Chapter 364: The Demon King Who Mixed into the Academy

The heavy oak door closed slowly behind him, isolating the ancient and majestic atmosphere in Professor Hector's office.

Outside the door was another completely different world.

Luo Yan's gaze swept across the corridor.

The walls here were built of pure white marble, decorated with paintings and tapestries, no different from the manors of the Shengcheng nobles.

The only difference was that some paintings with inscriptions slowly changed characters, displaying precise time, and the "Sunny" or "Rainy" weather outside the tower that was meaningless to those inside.

At this moment, a young man walked up quickly from one side of the corridor.

He was not tall, about the same as the average height of males in the Kingdom of Luo De, but his steps were light, looking full of energy.

On those thin shoulders was a simple robe of the Academy, and on his chest was a "Gear and Quill" badge, representing his status in the administrative department.

"Good day, respected Prince Kelin." The young man stopped in front of Luo Yan, bowing respectfully, "My name is Ke Ji, a Teaching Assistant in the administrative department, ordered by Professor Hector to guide you to the residence prepared for you."

His voice was clear, his speaking speed fast, like a walking "Academy Freshman Manual."

While trying to maintain a professional attitude, in those bright eyes, he still couldn't help but reveal a trace of awe and curiosity toward this "genius of the full-mark paper" and "Imperial noble."

Looking at this energetic young man, Luo Yan nodded with a smile.

"Please lead the way, Mr. Ke Ji."

The cleverness in him was really a bit like a "Corgi."

"Please follow me!"

Not expecting the respected Prince Kelin to be so polite to a servant like him, Ke Ji was surprised and flattered, enthusiastically leading the group toward the other side of the corridor.

At the end of the corridor, there was an open terrace; if one stood at the edge of the terrace and looked down, one might be able to see the clouds floating at one's feet.

Luo Yan noticed that several floating blankets were parked there, the golden patterns faintly emitting light like fireflies.

Ke Ji introduced with a smile.

"The teacher's dormitory tower is opposite the main tower, taking a flying carpet is the fastest—"

"No need to rush, Mr. Ke Ji." Luo Yan politely declined with a smile, continuing in a chatty tone, "I am new here and full of curiosity about everything in the Academy. If it's convenient, please take me to the dormitory tower on foot, so I can enjoy this famous academic holy land."

This request sounded reasonable.

Ke Ji was surprised for a moment, then nodded in agreement with a smile.

"Of course it's convenient, Prince! Satisfying your request is my supreme honor... then, we need to take the elevator to the Apprentice Square first, please follow me!"

The group came to a huge patio, where a granite platform decorated with brass and magic crystals was waiting quietly.

Ke Ji stepped on it first, injecting magic power into the inscriptions on the platform.

"Buzz—"

Azure magic light flowed into the magic crystals along the magic patterns.

After Luo Yan and his group stood firmly on the platform, the entire rock platform shook, sinking toward the bottom of the tower with a low hum.

This thing seemed to be a magic version of an elevator, designed quite ingeniously.

Luo Yan's own Demon King territory also had an elevator made by players, but that design was more biased toward steampunk industrial style, completely different from the style of the one under his feet.

The vertical "elevator shaft" was not fully enclosed, the floating stone platform occasionally passed through open floors, and behind the railings, one could see crowds shuttling quickly.

Luo Yan looked curiously at the situation around him, while Ke Ji continued to introduce him enthusiastically from the side.

"... What you are passing in front of is the hall of the faculty and staff area of the Tower of the Grand Sage, this is where the professors and mentors of the Source Magic School handle daily affairs!"

"Are those people all professors?" Luo Yan glanced at the crowd coming and going in the hall, with a surprised expression in his eyes.

That crowd didn't seem to be just humans, occasionally one could see elves with pointed ears, dwarves with beards dragging on the ground, and even the figures of golems.

Ke Ji smiled embarrassedly, saying softly.

"Uh, that's of course not, part of them are administrative workers, and some are Teaching Assistants like me, or apprentices one level lower than me. Mentors here rarely handle these trivial matters personally, we believe that for a smart and noble gentleman like you, you should put more energy into more noble causes."

Luo Yan nodded.

This was quite reasonable.

And it was no wonder that those apprentices were sharpening their heads to squeeze up.

The hall of the relatively high-level faculty and staff area flashed by, and then the floating stone platform sank into a quiet and solemn area.

