I Alone Am Immortal: My Rebirth and Leisurely Cultivation

Chapter 476 The Returning Traveler Watches the Fireworks (Part 2, 6k)

Jiang Yingzhu noticed Wu Yue, a physical education student from Class 3, immediately because her gaze was too obvious.

"Hey sis, wanna have a race?"

Jiang Yingzhu raised an eyebrow and taunted when she saw that the other person was a sports student.

That confident air left the other contestants in the same group speechless.

After all, we long-distance runners are always filled with anxiety, feeling like we're about to be tortured before we even start.

My heart was racing, my hands and feet were sweating, and my throat was dry.

I'm never this nervous when I'm in a relationship.

You, on the other hand, are inviting people to engage in minor competition.

However, these girls, who were simply gathered together by the class, had no objections to this.

Jiang Yingzhu has been repeatedly featured on the radio these past two days.

Many people already know her through the campus forum!
Wu Yue also knew Jiang Yingzhu, and immediately laughed when she heard Jiang Yingzhu's provocative words.

"Alright, Jiang Yingzhu, let's have a competition. But don't cry, long-distance running is not comparable to sprinting."

"Oh, right, to avoid you not knowing who you lost to, remember, I'm Wu Yue from Class 3, Grade 11."

Jiang Yingzhu shrugged, kicked her foot, and felt a pang of regret. If she had known there was such a project, she should have tied two sandbags to her ankles.

Then, in May, he took it off while farting, shocking the entire audience!
What a pity!

Jiang Yingzhu shook her head and sighed, thinking that she still had one more chance and she must use it at next year's sports meet.

Li Yan seems to be reading some kind of fortune-telling book; I'll ask him to do a fortune-telling later.

If he's wrong, he'll be punished by eating breakfast for three months.

Jiang Yingzhu felt like a genius, with profound foresight, and a smug smile immediately appeared on her face.

But Wu Yue thought otherwise.

Jiang Yingzhu didn't care at all after she finished speaking. She kept shaking her head and then revealed a mocking smile.

This is absolutely intolerable!
'Hmph, just you wait! The river changes every 300 meters, east and west. Don't underestimate a young girl's potential!'

"preparation!"

As the referee's loud voice rang out, Wu Yue immediately bent down, placed her hands slightly on the ground in front of her, and squatted down with her legs crossed, assuming a charging posture.

I must say, that posture is actually quite standard.

"Beep beep—!"

As soon as the whistle blew, Wu Yue rushed out, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Jiang Yingzhu was following beside her.

Her pupils constricted instantly, but what surprised her even more was that Jiang Yingzhu raised her hands high and was actually tying her hair into a ponytail while running.

"Ah! Zhuzhu is so handsome!"

The girls in the class gasped in surprise when they saw this.

Even boys are no exception.

"Hiss! This kid is terrifying!" Zhang Wei gasped.

Yu Bin nodded, "It's similar to me making a living with one hand and getting five kills with the other."

"Brother Bin is amazing, is there a replay?"

"No, I played against bots."

"I give this guy a 99 out of 100," Li Yan said, looking at the arena.

On the track, Jiang Yingzhu and Wu Yue ran in the lead, side by side.

Unlike Wu Yue's standard running posture, Jiang Yingzhu was just playing around.

She tied a small ponytail into a 300-meter-long ponytail.

Behind the two, it was just a bunch of noobs pecking at each other.

Some students who know a little bit will use the two of them to break the wind.

Jiang Yingzhu tied her hair up and looked at Wu Yue beside her.

"Wu Yue, right? You've already covered 300 meters, and you still can't do it."

As soon as she finished speaking, she pulled her hands together, accelerated sharply, overtook Wu Yue, and then merged with her in front of her, continuing forward.

Seeing this, Wu Yue sneered, thinking to herself that as expected of a sprinter, what use is accelerating at this time?

In a long-distance race, it's not about being first, but about speaking fluently and continuously.

She slightly increased her speed, following directly behind Jiang Yingzhu, using her speed-breaking ability.

However, there are distance requirements for breaking through the wind, and Wu Yue soon discovered that Jiang Yingzhu was constantly accelerating with her.

At 100 meters, Jiang Yingzhu accelerated.
Two hundred meters, continue to accelerate.

Three hundred meters, and still accelerating!
Damn, it's already 400 meters!

She mentioned the maximum speed.

Nima Jiang Yingzhu is still accelerating!
"Damn, is she made of iron?! Referee, I'm reporting someone for cheating! I won't say who!"

Wu Yue couldn't keep up; her rhythm had even become disordered, and her breathing was unstable.

