Chapter 144: I Wait for You at the Imperial Academy

These days, Pei Chuyun has moved into the Pei family, while Lu Xingzhou has devoted himself to studying; the two have not seen each other for nearly ten days.

Originally, Pei Chuyun did not think she would miss Lu Xingzhou after being apart for just a few days. Moreover, she had been busy since entering the Pei family; merely getting to know faces and learning the basic etiquette of noble families consumed much time and energy, leaving no room for other thoughts.

Yet every night when the world grew quiet, climbing the small tower Pei Qingyan had prepared for her, gazing at the moon from the railing, his poem "Mist and Light Chill Rise to the Small Tower" would inevitably spring to mind.

Then she would look left and see no drizzle tonight, look right and see that the silver hook holding the jeweled curtain was not there, turn her head and find the floral screen not dim enough; everywhere felt uncomfortable.

Finally, she suddenly realized: it was not these problems, but simply loneliness.

Simply... missing him a little.

Today was the grand ceremony of returning to the clan; Pei Chuyun, unusually, deliberately dressed up. Everyone thought this was preparation for the ceremony, meant to stun the world. No one knew the little demon girl was only thinking: would that pervert's eyes light up if he saw her?

But he did not come.

Pei Chuyun knew why he did not come. If he had come, according to Pei Qingyan's claim of "great gratitude," Pei Qingyan, however unwilling, would have been forced to treat him as an honored guest. That would mean he and Pei Chuyun would be in the same hall, scrutinized and surrounded by various gazes, people imagining their relationship, speculating whether the maid beside Lu Xingzhou a few days ago was her, whether something had happened between them, and so on and so forth.

Lu Xingzhou intentionally distanced himself, downplaying his presence, solely to ensure her triumphant return remained unaffected.

The more she thought this, the more she wanted to see him.

Fortunately, Anuo had come with Sheng Yuanyao to gossip, so she could quietly tug Anuo to ask for the address.

After barely enduring until the banquet ended, Pei Chuyun rubbed her face, stiff from a day of forced smiles, returned to her small tower, and without a word, jumped out the window and fled.

"Family Head," a guard captain hurriedly approached Pei Qingyan: "Just now, the aura of a Female Demon Cultivator seemed to sweep over the rear courtyard. The brothers on duty didn't even catch a glimpse of her figure; merely smelling some fragrance, they fell into feelings of decadent indulgence, their desires stirring. Her Female Demon Art is indeed very powerful..."

"..." Pei Qingyan, knowing full well who the so-called Female Demon Cultivator was, pinched his head in pain: "No conflict, right?"

"No. We suspect it's because the Young Lady's beauty was broadcast throughout the capital today, attracting the attention of the Female Demon Harmony Sect. Someone came to spy... perhaps even a Saintess. We are all male, making it inconvenient to enter the Young Lady's boudoir; the Family Head should consider recruiting female guards."

"Understood. You just need to guard the rear courtyard; there is no need to worry about anything else for now. Yun'er's cultivation is quite high; general self-defense should not be a problem..."

The guard captain agreed readily: "Truly unexpected that the Young Lady, having wandered the Jianghu, could still reach the fourth grade at such a young age. The Pei family bloodline is indeed formidable; the New Star List is about to undergo major changes."

Pei Qingyan twitched his mouth. Others thought this was merely entering the fourth grade because Pei Chuyun had not revealed her true skill. In reality, she was solidly at the upper stage of the fourth grade; at eighteen, such cultivation was not just formidable, it was almost shocking to the world. It was something worth boasting about for a lifetime, yet her true skill could not be revealed...

Now he only hoped Yun'er would practice the Pei family technique well, to conceal the Female Demon Art.

But where did she go while practicing?

Not acting as a Young Lady, but being sent to someone as a bed-warming maid, right?

Had it not been for secretly hiring a nanny skilled in the Art of Observing Women to check, confirming her daughter was indeed still a virgin, Pei Qingyan might have split apart.

"Forget it... They could endure it when they were in the same room every day; surely they won't be indulgent now." Pei Qingyan, very helpless, murmured to himself: "Perhaps she stayed too long in the Female Demon Harmony Sect and lost her modesty... Fortunately, she is still young; there is hope. I will teach her more self-respect in the future, striving to guide her onto the right path..."

