Chapter 760: Meeting the Woman in White Again

"Oh? What do you mean by that?" Zhang Xuan was not bothered by his threat, but looked over with a smile.

"The academy's resources are limited each year, and there are only so many trials. Even the work-study quotas are not easy to obtain! Offending our Cangyue Society means we can easily make sure you don't get a single trial or any credits for a whole year!"

The young man said.

As a large student organization, making life difficult for a group of freshmen was quite simple.

"Unless..."

After issuing the threat, the young man continued, "Join our Cangyue Society! If you join, you'll be protected, and no one else will dare trouble you. There are also many trials that the society will apply for and lead you to complete. Most importantly, if you join now, we can give you a copy of the Staff Handbook, so you won't need to buy it."

"Joining the Cangyue Society has so many benefits? Then... what do we have to do?" Ruohuan Gongzi couldn't help asking.

There's no free lunch in the world. If they offered so many benefits without a purpose, they wouldn't believe it.

"Very simple. As a member, you must respect Senior Long Cangyue, pay an annual membership fee of one credit, and take care of the society's business in your free time." The young man nodded.

"Pay membership fees? Take care of business?" The group was speechless.

Sure enough, as they had guessed, receiving benefits came with a price.

Not to mention that they didn't have a single credit; even if they did, earning them would be extremely difficult. Turning in one per year was already a huge sum.

While feeling that the membership fee was exorbitant, he was also somewhat shocked—if the association had a hundred people, wouldn't that mean this Long Cangyue could earn a hundred credits a year without doing anything?

No wonder he went to the trouble of establishing such an association, spending time to offer guidance; the root cause was here.

As for business, one could understand without thinking.

Running the association, daily necessities, and greasing relationships all required expenses. Everyone here was a master teacher with many auxiliary professions; helping refine pills or forge weapons could earn money.

Just like the young man in front of them, who sold this detailed guide for faculty and staff; the income he gained would certainly have to be handed over.

"Right, now you have two choices: either buy it or join the association. Otherwise, just wait for trouble later!" After explaining, the young man snorted.

"Teacher Zhang..."

Ruohuan Gongzi, Song Chao, and the others all looked over in unison.

"Sorry, we will neither buy nor join the association."

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

He had no interest at all.

Could this crappy association possibly be more convenient than being the junior apprentice brother of the Ten Great Elders? He had turned down the latter, so how could he join this one?

"You've got guts! But I hope you can find a backer after the apprenticeship ceremony. Otherwise, just wait for the Cangyue Society to cause you trouble!"

Seeing that the people before him completely ignored his threat, the young man snorted viciously and left with a flick of his sleeve.

"Teacher Zhang, what if they really cause trouble?"

Song Chao and the others looked worried.

They lacked Zhang Xuan's ability and backing. Having offended such a senior student organization, if they were retaliated against, it would likely be very troublesome.

"Let's complete the apprenticeship first. Even if they are senior students, this is the Master Teacher Academy, and they wouldn't dare go too far. If they really cause trouble, I'll go find Dean Mi and Dean Zhao."

Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

Everyone here was a master teacher. Even if the other party wanted to cause trouble, it would certainly be within the rules. Playing by the rules with him... he could absolutely drive them to collapse!

Not to mention one society, even if all ten top master teachers joined forces, they probably wouldn't be a match for him in a game of rules.

"Alright, we'll rely on you then..." Hearing his promise, the group felt much more at ease and continued walking toward the passage.

Along the way, they encountered several more groups—the Shenyue Society, the Yaomo Society, and others—all student organizations inviting them to join or selling them information.

Zhang Xuan casually flipped through a few more books and found them not much different from the Cangyue Society's, so he politely declined them all.

Seeing a few new students who bought nothing and foolishly rushed off to attend the open lectures, the senior students from the information-selling societies all looked at them with sympathy.

For new students, the first priority was choosing a teacher, and the second was joining a society. Otherwise, once isolated, they would face all kinds of trouble—let alone earning credits, they might not even be able to stay.

Ignoring these self-important senior students, the group arrived at the entrance to the open lecture hall.

The passage was packed with people, forming a long queue.

Looking up, they saw a teacher lecturing on a platform to one side. His voice was clear and resonant, reaching their ears as if transmitted individually, despite the crowd.

"The way of cultivation lies in focusing the mind. In the Spirit Fusion Realm, spirit and flesh unite. To refine the soul, first train the mind..."

He was a middle-aged man around forty. On the platform, his name and academy were marked.

He was a teacher from the Alchemy Academy, a six-star mid-grade master teacher, and his lecture covered cultivation techniques for the Spirit Fusion Realm.

Zhang Xuan listened for a while and nodded to himself.

