Chapter 44: Blackmail
Translator: Pika
Jiang Luofu tossed him a sack. “You can beat it and return to your classroom now.”
Zu An caught the sack and opened it. Inside were a few medicinal herbs and a red gemstone that was roughly the size of his finger. Intrigued, he asked, “What’s all this?”
Jiang Luofu replied, “Cultivation resources that you’ll need. The medicinal herbs are used for a medicinal bath, and the energy in the ki stone is to be absorbed and assimilated into your body.”
Just to make sure Zu An did not misunderstand her intentions, she quickly added, “All students receive a set of this. This is the amount that students in the Yellow class are entitled to.”
“So this is a ki stone?” Zu An took out the red gemstone to take a closer look at it. It looked identical to a ruby from his previous life.
Jiang Luofu was bewildered. “You’ve never seen one before? How did you cultivate up to your current rank then?”
Zu An was unwilling to reveal the details surrounding his Keyboard, so he quickly changed the topic. “Didn’t you mention that I am a transcendent class talent? If so, I should at least qualify for entry into the Sky class, right? Even if you don’t intend to assign me there, I should be entitled to the cultivation resources that a student in the Sky class receives!”
Jiang Luofu snorted. “Do you think that I can adjust the amount of cultivation resources you receive arbitrarily? The resources that every student in the academy receives is decided by the royal court’s Ministry of Rites. We need to account for every single one of the cultivation resources we distribute to our students, and submit the records for verification. If you don’t mind anyone finding out about your aptitude, then by all means, take more.”
“Forget it then,” Zu An replied sheepishly. He had the Keyboard anyway, so there was no need for him to take on additional risk just for a few ki stones.
“Get lost.” Jiang Luofu was afraid that she would begin pummeling him if he were to loiter in her office any longer.
After leaving the Principal’s Office, Zu An fantasized over Jiang Luofu’s long and sexy legs... Pui pui pui, I’m thinking about what she said! It looks like troubles keep coming one after another. This Tripitaka constitution of mine is sure to invite great trouble in the future. Vixens might start pouncing on me while I’m walking down the street.
He reached the classroom where he’d parted ways with Wei Suo, and saw that almost all the seats inside were taken. The students inside were distracted by the movement outside the room, and directed their curious gazes towards the doorway.
So I’m not just an ordinary freshman, but a transfer student who joined in the middle of the semester?
The teacher standing at the podium was a bland, middle-aged man with average looks. He was the sort of person who could disappear into a crowd easily—that was how forgettable his features were.
Clearly, he had received the news that Zu An would be joining his class. He stopped his lesson and gestured for Zu An to enter the classroom. “Everyone, this is a new student who will be joining us from today. Please give him a warm welcome!”
“Wel~come~”
There was a smattering of applause as his classmates dragged out their greeting lifelessly.
Zu An was reminded of his days in middle school. The scene before him was simply too familiar.
“New classmate, come over here and introduce yourself,” invited the teacher.
Zu An walked up to the podium and said, “Zu An. Male. Heterosexual.” With that, he walked off.
The middle-aged teacher blinked stupidly at him.
Is that all?
Some of the female students below began whispering amongst themselves.
“Wow, he has an attitude. I like it!”
“How suave!”
“He looks like a philanderer though.”
“Heh, how can someone as good-looking as him not be a philanderer? Bad guys are so much more attractive.”
...
The male students responded very differently. They looked at Zu An with eyes filled with hostility.
“That fellow is really arrogant. I really want to beat him up.”
“How is he good-looking? He’s no match for me at all!”
“Why is it a guy again? Our resources are going to be thinned yet again.”
...
Zu An looked at the several hundred Rage points he had just earned in an instant. All of his new classmates suddenly looked incredibly cute to him.
“Here, here!”
Wei Suo was waving at him from near the back of the class. Zu An was a little hesitant—he wanted to find a beautiful woman to sit with—but his quick survey from the podium earlier showed that there were no particularly gorgeous ladies here. He eventually settled down beside Wei Suo.
*Tok tok tok!*
The middle-aged teacher knocked on the podium. “Let’s continue the lesson. Where was I?”
He quickly flipped his book before continuing on, “Ah, here it is. All right, I’ll be continuing the lesson...
“Curb the sinners with punishments, and compliment the brave. Reward handsomely those who work for the people, but with tact and wisdom. Enforce the business laws, and evict those who seek to profit illegally. Build commerce but focus on agriculture, for a decline in agriculture shall spread unease and tear the country from within. Should there be spare food, allow the people to donate them for higher standing. In this way, the people will be motivated and not be indolent in their work.
“Just as a pipe with holes will never be full, an official who receives payment that is not earned through his hard work will result in failure. Rewarding the meritorious with official positions; this is what it means to tap into the wisdom of the people. With the people standing brave and motivated, the country will be invincible. If a country gives rewards by merit, the country will govern itself, and doubts will be quelled. This is what it means by using politics to reduce politics, and to use words to destroy empty words. This is why a system of merit and nobility is necessary.
“As long as a country stands strong, it shall be inviolable. Soldiers dispatched will return victorious, and territories annexed can be safeguarded...”
These long texts made Zu An’s eyes glaze over. He understood every individual word that the teacher spoke, but when strung together, they made no sense to him at all.
“What is he talking about?” Zu An presented Wei Suo with a confused face.
Wei Suo shook his head. “I don’t understand either.”
“What is this lesson?” No matter what, Zu An used to be a university student. It wasn’t possible for him to suddenly become illiterate.
