The streetlights cast long shadows of the two people, with almost no gap between them.

It was almost midnight when Shen Qian led Ding Yi on the way to the dormitory. However, Shen Qian would occasionally turn his head and look at Ding Yi with great interest.

The two have known each other for three years, and Ding has blushed very few times.

But after coming down the hillside, Ding Yi remained blushing.

The more she was stared at, the redder her face became, as if she were trapped in some kind of unsolvable cycle.

Although her expression remained aloof, and her lips were tightly pursed in a somewhat unusual way, this contrast only made things more interesting.

"You...stop looking." Ding Yi couldn't help but say.

He coughed once before speaking, readily agreeing with the suggestion, and changed his behavior from openly watching to secretly watching.

Ding pinched Shen Qian, but silently endured Shen Qian's gaze. Perhaps feeling a little uncomfortable, Ding had to take the initiative to speak, trying to change the awkward atmosphere.

"Did Dean Cheng just agree to that?"

Dean Cheng refers to Wei Sijian's teacher, Cheng Shanhe, a master in the Chinese medical field and the vice dean of Beiwu Pharmacy College.

It's no wonder Ding Yi asked this question.

Beiwu is not some low-tier university, but a top-tier institution in China and one of only two owners of a six-star secret realm.

Let alone a formal lecturer, not just anyone can be a teaching assistant.

As far as Ding Yi knew, the starting threshold for teaching assistants at the school was high-level martial arts practitioners, and there were many of them at the Mountain and Sea realms.

Under these circumstances, it would still seem like a pipe dream for a student who had just graduated from high school, even with the title of national martial arts champion, to directly become a lecturer at Beijing Martial Arts University.

The School of Pharmacy is particularly unique, where martial arts skills are not important; the level of alchemy is fundamental.

However, it was precisely the unique nature of the School of Pharmacy that made it possible for Wei Sijian to make this happen.

"I'm not quite sure how Lao Wei persuaded Dean Cheng. I guess he probably threatened to kill himself."

Shen Qian shook his head, "But Dean Cheng didn't actually agree completely."

"What do you mean?" Ding Yi asked, puzzled.

“This is Beiwu, after all. Dean Cheng can’t make the decisions all by himself.”

Shen Qian shrugged. "So I still have to pass a test, or rather, prove myself to the school's higher-ups."

"Two days from now, I will be holding a public lecture at the Beiwu Pharmacy Academy. If the effect is not good or if the lecture does not demonstrate real knowledge, then this matter will be canceled."

"After all, the letter of appointment was actually missing the seal of the Beiwu Academic Affairs Office."

"Will that cause a problem?" Ding Yi couldn't help but ask.

"Then... there must be none."

Shen Qian chuckled and said, "To become your teacher, I have to do it even if I don't want to."

Ding Yi didn't say anything, but her ears turned red again.

When the two reached the dormitory building, they hugged each other gently to say goodbye. Ding Yi suddenly whispered in Shen Qian's ear, "Then good luck...Teacher Shen."

After saying that, Ding Yi lowered his head and staggered away, leaving Shen Qian standing there dumbfounded. After a while, as if he had thought of something, a strange smile gradually appeared on his face.

...

With all classes suspended during the holiday, the Beiwu campus, which should have been relatively quiet, became bustling again because of a piece of news that came from an unknown source.

This afternoon, the School of Pharmacy will be holding an open class.

Beiwu offers a plethora of lectures and training sessions, so such news wouldn't normally be surprising. Initially, it was just a notice posted in the corner of the official website.

Until a very small number of students interested in alchemy clicked on the details.

Then, the key information was extracted from those few short lines of text.

First of all, this is an experimental lesson.

The so-called trial class is the first class taught by a new teacher.

That's quite normal, but what's not normal is the identity of this new lecturer.

The personal introduction of this new teacher named Shen Qian posted above is very brief, consisting of only two lines.

One of them is a "senior alchemy scholar".

To be honest, these seven words seem rather weak.

The students weren't stupid; generally speaking, only people without any titles or honors would describe it that way.

Normally, one would just click the "X" after seeing this, but the next line of text made everyone who saw the announcement pause in surprise.

"The top martial arts champion in the country in 2297, and the top civil scholar in the first province in Southwest China."

When the news was posted on the campus forum, it caused an uproar.

There was shock, but even more so, bewilderment.

The national martial arts champion is certainly impressive.

A very small number of people may be dismissive, but for most people, acknowledging the excellence of others is not a psychological burden, especially when the gap is large enough.

As the top scholar, entering Beiwu University would have been no problem for him, but he was appointed as a teacher, not a student!

This was something that was hard for everyone to accept.

The forum was filled with condemnation; everyone thought Bei Wu had gone mad to do such a thing.

Although they were all cultured people and didn't use vulgar language, their words were even more sharp.

"The reputation of Beiwu for two hundred years has been used by you gentlemen to fawn over a mere top scholar."

"Are you sure this isn't a website that's been hacked?"

"I glanced at the date, but today isn't April 1st."

"If I remember correctly, alchemy wasn't a subject in the college entrance exam, so what if you're the top scorer!"

"I second that! I strongly oppose the freshman beauty of Beiwu University getting together with Shen Qian!"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!