"Hey, hey, can you hear me?"

"I can hear you, loud and clear!"

On the sixth floor of the Platinum Tower, Li Ying and Lin Xue were standing at the far ends of the room, whispering with their mouths covered. Nearby, Kui Nian, looking like a curious little kitten, circled around Li Ying: "Are you done? It's my turn, my turn!"

Qin Yueshi and Ming Shuiyun were also full of curiosity, and even Qian Yuya, who usually wouldn't pay attention even if someone streaked past, couldn't help but tear her eyes away from her book.

Le Yu, observing this, didn't tease them. It was hard to fault them for looking so inexperienced; after all, he was just as astonished when he first got his hands on a phone years ago.

"I've added eardrums in the 'Heartfelt Communication' that are extremely sensitive to vibrations, finally able to simulate specific voice tones instead of uniform mechanical sounds." Seeing the students excited about his work, Yan Yi couldn't help but show a proud smile: "If Heartfelt Communication can be mass-produced, its impact will be no less than that of the widespread use of the telegraph."

Le Yu asked curiously: "So how did Heartfelt Communication collect sound before without eardrums?"

"It's the effect of Luminous Stone shards," Yan Yi replied.

"How can a mineral collect sound?"

"Why can't it? This is Luminous Stone shards we're talking about."

Le Yu and Yan Yi stared at each other in bewilderment, both with an expression of 'What nonsense are you speaking?', when suddenly Ning Xinyuan spoke up: "Professor Qin, you haven't studied at the Imperial Academy, right?"

"No, I haven't," Le Yu replied, "Also, while I'm here, I hope you all can call me 'Principal Qin'. Preferably loud enough for the upper floors to hear."

"Well, Vice Principal Qin..."

"Hey, that's no fun."

"Principal Qin." As Ning Xinyuan uttered the title, she subconsciously glanced up at the ceiling, somewhat amused: "Although the practice of Luminous Stone Alchemy isn't unheard of outside, usually only the specific process is taught. Only at the Imperial Academy here do they persist in teaching the core principles of Luminous Stone Alchemy, so you might not know, but Luminous Stone shards are a wishing material in alchemy, capable of extending countless effects."

"I know that," Le Yu responded, fully aware of Luminous Stone shards' 'speculation' attribute: "But even if it can extend myriad effects, does its essence not need to change? For instance, to collect sound, wouldn't it transform into a drum membrane structure to capture sound vibrations?"

Yan Yi: "It's hard to believe that an illiterate like you can be a vice principal; it makes me think something must be wrong with the academy..."

Le Yu: "When the upper structure is crooked, the lower part follows suit; that's how it is."

"People who haven't studied Luminous Stone Alchemy would be confused like this," Ning Xinyuan stated: "Generally speaking, the process to solve a problem is to identify the problem, find a method to resolve it, and then solve it. The 'finding a method' part typically requires interaction with the real world."

"For instance, when thirsty, one finds a river to drink water; when hungry, finds fruits to fill the stomach..."

"When there's drool by the mouth, just lick it clean with your tongue," Yan Yi suddenly quipped.

Ning Xinyuan paused, her alabaster face inexplicably turning a hint of red, but she still elegantly continued as if lecturing: "In short, 'finding a method' involves utilizing the resources around us. The difference in approach lies in the efficiency of resource use."

"And the ultimate goal of Luminous Stone Alchemy is to eliminate the 'finding a method' step."

Le Yu: "Eliminate?"

"Yes, eliminate," Ning Xinyuan nodded: "Identify the problem and then solve it. No need to know the solution method or seek other resources. Thirst, and then not thirsty; hunger, and then not hungry."

"As long as you possess Luminous Stone, you can use it to satisfy any need."

Le Yu: "Wish fulfillment? Are you saying that if thirsty, you'd turn Luminous Stone into an iced honey Five-Flower Tea, and if hungry, turn it into beef stew noodles?"

"You're both right and wrong," Ning Xinyuan laughed: "If you can fulfill your wishes with mere thought, why go through the extra steps of 'drinking' or 'eating'? Also, you only know that to quench thirst, one drinks water, but what if you want to achieve a function whose principles you're unaware of?"

Le Yu paused, a look of disbelief on his face: "Can this really be done?"

"Why do you look so inexperienced," Yan Yi snickered: "Heartfelt Communication, Divine Armaments, and more—these are all outcomes of Luminous Stone Alchemy!"

After all, having spent over twenty years under a scientific worldview and subjected to the rigors of compulsory education, Le Yu had developed a mindset: discovering and utilizing laws seemed instinctive. He had never imagined a technology that would skip these steps.

It's not simply the power of 'speculation,' even if it were, there would usually be a forced justification process, at least giving physical laws some face, whereas Luminous Stone Alchemy brazenly tells physical laws to just figure it out.

