Chapter 296 - 268: Lu Tianjiao
After bantering with Fatty An for a while, Li Qian finally hung up on the guy, who was playing dumb.
After hanging up, Li Qian continued cleaning. Then he started setting out some daily essentials. His mother, Han Yuqing, had already prepared them for him and stored them in the Crystal Necklace.
Once he had the essentials in place, the apartment was mostly set up. He could just pick up anything else he was missing as needed.
He checked the time—it was nearly dusk. After a moment of thought, he decided against calling Fatty An and the others and left the dorm.
He had originally planned to call Fatty An and Li Lanying to ask them out for a meal. However, he figured they were probably still settling into their dorms and wouldn’t have the time. Besides, they might be busy bonding with their new roommates, so he dropped the idea.
He had just opened his door, planning to go out and find a place to grab dinner, when the door next to his—room 307—suddenly opened as well.
Li Qian instinctively glanced over and saw a familiar face. The person living next door was none other than the man in white he had briefly seen at the school gate.
The man in white was strikingly handsome, and his white clothes only added to his dashing, devil-may-care aura. By all accounts, he was an outstanding young man. However, the scene of his vertical landing at the school gate had left such a deep impression on Li Qian that the moment he saw the guy, he almost burst out laughing.
Luckily, he had good self-control and managed to stifle his laughter.
Li Qian saw his neighbor and was about to say hello—after all, they would probably be seeing each other often. Before he could speak, however, the man in white took the initiative. "Hello! I can’t believe I’m meeting my neighbor right after moving in. What a stroke of luck."
The man in white seemed quite talkative. A smile played on his lips, giving him a sunny, cheerful air.
"Hello," Li Qian said, waving in return, a faint smile on his own lips.
"Meeting like this is fate, especially since we’re going to be neighbors. As they say, a good neighbor is better than a distant cousin. Let’s get acquainted." The man in white extended his hand. "I’m Lu Ming, a local from Shazhou City. People call me ’Lu Tianjiao’."
Seeing this, Li Qian reached out and shook his hand. At the same time, the corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
’This guy’s self-introduction is a little too shameless,’ Li Qian thought. ’Who calls themselves a "prodigy"? Even if living in Xianya Garden proves his Talent and strength are far beyond that of an ordinary student, he shouldn’t be this "high-profile".’
’Of course, Li Qian kept this snarky comment to himself. Whether the guy was being high-profile or genuinely badass, whether he had real strength or was just a joke—it had nothing to do with him. He could just treat it like watching a sitcom.’
With that in mind, Li Qian maintained his smile as he shook the man’s hand and introduced himself. "I’m Li Qian, from Jiangnan Province."
Compared to Lu Tianjiao’s introduction, Li Qian’s was far more unremarkable and didn’t reveal much information.
"Which college are you in? We can drop by each other’s places when we’re free," Lu Tianjiao said to Li Qian, acting as if they were old friends.
Li Qian didn’t hide anything, stating his major directly. "I’m in the Pet Beast Evolution program at the Cultivation College. You?"
"From my heroic and extraordinary bearing, you should be able to guess..." When Li Qian showed no sign of taking the bait, he just continued on as if talking to himself. "That’s right! I enrolled in the Five Elements Branch of the Combat Academy."
Li Qian wasn’t surprised to hear that. After the guy’s little vertical landing stunt at the school gate, he remembered the Pet Beast carrying him was a Five-Colored Swan.
The Five-Colored Swan is a classic example of a Five Elements Attribute Pet Beast. While it doesn’t possess all Five Elements Attributes at once, its ability to freely switch between them is considered quite rare.
It was precisely because of this special and rare trait that the Five-Colored Swan’s Potential reached Mid-Tier Dominator, putting it on par with the Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon.
The Combat Academy was the largest college at the university, and the Five Elements Branch was the largest division within the Combat Academy.
This was perfectly normal. After all, Pet Beasts and Beast Taming Talents with the Five Elements Attribute were the most common types.
"Yeah, we should definitely drop by each other’s places sometime," Li Qian said, feeling a bit awkward listening to Lu Tianjiao’s bragging. Not knowing what else to say, he just casually agreed.
"Oh, right! Heading out for dinner? Let’s go together! Even though I’m a new student, I’m a local, so I’m pretty familiar with Shazhou Beast Taming University. I might not know every single nook and cranny, but I know most of the good places to eat and hang out," Lu Tianjiao said enthusiastically. Without waiting for a reply, he started walking, and Li Qian, after a moment’s hesitation, followed him.
’It wasn’t that Li Qian wasn’t wary of strangers. But after witnessing that vertical landing, he had a pretty good idea that this guy was incapable of scheming.’
’He was probably another goofball, just like Fatty An.’
’Besides, there was no need to worry about safety when eating on campus.’
Having just arrived in Shazhou City, Li Qian was more than happy to have a local show him around and help him get familiar with the place.
Following Lu Tianjiao, they soon arrived at the First Cafeteria. Even though the semester hadn’t officially started, the main dining hall and most of the snack shops on the lower level were already open for business.
"There’s a meatball shop on the lower level that’s really good. It’s famous throughout the entire Shazhou Beast Taming University," Lu Tianjiao said, leading Li Qian toward the lower level with a familiarity that made it seem like he was walking through his own home.
They chatted as they walked, and soon they arrived at the meatball shop Lu Tianjiao had mentioned.
"Meat Your End." Looking at the name of the meatball shop, Li Qian couldn’t help but feel the corner of his mouth twitch.
Lu Tianjiao had said the meatball shop was delicious and very popular, and now, Li Qian completely believed him.
After all, with such an unconventional name, the food had to be genuinely amazing, or no student would ever come here.
The two of them found an empty table and sat down. The lower level had many snack stalls, but the seating was communal, with dozens of tables packed closely together.
A quick glance was all it took for Li Qian to notice that the area closest to the meatball shop was the most crowded with students—more proof that its food must be good.