Du Guqingli’s appearance in the western border regions, where the second-ranked rookie instantly defeated the fourth-ranked one with a single sword strike, sent news back to the capital. This event thoroughly reinforced the credibility of the Demon Subjugation Bureau’s rankings, earning the Chief Editor commendation.

Even more commendable was the fact that the added character appraisals doubled the sales of this issue’s Heroes Ranking, generating substantial revenue.

Old Sheng had not anticipated such an unexpected windfall from letting his daughter manage this venture. Delighted, he even awarded her an internal commendation. Upon receiving it, Sheng Yuanyao finally understood Shen Tang’s joy: benefits simply fell into her lap without her having to think about anything.

Eagerly, she wanted to thank Lu Xingzhou again, but he was nowhere to be found.

By this time, Lu Xingzhou had already enrolled in the academy with Ah Nuo.

The Pill Academy and the Imperial Academy were connected, but unlike the Imperial Academy students, who were mostly from the capital and didn’t reside on campus, Pill Academy students lived on site. This was primarily because most students came from various regions, and alchemists needed constant access to their refining sites. Each student at the Pill Academy was assigned an independent alchemy grotto, fully equipped with an excellent alchemy furnace and geothermal fire system.

Even Ah Nuo was assigned an independent grotto, right next to Lu Xingzhou’s.

After all, she had enrolled as an independent student, not as Lu Xingzhou’s attendant.

They usually rented small courtyards at inns and stayed in separate rooms, so living in adjacent grottos was no different. Yet, for some reason, Ah Nuo felt as if she was separating from her master. Her lips were pursed the entire time as she grumbled, “We could have partitioned the grottoes, why assign separate ones…?”

Lu Xingzhou chuckled, “You’re complaining when you’re being allocated extra resources?”

“What do I need these resources for…?” Ah Nuo sniffed. “Didn’t you hear them say that in a few months we’ll have to choose a mentor and specialize in a certain direction? Ah Nuo has a master; I don’t need any mentor.”

In ancient times, advanced studies after becoming a top scholar were known as Hanlin, which carried a much higher status than modern university degrees. Here, it was akin to a combined bachelor’s and master’s program. The relationship with such mentors was more intimate than with general lecturers in collective classes, but still didn’t match the traditional concept of a master.

A traditional master was a lifelong mentor, guiding you from childhood until you became proficient, and even caring for you for a lifetime. These mentors, however, worked with one batch of students at a time, and once they finished, there was no ongoing relationship. Consequently, many alchemists from sects, who already had their own masters, still followed a mentor here without conflict.

Of course, such mentors were still undeniably esteemed teachers, imparting knowledge, teaching skills, and resolving doubts, thereby leaving a profound mark. In a politically charged place like the Imperial Pill Academy, choosing a mentor based on research direction was far less important than choosing a side.

“We can just follow Instructor Meng when the time comes, if he takes students,” Lu Xingzhou said. He didn’t care about these things but was very interested in the Pill Academy’s advanced study model.

Most people simply learned alchemy as a whole; probably only the official Pill Academy would make such distinctions.

Students could specialize in healing and saving lives, or in refining immortal pills for cultivation breakthroughs, or solely in theoretical research, or purely in alchemy itself. What was originally a comprehensive field here highlighted distinct directional branches. Within the healing and saving lives specialization, internal and external medicine were also differentiated, a distinction not typically found in ancient times.

After all, in a world of cultivation, the understanding of the human body, medicine, and injury treatment was far beyond what was typically found in conventional ancient times.

Lu Xingzhou initially learned alchemy primarily to treat his internal injuries and poison wounds from childhood, as well as to heal his leg. Consequently, both he and Ah Nuo were typical researchers in the healing and saving lives field, proficient in both internal and external medicine. However, because he had to feed Ah Nuo, the refining of cultivation-enhancing pills accounted for a larger proportion, as someone was literally consuming them as food.

In the future, they could indeed consider specializing.

It had been said long ago that Lu Xingzhou himself wasn’t particularly interested in alchemy, nor did he aspire to be a doctor who healed and saved lives. Now that his leg was healed, his sole motivation for pursuing advanced studies at the Pill Academy was to elevate his status, striving to marry the princess.

But after all, it was a skill he had practiced for ten years, reaching the level of the third-ranked rookie; it would be a shame to abandon it now. Lu Xingzhou pondered and thought he could shift to specializing in cultivation-enhancing pills, noting that the Dragon Elephant Great Strength Pill from last time had produced excellent results. For healing and saving lives, he could specialize in combat recovery.

When it came to healing and saving lives, Ah Nuo was actually more suited for it, provided she was willing. She could then specifically refine cultivation-enhancing pills to consume as food, making herself self-sufficient.

Ah Nuo had no objections to her master’s idea. “If Master says so,” she replied, “then we’ll have to pray that Instructor Meng also specializes in this direction. But I think Instructor Meng is mainly focused on theoretical research; his classes aren’t even related to alchemy.”

On the timetable, the first class was Instructor Meng’s, where he lectured on the importance of loyalty to the emperor, patriotism, and the development of alchemy for the nation and its people.

Lu Xingzhou found it quite amusing, as if he had traveled back in time.

“Let’s go, it’s time for class. Let’s experience university life in this world,” Lu Xingzhou said with a smile. Ah Nuo then joyfully pushed the wheelchair towards the classroom.

Compared to universities in the modern world, the Pill Academy had far fewer classrooms. With only a dozen or so rooms in total, it looked somewhat humble.

This was because the entire Pill Academy had just over a hundred students, with Lu Xingzhou’s cohort totaling twenty-eight.

