Watch out! Something's wrong with this guard.

After saying goodbye to Long Lingling, who was no longer able to communicate with him normally, Lu Yunshi quickly arrived at Shangguan Yue's residence. However, along the way, he always felt as if he had overlooked something, and he always felt a chill creeping up his spine for no reason, as if someone was nagging him from behind.

Suppressing his unease, Lu Yunshi stood outside Shangguan Yue's door, adjusted his expression, and then raised his hand to knock on the door.

"Teacher Shangguan, are you there?"

Almost the instant Lu Yunshi finished speaking, the door in front of her opened, revealing a head of silver-white hair that shimmered brilliantly under the cold moonlight, making her look like a fairy descending to earth.

No, even a fairy might not have such an appearance.

"Why are you calling me teacher?" Shangguan Yue gave Lu Yunshi a reproachful look, then questioned him gently.

"Haha, now that I'm your student, I should naturally change how I address you. But if you don't want to, I'll only call you 'teacher' when there are other people around. In private, I'll still call you 'Sister Shangguan'." Lu Yunshi gave a very obedient smile, which made Shangguan Yue suddenly realize something.

She quickly came to her senses, turned around and led Lu Yunshi inside, saying at the same time, "You're quite sensible."

"Hmm? Doesn't Sister Shangguan like well-behaved boys?" Lu Yunshi tilted her head and blinked as she asked.

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Yue immediately stopped and turned around to gently tap Lu Yunshi's forehead. Seeing him quickly feign pain, she was instantly furious.

"Stop pretending. Let's get back to business. You really tricked Lin San today. He probably holds a grudge against you. Judging from Lin San's mean face, he's a vengeful person. Even if you can't get along with someone normally, you should still be careful with him."

As they spoke, the two arrived in the hall and sat down in chairs. Shangguan Yue waved her hand gently, and a tea set appeared on the table. She picked up the teapot slowly, poured hot tea into two cups, and then pushed one of the cups in front of Lu Yunshi.

"Mmm." Lu Yunshi nodded repeatedly, then hummed softly. "But if you really want to talk about it, I have to blame Sister Shangguan. If it weren't for Sister Shangguan's great charm, making Lin San so attached to her, how could I have gotten involved with him?"

"You're getting more and more glib." Shangguan Yue glanced at Lu Yunshi, her tone helpless. "Today's mutual selection meeting was all blind selection. No one knew each other's identities. How could he be so persistent because of my charm? He just simply wants to choose an alchemist as his teacher."

Lu Yunshi immediately retorted upon hearing this.

"That's not necessarily true. As far as I know, although there are many alchemists in this academy, only you, as the academy's chief alchemist, can become an elite teacher. Although beginners know very little about the situation on the mountain, Lin San is different. He was able to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm and become an alchemist in the environment of a beginner. It's hard to guarantee that he knows something about the situation on the mountain."

"Once we know that you are an alchemist, Sister Shangguan, then among the ten teachers, whoever knows alchemy is naturally you, Sister Shangguan."

As Shangguan Yue watched Lu Yunshi speak eloquently, especially his youthful and innocent demeanor, a smile unconsciously curved her lips.

At this moment, Lu Yunshi suddenly stopped, causing Shangguan Yue to come back to her senses. Seeing this, Lu Yunshi continued, "But I'm curious, Lin Tian's talent is quite good, and he's also an alchemist, so why didn't Sister Shangguan take him in?"

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Yue shook her head slightly and replied.

“Talent is only one aspect, and alchemy is only one aspect. But as my student, I cannot judge by appearances alone. Although Lin San’s pills are of high quality, his technique is not skilled. Such technique cannot produce pills of that quality. He was able to produce them mostly because of the black cauldron.”

"It is not wrong to use external aids to refine pills, but if one does not pay attention to the basics of pill refining in the early stages and relies entirely on external aids, even treating the power of external aids as one's own power, then such a mindset... I cannot teach him."

"I see." Lu Yunshi nodded upon hearing this. No wonder he always felt something was off when watching the other person refine pills; it turned out the other person was able to refine pills of that quality thanks to the black cauldron. So that means...

Is that black cauldron a good thing?

"Speaking of which, now that you've already come up the mountain, if nothing unexpected happens, your next step should be to prepare for breaking through to the Spirit Gathering Realm, right? Humans are different from others. To reach the Spirit Gathering Realm, you should choose a cultivation method that suits you. If you don't have a cultivation method, breaking through to the Spirit Gathering Realm will probably be a hundred times more difficult for you, given your situation."

"The academy's library contains many cultivation techniques. Tomorrow, go and find a suitable one, as well as combat skills... If you come across any, remember to bring them back; I can teach you."

As she spoke, Shangguan Yue took off a ruby ​​ring from her hand and placed it in front of Lu Yunshi.

"With this, you can go directly to the upper level of the library. There are all sorts of good things there. Take whatever you see, but remember you can only take three items, or the old man guarding the library will start nagging me."

"Let me think... Also, as you probably already know, becoming an average student in this academy is just the beginning. Once you become an average student, you'll no longer be surrounded by humans. If you want to move up, the people of the other four races could become your rivals. Didn't you tell me before that you wanted to directly participate in this average student assessment?"

"Now I'll tell you, among the top 100 average students, only ten are human, and only two are in the top ten."

"Are those alien races really that powerful? Among those of the same realm, our human race has few rivals?" Lu Yunshi asked curiously.

"Apart from humans, the beings of the other four races all have some unique physical advantages, but it's just a difference in their innate abilities. As time goes on, it's still unknown who will be stronger. Moreover, there are many exceptionally talented individuals among our human race. Otherwise, how could we have remained undefeated in the war against the four races for so many years? So you don't need to worry too much about this. But if you want to catch up with them, you will indeed need to put in a lot of effort."

At this moment, Shangguan Yue seemed to be Lu Yunshi's older sister, wanting to tell Lu Yunshi everything she could think of and to make him pay attention to these issues.

Lu Yunshi naturally memorized all of these things without missing a single detail. After going up the mountain, he no longer had the same level of control as he did down there, so he had to be cautious in everything he did.

Suddenly, Lu Yunshi remembered another reason for his visit. He took out the pill that Lu Yuan had given him and handed it to Shangguan Yue.

"Sister Shangguan, I obtained this pill by chance, but I don't know its effects. Could you help me identify it?"