“You hungry?”

“En…[1]”

“It seems like we should bring some more stuff to eat with us during the next lesson. Have you never cultivated before either?”

“En…”

Lin Xi and Bian Linghan began to walk along the mountain road.

Normally, a walk in an evening that wasn’t too cold or too hot, with this type of female student from Rainmist Region under a clear sky, picturesque mountains all around them, was definitely something that calmed the heart and pleased the spirit.

However, the biggest issue was that Lin Xi and Bian Linghan were both starving. Moreover, it was a type of hunger that made them feel as if they had missed four or five meals.

It was just like what that Professor Qin who brought them here said, when one was too hungry, they really would become weak.

It seemed like cultivation not only increased one’s appetite, it also greatly improved digestion… when he thought of this, Lin Xi immediately couldn’t help but sympathize a bit with Yunqin Empire.

In order to deal with foreign enemies, they had to raise their own powerful warriors, but these powerful individuals, apart from needing to be the cream of the crop, had to be nurtured through priceless pills, and they even had tremendous appetites.

Just these powerful individuals alone... how much food did they consume?

Lin Xi thought randomly to himself while chewing on a tender branch he found on the side of the road.

“Crap, that teacher taught us so much, but we didn’t even ask him for his name.” He suddenly thought of something, frowning. He couldn’t help but give Bian Linghan a look. “I suddenly realized something. The reason why the academy forbids us from entering each others’ rooms might be because of a different reason.”

Bian Linghan turned around and looked at Lin Xi with curiosity. “What different reason?”

“The academy also has its own secrets.” Lin Xi said quietly. “It is just like how you have the talent to be a Windstalker, some things best kept secret… if you randomly enter and other people hear you muttering in your sleep, wouldn’t that be really bad?”

Bian Linghan lowered her head, her mood a bit heavy as she said, “Actually, I don’t really want to be a Windstalker… I didn’t even want to join this academy.”

When these words were spoken, this thin and weak young lady felt a bit of regret. She didn’t know why she spoke these words so easily to Lin Xi, and she was now also scared that Lin Xi would look down on her because of her words. However, what was unexpected was that when he heard her words, Lin Xi instead nodded, and then with a voice only the two of them could hear, said, “I know that not everyone wants to join the academy. Sometimes, even entering this world is because we had no other choice. However, being able to meet more people, see more brilliant things, isn’t this also rather interesting? …We cannot control our fate of entering this world, but we can decide whether or not to spend our days a bit more brilliantly.”

Bian Linghan gave Lin Xi a look of shock. Then, the two of them remained silent for a bit, just walking side by side. However, a large amount of the uneasiness and lost feeling in the young lady’s heart suddenly vanished.

“If I can hide my identity and visit home… being a Windstalker, this is also a rather interesting thing… but in this world, there aren’t any trains, no planes. If I want to go back, it really is a bit too troublesome…” The starving Lin Xi was a bit short of breath, suddenly turning his head to look towards the setting sun between the mountain peaks. He couldn’t help but think this quietly to himself.

…

“The thin and weakest looking Bian Linghan actually has the most terrifying Windstalker talent… Lin Xi’s speed of entering meditation cultivation is number one among all of the new students, yet his aptitude of medicinal absorption is only two…”

In a room with black heavy curtains, armors, blade fragments, and other bizarre objects, the black-robed Lecturer Mu Qing had a small sheepskin scroll unfolded before her, reading its contents carefully.

This small sheepskin scroll recorded the details of the new Self Defense Department students’ first day of class, detailed to the point where it included each person’s words and behavior, even including Bian Linghan’s talent as a Windstalker. As far as the academy was concerned, all of these things were classified.

Being able to have access to these secrets proved that she had earned enough trust. Meanwhile, to obtain enough trust from the academy, as for just how often they had to wander between the brink of life and death, just how much glory they had to bring back to the academy, for Lin Xi and these new students, it was something that they still couldn’t understand at all.

“Wang Xinglun, got up once at night, trapped in the fourth floor’s east corner old library… Peng Ying, got up once at night, explored the underground warehouse, stopping by the wine cellar…”

After reading through the contents of this small scroll, this black-robed woman with a rather ordinary appearance produced a fine pen, starting to write finely in the open space below the small sheepskin scroll.

In all of Yunqin Empire, inside all of Green Luan Academy, only personnel at her level knew that Green Luan Academy’s strength didn’t only lie in its formidable inheritance and cultivation training methods, but also the lecturers who dealt with a sea of information inside Ailao Peak each day.

These lecturers were given a name by Principal Zhang, one that Vice Principal Xia and the others couldn’t understand at all, but the meaning would definitely make Lin Xi smile: Milky Way Lecturers[2].

These were individuals chosen from among decades of students skilled with numbers and information filtering. Each day, they would sort through a sea of all types of information from the academy and the empire, properly organizing everything.

These lecturers were capable of grasping the trajectory of some things that were currently happening, even able to offer some suggestions, bringing great benefits to the cultivation research of professors from other departments, creation of weapons, and other matters.

