27 A Shocking Discovery

"Hey bro, wanna join me for a game of basketball?" Zhang Dong asked Ling Yun, straight after the class was dismissed.

"Nah, it's fine. Thanks for asking though," Ling Yun replied, before returning to his books.

While History allowed Ling Yun to understand how the world had advanced and developed until today, Geography could give him an idea of the structure and layout of the earth, as well as a deeper understanding of nature and cultures here. Learning about Earth geographically would hasten his process of understanding this world.

Since he had landed himself in this situation on Earth, he would have to adapt as fast as possible in order to survive. To be able to survive and grow stronger, he had to first learn and understand as much as possible about this planet.

"Water covers more than 70% of Earth," Ling Yun stated as he immersed himself thoroughly into each and every word in the book.He was diligently discovering new facts about earth, so much so that he did not pay any attention to the teacher during the two periods of Geography lesson.

Though Earth might be at least a hundred times smaller in size than Cultivation World, it held a greater array of dazzling natural phenomena. From the voluminous oceans and statuesque mountains to the illimitable deserts and torrential rivers, Ling Yun's innate desire to explore had been awakened.

Ling Yun made marks on the map on the following places: China's Kun Lun Mountains, Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza, Brazil's Amazon Rainforest, Africa's Sahara Desert, North Atlantic's Bermuda Triangle, Somalia, as well as the North and South Poles. He had been wanting to find out about the unknown secrets behind these places. However, his main concern was still about the country of his origin, China. There was this uniquely ancient but splendid civility breeding in this country that intrigued his curiosity to know more.

Through the history textbooks, he was bewildered by that fact The Great Wall Of China was built upon altitudinous mountains by the natives a good two thousand years ago. Little did he expect this famous attraction to look so majestic, like a sleeping dragon lying across the ridgelines of mountains, stretching from the East China Sea to the Kun Lun Mountains.

If only Ling Yun was physically fit enough, he would ascend off the ground to thousands of miles above just to have a look.

Being a descendant of China, Ling Yun visualized from bits and pieces of his memory an image of a dragon that was no different from the Golden Dragon present in Cultivation World. What is with this world I'm in? How is it related to Cultivation World? He was puzzled by everything that he was learning.

Another attraction that had drawn Ling Yun's attention to was the Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang. What Terracotta Warriors? More like a bunch of hidden soldiers! Someone is practicing longevity! Ling Yun exclaimed as it took him just a while to understand what was actually going on.

Realizing both the Great Wall of China and Terracotta Army were from the Qin era and recalling about Lao Zi's <Tao Te Ching>, Ling Yun broke out in cold sweat. Together with the myths and legends from ancient China, all these explorations and connections between them were enough to make Ling Yun confident about his hypothesis.

There are definitely self-cultivators in this world, or at least there were in the past.

Others might think that these were just mythical legends, but to Ling Yun, a genius at self-cultivating, he was certain these were not as simple as they seemed to be. After all, to Ling Yun, even kicking a mountain into the ocean was an effortless feat.

He continued to make markings on more locations on his textbook. East China Sea, Wudang Mountains, Mount Longhu and even Shaolin Monastery. I shall explore these places once the time is right

He was currently not even physically strong enough to protect himself, let alone travel to those venues.

"It's the first time this semester! I've never seen him so serious about studying in class before!" Zhang Ling exclaimed, still in a state of disbelief.

"So what? Isn't it our duty, as students, to pay attention and be serious about learning in class?" Cao Shanshan uttered, as she gave a face of disregard to her best friend.

"I know, I know. For us, that might be a natural thing to do, but to Ling Yun, it must be a drastic change!" Zhang Ling turned back and looked into the eyes of Cao Shanshan.

"Don't you think that Ling Yun is trying to turn over a new leaf?" The talkative Zhang Ling added.

"Zhang Ling, I think you are smitten with him! Since you are so curious, why don't you ask all these questions yourself?" Cao Shanshan grunted as she looked at her friend displeasedly.

Zhang Ling decided to walk the talk, as she stood up and walked over to Ling Yun's table.

