Chapter 19 Morning Exercise

From then on, Jiang Xiao joined the Honey Badger team and started his day with their morning exercises.

The little beauty Liu Ke naturally became the substitute. The girl didn't seem to have adjusted her mindset. In fact, she was against getting up early to exercise.

If it weren't for Elena dragging her out, this girl would never have come out for training voluntarily.

Everyone has their own way of life. Liu Ke wasn't particularly interested in the special identity of an Awakened.

Even with her decent aptitude, she planned to be an ordinary person after graduation, living a normal life, perhaps absorbing a couple of practical Star Techniques for self-defense. That would be a good choice.

For Jiang Xiao, girls like that didn't appeal to him much. Only the fiercely ambitious female Awakened could pique his interest, like Xia Yan, or Han Jiangxue.

But Honey Badger Number Two liked little beauties like Liu Ke. Although she was a bit capricious, she was undeniably adorable, especially when she smiled, revealing those two little dimples. Honey Badger Number Two was already hopelessly drunk on those dimples.

After running two laps, Liu Ke stopped again, sitting on the rubber track, watching the others continue to run in a leisurely manner.

With Jiang Xiao's addition, Liu Ke had even more reason not to train. She finally didn't have to make up the numbers for Elena's sake.

In fact, it wasn't that Liu Ke wasn't motivated. On the contrary, she was very persistent and worked hard for her dreams.

Liu Ke really didn't want to be an Awakened. She especially loved painting and wanted to get into the China Academy of Art in the future. It was a very good university, which was why she worked so hard in her academic classes.

As a self-proclaimed art student, her high school entrance exam scores were even in the top one hundred in her hometown, which meant she could get into the top classes.

According to her original plan, she would eventually enter a prestigious university and pursue her artistic life.

But then she awakened her Star Map, and her parents forced her to leave her small town, afraid that she would spend her time at home chatting about life and art with a bunch of ordinary kids. So, her parents sent Liu Ke directly to a top middle school for cultivating Awakened, starting her boarding school life.

Alas, life is truly unpredictable.

So many children cried and clamored to become Awakened, but Liu Ke didn't want a Star Map at all.

Liu Ke’s rest was all it took, Honey Badger Number Two felt like he had an audience, and ran faster and faster...

Give him wings, and he'd take off.

"Are you and she friends?" Jiang Xiao asked Elena beside him while running.

"Yeah, we were classmates in junior high. We both came from small places. We weren't that close before. She was a straight-A student in the front row, and I was always in the back. After coming here, we found out we were in the same class, and we naturally became friends," Elena said. She didn't complain about Jiang Xiao disrupting her breathing rhythm, and instead, she introduced them in a friendly manner.

It seemed she wanted Jiang Xiao to quickly integrate into the team.

After all, the class selection was the day after tomorrow, and the competition was the day after that.

"Your class must be seated by height, right?" Jiang Xiao looked up at Elena and asked with a smile.

"Hehe, she’s seated by grades, and I’m seated by height," Elena patted Jiang Xiao on the shoulder. "You're such a smooth talker."

"How did you two end up coming here? Doesn't your hometown have Awakened academies?" Jiang Xiao looked at Elena beside him. From the side, her features were even more defined, with a high nose bridge and deep-set eyes, giving her a sculpted look.

"There are some, but they're not as good as here. My hometown is a city near Russia, Biancheng Fincheng, have you heard of it?" Elena turned her head and smiled brightly. "My parents met there. There are a lot of mixed-race people like me there."

"Fincheng?" Jiang Xiao's footsteps slowed down.

"Hmm?" Elena slowed down, puzzled. "What's wrong?"

"Is there a Dragon's Nest there?" Jiang Xiao asked softly.

"Uh, there's supposedly one, but I've only heard about it, never seen it," Elena replied casually.

The Dragon's Nest was where Jiang Xiao's never-before-seen parents had disappeared.

"Never seen it, huh?" Jiang Xiao mused.

"Of course. I live in the city. That other dimension is located on the border between the two countries. If I wanted to go see it, it would be considered illegally crossing the border." Elena covered her mouth and giggled. "Our country has a border gate, and Russia has one too. And the border between the two countries is just a line drawn on the map. In reality, there's a large wilderness area between China and Russia, leaving a large buffer zone. If you dare to sneak out, you might find a few guns pointed at you from some mountain."