One lap around the track is 400 meters. After running at full speed, she had already exhausted most of her energy.

He could only run with Jiang Yingzhu at a distance, watching her run further and further away.

Just as she was feeling secretly angry and powerless.

Suddenly, Jiang Yingzhu in front of him stopped and stood still.

"Why did she stop? She must be tired. After all, she's been sprinting all the time; even an iron man couldn't take it."

"She only has high explosive power; her physical strength and endurance are nowhere near as strong as mine after special training."

"I'm completely exhausted now. I'm lucky if I can even stand up."

With these thoughts in mind, Wu Yue mustered her strength and sped up slightly, soon reaching Jiang Yingzhu's side.

There are about 100 meters left to the finish line.

Jiang Yingzhu, oh Jiang Yingzhu, the last step of a hundred steps is the hardest.

This is the principle behind the saying "flowing water does not compete to be first".

Wu Yue had already decided in her heart that when she passed by Jiang Yingzhu, who was panting and unable to run any further, she must say something.

Close, closer!

Arrived!

Wu Yue turned her head, about to speak, when she suddenly felt something was wrong. Why couldn't she hear her breathing heavily?

However, she still spoke up instinctively:
"Bamboo reflected in the river, flowing water."

"Play Two!"

Jiang Yingzhu's loud shout caused Wu Yue to freeze in her tracks.

The next moment, Jiang Yingzhu, who was about to be overtaken by Wu Yue, sprinted out at three times the speed of her.

"She's playing me!"

The moment this thought crossed Wu Yue's mind, Jiang Yingzhu crossed the finish line.

"Whoa! Champion! Champion!"

At the finish line, a large group of people from Class 1 shouted.

Jiang Yingzhu is just too amazing!
A kilometer-long area was transformed into a massive wave-making event.

The person who's pretending has no temper!
"Whoosh—whoosh—!"

Jiang Yingzhu had one arm around Mengmeng's neck and the other around her senior's neck.

He was panting heavily, sweating profusely, but had a smile on his face.

"Having fun pretending, huh?"

Li Yan stood in front of her, speechless yet amused, and held the Red Bull in his hand to her lips.

Jiang Yingzhu subconsciously opened her mouth, letting Li Yan feed her Red Bull.

Seeing this, Mei Mengqian's eyes flickered slightly, thinking to herself that she had indeed made Zhuzhu feel good.

She will participate in the competition next year!

Hua Junshu then reminded him, "Move around a bit. Don't do that again next time; it's bad for your health."

Jiang Yingzhu nodded, rubbed her face against Hua Junshu, wiped the sweat on her face, and giggled.

"Don't worry, senior, the same wave can't be faked a second time."

As the group talked, the people around them automatically muted their microphones and looked at the four of them with surprised eyes.

Then they started whispering.

Jiang Yingzhu, Mengmeng, and their senior exchanged glances, not wanting to listen, and began to stroll along the edge of the playground.

Meanwhile, we'll also be watching the next round of the long-distance race.

Yu Bing also made it to the next round.

She was the shortest among the group of six.

People around were taking care of the elementary school students and made room for the inner track.

Jiang Yingzhu caught a glimpse of Yu Bing's eager expression and couldn't help but laugh.

"Is Little Bingbing going to copy me?!"

She put on a mysterious and inscrutable expression.

"Those who learn from me will live, those who imitate me will die. She's doomed."

As if by telepathy, Yu Bing glanced over here and made a face.

I silently cheered myself on, thinking, "I will win!"
Zhu Zhu must think I'm going to copy her, but I won't!

This is not a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of wisdom.

Jiang Yingzhu, with her well-developed limbs, certainly wouldn't understand.

Only those who develop morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically, and practically in an all-round way, like her, are the most outstanding.

When the race started, Yu Bing didn't charge forward, but instead followed behind a student at a comfortable pace.

Then it gradually surpassed it.

From fifth to second, there are still two hundred meters left.

Yu Bing mustered all his strength and began his charge.

However, the person in front of her was a physical education student, and she didn't have much strength left.

Just then, we were approaching the finish line.

A boy is holding a national flag, seemingly wanting to drape it over the head of the girl who came in first place.

I don't know if it was influenced by Jiang Yingzhu, but this girl obviously wanted to put on an act as well.

It slowed down very cooperatively.

However, the person she hired didn't seem to have done this kind of thing before; his face turned bright red as soon as he appeared in front of the track.

His steps became unsteady, and he stumbled to the girl, not draping the national flag over her, but rushing towards her instead.

boom!
The two collided and fell directly to the ground.

The national flag was picked up by a hand and shaken.

