The aftermath of the battle at the Spire of the Demon King was not one of mourning, but of a quiet, collective exhale that resonated across the Northern Continent. The black miasma had been replaced by a sky so blue it looked like a polished sapphire, and the Dead Sea—once a churning cauldron of shadow—was now a serene, crystal-clear ocean.
On the deck of the Celestial Path Academy Flying Fortress, the atmosphere was a chaotic blend of celebration and administrative exhaustion. Lin Fan lay sprawled on a lounge chair in the center of the "Sovereign's Garden," a new section of the ship he had synthesized using the Origin Core's residual energy. For the first time in years, his Nine Divine Halos were fully retracted, and his Eye of the Creator was focused on nothing more complex than the way the sunlight hit the ice cubes in his drink.
"Teacher! You can't just lie there!" Ling'er shouted, landing on the deck with a flurry of white-hot feathers that quickly retracted into her robes. "There are seventeen kings from the Northern Reach waiting at the lower docks. They all want to know if their sons can join the 'Sovereign's Inner Circle'!"
"Tell them the 'Inner Circle' is currently at capacity," Lin Fan groaned, pulling his scholar's cap over his eyes. "And tell them if they send any more 'gifts' of gold and jade, I'll charge them a storage fee."
"And what about the Master Teacher Pavilion?" Mu Tie asked, walking over with his usual glacial composure. He was holding a stack of scrolls that reached his chin. "Grandmaster Mo has sent three hundred invitations for you to lead the 'Reconstruction Committee'. They want to rename the Central Capital to 'Lin-Fan City'."
"Lin-Fan City?" Lin Fan sat up, a look of genuine horror on his face. "That sounds like a place where everyone has to take exams 24/7. Absolutely not. Tell Mo that I am a teacher, not an urban planner."
The Assembly of the Four Queens
While Lin Fan was busy dodging his professional responsibilities, a much more dangerous storm was brewing in the fortress's dining hall.
Queen Medusa, Saintess Qingya, Madam Yue, and the Priestess Ananya were seated around a circular table. Between them sat a single, delicately crafted map of the world, but they weren't looking at geography. They were looking at each other.
"He saved my kingdom," Medusa said, her emerald eyes flashing as her vipers hissed in unison. "I have already declared him the Co-Ruler of the Silver Sands. By the laws of the desert, he is mine."
"Music is the language of the soul," Qingya countered, her voice calm but carrying the weight of a Saint. "He broke the silence in my heart. Our resonance is a cosmic truth, not a political decree. He belongs in the Heavenly Music Sect, where we can cultivate in harmony."
Madam Yue adjusted her black mourning lace, her Silver-Moon daughter Xiao Yue playing with a doll at her feet. "The North is cold and broken. He promised my daughter a teacher and me a... protector. A Duke's widow knows the value of a man who can dismantle a traitor. He belongs in the North, rebuilding the Royal House."
Ananya, the Priestess of the Abyss, leaned back, her trident resting against her chair. "I waited five hundred years. I held the Sea-Gate while empires rose and fell. If you think a few weeks of 'resonance' or a desert kingdom can compete with half a millennium of devotion, you are as shallow as a tide-pool."
The air in the room grew heavy. Medusa's shadow flickered into a serpent shape, Qingya's tea began to vibrate in a perfect chord, Yue's silver eyes glowed, and Ananya's trident hummed with the pressure of the deep sea.
"Perhaps," a witty voice interrupted, "we should ask the man himself?"
They all turned to see Lin Fan leaning against the doorway, looking remarkably like he wanted to jump overboard.
The Sovereign's Solution: The Departmental System
Lin Fan walked into the room, sensing that his Stage 9 Peak cultivation was still no match for the combined glares of four powerful women. He activated his Divine Library to find a 'Flaw' in the tension.
[Divine Library: Analyzing Social Crisis...]
[Detection: 100% Probability of Fortress Destruction if a choice is made now.]
[Synthesis: The Multi-Campus Strategy.]
"Ladies, please," Lin Fan said, pulling up a chair and sitting at a safe distance. "I am a teacher. My life is the Academy. And as the Sovereign, I have decided that the Celestial Path Academy can no longer be contained within a single flying boat."
He stood up and tapped the map on the table.
"Medusa, the Silver Sands will host the Department of Ancient Bloodlines and Desert Survival. You will be the Dean."
Medusa's eyes widened. "Dean? I am a Queen!"
"A Queen rules people. A Dean rules the future," Lin Fan said with a wink.
"Qingya, the Central Mountains will host the Department of Harmonic Soul-Cultivation and Universal Frequency. You are the Dean."
