On the other side of Curo’s thread was a gentle old man. He didn’t look at all like the other Instructors did. However, he could feel a mysterious, unfathomable aura from him. He truly seemed more than meets the eyes. When the man saw that he was connected to Curo by the thread, he also raised his eyebrows in surprise.

The man then beckoned his hand towards Curo and Curo nodded his head as he made his way towards the man. The eyes of everyone present however had narrowed, especially the Headmistress and the other Instructors next to her. When Curo was three steps away from the man, he stopped, cupped his hands and lightly bowed to the man in greeting, “Greetings Instructor, this student’s name is Ji Curo.”

The man nodded and smiled to him, “I am Instructor Sheng. It seems that for the next thirty years you will attend this Academy, I will be in charge of instructing you.” Curo then bowed once again with cupped hands and then went to stand behind the man like the other Freshmen that had found their Instructors.

When every Freshman had found their Instructor, Xi Qing nodded her head as she said, “Now that everyone have found their Instructor, we can consider this Initiation Ceremony concluded. Your Instructors will let you know of the Rules and of the various tasks and benefits of being a part of our glorious Academy.” With that, she turned around and walked away. When she left the square, the various Instructors led their new Students away. Curo also followed the man that had become his new Instructor. As Curo followed the Instructor, his gaze towards the man grew a bit complicated.

When other Students saw the man, they hurriedly gave way to him with fear in their eyes. Also, they all threw pitying glances towards Curo when they saw him follow him. Although he didn’t know why it was like that, he couldn’t help but feel that something about this man was amiss.

When Curo followed the man into a small office, he stayed in front of the table while the man sat behind the small table. When he sat down, he said, “When you go to the room on the left, you will find various equipment and instructions to make tea. Make a pot of tea and bring two cups here.” The man’s voice was warm and gentle as he said that, Curo slightly nodded his head as he headed to the side room.

The moment Curo turned sideways, the man’s gaze turned sharp as he observed him. When Curo entered the other room, the man kept observing him with his Soul Sense. When Curo found the instructions, he read them carefully and followed the instructions to the letter when brewing the Tea. It wasn’t because of him being afraid or cautious but rather, he had been an avid tea lover before the accident in the tea house.

He could guess that this tea making was a test for him but what exactly the man tested, he had no idea. How well he made the tea? How he served it or something else? After slowly and methodically brewing the tea, he brought the two tea cups and the pot of tea to the office room again. After placing the cup of tea in front of the man and gently pouring him a full cup, he stood aside. When the old man saw this, his eyes flashed as he picked up the cup and took a small sip.

After taking the sip, he slowly closed his eyes as a smile crept onto his lips, “This is good tea.” Curo smiled as he answered, “I thank Instructor.” The man then nodded his head and gestured for Curo to sit down across from him. When Curo sat down, the man handed him the other cup and poured him some tea. After doing this, Curo tasted the tea and after savouring the taste, lightly smiled.

The man then said, “Top of the Freshman Rankings, 36 Top Grade Qi Springs at the tender age of 16. Rumour has it that a little less than a year ago, you were a cripple. Now you are ranked at the top of the Entrance Examinations to one of the 5 oldest and most influential Academies.” His eyes then turned sharp as he continued, “You can be currently seen as the Number One of the Juniors due to your Battle Score.” Curo listened to it calmly, as he waited for the man to reach the main point.

The man couldn’t read anything out of his face and then asked the question, “Don’t you find it demeaning that the Number One Junior in the Academy, a talent seen once in a million years, is reduced to a tea boy?”

Curo placed down the tea cup in his hands and gave a smile to the old man as he answered, “Should I? You are a respected Instructor of the Academy, and you are someone that is Realms above me in cultivation with experience and knowledge that makes me look like a frog at the bottom of an endless well.” He then looked at the tea in front of him and continued, “Tea isn’t a drink to be just made. Since Instructor had a set of instructions on how to prepare this Tea, it shows that you drink tea, not leaf water.”

As he smiled after saying so, the old man was shocked. He then let out a merry laugh as he asked, “Is that all?” Curo then gave a mischievous smile as he continued with narrowed eyes, “When we walked here, all of the students showed fear on their face more than respect. They also threw pitying glances at me. In addition to that, when our threads connected, every other instructor narrowed their eyes at you, none of them showing disdain but a slight fear and mixed feelings in their eyes. That indicates that your strength far surpasses the strength of a regular Instructor.”

