I'm Done Talking. Let's Fight

"I'm not washing my face today!"

Chen Shu rubbed his face, grinning smugly.

Ning Qing showed no expression or embarrassment. She settled back into her earlier position and merely glanced down at him.

"Fill out your university choices."

"Sure. Secretary Ning, peel me a pomelo."

Without a word, Ning Qing picked up the pomelo and a knife from the coffee table. She brandished the knife in front of his face twice as a warning, then began peeling.

Chen Shu checked the requirements. A total score above 1,000 qualified a student to apply to Yujing University, but that only made an application possible. Each major at each university had limited places, and applicants would be ranked by their scores in certain subjects. Ties would be dealt with afterward.

With full marks in three subjects, Chen Shu had nothing to worry about there.

As he worked on his phone, he said to Ning Qing, "I want to apply for Spell Principles Studies."

"You've always wanted to study that."

"What do you think?"

"It's good."

Ning Qing nodded as she peeled the pomelo, showing her support. "It's the path that suits you best."

"How so?"

"It just does."

"Come on, tell me more."

Chen Shu sat up from where he had been lying, ready to listen.

"Because you have an exceptional gift for it, and you're deeply interested in it. As it happens, that path is right before your eyes. That's actually quite rare." Ning Qing spoke softly, still in her even tone, as she shared her thoughts with him. "The world is vast. There are thousands upon thousands of paths to take, and thousands upon thousands of people. For most people, even finding a reasonably right path is hard. They may have talent for something but no interest in it, or interest without talent, and either way, it's hard to keep going. As for the path they're both talented at and interested in, their limited perspective or bad luck may keep them from ever seeing it. They have to swallow a lot of bitterness, run into a lot of walls, and retrace their steps again and again before they find a path that suits them. By then, half their life may have slipped away."

"I don't want you to regret your choice later."

When she finished, she turned to look at Chen Shu. Her voice was lovely.

"You're very lucky."

"Wise words, Secretary Ning!"

Smack!

"You violent maniac!"

And so Chen Shu applied to the Ancient Cultivation Department at Yujing University, majoring in Spell Principles Studies.

He would not accept a transfer to another major.

Applications would remain open for seven days. Admission results would be released afterward, with no admission letters sent out.

Come to think of it, the prospects for this major were growing bleaker by the day.

Universities had once all had Ancient Cultivation Departments offering majors in ancient cultivation. But over the past twenty or thirty years, the vast majority had gradually abolished those departments. Ancient cultivation majors could now be found only at military academies.

Chen Shu could only settle for the next best thing and study Spell Principles Studies.

The reason behind it was the state's regulation of civilian power.

Take Regulated Spells, for example—

The state regulated spells capable of causing injury or other harm. They were classified from level one to level five: the higher the level, the greater the danger to society and the tighter the restrictions.

That meant most cultivators had no access to offensive spells. They could study only harmless, defensive, or utility spells.

They could buy offensive spells on the dark web, but the quality lagged behind, the prices were steep, and scams were common.

Of course, someone well versed in Spell Principles Studies could create offensive Ancient Spells themselves. The more primitive a spell was, the simpler it was, and getting caught with one was not a major problem. State policy punished those who spread such spells severely but treated learners leniently. If someone merely created a low-level Regulated Spell and never used it to harm society, they would usually receive only an administrative fine.

All kinds of offensive Spell Artifacts were tightly regulated too.

But that did not mean the Yi Nation had given up on Ancient Cultivators.

Not at all.

It merely regulated them in civilian life.

A country like the Yi Nation might have good public safety, but beneath the surface, it was martial to the bone.

Join the military, and you could legally learn the finest offensive spells in the world. You would also receive free, scientific training that would have you taking on five opponents at once.

But once you became a mid- or high-level cultivator, you would spend essentially the rest of your life in the military.

Martial Artists had it much better.

They posed far less danger to society than cultivators did. Restricting their weapons and equipment was enough to greatly limit the destruction they could cause.

That was why so many Martial Artists retired from the Yi Nation's military each year and entered the arena, sweeping all before them.

There was another reason—

Ancient Cultivators had a terrible time finding work in modern society.