As Ah Nuo pushed the wheelchair into the classroom, the room was already full, with only the two of them missing. Ah Nuo showed no change in expression. Under the gaze of twenty-six people, she pushed her master to the front-row desk and plopped herself down beside him.

Someone scoffed and chuckled, quietly muttering, “Master and apprentice as classmates, how disgraceful.”

Lu Xingzhou turned his head to look. As expected, it was Daoist Xuanqing.

Lu Xingzhou calmly said, “It’s not uncommon for fathers and sons to study together in ancient times, Brother Dao. You look like an immortal, but you seem quite uncultured. Perhaps that’s what happens when you eat too much of the Huo family’s food. I hope your advanced studies at the Pill Academy can improve your quality.”

“You…”

“Master, who is this Daoist? Are you familiar with him?” Ah Nuo asked curiously.

“Oh, that’s the one whose alchemy isn’t as good as yours,” Lu Xingzhou replied, “We’re not close.”

Ah Nuo blinked, “With such poor skill, how can he not feel ashamed and still dare to talk about others?”

Emperor Ah Nuo’s aggressive nature had always been strong, but this remark was a bit of a generalization. Lu Xingzhou rubbed Ah Nuo’s head. “Knowing he was cultivated by the Huo family, you should be mentally prepared; he won’t be a good sort. Normal people wouldn’t make such a display of themselves.”

Xuanqing sneered, “Aren’t you a member of the Huo family?”

Lu Xingzhou said calmly, “You should be glad that if I truly were a member of the Huo family, you would be considering whether to kneel, not talking back to me here.”

Someone in the seats chuckled lowly. Xuanqing choked, unsure how to reply.

Indeed, if Lu Xingzhou returned to the Huo family, he would have to address him as Young Master Seven; how would he dare talk back?

Lu Xingzhou scoffed and chuckled, “This is what it means to be someone’s dog—pitiful and pathetic.”

A knock sounded at the open classroom door. Instructor Meng appeared at the doorway and glanced inside.

The entire class fell silent.

“You are here to study, not to argue,” Instructor Meng said calmly, walking to the front of the stage. “Today, I will teach you your first lesson: school rules. The first rule is mutual unity and assistance…”

Xuanqing was seething; he was just about to retort when the instructor interrupted him. It was like having his mouth covered mid-sentence, extremely uncomfortable.

Instructor Meng ignored him and proceeded with his first lecture.

Merely school rules would have been fine. But what was this stuff about loyalty to the emperor, patriotism, and refining pills for the people, and who was it even for? Was this lesson meant for human ears?

These sect disciples from all over the land had never heard such politicized nonsense; they were all dumbfounded. Lu Xingzhou, however, found it quite entertaining, grinning and wanting to give a thumbs-up—it was all so familiar, like a taste of home.

Instructor Meng’s gaze towards him grew softer. What a sensible young man!

The students finally endured the drowsy half-hour. Instructor Meng finally stopped speaking and took a sip of tea. “Looking at everyone’s expressions, you all seem very shocked, which shows you’ve taken my words to heart,” he said. “No need to be shocked; there will be three such lessons every month from now on.”

Everyone fell silent.

“It’s still early, and I won’t just talk about these things today,” he continued. “Since this is the Pill Academy, I must give you all a taste of alchemy’s true power on your first day.”

As he spoke, a striking beauty suddenly appeared at the doorway.

A woman with a light veil over her face stood quietly there, her eyes deep and as calm as stars.

Her beauty alone instantly dispelled all drowsiness from everyone present.

Lu Xingzhou had to admit that Madam Ye was truly beautiful. While veiling one’s face generally made people appear prettier, as it could hide many flaws, Madam Ye was on a completely different level. Her demeanor and eyes were truly like a high-mountain lotus or a star in the sky; one could imagine how devastatingly beautiful she would be if she removed her veil.

“This is Madam Ye, a top-tier alchemy grandmaster whom I went to great lengths to invite,” Instructor Meng announced. “She will be responsible for lecturing on the theoretical essentials of high-grade alchemy, from third-rank upwards. You are luckier than previous students. Madam Ye was only occasionally invited to share her insights once or twice before, but for this cohort, she will lecture on all theories from third-rank to first-rank.”

First-rank!

Everyone’s heart skipped a beat.

In the entire Great Qian, how many first-rank alchemists were there? These students certainly couldn’t access them. If they had a first-rank alchemist in their own family, who would travel thousands of miles to study at the Pill Academy?

Among these few first-rank alchemists, many were hidden away in powerful sects like the Heavenly Jade Holy Land, serving when summoned but not openly declaring their allegiance. How many had entered the official system? A large number of instructors in the Pill Academy were only second or third-rank; the only first-rank alchemist was the Academy Head, Qin Zhiyu!

Where did this first-rank Madam Ye come from?!

Ye Tinglan slowly walked onto the stage and began to speak calmly.

She didn’t particularly look in the direction of Lu Xingzhou and his apprentice. She was very casual, and no one could tell that she knew Lu Xingzhou.

But Lu Xingzhou had a very clear feeling—her lecture was specifically for him.

It was an alternative, simpler approach to the questions he had answered on the test paper at Instructor Meng’s home last time. It was perfectly suited for these students, and also offered Lu Xingzhou new insights and directions for thought.

Lu Xingzhou then realized that the obscure knowledge of Maha, when interpreted by her from another angle, became much clearer all at once. Some difficult points that had previously stumped him suddenly became clear under her analysis.

She could glean his inherited knowledge from that original test paper, instantly spot his points of difficulty, and furthermore, dissect Maha’s clearly ancient way of thinking using modern interpretations.

Her gaze seemed to penetrate past and present, like an ancient starry river that had witnessed ten thousand years of change and still remained.

Ah Nuo stood by, wide-eyed. “Master, this old woman… she’s amazing…”