Waylaying the Academy Head and Using the Back Door

Whenever Lu Qing'an didn't understand something, he asked directly.

"Old Xiao, why do I get the feeling you're hiding something from me? Just tell me. This time, I'm going to see the head of Demon Willow Academy not only to get the children into the academy, but also to let them use the academy's time treasure whenever they want in the future."

He would use the back door to get them into the academy.

And let the children use the time treasure more often.

He had the strength for it, so of course he had to give the children resources of the highest caliber.

Xiao Qingyi knew he couldn't keep it from Lu Qing'an. A slightly lecherous smile spread across his face as he said, "My youngest disciple has done very well for himself. After graduating from Demon Willow Academy, he became a teacher there and has taught there for many years. He's on good terms with the academy head. But as you know, ordinary people can hardly find out where that old fellow is, and he doesn't like seeing visitors. So I found out from my youngest disciple that he's returning to the academy tonight. We'll go straight there and block his path. With our strength, even if he doesn't want to see us, we'll definitely be able to see him."

Lu Qing'an had thought Xiao Qingyi really could see the head of Demon Willow Academy directly. It turned out this was how he intended to do it. Still, Old Xiao was quite something. This was one way to do it too.

"All right. Shall we go see this youngest disciple of yours first?"

"Sure. I haven't seen him in a while either. Those little brats haven't come back to see me for many years. When they were younger, they came back to pay their respects almost every year. Now they only come to see me once every few decades."

As he spoke, Xiao Qingyi looked helpless, with the loneliness of an old man left on his own.

"Then we'll leave after lunch."

"All right!"

The group ate lunch together. Before leaving, Lu Qing'an first went to see Wang Duanshan, then told his two daughters he was going out and would be back later.

Both girls were well-behaved and weren't bored at home, so neither asked to come along.

Just before leaving, he suddenly thought of something and looked at Luo Danhong and Xu Yunyi.

"I plan to send the children to cultivate at Demon Willow Academy later. If you have time, help me set up a teleportation array connecting the two places, so it'll be easier for them to travel back and forth."

It wouldn't be convenient for him to take them there and pick them up every day. With a teleportation array connecting directly to the academy, the children could come back on their own, which would be much more convenient.

Luo Danhong smiled. "That's not difficult."

"All right, I'll leave it to you."

With that, he left the courtyard with Xiao Qingyi.

A quarter of an hour later, the two appeared in the sky above Demon Willow Academy.

The blazing sun hung overhead as Lu Qing'an stood in the air, his robes snapping in the fierce, hot wind.

Seen from above, Demon Willow Academy resembled an ancient giant beast lying dormant among the mountains.

Its pavilions stood at varying heights on foundations of black jade, their upturned eaves like willow blades cutting through the air. Pale purple mist curled among the overlapping halls.

A giant willow, black from trunk to crown, stood at the academy's center, reaching straight into the clouds.

Silver runes covered its trunk, and its branches hung like curtains of time. Every willow leaf shimmered with starlike points of light.

It was the academy's guardian treasure, the Time-Reversing Demon Willow!

The willow branches now stirred without wind, churning the Demonic Qi within ten miles into a vortex that enveloped the academy in a barrier where illusion and reality intertwined.

"Can this Time-Reversing Demon Willow really achieve a time flow ratio of one to three hundred when used with a time treasure? If it can, how many people would fight tooth and nail to get into Demon Willow Academy?" Lu Qing'an murmured to himself.

Others couldn't enter Demon Willow Academy just because they wanted to. No matter how strong they were, they still had to pass written and martial examinations.

Of course, some powerful people had tried using the back door or making threats with force. Without exception, the outcome was the same.

It was useless.

The head of Demon Willow Academy was one of the Demon Domain's ten strongest experts. Besides him, another expert who had graduated from the academy was also among the top ten.

With the Time-Reversing Demon Willow guarding the academy as well, even other top experts would have to steer clear of its edge.

That was to say nothing of the many experts who had graduated from Demon Willow Academy and made their way into various factions throughout the Demon Domain.

Its students could be found all over the world; no one dared offend Demon Willow Academy lightly.

Unless...

They were an invincible existence.

And as an invincible existence, Lu Qing'an wouldn't offend Demon Willow Academy either. First, the academy had been founded with good intentions, and second, it had never offended him.

"Little Xu, your master is here! Come out and greet me!" Standing in the air, Xiao Qingyi raised the corners of his mouth, took out a voice transmission jade slip, and sent the message.

A moment later, a middle-aged man hurriedly flew up from Demon Willow Academy below.

Dressed in scholarly blue robes, he had a composed bearing. Scholarly refinement surrounded his every movement, and he radiated righteousness.

Lu Qing'an hadn't seen Xiao Qingyi's youngest disciple, Song Xu, in a long time. Seeing him again now, he couldn't help feeling a little surprised.

How does he look even more righteous than the people over in the Immortal Ruins?

"Master!" Song Xu quickly approached, a smile on his face.

"Haha! Little Xu! You brat, it's been a while since you came to see your master. You deserve a beating!" Xiao Qingyi laughed.

"Master, I've been busy teaching all this time. I really couldn't be in two places at once..." Song Xu glanced at Lu Qing'an beside him as he spoke. The rest of his words caught in his throat, and his eyes flew wide open.

"Silly boy, have you forgotten who this is? Aren't you going to greet him?" Xiao Qingyi asked.

"Greetings, Senior Eternal Night!! It's been so long!!"

Excitement filled Song Xu's face as he hurriedly bowed respectfully.

The Eternal Night Demon Emperor had vanished for more than a thousand years. Had he finally returned?!!

Lu Qing'an smiled. "It has indeed been a long time. You brat, you've changed quite a bit over the years."

"No, no! I'm still the same! It's you who feels even more different to me, Senior!" Song Xu immediately became self-conscious. As he spoke, he looked a little more guileless and scratched his head.

Lu Qing'an smiled. "I spent some time in the Immortal Ruins, so it's only natural I've changed a little. Sorry to trouble you this time. I remember you cultivated the sword, so take this treasured sword."

On his way here, he had asked Wang Duanshan for a tenth-grade supreme-rank treasured sword.

He was visiting a junior and asking him for help, so it was only right to give him a little gift.

"This! I can't accept it!" Song Xu saw that the weapon Lu Qing'an had brought out was actually tenth-grade supreme-rank, and it even looked as though it had been made by the Demon Domain's strongest artifact refiner. A treasured sword of this caliber was far too valuable!

Xiao Qingyi, however, urged him with a broad smile, "Why are you being polite with him, brat? He has plenty of things like this! Hurry up and put it away!"

"This... this wouldn't be right..." Song Xu glanced at his master.

Xiao Qingyi winked at him.

In the end, Song Xu put the treasured sword away.

"Thank you, Senior!"

Lu Qing'an nodded in satisfaction. "All right, take us into the academy."

Demon Willow Academy was covered by an extremely powerful array and guarded by the Time-Reversing Demon Willow. Even an ordinary peak Great Emperor Realm expert would find it difficult to force their way in.

Of course, he could certainly do it, but there was no need. After all, the children would be cultivating here later, so there was no need to sour their relationship.

"Yes! This way, Senior!" Song Xu hurriedly led the way with a smile.