The lecture droned on.
Elder Meng shifted smoothly from Cultivation Ranks to the intricacies of Qi refinement and meridian opening, his words weaving patterns in the air like flowing rivers.
Most of the students leaned forward eagerly, some scribbling notes, others listening with wide eyes.
To them, every word was precious—a step closer to the path of cultivation.
But Li Fengyuan sat back, chin resting lazily on his hand. His gaze drifted to the front for a moment before turning elsewhere.
Most of the things, he already knows about it. Others were down right wrong but which the Liangzhuo people believe to be true.
He has no intention to correct or interrupt. Anyway, they won't believe it and there was no merit in correcting them either.
Instead, his eyes wandered across the room until they landed on a quiet figure at the front.
Xiao Mie!
She wasn't asking questions like the eager boys nor giggling like the girls who clung to Han Zixuan's every word.
She simply listened, calm, steady, and focused.
Although, given her background, Li Fengyuan knew she already understood most of it, she still listened like the good student she was.
By the time Elder Meng finally closed the lesson and dismissed the class, most students left buzzing with excitement about "future breakthroughs" and "paths to greatness."
Zhao Dazhu stretched his arms with a groan. Then he gave Li Fengyuan a sideways glance, narrowing his eyes.
"You know…" Zhao muttered, crossing his arms, "for a moment, I thought you really had changed."
He continued.
"I thought you'd be paying attention to the class this time. But no—you were just like before, not listening to a word, just staring at Shen Yuyan again."
Li Fengyuan blinked, then turned to him with a bemused look.
"Shen Yuyan?"
Zhao raised a brow.
"Don't play dumb. Don't think I didn't notice where your eyes were throughout the class."
Li Fengyuan's lips curled into a faint, helpless smile.
"You've got it wrong, Dazhu. I wasn't looking at Shen Yuyan."
Zhao Dazhu frowned, suspicious.
"Oh yeah? Then who?"
"Xiao Mie!"
Li Fengyuan said plainly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Zhao froze, his jaw hanging open slightly.
"What?"
"Xiao Mie," Li Fengyuan repeated with a small shrug. "That's who I was staring."
Zhao blinked rapidly, staring at him in disbelief.
Everyone knew about Li Fengyuan's relentless pursuit of Shen Yuyan and his obsession over her.
And for that person to say that he was looking at another girl, that is unthinkable.
"You're joking!"
"I'm serious!"
"... Are you trying to make Shen Yuyan jealous?"
"No!"
"Then you really like Xiao Mie?"
"Of course, I do! She is mine!"
"..."
Zhao Dazhu looked at Li Fengyuan, honest and determined like always. But only time, it was for different girls.
(Did he really hit his head somewhere?)
Out of everything that has happened today, this was the most unbelievable thing that had happened.
Could one really give up on love that one chased after for years?
No!
Li Fengyuan has been rejected multiple times now and still, he didn't give up.
There was no way that he could just change his heart like this,
(He must be using that 'keep your distance to draw closer' tactic I've heard about.)
Li Fengyuan then stood up, stretching his hands.
"So, we are free to do whatever, right?"
He vaguely remembered that in the morning, the teacher would teach various subjects but for the rest of the day, it was for them to cultivate themselves.
After all, more than learning theory, the important thing was Cultivation and those times were to be spent on that.
Of course, being the lazy young master he was, those times were for him to spend wastefully.
"Yeah! But not whatever!"
Zhao Dazhu said, trying to tell Li Fengyuan that he should restrict his action, not doing stuff that breaks the rules.
"Follow me!"
Li Fengyuan strode out of the academy grounds with that same unhurried gait of his, hands clasped lazily behind his back as if the entire world existed to amuse him.
Zhao Dazhu hurried to catch up, his expression a strange mix of suspicion and exasperation.
"Oi, where are we even going? Don't tell me you're about to cause trouble again."
Li Fengyuan didn't bother to answer. He only smiled faintly, his eyes half-lidded as if lost in thought.
Soon, the familiar bustle of Liangzhuo City's outer market opened before them.
The streets were alive with noise and color—vendors shouting their wares, children darting between stalls, the sizzling of street food mixing with the clang of blacksmiths hammering iron.
Dumpling stands released a mouthwatering aroma into the air, roasted chestnut carts popped and cracked.
Further down, merchant stalls displayed gleaming weapons, talismans, spirit herbs, and even cheap imitation artifacts meant to swindle gullible newcomers.
"Li Fengyuan…"
Zhao's voice carried a note of warning as he caught up, his big frame towering half a head taller than most around them.
"Don't tell me you dragged me here just to waste coins on snacks again."
Li Fengyuan shook his head.
"No!"
He walked leisurely between the stalls, eyes roaming across weapons, herbs, and trinkets with a calm sharpness Zhao wasn't used to seeing in him.
His gaze lingered on details most would overlook—the faint flicker of runes etched poorly into a talisman, the brittle color of dried ginseng falsely sold as a century-old spirit root.
Zhao noticed, his brows furrowing.
"Then what are you looking for?"
Li Fengyuan finally stopped at a small stall tucked away between a dumpling vendor and a talisman shop. His eyes narrowed slightly, lips curving upward.
"You'll see soon enough," he murmured, his tone quiet but carrying a strange certainty.
Zhao Dazhu folded his arms with a heavy sigh.
(Here we go again… With him, it's either something utterly pointless or something that'll get us both in trouble.)