“Look at my lips,” Jiang Luofu said. “Fu-ck-off.”

Zu An looked at her disapprovingly.

“Principal, such vulgar speech isn’t befitting of your status at all.”

Jiang Luofu stretched, which was, in itself, a gorgeous sight to behold. “Did anyone hear anything? I sure didn’t.”

Zu An was speechless. He hadn’t expected this woman to be such a rascal! However, he soon figured out that she had only called Shang Liuyu her wife as a joke between best friends.

Female students in his previous world often did this as well.

He just couldn’t understand why they would do that. If two close male friends called each other husbands, uh…

Jiang Luofu tapped her brush on the table. “Why don’t you tell me how you got away from a master rank opponent? Please save me from that ‘going berserk’ or whatever garbage.”

Zu An felt his face redden. So the principal had heard all his attempts at flirting while he’d been outside her door! He roughly told her what had happened, giving her the same story he had given the Chu clan.

Jiang Luofu was silent for a moment. It was a while before her red lips opened again. “I believe I fought against that other master rank cultivator that you mentioned. Back then, I couldn’t figure out why he would start trouble in the academy, but it now seems as though he was investigating the people around you.”

Zu An immediately launched into endless flattery. “Principal Jiang managed to hold her own against a master rank opponent! My respect to you gushes for like the relentless tides of the river, like the ripples of Brightmoon River…”

“Enough, enough.” Jiang Luofu’s face turned red, and she cut him off immediately. “He clearly held back. That was the only reason I was able to defeat him.”

Zu An changed what he was saying. “Gorgeous principal is honest and upright, you refuse to accept credit for outstanding deeds that do not belong to you! You are simply the noblest among women, a paragon of virtue…”

He continued in this vein for a long time, but still she didn’t cut him off. Instead, she looked at him with great amusement.

He continued to heap praise on her, but inevitably began to run out of gas. He quickly found an excuse. “Sorry, my throat is a little dry from all this talking. I’m going to get a sip of water.”

He grabbed the teacup next to him and drank a large gulp.

Jiang Luofu couldn’t stop him in time. She smiled a strange little smile. “Little Yu just drank from that cup. Isn't what you did considered an indirect kiss? Countless men would love to have such an experience, and yet you’ve obtained it so cheaply.”

“Ahem…” Zu An was stunned. Only then did he see the faint lipstick mark on the edge of the cup. Even more shocking was that there was another, much clearer mark as well, and the color of this one was quite similar to the lipstick Jiang Luofu was wearing.

“Gorgeous principal, I’m really starting to doubt your relationship with big sister Shang…”

Jiang Luofu snorted. She snatched the teacup from him. “What an unromantic man. This is your reaction after indirectly kissing your principal?”

Zu An had nothing to say to her.

Sigh. I always have a great time teasing Ji Xiaoxi, Chu Huanzhao, and all these young maidens. They flush with anger as soon as I play around with them a little.

However, with this woman, I’m somehow the one who gets played instead!

“Hm? You’ve already risen to the fifth rank?” Jiang Luofu gave him a surprised look. She now sensed the changes in Zu An’s aura. “The cultivation speed of individuals with transcendent aptitude is truly enviable.”

When they had first met, he had just begun on the path of cultivation. Not much time had passed at all, and yet he was already the fifth rank!

There were many publicly acknowledged talents in the academy who had been meticulously nurtured since they were young. However, only a few of them were able to reach the fifth rank!

“Unfortunately, I didn’t awaken any elemental abilities,” Zu An said with a bitter laugh. Mi Li thought that he controlled the spirit element, but that was merely the Hundredwarble skill.

“You don’t have any elemental ability? How can that be?” Jiang Luofu put away her teasing smile and straightened.

“I’m not joking. I don’t sense a special connection with any element around me.” Zu An explained what he sensed to her.

Jiang Luofu remained silent for a long time. In the end, she said, “Usually, all who break into the fifth rank will instantly recognize their elemental ability. I have never heard of anyone in your situation. Maybe it’s different for you because you have transcendent aptitude. Normal people can sense it at the fifth rank, but transcendent aptitude cultivators might need more time. They might need to be at the sixth rank before this happens.”

“What can we do, then?” Zu An was befuddled. Wasn’t his transcendent aptitude supposed to be a means to quickly reach the peak of human existence? Why were there negative effects to it instead?

“Just keep doing what you’re doing,” said Jiang Luofu. “You might just suddenly awaken your elemental power one day. You’ll find a way as long as you don’t despair. Since you have transcendent aptitude, you will definitely awaken to an element.”

