Shen Qi's detached villa was not far from the shallow sea beach.
Lu Zhi, excited, changed into his beach shorts and wanted to join the fun, but Shen Qi hooked his neck, forcing him to put on a shirt before letting him go.
Shen Qi, on the other hand, was completely uninterested in such activities. He took out a thick book from his spatial storage and sat under the sun umbrella on the balcony, enjoying a rare moment of leisure. Occasionally, he would glance towards the beach at Lu Zhi's smiling profile, a soft light flashing in his eyes before quickly returning to a cold, snow-like demeanor.
Over there, as Lu Zhi approached the beach, the noisy sounds of people playing made him somewhat afraid that it was a mirage created by Shen Qi to deceive him.
Suddenly, a water balloon hit Lu Zhi's back with a pop. A normal person would have been bruised by such force, but the physical body of an Awakened only felt a slight vibration.
"Lu Zhi, what are you spacing out for?" Lan Yushan, holding a water gun, childishly shot at two male classmates chasing him.
Lu Zhi looked at the familiar faces around him and smiled, "I just woke up, still a bit groggy."
"Lu Zhi, come play volleyball!" Jiang Yue, wearing a red bikini, ran over and grabbed Lu Zhi's hand, pushing him into the game.
He Qun on the opposite side's eyes darkened. "Receive the ball!" he reminded.
Before Lu Zhi could react, he looked at the volleyball that seemed to pass like a whirlwind. He instinctively crouched down in fear.
"Damn—" The male classmate behind Lu Zhi was hit by accident, sent flying more than ten meters away and leaving a long drag mark on the sand.
Lu Zhi: ???
Are you sure this is beach volleyball???
Jiang Yue: "Lu Zhi, be careful!"
Lu Zhi suddenly turned his head. The volleyball, wreathed in flames, attacked through the air. This time, Lu Zhi didn't dodge. Having been mentally prepared, he concentrated his strength in his forearm to block the fireball and then sent it back. Luo Shiyu's voice suddenly sounded, "Good receive."
Luo Shiyu leaped high from behind Lu Zhi and slammed his palm onto the volleyball. The flames immediately extinguished and were covered with a thick layer of ice. The ball broke through defenses and sent a male player on the opposite side flying.
"Yes!" cheers erupted from behind him.
Wang Caotian put his arm around Lu Zhi's shoulders from behind and laughed heartily, "Not bad, not bad, you're truly our team's strongest substitute!"
"It's our turn to serve now." Xia Zhi pushed up his glasses, a flash of light passing through the lenses. "Caotian, you serve."
Wang Caotian stylishly shook his hair and smiled handsomely, "Watch me."
Several classmates behind him jeered with disdain. Wang Caotian pretended not to hear them and said, "Get ready, everyone. I'm starting. Pay attention, I won't go easy on you just because you're a girl. That would be a disservice to Lu xuedi for getting us this opportunity."
Lu Zhi: ...You really didn't have to. I didn't do anything.
The opposing team members were from the student council, including Vice President Han Shuangyun. Her cold and beautiful face, paired with her hot figure, made Jiang Yue, who had been defeated and taken off the court, so jealous that her eyes blazed.
Han Shuangyun smiled slightly, "Bring it on."
"Junior Wang is really full of confidence." Yan Shao, having finished swimming, brushed back his wet hair and met Lu Zhi's gaze with a gentle smile. "You guys really are something, letting Lu xuedi play when he's not fully recovered? Be careful, Instructor Shen might get angry."
Lu Zhi stared blankly as Yan Shao walked to the opposite side.
The most deeply ingrained memory of sadness was watching Yan Shao's body being torn apart and falling, feeling utterly powerless.
"Huh? Lu Zhi, are you not recovered yet?" Wang Caotian asked worriedly. "You exhausted your念力 (nianli - mental power/telekinesis) saving us, and you've only rested for a day, you must still be tired, right? It's all Jiang Yue's fault for forcing you to be the substitute."
Xia Zhi added, "Indeed, it's not good to get Lu xuedi injured just for a bet on a tourist spot."
Seeing that everyone else's expressions were normal and their attitudes towards him were the same as before, Lu Zhi calmly asked, "Yes, I've recovered. What happened after I passed out?"
Lan Yushan, who was passing by with his water gun looking for a target, exclaimed excitedly upon hearing this, "Teacher Shen is truly amazing, he really is my idol!"
Luo Shiyu said, "After you fainted, Di Meila didn't die. In the end, she only survived thanks to Teacher Shen's intervention."
Lu Zhi's heart stirred. He tried to recall yesterday's scene. Calming down and thinking carefully, he realized he had overlooked a major issue. After Yan Shao died, the other students who were killed also showed no signs of bleeding.
So, after he had exhausted his念力 to save them, Shen Qi had used some method to create an illusion?
Thinking of this, Lu Zhi didn't know whether to be angry at Shen Qi's deception or grateful that Shen Qi had ultimately intervened to save them.
"If it weren't for Teacher Shen, we would all probably have died in the examination room," Jiang Yue said with lingering fear.
"This is nothing to be happy about," Yan Shao said faintly, twirling the volleyball with his index finger. "Clearly, with our current abilities, killing a lower-tier god is far from enough. Will we be so lucky next time?"
Everyone fell silent. Indeed, if this wasn't an assessment but a real war, they wouldn't have the chance to stand here and play around.
"Yes, Senior Yan is absolutely right." Lu Zhi's voice broke the heavy atmosphere. "So we must become stronger, not just to protect ourselves, but also to protect those who are important to us."
Lu Zhi looked at everyone. "Teacher Shen has taught us a very important lesson."
Everything Shen Qi did was to give them a warning; these were events that could very likely happen in the future.
"Indeed," Yan Shao said with a gentle smile. "We can talk about these things another day. It's rare for the school to give us a week's holiday, we shouldn't miss this rare leisure."
"Let's go hiking, camping, play Battle Royale!" Wang Caotian shouted resolutely.
Yan Shao's eyes changed, and he said seriously, "No, let's go to Qianhe City for an art exhibition."
"What's so good about a broken art exhibition?" Jiang Yue put her hands on her hips. "Battle Royale is definitely more fun!"
Han Shuangyun's eyes turned cold. "Let's duel. One match to decide the winner."
Wang Caotian replied, "Bring it on, who's afraid of whom!"
Yan Shao clasped the volleyball with both hands and smiled, "Then, shall we continue?"
Lu Zhi: ...So after all that fuss, you were just arguing about where to go for fun?
The material of the Awakened's volleyball could accept energy transmission, manifesting different powers in everyone's hands.
The rules of volleyball were also different from normal volleyball. For example, just as Lu Zhi was about to jump to return the ball, Han Shuangyun actually shouted "Imprisonment" at him. He was hit by the volleyball, unable to evade, and taken off the court.
Lu Zhi was stunned at the time. "You can do that? Isn't that a foul?"
Yan Shao smiled enchantingly, "Of course not."
Lu Zhi: ...
With Yan Shao's "Word of Command" combined with Han Shuangyun's "Imprisonment," even with Luo Shiyu and Wang Caotian's strong attack power, they couldn't utilize their abilities.
Although Xia Zhi managed to salvage two points with precise teleportation, they ultimately lost the match.
Wang Caotian was unconvinced and pestered Yan Shao for a long time, finally deciding to go to the tourist destination – Nightless Island.