The morning sun poured across Red Pine High, its rays catching the red-tiled rooftops and casting long shadows across the courtyard below.
Shen Hao walked through the gates with his usual calm expression, the navy uniform crisp, his bag slung casually over one shoulder.
It was his second day here, yet already things felt… different.
Not the school itself, that was still buzzing with voices, students weaving through the gates in clusters, some running to avoid the bell, others loitering near the vending machines with no sense of urgency whatsoever.
No, what felt different was him.
For the first time since stepping out of the Echoing Mountain Realm, he was beginning to adjust to the idea of this, classrooms instead of cultivation chambers, campaign posters instead of spirit beasts, noisy laughter instead of the clash of Qi techniques.
A world without constant life-and-death battles.
It felt… alien.
"Shen Hao!"
The shout cut through the morning noise like a thrown rock through still water.
Two figures approached quickly, Wei Zixin, tall and lanky with a permanent grin, and Luna, a whirlwind of energy with short hair dyed just barely within school regulations.
Wei Zixin raised a hand dramatically. "Look at him," he said to no one in particular, loud enough for half the courtyard to hear. "The mysterious transfer student, walking in like he owns the place. Ten bucks says he's got a tragic backstory."
Luna gasped in fake shock, clutching her notebook to her chest. "No, no, he's the silent type. Probably some genius at martial arts who only speaks when the plot demands it."
Shen Hao gave them both a flat look. "It's too early for this."
That only made Wei Zixin smirk wider. "See? Brooding hero confirmed."
As they crossed the courtyard toward the main building, Shen Hao noticed the explosion of posters everywhere.
Walls, doors, even pillars had been plastered overnight with campaign flyers.
Vote Li Mei for President!
Zhao Chen: The Future of Red Pine High!
Some students stood on benches shouting slogans, others handed out tiny pamphlets like they were running for national office rather than school council.
Wei Zixin gestured grandly at the chaos. "Ah yes, democracy in action. Truly inspiring."
Luna grinned at Shen Hao. "You should run."
He blinked. "…What?"
"You've got the look," she said seriously. "Transfer student, mysterious, probably good at sports, you'd win on popularity alone."
Wei Zixin nodded solemnly. "We could make campaign posters with you staring dramatically into the distance. Slogan: Vote Shen Hao. Or Else."
Shen Hao kept walking without a word.
That only made them laugh harder.
The morning classes drifted by with the kind of lazy energy only high school could manage. Teachers talked, students pretended to listen, and the campaign madness simmered just below the surface of every conversation.
Wei Zixin, of course, couldn't leave it alone.
By second period, he had somehow produced a broomstick from the janitor's closet, standing on top of a desk like it was a podium.
"My fellow students," he announced grandly, "if elected president, I promise vending machines in every classroom. Free soda for all. And we will launch Red Pine High's first space program by the end of the semester!"
The class erupted with laughter.
"Sit down before you fall and break your neck," the teacher said without looking up from his notes.
But Wei Zixin only waved dramatically, as though he had the full weight of history behind him. "Also, I promise to replace the school anthem with rap battles. It's time for change!"
"Shut up, Zixin!" someone shouted between laughs.
Luna leaned against the windowsill, smirking. "Don't listen to him. He's just afraid Shen Hao will run against him and steal all his votes."
Several heads turned toward Shen Hao instantly.
He paused mid-sip of water. "…What?"
Luna straightened, clearing her throat like an announcer. "Ladies and gentlemen, presenting Shen Hao, the mysterious transfer student. Silent, deadly, perfect hair. His platform? Cool stares and better cafeteria food."
Shen Hao gave her a look somewhere between disbelief and resignation.
The class loved it.
"Yeah, I'd vote for him."
"Does he do autographs?"
"Free snacks or not?"
Someone actually started chanting his name until the teacher threatened extra homework.
But Shen Hao wasn't listening to the chaos anymore.
His eyes had drifted to Luna.
She was laughing, head tilted back slightly, the sunlight catching in her hair as she pretended to argue with Wei Zixin over campaign slogans. Her smile was bright, easy, the kind he hadn't seen in…
Ten years.
Ten years for him, at least.
He had fought beasts the size of fortresses, faced cultivators who could shatter mountains, stood against storms that could erase armies… but he hadn't seen this.
That familiar smile, the way she shoved Wei Zixin when he said something ridiculous, the way she caught Shen Hao watching her and raised an eyebrow in challenge...
It hit harder than he expected.
The Echoing Mountain Realm had given him power, scars, techniques people would kill for. But right now, leaning back in his chair as the class roared with laughter around him, Shen Hao realized how much he had missed this world.
Missed her.
By the time lunch break came, Wei Zixin had fully committed to his fake presidential campaign, handing out torn notebook paper as "official flyers."
Luna acted as his campaign manager, dramatically promising free ice cream for everyone while also declaring Shen Hao his "mysterious rival candidate" just to embarrass him.