This was very similar to the area where Professor Hector worked, but relatively simpler, presumably belonging to the mentors' area.

Heavy oak doors were tightly closed, the brass nameplates hanging on the doors engraved with the names and titles of the professors, and the air was filled with the fragrance of old parchment and rare incense mixed together.

Occasionally, he could glimpse one or two elderly mages in exquisite clothing leaning on magic staves through the arched window holes in the corridor, talking in low voices on another cloister, with serious expressions.

As the platform continued to descend, the atmosphere around began to change.

Noise and vitality gradually filled everyone's ears, they were entering the "Research Area" located in the middle section of the Tower of the Grand Sage!

Rather than saying this was a corner of an ivory tower, it was better to say this was a series of busy workshops.

The doors of some rooms were wide open, and behind the doors were magic astrolabes in operation, countless light spots flickering in the ancient bronze metal rings.

Luo Yan happened to see a few apprentices suspected to be senior students, surrounding a floating blackboard, arguing fiercely about complex rune structures.

The air here was mixed with the hissing sound of liquid cooling and the peculiar smell emitted by magic potions, and was also full of the passion for creation and experimentation.

However, the experiments here didn't seem to have anything to do with the Void, nor did they involve dangerous, frontier-field exploration.

Soon—

The platform arrived at the bottom floor, and the scene in front of him suddenly opened up, the hissing sound of liquid cooling was replaced by the boiling sound of human voices.

The spacious hall was crowded with young apprentices, most of them wearing uniform gray apprentice robes, walking hurriedly across the corridor bridges, rushing toward tall arched doors.

Behind those arched doors seemed to be lecture halls, and in those moving little heads, there might be figures he was familiar with.

Speaking of which, I don't know how Finick and the others are doing.

Luo Yan only then remembered that he didn't seem to have said goodbye to them when he left, but he soon thought that they were just passersby on the journey anyway, so he smiled and brushed it off.

Ke Ji had been introducing the various facilities of the Academy to Prince Kelin in an enthusiastic tone all the way, and there was a trace of faint showing off or pride in that voice.

Many things here were only recently obtained by them from the Void in the last fifty years, the Shengcheng obviously couldn't have similar things.

This was true.

But he probably couldn't imagine another kind of life he hadn't seen—the young people in the Imperial Royal Academy of Arts lived far more easily than them.

Whether it was the future or the present.

From beginning to end, the baby dragon Tafu lying on Luo Yan's shoulder was twisting restlessly, especially when hearing some hairless monkey showing off the ingenious design of the elevator.

Finally unable to hold back, she gritted her teeth and whispered in dragon language that only Luo Yan could understand.

"Cut, isn't this just an elevator? It's obviously copied from the Zeta Empire!"

"And that glowing crystal... isn't it just a light bulb, and they have the nerve to show off! Hehe, I can guess where they copied it from with my toes!"

When seeing a class schedule hanging on the wall that constantly changed content, the cynicism in her heart was magnified to the extreme along with her widened eyes.

"Wait, how did they make the photos move... tsk, the copy is not good, feels not as good as my home's holographic projection."

Luo Yan almost couldn't hold back his laughter, this little ghost belonged to seeing a hoof and calling it a horse, seeing a mouth and calling it a donkey, completely forgetting that pigs, cows, and sheep all had these things.

However, considering that she, who was still growing, didn't have a big brain now, he was too lazy to complain, just teasingly said in dragon language with great interest: "Have you ever played a game?"

Tafu was stunned, tilting her little head.

"Game?"

"Nothing," Luo Yan said lightly, "Forget it."

He didn't know how to say it in dragon language.

Tafu: "???"

"Sir... was that dragon language you just spoke?" Just as Luo Yan and Tafu finished communicating, Ke Ji on the side finally couldn't help but ask softly with a look of surprise and envy.

Ancient.

Profound.

Full of primitive power!

Although he only heard a few syllables clearly, it basically matched the phonetic description he had seen in the literature!

And just as his voice fell, Tafu, who was ordered by her master not to speak in front of people, received ten thousand points of critical damage, as if ten thousand itchy scratchers were scratching the soles of her feet.

Feeling the vibration coming from his neck, Luo Yan smiled lightly and nodded.

"Yes."

"You are truly... too erudite!" Ke Ji praised sincerely, looking at Luo Yan with even more admiration.

"Don't you have dragon language classes here?" Luo Yan asked casually.

In the Demon King Academy, although dragon language wasn't a popular course, the library's collection of books on dragon language was still quite complete.

