This was clearly a no-harem power fantasy world, yet such a fanservice event had occurred, leaving Yan Zhen deeply uneasy.
Such an overly coincidental fanservice trope only belonged in harem wish-fulfillment stories, clashing with the tone of the script he was playing.
He hoped it wouldn’t derail the upcoming plot too much. Otherwise, he’d have to scramble to patch things up again!
“Plus, it feels like I’ve wronged Mentor Yu Xuan somehow. Maybe I should do something to make it up to her?”
Lying in bed, Yan Zhen pondered with considerable distress.
In the script, he and Mentor Yu Xuan shared only a close mentor-student relationship, nothing ambiguous.
Mentor Yu Xuan was a gentle and kind teacher. Though she hadn’t guided him much in cultivation—thanks to his beautiful master doing that for him—she had fought tooth and nail to secure resources for his training. She had also opened every door for him, granting all sorts of privileges. She was easily the person most supportive of him at Mystic Academy.
Yan Zhen had no desire to let this incident create a rift between them.
“But how should I make it up to her? She’s a mature beauty; girly trinkets for schoolgirls won’t cut it. They’d just cause misunderstandings.”
It was early March, and the weather was warming up. Lying under the covers, Yan Zhen started to feel a bit sweaty.
As he reached for a fan to cool off, a sudden idea struck him.
—Right, sweating!
Due to her cultivation technique, Mentor Yu Xuan hated the heat and sweated easily. Come summer, she holed up indoors and avoided going out. When she had to, she dusted on sweat-stopping fragrant powder and carried an ice Mystic artifact to beat the heat.
Both the powder and the artifact were typically first-tier items.
Perfect. Yan Zhen’s cultivation gift pack still had a first-order Mystic pill selection and a first-order Mystic artifact selection, neither of which he needed at the moment. Gifting them to Mentor Yu Xuan as an apology would cost him nothing and smooth over any potential awkwardness between them. What could be better?
They were exactly the sort of things she used, and nothing extravagant, so she had no reason to refuse.
With that thought, Yan Zhen finally relaxed, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
He had no idea that Mi Xue’er, Yan Ruyu, and Yan Meng’er had held a girls’ night in, casually chatting about him late into the evening. Nor did he know that back in her room, Mentor Yu Xuan had replayed the image of his “vibrant energy” in her mind, unable to resist practicing her fingering technique until exhaustion claimed her.
The next morning, Yan Zhen woke up, changed clothes, and headed to the courtyard for his morning exercise. To his surprise, Mentor Yu Xuan was already there, hanging bedsheets to dry.
“Mentor, good morning.”
At the sound of Yan Zhen’s voice, Mentor Yu Xuan yelped in surprise, replying in a fluster:
“Good morning, Yan Zhen. I, uh… It’s been so busy lately, I hadn’t changed the bedsheets in ages, so I washed them.”
The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them. Wasn’t that like protesting too much? Yan Zhen was so sharp; would he notice?
Yan Zhen just felt puzzled. School had only just started—had the mentor been that swamped during the break too?
He said nothing, merely nodding.
“Then I’ll start my morning routine.”
“Morning exercise is a great habit. Keep it up, and the benefits will be huge.”
After her rote response, Mentor Yu Xuan hurried back into the main house.
Yan Zhen could tell she felt awkward. As expected, last night’s “bathroom mix-up” had created a barrier. He needed to fix that impression fast.
…
After breakfast, the five of them walked to Mystic Academy, drawing stares from all sides along the way.
Mi Xue’er, Yan Ruyu, and Mentor Yu Xuan often traveled together, and plenty of people timed their commutes just to catch a glimpse of them.
But today was different. There was an extra beauty in a pink dress—and one particularly eyesore handsome guy!
“Who’s that guy? Walking with our academy’s Three Golden Flowers plus a little cutie? Talk about lucky! I’m so jealous, it’s killing me!”
“Rumor has it he’s Campus Belle Yan Ruyu’s cousin. Bet he cozied up to Mi Xue’er and Mentor Yu Xuan through that connection.”
“Wah, Mentor Yu Xuan’s my goddess. I wanna walk to school with her too.”
Yan Zhen had sharp ears and overheard the classmates’ gripes, leaving him speechless.
Once inside the academy gates, the group split up.
Yan Meng’er was assigned to the beginner class, in a different building from the intermediate class where Yan Zhen, Yan Ruyu, and Mi Xue’er studied. Mentor Yu Xuan headed to the office building next to the classrooms.
Yan Zhen trailed Yan Ruyu and Mi Xue’er to Intermediate Class 1, a tiered lecture hall with no assigned seats.
The room wasn’t crowded yet. Yan Zhen picked a spot toward the back, sat down, and gazed at the blackboard in the distance. For a moment, it felt like he was back in university from his past life.
Yan Ruyu and Mi Xue’er glanced around before sitting one to his left and one to his right, scooted in quite close, as if they had no guards up around him at all.
Instantly, the eyes of most boys in the class sharpened, their gazes locking onto Yan Zhen like X-rays.
Yan Zhen’s mouth twitched.
Why did even no-harem power fantasy protagonists end up tangled with so many pretty girls? Simple: to draw aggro.
He’d barely arrived in Silver Moon City yesterday, and thanks to Yan Ruyu, he’d already offended the City Lord’s Mansion and the first and second families.
Now the boys in class were jealous of the two campus belles’ closeness to him. He didn’t need the script to predict that come lunch break, someone would pull him aside for a “chat”—or force a spar.
Of course, that suited him just fine. The system wanted him to act cool more, slap faces more, and salvage his slightly off-script protagonist image.
“Little Brother Yan Zhen, are we putting too much pressure on you?”
“Still holding up.”
“You’re so cool. Then big sis will count on you to protect her~”
“…”
—Whispering like this in my ear… are you trying to pour more fuel on the fire?
Yan Zhen shot Mi Xue’er a resentful glance. She covered her mouth and giggled.
Yan Ruyu hesitated, then finally spoke up:
“If anyone gives you trouble, get Mentor Yu Xuan to handle it. Don’t keep it to yourself. This isn’t Martial Tang City—those guys won’t hold back just because of who you are.”
Yan Zhen turned to look at his cousin’s profile.
“Cousin Ruyu, are you worrying about me?”
“W-Who said I’m worrying! It’s just a heads-up, so you don’t stir up more trouble. Hmph~”
Without her little cousin around, Yan Ruyu panicked under Yan Zhen’s gaze and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
Mi Xue’er inwardly sighed at her bestie’s textbook tsundere act. How had she ever been blind enough to think this girl could win over Little Brother Yan Zhen? She was the type who fumbled even with chances handed to her. Looked like Mi Xue’er would have to step up herself!
Yan Zhen knew Yan Ruyu’s personality well and didn’t take it to heart.
The bell rang. Mentor Yu Xuan entered with her ruler and lesson plans tucked under her arm, stepped onto the podium, and began the new term’s first class meeting.
As a new addition to Intermediate Class 1 this year, Yan Zhen was asked to introduce himself. Following the script’s lines, he delivered them cockily:
“Martial Tang City Young City Lord, Yan Zhen, sixteen years old, five-star mystic practitioner—six-star soon. Anyone wanna throw down? I’ll take you all on!”
Yan Ruyu: “…”
Mi Xue’er: (。。)
Mentor Yu Xuan: (⊙_⊙)?
The other students: (╬￣￣)=○
