Arrogant Before, Deferential After—Coming to Apologize in Person

By the time Jiang Ping'an and Jiang Yiyi returned to their residence at Taiwu Academy, it had already been dark for over an hour.

Just after returning to the residence, the two sat down in the main hall to drink tea and rest. Chen Donglai came up and respectfully said to Jiang Ping'an, "Young Master, over half an hour ago, a student calling himself Lu Zhaisheng came to call on you."

"Lu Zhaisheng?" Jiang Ping'an could not help feeling puzzled. "Uncle Chen, are you sure?"

"That's right. I saw him competing alongside you on the arena against other teams," Chen Donglai replied.

"What did he say?" Jiang Ping'an asked.

"He did not say much," Chen Donglai answered truthfully. "After learning that you had not returned yet, he said he would come visit again in an hour."

Jiang Ping'an pondered briefly, unable to understand Lu Zhaisheng's intentions. Their relationship had hardly been harmonious. Since he could not figure it out, he did not dwell on it. "Understood," he said.

Before the time it took to drink a cup of tea, there came a knock at the courtyard gate.

"Lu Zhaisheng may have arrived," Chen Donglai said.

Jiang Ping'an said, "Go open the gate and let him in."

Whatever Lu Zhaisheng's purpose was, he might as well receive him. He had nothing better to do anyway.

However, he had no intention of rising to greet him.

Chen Donglai answered, "Yes," then turned and left the main hall to open the gate. Jiang Yiyi put down her teacup and went upstairs, avoiding Jiang Ping'an's male fellow student.

Not long afterward, Chen Donglai hurried back to report, "Young Master, the person outside is not Lu Zhaisheng. A student calling himself Zhang Jingtian says he wishes to call on you."

"Let him in." Jiang Ping'an could not help smiling. What a coincidence.

Chen Donglai turned around to open the courtyard gate and invite the man inside, then led him into the main hall.

"Well, Young Master Jiang, what urgent matter brings you to see me so late at night?" Jiang Ping'an remained seated in his chair as he smiled and asked Zhang Jingtian.

Zhang Jingtian awkwardly and stiffly cupped his hands toward Jiang Ping'an, forcing a smile. "Brother Jiang, congratulations on winning Chief Student this afternoon. There were too many people at the time, so I was unable to congratulate you in person. I have come especially to offer my congratulations."

As he spoke, he took an exquisite brocade gift box from the Cosmos Sack at his waist and presented it with both hands.

"This is but a small token of my regard. Please accept it, Brother Jiang." By the end, his gaze carried a pleading look.

The corners of Jiang Ping'an's lips curled up slightly, revealing a somewhat amused smile.

Was this an apology delivered to his door?

After waiting two breaths and seeing no sign that Jiang Ping'an intended to accept it, Zhang Jingtian bowed and pleaded, "Young Master Jiang, I know I was wrong. Please, for the sake of our having fought side by side before, give me a chance to turn over a new leaf. From now on, I will follow wherever you lead."

From the moment Jiang Ping'an had defeated Princess Bailing openly and fairly, he had realized that he had made a grave mistake by offending a monstrous genius.

Although he was the son of a marquis's household, in this Great Barrens World where the strong were revered and the strong devoured the weak, he still could not afford to offend a monstrous genius whose future was beyond measure.

Thus, he had gone all out, prepared lavish gifts, cast aside his pride, and come to beg for forgiveness and mercy.

Only then did Jiang Ping'an smile and say to Chen Donglai, "Take it over for me to have a look."

Chen Donglai stepped forward, accepted the gift box Zhang Jingtian had offered, opened the lid, and brought it before Jiang Ping'an for his inspection.

Inside the box lay two Superior Spirit Stones radiating a shimmering precious glow.

His sincerity is not bad, Jiang Ping'an thought.

Thus, he said, "Since Young Master Jiang has come with sincere congratulations, I shall accept them."

"Thank you for your magnanimity, Young Master Jiang." Zhang Jingtian breathed a sigh of relief and said gratefully.

Jiang Ping'an smiled faintly. "Let this matter be put behind us. From now on, we shall leave each other undisturbed."

He had no desire to take someone like Zhang Jingtian in as a lackey.

"Yes, Young Master Jiang." Zhang Jingtian felt somewhat disappointed, then took his leave.

Chen Donglai saw the guest out.

As Chen Donglai escorted Zhang Jingtian to the courtyard gate and opened it, he suddenly saw a hand strike in from outside. Startled, Chen Donglai hurriedly retreated and assumed a defensive stance.