"There are some," Ke Ji scratched his head, answering embarrassedly, "but that's not a popular research topic, and because it has little to do with the mainstream magic system, plus the dragon race and the Dragon God didn't leave behind any brilliant culture, so only very few mentors are studying it... ah, we are here."

Ke Ji seemed completely unaware of the murderous gaze cast by the baby dragon lying on Prince Kelin's shoulder toward him.

He just felt a chill behind his back, subconsciously quickening his pace, hurriedly leading the group away from the bustling hall.

They walked out of the arched door of the main tower that was a bit too magnificent, and the noise of the outside world and the thin light of the north country instantly poured in.

In front was an extremely open circular square!

The ground here was paved with polished marble, like a frosted mirror, reflecting several magic towers connecting here that towered into the clouds.

This was the public heart of the Academy—Scholar Square!

The howling wind and snow were isolated outside the semi-transparent barrier by magic light, the air here couldn't be called warm, but it was far from the cold on the snowfield!

Sarah observed the surroundings, her cold expression finally melting because of the novel things she hadn't seen before. Previously, they had taken Professor Hector's flying carriage and landed directly on the terrace at the top of the tower, so they didn't notice what was under the wheels that were amazing.

In the center of the square, a huge fountain was staging a miracle. What gushed out wasn't ordinary water, but magic light constantly changing forms!

They condensed into an elegant bird spreading its wings and wanting to fly in the air, circling for a few seconds before "whooshing" and scattering, turning into a mist of light, glowing with rainbow-like light!

Several huge parchment scrolls floated in the mid-air of the square, displaying various announcements in colorful fonts—

For example, a public lecture notice from a great alchemist, for example, a rare material task offering a reward for "Deep Sea Noctilucent Algae"!

This place was even more like a player's novice village than the square of the Great Cemetery, so much so that a certain Demon King's eyes revealed a few surprises.

Although he had heard Miranda describe the prosperity of the Academy a long time ago, the shock brought by seeing it with his own eyes was undoubtedly stronger than hearsay.

Passing through the wide Scholar Square, Ke Ji led them to a slightly shorter tower.

But saying it was slightly shorter was only relative to the main tower that towered into the clouds. Compared to the "tower group" scattered around the Tower of the Grand Sage, this tower still belonged to the one standing out from the crowd.

Two huge metal golems stood in front of the dormitory building, looking down at the students passing by like ants with majestic gazes.

However, when the two golems saw the badge on Ke Ji's chest, those majestic gazes instantly moved away... they seemed to have an "identity recognition" function.

"Prince, this is the dormitory tower for faculty and staff, your room is on the 30th floor... please let me take you up."

Ke Ji took out a rune-inscribed rune stone, and after opening the access control, handed it respectfully to the Prince.

"Do I need to show this thing every time?" Luo Yan weighed it in his hand, looking at Ke Ji and asking casually.

Ke Ji said with a smile.

"That's of course not needed, you are a Mentor here, they recognize every Mentor's face... it's just that your identity is still being registered, they will be able to remember it in a few days."

"So that's how it is."

Luo Yan nodded, then handed the "access stone" to Sarah.

Passing through the two huge metal golems, the group continued forward, boarding a stone platform similar to the elevator in the main tower.

The elevator in the dormitory tower was smaller, and the speed was slightly faster.

When the platform stopped steadily on the 30th floor, what came into Luo Yan's eyes was an independent porch, with dark red carpet extending to the oak door directly in front.

Ke Ji's tone was full of awe and envy that couldn't be hidden, and he bowed deeply to the Prince on the side.

"Prince, to express our sincerity and respect, the high-level of the Tower of the Grand Sage specially approved this suite for your use... you will enjoy the entire floor alone."

"In the Academy, only professors or Sages who have made outstanding contributions have such qualifications, you are the first person to move in here with the status of a Mentor."

? ￠o

Luo Yan smiled upon hearing this, accepting his flattery, and then stepped forward.

And as that heavy wooden door was pushed open, a luxury house that could be called a perfect combination of magic and art came into his eyes.

The ceiling of the living room wasn't a solid rock wall, but a huge "celestial instrument" composed of countless precision brass gears and crystal lenses of different sizes.

It rotated slowly under the drive of invisible power, perfectly simulating the operation of the firmament with a mechanical beauty that was amazing.

