Chapter 321: Huo Zhang

After bidding farewell to Sheng Qingfeng, Lu Xingzhou went to the rear garden, picked up A'nuo, and the master and disciple, bumping along, left the Sheng residence and headed straight for the Pill Academy.

Tucked in his chest was the Pill Trial results written by "Lady Ye," the wording personally chosen by Lu Xingzhou; she wrote exactly as he instructed, very obedient.

Oh, right, graduating from the Pill Academy now requires writing something like a thesis to demonstrate one's understanding of Pill Arts, to be completed under a mentor's guidance. Lu Xingzhou didn't know if he'd ever get the chance to have Ye Tinglan sign it in the future; the world was getting more chaotic... so before leaving, he wrote one directly and had the Mr. sign it in advance.

This graduation thesis, whose use date was unknown, had already been tucked in the student's pocket for so long; it was unknown how many people throughout history had received such treatment.

By the way, from the thesis to this trial result, the signature was hard to fake; it was truly called Ye Zhuoyu.

So Ye Tinglan really did use this name at the Pill Academy; it wasn't just something made up on the spot back then!

This thing, extremely similar to modern regulations, made Lu Xingzhou feel as if he had returned from the realm of immortals a few days ago back to the human world.

The bustling capital city, with its carriages and smoke, highlighted this even more.

"Back?" Having entered the Pill Academy and walked only a few steps, he ran straight into the instructor Meng Li. Meng Li looked at him curiously for a long time: "You finished the trial a month earlier than others, yet returned a month later. Your actual study time at the Pill Academy hasn't even been as long as the time spent on this so-called trial. Seeing you suddenly feels like seeing a rare guest."

"That's quite a thing to say," Lu Xingzhou could only reply, "I went out on the trial with Mr. When to go and when to return, how could that be up to me?"

Meng Li was one of the very few who originally knew who Lady Ye was. Precisely because he knew from the start, he was even more terrified, thinking to himself that this matter was simply eerie: "Why do I feel like you really can decide?"

Lu Xingzhou laughed helplessly: "I really can't decide."

"Forget it," Meng Li held out his hand, "Just give me the trial report. Dean Qin Yuanzheng has been in the palace recently and has no time to deal with you; I can handle this matter fully."

Lu Xingzhou handed the report to him and asked curiously, "The palace... treating the Emperor's illness?"

"Yes."

"Can it be cured?"

"Unknown, but it is said there have been some breakthroughs."

More than three months was indeed enough to change many things; even if the Emperor's injury had been treated for ten years with no improvement, adding another three months wasn't short, so achieving a medical breakthrough wasn't hard to understand.

However, Lu Xingzhou still intuitively felt the Emperor's injury wouldn't heal that easily; there was no reason, just a feeling that this matter belonged to a great karmic connection between Great Qian and the Demon Clan, with profound influence. From the perspective of immortal karmic causality, it absolutely shouldn't end in such a silent manner.

Moreover, the current Lu Xingzhou knew a bit about observing Qi; looking back toward the location of the imperial palace, he felt the gloom still lingered, not resembling the signs of spring warmth and blooming flowers that would indicate the resolution of the crisis.

So it was highly probable that Gu Zhanting was deliberately creating a facade of recovery, also to intimidate Long Qinghuang.

But would that mother tyrant dragon Long Qinghuang fear you? She wouldn't care whether the injury was healed or not...

"By the way," Lu Xingzhou remembered something and asked, "Has Chen Yu been sent back?"

Meng Li shook his head: "No... The Emperor even sent an envoy to negotiate over this, but the envoy was driven back."

"The Demon Emperor is quite rule-abiding, huh? Not killing envoys?"

"To be honest, regarding the Demon Emperor, we only heard various rumors and didn't know much, always assuming she was very brutal. The envoy truly prepared to die there, but nothing happened. This matter actually gave the court and the people a new understanding of the Demon Emperor; perhaps she isn't that unreasonable."

Lu Xingzhou was somewhat speechless.

After spending less than a stick of incense's time with Long Qinghuang, Lu Xingzhou had already seen this Demon Emperor's temperament. As long as you didn't provoke her, she truly wouldn't kill people randomly, but if you provoked her, even the slightest violation could lead to death.

This was something understandable after spending a stick of incense's time together; Great Qian had fought against them for so many years, yet only now did they know?

As if seeing what he was thinking, Meng Li sighed: "The Demon Clan can hide in human society; as long as they don't meet a strong cultivator capable of sensing Demon Qi, they can stay for a lifetime. How can humans hide in Demon society? We simply can't infiltrate spies; we can only send scouts to risk their lives to investigate some information, but how much imperial secret can they actually find? All we end up knowing is news like 'the Demon Emperor killed so-and-so'..."

Lu Xingzhou pondered silently; looking at it this way, Long Qinghuang must also be ruthlessly suppressing her internal factions, which is why such news keeps circulating.

Actually, the profession of scout requires a lot of talent; wanting to analyze valuable information from ordinary intelligence isn't something everyone can do. I guess Gu Mei would be right at home, but this profession is very dangerous... no wonder Sheng Qingfeng was so worried.

Meng Li added: "But then again, since demons hiding in human society fear encountering strong cultivators who can sense Demon Qi, they at least dare not infiltrate places like the army or the Demon Suppression Bureau, so the secrets they can discover aren't that many."

Lu Xingzhou suddenly said, "What about Chen Yu? How much does he know?"

Meng Li's expression also turned somewhat ugly, and he fell silent.

Relying solely on Chen Yu himself, he probably wouldn't know too much, but he was a man of the Prince of Jin.

How many secrets and how many military arrangements he learned from the Prince of Jin couldn't be guessed by others' speculation.

Finally, Meng Li could only say, "I am just an instructor at the Pill Academy; these matters are beyond my knowledge. For an old man like me, I just want to know how your Pill Arts have progressed; you must have learned a lot following Lady Ye, right?"

Asking about the very thing that shouldn't be brought up... Does learning to go astray count?

Lu Xingzhou, somewhat embarrassed, bid farewell to Meng Li, took A'nuo, and burrowed back into his "dormitory," throwing himself onto the bed and not moving.