He wasn’t so brazen as to think that they were looking at him this time. Jiang Luofu’s legs were just too eye-catching. Furthermore, even though the Great Zhou Dynasty was more open-minded than any ancient era, there weren’t many who dressed like her in this world.

There were a few bold students who even catcalled Jiang Luofu.

“You guys, come quick! Look at those legs! Oh my god, if they pressed up against me, I don’t even think I could even last three seconds!”

“Pah! As if you can even last longer than three seconds normally anyway.”

“Have you seen the stockings she normally wears? From black to white to skin tone, it’s a different type every day. Ah, even talking about it makes me go crazy…”

“Are you tired of living? She’s the academy’s new Ms. Jiang! I heard that she used to be the principal of a commandery’s academy.”

“She was a principal? I’m getting even more excited now!”

…

A group of male students whispered among each other in the distance. Even though they were trying to be as quiet as possible, their discussion didn’t escape Zu An and Jiang Luofu’s high cultivations. They heard every word clearly.

Zu An had a strange look on his face. “And here I thought that these students’ way of thinking was on a higher level. I didn’t expect them to be just as… perverted.”

Jiang Luofu smiled. “All of them are young and vigorous. It would be more strange if they didn’t have such thoughts.”

Zu An was shocked. “You’re not upset?”

“Why would I get upset?” Jiang Luofu looked at him strangely. “I’m all dressed up like this because I want others to see it. If they like it, that means I look good, which I’m more than happy to hear. Why would I get angry?”

Zu An was speechless. You make so much sense I don’t even know what to say.

Sigh, a mature big sister really is different from a naive little girl after all. If it were those underripe little girls, they would have already been extremely embarrassed in this situation. Maybe this is also the charm of a mature big sister?

Though if we had known it was like this, Wei Suo, you shouldn’t have snuck around like that. You could have just stared all you wanted!

Jiang Luofu didn’t pay much attention to this brief episode. She continued to walk inside while explaining, “The academy is divided into the front mountain and rear mountain. The front mountain is what you’ve seen so far; it’s more or less the same as Brightmoon Academy. Students are taught all kinds of different subjects.

“The rear mountain is where the libationer’s core disciples cultivate and learn. Furthermore, if there are any outstanding students in the front mountain who set themselves apart from others, they may become the mentees of those core disciples and be taught by those teachers one on one.”

Zu An thought to himself, Isn’t this the same as the difference between an undergrad and a research student? Hm, so in a Xianxia novel, that translates to outer and inner disciples?

“Being accepted into the rear mountains is the second greatest objective of the Royal Academy’s students,” Jiang Luofu continued.

Zu An was stunned. “And the first is?”

Jiang Luofu replied, “Becoming the libationer’s direct, core disciple, of course. However, the libationer has only accepted twelve disciples, so that objective is quite tough to reach.”

“Only twelve, huh?” This wasn’t the first time Zu An had heard that the libationer had twelve disciples.

“By the way, does the academy have a pill furnace?” he asked. He had always wondered how he was going to get his hands on a decent pill furnace. Normal medicinal furnaces couldn’t be used to refine pills. However, after asking around, everyone had said that he could only get such a thing from the academy.

“Pill furnace?” Jiang Luofu was confused. “Why would you need a pill furnace?”

“I just wanted to play around with some pill refining,” Zu An replied.

Jiang Luofu’s eyes widened in shock. She couldn’t help but raise her voice. “You know how to refine pills?”

Zu An replied gloomily, “Why are you looking at me like that? Can I not know how to do that?”

“This is indeed quite the surprise. There’s quite a high skill threshold for that profession, after all. Kid, you’re always bringing me surprises,” Jiang Luofu said with a smile. “No problem. We’ll head over to Shen Xuzi and grab you a pill furnace after we visit Sir Libationer. He has no match in alchemy, even throughout the entire capital.”

“Shen Xuzi?” Zu An was shocked. There was someone with such a crazy name?[1]

Jiang Luofu smiled, clearly guessing what he was thinking. She explained, “It’s ‘Shen’ as in ‘Shenzhi’[2]. He admires history’s greatest alchemists a lot; for example, Chong Xuzi, Xuan Xuzi, Qing Xuzi, and the like, so he gave himself a similar name. Unfortunately, those alchemy masters all had similar thoughts, so all of the good names with ‘Xu’ were gone. Out of helplessness, he decided to take a different route and give himself the name Shen Xuzi. That way, even if his alchemy didn’t reach great heights, he could still leave that name behind.”

