I changed the world.

Page 203

As for the curriculum at Tianfu University, there are no dedicated physical education classes on weekdays. However, this does not mean that the university does not value physical education; rather, it is because Tianfu University incorporates physical education activities into other aspects of its curriculum.

Chapter 357 An Huiling's Changes

There are a wide variety of on-campus organizations and a variety of sports activities for students to choose from: such as club sports, on-campus sports, gym fitness, dance and sports clubs, and so on.

Since one can often see energetic members of the opposite sex in sports and dance venues, and because of the influence of globalization, the upper class in Dazhao has been influenced to some extent by Western elite culture, and the enthusiasm of Western nobles for military sports has also influenced some domestic trends of thought, in short, various sports activities in Tianfu University are quite popular.

Because of the previous scandal of the "Pendulum Club," An Huiling never mentioned joining any clubs again. On the other hand, Luo Yan recently joined the school's tennis club. Tennis is a popular sport among young men and women in the upper class of Zhao Kingdom, and the tennis club is one of the school's most popular clubs.

Although she didn't join any clubs, An Huiling did join the "Light Shadow Sports Club," the sports club of the School of Humanities. Joining was very simple; any student of Tianfu University could join. Unlike clubs, the club didn't have complicated rules and regulations; it was quite free—basically, attendance wasn't a big deal. However, with a club membership card, one could use the club's indoor gym.

The gym is located not far from the Tianfu University Humanities College building, and non-club members are not allowed to enter. This was the main reason why An Huiling joined the club.

As she recovered from her illness, An Huiling's life at school, which had always revolved around the classroom and dormitory, began to change. She started to become less withdrawn and began to participate in some group activities, and joining the "Light Shadow Sports Club" was one of these changes.

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"31, 32, 33...40." In a corner of the gym, An Huiling was training on a stretching machine. She silently counted the number of repetitions she had done. After finishing a set, she exhaled, released the machine, picked up the water bottle from the side, unscrewed the cap, and took a small sip.

For ease of movement, An Huiling wore a simple ponytail and comfortable sports pants and a sports T-shirt. Although she didn't wear revealing sports shorts that exposed her thighs like many of her female classmates at the gym, or those form-fitting sports pants that lifted her buttocks and perfectly showcased her curves, she still attracted quite a few glances in the gym.

An Huiling has undergone a dramatic transformation compared to her condition before recovering from her illness. Her vigorous blood and energy have given her a thick, glossy black head of hair that looks like it could be used in a shampoo commercial. The hair loss she experienced due to the decline of her blood and energy has not occurred for a long time.

Furthermore, her previously pale skin remained fair, but unlike before, it now possessed a smooth, jade-like luster. Combined with her full, rosy lips and captivating eyes, she was someone who could never be ignored, no matter where she went.

The most significant change was in her physique. An Huiling was originally tall but somewhat slender. Although she was over 1.7 meters tall, years of illness had made her appear rather thin. However, since recovering from her illness, the increased energy and continuous training have dramatically altered her figure. Her originally thin body gradually became fuller, almost at a visible rate, her figure developing towards a curvaceous and shapely silhouette.

Now, she has a fit and healthy figure with an excellent waist-to-hip ratio and long, powerful legs. Even without wearing tight-fitting workout clothes, her exaggerated body curves still give her a sense of strength and agility, like a female leopard. An Huiling can even clearly sense that some of the boys in the gym frequently linger their eyes on her full breasts, round and taut buttocks and legs, and her rapidly shrinking abdomen.

Even in the dormitory, Luo Yan had already asked her many times with envy, wanting to know how she managed to improve her figure so much in such a short time.

In fact, An Huiling was also somewhat troubled by this, but perhaps it was a happy kind of trouble. Of course, she did offer her explanation to some classmates, especially the female classmates, who inquired about her, which was that she was now consistently working out...

This is why An Huiling goes to the club for training every day, rain or shine. She needs a plausible reason that can cover up her true intentions; otherwise, it would be difficult to explain such a dramatic change in her body.

Of course, in reality, this is just a smokescreen. The gym equipment is not very useful for An Huiling at the moment, unless she prepares to use some extraordinary high-intensity strength training equipment. Otherwise, ordinary physical training equipment is just a warm-up for An Huiling at the moment.

Not only that, she also needs to show some signs of fatigue while exercising, which is in line with the normal state of a girl exercising.

Of course, the biggest problem isn't that...

"Hey kid, you could try that all-in-one strength and body shaping machine over there. It's the club's latest model, and it can comprehensively train all parts of your body, especially your core stability." A slightly magnetic male voice came from the side. An Huiling turned her head and saw a well-built young man wearing gym shorts and a vest, revealing his muscular physique, clearly the result of long-term training. The young man had a friendly smile on his face, revealing a set of white teeth.

