"I hope you can prove with your actions that you are not a giant in ideals but a dwarf in action."
"You'll know that when you grade my homework."
Ratio heard it, but didn't turn around. He got on the track without looking back and began to focus on his workout.
This meeting was an accident; neither Bai Luan nor Ratio had anticipated it.
Bai Luan watched Ratio run with perfect form, silently noting his posture.
He decided to correct his own running posture later, based on Ratio's.
This counts as saying hello, right?
Bai Luan stopped thinking about it and resumed the remaining sets he hadn't finished earlier.
Soon, the remaining sets were completed.
After finishing, Bai Luan wiped his sweat, looked at Ratio, who was diligently exercising, and bowed from a distance before leaving.
As he was about to walk home slowly, his phone vibrated twice. Bai Luan opened his phone.
He found that his textbooks had arrived.
Bai Luan took out the pink Anywhere Door, gripped the doorknob, and opened it. On the other side of the door was the room where he lived.
He stepped inside, closed the door casually, and then shut the Anywhere Door.
He didn't notice that this scene was watched by Ratio behind him.
After Bai Luan closed the pink wooden door, it actually vanished from its spot.
Spatial teleportation? Or some other technology?
Someone who can be a genius's assistant is indeed not simple.
Bai Luan, unaware of what had happened, put away the Anywhere Door, then opened his room door and took in the delivered textbooks.
The textbooks for fifty-two courses were piled up like a small mountain; some were quite thin, while others were as thick as dictionaries.
Bai Luan sat on a chair, looking at the stack of books piled to one side.
It would definitely take a lot of time to read them all.
Bai Luan reached out and randomly picked up a book.
But I don't lack time.
In the blink of an eye, he was already in the Little Black Room.
Bai Luan opened the book in his hand and began to read.
"Are you planning to burn the midnight oil?"
"I've fallen behind on some courses and need to catch up."
Bai Luan's gaze briefly shifted from the book to Herta.
"I can't lose face for you outside."
"Instead of consulting this genius, you came here to read books?"
Herta walked over, casually picked up a book from the pile, and lost interest after flipping through a few pages.
She sat on the desk, looking at Bai Luan.
"Could it be that you think this book is better than this genius?"
"You're busy, at least the real you is busy. Besides, if I ask too many questions, I'll be exposed. My secret can be told to you, but in reality, I can't be honest."
"That guy's (system's) requirement?"
"Something like that."
"Boring. You might as well try asking me in reality."
"It's the same."
Bai Luan looked up at Herta, who was sitting on the desk in front of him, and said with a smile:
"Don't I have you here?"
"You're quite bold in here."
Bai Luan shrugged and said:
"Of course I'm bold, I tell you everything in here."
"Then don't you think this genius might not necessarily teach you? After all, I am Herta."
"So, to avoid consulting you, I came here to work hard on my own."
Bai Luan averted his gaze and continued to read the book in front of him.
Finally, as Herta's smile faded slightly, he added the last sentence:
"To stand shoulder to shoulder with you."
"Hmph… boring."
Herta got off the desk, dropping the book in her hand.
"I'm not staying with you anymore."
"Then thank you, Miss Herta, for accompanying me until now~"
Bai Luan picked up the discarded book, placed it aside, and decided to read it next.
Time in the Little Black Room flowed continuously, yet imperceptibly.
Besides the pile of books he was gradually finishing, the only other thing that made Bai Luan feel the passage of time was Herta in the Little Black Room.
Every time Bai Luan glanced at her, she was doing something different.
For example, throwing super powerful bombs into the void (she could actually create super bombs here, a genius!), and then observing the void's reaction.
Sometimes, she would jump into the void herself, only to be pulled back by the system.
Or manipulating an old Herta Puppet body to… spin in circles.
Bai Luan picked up his phone and started secretly filming the spinning Herta Puppet.
Ah, he was discovered.
Herta pointed at him with her Great Desolate Imprisoning Heaven Finger.
