16 Did I Let You Leave?
It was well over two months since Li Mo Shang had enrolled at Blue Rose University. Autumn was well on its course, with golden-brown leaves decorating the sidewalks, and the sunset creating a mesmerizing hue that subconsciously relaxed the mind. It was just before the fall break for university students, and Li Mo Shang looked forward to reuniting with his family.
As lectures finished early for the next few weeks, students raced to leave the auditorium the moment the bell rang. Taking full advantage of the merciful judgement of the academic board, the students' moods were at their peak, their souls overflowing with bubbly euphoria.
"Boss Su, let's go to the arcade today! Games are on me!"
"Junior Yang, how about we watch the movies tonight? I heard that the reviews for <One Spring Night> were excellent."
"Little Three, Little Six! Let's go, Senior Tang is waiting for us!"
Spectating the frivolous banter among the euphoric students, Li Mo Shang finished packing up his bags and prepared to depart for the general studies library. Li Zhen Yue had already departed with her friends towards an online gaming arcade, so he was left alone until midnight, an arrangement Li Mo Shang could not be happier with.
Over the course of two months, Li Mo Shang had practically lived in the general studies library to torture himself with the spiritual core. Exploiting the spiritual core's unique ability to forcefully comprehend all knowledge to brand onto his soul along with reinforcing his mind with spiritual qi to accelerate the process, Li Mo Shang had acquired nearly all of the knowledge available within the general studies library.
The only bookshelves spared from Li Mo Shang's "devouring" until now was the <Metalworking> bookshelf. As it was one of the largest collections within the library, Li Mo Shang had left it for last. If he could acquire the knowledge to perfect his iron sword, and also unlock the Heretic manual's Body Tempering cultivation methods, then this painful information conquest would have fully been worth it.
It wasn't as if there were no detriments from mindlessly devouring knowledge via the spiritual core. Courses that Li Mo Shang had previously been struggling at, he was now capable of understanding and expanding further upon viewing the question; thanks to the spiritual core's cheat-like strength, he could fly through the first years' general studies courses with complete ease. It was only due to the fact that he would have to continue on to advanced studies the moment he tested out of the lower courses, that Li Mo Shang maintained a low profile.
Strolling down the cobbled pathway to the general studies library, Li Mo Shang could see nothing but couples and pairs displaying their affection in the soft afternoon glow. Completely mindless that there were many other couples like themselves engaging on their desires in public, these students attempted to gorge themselves underneath the warm sunlight. For Li Mo Shang, this just made him frown a bit then continue walking, all alone.
He wasn't ready for relationships yet. If his partner was also a cultivator, then he could consider it, but to the current Li Mo Shang, fostering romanticism in a worldly-qi deprived world, was nothing more than a waste of time.
Upon reaching the general studies library, Li Mo Shang passed through the familiar glass doors, stopping before a massive collection of books. Made of charred oak and birch as support, the bookshelf's height and length was almost as tall and long as the building itself; there were multiple extendable stools for students to reach the higher-shelved books. Truly, the <Metalworking> category had tremendous amounts of research conducted on it. Li Mo Shang felt some palpitations from this, as not only as this bookshelf the largest among his previous attempts, the number of books stored within were double of the previously "largest" <Romantics and Literature> category.
With a sigh, Li Mo Shang willed the spiritual core to begin its all-encompassing spiritual scan over the entire bookshelf. Instantly, the indistinct form of an hourglass projected itself in his mind, with the upper container beginning to fill with a blue-colored granule, each grain emitting an unique spiritual fluctuation. This was another ability of the spiritual core Li Mo Shang had discovered, something he casually named as <Hourglass of Eternity>.
The <Hourglass of Eternity>, was an organizing tool for information, as far as Li Mo Shang could deduce from its applications. Capable of delaying the assimilation of knowledge and altering the rate of merging with his soul, this ability helped Li Mo Shang massively in consolidating the experiences gained from observing the individual lives of the authors. This hourglass had formed after suffering for three times under the spiritual core's merciless torture, allowing Li Mo Shang to assimilate information over the course of an entire day, mitigating the excruciating experience.
When the blue-colored granules all transferred to the bottom, signifying that the assimilation into the soul had been completed, the knowledge was completely at Li Mo Shang's beckon. He could even imitate the authors' time-stakenly acquired innate auras and their train of thought, giving Su Yuan'er and Wang Xing a massive scare one morning when he woke up with a general's charisma.
Reversely, if Li Mo Shang summoned the <Hourglass of Eternity> without the intention of conducting a spiritual search, he could transmit information to the bottom container of which the granules of information would travel to the top to be decoded and comprehended by the spiritual core. When the granules returned to the lower layer, the information would be automatically assimilated into Li Mo Shang's soul, completing a cycle that gave Li Mo Shang a very vague hint on an amazing usage of spiritual qi.
Recently, Li Mo Shang had spent time each night to completely relax his mind due to fear of his psyche being distorted by the merging of countless domineering and individualistic personalities. Although he had faith in the spiritual core's abilities in retaining his sanity, he found causal reading to be a highly relaxing activity. Reading books while filtering out the authors' inner thoughts and analysis was a great enjoyment as he could delve in his imagination.
And so, the former cultivation-obsessed maniac Li Mo Shang had transformed into an avid lover of books, particularly romance novels.
