Chapter Twenty-Five: Suddenly Becoming Illiterate

Jiang Wangshu stiffened her neck, wrapped the support belt around her waist, and struggled to eat the food Huo Jinyu fed her. Both hands raised the communication jade slip as she read through Zou Xiuzhen’s improved formation, dutifully conveying the system’s evaluation word for word, fulfilling her role as a proper messenger.

Zou Xiuzhen listened intently, her eyes brightening from a forty-five-watt glow to a dazzling one hundred and fifty watts. “As expected of Master Jiang, the harvest is bountiful.”

“Alright, alright, the problem’s solved, just relax and enjoy the food,” Huo Jinyu said, handing Zou Xiuzhen a large drumstick.

Setting down her sore arms, Jiang Wangshu caught a glimpse of Little Black devouring food with gusto. She immediately shouted, “Save some for me!”

Little Black inhaled the food like a whirlwind, infuriating Jiang Wangshu, who clutched her old waist and pounded over in anger.

The bustle faded as the moon climbed above the treetops.

Little Black sank into the creek, quietly cultivating.

Jiang Wangshu watched the moonlight, like flowing water, stream into Little Black’s body, and suddenly remembered something. She slapped the system.

“Xiao Jinjin, did I forget to buy a cultivation technique?”

The pay-to-win system was startled awake from its drowsiness, wiping drool from its mouth. “Huh? What? Oh… yes, there’s one.”

It retrieved its memory from the processing center. “I wanted to recommend one before, but the host was always caught up in emergencies.”

“Tailored specifically for you, this technique is the most suitable…” Its voice trailed off and it drifted back to sleep.

Jiang Wangshu looked over the details on the shopping page.

“Immortal Spirit Technique”—by refining the meridians, it improves the quality of spiritual energy within and compresses spiritual power into immortal force.

First layer: Guiding energy into the body, refining the meridians.

Second layer: Transforming spiritual power into liquid, converting it to immortal force.

Third layer: Breaking through the great ascension, transcending to immortality.

She scratched her head; this technique sounded incredible!

She glanced at the price—indeed, it was incredible—over ninety million.

She bought it with a grand flourish, emptying her account, then suddenly remembered: she’d need thirty thousand top-grade spirit stones for General Han Shuang tomorrow.

Her decisive finger hovered in the air. Where could she scrounge up some money now?

Suddenly, a lightbulb went on in her mind—she still had a well-off father!

She quickly opened her contact list and sent a message.

[I’m at Vulture Academy, out of living expenses, send money.]

Yawning after sending the message, she didn’t wait for Jiang Mingqian’s reply and turned in for the night.

As for cultivation? That could wait until tomorrow.

Elsewhere—

“Will you ever stop? You’ve already destroyed five of our strongholds! Don’t push us too far!” A black-robed demonic cultivator roared in impotent rage.

Recently, someone among their ranks had clearly provoked this powerhouse, who now hounded them relentlessly.

Behind his mask, Jiang Mingqian’s gaze was icy and detached. He had waited so many years for hope to appear, only to lose it by a moment’s carelessness.

His mood was foul—he wasn’t just recruiting, he was venting his anger.

Had he not endured the filth of the mortal world for the Immortal Realm’s secret domain? Yet now, hope had been snatched away right before his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to overturn the table, to ensure everyone suffered along with him.

“Hmph! Kill!” At his command, his subordinates surged at the demonic cultivators.

Ding dong!

The communication jade slip chimed. He picked it up impatiently, only to sneer coldly at the naked demand for money, then set it aside.

A moment later, something felt wrong. He picked it up again and looked.

That unfamiliar nickname—it seemed to be Jiang Wangshu!

He checked the chat history. Not a single message.

That confirmed it even more: in his contacts, only Jiang Wangshu had never messaged him before.

“Withdraw!” he barked, vanishing from the scene with a wave of his hand.

His subordinates, seeing their master flee, promptly disengaged and disappeared as well.

Leaving behind only battered, bewildered demonic cultivators. The leader finally exploded, “Argh—don’t let me find out who you are!”

What misfortune had befallen them lately? Their soul-devouring banner factories destroyed, several strongholds crushed.

As if their already-difficult lives weren’t hard enough.

Morning arrived, sunlight spilling over the land, birds chirping cheerfully.

Jiang Wangshu left Little Black to amuse himself, channeled spiritual energy into her legs, and sprinted across the vast campus.

By the time she reached the classroom, class had long since started.

“Reporting in.”

Yu Jianyi saw Jiang Wangshu’s breathless state but wasn’t angry. He nodded and pointed to the only empty desk. “Come in, then!”

Jiang Wangshu seated herself; textbooks for the semester were already neatly stacked on her desk.

Yu Jianyi continued reading from his book. “Turn to page three. Today, we’ll get to know the sword cultivator’s mantras. Sink your energy into your dantian and read with me: ‘Boundless heaven and earth, all things return to one. Forget yourself, merge with the primordial…’”

Jiang Wangshu’s eyes glazed over. The teacher might as well have been reading an alien script—despite having the original’s memories, she couldn’t make sense of it.

A glance at the densely classical text on the page gave her a headache. She swept her eyes to the stack of books at her table’s corner.

“Foundational Sword Techniques for Beginners.” “Key Principles for Sword Cultivators.” “Career Prospects for Sword Cultivators.” “How to Fly Your Sword Safely and Efficiently”…

Seriously? Was university coursework always this hard? She felt like a complete illiterate.

“Pssst, pssst.” The strange noise beside her made her turn her head.

Lian Yangxia’s smiling face appeared. She looked at Jiang Wangshu in confusion. “Aren’t you a sophomore? Why are you here?”

Lian Yangxia whispered back, “I failed my basic courses last semester, so I’m making them up.”

Jiang Wangshu felt the weight of it all. “Are university classes always this difficult?” Her previous college life had been a breeze—she’d coasted to graduation.

She never imagined that her second time attending university, in a new world no less, would see her thrown back to the level of a beginner.

She was grateful she hadn’t stubbornly insisted yesterday, and silently thanked the kind soul who’d recommended her. Had it not been for that, as the registrar had said, she could never have afforded such a good university.

Thank goodness.

She patted her chest in relief.

“You were fierce yesterday, taking on the two toughest women from the Spell-casting Department!” Lian Yangxia couldn’t resist gossiping.

Jiang Wangshu waved it off. “If you want to live well, you have to go wild once in a while.” She leaned in and asked quietly, “What makes them so difficult?”

Yu Jianyi’s brow creased deeper and deeper. Sensing the two growing too friendly, he tapped a finger—two streams of spiritual energy struck their foreheads like a hammer. “Pay attention in class. Lian Yangxia, don’t lead your junior astray.”

Clutching the lump on her head, Lian Yangxia replied, “Yes, sir.”

Jiang Wangshu’s eyes brimmed with tears. She dared not utter another word—how it hurt!

When class ended, the few students remaining gave Jiang Wangshu a glance before hurrying out.

She keenly sensed the unwelcome looks from the others, but didn’t care. She flipped through her brand-new textbooks, determined to shake off the label of “illiterate.”

To Lian Yangxia, she looked like a helpless, woeful little girl. He immediately leaned over to comfort her, “Don’t be upset, you’re a rich kid after all—not like the rest of us.”

“Huh?” Jiang Wangshu’s mind was already overwhelmed by the texts. She recognized every character, but strung together they made no sense!

Forget it. She gave up. Turning her head, she returned to the previous topic. “So what makes those two so difficult?”