Bai Luan raised both hands, signaling his surrender.
His phone vibrated twice.
Herta: Why are you secretly filming?
Bai Luan: Documenting a beautiful life.
Herta: What's so good about filming this?
Bai Luan: Whatever a beautiful girl does, people will watch.
Herta: But you can't take it out.
Bai Luan: I wouldn't show this precious recording to anyone else either.
Herta: Oh.
Herta: Quite protective of your food, aren't you.
Herta: Send me a copy of the recording.
Bai Luan: OK~
Bai Luan smiled and put down his phone.
Charging complete, time to continue studying.
Who knows how much time had passed, but he finally finished deeply reading all the content of all the books once.
Bai Luan in the real world stretched, let out a long yawn, glanced at the books in front of him, and closed them.
He picked out a few books he would need tomorrow from the pile, placed them aside, and then lay down on the bed.
Aha, peeking: Bai Luan achieved an excellent score of 4 seconds in the challenge of persistent reading. You should try the challenge too!
Bai Luan lay on the bed, feeling the knowledge brimming in his mind, and couldn't help but sigh that Truth Father's teaching was truly extensive.
Mastering the books to this extent should be barely enough for him to keep up with the courses, right?
He was tired, it was time to rest.
Bai Luan set three alarms to ensure he had enough room for error.
He glanced at the time again; it was only nine in the evening.
Ignoring how long he had stayed up in the Little Black Room, his sleep schedule was truly impeccably healthy.
Bai Luan closed his eyes and opened the book in his mind. Every paragraph, every knowledge point, every image on every page appeared in his mind.
This was the result of fiercely memorizing knowledge without regard for time cost.
Even if Bai Luan didn't bring his books to class tomorrow, it wouldn't affect his ability to attend class at all.
Learning is always tedious, and Bai Luan quickly fell into a deep sleep.
This had a lot to do with him studying for too long in the Little Black Room; you can't expect a student to still study diligently after coming out of a cram school.
The next day.
Bai Luan woke up before his alarm, checked the time on his phone.
He had planned to go to class at seven, but he woke up at five.
This is what alarms are like: if you don't set one, you oversleep; if you do set one, you wake up earlier than it.
Sometimes by two or three minutes, sometimes by one or two hours.
The biological clock is truly wonderful.
Bai Luan sighed a couple of times, then got up.
He went to bed early, so even though he woke up early, he wasn't sleepy; on the contrary, he was very alert.
After finishing his morning routine, Bai Luan decided to tackle his self-discipline for the day.
He had to run anyway.
Bai Luan walked out the door.
The sky wasn't fully bright yet, but the road wasn't dark.
The streetlights had been on since dusk, illuminating the surroundings brightly even now.
It seemed the university was the first to use the generators developed by Truth Father; they didn't seem to care much about electricity bills.
Bai Luan casually bought two steamed buns and a cup of soy milk for breakfast, eating as he walked.
Although it was very early, he already saw some students walking along, yawning and carrying immense resentment.
At this time… could it be medical students having early morning classes at six?
Hmm… or perhaps they just finished late self-study?
Regardless, this resentment was enough to sustain several Evil Sword Immortals.
Bai Luan quickly finished his buns and soy milk, wiped himself clean with a tissue, and then threw the trash into a bin near the stadium.
He walked into the stadium, found a random spot, and began to warm up.
After warming up, he got on the track and started his daily slow jog.
There was still plenty of time, no need to rush.
Suddenly, a figure swept past Bai Luan.
It was Professor Ratio.
He didn't greet him, but merely glanced at Bai Luan as he passed, then unceremoniously overtook him and ran ahead.
Watching Truth Father's back, a flame named 'man's competitive spirit' ignited in Bai Luan's eyes.
He quickened his pace and chased after him, but didn't try to overtake; he simply closed the distance with Professor Ratio, falling slightly behind.
Ratio looked at him, and Bai Luan smiled, waving in greeting.
Thank you, Truth Father, for breaking the wind for me.