Volume One: Another World Chapter Twenty-Six: Guidelines for Early Childhood Education

"Qing Anqi, what are you doing here?" Li Yu pushed open the door, intending to take a stroll by the lake, only to see a soft-faced girl with a deeply conflicted expression. It was the same little girl who had saved him in the dense forest.

"Father told me to cultivate with you," Qing Anqi bit her upper lip, eyeing him suspiciously from head to toe. "Father said you've already reached the eighth rank. Is that true?"

Li Yu smiled, seeing Qing Anqi’s look of disbelief—‘You’re actually stronger than me? That can’t be!’—and suddenly felt a mischievous urge. He tousled his hair and replied, "Of course it’s true. Maybe I’m just a bit of a genius."

Qing Anqi turned and left. The empty room next door had already been tidied up by a maid; she went in and slammed the door shut.

Li Yu chuckled, "She really is just a child."

After wandering about, he returned to his room and sat cross-legged on the bed. He had planned to continue absorbing the lightning attribute spiritual energy from the Thunderstruck Wood, but then remembered he hadn’t checked in yet, so he asked,

"System, can I check in from the other world?"

[Yes.]

"..."

Li Yu pursed his lips. He really hadn’t thought it through—he’d always assumed the other world was just a side quest, so he insisted on checking in only when back on Blue Star. If Qing Anqi hadn’t come and made returning inconvenient, he wouldn’t have even considered trying it here.

"System, check in."

[Ding! Check-in successful. You have received one Marrow Cleansing Pill and five randomly awarded Lightning Attribute Crystals.]

The electronic voice echoed in his mind.

Random rewards? Li Yu was pleasantly surprised; he hadn’t expected extra prizes upon check-in.

With a thought, he produced a Lightning Attribute Crystal—a blue stone about five centimeters in size, its contained lightning energy was astonishing. One piece nearly equaled the energy from three Thunderstruck Woods.

"If I were a lone cultivator, this would be exactly what I desire at my current stage," Li Yu mused, turning the crystal over in his hand before storing it in the system’s space.

It was a pity he was in the Qing Clan’s territory. Items with unexplained origins like these were best kept hidden; after all, the Qing Clan would thoughtfully provide all his cultivation needs.

Apart from not being able to roam freely, cultivating in this lakeside cottage was nearly perfect. His meals and lodging were arranged, cultivation manuals and secrets were gathered for him, and all he had to do was showcase his talent—everything else was worry-free.

Li Yu sneaked a glance at his phone; if he slept at midnight, he still had several hours left. He took out the Thunderstruck Wood and began to absorb its lightning energy.

...

On the other side, in the palace’s dinner hall.

Qing Heng tapped his fingers on the table. "What do you all think? Anything to add?"

The table, large enough for thirty people, had been cleared of its sumptuous dishes. In their place, paper documents lay before each person—a detailed cultivation plan regarding the... Thunderblood lineage.

It had been gradually revised during the lengthy discussion moments ago.

"This treatment is the same as the clan’s seedlings," commented the man in the fourth seat, a middle-aged figure who managed finances for the Qing Clan. "Is it appropriate to treat an outsider this way?"

"Is the investment guaranteed to be proportional to the returns?" someone at the seventh seat asked. "Without control measures, we might lose everything."

"How about bestowing him the seedling status—supplying resources up to the sixth rank, but otherwise treating him like any clan child?" Qing Heng suggested after a moment’s thought.

"That works."

"Agreed."

"Then from tomorrow, arrange for a teacher to go over."

...

After two moons dipped below the mountain, Li Yu felt people coming and going around him. When he finally opened his eyes, he found himself surrounded by children all staring at him.

Li Yu: ?

He looked around in a hurry—children everywhere, most around ten years old, with a few even younger, about five or six. Though each one eyed him curiously, none left their assigned seats.

Rows of little desks and chairs, with a tall podium up front. Atop it, a woman gazed coldly at him.

"Am I... in a classroom?" Li Yu’s half-lidded eyes flew open, sheets tumbling to the floor, forgotten. "How did I end up here? Am I dreaming?"

He pinched himself hard, grimacing in pain. Not a dream. It seemed someone had indeed called him several times this morning, but he’d been too groggy to respond. Wait, did Little Jade mention last night that a teacher had been arranged for today?

The woman on the podium said, "Awake now? If you hadn’t gotten up in a few more minutes, I was prepared to use some methods to rouse you."

Some methods... Would she have yanked off his blanket or poured water on him?

Li Yu shuddered, memories of the morning slowly returning.

It had begun with Qing Anqi bursting in, eager to take him to school. He refused, turned over, and drove her away with his back. Next came Little Red, the second contestant, but Li Yu hid under his blanket.

He blocked out the world, successfully prolonging his lazing in bed.

So why was he here, then... Li Yu gritted his teeth, "Little Jade, you’re doomed."

He remembered now—when Little Jade came to wake him, he was still half-asleep, clinging to his blanket. But Little Jade was relentless, dragging him out of bed, blanket and all.

"Smack."

A piece of chalk struck Li Yu sharply on the forehead. The woman on the podium declared, "Class is starting. Pay attention."

Li Yu instantly sat up straight; this woman was no ordinary instructor.

He was nominally eighth rank now, his senses enhanced by spiritual energy, yet he hadn’t sensed the chalk coming. He wondered what exactly she was going to teach.

Satisfied that everyone was watching her attentively, the woman nodded and turned to write several large characters on the blackboard: "Guidelines for Early Childhood Education."

"..."

Li Yu was startled; that title didn’t bode well.

The woman said, "Wait for me to distribute the textbooks. You are to read through them first."

Really? Was it still a free-range system, study if you want?

Li Yu clicked his tongue, scanning the classroom. Aside from himself, none of the students seemed older. Was this educational model reliable? Several appeared to be only five or six.

As he pondered, the woman placed the textbook before him—about dozens of pages thick, its cover bearing only a few bold characters.

Li Yu opened the "Guidelines for Early Childhood Education." Its contents were divided into three sections: the Qing Clan’s origins, a simple overview of divine cultivation, and etiquette lessons.

"So this is aristocratic education."