Li Yan glanced at the two who seemed to be making a lot of noise, but they turned out to be complete idiots.

He gestured to Yu Bing, who was catching up, and with a flick of his wrist, draped the shawl over Yu Bing's small shoulders.

She ran a dozen or so steps and crossed the finish line.

Jiang Yingzhu stood to one side, her expression tense.

She wanted to laugh, but she couldn't.

She was first in the previous round, and is more likely to be the champion; she needs to project the image of a top player.

Mei Mengqian and Hua Junshu chuckled to themselves without any hesitation.

Yu Bing, being carried over by Yu Qingya and the others, said with great interest:
"I'm awesome!"

"Amazing, that's incredible luck!" Li Yan gave a thumbs up. This made several people who were trying not to tease the elementary school student burst out laughing.

"Hmph!" Yu Bing was dissatisfied, but since Li Yan had draped the national flag over her shoulders, she couldn't say anything.

She then boasted to Mei Mengqian, saying that Mengmeng wouldn't laugh at her.

Humans don't share each other's joys and sorrows; Xie Yingjiao only found their noise bothersome.

She glared at the boy in her class, "I told you to drape the national flag over my shoulders, what were you doing? Were you doing it on purpose?!"

"No, I didn't mean to. I wasn't paying attention. I was too nervous. I'm sorry."

The boy apologized repeatedly, feeling utterly humiliated at school and probably a laughingstock.

"Useless trash."

Xie Yingjiao took a deep breath, stood up, and went to the classroom to confide in her best friend.

I was initially thinking of giving the guy a chance because he was good-looking, but he turned out to be an utter idiot.

Yu Bing won first place and immediately posted it in the class group.

Jiang Yingzhu felt that his smug look was somewhat familiar.

She also chimed in with a few words of praise in the group chat, it was just a matter of adding one comment.

However, not everyone was interested in the class sports meet.

Zhu Gelin took advantage of the situation.

"Wu Yue, I'm sorry, Jiang Yingzhu in our class is just like that. Consider this our class's apology."

In a corner of the playground, Wu Yue was taking a walk to relax when Zhu Gelin came over with a bottle of soda water, handed it to her, and said with a smile.

Wu Yue is tall and has long legs due to long-term exercise, and her appearance is above average. However, in Zhu Gelin's opinion, these are not the most important things.

Most importantly, Wu Yue's family must be rich.

The shoes on her feet weren't the ordinary domestic Anta shoes that Jiang Yingzhu wore casually.

Instead, they are professional running shoes, specifically the Nike Air series from the international brand Nike.

It's the latest model, and a pair costs over 1,500!
There were many physical education students at the sports meet, but even more girls were spotted.

Zhu Gelin had been observing and judging the economic status of the girls on the playground by their everyday clothing.

This is one of the most expensive shoes Zhu Gelin has ever seen.

There are some in the first year of high school, but fewer in the third year.

Besides that, they had the most in their class.

Class monitor Ye Hui, newcomer Jiang Xinyue, and Yu Bing from the middle group.

He even discovered that Liang Xueyi was also wearing a pair of designer shoes!
This made Zhu Gelin somewhat doubt the other party's attributes.

Recently, Zhu Gelin noticed that Qian Jiarou, the big goldfish who could only serve and not be caught, was not paying much attention to him lately.

Therefore, they began looking for new targets.

Wu Yue is one of the candidates.

And since she had just lost the competition, and the soda water in the classroom was just sitting empty anyway, he decided to use it to invest in the future.

"Thank you!"

Wu Yue smiled and took the soda water.

He had no idea what this person was up to, but Zhu Gelin made a good first impression on him.

He was dressed in a refined manner, wearing a trench coat paired with a black and white faux two-piece shirt and dress pants.

He wore silver-rimmed blue light blocking glasses, his hair was neatly combed, and he had a refined and scholarly air about him.

Wu Yue's grades weren't good, otherwise she wouldn't have been studying physical education.

Therefore, she likes students with good grades. She studied sports, and besides liking students with good grades, she also likes students who are gentle and refined.

Zhu Gelin could be said to have perfectly captured her heart.

However, she's not a hopeless romantic.

Accepting a bottle of water from a classmate is not a burden for her.

Wu Yue took two sips of water to quench her thirst and casually asked.

"You're in Class 1 of Grade 11. I've never seen you before."

"I transferred here after the class reshuffle," Zhu Gelin said with a slight smile.

Without understanding Wu Yue's personality, he did not do anything too outrageous.

Instead, he perfectly executed actions that matched his current image as a literary genius.

"Was Wu Yue in Class 1 before?"