“An interesting fella.” Zu An couldn’t help but smile. He thought to himself, This fella’s name really will be left behind in history, but maybe as a joke.

…

Meanwhile, a luxurious carriage arrived at the highest peak of Mount Yuquan, Dong’e Peak.

“Halt. I’ll walk the rest of the way alone to avoid disrespecting Sir Libationer,” said a pleasant sounding female voice from inside the carriage.

A maid opened the door and helped the person inside out. An extravagant dress emerged, accompanied by the sounds of exquisite bells. A stunning beauty slowly walked out of the carriage.

“Crown princess, be careful,” a maid warned. It turned out this group of people belonged to the crown princess.

Bi Linglong smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m not delicate to that extent.”

She looked at a nearby pond. She saw the clear water, the green lotus leaves, and the lotuses of many different colors that decorated its surface, from pink, to light yellow, to snow white… Together, they formed a beautiful scene that pleased the heart and spirit.

The crown princess sighed in praise. “This mountain peak is a bit chilly, so it isn’t suitable for the growth of lotuses, yet this pond of lotuses is still so beautiful. Sir Libationer truly is mysterious and incredible.”

“So the crown princess was someone who appreciated flowers,” said a deep voice from inside of the pine forest. No emotions could be sensed within it, so the crown princess couldn’t tell his current mood.

The crown princess greeted the libationer respectfully. “Linglong has arrived to greet Sir Libationer.”

There was no reply, only a creaking sound. It was the sound of the entrance opening. The crown princess was happy to see that; after all, the libationer rarely received guests. The fact that he was willing to meet with her was a good start. She gestured for those at her side to remain in place and wait for her, and then entered on her own.

…

On the other side of the mountain, as Zu An and Jiang Luofu passed by an open area, they saw that some young students were currently arguing with each other.

“Nonsense, how can fire not be hot?”

“Of course fire can be not-hot as well. We use the word ‘fire’, but that’s different from being hot in reality. ‘Fire’ doesn’t mean ‘hot’. If ‘fire’ were hot, then one’s lips would start burning as soon as one said the word. If one’s lips don’t burn when one says ‘fire’, fire obviously isn’t hot.”

“You’re just twisting words to suit your logic!”

“Then do you think I’m wrong? If you think I’m wrong, point out where I’m wrong. You can’t. But you don’t have to listen to my logic. Teacher, what does your respected self think?”

The student bowed toward a stout, seated man. Even though this fatty’s physique was quite… wide, he wore a scholar’s outfit and had a long mustache. This gave him quite a unique appearance.

The fatty replied, “Pu Guochang’s words are spoken with reason; the logic is profound.”

The student who had been speaking confidently gave the other students a provocative look when he received the teacher’s praise. Those other students became discouraged. After all, they had embarrassed themselves in front of their teacher and had even become the stepping stone of another.

Zu An couldn’t help but glance at Jiang Luofu, asking, “Is this really okay?”

Jiang Luofu chuckled and said, “This is the dao of logic. They’re all like this. That fatty is the libationer’s core disciple ranked eleventh, Yin Shi.”

Zu An thought to himself, Aren’t they just annoying bastards who get a kick from proving people wrong? Wait, this guy is also the eleventh… Why the hell do I share karma with this annoying bastard?

The fatty named Yin Shi seemed to have sensed something. He subconsciously looked in Zu An’s direction.

Jiang Luofu’s expression changed. She immediately grabbed Zu An’s hand. “We need to get out of here!”

Zu An was baffled. Why do we need to leave? Don’t tell me we’ll experience danger in the glorious Royal Academy? And yet, the force being exerted on his arm told him that Jiang Luofu wasn’t kidding. He almost tripped from her strength.

Zu An quickly increased his vigilance in preparation for battle, but his eyes suddenly blurred. A ball of meat rolled up in front of them. When the meatball unfolded his limbs and stood up, only then did they discover that it was that Yin Shi from earlier.

Yin Shi stroked his mustache while saying with a big smile, “Ah, so it was eighth senior sister. Why are you running away as soon as you see me?”

Zu An looked at Jiang Luofu in shock. “Eighth senior sister?”

1. The name sounds like ‘weak kidney’, which is a sign of too much sex or masturbation in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

2. Shenzhi means ‘so much so that’.