Mystic Academy, Intermediate Class 1. Yan Zhen still wasn’t paying attention to the lecture. Instead, he continued practicing the Fire Symbol.
【Ding! System Warm Reminder: This cultivation process can be skipped.】
Yan Zhen snapped back to attention and let out a sigh of relief. “I’ve been waiting for you to say that, System-chan. Skip ahead.”
The scenery around him changed in an instant. Yan Zhen realized he was no longer in the classroom but in the Crystal Stone Space.
The Beautiful Female Master sat beside him. Her jade-like finger tapped the yellow paper in front of him as she said coolly, “Zhen’er, don’t get distracted. Keep drawing.”
Yan Zhen blinked and immediately returned to his task, though he summoned the system in his mind.
—What’s going on, System-chan? Why am I still drawing the Fire Symbol? All that happened was a change of location.
【This cultivation process cannot be skipped directly to the end. There will be intermittent interactive plot segments.】
—Interactive means guidance from the Beautiful Female Master? Fine.
The system could only skip solo performances and unimportant daily routines. Key interactions with major characters could not be skipped.
Yan Zhen had understood this long ago, so he wasn’t disappointed. After all, having the Beautiful Female Master watch over him like this made drawing the Fire Symbol far less tedious.
This was evening time—only then did he have the chance to enter the Crystal Stone Space and receive her guidance.
Around midnight, Yan Zhen finally set down his writing brush. He yawned wearily as a stabbing pain throbbed in his brow.
It was a side effect of the Divine Soul Pulsation.
The Divine Soul Pulsation meant he was close to being able to mobilize his spiritual power.
“That’s enough for today, Zhen’er. You need to rest,” Chen Xi said as she steadied his shoulder and gestured for him to lie down with his head in her lap.
“Next, your master will give you a head massage to dispel the aftereffects of the Divine Soul Pulsation.”
“Thanks, Master.”
Yan Zhen rested his head on the Beautiful Female Master’s soft, supple thigh. He obediently closed his eyes and savored the sensation of her boneless little hands kneading around his temples. Strands of mystic power seeped into his acupoints, swiftly easing his fatigue.
Before long, Yan Zhen had fallen asleep. Chen Xi stopped the massage. Her left hand’s jade finger toyed gently with one of his ears while her right hand stroked back and forth near his chin.
Chen Xi wanted more skin-to-skin contact with her disciple, but too much while he was awake would make her seem like a wanton master. So she satisfied herself only after he dozed off.
It wasn’t about anything lewd—just touching him filled Chen Xi with happiness.
Her previous life had been one of brutal repression for far too long. Now, it was rebounding with fierce intensity.
At dawn, Chen Xi reluctantly sent Yan Zhen back to his bed.
He didn’t wake until Yan Meng’er knocked on the door. Then he brushed his teeth, washed his face, and had breakfast.
During the meal, Yan Meng’er sidled over and said in a coquettish voice, “Cousin, Meng’er has something to tell you~”
Yan Zhen swallowed a xiaolongbao whole. “Go ahead.”
Yan Meng’er blinked her big, watery black eyes and said shyly, “Does what you said in the cafeteria last time still count?”
Yan Zhen popped another xiaolongbao into his mouth. “Which time? What did I say?”
They went to the cafeteria every day, chatting while eating. Who could remember which conversation?
“The time you told Lan Ke that Meng’er and Cousin Ruyu were destined to marry you.”
Yan Zhen froze. At the table, two of the other three girls choked—one on soy milk, the other on a xiaolongbao. Only Mentor Yu Xuan remained relatively calm as she tore into her youtiao, sneaking glances at the pair.
Yan Zhen quickly caught on and continued munching. “That was just to gross out Lan Ke. Our clan has no rule saying cousins have to become the clan leader’s concubines. Relax.”
Yan Meng’er puffed out her cheeks. “So it doesn’t count, huh? You asked Meng’er and Cousin Ruyu right in front of everyone if we liked you. We said yes, and now you’re denying it.”
She pouted, looking thoroughly unhappy.
Beside her, Yan Ruyu flushed with embarrassment at her words and secretly pinched Yan Meng’er’s thigh, signaling her to shut up.
Yan Meng’er ignored it. She stared at Yan Zhen with resentment, as if he were some heartless cad.
Yan Zhen’s head throbbed. Hadn’t that been them putting on a show together to disgust Lan Ke and keep him from harassing Yan Ruyu? Why was Yan Meng’er bringing it up again after just two or three days?
—Stinky girl adding her own lines again. Such a headache. Don’t think you’re safe just because you’re cute—I’d still smack your butt!
“Why bring this up all of a sudden? Did something happen?”
“Nothing. If Cousin won’t admit it, then forget it. Even if my classmates mock me, Meng’er won’t blame you. Hmph~”
She huffed, positively fuming.
Yan Zhen was speechless. So that’s it—she’d gotten into some spat with her classmates.
It couldn’t be anything major. Otherwise, the script would have included a segment where he stepped in to help.
“What happened with your classmates?”
“Meng’er told them I have a boyfriend—my childhood sweetheart cousin—but they didn’t believe me. They called me a vixen and started excluding me.”
That explained it. With her good looks and charming personality, she’d been shut out by some petty clique.
Yan Meng’er did have a bit of a vixen vibe, and she could be rather tea sometimes.
She only showed her obedient, sweet side around Yan Zhen, but having read the script, he knew exactly what kind of persona she had.
Of course, those were all part of her charm. Yan Zhen didn’t dislike it—in fact, he rather liked it.
If he didn’t know this was a no-female-lead power fantasy world, he might have already fallen for her advances and crossed into forbidden territory with his cousin.
“What do you want me to do? Proclaim in front of them that you’re my girlfriend? That’d be way too awkward. No way.”
“Aw, it wouldn’t be any trouble. Just come pick Meng’er up alone at noon for the cafeteria, and after school to walk home together.”
“But isn’t that what we always do?”
“No, it’s not! Cousin always comes with Cousin Ruyu and Xue’er-sis. You have to come by yourself this time.”
As she spoke, Yan Meng’er glanced meaningfully at Mi Xue’er and Yan Ruyu.
Yan Ruyu was furious. So that dead lass had been yapping forever just because she thought they were in the way!
Mi Xue’er shot her a dirty look too. Stinky Meng’er was turning her tea game on her own big sister now!
“Fine. Starting today, we won’t come looking for you anymore, you ungrateful little thing!”
“Ungrateful little thing!”
“Cousin Ruyu, Xue’er-sis, that’s not what I meant! I just… I just want Cousin to come find me more, to give those mean girls a slap in the face.”
Yan Meng’er went full tea mode again, drawing glares from both her cousin and her senior.
Mentor Yu Xuan watched the scene unfold and shook her head helplessly. Yet her eyes turned resentfully toward Yan Zhen.
She knew full well that both Yan Meng’er and Yan Ruyu liked him. Was she, as their mentor, stealing a student away?
No, she absolutely couldn’t let her relationship with Yan Zhen come to light. How could she keep teaching them with any dignity otherwise?
Thinking of the “secret teaching” session they’d agreed on two days from now, Mentor Yu Xuan blushed and her heart raced. Her thighs pressed together slightly as a faint dampness gathered between her legs.
Little did she know, Yan Meng’er had already picked up on the clues. That was why she was changing tactics—ditching her unreliable teammate of a cousin for now and making her move first!
