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On the top floor of the Ascension Academy's office building, Dean Fang Zhuo, who had appeared on the flying ship before, was now bowing and scraping, looking respectfully at the person in front of him.

Sitting in his place was a young girl in white, with a black hairpin adorning her head. She possessed stunning beauty and a cool, aloof demeanor.

If Yang Ning were here, he would immediately recognize her. This person was none other than Wang Yi, the little follower by Lin Tianheng's side.

Wang Yi, who was as docile as a quail by Lin Tianheng's side, immediately transformed into someone superior upon arriving at the Ascension Academy. She casually flipped through the documents on the desk, not daring to let Fang Zhuo utter a single word.

"Are there any particularly outstanding students in this batch?"

"There are a few!" Fang Zhuo quickly replied, "Zhang Feiran from Yongzhou, Bo Haitang from Nanzhou, and Leng Yuxi from Qingyuan are all geniuses who grasped the Breathing Technique in seven days. There's also Lin Jingyun from Dasheng. Although he took eight days, he consumed an Exquisite Pill, so I believe he's capable of Qi Refining!"

"He took eight days even after consuming an Exquisite Pill? How much of a waste is he?" Wang Yi frowned.

"Uh, he's the adopted son of the Princess of the Man Family!" Fang Zhuo whispered as a reminder.

"So what!" Wang Yi sneered, "Even if that Princess were here in person, I would still say the same thing. And to invest so much effort in cultivating such a waste, is he truly an adopted son? Perhaps a love child! I recall the Princess of the Man Family being pursued thirteen years ago and hiding in Dasheng for a while, right?"

Fang Zhuo dared not answer. The Princess of the Man Family was someone he couldn't afford to offend, and Wang Yi was even more so.

"My lady, are you looking to select some individuals among the new students for cultivation?" Fang Zhuo asked.

"Cultivation? What's there to cultivate? There are plenty of Inner Disciples begging to curry favor with my young master, so why should I pick from the students?" Wang Yi said indifferently.

Fang Zhuo was speechless. He considered saying that students were pure and more loyal.

But then again, as long as one had strength, they wouldn't fear betrayal.

Without strength, even the most loyal person couldn't be kept.

The word "loyalty" held little meaning for cultivators, especially for those in the Golden Core Stage.

"Then why have you come here?"

"In three months, the Demon Subduing Valley secret realm will open. I want you to send that boatload of people, including Wei Daocheng, inside!"

"What!" Fang Zhuo was startled and quickly said, "Although the Demon Subduing Valley opens every year, the number of Demon Beasts inside remains immense. Entering without being at the Fifth Level of Body Refinement is akin to suicide!"

"And then?"

Fang Zhuo understood. She wanted that group of people dead!

However...

"Is this... Lord Tianheng's intention?"

Wang Yi looked at Fang Zhuo indifferently, "What, are you very interested in Lord Tianheng's thoughts?"

"No, no!" Fang Zhuo quickly shook his head, "I was just thinking about what reason to use to send them."

"You, a Dean, would lack reasons?" Wang Yi stood up and placed a jade bottle on the table. "Serving Lord Tianheng will not leave you unrewarded!"

"I, this, alas..." Fang Zhuo gazed longingly at the bottle of pills, appearing to hesitate, but he remained silent until Wang Yi left.

After a long while, Fang Zhuo shakily picked up the jade bottle.

He carefully opened it to find a perfectly round, pearl-like, bluish-white pill lying quietly inside.

"Azure Green Pill, condensed from the Water of the Netherworld and the Qi of the Azure Sky. It can refine mana and assist in condensing Supernatural Power Seeds. Speaking of which, isn't the Netherworld the same as the Azure Sky? This sentence should be a form of parallelism, meaning it's a pill condensed from water and qi from the Azure Sky?"

Rubbing his temples, Yang Ning felt a bit weary. These cultivators seemed to not study linguistics. I'm not asking you to write with literary flair, but at least write a coherent sentence, can you!

One wrong character could turn one thing into another!

Not to mention the nonsensical, disordered, grammatically incorrect sentences, or even the creation of new characters when the existing ones didn't fit...

Many problems could be solved by Deep Blue, but some couldn't, requiring him and Deep Blue to discuss them.

No wonder there were so few people in the library. I thought the textbooks were already poorly written, but I didn't expect them to be the best among the bad. The ones in the library are even more casual!

Don't they know that the Sect's grand plan prioritizes education? If the textbooks aren't compiled properly, how can they expect the Ascension Academy to produce talented individuals?

"Brother Yang!" a call sounded beside Yang Ning. Yang Ning turned his head and saw Ning Rong, who had appeared beside him at some unknown time.

"I didn't expect you to actually be here!" Ning Rong exclaimed in surprise, "I heard you haven't attended classes for the past month, nor have you returned to your dorm. You only eat and read, not cultivating or sleeping?"

"Ah, has it been a month already?" Yang Ning scratched his head in confusion, "Time really flies. I didn't even notice!"