The daughter Pei Qingyan hoped to teach more self-respect was, at this moment, nestled in a man's arms. Her formal long dress was stripped from her shoulders, revealing snow-white, fragrant shoulders. The man leaned in, kissing everywhere on her shoulder and neck. The little demon girl lifted her neck, her cherry lips, specially coated with rouge, emitting seductive gasps.

Anuo sat outside the door, hugging her knees and sniffling.

Stopping you from entering isn't really helping Sister Yao; if you went in, you would inevitably become like this. Master needs to study...

Truly a calamity. When will Master realize Anuo is the best support?

But it's so strange. Why did Master break through to the fifth grade? Anuo still hasn't figured it out. That evening, it seemed Master was holding Sister Anuo in the room, and upon coming out, he broke through... And Sister Anuo seemed to have become a little stronger too.

Inside, the dual cultivation of transferring Qi had already begun naturally. With the first time done, the second was almost a matter of course, requiring no words. As they kissed, Pei Chuyun actively transferred her spiritual energy to him, and dual cultivation commenced at the right moment.

Until one round of dual cultivation finished, Pei Chuyun leaned half-up, half-down in the crook of Lu Xingzhou's shoulder, drawing circles: "Don't you feel it's not exciting enough..."

Lu Xingzhou couldn't help but laugh: "Do you feel it's not comfortable enough, or do you feel relying on this isn't enough to break through to third grade?"

"Both!" Pei Chuyun said so, but quickly changed her tone: "I'm asking you, don't you feel it?"

Lu Xingzhou, knowing full well what she wanted to say, deliberately replied: "I am not in a hurry to break through. Actually, for a Pill Refiner, the process of refining pills is also cultivation; these past few days have been quite grounding..."

Pei Chuyun bit her silver teeth, angrily kicked him: "Then go die and refine your pills. If you have the ability, don't touch me."

"Pills aren't as tasty as your rouge today." Lu Xingzhou leaned in, kissing again: "Especially the Pei family's rouge; it's particularly delicious."

Pei Chuyun pushed him, giggling: "I knew it... How does the feeling of playing with a Pei family daughter compare to before? Is it more exciting?"

"The fact that a Pei family daughter is willing to offer herself up voluntarily makes the feeling even more exciting."

Pei Chuyun paused, then laughed helplessly: "Do you think I will cut ties with you after I return?"

Lu Xingzhou rolled over to lie on the side again, holding her in the crook of his shoulder and speaking softly: "I was worried..."

"Since you were worried, why did you support my return to the clan? You should know, if you had tried to dissuade me back then, I might not have returned."

"Two different matters. After all... I don't have a father either."

Pei Chuyun said nothing, lying quietly on his chest, listening to the sound of his heart beating.

After a long while, she suddenly chuckled softly: "Your muscles have grown in. Before, you were thin and dry; now you're a bit interesting."

These days, Lu Xingzhou had also been taking the pills he previously refined at home to increase strength; they were nearly finished. Combined with recent exercise, his muscles were taking shape.

For an ordinary person, cultivating beautiful muscle lines would take years and years; in this world of cultivation, it is such a bug, greatly shortening such things.

Now, although his lines were not perfect, they were at least passable; at least he was no longer the weak scholar type of before. A man's muscles held great allure for women too; as Pei Chuyun touched and touched, a little flutter arose in her heart, and she spoke seductively: "Want to do another round?"

Lu Xingzhou sighed: "You... If you don't return soon, Pei Qingyan will really come knocking."

Pei Chuyun knew this logic as well, but having to return after such a brief meeting made her reluctant: "I haven't held you while sleeping for so long."

"No need to rush for the moment."

Pei Chuyun, angry, said: "When a crowd comes to propose marriage, let's see if you are in no rush for the moment!"

Lu Xingzhou thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "I asked the Melon Girl; the Capital Pill Academy and the Imperial Academy are connected. In a sense, we will soon be classmates."

Pei Chuyun thought of that scene and found it somewhat interesting, yet still said: "So what? We still can't sleep together."

