That day, at Green Grain Martial Academy.
The lake's surface shimmered with rippling light, and a Heart-of-the-Lake Pavilion stood at its center.
The Heart-of-the-Lake Pavilion stood alone upon the water, surrounded on all sides by the lake, with neither path nor bridge connecting to it.
Anyone able to sit within this pavilion was qualified to "tread upon the water to arrive."
At this moment, four people sat within the Heart-of-the-Lake Pavilion, occupying the east, south, west, and north.
Seated in the eastern seat of honor was a youth dressed in dark green everyday robes. He looked no more than sixteen or seventeen, yet the blood qi surging around him was like a rising tide, as fierce as the billows on the lake.
The other three were all middle-aged men, each with a different bearing, yet all were people of high station and great authority. The majesty on their bodies was impossible to conceal.
Yet the youth remained calm, his fingertips lightly tapping the stone table without the slightest trace of panic.
As Liu Zhiming gazed at the youth's face, fair as white jade, a hint of envy could not help rising in his heart.
He sighed. "Dean Lan truly makes one envious. You're much older than the rest of us, yet you still wear the face of a youth."
Lan Yi smiled. "In my younger days, I was fortunate enough to obtain a Youth-Preserving Herb. That is why my appearance has remained unchanged."
"Why should Liu Household Head envy me? If you wish to return to the appearance of your youth, would that not be simple?"
Liu Zhiming smiled and shook his head. "That may be true, but regaining one's youth comes at a price."
"People like us, who have undergone Three Blood Exchanges, gain an additional sixty years of