After school in the afternoon, at the school gate.
"Huh? You brought two bottles of wine?"
Xu Zhaoting looked at Wang Teng, who had just parked his electric scooter. Wang Teng was carrying a bag, and inside were what looked like beer-shaped bottles.
"Here, take one. One bottle each."
Wang Teng took the wine out, handed one bottle to Xu Zhaoting, kept the other for himself, and casually tossed the bag aside.
"This wine of yours…"
Xu Zhaoting wasn't stupid. He knew what red wine was, and just from the bottle's packaging alone, he could tell—
It definitely wasn't cheap.
"I've got too much of it stored at home. I don't really drink much myself, so it'd just go to waste. Might as well use it as a gift."
"Alright, stop overthinking it. Let's go—otherwise Old Zhang's going to start calling."
Wang Teng didn't linger.
After school, there were quite a few people passing by, so he headed toward the teachers' dormitory building.
Xu Zhaoting licked his lips.
This kind of gift-giving felt oddly novel to him.
The value was clearly excessive, yet the quantity was just right.
After all, they were going for a big meal—bringing a bottle of wine was perfectly reasonable.
Seeing Wang Teng already walking ahead, Xu Zhaoting hurried to follow, thinking to himself that this was probably what life looked like when you could lie around and earn ninety thousand a month.
Truly…
Enviable.
Knock—knock knock—
"404… that should be it. This is the place."
Following the directions Old Zhang had sent, the two quickly found the room.
Moments later, the door opened.
Old Zhang came out wearing an apron, spatula in hand, and a wave of fragrant aromas spilled out with him.
"Perfect timing! Come in, come in!"
He warmly ushered them inside.
Xu Zhaoting smiled stiffly.
"Old Zhang… there seem to be quite a lot of people here."
Wang Teng stepped in as well.
Good grief—Old Zhang's longtime rival, Old Xue, was here too. And from his class, Mu Bai and Zhou Min were also present.
"Haha! More people makes it livelier!"
Zhang Jianguo's face was practically split from smiling.
So far, Old Xue's class only had Mu Bai capable of releasing magic—by comparison, Zhang Jianguo's prospects looked exceptionally bright.
Once inside, Xu Zhaoting was the first to greet them.
"Hello, Teacher Xue."
"Hello."
Wang Teng followed up with a greeting as well, pausing briefly to glance at Mu Bai.
The magic energy fluctuations around him were indeed quite solid.
"Alright, sit, sit. No need to be formal—this is private time."
Seeing Xu Zhaoting and Wang Teng, Old Xue immediately understood.
Zhang Jianguo was showing off.
Though he felt a bit sour inside, he took it in stride.
Teachers often had close relationships. A bit of rivalry now and then was just entertainment.
The kind of lifelong grudges where people never spoke again were extremely rare.
After all, they all worked under the same roof—and everyone was an adult.
Mu Bai felt slightly uneasy.
Careless—being brought along to dinner by his homeroom teacher was one thing, but he hadn't brought a gift.
Seeing Wang Teng and Xu Zhaoting each carrying a bottle of red wine, he immediately realized what he'd overlooked.
Now it was too late.
He suddenly looked like someone freeloading a meal.
Zhou Min, on the other hand, was composed and graceful. She politely fetched two sets of bowls and chopsticks and set them out for Wang Teng and Xu Zhaoting.
The table was already covered with side dishes.
At the center sat a massive hotpot, seafood piled up like a small mountain.
Before long, the meal began.
Old Zhang brought out his treasured baijiu and poured everyone a round.
"Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
"Bottoms up!"
…
Wang Teng sat beside Xu Zhaoting and watched him down a large mouthful of strong liquor.
His face visibly reddened.
This guy isn't going to pass out after two cups, is he…?
"Speaking of which, this year's actually better than previous ones."
"Each class more or less has geniuses who can release magic now."
"Old Xue, your class has greater potential than mine."
Zhang Jianguo spoke with high emotional intelligence, deliberately avoiding mention of how many people in his own class could release magic.
Old Xue's class had many Fire Element students, plus Mu Bai's Ice Element backing it up—their potential was obvious.
Old Xue understood immediately and laughed.
"How could it compare to Lightning? That's the magic everyone envies."
"Not to mention, you've also got a Psychic Element."
"Even I'm tempted to swap classes with you."
"Oh, not at all, not at all. I just got a good start—pure luck."
As cups were raised and lowered, the two homeroom teachers warmed up the atmosphere, and conversation quickly flowed.
After drinking, Xu Zhaoting seemed to activate some kind of social-butterfly mode.
Holding his cup of baijiu, he toasted everyone in turn, compliments spilling nonstop.
"Old Wang, don't just drink!"
"That… what was it… One-Thought Star Track of yours—any tricks? Share some with us."
"Let us learn something too…"
With his left hand holding a cup and his right arm draped around Wang Teng's shoulder, Xu Zhaoting looked like they were sworn brothers.
Anyone who didn't know better would think they were extremely close.
The moment he said that, everyone else turned to look—especially Zhou Min and Mu Bai.
One-Thought Star Track?
They'd never even heard of it.
It sounded incredibly advanced.
Even Old Xue shot a surprised glance at Zhang Jianguo.
Seeing Zhang Jianguo's calm expression, it was obvious he already knew.
"Teacher, what is One-Thought Star Track?"
Mu Bai asked eagerly.
Old Xue pondered briefly, then decided to give them a bit of advanced magical knowledge.
"It's normal that you don't know this."
"We all know that to release magic, you must control Star Particles, move them to designated Star Track nodes, and finally connect them to form a Star Track."
"One-Thought Star Track is an extremely advanced technique."
"It requires extraordinarily proficient control over Star Particles—allowing the Star Track to be completed instantly."
"One-Thought Star Track is also known as Instant Casting."
"In combat, being faster by even one second is decisive."
"Instant casting?"
"Unless your opponent can also instant cast, there's basically no fight at all."
"Hiss—"
"Hiss—"
Both students stared at Wang Teng in shock.
They hadn't expected this quiet, unassuming person to have reached such a level.
No wonder even Xu Zhaoting looked like this.
Instant casting!
At their current stage, barely managing to release magic at all was already an achievement.
Wang Teng rotated the wine glass in his hand and swept his gaze around.
Seeing everyone focused on him made him feel slightly lightheaded with pride.
"As for techniques…"
"There are some."
He took a sip and set the glass down.
Xu Zhaoting stopped shaking him.
Zhou Min and Mu Bai stared intently.
Even the two teachers subtly leaned in.
"First, the key to controlling Star Particles is Spiritual Energy—that's something everyone already knows."
"The amount of Spiritual Energy directly affects Star Particle control."
"With limited resources, the key point becomes how to conserve Spiritual Energy."
"When we meditate, we can stay mentally clear for long periods."
"But if we don't meditate, after a full day—or even just half a day—we start feeling exhausted and sleepy."
"That's the invisible loss of Spiritual Energy."
"If you can reduce that loss, you can greatly extend the time you're able to control Star Particles."
At that point, Wang Teng stopped.
This was a small trick—something anyone could do, and something genuinely useful.
Anything deeper than that?
He wasn't generous enough to share.
The two teachers' eyes lit up.
With their experience, they immediately grasped the underlying logic behind his explanation.