Several wool tapestries with exquisite weaving were hung on the walls, and the scenery rendered by golden silk threads was even more magnificent and beautiful, which was amazing!

And what was even more amazing was that whether it was the quiet forest or the magnificent mountains, they were slowly changing with the passage of time inadvertently—

They seemed to have their own life!

At the end of the living room was a floor-to-ceiling window, and outside the huge floor-to-ceiling window was a wide stone-paved balcony, protected by a wind-shielding barrier that was almost invisible to the naked eye. Even at high altitude, one couldn't feel a trace of wind, and could safely overlook the magnificent scenery of the Academy's lights.

And by the window, a simple copper plate was placed here.

According to Ke Ji's explanation, this was a device that could launch "message light balls," which could encapsulate the sound in the light ball and pass it directly to any terrace of the main tower.

Of course, its delivery distance was limited, and it didn't have a "voice recording" function, so it was usually only used to summon subordinates on duty in the laboratory or office.

Important messages still relied on familiars such as owls and carrier pigeons.

Luo Yan was very curious about which Void this thing was learned from, but Ke Ji obviously didn't know, he was just a small Teaching Assistant.

Not wanting to make things difficult for the scratching-head young man, Luo Yan walked toward the study on the side.

The study here was even more extraordinary.

Elegant ebony bookshelves were arranged like screens, layered, reaching the roof, like a small library!

Under Ke Ji's eager prompt, Luo Yan casually reported the title of a basic magic theory book, and that magic book flew off the bookshelf as if it had grown wings, and under the traction of the rune embedded in the cover, landed steadily in his palm.

A bit interesting.

Luo Yan threw the book forward with interest, watching it automatically fly back to the bookshelf, pondering that he could also arrange one of these things in his Demon King Palace.

The Academy had more good things than he imagined, it seems this trip to the North should make him gain a lot.

"Next is the bedroom—"

Ke Ji, who opened the door, was about to introduce, when Tafu cheered and rushed in, quickly occupying the largest one, declaring ownership.

The bumps along the way had long exhausted her, she couldn't wait to stuff her whole tail into the soft velvet mattress.

This "meat lizard" was even more useless than imagined.

Luo Yan didn't care where he slept, so he cast his gaze toward Sarah, and the latter was surprisingly the same as him, just saying softly.

"I'll live next to you, Prince."

Hearing this sentence, Ke Ji's cheeks flushed slightly, obviously misunderstanding something.

But he didn't dare to let this Prince discover his gaffe, in case he was considered presumptuous.

So he immediately pretended he didn't hear anything, hurriedly finished explaining the canteen location, course application, and other last few items, and prepared to say goodbye.

"Mr. Ke Ji." Looking at the Teaching Assistant who was about to leave, Luo Yan suddenly called him.

Ke Ji was stunned for a moment, stopping his steps.

"Is there any other instruction, Prince."

In the young man's puzzled gaze, Luo Yan took out a magic crystal the size of a thumb with a deep color from his storage ring and handed it to him.

"Thank you for showing me around for so long. This is... a magic crystal produced in the Jana Continent, perhaps it can provide some help for your research, please be sure to accept it."

Ke Ji's breathing stopped the moment he saw the magic crystal.

Although he wasn't a Teaching Assistant in the academic direction, he recognized at a glance that this was a high-level magic crystal with extremely high purity!

For a Teaching Assistant like him who had a meager salary and often worried about a little magic material, this was simply a rare treasure!

Receiving the magic crystal that still had residual warmth with trembling hands, the young man was incoherent with excitement, his whole face flushed red.

"This... this is too valuable, Prince! I... I..."

"Accept it." Luo Yan looked at this young man encouragingly, with a gentle smile on his face, just like Santa Claus handing out candy.

His labyrinth didn't lack this thing at all, almost every day he could collect a large pile from players, the output was much higher than diamonds, at most the high-purity ones were relatively rare.

But no matter how rare, it was relative.

Why not use a little tip to exchange for a kind and generous good reputation for the knowledgeable and bottom-line-abiding Prince Kelin?

While all the young people in the entire Academy were actively inquiring about his news.

As a paving stone for "corroding" this academic holy land in the future, this little investment could be said to be a profit of ten thousand times.

A thousand words turned into a deep bow, Ke Ji's eyes flashed with gratitude and fanaticism, and he mustered the courage to say.

"Prince, your generosity is admirable, I... have nothing to repay, in the future if you have any needs in the Academy, as long as I can help, please feel free to order!"