Nodding to him, An Huiling smiled politely and said, "Thank you. Maybe I'll give it a try, but I have my own training plan right now."

With that, An Huiling screwed on the bottle cap, stopped talking to the boy, and continued pulling the equipment to start her next set of training.

The boy was slightly surprised by An Huiling's reaction. He couldn't say the series of words he had prepared, and he didn't even have time to introduce himself.

However, after a slight pause, he continued to smile and walked to the resistance band next to An Huiling's, which mainly trained the shoulders, back and upper limbs. He sat down, deliberately adjusted it to an intensity that seemed quite high to ordinary people, and began his own workout.

Chapter 358 An Unexpected Encounter

This boy's training level is quite good; even under such a high intensity, he was able to maintain his movements without them becoming distorted.

In fact, this kind of environment, filled with muscles, hormones, and panting, does easily enhance the attraction between the opposite sexes. For example, not far away, a pair of girls who looked like freshmen or sophomores sitting in a corner were frequently looking over here, their eyes lingering on the boy's bulging arm muscles as he exerted force.

However, An Huiling did not turn her attention to it. After all, such weight would indeed be quite difficult for ordinary people, but that was only for ordinary people. For a cultivator like An Huiling, it was completely inadequate.

In the time that followed, the boy tried to strike up a conversation with An Huiling a few more times during the intervals between each set of actions. However, An Huiling only responded politely and did not show any special regard for him.

After completing four more sets of exercises, An Huiling got up from the equipment, picked up the water bottle placed to the side, and without even glancing at the boy next to her, headed straight for the rest room. Her workout for the day was over, and she planned to take a shower and leave.

The boy quickly released the equipment he was holding, stood up, and tried to say something more, but all he saw was An Huiling's back...

This wasn't the first time she'd encountered a similar "romantic encounter." At first, she would respond politely and calmly. However, she quickly realized that sometimes politeness could give some people unnecessary fantasies, which would only make things more complicated. So, she soon discovered that sometimes, a cool-headed approach was clearly better.

Of course, the real cultivation has only just begun. After leaving the gym, An Huiling will not go back to her dormitory immediately, but will go to Wangshan. Wangshan is located in the campus of Tianfu University. Except for rest days, it is not open to the public on weekdays. This makes Wangshan usually sparsely populated, especially at night. Even if there are people, they are mostly student couples, and they are usually in the foot area of ​​the mountain. After all, no one wants to climb the mountain in the dark to enjoy the scenery. Occasionally, when people choose this route for night running, they usually only stay on the main road of Wangshan and do not go into any side roads.

This made An Huiling regard Wangshan as a good place for cultivation. She especially liked to cultivate in the bamboo forest on the mountain. The feeling of leaping back and forth among the bamboo sea as if riding the wind, and practicing swordsmanship and various secret techniques in the deserted bamboo path, made her more likely to think of the characters in the martial arts novels she had read since childhood. This feeling of dreams and reality overlapping made her intoxicated.

Here, she is less likely to be disturbed by others and can have some freedom. With the fantastical journey and fierce battles she had experienced in the Spice Islands, An Huiling seemed to have undergone a transformation. Not only did she have a deeper understanding of the use of certain techniques, but she also had a more urgent desire to improve her strength through cultivation. This made her set aside a considerable amount of time every day to work hard to improve herself.

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It was already 23:00 PM when An Huiling returned to the dormitory, which was the time for lights out. When An Huiling got back, Luo Yan was already there, but she wasn't going to sleep yet and was lying on her bed playing on her phone.

Upon seeing An Huiling return, Luo Yan gave her a rather ambiguous look. Seeing her put down her backpack, take off her coat, and hang it on the hanger, Luo Yan gazed at the curves outlined by the thin clothing beneath the coat, and couldn't help but feel a pang of envy. She leaned against the headboard, cupped her face in her hands, and said in a coquettish voice, "Huiling, your figure is getting better and better. If I were a boy, I'd absolutely adore you..."

This wasn't the first time An Huiling had heard Luo Yan "praise" like this in recent days. As she walked past Luo Yan's bed, she reached out and pinched Luo Yan's slightly chubby face...

"Ugh...no, don't pinch it, pinch it flat..."

After the two girls laughed and joked for a while, Luo Yan hugged her blanket and asked hesitantly, "Huiling, do you think I should go to the gym to work out? I always feel that playing tennis doesn't seem to help with my physique..."

"Yanyan, you used to say that tennis courts are full of handsome, athletic guys..."

"Well... who can blame me for being just an ordinary girl, none of the school heartthrobs even look at me..." Luo Yan put on a self-pitying expression.