“Gorgeous principal is probably the only one who can say such things to me.” Zu An couldn’t help but complain.

Jiang Luofu’s face reddened. “What can we do? There are practically no cultivators in the whole of history who possess transcendent level aptitude, so we don’t have any past experience to use as reference.”

“I guess so.” There was no way Zu An could do anything about it, if even the principal had no idea what to do. He suddenly thought about the two fire element manuals he had obtained. “By the way, is there anything I can do if I want to awaken the fire element?”

“Fire element?” Jiang Luofu was surprised. Chu Chuyan possessed the ice element. If he awakened the fire element, wouldn’t they clash? “The elemental affinity usually appears on its own as soon as you reach the fifth rank, and isn’t something that can be chosen. Of course, there have been exceptions. For example, some with exceptional luck might inherit or encounter certain ability scrolls that can help to awaken a certain element directly.

“However, such circumstances are extremely rare. Only those with exceptional luck have a chance at this.”

She never expected Zu An to sigh in relief. “Thank goodness there’s a way. If it's just luck, well, I’m hardly lacking in that department.”

Jiang Luofu was speechless. She had no idea where his confidence was coming from.

“By the way, you shouldn’t publicly announce what happened between you and those master-ranked cultivators. Every single master rank cultivator is connected to endless other parties, and you cannot contend against them right now. I will find a way to contact the Chu clan and help them hide this information for you. I hope that nothing bad comes about because of this.” Her expression was tinged with worry. She had a feeling that this matter wasn’t going to end here.

Zu An looked at her. “Gorgeous principal, you really are too nice to me! I don’t even know how to repay you! Honestly, I don’t have any valuable possessions, so I can only give you my body.”

“Get lost!”

“Okay~”

Zu An left the office in a much better mood. Even though he still didn’t know how he was going to awaken the fire element, he now knew that it was possible. It would all work out eventually.

He walked along the campus boulevard, clearly in no mood to join any lectures. He’d already fought against master rank cultivators, so these classes didn’t seem to mean much to him anymore.

With that in mind, he decided to get some shut eye back in his staff residence. However, he ended up running into a ravishing beauty along the way.

“Zheng Dan?” He caught sight of the beautiful girl in front of him, and nodded towards her. She seemed to have grown slightly more plump. She perfectly encapsulated the bashfulness of a younger girl, and the charm of a young woman.

No wonder the fellow students who passed her by couldn’t resist casting glances in her direction.

Hmph! All of you are just perverts without any real guts!

If you like her, why don’t you walk up to her and let her know? I guess you guys aren’t as handsome as me, so you won’t get much from her. But, whatever the outcome, you’ll at least be able to talk to your goddess.

“Greetings, Teacher Zu.” A hint of redness colored Zheng Dan’s face.

“I see that student Zheng is still as polite as ever. This teacher is pleased.” Zu An also enjoyed this act that they put up in front of everyone else.

“I heard that something happened to Teacher. Now that I’ve seen that Teacher has returned safely, this student can feel at ease.” Her words were well-practiced and totally appropriate.

“Was student Zheng worried about me?” Zu An asked with a smile.

“Of… course.” Zheng Dan’s face grew redder. She looked around her guiltily. “By the way, I have some questions regarding arithmetic that I could use Teacher’s help with.”

Zu An knew that she wanted to talk to him in private. He nodded. “Let’s talk as we walk.”

The two of them walked along a secluded path in the academy. To anyone else, Zheng Dan looked like an earnest student, asking questions with a book in hand.

All who saw her admired her. Miss Zheng really was hardworking! She actually studied arithmetic so earnestly, without her cultivation falling behind.

Of course, some scions of other major clans felt that first miss Zheng had been unduly burdened by the Zheng clan. There were many business matters that had to be taken care of within the Zheng clan, and Zheng Dan had no choice but to spend some more time working on her arithmetic. If this weren’t so, her cultivation would surely have been higher than what it was right now.

None of these bystanders had any idea that the two of them had secretly linked hands while walking. What arithmetic questions? They were using her book to hide their passion!

“Ah Zu, I’m actually here as a representative of my future father-in-law to conduct a business transaction with you.” Although Zheng Dan’s face had turned red from his earlier teasing, she hadn’t forgotten her reason for seeking him out.

Zu An was stunned. “What transaction?”

Zheng Dan looked at him with her large eyes. “He wants the medicine that you have.”