Ning Xuan smiled politely at Teacher Qu but didn't speak. She wasn't interested in cooking classes, but she had to eat, and she had no desire to consume those disgusting nutrient solutions.
Unfortunately, Aunt Wu wasn't around, and neither was Shen Yong'an. There was no one to cook for her.
"This afternoon's class is the hands-on cooking session. Please be on time!" After speaking, Teacher Qu gathered the ingredients and left the classroom with her robotic assistant.
"Ning Xuan, what's your Spiritual Power Value?"
"Ning Xuan, how did you form a Contract with Vice Admiral Chen?"
Many classmates crowded around Ning Xuan, all asking questions at once.
"Quick, look! Look at this video!" one of the students exclaimed, turning on the classroom's electronic screen. "It's a video from the school's internal network, posted by someone in the Fighting Department!"
The video showed Luo Meng—the same one who had arrogantly warned Ning Xuan to stop pestering him—being knocked to the ground with a single punch. He had just struggled back to his feet when a kick sent him flying. Throughout the entire fight, he was constantly getting knocked down, completely unable to fight back.
"Tsk, tsk. Wow, look at how badly Luo Meng is getting beaten!"
"I thought they said that after Luo Meng was promoted to B-level, his Comprehensive Combat Power ranked in the top three of the Fighting Department. How is he getting thrashed so badly?"
"Have you seen who his opponent is?"
"Who is it? Wow, he's so handsome! The way he kicks is so mesmerizing!" one of the students watching the video exclaimed.
"That's Vice Admiral Chen Nan! He's really the new instructor in the Fighting Department! He's gorgeous! I've made up my mind. I'm taking the Fighting Department elective this afternoon for him," another classmate said, looking completely smitten.
"Hey, aren't any of you curious why Admiral Chen Nan is targeting Luo Meng like this on his very first day of class?" Hu Tao chimed in from the side, eager for gossip.
"Why? Pfft, what do you mean, 'why'? Watch what you say! As an instructor, it's his duty to guide a student's training. How can you call that 'targeting'? Luo Meng should be grateful to Instructor Chen, right, Xuanyuan!" This classmate from the cooking class had also witnessed Luo Meng confronting Ning Xuan earlier. 'Is it possible,' they wondered, 'that Instructor Chen is justifiably teaching Luo Meng a lesson to stand up for Ning Xuan?'
'What kind of insane luck does Ning Xuan have? Forming a Contract with such a powerful young officer... how did she get so damn lucky?'
'Seeing Luo Meng beaten black and blue made Ning Xuan feel a little more satisfied with Chen Nan. Although she didn't know his motives for changing his mind and unsealing his personal information, she knew one thing for sure: if it hadn't been for him today, Ning Chuchu would have likely had her forcibly taken away.'
'He was even willing to swallow his pride and kneel before her in front of everyone, giving her an incredible amount of face. For now, his actions seemed quite sincere.'
'However, they were two strangers who had never met, with no emotional foundation whatsoever. For him to be willing to go to such lengths on their very first meeting... he must want something from her.'
'Since he's after something, his true intentions will inevitably be revealed. I'll just wait and see.'
Ning Xuan paid little mind to her classmates' words, whether they were born of admiration, jealousy, or some other intent. She gave no clear answers, casually deflecting a few comments from her amped-up classmates before propping her chin on her hand, lost in thought.
She appeared to be spacing out, but in reality, fine threads of spiritual power were circulating within her Spiritual Sea in a specific pattern. This was a Cultivation Secret Manual called the *Soul Nourishing Scripture*, which could temper her Divine Sense and stabilize her Sea of Consciousness. Divine Sense and spiritual power were one and the same, and since she started practicing yesterday, she had discovered that cultivating the *Soul Nourishing Scripture* could raise her spiritual power.
In truth, her Divine Sense had originally been immense, powerful enough to have condensed into a solid form long ago. However, it had been severely damaged when she crossed the space-time rift. Compounding this, she had entered a new, fragile body. To keep this body from collapsing, her Divine Soul had sealed away ninety-nine percent of its power. It was only after being modified by the Ghost-faced Red Vine that her body and Divine Soul achieved a precarious balance.
Ning Xuan skipped the afternoon's hands-on cooking class. She spent the entire time cultivating the *Soul Nourishing Scripture*. Although she didn't get her Spiritual Power Value checked, she could clearly feel her spiritual power increasing at a rapid pace.
When Ning Chuchu had attacked her with spiritual power that morning, she'd noticed it then. Ning Chuchu's spiritual power seemed much greater than her own, but its actual offensive strength was low. It was scattered and chaotic, like a haphazardly assembled composite—all appearance and no substance. Ning Xuan's spiritual power, on the other hand, though seemingly weak, was incredibly dense, resilient, and unbreakable.
With the rapid growth of her spiritual power, Ning Xuan could clearly sense her five senses and awareness becoming sharper. The circulation of qi and blood throughout her body was smoother, and her entire frame felt lighter.
When the last class of the afternoon ended, Chen Nan found Ning Xuan. The moment he entered the study hall, he sensed a spiritual power that felt incredibly pleasant to him. This... this seemed to be Ning Xuan's spiritual power. It was this very power he had sensed that morning that had made him resolve to unseal his personal information. He never imagined that in less than a day, her spiritual power would have increased so significantly.
Chen Nan felt his own body trembling. He had sensed it that morning: his Contractor's Spiritual Power Level couldn't be D-level. It had to be at least early C-level. But now... it felt like it had grown even more.
If the initial test results weren't wrong, it meant his Contractor had advanced from D-level to C-level in just two days. Although the difficulty of leveling up spiritual power below B-level was far less than at the High Levels, advancing an entire level in just two days was still unthinkable.
"Chen Nan pays his respects to Lord Contract Master!" Chen Nan walked up to Ning Xuan and, once again, properly knelt.
Ning Xuan finished a full cycle of her cultivation before stopping the technique. She glanced at the black seed, faintly visible beneath the skin of her palm. It was her Spirit Plant, the Ghost-faced Red Vine. She had just been trying to awaken it, but sadly, there was no response.
After cultivating all day with only a standard student meal for lunch, she was hungry now.
"Do you know how to cook?" Ning Xuan asked.
Chen Nan looked up at her, his expression blank, then shook his head. "I do not, Contractor."
"Neither do I. Let's go eat first, then," Ning Xuan said, already planning to go out and see if she could find something tasty.
'Although she didn't have any money in her account, judging by Chen Nan's appearance, he surely wasn't so broke that he couldn't afford a meal.'
"Yes!" Chen Nan responded respectfully.
Ning Xuan couldn't help but steal a few more glances at him. If she hadn't seen the video of him fighting like a ferocious lion during the Fighting Department's practical training, she would have actually believed this Contractor of hers was a docile little lamb.