"Who is it?" he shouted sternly.

The next moment, he saw clearly who the hand belonged to. It was unexpectedly Lu Zhaisheng, who had come calling an hour earlier.

He hurriedly dropped his stance, put on an apologetic smile, and cupped his hands. "My apologies, Young Master Lu. I did not have time to see clearly that it was you just now."

"I do not blame you. I happened to be about to knock on the door, which caused the misunderstanding." Lu Zhaisheng gave a rare generous smile to a servant.

The next moment, the smile on his face froze.

Because he saw Zhang Jingtian standing behind Chen Donglai.

The reason he had waited until night had fallen before coming to visit Jiang Ping'an was precisely because he did not want anyone to see him.

Yet he had run into Zhang Jingtian—the very person he least wanted to meet at such a time!

"Hehe, so Brother Jiang has also come in person to congratulate Brother Jiang," Lu Zhaisheng said reluctantly, cupping his hands toward Zhang Jingtian. His expression was exceedingly awkward, his smile stiff, and his face flushed red.

Zhang Jingtian was no better off. His expression was equally awkward and rigid. "Hehe, yes. You came too."

Chen Donglai tactfully stepped aside, making room for the two guests to speak.

However, neither Zhang Jingtian nor Lu Zhaisheng intended to continue the conversation.

"Brother Lu, I will be leaving first." Zhang Jingtian stepped out.

Lu Zhaisheng said, "See you another day."

After entering the courtyard gate, Lu Zhaisheng followed Chen Donglai for several steps before suddenly saying, "Wait!"

Chen Donglai stopped and turned around. "Young Master Lu, what is it?"

"What congratulatory gift did Young Master Jiang give just now?" Lu Zhaisheng asked.

Chen Donglai shook his head. "My apologies, Young Master Lu. I do not know."

How could he possibly reveal such a thing?

Lu Zhaisheng hesitated for a moment, then made up his mind. He took out a gift box from his Cosmos Sack, then took out a stack of Silver Notes and gold notes and placed them inside before putting the box back into his Cosmos Sack.

They had both come under the pretext of offering congratulations to apologize. If his gift was worth less than Zhang Jingtian's, he feared Jiang Ping'an would refuse to forgive him.

"That will do. Please lead the way." He put on a smile and said to Chen Donglai.

Chen Donglai continued leading the way and brought Lu Zhaisheng into the main hall to see Jiang Ping'an.

Before the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Lu Zhaisheng left.

Jiang Ping'an had forgiven Lu Zhaisheng as well.

Lu Zhaisheng's gifts were somewhat miscellaneous: ten Mid-grade Spirit Stones, ten bottles of Superior Essence Pills, and a stack of Silver Notes and gold notes. Altogether, they were slightly less valuable than two Superior Spirit Stones.

However, it was clear that this was already Lu Zhaisheng's limit.

A local aristocratic family could not compare to the wealth of feudal lords, after all.

"Uncle Chen, sell these Essence Pills tomorrow." Jiang Ping'an handed the Essence Pills Lu Zhaisheng had given him to Chen Donglai.

He worried that there might be something wrong with those Essence Pills, and he never consumed Essence Pills of Superior Quality.

Chen Donglai accepted the ten bottles of Superior Essence Pills. "Yes, Young Master."

Late at night, Jiang Ping'an sat cross-legged on his bed and took out a bottle of the Pinnacle Grade Essence Pills Taiwu Academy had rewarded him with that day.

He removed the stopper, poured out the Pinnacle Grade Essence Pills, and fed them into his mouth one by one.

Without stopping, he actually consumed all ten Essence Pills in the entire bottle, then closed his eyes and circulated the Dao Scripture to refine them.

An ordinary Primordial Sea Realm cultivator could only refine one Essence Pill at a time, yet Jiang Ping'an could refine ten Essence Pills simultaneously with ease.

For him, swallowing and refining Essence Pills one at a time was far too wasteful of time.

Less than half an hour later, the ten Pinnacle Grade Essence Pills had been completely refined into incomparably pure True Essence. Yet Jiang Ping'an's nearly boundless Essence Sea showed no visible change, almost as though he had poured a bucket of water into the ocean.

Opening his eyes, Jiang Ping'an took out another bottle of Pinnacle Grade Essence Pills, swallowed the entire bottle again, and refined them all at once.

The next morning, Jiang Ping'an went to the Academy Lord Hall.