Hearing this, the old man opened his eyes wide in surprise as he gave a satisfied nod. Curo then concluded, “With all this information, it would stupid of me to start acting complacent now wouldn’t it? I would probably digging my own grave then.” The man then nodded his head to Curo and said, “You are smarter than anyone else that I have been tasked with Instructing.”

He then sighed, “It is true, I can be considered on the same level as Heavenly Instructors. However, I lack the ambition to take on more responsibilities than I already have.” Hearing this, Curo nodded his head as he had thought as much. The feeling the man gave off was similar to the Headmistress.

The man then continued, “Several hundred years ago, I was actually relieved of my responsibilities as an Instructor and given the task of managing the Foreign Affairs for the Academy.” The man then took a sip of the tea and gave a sigh, “All of the requests for reinforcements from our Alumni, all Academy Outer Missions, all of the exchanges between the Academies, everything dealing with outside of the Academy goes through me.”

The man then looked at cup in front of him and said, “With all of these things going on all the day, I have hundreds of documents to read through and sign each day. In addition to that, once a Student of ours makes a scene or royally fucks up outside, it is my problem to deal with the matter.” The man’s voice turned malicious when he said the last part.

Curo was able to piece something together from that little chat. Since all of the things that had to do with outside of the Academy went through the man, there were a mountain of things to do each day. In addition, when someone created trouble outside, he was the one that had to put dealing with that problem on top of his already huge pile of work and responsibilities. When Curo thought back to the gazes he got from the various students along the way, Curo guessed that more than one of them had caused some sort of a problem outside and had been berated by the man in front of him.

The man then said, “I have an extremely fiery temper that makes me unsuitable to instruct people and I won’t be able to give you much pointers if you stay under me.” Curo raised his head from the cup and looked at him. The man then saw Curo’s eyes and continued, “I am not going to lie, you have talent that I have never seen before and I have been alive for over ten thousand years. It would be better for your future to put in a request for the change of instructors.”

Curo lowered his head in thought as he pondered on it for a moment. He then let out a smile as he said, “Instructor, I don’t think I need to change my Instructors. Helping you relive the workload will be fine for me. Cultivation isn’t a path one can rush along.” The old man’s eyes then let out a tinge of a flame. It wasn’t due to anger but due to excitement. His cultivation was comparable to the Heavenly Instructors, meaning that he had already reached the Sovereign Realm. Even if Curo tried to lie in front of the man, it would be pointless as he could see through every lie the boy could concoct.

Every student he had had to instruct was always a cunning youth that tried to squeeze what ever benefit out of him that he could. Being nearly angered to death by one such Student had caused him to put down his role as a Heavenly Instructor and assume the position as just as the Head of Foreign Affairs. He had actually wanted to leave the Academy all together but the Founder had managed to persuade him to stay.

The man then looked at Curo with serious eyes and asked, “Are you certain? Most of your time, you will spend helping me manage the Foreign Affairs of the Academy. The amount of time you will have to spend on your own cultivation will be drastically shortened and several other Students will probably pass you in the rankings in that time.” Curo let out a slight laugh and said, “If they pass, they pass. I have always been a person that believes in fate and karma.”

After Curo had said so, the man raised a brow as he asked, “What do you mean?” Curo gave a bitter smile and said, “When I was born, I was born with heaven defying talent. Then I was crippled. Then a decade later, by pure chance I met the Ancestor of my mother’s Bloodline in my darkest hour of need. Thanks to him, I became reborn and became able to cultivate again.” The man crossed his hands on his chest and waited for Curo to continue.

Curo then explained, “If I hadn’t been born with heaven defying talent, I wouldn’t have been crippled. If I hadn’t been crippled, I would never have had the chance to meet the Ancestor of my Mother’s bloodline. If I hadn’t met him, I would have never been able to reach the stage I am currently at, at this point in time. Meaning, I would not have been able to enter the Academy and be made a student under Instructor Sheng.” After Curo had said this far, he took the cup of tea and took a sip.

Instructor Sheng however had an amusing expression of wonder, doubt, understanding and confusion. After several minutes of thinking he sighed and said, “I understand what you mean, Heaven’s always have a plan and everything happens for a reason.”

Curo nodded his head and said with a blank look, “One can fight against their fate but no one can fight the Heavens. So instead of fighting, why not gently stroll along the path the Heavens created for you and see where it ends up.”