ASER - Chapter 99
Chapter 99: Are You Happy?
The Young Master in White's expression flickered. "Danzhou, Yunzhou, Linzhou, Qingzhou, and Hanzhou—these five prefectures are known as the Southern Eagles. In the First Era, the five strongest clans emerged. This Li Clan is the hegemon of Yunzhou. Their ancestral Forbidden Master experts dominated the south and were even ranked among the top hundred on the First Era's Three Kingdoms' Prodigy List. Their prestige is considerable."
"Indeed, quite considerable. To pull something like this after the resurgence of Spiritual Energy... one wonders how many disciples like Li Yuanshu they've sent out, and how many Fierce Bandit Organizations they've established. But they've undoubtedly devoured vast resources. I fear their current scale is not to be underestimated."
It's one thing to plunder resources in Yunzhou, but to extend their claws to Danzhou as well... truly ruthless.
Despite saying so, the Baili Family's history is even more illustrious, and their preparations far more extensive. They are much stronger than the Li Clan, so the Baili family head merely sighed with emotion.
"Then, Father, your meaning is?"
The father and son exchanged a smile. Become enemies?
Why bother.
One Cui Liang and two lackeys are nothing. But there's room for discussion with the Li Clan. After all, this could be considered leverage against them, something to be utilized well. It's a gain in itself.
Neither of them took these minor grievances to heart. In their eyes, only the family's interests were paramount.
Including the minor friction with Jinling Academy, which would naturally be dealt with later.
The Baili Clan Head had already made arrangements and didn't bring it up, smiling as he changed the subject: "The opening of Lushan Academy is truly unexpected and has garnered immense attention. But it is also an opportunity for your generation. This world, the future, belongs to you. I hope my son will one day reach the pinnacle."
The father and son drank tea together, an image of harmony.
From beginning to end, they paid no mind to the name of the girl in Jinling who had nearly been killed.
They neither intended to hold a grudge and pursue the matter, nor did they pay any attention to it.
Qu Jiangnan's residence, Qinglong Zhai.
Out of caution, Qu Jiangnan once again set up an isolation barrier, then asked A'Diao, "His mental illusion technique had no effect on you?"
A'Diao, feigning the posture of someone caught but still trying to act, said, "Huh? Teacher Qu, what are you saying? Ah, my head hurts so much..."
Qu Jiangnan tapped her forehead, her voice cool. "Stop pretending. I am a Forbidden Master. If I had ill intentions towards you, you wouldn't be able to walk out that door. And neither the Song nor the Chen families would dare to seek trouble with me for your sake."
Hmph, so arrogant!
A'Diao grumbled resentfully. Shedding her guise of a delicate, sickly beauty, she raised her hand and slapped her face a few times—slap slap slap. Her pale complexion instantly turned rosy.
So-called physical recovery, nothing more than this.
Qu Jiangnan: "..."
This brat, she really was acting.
"Teacher Qu, I also didn't expect someone to try and assassinate me. I was just drinking milk tea and chatting when I suddenly sensed an illusion technique assaulting my spiritual body. I was terrified at that moment. The reason I chose to act instead of fleeing was because I was afraid of exposing myself—after all, I knew who wanted to kill me."
"That noble lady, Cui Liang's benefactor, must have an extraordinary background. If I were exposed, wouldn't she want to eliminate me completely, root and stem? Compared to her, what am I?"
Qu Jiangnan couldn't possibly be unaware of her intelligence, so A'Diao couldn't just play dumb. A mix of truth and falsehood would suffice.
A'Diao had, for the most part, truthfully revealed the inside story.
Qu Jiangnan indeed had no suspicions, feeling that such astuteness from her was normal. "So, you sensed it when the Principal made his move? You'd rather pretend to be hit than call for help?"
"It's not that I didn't want to call for help. It's just that at the time, I only sensed some strange movement in the woods, where that person was hiding... I thought, surely the Principal already knew, so I must be safe. Why expose myself?"
"And if the Principal knew but didn't want to save me, then calling for help would have been useless anyway, right?"
At this point, based on A'Diao's account, Qu Jiangnan confirmed two things.
"Your spiritual body is naturally strong, far exceeding others. And your cultivation level is not just E-grade."
A'Diao rubbed her nose, saying sheepishly, "It was D-grade. But I made some talismans this morning, consumed a lot of Spirit Power, and it dropped back to E-grade."
This excuse was a cure-all, because she had indeed made talismans.
"But Teacher Qu, how do you know my spiritual body is naturally strong? Couldn't it be unnatural?"
"Trying to get information out of me?"
"Yes, are you happy?"
