Chapter 61: The Prize Cabbage About to Be Groomed

As the night grew deeper, inside the Dean's Office of Haicheng University.

Qin Zhe walked in alongside Liu Qingzhi, and to their surprise, Wang Chongguo was not the only person in the room. There was also a white-haired, elderly man who looked at least eighty years old.

The old man possessed no cultivation, yet he radiated vitality and appeared exceptionally spirited.

At that moment, Wang Chongguo was talking with the elderly man. Catching sight of the two arriving hand in hand, he could not help but freeze in a daze.

He had clearly only notified Liu Qingzhi—why had Qin Zhe come along as well?

Frowning as he looked at the calm-faced Liu Qingzhi, Wang Chongguo felt that he could no longer quite understand this niece of his.

He knew their relationship was good, and Qin Zhe was relatively easygoing and pleasant to get along with.

However, during this recent period, Liu Qingzhi's changes were simply too drastic.

She, who had always been inept at socializing and preferred to keep to herself, was now constantly seen entering and leaving places with Qin Zhe for no particular reason. Could it be that this prized cabbage of the Liu family was truly about to be plucked?

Silently offering a sliver of sympathy to Liu An, that notorious daughter-obsessed father, Wang Chongguo kept his expression neutral and spoke.

"Qin Zhe, since you happened to come along with Qingzhi, come on in and have a seat. Let me introduce you two, this is Academician Sikong from the Academy of Sciences, Sikong Yuanhang."

Sikong Yuanhang?

Qin Zhe and Liu Qingzhi both trembled slightly, looking at the old man with sudden reverence.

Without other reasons, the unremarkable old man before them was not just any ordinary academician, but a founding-era figure of the Academy of Sciences and its ultimate pillar of prestige.

As one of the very first individuals to join the Academy of Sciences at its inception, Sikong Yuanhang's achievements far surpassed those of his contemporaries.

Even looking across the entire world, any cultivator worth their salt knew his name.

During the first hundred-year history of the spiritual energy recovery, cultivators endured extremely bitter times in the beginning. The scarcity of resources in the mortal realm made it impossible to satisfy their cultivation needs.

In that dark era, cultivators would resort to bloodshed over a low-grade spiritual stone, and murder for pillaging was a common occurrence.

Chaos spread across the globe.

Yet one day, Sikong Yuanhang stood up.

He calculated the exact coordinates of the first mystic realm in the history of the spiritual energy recovery and confirmed it contained abundant resources, changing the chaotic and turbulent landscape overnight.

This achievement, which practically turned history upside down, cemented Sikong Yuanhang's name in various archival records, and many magazines even regularly published news concerning him.

Just during the time since Qin Zhe had transmigrated here, he had seen this name in numerous places.

Never had Qin Zhe imagined that he would actually have the privilege of meeting this legendary figure today.

Over there, seeing the two of them looking completely constrained upon entering, Sikong Yuanhang waved his hand gently.

"I am no big shot, you two youngsters don't need to make a fuss over me. This old man is here this time on two accounts: first, to bring some news, and second, to check on my student."

Student?

Qin Zhe and Liu Qingzhi exchanged glances, then both turned to look at Wang Chongguo, beginning to reevaluate him.

Meeting their gazes, Wang Chongguo immediately felt displeased.

As a dean, he still needed to maintain some dignity, right?

What did these two youngsters mean by looking at him like that?

Did he usually act too amiable and casual, giving them some kind of erroneous misconception?

Displeased as he was, with Sikong Yuanhang present, Wang Chongguo could not bicker with the two of them.

"Teacher, Qingzhi and Qin Zhe were the ones who first discovered the signs of the abyss manifesting this time. I believe you must have heard of them. I won't go into lengthy introductions; shall we get straight to the point?"

"Mm."

Sikong Yuanhang nodded in approval.

"Qingzhi, here is the situation. I suddenly contacted you to come here primarily because I hope you can enter the Cold Moon Mystic Realm once more, traveling alongside Academician Sikong to ensure his safety and assist him," Wang Chongguo said, looking over at her.