An Huiling completely ignored her roommate's silly antics. She knew that her roommate actually had her own suitors, who were said to come from a wealthy family and were the second son of a baron.

Since the reforms during the reign of Emperor Huanzong, the nobility system in this dynasty has gradually formed a six-tier system of princes, dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons, which is roughly equivalent to the aristocratic system of other mainstream countries in the world. Unlike Western countries, which still retain the rank of "knights" or "lords," this dynasty did not have knights, so the baron was the last rank of nobility.

Although they were the lowest rank of nobility, they still enjoyed many privileges, such as tax benefits, extra points in civil service exams, seats in local advisory councils, and especially local connections...

In recent decades, the world has been at peace, and there has been no war on the borders. The imperial court has always been extremely strict in its management of the conferment of titles. In fact, all the orthodox dynasties in the Central Plains throughout history, unless they were in their final days and had no other choice, did not issue titles indiscriminately.

Therefore, even the lowest rank of baron is something that many billionaires can only dream of but cannot obtain.

An Huiling took a shower in the bathroom, then came out wearing a bathrobe. She took off her shower cap, and her long, black hair cascaded down like a waterfall.

"Speaking of which, have you thought about your relationship with Zexian? Graduation is almost here, if you're really interested, you should hurry up," An Huiling asked her roommate while combing her hair. Zexian was the boy who was pursuing her. He was in the same year as them, studying management at Tianfu University. An Huiling had met him once at a class reunion. In her memory, the boy was good-looking, a bit thin, and had a scholarly air about him. An Huiling thought he was a good match for Luo Yan.

In fact, most children from noble families are quite good-looking. Even if some were ugly in the first few generations, the genes of their beautiful wives and concubines would improve them over several generations, so they usually wouldn't be too bad-looking. Actually, from the perspective of traditional values ​​in this world, if family factors are taken into account, Luo Yan is probably marrying above her station.

Chapter 359 An Huiling's Troubles

Of course, if there is any regret, it is that he is only the second son and not the eldest son. According to the patriarchal system of this dynasty, the title of a noble is generally inherited by the eldest son of the legitimate wife. Unless the eldest son of the legitimate wife has some major deficiency such as intellectual disability or inability to have sexual intercourse, there are very few precedents of a non-eldest son inheriting the title.

As a child from a middle-class family, Luo Yan also had the idea of ​​finding a rich husband at school. She was very clear that her family background was not as advantageous as most of her classmates. Many of her classmates came from noble or wealthy families, and some of them even got into school with a recommendation letter from a school board member.

Therefore, her four years at Tianfu University might very well be the closest she'd ever come to being among these exceptional students. Her parents had actually given her quite a few hints about this. However, while she understood this, she was still very selective, and graduation was fast approaching…

When she first entered university, she too dreamed of a Cinderella story, a Cinderella tale of meeting a prince and transforming herself into a phoenix. However, after several years of getting to know her classmates, she began to realize that those truly privileged students all had their own small circles, which she couldn't intrude upon. Moreover, even if she could manage to join them, their marriages were not entirely their own choice. Marriages within aristocratic families required a minimum of "matching social status," and were often intertwined with political and commercial collaborations—things beyond the reach of a girl from a humble background like herself.

Reality is not a novel; if you try to force it into reality, it will mostly just become a plaything.

During her sophomore year, Luo Yan tried dating a boyfriend, but later found out that he was only interested in her body, so she broke up with him decisively and never found a suitable one again.

Or... maybe she should try getting to know him better, Luo Yan thought to herself. Actually, she did have some feelings for the boy who had been pursuing her...

While struggling with her thoughts, Luo Yan absentmindedly said, "Hmm... I'm thinking of seeing how things go... but he seems to like figurines and stuff, and I'm really not interested in those..."

"Everyone has their own hobbies, so there's no need to force your boyfriend to have the same hobbies as you..."

"That's what you said..."

"Oh, right, Huiling, speaking of which, some students from the tennis club asked me about you today." Luo Yan suddenly remembered something and became interested again: "Let me tell you, it's Hou Guangzong, the law student, the vice president of the student union, you know him, right?"

An Huiling tilted her head and thought for a moment, but couldn't recall such a person, so she shook her head blankly.

Luo Yan put her hand to her forehead: "It is said that he is the only son of Marquis Xuanning. He is good at sports and handsome. Many girls are actually interested in him. Hmm... I heard that he is planning to stay at the university to pursue a master's degree."

Hearing Luo Yan's words, An Huiling finally remembered that there was indeed such a kind person, but that was all. She really wasn't that interested in this so-called popular figure at school, so she waved her hand and said, "Yanyan, please don't give him my contact information. Try to stop him for me..."

"He seems very sincere. Are you really sure you don't want to talk to him?"