Regardless of whether this was polite, Luo Yan smiled and waved his hand gently.

"You're welcome, you have already helped me a lot, if there is any need, I will contact you."

Watching the young man who thanked him profusely leave, Luo Yan closed the door casually, turned and returned to the elegant study.

He picked up a book about rune basics, his fingertips brushing the pages, feeling the knowledge system that was different from the Demon King Academy.

The rune magic of the Academy seemed to have integrated the knowledge of dwarves and elves at the same time, and developed on this basis.

This knowledge was full of novelty to him.

Just like when he first came into contact with inscriptions, he couldn't wait to absorb this knowledge into his vast sea of consciousness.

Just when he was reading quietly, Sarah's figure walked through every corner of the room like a ghost, her cat ears trembling slightly with vigilance.

A moment later, she returned to Luo Yan's side and reported softly: "Prince, I have checked, no hidden magic circle was found in the room."

"Well done." Luo Yan nodded and praised.

In fact, the first moment he stepped into this room, he had already secretly ordered Hearing You You to "sniff" every corner of the suite, confirming that there were no traces of transcendent power.

"What's next, do you have any other arrangements?"

Listening to Sarah's inquiry, Luo Yan smiled faintly, leaning back in the soft armchair.

"Arrangements, of course, are as planned, while giving classes to the young people of the Academy, while studying the 'Void' that the Academy generously shared with us."

Anyway, he didn't need to worry about the players, the layout of the Shengcheng was continuing to ferment, and the plan of Thunder City was also operating steadily.

It was rare to have a chance to play a "Mentor," which was much more interesting than being a Prince. To tell the truth, what he was best at was taking tests.

Perhaps, he could bring some... "evil winds" belonging to the Demon King to this place.

"Sarah, do you think I have hope of fostering a school of my own?"

Sarah heard this, a soft smile appeared in her eyes, and the gentleness under her eyebrows was full of firm belief.

"With your foresight, you certainly can."

At this time, Tafu, who was laughing sneakily, didn't know where she popped out from, her claws pressed on her little mouth and laughed "poof poof" twice.

"Hehehe, Sarah, you believe him too much, I've seen too many guys like this, being a mastermind behind the scenes is first-class, doing academics is third—"

Luo Yan waved his magic wand gently, letting Tafu's little mouth close, and smiled at Sarah who was full of firm belief.

"Sarah, I'm hungry."

He didn't need to hint at all, the sensible cat moved immediately.

"As you wish, Prince."

Just when Sarah carried the wuwuwu-ing Tafu into the kitchen, the crisp knocking sound of "knock, knock, knock" also came from outside the study window at the same time.

An owl familiar with a majestic demeanor was standing on the stone railing, knocking on the glass window unhurriedly with its claws, the wind-shielding barrier blowing its feathers to one side.

Luo Yan waved his magic wand casually, opened the window, the owl walked in with elegant steps, quickly shook its feathers, and stretched out a claw.

Luo Yan took off the wax-sealed letter tube tied to its claw, opened it to take a look, and saw that it was a formal employment letter made of high-quality parchment.

The letter came from the Academic Affairs Office of the Academy, and it was written in beautiful font that "Prince Luo Ke Sai Kelin" was officially hired as a Mentor of the Academy.

The letter listed in detail the various resources promised to him by Professor Hector, including an independent laboratory, meditation room, office on the high floor of the main tower, the right to use a large lecture hall that could accommodate three hundred people, and a research fund of 100,000 gold coins that could be used freely.

Besides this, there was also a personal salary of 100 gold coins per month.

Even if placed in the Shengcheng, this salary was quite high, even exceeding the salary of the Regent.

It was just that everyone knew that whether it was the Regent or the Mentor of the Academy, the so-called salary was something that didn't matter, and no one cared about this at all.

At the same time, the end of the employment letter also specifically mentioned that regarding the resources of the "Void", the Council of Sages was discussing it.

This was obviously the result of Professor Hector's efforts to fight for it.

Luo Yan smiled and put away this light employment letter, throwing it into the storage ring. Maybe one day when he remembers, he can take it to Professor Lilith to show off—

Look, a top student is a top student everywhere, look at how much others gave me?

Hmm.

Let's try it when I break through the Diamond level one day.

As for now—

The only thing "Prince Kelin" needs to consider is what kind of lively "First Lesson" to arrange for the proud sons of heaven of the Academy. ===== CHAPTER 365 =====