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"Is this really Mr. Xue?"

"Wow... isn't he just too adorable!!"

"If I could have a child like this, I'd be laughing in my coffin after I died!"

"I used to think I really disliked kids, found them annoying upon sight, but now I realize it has nothing to do with whether they are kids or not..."

"Isn't it about time for me to hold him, Miss Cao..."

One after another, the returning female students surrounded the transformed-into-a-boy Xue Jing, buzzing with excitement.

Since he had turned into a child, the imposing aura he usually carried was greatly softened by the appearance of a child, hence the girls were much bolder in approaching Xue Jing, frequently attempting physical contact.

However, Cao Sini had been protectively holding Xue Jing all this time, preventing any successful attempts.

The male students didn't join in, merely observing from the side.

He Han sighed with an envious expression, "These girls are really shameless, and Miss Cao too, acting all cold normally, but now she's finally showing her true colors, obviously she wants to force Mr. Xue to go back with her to be diligent in 'study'!"

Zhao Longtu glanced at him and asked curiously,

"Why has Mr. Xue become smaller?"

Chen Xingyan explained, "He mastered a rather special martial art that can change his body structure, causing physical transformations and such. It's not just about getting smaller; apparently he can even transform into an animal..."

Zhao Longtu scratched his head, "Is that really something martial arts practice can achieve?"

Becoming smaller was somewhat understandable; although he had not seen it in real life, he had read novels about it, with examples like the Maidens of Heavenly Mountain, so it didn't seem strange that there could be such martial arts.
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But turning into an animal seemed a bit more like fantasy... it would need some connection to the Monkey King.

However, they had become somewhat accustomed to the many strange things about Xue Jing, and it was easier to accept him turning into a child or an animal than suddenly producing cookware and food in the Steel Tree Sea. So they were not overly surprised.

Xue Jing, situated in the midst of the female students, was being held gently by Cao Sini like a tigress protecting her cub.

He had his arms crossed and his head leaning against the soft roundness of Cao Sini, enveloped by the faint scent of a young girl. Yet, he showed no expression, like an old soul in a stoic child's body.

"Do not be disrespectful to Mr. Xue," said Cao Sini coolly.

"You're the most disrespectful one here!" the girls retorted.

Cao Sini paused slightly, pretending she hadn't heard, and looked away.

"Feeling guilty, aren't you!"

"Let go of Mr. Xue already!"

Xue Jing pursed his lips, "Enough, stop arguing."

He broke free from Cao Sini's embrace and said in a childish voice,

"We have another movement task soon, so everyone better rest up now. It might not seem like much, but later on, when we have to trek every eight hours, the fatigue will accumulate, and it won't be easy to recover."

Although he appeared as a child, once he spoke, the accumulated authority from the past immediately pressed down, and the female students obediently complied with regret.

"Sini, this includes you."

Xue Jing's gaze turned to Cao Sini.

"The expectations I have of you are high. Women face innate genetic limits that often make them unsuitable for combat, but you possess the calm temperament of a strong contender."

"However, it seems you are still not calm enough."

Cao Sini lowered her head,

"I understand my mistake, Mr. Xue."

Xue Jing hummed in acknowledgment, walked over to her, and extended his right hand.

Seeing this, Cao Sini obediently crouched down to make herself shorter than little Xue Jing.

His small palm touched her head, gently patting.

"Go rest... you're going to have a hard time ahead."

Xue Jing said gently.

...

Night had fallen.

The Steel Tree Sea, though devoid of the sun, unexpectedly had a distinction between day and night similar to the real world.

According to the information Xue Jing had seen, this was because the Intersecting Boundaries themselves were a blend of the real world and the Otherworld; any Intersecting Boundaries, no matter how chaotic, would always carry traces of the real world.

The Steel Tree Sea was the same - without a sun or moon, yet it experienced the changes of day to night, due to the laws of the real world being reflected here.

At this moment, the second compulsory movement task had been released.

Anyone with even a bit of wilderness survival knowledge knew that such a pitch-dark night was extremely unsuited for movement. Humans rely on vision for most of their sensory perception, and in situations where vision is impaired, the ability to deal with dangers is greatly reduced.

However, the time limit for the compulsory movement tasks was eight hours, while the duration of the night exceeded eight hours.

Everyone was obliged to grope their way to the designated area in the dark or else face heavy point deductions.

Students from Xue Jing's class were silently making their way through the dark steel jungle.

Compared to the wide spacing used during daytime movement, the students now clustered closer together, with very short distances between one another.

No one spoke; the silence of the night exerted an intangible pressure, and the unseen dark spaces always seemed to hide dangers, rendering people speechless.

The officials had provided flashlights in the materials given to the students, yet no one was using them at this time.

Here, this wasn't truly the wilderness; the bright light from a flashlight could illuminate the path ahead, but it would also be too conspicuous in the night, attracting the attention of other classes' students.

A black cat, considerably larger than its peers, was nimbly weaving through the steel tree thickets.

Its paw pads made no sound as it trod, and its dark fur camouflaged it in the night, almost imperceptible, like a ghost.