"I can publicly pursue you. Then we'll see which flies without eyes try to come; I'll block them all."

Pei Chuyun immediately laughed.

Originally, regarding the matter of attending the Imperial Academy, the literary-minded little demon girl had some interest but not great expectations; more importantly, it was to polish her credentials and build the persona of a talented woman. But recalling the scene of Lu Xingzhou publicly pursuing her, she suddenly became extremely, extremely interested, wishing to enroll tomorrow.

"Then I'll leave first, so my father doesn't really come knocking and drag you to be drowned in a pig cage." Pei Chuyun leaned in and kissed his ear, whispering seductively: "You must pass the assessment... I'll wait for you to sneak around at the Imperial Academy."

In the following time, Pei Chuyun rarely came to disturb; even Sheng Yuanyao came less. Everyone did not want to disturb Lu Xingzhou's studying and pill refining.

It was heard that Sheng Yuanyao almost got beaten by Sheng Qingfeng and was ordered to go to work.

The little demon girl who once said, "I am your enemy; disturbing your cultivation is only natural," now pulled a cart full of the Pei family's collected alchemical texts, piling them into Lu Xingzhou's room until he could only laugh and cry at the sight.

What he truly lacked was not study materials.

Furthermore, the Huo family came to discuss "compensation matters," sending an envoy who was an old acquaintance, Yang Dechang.

Lu Xingzhou did not extort them; he merely asked the Huo family to provide a batch of medicinal herbs needed for his alchemical experiments and a large quantity of spirit stones required for cultivation, and that was how it passed. The signal he sent left Huo Xingyuan deeply conflicted, truly unable to understand what this "son" meant.

In reality, Lu Xingzhou was simply too lazy to scheme over such matters, wasting time on cultivation; asking directly for spirit stones and herbs was the most straightforward approach, as such things were always in demand.

Regardless, the turmoil surrounding the journey to the capital had finally passed; Lu Xingzhou settled his mind on studying and alchemy, and in a daze, he found it somewhat amusing.

Had it not been for this period of quiet, he would almost have forgotten what his original purpose for going to the capital was.

In late February, young Daoist Priests gradually became more numerous on the streets and alleys; inns began to overflow, and the topics of conversation in taverns and teahouses shifted from the previous Ye Wufeng case and the Pei family daughter's return to the clan, turning instead toward a vast array of alchemical pills.

And speculating on who would achieve the best performance in the assessment—the current state of alchemy bore a resemblance to the imperial examinations; the Alchemy Academy assessment would also post a ranking list, and if one could enter as the top scorer, the glory would be no different from that of the Top Graduate in ancient Huaxia.

Sheng Yuanyao sat in the tavern eating melon seeds, perking up her ears to listen to others' discussions.

To the melon-eating girl's surprise, Lu Xingzhou, who had been the hot topic on everyone's lips during the previous incidents, made almost no splash in this discussion, with almost no one mentioning him.

In the minds of the vast majority, they were not even clear about any special reputation Lu Xingzhou held in alchemy; all people could recall was that on the Rising Stars List, which was about to change its rankings, Lu Xingzhou ranked thirty-eighth among alchemist novices.

Thirty-eighth was not low under normal circumstances, but in this atmosphere, he truly did not count as a seed candidate; there was still a whole pile ahead of him.

Although many ranked ahead had already enrolled or did not participate in the imperial court's assessment at all, at least five or six others remained who could rank above Lu Xingzhou; Lu Xingzhou's popularity index could not even enter the top three.

"Betting opened, betting opened!" someone announced the opening of the gambling: "I bet three hundred taels on Daoist Xuan Qing! That is the third-ranked alchemist novice!"

"I bet on Daoist Priest He Hui! Five hundred taels! That Rising Stars List is ancient history; who looks at that to eat!"

"I bet on Daoist Xuan Qing! Four hundred!"

"Bang!" A large plate of gold ingots was placed squarely on the table. Everyone turned to look: a ponytailed girl in the official uniform of the Demon Suppression Bureau stood on a stool, her hand resting on the sword at her waist: "I bet on Lu Xingzhou, five hundred taels, in gold!"

(End of this chapter)