This habit continued until after the college entrance examination.

So it wasn’t just Mr. Miller who was surprised when he first saw him; as he walked all the way back to his seat in the corner at the back of the classroom, he drew a trail of astonished gazes along the way.

Including a graceful figure by the window in the fourth row.

She also had long hair, but it was tied into a ponytail at the back of her head. The face revealed at the front was delicate and fair, with the exquisite beauty of a porcelain doll, and carried a serene, elegant, ethereal aura. Her pure, makeup-free face radiated a deadly, soul-stirring allure.

To Brian Carter during his high school years, this girl could have made him utterly infatuated. It wasn’t until his family was struck by tragedy that he lost the heart to care, and after high school, they never crossed paths again.

In the past, even a single extra glance from her would have made him excited and happy, but now, when he caught her surprised gaze, Brian Carter felt only calm inside. He walked past her seat with complete composure, and it wasn’t until he reached the corner of the classroom that the boy sitting on the outside stood up to let him through.

Once Brian Carter sat down, the classroom returned to its usual calm. Occasionally, someone would sneak a glance back, but at most, it was just a furtive look.

It was the boy sitting next to Brian Carter who, after sneaking a few glances at the podium, propped up his book and leaned over his desk to stare at Brian Carter with a look as if he’d seen a ghost. “Damn, did you get a haircut?”

Brian Carter glanced at the boy, his expression indifferent. That look barely counted as a response. Right now, he simply didn’t care about anything around him. He then picked up a book and started flipping through it.

“Old Guo, what’s up with you? You’ve been acting weird since school started after the Spring Festival, not saying a word all day... It’s creepy. And now you got a haircut and you’re reading textbooks?” the boy whispered again, trying to keep his voice down.

In his previous life, Brian Carter really was repressed at this time. As a teenager, his pride was at its peak, but his father had slapped him several times in front of many outsiders. He was already withdrawn and gloomy, and kept thinking about skipping school and running away from home. If it hadn’t been for his lingering attachment to that graceful figure, the thought that he might never see her again if he left was the only thing that kept him from going.

But during that period, he really was cold.

So now, Brian Carter didn’t have any such concerns. He glanced at the boy beside him again. He couldn’t be bothered to respond, but after glancing at his textbook a few times, a flood of memories suddenly surged up in his mind.

They were memories about this boy. The two of them had shared a desk for over a year; he was Brian Carter’s closest buddy in high school, named Eric Sullivan.

But after high school, they lost touch. Brian Carter had no idea what happened to Eric Sullivan. He was first taken in by his grandfather and spent half a year in the capital, then was kicked out and ended up in a place he knew nothing about—he just got on a train, fell asleep, and got off at the next stop when he woke up. He’d never even heard of that destination before, but he stayed there for years, until his grandfather died and the Guo family collapsed.

Old classmates and friends—he almost never contacted them.

As his thoughts churned, Brian Carter suddenly felt a wave of sadness. His once closest buddy... but now, sitting beside him, he felt little emotional fluctuation, as if their former friendship had faded into distant, colorless memories.

After a few moments of silence, he finally chose to take out pen and paper and wrote, “I want to study hard.”

When he slid the notebook over, Eric Sullivan glanced at it and was so shocked his eyes nearly popped out. The look he gave Brian Carter was as if he’d seen a ghost.

Brian Carter was silent for a moment longer before continuing to write, “My dad slapped me several times in front of a lot of people. I want to prove myself to him.”

With that, the boy shuddered, all his surprise dissolving into silence.

In his previous life, Brian Carter had never told anyone about this experience, but now he realized that saying it out loud could explain all his changes to others.

This sentence was enough to put everyone’s mind at ease.

Including his father and mother.

Even if his grades improved by leaps and bounds from now on, no one would ever suspect anything. At most, they’d think he’d finally been knocked into shape by his father’s beatings.

As the boy sat in silence, Brian Carter glanced at him again. These two sentences were perhaps a remembrance of their former friendship, or a tribute to the carefree, thoughtless days of youth.

Even when he stayed in that unfamiliar county in his previous life, he had few friends. After living there for two or three years, he could count the people he knew on one hand. All he wanted was some peace and quiet, but he never expected to encounter a life-changing opportunity in that small city.

Unfortunately, his end was truly stifling. He didn’t even know who killed him. Two powerful cultivators fought, and after being startled awake in a cave dwelling, he’d just managed to sneak a few peeks under the cover of an array, wondering if he’d get caught in the crossfire—then he died.

Even though he remembered the faces of the two powerhouses, he knew nothing of their names or backgrounds. Thinking back on how he’d stumbled upon that opportunity in his previous life, endured countless hardships just to see a glimmer of hope, and then, after entering the Spirit Domain, spent years treading on thin ice, fighting for his life, only to be suddenly struck down by disaster—this fate truly made Brian Carter ache with sorrow.

Chapter Four: Early Stage of Spirit Gathering

“Ring ring~”

“Thud~”

……