Yin Luoling tried to push with both hands, but the bronze door that should have yielded under her strength remained motionless.
A suffocating chill crept up the back of her neck, making her entire body tremble.
‘Blood recognition…’
Her mind involuntarily flashed back—had Ling Huan gripped the tower with his injured hand earlier?
Could it be… that the Nine-Orifice Exquisite Tower had also recognized him as its master?
Yin Luoling wanted to dismiss the thought immediately.
In her past life, she had never given anyone the chance to even see the tower, let alone allowed another person’s blood to touch it.
Her initial joy vanished instantly, replaced by a deep sense of helplessness as if she were being toyed with by fate.
She had tried everything to rid herself of Ling Huan, yet now she was becoming more deeply entangled with him.
The thought that her innermost secrets were about to be exposed to him made her skin crawl.
It felt as shameful as if she were being forced to strip in front of him, piece by piece.
She took a deep breath to settle her emotions, forcing herself to stay calm.
Allowing her feelings to dictate her thoughts would only pull her deeper into the quagmire.
The exposure of the tower’s secret was now a fixed reality; the most important thing was how to seize the initiative.
Ling Huan was shrewd.
If she went to him now and explained the Nine-Orifice Exquisite Tower, he would certainly realize she needed him to open it.
She would be forced to accept his help and end up being led by the nose.
She needed to find a way to satisfy both needs—to make her request for help look like she was granting him a favor.
‘Why don’t I… direct a little play myself?’
Slowly, an idea evolved into a plan, quietly taking shape.
…
The mild midday sun shone down, but the wounds on Ling Huan’s body still felt searing, as if the sunlight were reigniting them.
After being stabbed by Yin Luoling the previous night, Ling Huan had not consumed any expensive pills.
Instead, he chose to use One Strength Subdues All to begin tempering his body.
He utilized his injuries to stimulate his physical potential and accelerate the repair process, while simultaneously increasing his tolerance for pain.
Ling Huan first went to pay his respects to Lady Jiang Yue and then took a day off, intending to properly organize the rewards he had obtained.
With the system mission completed and the rewards doubled, Ling Huan was now exceptionally wealthy.
His inventory held two top-tier skills, two Body Tempering Divine Jade Pills, thirty-six bottles of Black Tortoise Body Tempering Liquid, two drops of Dragon’s Origin, thirty-six bottles of Divine-grade Spirit Accumulating Pills, 30,000 spirit stones, one copy of Peach Blossom Fate, and two God-Speed Boats.
As he looked at the bountiful rewards piled within his system space, Ling Huan beamed.
Such a rich foundation gave him immense confidence.
With so many materials, he was dying to start his body tempering immediately and master the first stage of One Strength Subdues All.
However, since he had the simulation space to test things without cost, he couldn’t afford to be hasty.
Moreover, Master Zeng Ge’s experience in body tempering was vital to him.
It was better to endure for a little longer.
For now, he had another matter to handle.
As the saying goes, one relies on friends when away from home.
In this world of cultivation, how could one ignore the ways of the world?
Did he not need powerful and reliable helpers?
A powerful and loyal assistant could not be befriended only after one became strong; they had to be nurtured from a young age.
In the cultivation world, spiritual energy was sparse and the number of cultivators had drastically decreased.
Was it because of a lack of talent?
No, it was because the scarcity of resources did not allow for so many cultivators to thrive.
Fortunately, Ling Huan did not lack money or resources now.
Ling Huan’s destination was the residence of the City Lord of Qingmu City to discuss the establishment of a school.
He needed to build his own power.
To nurture talent he could trust, the group of children who followed him around and called him “Boss” were the perfect candidates.
Among them, some had photographic memories, some possessed Herculean strength, some were incredibly brilliant and quick-witted, and some were naturally gifted in combat, able to wield weapons without any formal instruction.
But they all shared one flaw: they were poor.
They were so poor they had no way to develop themselves.
The child with the photographic memory was often dressed in rags; his family couldn’t even provide decent clothes.
The child with immense strength had a massive appetite but was always hungry.
His current strength was barely ten percent of its potential, yet he could still easily lift stones weighing hundreds of kilograms.
There were many others like them.
However, opening a school was no simple task.
First, such schools were part of the imperial education system.
An individual could not open one privately; the local government had to lead the establishment.
Although the City Lord of Qingmu City was merely a figurehead—with Ling Huan’s own family being the ones actually in charge—it was still an imperial appointment.
Some matters could not bypass the City Lord.
Calling him a City Lord was a stretch; he was more like a bodyguard sent by the imperial court to protect and monitor the tribute.
There were two types of schools: Private Academies and Charity Schools.
The threshold for a Private Academy was relatively low.
If one only recruited a few students within their own residence, official approval usually wasn’t necessary, though one still needed the recognition of the local gentry to avoid being seen as an illegal gathering spreading “misleading rhetoric.”
However, these academies mostly catered to the children of wealthy families.
They attended not just for knowledge, but for networking.
The second type was the Charity School, which often required reporting to the local government.
One only needed to explain the purpose of the school and the source of funding, and the officials wouldn’t ask too many questions.
If he had to choose, it would be the second type.
It wouldn’t cause friction with the children’s parents, and it would prevent the wrong kind of people from sneaking in.
Calling a Private Academy a school for rich kids was an understatement; it was more like an expansion of their social circles.
Ling Huan had spent a few days experiencing life in an external Private Academy before.
The courtyard of the Private Academy was elegant, with two rows of osmanthus trees planted along a bluestone path.
But in the September fragrance, there was always the scent of rouge and the clean, cool air of spirit stones.
At the entrance, the black-lacquered gold plaque reading “Learning Knows No Bounds” was written by a great scholar.
The brushwork was powerful and should have exuded a scholarly atmosphere.
Yet, beneath that plaque, groups of young masters and ladies always gathered.
They were dressed in silks and satins, with jade pendants hanging from their waists that were either warm jade for nourishing the body or treasures engraved with family crests.
Even the hairpins they used were inlaid with tiny fragments of spirit stones just for show.
The “way of self-cultivation” and “philosophy of life” they discussed didn’t involve the subtle meanings of scriptures or the obscure annotations of classics.
Instead, their talk was filled with worldly comparisons of family status, spiritual root quality, and the quantity of treasures they possessed.
It was entirely utilitarian and impetuous.
Furthermore, there was a hierarchy of disdain everywhere. During the days Ling Huan spent visiting, he was treated like an unenlightened barbarian simply because he came from a small border city.
Every word he heard was laced with irony.
If he were to open the first type, Ling Huan would respectfully decline.
But the second type… Ling Huan suddenly thought of a problem.
Even if it were a Charity School, given his status in Qingmu City, if he actually opened one, a massive crowd would likely try to shove their children in just to curry favor with him, regardless of his original followers.
The environment would be ruined.
‘I need a proxy… Hey, wouldn’t Master Zeng Ge be perfect?’
With himself providing support from behind the scenes and Zeng Ge acting as the face to open the Charity School, wouldn’t that be wonderful?
After three years of study, he could disperse them into various sects.
Wouldn’t that mean he’d have friends and connections everywhere in the future?
‘Wait…!’
‘That’s right!’
Couldn’t he have Ling Xue use that “Dragon Seeking Technique” to check their potential?
That way, he would know exactly how many “SSR cards” he had pulled!
Unconsciously, he had discovered another excellent use for Ling Xue.
‘Even though she’s a bit crazy, she’s surprisingly useful!’
At that moment, Ling Xue’s favorability in Ling Huan’s heart rose just a little bit.