After Li Yu filled out and submitted all his information, a long list of declarations from the Great Evolution Academy appeared on the page. The main point was that he had to earn full marks in every subject, and the academy would only issue his diploma once he had completed the adult undergraduate program.
Li Yu read every clause carefully. What concerned him most was how he would attend classes.
The Galaxy Alliance was enormous, and applicants were scattered across its many star regions. There was no way to make everyone travel to the Great Evolution Academy in person, so adult education mainly took the form of online classes. After all, the tuition only covered so much.
Still, as the Galaxy Alliance's foremost university, the Great Evolution Academy spared no expense on its online classes, allowing every student to experience lessons as though they were actually there.
It had paid a hefty sum to purchase a dedicated "Metaverse" channel from the Galaxy Alliance. Anyone who had developed divine sense could respond to a special talisman summons and descend upon the academy through the "Metaverse."
"Metaverse?"
It was another term Li Yu did not understand. Even after searching for it, he only half understood. He gathered that it would let him attend school, make friends, browse the streets, shop, enjoy entertainment, and so on through a virtual avatar.
After reading everything, Li Yu signed his name at the bottom of the agreement.
[Thank you for choosing the Great Evolution Academy. We will need some time to verify the authenticity of your information.]
Seeing the notification pop up on the page, Li Yu immediately grew nervous, afraid his application would be rejected and his Star Coins refunded.
After roughly a few breaths, the notification disappeared, and a new page appeared.
[Your information is authentic and valid. Your application has been approved. Please report on time on the scheduled start date.]
Li Yu breathed a sigh of relief, then hurriedly asked when classes would begin.
The official account replied almost immediately: [Hello, student. We are currently on winter break. The adult education primary school program will begin in one month. However, the date may be adjusted if a teacher fails to awaken from secluded cultivation in time. Please follow the official account for specific updates. Should anything change, you will be notified immediately.]
Hearing that he only had another month to wait, Li Yu looked forward to it even more.
Just then, the official account sent another link containing the textbooks for primary school grades one through six. He could read them online to prepare in advance, and the cost of these textbooks was included in the ninety-nine Star Coins.
Li Yu marveled. As expected of a great academy!
Over the following days, Li Yu cultivated and studied, going out to look for housing whenever he had free time. But everything within his budget was old, shabby, and cramped. Anything cheap enough was far from Haо City, where his safety could not be guaranteed.
That day, he visited the Five Lotus Sect's office again, planning to ask about the Pearl-Gathering Grounds and earn some Spirit Stones.
While chatting with the junior sister with the ponytail, Li Yu heard that Ying Ruomu was looking for him.
He could not help touching the Ordinary Mask he wore, grateful for the magical artifact Wang Xiang had given him.
But he also realized that he should stop coming to this office.
After all, it was only a magical artifact. At best, it could fool Qi Refinement cultivators.
Before leaving, Li Yu asked more about Ying Ruomu. It turned out that Ying Ruomu was the one who had harvested the Supreme Spirit Pearl in the deep-sea canyon. The Ying clan's name carried enough weight that, if he refused to sell, no one could force him.
"Senior Brother Ying plans to go out to sea again. This time, he's hired plenty of fellow disciples and chartered a boat. Since you have a pearl-harvesting assignment too, you could go for an interview. You might just catch a convenient ride." The junior sister with the ponytail was not particularly guarded and told him what she knew.
Li Yu nodded repeatedly, but in truth, he was already planning to flee.
A ship would depart from the Zhao Kingdom for the Southern Lands in four months. Li Yu had sold everything in Wang Xiang's Storage Bag except the Spirit Stones. Even with his own savings added in, he only had two hundred Spirit Stones—not enough for a ticket.
There were illicit ships that traveled privately to the Southern Lands for half the price, but Li Yu did not dare take one.
"Junior Sister Xiong, do you know which parts of the Zhao Kingdom have safer housing?" After some consideration, Li Yu decided to spend some Spirit Stones to rent somewhere more secure.
The junior sister with the ponytail was named Xiong Meng. She belonged to a collateral clan of the Rizhao Hao Clan, but since her branch had split off early and three generations had passed, they could no longer use Hao as their surname. Still, her admission to the local branch of the Five Lotus Sect showed that her clan had some influence.
Hearing Li Yu's question, Xiong Meng immediately smiled and took out a rolled beast hide. She unfurled it to reveal a map of the entire Zhao Kingdom.
At the very center of the map was the Sun God Stone. Xiong Meng pointed at it and said, "The safest place is the 'city.' Senior Brother, if you want to rent a place inside the city, I can help introduce you."
Throughout the Four Lands of Mountains and Seas, the cities of the various vassal states were generally built according to standards established during the Heavenly Xia Dynasty.
At the heart of each kingdom lay its "city"-in the Zhao Kingdom, that was Hao City. The ruler of the Zhao Kingdom, descendants of the Hao clan's main line, and royal relatives and nobles lived there, along with offices belonging to the great sects of the Mystic Gate.
No one dared cause trouble there, because the Sun God Stone hung overhead.
Li Yu asked about the prices. Even the cheapest room cost a hundred Spirit Stones a month, and he shook his head repeatedly. "Junior Sister, even if I finish this assignment, I might not earn enough for two months' rent. Is there anything cheaper?"
Xiong Meng was slightly disappointed, but continued her introduction. "Then there are the twenty-four townships in the outer city. They're covered by Young Emperor Hao's great formation, so very few rogue cultivators dare strike there..."
Outside Hao City stood a massive pentagonal formation. Mortals could not see it, but cultivators could sense it. Under the ceremonial conventions of the Immortal Zhou, the formation's boundary was called the "outer wall."
The territory between the city and the outer wall was the outer city. Its residents were all descendants of the Rizhao Hao Clan, known as "citizens." After more than ten thousand years of branching bloodlines, many, like Xiong Meng, could no longer use Hao as their surname. Still, they all worshipped the same ancestor, Young Emperor Hao, and took birds as their totems. The lands inhabited by the twenty-four most powerful clans among them were called townships.
Since they lay within the range of Young Emperor Hao's great formation, public safety was also assured.
Beyond the city and its outer wall lay the suburbs and the wilderness, where prices were only a tenth as high. The place where Li Yu had killed Wang Xiang was in the suburban wilderness. Even now, no one had discovered what happened-or perhaps someone had seen it but was so accustomed to such things that they could not be bothered to report it.
Li Yu asked about prices in the townships. They were more than half as cheap as the inner city, but still expensive, so he directly asked for the cheapest option.
Hearing that, Xiong Meng immediately lost interest, though she still pointed to a corner near the outer wall.
Li Yu saw three characters marked on the map: Shijiu Township.
He had asked about the Zhao Kingdom before coming here and knew that, among the twenty-four bird offices established by Young Emperor Hao, the Shijiu clan held the office of Minister of Works, one of the Five Doves. They oversaw construction and waterworks, and accordingly controlled part of the great formation.
"What's the price?" Li Yu asked.
Xiong Meng said, "Fifteen Spirit Stones." That was per room, per month.
Li Yu was immediately surprised. It was so cheap that he feared there might be a catch, and he asked to see the place in person.
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