Today was Taiwu Academy's Ten-Day Rest, with one day off every ten days, but there were still Instructors in the Academy Lord Hall handling ordinary affairs.

Jiang Ping'an took out the token representing one thousand Merit Points and handed it to an Instructor, successfully exchanging it for one thousand Merit Points recorded in his Identity Jade Token.

After leaving the Academy Lord Hall, he immediately entered the Alchemy Pavilion.

"How many Merit Points are needed to exchange for the Ten Thousand Year Ginseng Pill recipe?" Jiang Ping'an asked.

The person receiving him was a bearded middle-aged man wearing the robes of an intermediate Instructor, not the administrator from last time.

"The Ten Thousand Year Ginseng Pill recipe is relatively cheap. It only costs five hundred Merit Points," the bearded middle-aged Instructor replied.

His name was Wang Miao, and he was a veteran senior Alchemist.

Wang Miao continued with a reminder. "I do not recommend that you exchange for the Ten Thousand Year Ginseng Pill recipe. Although the Ten Thousand Year Ginseng Pill is a high-grade Spirit Pill, its main ingredient, ten-thousand-year ginseng, is extremely expensive, making it poor value for money. If you ruin a batch, the loss will be severe. If you are confident in your alchemy talent, I suggest learning to refine Azure Essence Pills."

"Azure Essence Pills are also high-grade Spirit Pills and are likewise used to raise one's cultivation. Moreover, their medicinal properties are upright and gentle, unlike the Ten Thousand Year Ginseng Pill, which is so overbearing and violent."

"Azure Essence Pills are somewhat harder to refine, but the advantage is that the required spiritual herbs and medicinal ingredients are not as expensive."

"Thank you for your guidance." Jiang Ping'an was overjoyed and thanked him. "May I ask how I should address you?"

He had plenty of Proficiency Points. What he feared least were Spirit Pills that were difficult to refine.

Wang Miao smiled. "Just call me Instructor Wang. If you have any questions regarding alchemy in the future, you may come ask me."

Jiang Ping'an bowed. "Thank you for your favor, Instructor Wang."

Wang Miao nodded. "The Azure Essence Pill recipe costs eight hundred Merit Points. Would you like to exchange for it?"

"I will trouble you, then," Jiang Ping'an said.

"Please wait."

Before long, Wang Miao brought over a copy of the Azure Essence Pill recipe.

Jiang Ping'an handed over his Identity Jade Token. After deducting eight hundred Merit Points, Wang Miao returned the Identity Jade Token and handed Jiang Ping'an the copy of the Azure Essence Pill recipe.

After leaving the Alchemy Pavilion, Jiang Ping'an turned and entered the Spell Pavilion.

After the actual combat in the Genius Ranking Tournament, he had discovered that spells seemed more useful than martial skills, and that he had mastered far too few spells.

Therefore, he decided to learn a Supreme Spell.

Upon entering the Spell Pavilion, Jiang Ping'an took out the token that allowed him to freely choose one Supreme Spell or Supreme Martial Skill and handed it to the Instructor guarding the Spell Pavilion. "Hello, I wish to choose a Supreme Spell."

The Instructor recognized Jiang Ping'an. Rather than accepting the token immediately, he said kindly, "Jiang Ping'an, choose a Supreme Spell first. If you are not satisfied with the spell, you may go choose a Supreme Martial Skill instead. Come with me."

"Thank you, Instructor." Jiang Ping'an put away the token and followed the Instructor up the stairs.

After climbing all the way to the third floor, the Instructor led Jiang Ping'an into a room three zhang long and two zhang wide.

Several long bookshelves stood in the room, lined with thread-bound booklets.

"These are introductions to all the Supreme Spells currently collected by Taiwu Academy. You may take your time choosing. Once you find a suitable one, tell me," the Instructor said amiably. "There is no need to rush. You may spend several days choosing, or even consider it for one or two months before deciding."

"Thank you for your guidance, Instructor," Jiang Ping'an said.

The Instructor smiled and turned to leave.

Jiang Ping'an turned and surveyed the bookshelves throughout the room. If each booklet represented an introduction to a Supreme Spell, then Taiwu Academy had collected more than a hundred Supreme Spells alone!

His heart could not help burning with excitement. As long as he learned a Supreme Spell, he could use hundredfold Proficiency Points to comprehend an even stronger Mystic Grade spell.

One had to know that the Jiang Clan had been passed down for two or three hundred years, yet it still did not possess a single Supreme Spell or Supreme Martial Skill, let alone a Mystic Grade spell.