No principles, no process—a mere thought leads to an immediate result. It's like accidentally touching a girl's hand on the subway and then fast-forwarding to buying a school-district house together.

Even if Le Yu wanted to argue, he wore a masterpiece of Luminous Stone Alchemy on his wrist. On further thought, the Saint's Relic particularly matched Ning Xinyuan's description; as long as Le Yu dared to dream it, the relic would dare to transform it.

"Of course, this is the ultimate goal of Luminous Stone Alchemy, but many insurmountable challenges remain," Ning Xinyuan smiled: "Currently, Luminous Stone can essentially only serve as 'universal material,' exhibiting various physical characteristics to meet crafting needs. For example, outside lamp posts are made by conferring Luminous Stone with 'light-focusing energy storage' properties, but the craftsman must understand the principle of 'light-focusing energy storage' to create it, so there's still a long way to go before wish fulfillment..."

That's already incredible; Le Yu had only thought this world's medicinal technology was skewed, not expecting the craftsmanship to be equally outlandish.

"But the wishing material Luminous Stone shards are different," Ning Xinyuan said: "They can 'listen' to our thoughts."

"Listen?"

"Yes, listen," Yan Yi nodded emphatically: "They can understand what effect we want and then generate the effect we need. If you've ever deeply smelted a piece of Luminous Stone shard, you would feel that this mineral is alive; it has consciousness like us. It can understand us, guide us, satisfy us. Its only difference from us is that it lacks flesh and blood..."

For some reason, Le Yu felt a strange sense of déjà vu from Yan Yi's speech.

"But what's the point of telling an illiterate like you this?" Yan Yi shrugged: "All you need to know is that Luminous Stone shards are both the starting and ending point of Luminous Stone Alchemy—since they can listen to our thoughts, eventually we will surely make other Luminous Stones hear our thoughts too!"