What? Did she just give up her best friend for that fatty over there?Cao Shanshan got so agitated that she could shred a whole jungle worth of paper.

"Hey, Ling Yun…" Zhang Ling said as she casually took the seat beside him.

"Yes?" Ling Yun replied after being disrupted from reading his books.

Before Zhang Ling could see enough from what Ling Yun was reading, he frantically closed his books and stared at Zhang Ling.

"Nothing much. Just wanted to let you know you have to treat me to dinner later," Zhang Ling cheekily told him.

"Wait... Why?" Ling Yun was stunned by Zhang Ling's sudden and direct request.

'No reason why! In case you forgot, the History representative in our class is none other than yours truly!"

Ling Yun was puzzled over the connection between being the History representative and a free meal.

"Have you forgotten about it? Mr. Wu said he will assign the history representative to tutor you," Zhang Ling giggled as she was excited about her free meal.

Ling Yun recalled that Mr. Wu would make arrangements for him and he had duly agreed to it. But, he just hadn't expected the history representative to be Zhang Ling. Not wanting to lose out on his end, Ling Yun posed a question to Zhang Ling. "Treating you to a meal is possible, but what can you help me with?"

"Well, I'm not trying to boast but my history results have never slipped out of the top three since my first day of taking the subject! Even your sister, who ranked first in the level, fared much worse than me for History. Maybe you should ask me what would I not be able to assist you with." Zhang Ling asserted with pride written all over face.

Despite the fact that his sister was a Science student rather than an Arts student, Zhang Ling's achievements convinced him to nod his head in agreement.

"But, I want to bring Cao Shanshan along," Zhang Ling added. This suggestion was immediately rejected by Ling Yun.

"But why not? She's one of the school's most beautiful girls after all." Zhang Ling proclaimed while Ling Yun stood his ground, and shook his head harder.

"Come on! Be a gentleman! Shanshan has been to many countries before and some of them include those that you had made markings on." Zhang Ling persevered with her idea. Her eyes had been quick enough to spot what Ling Yun was reading before he closed his books earlier.

Finally, Zhang Ling succeeded as Ling Yun was tempted by the information he could extract from Cao Shanshan during the meal. "Alright, that is possible too. But I have a condition. Please make sure she keeps her princess-like attitude to herself and not bring it wherever she goes," Ling Yun warned his soon-to-be tutor.

"Fantastic! It'll be at Savant's Restaurant across the school then. Can you go and make a booking?" Zhang Ling asked of Ling Yun urgently before he could have a change of heart. Realizing that Ling Yun could not even afford a phone of his own, Zhang Ling took the responsibility of booking the table herself.

After successfully booking a table, Zhang Ling made her way back to her own seat, only to receive death stares and an angsty look from her best friend.

"So you've finally decided to come back after so long?" Cao Shanshan mentioned sarcastically.

"Shanshan, he has already given in for your sake. Must you be like this?" Zhang Ling remarked, looking tenderly into the eyes of the Cao Shanshan.

"Huh? For my sake? What's going on?" Shanshan wondered, curious and confused simultaneously.

Zhang Ling smiled at her, before explaining herself. "Okay, so this is the full story. Mr. Wu wants me to tutor Ling Yun in History by making full use of his talent in memory work. Hence, I've taken this opportunity to knock a free meal out of him".

"Are you serious? How can you do this despite knowing his family has financial difficulties? As classmates, we are supposed to help one another, not take advantage of each other!" Cao Shanshan raged, as she was disappointed by her best friend's actions.

"Hello, my dear, do you know what you are saying right now? Have you forgotten the reason you are famished now? He was the one that denied us of our lunch. Now, I wonder, who is the one falling for him!" Zhang Ling rebutted. "And to add on, didn't he take your thousand dollars just now? We might as well eat your money's worth then! You two can also take this chance to reconcile."

As the words exited Zhang Ling's mouth like bullets from a machine gun, Cao Shanshan was appeased, although at the same time, still being rather displeased for having been dragged into this matter by her best friend. Her alluring face blushed as she realized she had been repeatedly speaking up for Ling Yun unknowingly.

She went on to take a peek at Ling Yun.