Chapter 64: Sprite? Quiet!

"Unlikely. Not many people know my number. Apart from my roommates, the only people in the academy I'm genuinely close with are you and Minister Liu."

Qin Zhe shook his head, lost in thought.

Having run into Tang Xiaoyou and Nie Wenru on the pedestrian street, he had spent a considerable amount of time lately familiarizing himself with the original owner's past to avoid similar encounters.

Purely in terms of results, his efforts had paid off.

The original owner's temperament was very similar to his own—low-key and unassuming.

Aside from Gu Ming, whom he shared a room with and saw every single day, the original owner had virtually no friends, rarely interacted with others, and lived a life restricted to a straight line between the classroom and the dormitory.

The original owner's usual conduct undoubtedly saved Qin Zhe a lot of trouble.

Yet, because of this, he found himself somewhat baffled by the situation at hand.

As Qin Zhe pondered, Yao Jing chuckled softly at his words.

"Do you mean to say you only have three acquaintances in the entire academy? Were you really that much of a recluse?"

Joking around, Yao Jing beamed.

"To be fair, I haven't known you for very long. I know what kind of person Liu Qingzhi is; unless it's necessary, she doesn't interact with people for no reason. Even within the Discipline Department, hardly anyone dares claim to be very close to her. If I had to guess, you two only got chummy recently."

"No wait, say what you will, but can you not use such an ambiguous phrasing? What do you mean by 'got chummy recently'?"

Qin Zhe smiled wryly and said with amusement, "Lately, a lot of people have been misunderstanding things, but Minister Liu and I have nothing going on. We're strictly just friends."

"I'm not blind, you know. Did you think I couldn't tell?"

Yao Jing let out a scoff.

"I don't know you? A guy like you is destined to be single for life. You don't even know how to sweet-talk a girl. Someone at Liu Qingzhi's level of difficulty—is that a target you could possibly capture?"

With that, Yao Jing let out a mischievous giggle.

"Come to think of it, why did you go out of your way to emphasize that you and Liu Qingzhi have nothing going on? Don't tell me you actually have designs on me?"

"Yes, I have designs on you. Are you satisfied now?"

Qin Zhe rolled his eyes, his perfunctory attitude clear as day.

In essence, he was a relatively flirtatious person by nature.

It was just that until he grew familiar with someone, he disliked tossing casual jokes around.

Seeing that Qin Zhe was not only being perfunctory but also joking with her, Yao Jing immediately perked up with interest.

"Having known each other for so long, you finally admit you have designs on me! I knew this little rascal up to no good!"

Saying this, she leaned in playfully.

"Chasing me is no less difficult than chasing Liu Qingzhi, so you'd better put in some effort! At the very least, you have to find a way to please me first, don't you?"

Watching a flawless and slightly alluring pretty face draw close, Qin Zhe twitched the corner of his mouth and stepped back slightly.

"Minister Yao, you're taking the joke too far."

"Tch! We've barely started talking, and you're at it again! Such a buzzkill!"

Yao Jing let out a disgruntled hrumph, though she didn't press the matter further.

"You, stop calling me Minister this and Minister that all the time. How distant can you get? Since you treat me as a friend, I officially permit you to use my given name."

"Vixen?" Qin Zhe blinked.

"Get lost! What vixen? Call me Jingjing!"

Yao Jing's pretty face darkened as she spoke with dissatisfaction.

"Hey! I'm warning you, I don't like people making fun of my name. Where on earth do I look like a vixen?"

Where on earth do you *not* look like a vixen?

Qin Zhe retorted inwardly, not daring to voice his thoughts out loud, and steered the conversation back to the main point.

"Alright, let's get down to business. Do you have a way to help me check this number? You people in journalism must have quite a few connections for this sort of thing, right?"

"Look at you talking. Our News Department isn't involved in shady underworld dealings. Our familiarity starts and ends with academy affairs. When it involves outsiders in society, how do you expect me to check?"

Despite her words, Yao Jing took out her phone and jotted down the number.

"Still, considering you treat me as a friend, I'll help you out this time. I have a friend at the Communications Bureau. I'll drop him a message and have him check the identity information registered to this number through the backend."

"Great, sorry to trouble you."

Qin Zhe nodded, secretly marveling that as a department head, her connections were indeed extensive, even reaching someone at the Communications Bureau.

One had to admit that every single department head at Sea City University was extraordinary.

Just taking the two he interacted with most frequently, Liu Qingzhi and Yao Jing both came from affluent backgrounds.

Not only within the academy, but both also held considerable influence in the outside world.

Among them, Liu Qingzhi's father was none other than the Director of the Sea City Supervisory Bureau, and the influence behind her could be described as terrifying.

Qin Zhe had no idea what kind of situation Yao Jing's family was in, but judging by the way everyone in the academy avoided her like the plague, her background probably wasn't lacking either.

Someone like Yao Jing, who loved making trouble and could strike fear into people like a poisonous serpent, who would believe she lacked a solid backing?

...

Night deepened gradually.

Because they were growing increasingly familiar with each other, and Yao Jing's lively nature prevented any dullness, Qin Zhe got along with her very well.

Arriving at the late-night food stall favored by Yao Jing, the two sat down to enjoy some mortal delicacies.

In this world, practitioners did not practice "biguan" or total fasting.

No matter how high one's cultivation level was, everyone still needed ordinary grains to fill their stomachs, resulting in a vast variety of culinary options.

Although this food stall was just an ordinary roadside vendor, the broth was infused with spiritual fruits that even ordinary people could absorb.

Before they had even finished their midnight snack, Qin Zhe noticed that his status bar's "Jingyuan Conversion" talent had increased by a whole percentage point.

Though this wasn't entirely thanks to the midnight snack, the results clearly showed that the spiritual fruits used by the vendor in their broth were no ordinary items.

By now, Qin Zhe had gained plenty of experience from consuming spiritual fruits. Whether a spiritual fruit was of high enough caliber could be instantly determined by seeing whether his talents reacted to it.

Setting aside these digressions, the two chatted as they ate, and the phone Yao Jing had placed to the side suddenly lit up.

"My friend at the Communications Bureau got back to me."

Yao Jing picked up her phone and opened the message.

"That unfamiliar number of yours is a disconnected number with no registration. It seems this might not be an ordinary joke. The person giving you a warning is intentionally hiding themselves, so you should be more careful lately."

"Got it."

Qin Zhe nodded, setting down his chopsticks.

"It's not really a big deal anyway. I rarely step out of the campus grounds. If someone outside wants to trouble me, do they really dare to barge into the academy?"

"That may be true, but tall trees catch the wind. Your exploits within the academy have gradually been spreading outside, so taking precautions is still necessary."

Yao Jing leaned back in her seat and continued, "Martial arts is not some minor path, but its current social status is indeed not very high. The only ones who can hold down the fort are the few peak Tier-5 martial artists. There are always people in this world who cannot bear to see others succeed, and the rise of martial arts is not something they wish to see."

With that, Yao Jing turned her alluring eyes toward him and asked, "You met with the Dean earlier today. He should have already told you that the Martial Arts Association people are coming tomorrow, right?"