(I'm too busy today because of a business trip, so I'm asking for a day off. Here's an extra chapter as my leave notice.)
(Please forgive me, OrZ)
6:15 AM.
"Ring ring ring~"
"Smack!"
In a small villa on the second floor of Xilu City, an unidentified object wriggling on the bed slapped the alarm clock, stopping the noise and continuing to sleep.
"Ring ring ring!!" The alarm clock had rung five times by 6:35 AM.
The unidentified object on the bed reluctantly threw off the covers, sat up, turned off the alarm, and savored the warmth of the bedding for a while before squatting down and pulling out the slippers that had been kicked inside the bed last night.
"Swish~"
Warm water gushed from the bathroom faucet. Gu Qiu'er casually washed her face, then picked up a toothbrush and tidied her messy long golden hair.
The reflection in the mirror showed a deadpan expression, a daily routine that had been going on for who knows how long. Surely no student at the Xilu City Research Academy would wake up looking so energetic?
"I'm off."
Gu Qiu'er put on her shoes in the entryway, bundled up in a thick cotton coat, looking like a fluffy golden ball.
The winter sun always seemed to linger, and it was still pitch black outside.
Gu Qiu'er exhaled a puff of white mist and plunged into the darkness. Well, "
dark" wasn't quite accurate, as a row of neatly arranged soul-guided streetlights illuminated the slowly awakening city.
Gu Qiu'er easily bought a basket of steamed buns and a cup of soy milk from a roadside breakfast shop, then ate as she headed towards the academy.
The Xilu City Research Academy offered a choice between boarding and day student accommodation, a unique system in the Douluo Continent—almost all academies used boarding.
This was mainly because in the Douluo Continent, soul master academies were essentially forces, a variant of sects, only giving peripheral disciples the freedom to choose their future paths.
The Xilu City Research Academy is a purely educational institution, without distinguishing between core disciples or inner and outer academies; it is simply organized by grade level.
7:00 AM.
Gu Qiu'er sat next to Ilya, took out her Douluo Continent Classical Literature textbook, and propped it up on the desk, creating a sense of security against the mountain of books piled beside her.
"Ilya, same as always, please!"
"Remind me when the teacher comes!"
"I'm going to sleep now."
Gu Qiu'er yawned; sleeping amidst the sounds of reading in the classroom always felt especially sweet.
That damn Douluo Continent Classical Literature wasn't even as good as novels; humans always liked to use words to express those strange and wonderful thoughts.
Soul beasts were much better, straightforward and without any hidden agendas.
Of course, there were still quite a few interesting texts in the textbook, such as Yu Xiaogang's "My Life" from ten thousand years ago.
The Chinese teacher said it was quite literary, with fantastical and surreal elements, and that she could learn from the author's writing style.
Seeing this, Mei You, sitting behind her, took out her notebook and started taking notes, her eyes shining.
"The Three-Eyed Golden Lion seems to have a habit of hibernation."
"That matches the characteristics of fire and light attribute soul beasts!"
"Hibernation might be a protective mechanism developed by fire and light attribute soul beasts during their evolution."
Ilya looked at the two helplessly, sighed, and then helped Gu Qiu'er guard against a sudden attack from the teacher.
The first two classes in the morning were on Human Martial Soul Studies, an extension of biology that involved a little bit of soul science.
This class was relatively easy; most of the knowledge could be understood through memorization, only the later genetics section was more complicated.
For example, the teacher was currently discussing a topic: the mother's martial soul was Blue Silver Grass, the father's martial soul was a leopard, the maternal grandmother's martial soul was a wind chime flower, the maternal grandfather's martial soul was Blue Silver Grass, the paternal grandfather's martial soul was a leopard, and the paternal grandmother's martial soul was a spatula.
By analyzing the genetic map, adding martial soul priority ranking, ignoring mutation factors, the types and probabilities of offspring martial souls were calculated.
Gu Qiu'er was dazzled by the information and wanted to fall asleep on the spot, secretly wondering why a leopard soul master would marry a Blue Silver Grass soul master.