Qingya bowed her head, a soft smile touching her lips. "A melody shared is a melody perfected."
"Yue, the Weeping Port will become the Department of Northern Strategy and Seer-Arts. You will manage the administration of the entire Northern Reach."
Yue nodded, her melancholic beauty shifting into a look of sharp, professional focus.
"And Ananya," Lin Fan turned to the Priestess. "The Dead Sea is no longer dead. It is now the Abyssal Research Center. You will guide the students who wish to understand the secrets of the God-Tribe."
"And where will you be, Master Lin?" Ananya asked, her eyes narrowing.
"I will be the Traveling Chancellor," Lin Fan said, leaning back. "I will rotate between the departments every month. It's the only way to ensure 'educational quality'... and my own survival."
The women looked at each other. It wasn't a perfect victory for any of them, but it was a shared conquest. The tension in the room dissolved, replaced by a competitive fire to see whose department would become the most prestigious.
The Comedy of the First Lecture
With the "Wife Crisis" temporarily managed, Lin Fan headed to the main deck for the academy's first "Post-War" lecture. Over five thousand students, ranging from border-city orphans to imperial princes, were seated on the deck.
"Today," Lin Fan began, his voice amplified by the Sovereign's Resonance, "we will learn about the Law of Perspective. Mu Tie, come here."
Mu Tie stepped forward, his Frozen King armor glinting.
"Mu Tie, show them a Stage 9 punch," Lin Fan commanded.
Mu Tie punched the air. A shockwave of frost-energy roared across the deck, freezing the mist for miles. The students gasped in awe.
"Impressive, right?" Lin Fan said. "Now, Lu Bao, come here."
Lu Bao waddled over, still holding a chicken leg.
"Lu Bao, eat the punch."
"Ugh... Teacha, it's cold!" Lu Bao complained, but he opened his mouth and activated his Singularity Body.
The massive wave of frost was sucked into Lu Bao's mouth like a strand of noodles. He let out a small, icy burp and went back to his chicken.
The students sat in stunned silence.
"Perspective," Lin Fan said, pointing at Lu Bao. "To the world, Mu Tie's punch is an act of God. To Lu Bao, it's a cold appetizer. In the Divine Library of your own minds, you must never assume a limit is absolute. Every 'Wall' you hit is just a 'Door' you haven't learned to open yet."
Suddenly, a small hand went up in the front row. It was Xiao Yue, the Silver-Moon Seer.
"Teacher? If Lu Bao eats everything, does that mean if he eats a book, he'll know everything in it?"
Lin Fan paused. He looked at Lu Bao, who was looking at a nearby textbook with sudden, predatory interest.
"Lu Bao, don't you dare," Lin Fan warned.
"Mmph... but Teacha, it's a 'Geography' book. I always wanted to know what the Eastern Continent tastes like!"
The entire deck erupted in laughter, the fear of the Demon King finally fading into the light of a new, joyful era.
The Shadows of the Eastern Sea
As the sun began to set, Lin Fan stood alone at the stern of the boat, looking toward the horizon where the Eastern Sea began. His Eye of the Creator flickered.
[Divine Library: Warning! New Dimensional Anomaly Detected.]
[Location: The Eastern Continent—The Isle of a Billion Scrolls.]
[Note: A signal has been sent from the library's 'Hidden Vault'. It matches the frequency of the 'Fifth Wife'.]
"No rest for the wicked," Lin Fan whispered to the wind.
He opened his system and looked at the Shadow Army tab. The three commanders—Igris, Beru, and Tusk—were currently training the newer shadow-soldiers on the lower decks.
"Igris," Lin Fan called.
A tall, knightly shadow appeared instantly, kneeling. "Master."
"The Demon King was just the beginning. The Origin Core I synthesized has sent a ripple across the dimensions. Things are coming, Igris. Things that the God-Tribe were afraid of."
"The Shadows are your blade, Master. We shall harvest the fear of the stars themselves."
Lin Fan looked up at the stars. He knew the roadmap ahead would take him through 2,986 more chapters of discovery, danger, and undoubtedly, more wives and buns.
"Mu Tie, Ling'er, Lu Bao!" Lin Fan shouted, his wit and energy returning. "Pack your bags! We're not going to the Central Capital. We're heading East. I heard they have a library so big that even I can't scan it in a day. I want to see if they're lying!"
"Yes, Teacha!" the voices of his disciples echoed across the sapphire sea.
The Celestial Path Academy turned its prow toward the rising moon, its golden arrays shining like a new sun, heading toward the next great mystery of the Infinite Library of the Heavens