"You've gone mad from reading!" Ning Rong angrily snatched the book from Yang Ning's hand, "Did we come to the Ascension Academy to read books? We're here to cultivate! What are you trying to do by ruining your body like this?"

"Did I?" Yang Ning blinked, seemingly still immersed in the world of books, "Aren't we here to learn?"

"Learn what? This is the Ascension Academy! Cultivation is the most important thing; learning is secondary! What's gotten into you? What happened to you at Qin Mountain? The Yang Ning I knew before wasn't like this!" Ning Rong was bewildered, "Where did the spirited Brother Yang from before go?"

"Spirited? Me? Did I?" Yang Ning blinked, feeling as if Ning Rong were talking about a stranger!

"Who else but you? 'Who stands on the highest peak and commands all lesser peaks,' wasn't that what you said? And 'When the wind rises, I'll set my sail to cross the seas,' wasn't that also said by you?"

Yang Ning was quite pleased. It seemed his performance was up to par; even his acquaintances were fooled.

Yes, no need to correct this. This impression needs to be deepened further.

"Let's talk outside. Someone is reading here!" Someone had already noticed their argument. Yang Ning didn't want to attract the librarian's attention, so he pulled Ning Rong into the corridor.

"Fine, I'd like to hear your explanation!" Ning Rong breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps Brother Yang had some other plan.

"Firstly, literary creation cannot represent a person's true nature. It must be analyzed in conjunction with the historical context and personal circumstances. At that time, I had attained the top scholar status and was eager to achieve something, but I was assigned to the Hanlin Academy to compile books. Naturally, I was dissatisfied. However, since we were all scholars, I couldn't directly complain to my superiors. Thus, I wrote these two poems to express my thoughts. Fortunately, my superior saw them and understood, so I was transferred from the Hanlin Academy to the Ministry of Works."

"Is, is that how it happened?" Ning Rong blinked, suddenly feeling something was amiss, and immediately said, "Wait, we were talking about you not cultivating, don't bring up those past events!"

"What kind of person do you think I am?" Yang Ning asked.

"Hmm, ambitious, caring about the world, concerned for the country and its people!" Ning Rong's face flushed. She had wanted to say handsome and dashing, but it felt a little too embarrassing, so she changed it: "And exceptionally talented!"

Frankly speaking, Yang Ning was the most brilliant star in the Yue Kingdom in the four hundred years since its founding. Countless young maidens dreamed of him, and Ning Rong was no exception.

Yang Ning had to admit, all of that was true.

But this persona was too dangerous in the Cultivation World, so what Yang Ning wanted to do was to make this persona collapse!

"That's all fake!" Yang Ning shook his head.

"What?"

"It's just an act for others to see!" Yang Ning said, "In reality, I'm just an ordinary person who likes tinkering with contraptions. Studying and becoming an official are all in service of my hobbies."

"R-really?" Ning Rong was stunned.

Come to think of it, what he said did make some sense. Although he was incredibly eloquent, he didn't write many poems or essays. Most of the time, he was busy with some strange inventions.

This passion for invention and creation aligned with his words.

She didn't know that Yang Ning's original dream was to become a great scientist and bring truth to the world.

"Then, then you shouldn't waste your talent! You've had the opportunity to cultivate, is your hobby more important than cultivation?" Ning Rong asked.

"I'll ask you, what is cultivation for?"

"Immortality!"

"And what is immortality for?"

"Uh, to do the things you want to do?" And to stay with the person you love!

Yang Ning nodded: "Exactly. Immortality is for having enough time to do the things you want to do. I embarked on the path of cultivation precisely for my hobby of craftsmanship. If I had to give up this hobby, what would be the point of cultivation for me?"

"This..." Ning Rong was bewildered. Could it be explained like this?

Yet, logically, it didn't seem to have any problems!

"No!" Ning Rong immediately reacted, "But you don't even cultivate! Forget about immortality, your lifespan might even be shorter than an ordinary person's. How can you pursue your hobby then?"

"It's my fault!" Yang Ning seemed to snap back to reality, "I crave knowledge too much. Ever since I entered the Ascension Academy and discovered the library here, I felt like a mouse that had stumbled into a granary. I couldn't help myself!"

"So that's how it is!" Ning Rong breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to give up on your cultivation! Even if you like reading, you need to do it in moderation!"

"I will be careful!" Yang Ning replied. "Thanks to you reminding me, otherwise, if this continued, my body would collapse sooner or later!"

"Mhm, mhm. We're from the same country, we should support each other. If I don't remind you, who will!" Ning Rong smiled. "Put down your book and go back to rest. You can't do this anymore!"

"Okay!" Yang Ning nodded. "Then I'll be going now!"

"Okay!" Ning Rong smiled and clenched her fist, then stared at Yang Ning until he left the library. A sense of immense satisfaction suddenly washed over her!

Did I just save a lost youth?