The academy was powerful and glorious, but in reality, it wasn’t only founded on bravery and loyalty. There was also something that no one mentioned, but also the most important part, which was precisely sacrifice.

Suddenly, this rather ordinary looking black-robed woman stopped. After several breaths of time, Lin Xi’s voice sounded. “Teacher Mu Qing, are you there?”

She put away the small sheepskin scroll, and then opened the door. Lin Xi was precisely outside the winding corridor. When he saw her come out, he gave her a respectful bow.

“Did you come looking for me because of confusion over cultivation or the selection of courses?” Mu Qing looked at Lin Xi, nodding towards his greeting and asked.

Lin Xi said with a gentle voice, “The things the teacher talked about during the cultivation class weren’t too difficult to understand, and I believe that other things related to cultivation, teacher will also tell us when the time comes, so I don’t have any questions to ask about cultivation or course selection. The main reason is because I have a private matter to ask about.”

Mu Qing asked, “What is it?”

Lin Xi asked seriously, “This student is still young, after being away from home for many days, my parents and younger sister will definitely think about me. The academy allows the exchange of letters, right?”

Mu Qing nodded her head with a soft expression. “The academy does not restrict the exchange of letters, and the academy’s post is a bit faster than that of the outside world, it should be able to reach your Deerwood Town in around half a month’s time. If you want to mail your family a letter, as long as you hand the letter to me, then that will do. Similarly, if your family wrote you a letter, it can also arrive in Green Luan Academy within half a month. However, the academy has rules, letters that enter and leave will be examined, meaning that you aren’t the only one who will read them.”

“That’s not a problem at all, I merely wish to write some nonsense, hear about some of the family’s recent developments.” Lin Xi became happy, saying this with a smile. Between him and his family, there weren’t really any secrets that others couldn’t know about.

While looking at this smiling youngster, Mu Qing also felt extremely peaceful inside, her tone also becoming warmer. “For course selection, apart from the Soul Force Cultivation, Wilderness Survival, Equestrian Archery, Martial Skills, these four courses mandatory for Self Defense Department students, what are the four optional courses you’ve selected?”

Lin Xi said, “I chose Medical Care, Toxicology, Spiritual Studies, and Speed Reading.”

Mu Qing’s brows furrowed slightly. She looked at Lin Xi, saying, “Medical Care and Toxicology are both courses from the Medicine Department, the former able to treat and rescue companions, while the latter allows the recognition and application of poisons. These two both have uses on the battlefield. Spiritual Studies is a course from Spiritual Sacrifice Department that can be used to subdue a spiritual beast. If you can subdue a spiritual beast, then it can also greatly increase your strength. However, this Speed Reading is a class from the Statecraft Department, normally used to quickly search for useful information through a large amount of books, as well as to remember some useful parts. Why would you choose this course?”

Lin Xi laughed in a somewhat embarrassed manner, saying softly, “There are some courses that are more interesting, but they’ll definitely take a long time, and I might not even be able to pass… my memory is still not bad, if I choose this one, then passing and obtaining academic points shouldn’t be too big of an issue, which is why I figured I should just…”

Lin Xi spoke just too honestly, almost directly saying that the reason he chose this course was just to muddle his way through two course credits. If he said this, then it really wouldn’t sound too ambitious towards self-improvement. However, when Mu Qing heard this, her mind instead relaxed a bit. With a light sigh, she reminded herself that this was nothing more than a sincere and cute youngster, not someone who thought as far as she had predicted, doing this to become some undercover agent.

In reality, in Mu Qing’s opinion, with Lin Xi’s natural disposition where he didn’t get too alarmed by different things, his aptitude also ordinary, if he went to an enemy country to serve as a spy, he might very well obtain some high position in their society, obtain quite the achievements. However, Mu Qing also understood extremely well that ninety percent of those who ended up working undercover would become those with vicious and crafty thoughts… it was because when dealing with enemies, one would constantly be dancing on thin ice, when necessary, even had to sacrifice their own people to obtain trust. When this continued for a prolonged amount of time, it would often start twisting their minds.

“Many thanks to teacher, I will have to trouble teacher to help me deliver a letter tomorrow.”

Lin Xi didn’t know what Mu Qing was thinking, instead happily giving Mu Qing his goodbyes, and then returned to his own room.

“If you have the time, you can also try to listen to some courses from the side. Even though listening from the side doesn’t grant any course credits, at least you’ll still be able to learn many things, which will be useful to you in the future. Moreover, if a professor takes interest in you, willing to let you help in the completion of some research, if you can make contributions, there will also be course point rewards.” As she watched Lin Xi leave with light and carefree steps, Mu Qing then added this.

The rear figure of this youngster from Deerwood Town gave her a type of misconception, as if he wasn’t walking on the heavy winding corridors of Green Luan Academy, but rather joyously skipping along the streets of a small town.

1. In chinese, the sound en can be agreement, a filler word, and has many other uses

2. Reference to a supercomputer that was developed in China, capable of producing more than 100 million operations per second