Aurora Yates looked at Quinn Shepherd again, but still saw no trace of hardship on him—only a bright, cheerful young man laughing heartily with a group of scholars.
“He really is a boy with an extraordinary charm.”
Aurora nodded. “Not especially handsome, but absolutely magnetic. Honestly, we don’t even need to meet the Imperial Preceptor—just having the Woodcutter Sage’s disciple is enough for me to help Everpeace through this disaster.”
“The Imperial Preceptor has a different kind of charisma.”
The Woodcutter Sage smiled. “You’ll understand his unique charm when you meet him. Actually, meeting both the Imperial Preceptor and Quinn Shepherd suddenly reminds me of the early days of the Pioneer Era, when everything was just beginning. I met the Pioneer Emperor and those like-minded companions amid the dead ruins of the old High-Emperor civilization. Back then, that civilization was completely wiped out, and we were all survivors struggling in the wreckage.”
He drifted into memory, his demeanor serene as he smiled. “Who could have imagined that we, still starving and fighting for every meal, would one day build a glorious Pioneer Era? Seeing the Imperial Preceptor, Quinn Shepherd, and their friends, I can’t help but think of my old self and those old friends.”
Aurora fell silent, then after a moment shook her head. “No need to dwell on the past. Let’s go meet him.”
“Quinn, let’s keep moving!” the First Human Emperor called out.
Quinn answered, running over with a smile. “I’d like to stop by Heavenly Saint Academy in Bazhou Prefecture first—I have a few things to hand off to Granny Sue.”
The Woodcutter Sage said, “We’ll go to Heavenly Saint Academy first.”
Arriving at Heavenly Saint Academy, they found its atmosphere quite different from Yong River Academy. There, Yong River Academy was experimenting with creation arts to cultivate medicinal herbs, supplying an endless stream of medicines to all corners of the Everpeace Empire.
Heavenly Saint Academy, on the other hand, was even more intensely academic. Before they even reached the academy, they could see all sorts of bizarre spirit weapons flying through the sky or racing across the ground. Sometimes one would suddenly belch thick smoke and crash down, leaving a smoking crater, from which a bedraggled student would crawl out.
Occasionally, a spirit weapon running on the ground would explode, sending the student piloting it flailing through the air, arms and legs flapping wildly.
Some students huddled together to test formations, tinkering with all kinds of arrays—dangerous work, since the formations would often spiral out of control at the slightest provocation.
One moment it was a sword array, with sword-light shooting in all directions; the next, an array imitating the form of a god or demon. When things went wrong, divine essence or demonic essence would surge forth, transforming into rampaging god-demon forms that relentlessly chased their creators around.
A group of Apothecaries and their apprentices waited nearby, ready to dash over and haul away the wounded for treatment as soon as the chaos subsided.
"I told you already—numerology! Numerology!"
An old Daoist, utterly exasperated, bellowed at the students being carried off on stretchers, "Numerology must be precise! How many times have I told you? If you don’t listen, you’re the ones who’ll suffer!"
"Today we're going to construct a god-demon summoning array. According to the Qin family's spirit-energy conservation runes, we should be able to call forth a monster from the Netherworld."
Elsewhere, a middle-aged Imperial Supervisor was encouraging his class, gently coaxing, "Don’t worry, your teacher is right here—what could go wrong? Relax, relax... According to the Qin family's spirit-energy conservation runes, we’ll need some offerings for the exchange. First, let's do the numerology calculations and design the altar..."