He was mainly worried that Zhu Zhuqing's progress would be held up by this matter, but now wasn't the time to think about that.
"Come on, children."
With that, he led the two of them to their respective dormitory areas.
Then came a chorus of "Wows!"
"Master, are these really our dorms?"
Even Zhu Zhuqing was a little astonished. The facilities here were more luxurious than those in some of Star Luo Empire's noble academies.
The academy looked so plain from the outside. Who would have guessed the living conditions were this excellent?
Chen An didn't respond. He was secretly delighted, and could barely keep the smile off his face.
In the end, he could only give them a couple of instructions before slipping away.
"Get to bed early tonight. I have something important planned for tomorrow."
As the night wore on, neither child could sleep, and they had no desire to cultivate.
Everything that had happened today felt strange to them. Now that things had quieted down, they both found themselves wondering:
Did I really make the right choice?
Zhu Zhuqing had more doubts than Luo Xiaoshi, since she carried a heavier burden. Now that she was alone, it was hard not to doubt herself.
But neither of them doubted Chen An, not Luo Xiaoshi nor Zhu Zhuqing.
Their doubts never went beyond questioning themselves; they hadn't reached the point of rejecting everything. They held on until the third watch of the night, but in the end, exhaustion overcame them, and they fell asleep.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
The rooster crowed. It was one of the domestic animals Chen An kept at the academy.
On ordinary days, it was either eaten or used by Chen An as a natural alarm clock. After getting up and washing, he passed the dormitory building and took a special look at how the two children were doing.
Seeing that they were still asleep, he left without waking them. There was no need to hurry them today. Let them sleep a little longer. The days ahead would be hard.
"I'll stop by the Technique Pavilion first."
On the way, he considered whether to visit the Technique Pavilion or make breakfast first, and decided to go to the pavilion to fill the second floor's shelves.
This was one of his special abilities: he could reproduce books from the Library.
After finishing that, he went and made some breakfast.
"Mm, what's that smell? It smells so good."
Zhu Zhuqing was the first to get up. Luo Xiaoshi followed close behind. The two happened to meet as they left their dorms, so they came over together.
Chen An was already sitting in the dining hall, eating. When he saw them, he looked up and said,
"Breakfast is in the back. Help yourselves. Remember to wash everything you used when you're done, then come find me on the training field."
The breakfast wasn't especially lavish, but it looked appetizing.
There was salted pork bone and mustard green congee, a few eggs, several cups of soy milk, and a large loaf of bread set aside.
He'd made the loaf simply because he was worried the children wouldn't get enough to eat. It didn't taste particularly good, but it kept well and was filling.
"Whoa!"
The two quickly finished eating, then decided they couldn't manage that much food. They split the large loaf between them and each ate half.
Even dipped in sauce, it was quite a shock to them. Fortunately, they were used to all kinds of food, so they didn't waste any.
After eating, they each cleaned up their own things. Zhu Zhuqing had already put herself in the right frame of mind, viewing herself as a student who had come to learn.
When they reached the training field, they saw Chen An already waiting for them and hurried over.
"Good. That didn't take long."
Chen An had chosen the training field as their meeting place mainly because he hadn't yet shown them around.
"Today's first lesson is to familiarize you with the academy.
"After that, I'll help you choose suitable techniques."
Zhu Zhuqing was slightly taken aback. Compared with Luo Xiaoshi's confusion, she was more astonished.
As someone from the Star Luo Zhu Family, she had naturally heard of cultivation techniques. Her family's ancestral techniques even included one suited to the Hell Spirit Cat.
But that was all.
So she was shocked when Chen An said he would help them choose techniques. These things were secret teachings, passed down by families across the continent.
"All right, Teacher."
Zhu Zhuqing answered. Luo Xiaoshi didn't say anything, only nodding. It was clear he was a little timid.
"Then let's go."
Chen An mainly couldn't be bothered to make a map. He thought of the customary first lesson from his previous life, then made his decision.
Phantom Star Academy wasn't small. Besides the training field, dormitories, and dining hall, there were also the Breeding Farm and the Back Mountain Training Ground.
The only other place was Chen An's office. He told them they could come find him there in the future.
After they had seen most of the academy, they arrived at the Technique Pavilion.
"Is this the Technique Pavilion?"
Zhu Zhuqing murmured as she looked at the building. It wasn't particularly imposing.
The Technique Pavilion had three floors and was the academy's second-largest building by area. From the outside, it looked more like a library.
"Come on in."
After disabling the defenses at the entrance, Chen An led the two little ones inside.
Inside, they saw rows of bookshelves divided into three distinct sections, each marked with a sign: Internal Arts, External Arts, and Esoteric Arts.
"Wow!"
Luo Xiaoshi exclaimed. Zhu Zhuqing was just as astonished.
The sight before her made her feel that even the foundations of an ordinary family couldn't compare with the techniques on this floor. And with all the books on the second floor, perhaps it could rival her family's library.
As she thought this, Zhu Zhuqing couldn't help looking toward the second floor. Her instincts told her that these books weren't just for show.
"Don't look at the second floor. You can't read those books yet."
Zhu Zhuqing asked curiously, "Then, Teacher, when will I be able to go to the second floor?"
Chen An thought for a moment before answering, "When you reach level 70."
"All right, children. Go find an internal art. Just follow your hearts. Fate will guide you."
Chen An spoke in an enigmatic, almost religious way.
In truth, he simply didn't want to explain that the books here had been born from the gathered essence of the Library's source, and that there was a book spirit.
It could help people choose suitable techniques, and also served as the guardian of the Technique Pavilion.
To people of Douluo, that was even more absurd than believing in fate.
"Mm."
The two nodded, then each plunged into the sea of books.
"This one... no."
Zhu Zhuqing casually scanned the books and, following Chen An's instructions, tried to sense them. She really could feel a sense of rejection or affinity.
Once she felt it, the doubts in her heart fell away. She turned her attention to sensing the books.
"This is the one!"
She pulled out a book. Five characters were written on the cover: Nine Nether Profound Technique.
The moment she saw those five characters, Zhu Zhuqing's mind went hazy. Then she saw a woman standing atop the Underworld. She couldn't describe the feeling exactly.
She only felt that she ought to bow before that figure.
"What is this? Master, what happened to me?"
When Zhu Zhuqing came to, she found herself lying across Chen An's lap.
Only afterward did she realize that wasn't very appropriate, so she stood up with her ears red.
Chen An smiled and said,
"This is the technique's inheritance. It looks like you're very suited to it."
He didn't mind Zhu Zhuqing's embarrassment. Children in this world matured early, and he was used to it. Besides, she was still so young—he had no interest in her that way.
When Zhu Zhuqing entered the inheritance, he had hurried over to check on her. He'd taken a look at the technique and been surprised that it was supposed to be a technique unlocked on the third floor. How had she obtained it on the first floor?
Then he'd glanced through it and realized it was only a condensed version. In that case, no problem.
"Hm?"
As it happened, just after Zhu Zhuqing came to, the other one entered the same state.
"It looks like both of you have quite a connection with your techniques."
Chen An murmured, then flashed over and caught Luo Xiaoshi as well.
Luo Xiaoshi's find was even more outrageous: an unnamed cultivation technique. And if Chen An remembered correctly,
it should be a technique belonging to a certain monkey. In terms of quality, it was only a hair's breadth below the Nine Nether Profound Technique.
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