"No, it's not that. They used to be in Class 2, but their grades weren't good and they fell behind."

Zhu Gelin's eyes flashed, and he mentally labeled the other person as straightforward and confident.

Students find it very difficult to admit that their grades are bad, let alone say it openly in front of someone they've just met.

This is tantamount to one boy telling another boy in the toilet that my penis is short.

For the conversation to continue, you need to provide positive emotional value to the other person.

Therefore, you certainly can't just agree with what the other person says.

And we can't even mention shortness, no, we mean poor performance.

Zhu Gelin then replied in a rather straightforward tone:
"Grades are only useful in school. Wu Yue is very good at sports. I watched the school's girls' sports competition, and Wu Yue was the best in terms of grades."

Upon hearing this, Wu Yue revealed a faint smile.

"I didn't expect you to be so meticulous, but I'm just a perennial runner-up."

Zhu Gelin smiled, knowing he couldn't continue praising him, or it would be considered flattery.

We should take this opportunity to find common ground and resonance.

"How could that be? Jiang Yingzhu doesn't study physical education."

"It's because she doesn't study that it's discouraging!"

"Actually, her grades are also very good. That's how geniuses are. Ordinary people like us can only make up for it with hard work."

Li Yan withdrew his divine sense, too lazy to listen to the subsequent mutual flattery.

He lifted Mei Mengqian's wrist to check the time, and said to the three of them:

"That's about enough. Shall we go get lunch?"

Jiang Yingzhu felt a little hungry, while Mei Mengqian and Hua Junshu were fine.

They only played pitch-pot for a morning, which they considered exercise.

"Are we going to cook at home?" Hua Junshu asked. Ever since the vegetables in Li Yan's field started growing, they haven't been eating in the cafeteria much.

"Of course we'll go back to eat."

"The school gates aren't open yet," Mei Mengqian reminded them.

"It's alright, my senior and I are two mountains to keep things under control," Li Yan said.

Hua Junshu glanced at him, "Don't talk like I'm some kind of important person."

The four of them left the school gate without any problems.

Qian Jiarou was waiting for school to end on the small playground, preparing to invite Bai Shaoxuan out of school for dinner, when she was taken aback by what she saw.

He immediately turned to Meng Weiyang beside him and said:

"Let's go out too. Let's order the treasure chests and food first, then we'll talk to Young Master Xuan. Don't make him wait."

"Okay." Meng Weiyang nodded.

Just as the two were about to walk out through the gap in the still-open gate, they were stopped by the security guard.

"What are you doing? School's not over yet!"

"Then why did they leave?" Qian Jiarou frowned.

The security guard chuckled, "Little girl, don't you recognize who those are? Of course they can leave."

Qian Jiarou was furious; she had actually been mocked by a security guard.

"What are you laughing at? Open the door, or you can forget about working here!"

"Come, come, do you know who I am, grandpa?" the old security guard chuckled.

Qian Jiarou was taken aback; these must be her words.

The old security guard pulled out a small red booklet: "Third-class merit, see? You try touching me! Little girl, what level of merit do you have?"

Qian Jiarou's expression changed, and she retreated without saying a word.

He cursed inwardly, "What kind of person is this? They have this stuff and they still act like this."

Li Yan chuckled as he walked home; the old security guard was quite amusing.

In the afternoon, fun sports included tug-of-war and three-legged races for the general public.

Li Yan did not participate, nor did Jiang Yingzhu and the other two.

As dusk settled over the sky, a brisk autumn breeze swept through, and helium balloons carrying banners floated in the air, while the school leaders announced awards over the loudspeaker.

Li Yan took photos of each award winner with his camera.

Jiang Yingzhu has appeared a bit too often.

The awards ceremony and the closing speech quickly filled the afternoon.

Jiang Yingzhu had a wad of red bills in her pocket, which she showed off to Li Yan and the others.

"How about that? Aren't I amazing?"

"It's so-so, because people will only think that your uncle is the principal and that you got in through connections," Li Yan reminded her, telling her not to be too ostentatious.

After all, sweeping all the women's titles except for shot put was already quite impressive.

"You're the one who got in through connections; I got in through my own abilities."

Li Yan sighed helplessly and praised, "Fine, you're amazing. Take care of me then."

Jiang Yingzhu rolled her eyes at him and began to arrange the money.

"Let's go have barbecue later, and then we'll make some for everyone in the class."

Many people came to cheer her on during the morning long-distance run, but Jiang Yingzhu didn't pretend she didn't see them.

Mei Mengqian, who was listening nearby, reminded her, "Zhuzhu, today is Friday."

Jiang Yingzhu then realized that there was no evening self-study session today.