Although it was far inferior to his own lectures and contained many errors, he had to admit that the teacher took a different approach, offering a fresh perspective. If someone else heard this lecture, they would surely be greatly inspired and go further in the Spirit Fusion Realm.

But for him, it was useless.

"This is a teacher from the Alchemy Academy. His lectures are detailed, and he's well-funded. As his student, buying pills from him is much cheaper than outside..."

Lowering his voice, he explained in detail to Ruohuan and the others the information about this teacher from the book.

Having experienced the Famous Teacher Competition together with this Teacher Zhang, they knew he had the ability to see the content of books without opening them, so they were not too surprised by his words and carefully committed them to memory.

During the open classes, everyone basically listened first and then considered their choices carefully after returning home. Since they only needed to successfully take a master within three days, there was no need to rush.

"Let's continue forward!"

After listening for a while and understanding this teacher's lecturing style and ability level, the group continued forward.

The next teacher was from the Medical Academy, combining cultivation with medicine to eliminate hidden dangers.

"Studying under him may not lead to progress as fast as with a teacher from the Alchemy Academy, but the body will not develop major problems, and the foundation will be solid, which will bring greater benefits for future cultivation!"

Zhang Xuan introduced.

Famous teachers all had auxiliary disciplines, which formed the ten academies. Choosing one meant that this profession would be placed first after being a famous teacher.

This also had its benefits. As he just said, entering the Alchemy Academy meant pills would be cheaper and easier to obtain.

Entering the Medical Academy meant a more thorough understanding of the body, with cultivation focusing more on the foundation...

The Artifact Refining Academy focused on body training; the Beast Taming Academy cultivated animal companions; the Calligraphy and Painting Academy refined the temperament, making mental cultivation faster...

In short, each academy had its strengths. Students could choose based on their preferences and strengths without overthinking.

After another round, Zhang Xuan grew increasingly uninterested. He found a sparsely populated spot, stopped, took out a blank book, and copied all the correct information he had obtained from the various academies.

"This contains information on all the teachers in the open classes. Pass it around and find a teacher suitable for you based on this!"

With the materials organized by the Heavenly Dao Library, the information was accurate and error-free, allowing them to find teachers without detours, and he no longer needed to accompany them.

"Mm!"

Ruohuan Gongzi and the others nodded.

With this, combined with attending the lectures, they indeed no longer needed to trouble Teacher Zhang.

"Alright, take a look yourselves. I'll wander around too!" Handing the book to them, Zhang Xuan stretched and was about to leave, planning to check out the Jinghong Academy or the Demon Sound Academy, when he suddenly saw something and his whole body trembled.

"Could it be... her?"

In the crowd, a graceful figure walked slowly.

It was a back view, dressed in white. Although walking in the crowded throng, she showed no sign of unease or discomfort, instead exuding a sense of tranquility and peace.

This feeling was exactly the same as that of the nameless woman in white he had encountered in the mountains of the Huan Yu Empire.

After parting then, there had been no news. He thought he might never see her again. Could this be... her?

Afraid it was an illusion, he looked carefully.

The figure in white moved forward slowly, and the people blocking her path seemed pushed aside by a special force, clearing a passage, yet they were completely unaware.

"Such strong strength!"

His pupils contracted.

This was an understanding of space.

The people around had clearly moved aside, yet in their perception, they remained in place. Such a brilliant ability was beyond even him.

"Could it not be?"

Zhang Xuan was also dazed.

That woman in white, at first, seemed not very strong, which was why he had risked his life to save her. But later, she had perfectly fused his soul and body, leaving no flaws.

This ability was beyond his imagination.

Thus, she must have hidden her strength; exactly how strong she was, he didn't know.

"Flaws!"

His mind stirred, and Zhang Xuan was startled.

"Could it be she didn't use any martial technique?"

He had thought that since she manipulated space, she must have used a martial technique, and he could use the Heavenly Dao Library to probe her origins. But he found that the library had formed nothing.

That is to say... the person ahead probably hadn't used any martial technique.

Otherwise, the library would not have failed to detect it!

So far, there was nothing the Heavenly Dao Library could not detect.

Whoosh!

Puzzled, he was about to walk forward to see her face when the woman ahead, as if sensing his gaze, turned around.

A beautiful face came into view.

It was none other than that woman in white!

Although her face seemed to bear some special disguise, it could not fool his Insightful Eye; he could easily see that she was the girl who had been surrounded by countless spirit beasts in the mountains back then.

Unable to contain his excitement, he hurried forward, approached her, and couldn't help but speak.

"You... why are you here?"

The girl seemed to be looking for something. Hearing his voice, she noticed him, her eyes also lit up, and she smiled gently, like a hundred flowers blooming.