"..."
Qu Jiangnan flicked A'Diao's forehead, saying irritably, "There are unnatural, acquired methods of cultivation, but that's something only a Forbidden Master at the Grandmaster level can achieve. Beyond that, there are no secret arts or treasures in heaven and earth that can accomplish this. This applies to most living beings, including humans. So, there's no other possibility in your case."
Alright, that wasn't wrong. A'Diao knew her spiritual body was indeed natural.
A'Diao rubbed her forehead. Qu Jiangnan asked her to take out her talismans for her to see.
She obeyed, obediently taking out third-grade talismans. Qu Jiangnan didn't reach out, just watched her coldly.
Alright, A'Diao then took out three fourth-grade ones.
Only then did Qu Jiangnan's expression soften slightly.
This girl's Spirit Power intensity had already surpassed Tuoba's. Moreover, she could create fourth-grade talismans just after reaching D-grade. The fundamental reason was her exceptionally strong spiritual body, but also her comprehension and application talent for Daoist techniques were incredibly formidable.
That old fellow, the Principal, had chosen Tuoba this time and shifted Chen A'Diao to her. It was a huge loss for him.
"The Thunder Flame I had you learn before, you've mastered it, right? How many days did it take?"
"Two days."
Since A'Diao intended to reveal some of her talent and aptitude to make Qu Jiangnan see her in a new light, she had her sights set on latching onto this powerful supporter. Without revealing her crucial secrets, she didn't mind showing off her worth.
Qu Jiangnan was indeed satisfied. "Very good. From now on, you don't need to attend classes in the classroom. I will take full responsibility for your studies."
Although she had decided to latch onto a powerful supporter, A'Diao hadn't expected such VIP private tutoring. "Um, does this comply with the teaching regulations?"
Qu Jiangnan's expression was indifferent. "At Jinling Academy, the Principal and I are the rules. As long as he agrees, it's fine."
"..."
Overflowing with a domineering aura.
However, Qu Jiangnan also said this was within the rules. "You came in second in the last Flying Cicada Competition. In principle, Tuoba could also leave the classroom. The essence of education itself is to teach according to aptitude. If you don't have the achievement, you have no right to demand fairness."
She hadn't considered the attitudes of other teachers and students; that wasn't important.
A'Diao deeply agreed. "And those who have achievements often don't want fairness; instead, they want preferential treatment."
So, this kind of rule is an iron law, unsolvable throughout history.
But A'Diao only now understood: although she had been assigned to Qu Jiangnan before, the latter hadn't thought of taking full responsibility for her education. This time, it was probably because her aptitude had finally met Qu Jiangnan's requirements that she changed her decision.
But by the same token, if Qu Jiangnan hadn't displayed terrifying strength in the Jinxiang Area, A'Diao wouldn't have thought of latching onto her.
Of course, A'Diao also highly approved of this person's way of doing things.
Social interactions between people, at their core, initially involve assessing the other person's value—be it material or emotional—and then, over time, gradually decluttering or letting go.
Since Qu Jiangnan had decided to take full responsibility for teaching her, she had to overturn her previous plans.
But before that, she needed to confirm one more thing.
"Regarding your spiritual body's aptitude, I need to get a clear idea."
She opened her hand, and a round, pebble-like crystal appeared in her palm. It was smooth and reserved, yet contained terrifying power within, much like her.
"This is my life-bound vessel, Tianfang, a mental attribute spirit vessel. It can test mental power. If you trust me, try to connect with it later. It will roughly assess your spiritual body's aptitude."
A'Diao had already judged that Qu Jiangnan had no reason to kill her. Moreover, she was very sensitive to people's hearts and could roughly discern this person's character.
Something that could make such a decisive and indifferent person hesitate about whether to teach her must be extraordinary.
There probably wasn't any danger.
Toilet: "She is indeed trustworthy. Generally, a life-bound vessel is closely related to its owner, growing with the owner's use and nurturing, eventually representing the owner's characteristics. The characteristic of her life-bound Tianfang is that it's flawless, crystalline, gentle, and well-ordered. People like this have high moral character, and their hearts are resolute."
A'Diao felt even more reassured, but was secretly annoyed: What does that mean? So my characteristic is a toilet?
Never mind, I have to seize this opportunity.
"Okay."
A'Diao didn't hesitate at all, which made Qu Jiangnan's expression relax somewhat. She then guided A'Diao to focus her intent and pour it into the crystal.
She had originally thought it would take one or two hours to successfully infuse it, but unexpectedly... in one minute, Tianfang responded.
Then, an image appeared within it.
A mass of black.