School's about to end, and everyone's eager to go home and have some fun.
No homework was assigned when the sports meet came, which was a rare treat.

"Okay, let's eat by ourselves."

Jiang Yingzhu didn't want to go through all that trouble; if it didn't work out today, there was always tomorrow.

After dinner, Li Yan sat upright in his studio on the third floor.

It also served as his dedicated cultivation room, where he would close his eyes and use the system to manage his cultivation of the "Five Qi Refining Spirit Method."

The so-called Five Elements Refining Spirit refers to transforming the spiritual energy within the body into the Five Elements and Five Qi to nourish and strengthen the soul.

The Five Elements Refining Spirit Method believes that a person's spirit and soul are influenced by their innate constitution, and the Eight Characters (Ba Zi) are a manifestation of this innate constitution.

The abundance or scarcity of the five elements, and their interactions of generation and restraint, are the manifestation of these phenomena.

In modern numerology terms, the Five Elements Refining Spirit Method is about harmonizing one's destiny.

Li Yan was born on the second day of the second lunar month in 2001, at 7 PM. In his birth chart, the three fire elements (寅午戌) in the earthly branches combine to form one, which indicates an excess of fire and illness. He favors metal and water, and dislikes earth and wood.

Therefore, one must transform the Qi of metal and water to nourish the destiny and strengthen the spirit, using acquired Qi to supplement innate Qi, thereby breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining and Spirit Transformation.

During this cultivation process, the only thing Li Yan could clearly perceive was the continuous expansion of his spiritual sense range.

This expansion is not merely an increase in quantity, but also a qualitative transformation.

As dawn broke and the darkness of night had not yet faded, the sky was suddenly covered by a brilliant galaxy, as if the Milky Way had been reversed.

It's as if the starry sky, tens of millions or billions of light-years away from Earth, has appeared here.

However, the entire phenomenon lasted only a moment before Li Yan covered and concealed it with his divine sense.

Countless people are still immersed in their dreams, and those who occasionally look up at the sky only think they are hallucinating from staying up all night.

Li Yan's figure flashed and he appeared in his room.

With his eyes closed, his divine consciousness suddenly coalesced in a grove of trees near East Lake in Jiangcheng.

In front of him, Old Li was fishing.

He sat cross-legged on a small stool with his eyes closed and his head bowed.

Those who know might think they're fishing, while those who don't might think they're meditating.

"At your age, with a house and a son on the right, what are you fishing for so late at night?"

Li Yan shook his head, using his divine sense to condense spiritual energy and draw out a spirit-clearing talisman and a health-preserving talisman, which landed on Old Li's forehead.

The next moment, his divine avatar reappeared in Old Li's house.

The housekeeper Ms. Fang hired was cooking when a small black ball in the living room looked at him, its round black eyes wide open.

Li Yan pointed at the black charcoal and casually drew a few protective and health-preserving talismans for Ms. Fang.

Then, he manipulated his divine avatar to wander around.

Teach some people a lesson, and save others.

When Li Yan finally opened his eyes after playing for a while, it was just lunchtime.

"It's 6:30, time to get up."

Li Yan changed his clothes. Although the breakthrough in his cultivation was novel, he was used to it.

Having observed the world for so long using the Huangting Jing, he had long since lost any ambition.

What's with all this talk of transforming into a divine being and reversing into a void? They still can't escape the Blue Star.

Looking at the vast universe, even the blue planet is just a tiny speck of dust.

Being concerned with grand and vast things is too superficial.

The old man rinsing his mouth with tea outside the building, watching the smoke rising from the neighbor's chimney; the little girl standing drowsily under the eaves, waiting for her grandmother to comb her hair in the cool morning breeze; and the pretty young woman cooking for herself downstairs—these all seem more real and endearing.

People returning home watch for fireworks, while children wait by the eaves.

Li Yan went downstairs to the kitchen to help his senior cook.

"Senior, why are you cooking breakfast this morning too?"

Li Yan asked casually.

"I did it because I wanted to."

Hua Junshu had no reason.

Li Yan nodded, not finding her perfunctory at all; the reason was meant for others to hear anyway.

I had wontons yesterday morning, but my senior classmate made something different for me today.

After the steamed rice is pressed down, roll it into a cylindrical shape with plastic wrap and then wrap it with seaweed.

After shaping, cut it into six pieces, and cover each piece with salmon slices dipped in sauce.

Each is three fingers wide.

Li Yan helped to fry the remaining rice into fried rice.

Hua Junshu finished making the last salmon sushi, picked it up, and handed it to Li Yan's mouth.

"Come and try it."

(End of this chapter)