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It was the last day before the fall break for students; the enthusiastic mood of the students could not have been higher ever since the beginning of the term. Even the homeroom professor, Wan Xue, seemed relatively happy, her denser smiles with emotions causing both the young males and females to gape in infatuation. During her lectures, Li Mo Shang found it much easier to lower his head towards his notes, jotting down relevant components of the lecture to hand to Li Zhen Yue later, while simultaneously slowly consolidating the previous days' spoils.
Halfway into the lecture, when Wan Xue had concluded her speech on the defects of combustion-based energy sources, Li Mo Shang's head suddenly but quietly perked up, his mind brimming with elation. The consolidation of <Metalworking> had just completed, and Li Mo Shang now held the confidence of constructing a proper sword from spiritual qi. The only remaining requirement was continuous practice until he could subconsciously form the sword, as the authors in the <Metalworking> catalogue were not cultivators.
Shaking his head at Li Zhen Yue's inquisitive look and returning an evasive and noncommittal reply, Li Mo Shang lowered his head once more, beginning to take notes like a proper student. Neither of them noticed that Wan Xue had her attention on Li Mo Shang's behavior the entire time. She had been secretly collecting experimental data for her recent psychology research on the origin of affection by satiating the young males' lust for beauty, and now held enough data to make a well defendable conjecture. Only Li Mo Shang had been the outlier in this subtle experiment, thus piquing her interest.
When Wan Xue announced the conclusion of the lecture, the auditorium immediately burst into a fervor as the students began to release their pent-up emotions of reuniting with their parents, lover, and enjoying a week off of school. Right before anyone could step out of the door, a young male rushed before Wan Xue, his body flushed red as he gave an energetic bow before the bewildered Wan Xue as he offered a pair of earrings with a stammer.
"Uh…Professor Wan, S-senior Huo s-s-sent me to g-gift this to y-you. He said-said that you would like-like it, and to consider his p-proposal!"
After dumping the gift into Wan Xue's hands, the male shakily bowed extremely quickly before fleeing as if his life depended on it. The rest of the class adopted an amused expression as they gazed at Wan Xue, who shrugged before casually placing the earrings onto the podium. Just then, someone walked in, and the originally talkative entire class fell silent.
A handsome young man in his twenties gracefully strode in, followed by the trembling young male who had served as the gifting middleman. With silver hair, tall stature, luxury clothes from Royal Feather, and perfect looks, the man casually captured most of the girls' attention, causing their boyfriends to glare at him, but do nothing more. Just then, the male stopped before Wan Xue, giving a short bow.
"Mrs. Wan, how did you like my gift? Was it appealing to your tastes? This Huo had spent a few hours deciding the best earring for you, I hope you accept it."
"Huo Siyan, I believe I have told you many times already. We do not even know each other, so why do you pester me so?" Wan Xue replied indifferently, yet Li Mo Shang could faintly sense apprehension and fear within her eyes. Huo Siyan could notice it as well, for he broke into a wide smile.
"Mrs. Wan, how could you say such a thing? Our parents have agreed to a conjugal engagement, how could we be like strangers to each other? Shouldn't we be more like family?"
Wan Xue paled, her expression becoming frigid as she coldly remarked, "If I remember, did you not force my parents at gunpoint before getting your desired engagement with my sister? When did it change to me?" The students burst into whispers and suppressed murmurs. The goddess Professor Wan, had such a story?
"All is fair in the game of love, Mrs. Wan. Aren't you very lucky, to be engaged to this Huo, the fourth royal prince in Bei Yan Long? Please believe me in that I fell in love with you at first sight."
Huo Siyan's words brought forth another uproar in the auditorium, causing even Li Mo Shang to raise his head in interest. He was from the northern neighboring country Bei Yan Long, and even a part of its royal family? If so, then this event would end in a very interesting fashion.
Bei Yan Long was several times larger than Nan Qing regarding territory expansion but could not compared to Nan Qing's technological and medical advancement, leading to a decisive cease-fire agreement a decade ago following several bloody wars. Since then, both Nan Qing and Bei Yan Long had sent members of its royal family into the others' academies, as a public method of making peace and deepening relations. Huo Siyan was one example.
At twenty-four years of age, Huo Siyan had several military accomplishments, known as one of Bei Yan Long's greatest commanders. Sent to Blue Rose Academy six years ago as part of the exchange with Nan Qing, Huo Siyan had quickly become a famous and influential figure in the university's graduate students. With a ruthless attitude and deep desire for knowledge, he had quickly gained wholehearted approval from his teachers as a student, becoming one of the youngest administrative elders in the university.
While thinking that the clash between Wan Xue and Huo Siyan would end ugly, Li Mo Shang signaled for Li Zhen Yue to leave right now. Motioning to her to get closer, he whispered into her ear while continuing to pack up his bags silently. Slightly interested towards the drama and confused as to why Li Mo Shang wanted to leave, she tilted her head, bewildered.
"His expression is getting scary. If we don't leave now, he may do something and cause security to come and apply silencing protocols."
Li Zhen Yue started, before swiftly nodding and silently altering her friends to depart as well. There was indeed a silencing protocol in the Blue Rose University guidelines. If a higher-society member caused an accident at Blue Rose University, the observers would have to undergo a lengthy procedure of bribes and threatens to ensure the silence of the accident. Of course, any affected parties would receive due compensation by the university, but Li Mo Shang felt that staying to watch the drama of Wan Xue and Huo Siyan was not worth getting threatened.
Just as soon as Li Mo Shang's group had reached the door, Huo Siyan suddenly sensed something and his expression distorted as he whirled around in the direction of Li Mo Shang, before remarking with an ice-cold voice.
"My dear friends, where do you think you're going? Did I let you leave?"
