Chapter 291: The Inauguration Ceremony

In the morning, Hao Ren went into the backyard and practiced the fundamental boxing techniques six times to strengthen his body and meridians. Last night, he unlocked two openings. By now he had 45 openings unlocked. His speed of absorbing essence was much faster than before.

However, with his current strength, he still couldn't use the higher-leveled Two Dragons Array Formation. The One-line Snake Array Formation was powerful with 80 sword energies connecting end to end. But to use Two Dragons Array Formation, he had to control 160 sword energies at the same time.

Hao Ren could imagine the enormous power of the Ten Sides Ambush Array Formation, not to mention the ultimate sword array formation, Ten Thousand Heart-Piercing Array formation, above it.

Since Little White was staying with Little Daoist Zhen for the time being, Hao Ren missed it a little. Each morning when he practiced in the small forest in the school, he would release it from the necklace and let it stroll around. He wondered if the spirit beast would abandon him...

He went back into the house and saw Zhao Hongyu making breakfast.

"Good morning, Auntie!" Hao Ren greeted her.

"Ren, you are practicing so early in the morning." Zhao Hongyu walked over with a smile, holding a platter of freshly-baked bread.

Hao Ren looked at her closely and found that her skin was more radiant, and her eyes were brighter. He was sure that it was caused by the effect of the Beauty Pill instead of a night of cultivation.

"Thank you for the Beauty Pill," Zhao Hongyu said with an elegant smile.

"No need to thank me; it was Su Han who gave it to you, and it was who Yujia made it," Hao Ren said.

Zhao Hongyu nodded slightly and didn't argue with him. As a level 2 pill, the Beauty Pill was not hard to make, and the ingredients were no secret. The only difficulty lied in the rarity of mature Beauty Flowers which were almost extinct in the mortal world. She must give Hao Ren credit for acquiring such rare flowers.

"Today is Friday. Tomorrow you can go to my studio," sitting at the table, Zhao Hongyu suggested before picking up a piece of bread and biting into it.

"Ok." Hao Ren also picked up a piece of delicious bread. Unlike Zhao Guang, Zhao Hongyu never gave people pressure. It was always pleasant and relaxing to be with her.

"They aren't up yet?" Hao Ren looked up at the second floor and asked.

"Yujia must be fatigued. As to Zi, she's a late riser," Zhao Hongyu said helplessly.

While she talked, Xie Yujia who was freshened up and dressed and Zhao Yanzi had messy hair and was in her pink pajamas walked out of their rooms.

"Good morning, Auntie!" Xie Yujia greeted her with respect.

"Mom... I'm tired today. Can I not go to school today?" Zhao Yanzi walked down the stairs listlessly.

"Not again!" Zhao Hongyu was about to scold her when she suddenly saw that Zhao Yanzi had reached level 3 of the Qi Refinement Realm.

"What is it, Mom?" Zhao Yanzi rubbed her eyes and yawned. She didn't realize that she had reached level 3 of the Qi Refinement Realm by cultivating abstractedly while she read.

It took her only two days to catch up to Xie Yujia, her 'master!'

"Nothing, nothing..." Zhao Hongyu didn't tell Zhao Yanzi in case the latter would get smug. But on the inside, she was exhilarated. If Zhao Yanzi could reach the Foundation Establishment Realm, she would select a cultivation technique and return to the path of cultivation.

Among the three of them, Hao Ren had the highest cultivation strength at Zhen-level, but Zhao Yanzi had the best talent, which meant that she could probably reach the Core Formation Realm quickly and then surpass Hao Ren.

"Hurry up with your breakfast, and I'll drive you to school." Zhao Hongyu smiled brightly at them.

Puzzled, Zhao Yanzi wondered why her mom was so happy this morning.

Minutes later, they got into Zhao Hongyu's new SUV and headed for school.

"Ren, you will go to the City Hall today, right?" Zhao Hongyu asked abruptly while driving.

"City Hall?" Hao Ren was confused at her question.

"Yeah. Today is your father's inauguration ceremony. Didn't you know?" Zhao Hongyu glanced at Hao Ren.

"Oh. Something like that," Hao Ren answered.

"You are a little forgetful. Your parents are coming back today," Zhao Hongyu smiled.

In fact, Hao Ren was a little bitter inside. He didn't know that his parents would return to East Ocean City today; his reply was his way of saving face.

Zhao Hongyu drove Zhao Yanzi to LingZhao Middle School before driving Hao Ren and Xie Yujia to East Ocean University. Then, she drove to her studio.

While he walked to the school gate, Hao Ren dialed his dad's number, but the line was busy. He then called Yue Yang, and the result was the same.