Apart from joining the military, they could basically only enter the security industry. But the military had its own training system, while security jobs did not demand much fighting ability. It was an awkward position to be in.

You wanted to protect yourself? Weren't all those excellent defensive spells enough to keep you safe in a peaceful society?

Granted, some people simply revered martial strength.

But they still needed to eat, buy homes and cars, and support their wives and children.

Where would the money come from?

They couldn't just rob people for all of it.

So the vast majority of cultivators went in other directions. If they occasionally obtained a Regulated Spell or two through some channel and secretly learned them, that was enough to satisfy them.

It was much like people in his previous life who collected bladed weapons at home. They would almost never use them; the collection was just for peace of mind and personal satisfaction.

Yujing University's deep history, lofty standing in academia, and strong research capabilities were what had allowed it to retain the major to this day.

According to Chen Shu's research, Yujing University's Spell Principles Studies program was closer to the path of Ancient Cultivators than the programs at the other two top universities. People called it Ancient Spell Principles Studies, and most of its outstanding graduates joined the military or major weapons research institutes.

The state did need talent to keep developing excellent new spells. For now, Ancient Cultivators still played an irreplaceable role on the battlefield.

"If I can't find a job after graduating, I'll have to live off Qingqing."

He took the pomelo Secretary Ning had peeled. She had cleaned away every strand of pith, leaving only ruby-red flesh that looked like a work of art. Chen Shu took a bite. Mm, it tasted much better than one he peeled himself.

Ning Qing kept stripping the pith from another segment. Without looking up, she asked, "When are you going over there again?"

"Tonight."

"I'll stay by your side the whole time."

"Hm?"

Chen Shu paused mid-chew, then looked up. "Secretary Ning, you're getting sentimental."

"Oh, shut up."

"By the way, I have a brilliant idea."

"?"

"How about you kiss me again, and I'll bring you meals for a month?" Chen Shu looked at Ning Qing with a serious expression. "Isn't that ingenious? And it's fair. See? We'd both fulfill our wagers."

Ning Qing acted as though she hadn't heard him.

That evening.

Chen Shu had just left.

Xiaoxiao had spent the whole day in her room pretending to do homework and was finally allowed out.

She sat on the sofa with her feet deliberately held off the floor, her calves swinging back and forth. Her eyes kept sliding sideways, sneaking glance after glance at her older sister. After her brother-in-law left, her sister had inexplicably started acting strange again, just like that day.

Maybe she had gone crazy.

Suddenly—

Her sister turned to look at her.

The girl hurriedly pulled her gaze away and stared intently at some indeterminate spot ahead.

As long as she didn't look at her sister, she would be fine.

But her sister still asked, "You spent all day messing with those things of yours in your room. Did you finish your homework? Finals are coming up. Have you reviewed?"

The girl clenched her fists tight—

She had only just come out, and her sister already wanted to send her back!

"I finished it."

"Bring it here. Let me see."

"I haven't finished it..."

"You're certainly good at lying. Go back and do your homework. I'll find you another set of practice papers while I'm at it."

"You're awful!"

"Go back."

The girl stood up in a huff and headed upstairs.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.

Just as she was about to round the sofa, she stopped, turned to her sister, and raised a hand to rub her own face. "Oh! I'm not washing my face today!"

Then she bolted upstairs.

Two minutes later.

Xiaoxiao huddled beside her bed, her expression numb. Pressed against the wall, she had wrapped herself so tightly in her quilt that only her head showed. Her eyes stared without focus.

The bedroom door was locked.

But the lock kept making clicking sounds.

Her sister had found every spare key in the house and was trying them one by one.

Xiaoxiao pulled the quilt tighter around herself. There was nowhere to run.

How hopeless.

Clack, clack...

The lock turned, and the door opened.

The light returned to the girl's eyes. She looked up at her sister as she walked in and summoned her courage. "Do you know this is domestic violence? It's against the law!"

"So?"

"Do you know what'll happen if I call the police?"

"The police will get a call from you."

"..." The girl choked on her words. After a short silence, she tried once more to scare her sister off. "The police will come arrest you! You'll go to prison! Do you know what'll happen to you and my brother-in-law if you go to prison?"

"One of us will be inside, and the other outside."

"..."