“This seems to be a lesson on the principles of criminal law,” Wei Suo explained. “That teacher over there is Zhang San, nicknamed ‘Sinner Beyond Laws’. He’s one of the advisors serving under the vice magistrate, and he’s well-versed in the legal loopholes in the country. He occasionally visits as a guest lecturer to impart knowledge about the legal process to the students. You also know that given our aptitude, it’s impossible for us to progress anywhere in our cultivation. Thus, most of our lessons involve such practical knowledge so that we can do something useful in the future.”
Zu An had a decent understanding of the various official positions and their corresponding cultivation level in this world. The lord of Brightmoon City was at the seventh rank, and serving directly under him were the vice magistrate and the chief administrator. Those two were considered his right-hand men, and the two of them were at the fifth rank.
Under the vice magistrate were the Six Departments, namely the Military Affairs Department, Law Department, Civil Department, Personnel Department, Tax Department, and the Agriculture Department, and they were responsible for managing matters relating to their own fields. The leader of each department was at the third rank.
Of course, the fact that Brightmoon City was a major city played a huge role in explaining why the cultivation levels of its officials were on the higher side. For mid-sized cities, their city lords would only be at the fifth rank, and their vice magistrates and chief administrators would be at the third rank. As for small cities, their city lords could only be at the fourth rank.
The middle-aged teacher lecturing on the podium, ‘Sinner Beyond Laws’ Zhang San, was in the Law Department under the vice magistrate of Brightmoon City. Whenever he had free time on hand, he would drop by Brightmoon Academy to hold lectures and educate the students.
This was a practice that wasn’t foreign to Zu An. There were plenty of part-time lecturers in the university in his previous world too.
“How is it? Isn’t Principal Jiang wonderful?” Wei Suo asked with a knowing look. It was almost as if he was showing off his own girlfriend.
Zu An recalled that warm yet smooth sensation on his finger earlier, and he subconsciously replied, “Indeed.”
“What’s the color of her stockings today?” Wei Suo asked excitedly, almost like a true fanboy.
Zu An backed away a bit to put some distance between them. “Black, I think.”
“As expected of my goddess! Oooh~” Wei Suo let out an incredibly embarrassing moan, as if just knowing the color of her stockings was enough to fill him with pleasure.
Zu An shook his head in disdain. This fellow sure was a pervert!
There was a sudden and sharp whizzing sound, and Wei Suo cried out in pain. A huge bump formed on his forehead.
Zu An noticed a piece of chalk on the floor right beside Wei Suo. Who would have known that all teachers, regardless of which world they had come from, were skilled in this secret art?!
Then again, in his previous life, this would only have resulted in a slight knock. Unfortunately, the teachers in this world were powerful cultivators. If they were to get serious, even a flying piece of chalk could take a person’s life.
On the podium, Zhang San glared at Wei Suo, his face livid. “That student over there, come up here and answer this question.”
Wei Suo was bewildered. “What question?”
Zu An quietly gave him a thumbs up. This fellow sure is brave to ask such a question.
Zhang San furiously bellowed, “If you don’t know, beat it to the back of the classroom and listen to my lecture obediently!”
Without hesitation, Wei Suo beat it to the back of the classroom.
Zu An sat upright while cursing in his heart. Damn it, I hate it when teachers ask questions. It always leaves my heart thumping in fright. Just what did I do wrong to have to go through such torture even after transmigrating into another world?
It wasn’t easy for Zu An to survive until the lesson was finally over. He lay on his table, a desolate look on his face. He wondered when these days would finally come to an end.
All of a sudden, a shadow was cast over Zu An, as if the sky had turned dark. He opened his eyes and saw a fatty standing right next to his seat, looking down on him smugly.
“Yes?” Zu An asked with a disinterested tone. If it had been a beautiful woman, he would have considered entertaining her a little, but he really couldn’t be bothered with a darned pig.
“I’ll be waiting for you in the forest.” That fatty threw these words at Zu An, then left the classroom. A few other students who looked like his henchmen quickly followed him.
“Who’s that fellow? Is he ill in the head?” Zu An asked, unsure of what just happened.
Wei Suo, walking over from the rear of the classroom, overheard him and shushed him. “Shh, don’t talk so loudly! That fellow is the class boss, Man Yu. He’s quite a vicious character.”
Looking at the fearful look on Wei Suo’s face, Zu An let out a small chuckle. “You got beaten up by him before?”
Wei Suo could only laugh awkwardly in response. “I would advise you to head over there for a look. If you turn up, the most he’ll do is to take away your ki stones. Otherwise, you’re just going to get a beating from him.”
Zu An’s interest was piqued. “That fellow steals ki stones?”
Wei Suo nodded. “That’s right. They took away the ki stones that I just received. It’s not a huge deal, since people of our talent aren’t going to progress far in our cultivation anyway. Ki stones are useless to us; there’s no point offending that fellow over this.”
“But I heard that ki stones are quite valuable,” Zu An remarked.
“Ah, that’s true. I heard that they are worth at least 10 gold taels each on the black market, and that’s if anyone is willing to sell it at all,” Wei Suo replied.
Zu An’s eyes lit up. If you’re talking about money, I’m all in. 10 gold taels, that’s 180,000 RMB! He was still new to this world, and was more used to the currency in his previous world. It sounded much more relevant to him.
It just so happened that money was the one thing he lacked right now. If he could just obtain a few more ki stones, the problem would be easily settled.
The excitement in his heart grew too much for him to bear. He leaped out of his seat and rushed outside.
It didn’t take long for him to reach the forest the fatty had pointed out to him. It was a remote area, and there weren’t many people around. Clearly, that pig had scouted out this area beforehand.
“Looks like you still know your place.” Upon seeing Zu An, the fatty, Man Yu, sauntered over and stretched out his fleshy hand. “Hand me all of the cultivation resources you received today, and I’ll protect you from now onward.”