"Well! Well! You come back together after one night's absence! Did you do something naughty?" Ma Lina was passing by the school gate. When she spotted them, she immediately screamed in excitement!

Xie Yujia's face flushed instantly. She hurried over and urged, "Stop your nonsense!"

"You came back together. You can't deny it!" Ma Lina laughed so hard that Xie Yujia had to reach out and cover her mouth.

"Treat me to KFC and a 6-inch pizza from Pizza Hut, and I'll keep it a secret!" Ma Lina 'threatened.'

"Ok! Ok!" Xie Yujia was exasperated.

She glanced at Hao Ren, wondering why he would help her explain the situation.

"Well! What's this?" Sharp-eyed Ma Lina saw the small box in Xie Yujia's hand.

She grabbed it and opened it quickly. After seeing a red fragrant pill in the box, she picked it up and opened her mouth...

"Hey! Don't!" Xie Yujia almost jumped up, grabbing Ma Lina's arm.

"Haha! Look at you! I was just joking! You're so easily tricked." Ma Lina looked at the pill closely before putting it back in the box. "What is it? It smells so good!"

Relieved, Xie Yujia put the box into her pocket. "A small gift from someone."

"Oh..." Ma Lina glanced at Hao Ren. "It's from Hao Ren, right? A new brand of perfume? It smells so good. Tell me where you bought it; I want to buy one as well."

"You can't buy it," Xie Yujia answered sulkily; she was indeed scared by her friend a moment ago.

"Hao Ren, where did you buy it?" Ma Lina turned to ask Hao Ren.

"It's one of a kind." Hao Ren threw the words at her before walking toward the Academic Building.

Ma Lina looked after Hao Ren and then at Xie Yujia. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's in a bad mood." Looking after Hao Ren's lonely figure, Xie Yujia felt hurt inside.

Others might not understand him, but she knew Hao Ren was in a bad mood because of his parents.

She had admired Hao Zhonghua and Yue Yang, but at this moment, they dimmed in her mind.

When Xie Yujia and Ma Lina walked into the classroom, they saw Hao Ren sitting in the last row of the room.

"Is he angry because of me?" Ma Lina asked uneasily.

With a faint smile, Xie Yujia shook her head before sitting in the front row.

"I have big news!" Yu Rong, the new Class President, suddenly stepped onto the platform in the front of the classroom.

"The school selected some top students to attend the inauguration ceremony of the famous scientist Hao Zhonghua in the City Hall. The students qualified to attend the ceremony in our class are Xie Yujia and Hao Ren!" Yu Rong announced in a loud voice.

Hao Ren looked up immediately.

Xie Yujia also looked up in surprise.

"Each program has six spots. Besides the list the school selected, we still have one spot. Is there anyone who wants to attend the ceremony?" Yu Rong asked.

"Hao Zhonghua? Is he the biologist who is said to get the Nobel Prize?"

"Not interested. I have to have lunch at that time."

"The City Hall is a government building. I've never been there, but I guess it must be boring...."

The students talked about it, but no one wanted to go.

"Then, only Hao Ren and Xie Yujia will attend!" Yu Rong finished the announcement and returned to the back of the classroom.

Hao Ren didn't want to go. But after seeing Xie Yujia's glance from the front of the room, he thought for a moment. Then, he dropped his head on the desk and closed his eyes.

At the end of the second class, Hao Ren heard someone knocking on his desk. He looked up and saw Xie Yujia standing before him.

"Don't be so dispirited, ok?" Xie Yujia pursed her lips and grabbed his arm, pulling him up from the seat.

Zhou Liren and others watched with envy as Xie Yujia pulled Hao Ren up. They would be exhilarated if such a beautiful girl handled them that way.

"Let's go! The school bus is waiting at the gate!" Xie Yujia pulled Hao Ren out of the room.

"Envy, envy..." Looking at Xie Yujia's pretty figure, Zhou Liren almost bit his pencil in half. All the guys regretted not pursuing the former Class President before Hao Ren got her.

The blue school bus was waiting at the main gate of the school. When Xie Yujia pulled Hao Ren on board, the bus was already half full.

The person sitting in the front row was Lu Qing, the Vice-Principal of the school.

The best students seated on the bus all watched as Xie Yujia got onto the bus holding Hao Ren's hand.

Noticing their glances and especially that of Lu Qing's, she lowered her head while blushing.

At that moment, all the guys especially the third-year and fourth-year students found their hearts racing.

They were surprised that such a cute girl was one of the top students!

After observing the guy who she held, they found him quite average.

"It seems that everyone is here. Let's go!" Lu Qing, the supervisor of this trip, glanced at the back seats and shouted.