"Professor Qin!"

```

On the other side, some of the girls were thrilled after experiencing the joy of long-distance instant messaging and finally returned satisfied. Ming Shuiyun slipped a Heartfelt Badge into Le Yu's hand, saying, "Teacher, hold on to this. Remember to place it under the sun to charge during the day. You must carry it with you when sleeping, going out, or bathing..."

"If you chat me up during class, I'll assign the Heartfelt Badge to Qin Yueshi," Le Yu accepted the 'four-hour charge for a ten-minute call' mobile phone and said leisurely, "Casual chatting is not allowed, inviting me out is not allowed, asking where I am is even more not allowed."

Ming Shuiyun raised her head displeased, "Why!?"

"Because I might have to act as a secret investigator to look into some information. If you make a sound, it could get me caught by the enemy," Le Yu said very seriously, "I've personally seen the fates of many secret agents who got exposed. If you can't ensure you won't disturb me, then don't hold on to the Heartfelt Badge."

Le Yu spoke with such conviction that Ming Shuiyun didn't fully believe but instead looked at Qin Yueshi, who often disagreed with her brother. Qin Yueshi thought for a moment and nodded, "Indeed, my elder brother has caught quite a few spies infiltrating our guild in the past."

Ming Shuiyun could only swallow her pride and comply, reluctantly saying "Oh," which made Le Yu secretly relieved — if this girl kept clinging every day, whether Le Yu would be tempted aside, Ming Shuiyun would certainly fall deeper.

In economical terms, she was increasing her sunk cost; in human terms, she could easily move herself emotionally.

To prevent Ming Shuiyun from becoming a bootlicker, Le Yu really racked his brains.

Ming Shuiyun unhappily sat beside Ning Xinyuan, snuggling against Ning Xinyuan's arm. Ning Xinyuan laughed, gently smoothing her hair, causing Yan Yi to snort.

These days, Yan Yi has been bringing Ning Xinyuan to find Le Yu, with a very legitimate reason — Ning Xinyuan was pulled into the Immortal Palace plan, so she's in the know now.

As for the real reason, it was naturally to backstab the betrayer.

Ming Shuiyun was initially very resistant to Ning Xinyuan's arrival, or rather, she was wary of any female creature appearing around Qin Leyin. Yan Yi frequently visiting Qin Leyin already made her quite unhappy, yet she had nothing to say — Yan Yi almost sacrificed her life for Qin Leyin during the attack night, so both publicly and privately, she couldn't expel Yan Yi, let alone Yan Yi even gave them a Heartfelt Badge.

Although Qin Leyin had anticipated her little schemes, they now had the ability to contact Qin Leyin anytime. More importantly, Yan Yi and Qin Leyin despised each other and kept arguing, which immediately put Ming Shuiyun at ease.

Initially, Ning Xinyuan also worried Ming Shuiyun a lot, given that compared to Ning Xinyuan, she felt like an undeveloped little girl. But she soon succumbed—or rather, all the female students did.

A gentle, reliable, mature big sister, who could resist? Besides, the adults they usually knew were some weirdo demons: Qin Leyin, a yin-and-yang person; Cha Huan, an old child; Yan Yi, a little fairy; Qin Yueyang, a worker...

The main point is, they're all a bunch of orphans and have almost no immunity to motherly glow, Ning Xinyuan easily got along with them.

"Who's free to stay here this afternoon?"

Yan Yi asked in surprise, "You're unemployed and don't have time?"

"Don't forget, I have to go to tutoring every afternoon," Le Yu tapped the table, "Besides, I plan to tell Zhu Yan about the Blood Essence Stone, he surely would be willing to help the principal."

"If you bring Zhu Yan into this, I bet the principal will find a chance to beat you to vent his anger," Yan Yi said. "But you did find the right person. Zhu Yan is the only one the principal doesn't dare hit and the only one who can make the principal obediently admit his fault."

"After this game ends, maybe I can leave the Imperial Academy. Outside the Academy, who's to say who would hit whom," Le Yu snorted coldly, "So who's staying this afternoon?"

"Li Ying and I." Kui Nianruo raised her hand weakly, "We have no classes this afternoon."

Although Cha Huan spoke with confidence, after discussing it, Le Yu and the others felt the risk was too great and decided to have people watch the Platinum Tower day and night. Of course, it's not to save Cha Huan; as Cha Huan said, if even he couldn't withstand it, other people would probably be running for their lives instead.

But if something happened to Cha Huan, the ones staying at the Platinum Tower could signal others, who might find ways to summon help for Cha Huan, such as the Chief Medical Officer Sima Huo, Xie Chenyuan from the Statistical Department, or the Empress Dowager. Even if these people possibly opposed Cha Huan, they wouldn't sit idly by if he were really taken down by the mastermind.

Even considering the worst-case scenario, if something happened to Cha Huan, everyone could immediately escape, avoiding a situation where Cha Huan's body started to rot for days without anyone knowing, leaving this solitary elder to die of misfortune in the Platinum Tower.

After everyone left, Li Ying immediately sprawled on the whole long soft chair, lying there with her legs raised reading novels, while Kui Nianruo sat at Le Yu's desk doing homework.

However, Kui Nianruo seemed not to want to work hard today, having written only a few lines before absentmindedly watching Li Ying. Li Ying sensitively turned her head, "What are you looking at?"

Kui Nianruo put down the pen and sat beside her, asking, "Li Ying, does Immortal Blood... work?"

"I'm telling you, unless we have the Blood Essence Stone, don't think about exchanging for Immortal Blood," Li Ying hurriedly said, "Teacher Qin has said it multiple times."

"I know, I know," Kui Nianruo said, "I just want to know if it's useful, can it... make someone very strong immediately?"

Li Ying also knew this BFF of hers yearned strongly to become powerful, she licked the back of her hand, thought for a moment, and said, "Yesterday, Teacher Qin asked me out, and we sparred."

"And the result?"

"Of course, I couldn't beat her," Li Ying said, "Although my immortal technique attacks are invisible, Teacher Qin seemed to anticipate the 'invisible attack' and directly subdued me. But Teacher Qin also mentioned that against ordinary hall-entering Martial Artists, even if I can't win, I wouldn't lose. If I can skillfully grasp the Immortal Technique, perhaps in the future, I could even contend with those who have achieved Integration and Mastery."

"Being able to reach the level of Integration and Mastery..." Kui Nianruo was somewhat longing, remembering her father was only at the Integration and Mastery stage too.

"I'll say it again, don't exchange for Immortal Blood privately," Li Ying reminded, "Teacher Qin scolded me thoroughly."

"Yeah, yeah, oh right, Li Ying," Kui Nianruo said, "Why have you been licking your hand a lot these days?"

"Ah?" Li Ying, who just stretched her tongue to lick the back of her hand, was stunned. She lowered her head and looked at her hand, "Eh? Yeah, but if I don't lick the back of my hand, I can't lick your face, right?"

"You didn't have this habit before."

"People change, you know. I hadn't noticed I'd picked up this habit until you mentioned it. It's like bouncing your leg, it just appeared inexplicably," Li Ying said nonchalantly, "Alright, alright, I won't lick it anymore."

Kui Nianruo nodded, went back to her homework. After finishing one subject, she looked up to see Li Ying licking the back of her hand while reading a novel. Li Ying's eyes stayed focused on the page, appearing truly oblivious to her peculiar little gesture.

For some reason, Kui Nianruo kept feeling like there was an invisible tail, swaying around on Li Ying's butt...

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