Just a tiny speck of light.
A'Diao: "Teacher Qu, it's all dark! What's going on?"
Qu Jiangnan: "..."
Qu Jiangnan pondered for a moment and said, "That's your spiritual body. The dark area should be an empty zone of your soul, but the bright spot has very high intensity and purity. By my sensing, your spiritual body is about 200 points."
200 points refers to?
"Remember the A, B, and C aptitude categories? The spiritual body is actually D-category aptitude. It didn't exist before because Spiritual Energy had just resurfaced, and the education bureau hadn't expanded to this area yet. But it existed in the First Era, especially among those sects and spiritual academies of the First Era; they basically valued the D-category the most."
"Nowadays, the advanced academies in Kyoto all have testing conditions for this."
A'Diao immediately thought of Lushan Academy. If Lushan Academy were to open its doors and recruit, then testing for D-category aptitude would definitely be on the agenda.
But she asked aloud, "So, those places in Kyoto also have the concept of 200 points or even higher? 100 isn't the upper limit?"
"Of course not. During the entrance exams, the testing teacher probably mentioned it too. Jinling's equipment can't test higher upper limits. They probably also thought Jinling couldn't produce such a prodigy, so they set the upper limit at 100. Therefore, your double 99s at the time were nothing special in the eyes of those from Kyoto. Because it didn't reach the upper limit, outsiders just thought it was a fixed 99, naturally not worth worrying about. Do you know the aptitude of that noble lady from the Baili Family whom Cui Liang is attached to?"
A'Diao really didn't know.
"A, B, and C are 200, 230, and 240 respectively."
Holy crap! Someone so love-struck is that strong?
A'Diao sucked in a breath of cold air, her face contorted in feigned grievance. "Then in her eyes, I'm probably not even as good as a dog."
"Indeed."
"???"
A'Diao's gaze was mournful, like a wronged young wife. Qu Jiangnan couldn't stand seeing her like this, pursed her lips, and said coolly, "But her D-category is 180, not as good as yours."
A D-category of 180, terrifying compared to ordinary people, was still subject to comparison. Qu Jiangnan naturally acknowledged A'Diao's 200 points.
A'Diao's heart stirred slightly: "Then the value of my D-category 200 points is higher than the value of 200 points in A, B, or C categories?"
This was natural. Qu Jiangnan admitted it; she had said that the D-category was the most important. However...
"However, overall, you are still far inferior to her now. Among the strongest senior academies in Kyoto, she ranks near the top. Her cultivation is probably already at the peak of A-grade, just one step away from becoming a Forbidden Master. And with all her equipment and resources combined, she could even fight an ordinary Forbidden Master. Moreover, seeing how rampant she is now, I estimate she'll advance to Forbidden Master in a few days. At that time, she'll be even more formidable. While your spiritual body is strong, you don't have a talent for mental-type abilities. It's a bit of a mismatch of talent, which will suppress your development ceiling."
The gap between someone like her and the people in Jinling's Class 1 was indeed enormous.
A'Diao had long known that these top-tier prominent families were formidable, but she hadn't realized how formidable. She nervously fiddled with her sleeve and asked, "Teacher Qu, are there many people like this in Kyoto?"
"Not many, very few. The reason she's strong is simply because her ancestors were powerful. An ancestral Forbidden Master of the Kyoto Baili Clan was once ranked in the top ten of the Tang-Song Nation's Prodigy List and among the top thirty of the Three Kingdoms' Prodigies. Even if she did nothing and just relied on that bloodline to cultivate while lying down, her speed would be about the same as yours."
Ancestors bestowing good fortune, indeed.
Toilet: "What are you panicking about? Your aptitude isn't just what's on the surface. You might not be much worse than her now, and even if you are a bit behind, you won't be after some time. Besides, she's not very bright, and you still have me to help you out. What's there to fear?"
Scrap that last sentence, thank you.
A'Diao indeed wasn't that afraid of this Second Miss; after all, not being bright was a serious flaw. But from Qu Jiangnan's words, it seemed the Baili Family had more prodigies than just this dim-witted Second Miss.
The whole family was incredibly formidable.
When she went to Kyoto in the future, if she really encountered them, and if they happened to remember something, they wouldn't mind killing her offhandedly.
"Alright, Teacher Qu, what you said is terrifying... Are you deliberately scaring me so I'll agree to learn your secret technique?"
The two were sitting on wooden boards with rush cushions. Qu Jiangnan, her willow-like, soft, and slender body leaning against a cushion, raised her willow-thin eyebrows upon hearing this. "Yes. Are you happy?"
A'Diao: "..."
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