A Leisurely Day at Teyvat Academy

"Stop acting. Your performance is terrible..."

Yu Yuanzhen's voice was frighteningly calm, as though he had aged ten years in an instant.

Yu Luomian finally snapped. Years of resentment burst through the dam. He jerked his head up, eyes bloodshot, his voice hoarse and deranged:

"Was I wrong to join forces with Spirit Hall? If you hadn't poured so many resources into that useless Yu Xiaogang, I would have become a Titled Douluo long ago! If I'd reached that rank, a Divine Gift descended from heaven today would surely have included me!"

"You! You forced me down this path with your own hands! You destroyed the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan!"

His roar echoed above the clan, every word a knife cutting into Yu Yuanzhen's heart.

Yu Yuanzhen closed his eyes for a moment, then raised a hand and struck, destroying all of Yu Luomian's Soul Power.

"...Take him away."

After speaking, he seemed to lose the strength to stand. He stared blankly at the Sky Screen and murmured to himself:

"Was I wrong?"

He was the clan leader, but he was also a father.

As a father, his conscience was clear;

but as clan leader, he had failed his people.

If only, back then... if only he had chosen another path...

But the world offered no "if only."

Just like Yu Xiaogang now. He glared at the dossiers scattered across the floor, lost all control, and swept everything else off the desk:

"Why? Why hasn't my Soul Power increased at all? Am I not a member of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan?!"

He screamed himself hoarse. "These God Rankings are worthless! A sham! A complete and utter sham!"

Then he froze mid-rant. He remembered.

He had been expelled from the clan long ago.

In an instant, his face twisted into a terrifying snarl. He lowered his voice, but every word carried a bone-deep chill:

"Father... my dear father... you've cut off my path to godhood with your own hands again."

"If you won't give me a path forward, I'll raise a god myself. No matter the cost, I'll destroy the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan."

That obsession wound around his heart like a poisonous vine, driving him deeper into fixation and madness.

Compared with the bloody storm sweeping the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, things were downright leisurely at Teyvat Academy.

To them, the God Rankings' rewards were nowhere near as interesting as the bustle before their eyes.

"Heh, doesn't that mean our academy's about to get a whole lot of new students? Can I set up a stall by the gate and sing for wine?"

Venti blinked his emerald-green eyes and looked at Su Yun expectantly.

Su Yun pressed a hand to his forehead. "Venti, I thought you had some spare money. Why are you always trying to get free drinks?"

Venti's gaze drifted this way and that.

The wine on Douluo Continent was simply too poor. After buying it, he still had to go to the trouble of blending it again. The cost was steep, and his Gold Soul Coins had long since run out.

Diona was even worse. For the grand cause of "destroying Mondstadt's wine industry," she had raised the price of her special mix to a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins a glass, plainly determined not to let Venti drink his fill.

Su Yun sighed, took a pouch of Gold Soul Coins from his Spatial Ring, and tossed it over. "You're the dean of Anemo Academy, at least. You said you were going out to recruit students. Did you find anyone?"

Venti caught the pouch in a flash and tucked it neatly into his Soul Tool, his eyes crinkling with delight. "I did, I did! Don't worry, she should be here soon."

Su Yun paused. Venti had actually talked someone into coming?

Had someone really trusted Venti's pitch enough to travel all this way and enroll at Teyvat Academy?

Su Yun strongly suspected Venti had grabbed some random person off the road in exchange for drinking money.

Given Venti's habits, it was entirely possible.

As he thought this, a slender, fair-skinned hand appeared before him, holding a crisp golden cookie between its fingers.

Without thinking, Su Yun bent down and took a bite.

He chewed, then said with certainty, "That texture... Sandrone made this, didn't she?"

Columbina nodded happily, her eyes curving into crescents. "I went to sing for her this morning, and she gave it to me."

Not far away, Sandrone, who had been bent over her research on the Heavenly Rankings, instantly bristled. Even from a distance, her voice rang with murderous intent:

"Columbina—I'm warning you for the last time! If you dare stand outside my window and sing first thing in the morning again, I'll wring your neck and knock your head clean off!"

Columbina's shoulders shrank. Like an eggplant struck by frost, she drooped her head.

"...All right, sorry. I thought you liked listening."

Sandrone looked at her lowered head, and her heart inexplicably softened for a moment. She turned away with a haughty little snort. "Hmph. Then stay here. I don't have time for you today."

With that, she tossed her head and strode deeper into the Laboratory, every step proud and dainty.

Columbina immediately perked up again and called after her, "Am I still invited to afternoon tea?"

Venti's ears pricked up. He poked his head out from the side and joined in at once. "Hey—Sandrone, there's afternoon tea? Can I come? Can I? Please? Please?"

Though Sandrone had already walked some distance away, the two voices still chased her. Without looking back, she threw out a reply:

"...Hmph. Who said I was inviting either of you?"

Venti's head drooped at once. "Aw... she turned me down," he muttered glumly.

Columbina, however, translated with a perfectly straight face. "No, she said we could come."

Beside them, Zhongli silently raised a hand to cover part of his face and sighed softly. "Hmm... just like Hu Tao. A little difficult to handle."

Just then, Jean led a young woman inside.

Su Yun looked up and paused. What was she doing here?

The young woman wore a tight black leather outfit that traced her graceful figure. The striking curve of her chest, in particular, seemed far beyond what one would expect at her age.

As Su Yun looked, a small hand suddenly waved before his eyes, and Columbina leaned closer, her voice full of curiosity.

"Su Yun, what are you looking at?"

He snapped back to himself, coughed twice, and hurriedly looked away. "...Nothing. Jean, who is this?"

Jean was about to call for Venti, but the Anemo Academy dean had already vanished like a wisp of breeze. Only his voice drifted back through the air:

"This dean is off to find more students! Don't miss me too much—"

Jean could only turn helplessly to Su Yun. "Dean... when are you going to summon the Grand Master too?"

Jean had previously worried about the bunch of "overgrown babies" back in Mondstadt. Su Yun had explained that time stood still in Teyvat, so she could treat her stay here as a vacation.

After a week at Teyvat Academy, Jean had indeed relaxed considerably. She only needed to visit the City Hall now and then to approve a few documents. It really did feel like a vacation.

Recently, Ningguang had devised a Talent Recruitment Plan. She intended to build an outer city around Teyvat Academy, much like Shrek Academy in the second Douluo story, with the academy in the inner city and a residential district outside.

Su Yun was quite taken with the proposal. There was just one problem... the treasure he had wrung from the Silver Dragon King was nearly gone.