"Your father is currently inside the mystic realm as well, and two of the Englishmen have yet to be brought to justice; he is leading a team to organize a large-scale search. You can explain the situation to him yourself when the time comes, and I believe he will understand."

"This..."

Liu Qingzhi's pretty eyes flickered as she hesitated and said, "Dean, it is fine for me to accompany Academician Sikong into the mystic realm. But I need to confirm: am I the only one going along?"

With that, Liu Qingzhi added, "My cultivation is shallow. If unexpected situations arise, I alone might not be able to..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Sikong Yuanhang interrupted.

"Sigh! You child shouldn't worry too much. Right now, the mystic realm is crawling with people from the Supervision Bureau and the Super-Disaster Bureau. What kind of unexpected trouble could we possibly encounter with you and me traveling together?"

"Academician Sikong, that is not how you put it."

Liu Qingzhi shook her head and bluntly stated, "Not to mention that the mystic realm itself holds many uncertain factors, the Englishmen have yet to be completely rounded up, and an opposing faction in the shadows, the Underworld, is eyeing us like a tiger eyeing its prey. Your status is noble, and nothing can happen to you."

"..."

Sikong Yuanhang opened his mouth, realizing he could not quite win the argument, and looked somewhat strangely at Wang Chongguo.

"Chongguo, this Liu family girl... is she always like this?"

"Cough, yes."

Wang Chongguo coughed and said, "Qingzhi, I know you have your reservations. But the situation is special now. The Academy of Sciences has confirmed that the abyss has a passage connecting to the Cold Moon Mystic Realm and has locked onto its precise location. Academician Sikong's trip is to calculate its stability."

"The passage has been found?"

Liu Qingzhi's pretty eyes lit up. She grabbed Qin Zhe and said, "Dean, can I take Qin Zhe with me?"

Qin Zhe, who had been standing to the side listening to the three of them converse and rejoicing that the mystic realm coordinates had been locked down, suddenly found himself dragged into the crossfire and wore a completely bewildered expression.

Seeing this, the corners of Wang Chongguo's eyes twitched, and for a moment he had no idea what to say.

This girl was truly attached to Qin Zhe like glue, wanting to bring him along wherever she went. The two of them weren't even a young couple—did they have to be this clingy?

Did she not consider that the situation had developed to a point where Qin Zhe could no longer possibly be allowed to get involved?

In fact, not only was Qin Zhe unable to enter the Cold Moon Mystic Realm during this sensitive period, but Wang Chongguo himself could not intervene either.

Getting Liu Qingzhi to accompany Sikong Yuanhang this time was something he had managed to secure only by pulling strings.

His original intention was simply to have someone pass out some news so he could keep track of the progress, preventing his own mystic realm from becoming an isolated island where he remained completely in the dark.

Giving a helpless look at the very innocent Qin Zhe, Wang Chongguo said, "I'm afraid that won't do. With the official forces of the Dragon Country intervening comprehensively, our school has temporarily lost ownership of the Cold Moon Mystic Realm. You should understand that under the current circumstances, just anyone cannot simply walk in."

After some earnest persuasion, Wang Chongguo continued, "Furthermore, I have a task assigned to Qin Zhe that cannot be delayed. If he goes into the mystic realm with you this time, there's no telling when he'll be able to come back out."

Liu Qingzhi was not someone lacking a sense of the bigger picture. Hearing this, she pondered for a moment and reluctantly replied, "All right then. Since you have tasks to arrange, Dean, I won't insist."

Seeing that this straightforward girl had finally nodded, Sikong Yuanhang, who had long grown impatient on the side, abruptly stood up.

"All right, enough idle chatter! There is no time to lose. Chongguo, open the mystic realm passage, and let's set off immediately!"

His own teacher looked peaceful on the surface, but was actually someone of an impatient temperament; Wang Chongguo knew this better than anyone.

Therefore, he said no more and stood up.

"Let's go, to the plaza. Qin Zhe, you come along too. Once we send Academician Sikong and Qingzhi into the mystic realm, the two of us will discuss your assignment."