he met the two of them over there, and told them about his (fake) reason. When they understood it and left, he was surprised and also relieved. Out of the people that could suspect something, two of the biggest threats were now under control.

When he reached his Mind Cultivation classroom, he was asked about his absence by Nuo Peng, the (not so) shady and mysterious girl. He had seemed to figure out that she had changed her personality.

Speaking of personality, the other two were still their aloof self. It was sure that they were also curious about why Tao Xue was out, they still refrained from asking him. Tao Xue saw them eavesdropping on some other students talking about him, after they had all Cultivated for the day.

On the way back, all of the three of them chatted with each other. Tao Xue felt a little unnatural and uneasy that those two didn't suspect his reason, but quietly accepted it. The joy of his return subsided the suspicions in their minds.

As they walked along, Ju Yuan said, "Tao, do you know that I can become the 6th or 7th successor of my family. At such a young age, if I'm able to do that, it'll be really great. By the way, there will be a big battle for the position of the 5th successor, so you both come and watch the fights with me, and believe me, the display will be great! Tomorrow evening is the time when you have to come to my Yuan family estate! Apparently, the position of 6th and 7th successor can go to those who aren't Cultivators yet, or have recently become Cultivators, but that's not the case for the 5th successor. The 5th successor selection battles are tomorrow, the 6th are next week, and the 7th are near the start of the next month. I'll tell you to come when I'm participating, if their will be a fight."

Tao Xue was looking forward to this fight. He wanted to see some fights in action, after he had reached the 1st level Cultivation stage, he felt like watching battles would be a sort of training, especially for a Mind Cultivator like him, so that he can see what kind of attacks do what kind of Cultivators prefer.

He also wanted to see how much Ju Yuan had grown, if he would also have a fight. It was good to keep a tab on your friends' progress. He didn't believe that Ju Yuan would be able to get the position of successor, but he had believed in the existence of miracles, as some of the biggest miracles ever of the whole Human Realm ever had happened regarding him right now. Compared to that, even if Ju Yuan was made the first in line successor without any reason, it wouldn't still be of any use to shock Tao Xue. He had seen so may weird things around himself, that right now, scaring him, or rather, startling and surprising him would be very difficult.

Even though all this, he was happy to be with his friends. It gave him a comfortable feeling of easiness when he was with his friends, even though how stupid they were, it gave him a sense of happiness to be with them.

Now that he was headed home, he thought that he should also practice Cultivation, other than Control, because now that he was a Cultivator, he had to focus on both things.

After walking for a while, he reached home, as he said, "Well, today onwards, I'll have to practice both Cultivation, and my ability, Control. That's a pretty full schedule. I hope nothing gets added to it!"