However, considering this was a required course and would be a key focus of the next exam, she could only grit her teeth and try to understand it.
After two periods of Human Martial Soul Studies, it was time for the long break, and the academy began its usual break broadcast, reporting some recent news from the mainland.
Gu Qiu'er and a few good friends discussed going to check out the newly opened shopping mall in Xilu City this weekend, having heard that a movie theater had opened there.
Since it was the first time anyone had ever heard of movies, and they were curious, they decided to go see one together.
Initially, there were running exercises during the long break, but Huo Yuhao later realized that this was useless, at most just training students' obedience.
It would be better to let the students rest more.
After the break, there was a period of advanced mathematics and a period of linear algebra.
Sometimes Gu Qiu'er really admired the authors of the books; how did they come up with all these theories?
Unfortunately, the original author of the book couldn't be found, and various theorems and derivations only had strange names, with no trace of their origin.
For example, regarding the Laplace transform in complex analysis, Gu Qiu'er specifically asked Di Tian if he knew anything about Laplace, since Di Tian had lived long enough.
Di Tian shrugged; how could he possibly know?
Advanced mathematics and linear algebra were the most torturous subjects.
Gu Qiu'er dared not look away for even a moment, fearing that if she looked down, a bunch of scribbles would appear on the blackboard, and she would be abandoned by mathematics forever.
Originally, they shouldn't have been learning these advanced mathematics subjects at their age, but Electrolux later overruled everyone's objections and assigned them to lower-level subjects.
In his view, this kind of mathematics was completely within their capacity.
After all, the academy provides Dream Coins for free, giving them enough mental energy to support rapid memorization and calculation, essentially providing everyone with a rapid learning buff.
After the morning's theoretical classes, those with homes go home, while those without eat and nap at the academy.
The afternoons are mostly practical classes: one on Soul Guidance Mechanics, one on Soul Guidance Arrays, one on Soul Beasts and Soul Skills, and one on combat training.
Combat training has always been Gu Qiu'er's forte; she possesses ultimate power and ultimate light and fire, and her mental energy is even stronger.
As the version of the answer from Douluo Continent, her combat strength is undeniable; she is the combat powerhouse of the Xilu City Research Academy.
7:00 PM is evening self-study time.
At this time, the class will split up: those who want to cultivate can go to the training ground, those who want to study Soul Guidance Arrays can go to the academy's laboratory, and those who want to cram for the upcoming monthly exam can study in the classroom.
Gu Qiu'er studies in the classroom; if she doesn't do well on the monthly exam, she'll have to endure the black dragon belt again, and might even have her internet access time restricted by Di Tian.
What kind of lousy design was this minor protection mechanism?! She's already so old, why is she still a minor?
Anyway, with Meiyou's guidance, Master Qiu, exhausted after a long day, dragged his body back to the cold villa.
"Click~"
Gu Qiu'er opened the door and saw Di Tian sitting on the sofa browsing the magic network.
She kicked off her little leather shoes, put on her slippers, and said,
"I'm back, Lao Deng."
"There's a parent-teacher conference tomorrow."
Di Tian's fingers paused, his face stiffening as he said,
"Haha, I'm not going."
"Last time your homeroom teacher scolded you for ages, this time it's Bi Ji's turn."
"If all else fails, send the Crimson King."
Gu Qiu'er's forehead furrowed as she said,
"I don't care!"
"According to the file, you're my guardian, you go!"
Di Tian nodded helplessly and said,
"I know." "
There's your favorite roasted twin cyclops brains on the table, have something to eat."
"I just caught them in the Star Dou Great Forest."
Gu Qiu'er happily threw down her schoolbag, ready to enjoy the delicious food. In this world, only food should not be missed.
At night, Gu Qiu'er changed into her yellow pajamas and lay on the soft bed, looking at the ceiling, her thoughts drifting back to the past.
The leisurely life in the Star Dou Great Forest seemed so close, but if Gu Qiu'er had to choose between the present and the past, she would choose the present without hesitation.
The reason was simple:
"This is what home should be like."
(End of Chapter)
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