His right hand flickered as another Illusion Stone was taken out.

An Illusion Stone with stats identical to the previous one. He tried several times again, but all the stones were the same.

“Twelve stones in total, so I guess they’re all a part of a ‘set’, but don’t have a ‘set effect’. They can be stacked, so having all twelve of them used at once means being able to create an ‘illusion matrix’. Wonder what’s the difference between using one and using many is, or how they can be controlled….”

Bai Yunfei continued muttering to himself as he inspected the Illusion Stones. They were without a doubt precious, and he had confidence that if he got to be good at using them, then his strength would increase several times over. All he needed to do was carefully study and get used to it.

“Wonder what kind of effects will happen if I upgrade it?”

Smiling, Bai Yunfei set himself to upgrading them….

After a while.

Upgrade Successful

They were rather ordinary effects with nothing special about them besides them boosting the already-there effects.

Taking another, Bai Yunfei upgraded that stone again, but the additional attribute and effects were the same.

After upgrading all twelve Illusion Stones, Bai Yunfei was startled to see they were all the exact same! He had never come across something like this before.

But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. If he used all the stones together, the illusion would be considerably strong.

Putting away the Illusion Stones, Bai Yunfei laid back on his bed to rest and gather his soulforce to him again. A little while after, Bai Yunfei heard several footsteps approach his room.

“Brother Bai, are you still awake? May I come in?”

It was Zheng Kai.

Rising from his bed, Bai Yunfei spoke, “Come in.”

The doors pushed open for a smiling Zheng Kai to come walking in. “Do you like the room, brother Bai? If there’s anything you need, feel free to ask.”

“I’m satisfied, thank you for your consideration, brother Zheng.”

Zheng Kai sat down on the chair nearby, “Brother Bai,” he began a little hesitantly, “I’d like to ask you something, was there….”

“Are you inquiring if there’s anything that stood out among the s.p.a.ce rings I picked up?” Bai Yunfei finished for him, “I only just looked through them but didn’t see anything. Some of the rings were empty actually and definitely didn’t have anything that were like clues.”

Zheng Kai looked startled for a brief moment. “Haha, that makes sense. Those people were prepared, they wouldn’t make a silly mistake like leave any clues around. We’ll have to wait to hear from the Huang if the prisoner has anything to say.”

He shook his head, “Brother Bai, is there anything you need to do in the Capital?” He asked, “If you’re not in a hurry, then I can take you around the city and show you around. You’ll definitely like it here.”

Bai Yunfei shook his head as well, “I’ve a matter to do on behalf of my master. I am to….go to the Tianhun Academy tomorrow.”

“Tianhun Academy?” Zheng Kai asked, “Why there? Er...brother Bai, you don’t mean to tell me you’re going to enroll there? With your strength, you could be an instructor. There’s probably no one there that could teach you anything, and aren’t you a student of the Crafting School?”

“Haha, that’s not it. I’m going there to see a friend of my master and give him a letter on his behalf.”

“Oh, I see….” Zheng Kai nodded. “Haha, that works out then. I’m actually a sixth year at the Tianhun Academy, so I know the place well, you can come with me tomorrow.”

“Oh?” Bai Yunfei spoke. “You’re a student there? A sixth year too? Huh…”

Zheng Kai was a late-stage Soul Exalt, was there even a need for him to be studying there still?

A sixth year of the academy meant to say they were Soul Exalts. People who became Soul Exalts were given the right to graduate from the academy, and only a few would decide to stick around until they were mid-stage Soul Exalts. Even if they did stay, they’d become instructors to guide other students. 

With all that said, there weren’t many late-stage Soul Exalt students there.

“Hehe, don’t you know? Tianhun Academy has plenty of beautiful women, even in the Capital. If I graduate, then I won’t be able to go flirting with any, hehe….”

A knowing smile appeared onto Zheng Kai’s face, much to Bai Yunfei’s amazed shock.

Bai Yunfei felt the corners of his lips twitch. No wonder Zheng Kai had the nickname of ‘s.e.x Lord’. If he was staying around the academy to pick up girls, that in itself was worthy of ‘respect’.

“Ah, brother Bai, who are you looking for, actually? Is it a student or instructor? I know practically everyone so if you tell me I can bring you directly to them.”

“My master said his friend was the chairman of the Tianhun Academy.”

“Ah, the chairman I see, don’t worry! I’ll bring you straight to him tomo—” He choked. 

Sputtering to himself for a second, he stared incredulously at Bai Yunfei, “Who did you say you were going to see?!”

“The chairman of Tianhun Academy,” Bai Yunfei repeated, “my master said his name was Mo Huangkong.”

    “……”

Zheng Kai’s lips twitched helplessly. “I completely forgot your master is senior Zi Jin. A monster on the same level as my own grandfather, how could any friend of his be an ordinary instructor….” He looked dejected at the thought of the chairman.

“What’s wrong? Is senior Mo hard to meet or something? Bai Yunfei asked in confusion.

“Ah, er, well….that’s not really it. But the chairman, well….er, he does normally stay to his quarters, so you do need to have permission before you can see him. But I….might not be able to take you straight to him. If anything, I’ll take you to the academy but you’ll need to go pay respects to him yourself.”

Bai Yunfei peered at Zheng Kai. The other male looked strange, or afraid even. “Are you afraid of the chairman or something?” Bai Yunfei saw an opportunity to liven up the atmosphere with a joke, “Did you try to flirt with his granddaughter or something, and that’s why you’re afraid?”

    “……”

When Zheng Kai didn’t respond for two seconds, his face was all Bai Yunfei needed to see to know the answer.

“No f*cking way, you really did that?!”