"Vote Shen Hao," she shouted from atop a bench, grinning down at him. "He probably knows kung fu or something!"
The crowd loved it.
Wei Zixin pretended to faint in defeat, Luna stepped on his backpack like it was a victory flag, and half the class chanted Shen Hao's name just to see his reaction.
He only sighed, shaking his head, but even he couldn't hide the faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
The courtyard looked like a festival.
By lunch break, the real student council candidates, Li Mei with her army of honor students, Zhao Chen with half the basketball team behind him, were both shouting promises from opposite ends of the steps.
"Better funding for sports and library programs!" Li Mei declared, standing straight-backed like a general before her troops.
"Air conditioning in the gym!" Zhao Chen shot back with a grin. "And free snacks after every game!"
Cheers erupted from both sides, students chanting names, waving flyers, stomping on the steps like they were at a concert instead of a school debate.
Even the teachers gave up trying to control it, standing off to the side with the weary expressions of people wondering how much they got paid for this.
But the loudest chaos wasn't from the candidates.
It was from Wei Zixin and Luna.
Zixin had somehow found a plastic traffic cone, holding it like a microphone as he stood on a bench.
"Vote for Shen Hao!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Mysterious transfer student! Will glare dramatically at all your problems until they go away!"
The crowd howled with laughter.
"His running mate," Luna announced proudly, standing on the bench beside him, "is me! Together, we promise longer lunch breaks, fewer homework assignments, and a rooftop swimming pool!"
"Shut up!" someone yelled between laughs.
"Free Wi-Fi!" Zixin added. "Everywhere! Even in the bathrooms!"
The courtyard was shaking with laughter now.
Someone shoved a flyer into Shen Hao's hands, chanting his name again just to embarrass him.
Shen Hao sighed… but for the first time in a very long time, the weight in his chest eased a little.
The corners of his mouth tugged upward, faint, small, but real.
He leaned against the window ledge, arms folded, watching the chaos below with a faintly amused expression.
Ten years in the Echoing Mountain Realm. Ten years of training, fighting, surviving.
And now this.
Luna laughing so hard she could barely breathe, Wei Zixin pretending to faint dramatically on the steps, students chanting random slogans at the top of their lungs…
It felt… normal.
Almost like home.
The noise from the courtyard roared like a storm.
Shen Hao leaned against the windowsill, arms crossed, the faintest trace of a smirk tugging at his lips as he watched the chaos unfold below.
It almost felt… normal.
Then the air changed.
No warning.
No sound.
Just pressure, heavy, crushing, absolute, dropping like a mountain from the sky.
Shen Hao's smile vanished instantly. His shoulders stiffened, eyes narrowing as instinct screamed louder than the laughter below.
His hand twitched toward the windowsill… and froze.
"Master…" His voice rang sharp inside his mind. "What is this?"
Mo Han's reply was immediate, clipped in a way Shen Hao almost never heard.
"Stay still. Don't move. That pressure… this is no ordinary cultivator."
The weight doubled.
Shen Hao gritted his teeth, his back going rigid. Qi surged on reflex, instinct demanding he fight, but even drawing breath felt like shoving boulders off his chest.
Then Lingfeng spoke, his voice oddly calm but carrying his usual edge of sarcasm.
"Oh good. Because what we needed today was someone who can crush the air itself just by showing up. Maybe next time he brings snacks, yeah?"
"Not now, Lingfeng," Shen Hao muttered under his breath, jaw tight.
The pressure kept building.
His knuckles whitened on the windowsill.
Muscles locked, shoulders trembling faintly as sweat slid down his spine.
The courtyard noise felt distant now, fading under the weight pressing harder and harder until even Shen Hao's heartbeat sounded too loud in his ears.
His eyes lifted toward the window, toward the source.
And there he was.
The figure floated in the air outside the third-floor window, coat drifting lazily in the wind.
He stood like the sky itself held him up, balanced, calm, perfectly still.
Too still.
The sunlight caught his face, human-looking, almost ordinary, yet something in the calm curve of his smile and the faint glow in his eyes made the air feel wrong.
"Master…" Shen Hao muttered, voice low. "Who is he?"
Mo Han's voice came quieter now, heavy.
"I don't know. But Shen Hao… be careful. His strength is far above yours."
The man's faint smile didn't waver as his eyes locked on Shen Hao.
The weight on Shen Hao's body spiked again, and his muscles refused to move.
His breath came shallow, hands locked on the windowsill, body frozen under that suffocating aura.
He couldn't tell if the man was friend or enemy.
Only that he had found him.
The classroom was silent now. Students stared wide-eyed at the man outside the window, but their voices, their reactions, their screams or gasps… none of it would come until the next chapter.
The figure drifted closer, sunlight at his back, smile faint, eyes sharp.
Shen Hao couldn't move at all.