Jiang Xiao's expression was a little strange. This girl...

She was saying "our China" and "Russia", which sounded odd.

Elena said with a smile, "And you can't sneak out anyway. The border guards aren't just for show."

"Our city isn't sealed off. People still live as usual, so..." Elena shrugged. "I've only heard that there's a Dragon's Nest over there. I've never seen it myself."

"Oh, thanks." Jiang Xiao sighed, wondering when he would have the strength to explore the Dragon's Nest.

Fincheng was the closest city to the Dragon's Nest. Jiang Xiao wanted to ask the locals for information, but the Dragon's Nest was in the buffer zone on the border between the two countries. He figured even if he asked everyone in Fincheng, no one would have seen the Dragon's Nest.

Elena's eyes darted around, and she smiled. "I can't take you to the Dragon's Nest, but I can take you around the city. Our city is small, but it's clean and beautiful. There are a lot of European-style buildings, and I can introduce you to some Russian girls. How about it? Want to visit my home during winter break?"

"No need for introductions. I'll visit your home if I get the chance," Jiang Xiao refused repeatedly. Looking at Elena's face, he felt he already knew a Russian girl.

Although this girl's heart was red, her skin was white. Unless you knew her well, everyone would mistake her for a foreigner.

Thinking of this, Jiang Xiao suddenly felt hungry and wanted to eat steamed buns.

White-skinned, large filling, bursting with oil in every bite, paired with a bowl of hot soy milk.

Tsk, tsk, just thinking about it was wonderful.

In the blink of an eye, it was 6 o'clock. The five-person team immediately set off for the school cafeteria. Military training started with morning exercises at 6:30 sharp, but for the early risers, they were already very hungry.

Fortunately, the school was still humane and opened at 5:30.

In fact, the students in the second and third years of high school were even more diligent than these military training kids, as could be seen from the number of people on the playground.

Jiang Xiao followed the others to the cafeteria. He wanted to pay in cash, but Honey Badger Number One insisted on swiping his card.

Jiang Xiao enjoyed a delicious soy milk and steamed bun, secretly planning to wash his sheets and bedding when he got back, and then go to the cafeteria office after eight o'clock to get his meal card.

As Jiang Xiao was biting into his steamed bun, two girls walked into the cafeteria.

Undoubtedly, these two tall girls were the focus of everyone's attention.

In the cafeteria, except for the cute first-year freshmen, almost all the students knew these two, so no one dared to approach them.

These were two "school bully"-level figures, each stronger than the other, the kind of people everyone looked up to.

Xia Yan took a bowl of millet porridge and a plate of pickles, picked up a red bean cake impatiently, and just as she turned around, the red bean cake in her cherry lips "plop" fell onto the plate.

Han Jiangxue said unhappily, "Pay attention to your image."

"Look, isn't that Little Pi!?" Xia Yan ignored her and nudged Han Jiangxue's arm, pointing to a distance.

"Hmm?" Han Jiangxue followed her gaze and saw Jiang Xiao eating steamed buns with relish. Across the small table, a youthful and beautiful foreign girl was propping her chin up, watching Jiang Xiao wolf down his food. Her short brown hair was bathed in sunlight, taking on a light halo, extremely beautiful.

Xia Yan clicked her tongue in amazement. "How long has it been!? We just dropped him off last night, and he's already got a partner!?"

"Maybe... she's a teammate he found? We did tell him to find teammates as soon as possible." Han Jiangxue said uncertainly, "That pair of twins over there looks very imposing. They might be teammates that Little Pi found."

"Oh, look, look, he's feeding her a steamed bun!" Xia Yan stomped her foot, watching Jiang Xiao feed the girl a steamed bun.

Han Jiangxue's eyes narrowed. "After the morning class, I'll go find him."

Over there, Jiang Xiao looked at Elena in front of him and said, "How's the taste? Convinced yet? You have to dip steamed buns in garlic paste. Aren't you a native of Beijiang?"

Elena covered her mouth, trying to avoid letting Jiang Xiao smell the garlic when she spoke, and said vaguely, "I... I still prefer to eat it with Lao Gan Ma."