"Here to learn to read?"

After he went inside, an old man dressed in a thick scholar’s robe asked.

"Yes."

"I’ll take you to register."

With that, the old man led Su Qing to the registration area.

"This is a new student who wants to learn to read."

A young man sitting at the registration desk nodded. He pulled his hands back to warm them up a bit and asked without even looking up, "What’s your name?"

"Su Qing. Su as in the city of Suzhou, and Qing as in the color green."

"Learning to read... that’ll be five taels of silver for three months. Are you willing?"

Su Qing nodded.

"I am." He then took out five taels of silver and handed them over.

"Alright then." After taking the silver, the young man looked up at Su Qing and was stunned by his appearance. His colorful eyes didn’t seem like those of a mortal.

"You’re not from the Great Yu Dynasty?"

"I am. I’m from Kexiang County."

The young man took a closer look at Su Qing and couldn’t help but shrink back, thoroughly shocked.

’The man before me is actually a Martial Artist, and a highly cultivated one at that!’

’To be dressed in such thin clothes in this cold weather... it’s truly shocking.’

"You’re assigned to No. 1 School. You can start today."

"This is your Identity Token." Knowing Su Qing was no ordinary person, the young man directly assigned him to No. 1 School.

He also handed Su Qing his Identity Token: a wooden plaque marked with the number 1 and the character for "Samādhi."

’His hand is warm!’

The young man who handed Su Qing the Token was even more stunned. He pulled his hand back, his gaze toward Su Qing now filled with reverence.

"How do I get to No. 1 School?"

Su Qing asked.

The young man said directly, "Elder Zhang, could you please take him to No. 1 School?"

The old man known as Elder Zhang shot the young man a surprised glance.

Then he turned to look at Su Qing closely.

He wouldn’t have noticed otherwise, but Su Qing was still dressed in autumn clothes, as if he didn’t feel the cold at all.

"Very well. Please, follow me."

Su Qing nodded and followed, holding the wooden plaque in his hand.

No. 1 School.

They arrived.

It wasn’t actually very conspicuous.

The only thing marking it was the character for ’One’ written above the door.

"Master Cui, there’s a new student."

Elder Zhang said to another old man who was in the middle of a lesson.

Cui Tangwen glanced over.

"Just bring him in. There’s no need for such announcements in the future."

Cui Tangwen didn’t seem to mind much.

And so, Su Qing entered.

The moment he stepped inside, a stir went through the room.

The people inside couldn’t help but let out hushed gasps of admiration.

There were only two women in No. 1 School.

Both of them immediately turned their gazes to Su Qing, ignoring Cui Tangwen.

"Wow, which young master is he? Why would he come to study here?"

"I know, right? What young master would come here? I thought the upper class looked down on our school."

"Maybe he’s some rich patron’s kept boy."

"..."

"Silence!" Cui Tangwen shouted. He took a close look at Su Qing, and with his sharp eyes, he immediately noticed his thin clothing.

"What is your name?"

"Su Qing. Su as in the city of Suzhou, and Qing as in the color green."

"A very fine name. Qing represents prosperity and vitality."

"Go take that empty seat in the back."

Su Qing nodded and walked to an unoccupied seat in the back row.

Cui Tangwen cleared his throat a few times. "Alright, let’s get back to our lesson."

"The character we were just discussing is the one for ’general.’ I’ll write it for you..."

"..."

It felt novel for Su Qing to be back in a classroom setting, reminiscent of his past life, and he watched intently as the teacher wrote the characters up front.

It wasn’t a blackboard.

It was a blood-red board that would darken wherever it was touched by a finger.

After a short while, the black marks would disappear.

[Two-Toned Redstone Powder Board: When pressure is applied to the powder, red turns to black. Possesses a mild detoxifying effect...]

[Synthesizable]

The moment Su Qing saw the board, he knew what it was.

...

The day passed with almost no breaks. Even Cui Tangwen, up on the platform, taught continuously.

After teaching for nearly five hours straight, class was dismissed. In winter, the sky darkened much faster, so the day’s lesson was already over.

In just one day, Su Qing had already memorized nearly a hundred characters.

’There’s still plenty of time.’

Su Qing only needed to remember some of the more common characters for now.

He wasn’t quite satisfied with the current situation, though. The teacher’s pace was just too slow.

Su Qing’s body was powerful now, and even his mind had undergone an Evolution.

For him, simple memorization was easy; he only needed to see something a few times to remember it.

But Su Qing found this pace acceptable.

Upon returning to Xu Ningying’s residence, he happened to run into Xu Ningying herself.

Xu Ningying also thought it was quite a coincidence.

"I was just hoping to see you."

"You’re back just in time."

"I’ve settled the matter of the residence you wanted. I have the deed right here," Xu Ningying told Su Qing.

Su Qing gave a slight nod and smiled. "Thank you for going through the trouble."

"Don’t mention it. It was a simple matter for me."

"When you want to move, just find Yinyin. She’s the Steward of my residence, and she knows the location of your house."

Su Qing nodded.

"In that case, I’ll move to my new place tomorrow. Thank you for your hospitality these past days."

Xu Ningying nodded. "If you run into any trouble, you can come find me. When spring arrives, people from the higher-ups will come to Shangjing. If you have the aptitude, you can go to the Zhengxuan Sect to pursue Immortal Cultivation."

Su Qing knew he didn’t have the aptitude, yet he still wanted to go to a legendary Immortal Cultivation Sect to practice.

’But that would expose my secret.’

’How can I practice Cultivation without a Spirit Root?’

’That would be the most difficult point to explain.’

"By the way, does your Demon-Extermination Bureau have any techniques to hide one’s Cultivation?"

"We do, but... if the Demon-Extermination Bureau investigates me because of this, it will put me in a very difficult position."

"Which is why I need a Concealing Technique for my Cultivation," Su Qing said with a helpless tone.

Xu Ningying considered it for a moment, then nodded.

"The Technique can only hide Cultivators like us who have just reached the Gathering Spirit stage. Because our Spiritual Qi is so faint, when we circulate it, we appear as nothing more than ordinary people in the eyes of Demon Fiends," Xu Ningying explained.

"I’ll have someone send the Concealing Technique to you."

Su Qing felt it was indeed a bit shameless to ask for it like this, but it was the simplest and easiest way to obtain the Technique.

"Thank you."

"You’re welcome. When I go to the Sect, you just have to fulfill your duty as my Guardian Dao."

Su Qing nodded.

’This status is perfect. I can go to the Sect without having my Spirit Root tested.’

’Three months is just enough time to get an idea of what the Zhengxuan Sect is really like.’

After Su Qing and Xu Ningying parted ways, night fell.

He began to practice the Swordsmanship.

Geng Metal Sword of Enchantment +1

When Su Qing started his Cultivation, the Synthesizer’s panel finally appeared.

Technique: [Geng Metal Sword·Demon+1: Entry Level (10/500)]

’Ten points in two hours... that must be thanks to the boost from my Five Qi God Demon Body.’

Although Su Qing was a little surprised by the slow progress, it also served as a testament to how powerful this Swordsmanship was.

Within his Dantian, a Spiritual Energy Sword Embryo of a Geng Metal Demon Sword was slowly taking form.

Su Qing noticed this as well.

’It is a "sword nurturing" technique, after all. Of course, it needs a sword.’

The nurturing time, the nurturing efficiency, and his mastery over the Swordsmanship all affected the technique’s power.

This was a Swordsmanship that he could practice indefinitely.

...