Zu An let his thoughts return to the arithmetic lesson he was going to give at the Sky class. This was the first time he was going to make an appearance as a teacher. Entering the class normally was not enough to highlight just how spectacular he was.

After racking his brain for ideas, Zu An’s eyes lit up. He made his way to the administrative building, but the staff members there informed him that Shang Liuyu wasn’t in the office, but in her residence. With a word of thanks, Zu An made his way to the staff housing area.

As he left, the staff members took turns to mock him.

“Yet another one who has gone bonkers over Teacher Shang, huh?”

“Teacher Shang’s charm is really on another level. Didn’t you see how even Discipline Master Lu tried to capture her attention?”

“Wait a moment, doesn’t Lu De already have a wife?”

“It’s a middle-aged man going through his second spring. Well, you get it.”

“It’s one thing for Discipline Master Lu to make a move, but now, even this little fellow wants to court Teacher Shang. He really should learn his place.”

“Why didn’t you tell him that Teacher Shang never allows anyone to enter her courtyard? His efforts would only end in vain.”

“Hah. A mere Yellow class student who managed to become a teacher by pulling some connections or some such. It would be good to make him suffer for a bit.”

… 

Oblivious to the jokes being made at his expense, Zu An rushed over to the staff housing area. Following the instructions of the staff, he managed to locate Shang Liuyu’s residence.

*

Tok tok tok

*

Zu An knocked on her door.

At the same time, he secretly took out his key token to give it a try, but the residence showed no signs of opening. Naturally, there was no way the academy would have made such an elementary mistake with how they set up the residences.

“Who is it?”

A lethargic voice sounded from the courtyard. It had a chilly edge that carried the impatience of its owner.

“Big sister Shang, it’s me!” replied Zu An.

Naturally, he wouldn’t call her Teacher Shang like others did. That would be too formal and distant!

“What do you need?” asked Shang Liuyu.

Zu An stared at the firmly closed door before him and wondered what she was trying to say. 

Won’t you at least open the door for me, given how close we are? 

Still, since he was the one with a favor to ask, he decided to answer honestly, “I have a melody which I need big sister Shang to help me play.”

There was a moment of silence in the courtyard before the door cracked open, followed by Shang Liuyu’s cool voice. “Come in.”

Without further thought, Zu An walked in. Shang Liuyu’s residence looked much more picturesque than his. There was even a pool in her courtyard, filled with clear water that glistened under the sunlight.

A private swimming pool? How extravagant! 

Zu An felt aggrieved by how differently he was treated compared to Shang Liuyu. Jiang Luofu needed to hear about this. The seven-and-a-half million taels of silver he had spent should surely get him more!

“You have come up with a new melody?” a gentle voice interrupted his thoughts.

Zu An turned around, and his eyes immediately lit up.

Shang Liuyu was dressed in a loose robe that revealed her collar bone. She was busy toweling off her wet hair, but there were still some water droplets trailing down her skin, as if she had just taken a bath. Her robe was the perfect length, exposing her beautiful, shapely legs. Her fingernails were painted a light shade of pink, which drew attention to her slender fingers. She casually flung her hair sideways before lying down on a rattan chair hanging beneath a tree. 

She eyed him casually and asked, “You didn’t come all the way here just to gawk at me, right?”

“Ah, of course not! I have a melody that I need you to play for me.” 

Zu An’s face actually turned red in her presence. When faced with an appraising stare from a man, most women would either get embarrassed or angry. However, Shang Liuyu’s seemed nonchalant, as if she was somehow beyond such mortal desires. Her indifferent attitude made Zu An feel embarrassed about himself instead.

“What is this melody?” asked Shang Liuyu.

A fair number of people had used this pretense to approach her. It was hardly a secret that she was fond of a good melody, but most of the ones suggested to her were hardly worth her interest. However, the melody Zu An had played in the gazebo had truly awed her, touching the deepest sentiments she had concealed in the bottom of her heart.

His melody was not of a form typically used in the world, but all music shared a common goal—it aimed to touch a person’s soul. His playing had filled her with curiosity and goodwill toward him. She couldn’t figure how someone as young as he was able to play such an emotional melody so beautifully.

“The name of this melody is called ‘God of Gamblers’!” 

Zu An had been thinking about how he could make a dramatic appearance, and his mind automatically turned to all of the cool entrances he had seen in films. After reviewing countless of these, he came to a conclusion. 

A dramatic entrance won’t fly without a solid BGM!

[1]

Unfortunately, this world didn’t have sound recorders, and there was no way he could play his own BGM while walking in—that would just look terribly awkward and underwhelming. He needed to find someone to play it for him. Of all the people he was acquainted with, the only one who could help him with this favor was Shang Liuyu.

Although, admittedly, it was also an excuse to find this beautiful teacher once more.

“‘God of Gamblers’?” Shang Liuyu had a peculiar look in her eyes. “That does seem to fit you quite nicely. How does the melody go?”

Clearly, she had also heard about how Zu An had won seven-and-a-half million taels of silver in the Silverhook Casino.

“Let me demonstrate it once first.” Zu An could remember roughly how the melody went, but humming it was a different matter. After all, the BGM he had heard in his previous world was not just a melody played on a single instrument, but consisted of multiple instruments carefully synthesized together.

Shang Liuyu showed little interest initially. However, as soon as Zu An began humming the melody, she sat upright and listened intently.

After Zu An finished, he looked at her with an anxious expression. “How was it?”

Shang Liuyu let out the breath she was holding. “This melody harnesses some sort of magic that compels one’s heart to race passionately. I felt shivers just hearing it. It sounds a little like the war songs of the beastmen, although not quite the same. How did you come up with something like that?”

“Ahahaha, that’s not important right now. I want to know if you’re able to play it out in full,” asked Zu An anxiously.

He hadn’t been worried about Shang Liuyu’s reaction to the tune. After all, its popularity had already been tested in his previous life. He was more concerned about her ability to emulate it properly.

“This melody is a little weird. Let me give it a try. Can you hum it once more for me?” Shang Liuyu pulled out an unusual instrument from her residence that looked a little like a harp. It was made of a material that glistened slightly like jade, and emanated a faint blue light.

Shang Liuyu’s graceful fingers strummed the strings on the instrument, producing a sound that was very different from that of a harp. The range of the instrument seemed to be far wider, and it could produce sounds that the instruments in his previous life couldn’t.

Shang Liuyu thought about the melody she had just heard as her fingers began moving across the ‘harp’. Now and then, she turned to Zu An to clarify certain parts of the tune that she was uncertain about. Slowly but surely, the ‘God of Gamblers’ BGM was recreated in the world of cultivation.

“Why do you suddenly need me to play this melody?” Shang Liuyu asked out of curiosity. Now that the melody was nearing completion, she had slowly begun to relax. 

Zu An replied, “I’m going to use it for my own background music…” 

He began to explain how he was going to conduct an arithmetic lesson in the Sky class later on.

Shang Liuyu chuckled at his response. “You sure are putting in a lot of effort in order to change Chu First Miss’ impression of you.”

“It’s not just for her. This is my first time taking a class as a teacher, which makes my entrance even more important. Ah, right, do you think I should put on some make-up? Do you think putting on a pair of glasses would make me look more mature?”

Before Shang Liuyu could answer, a young woman’s voice interrupted her. “I knew it! Shang Liuyu, you’re hiding over here!”

The voice had a clear and melodious quality to it, but the tone was uncomfortably oppressive.

Zu An turned to look. A woman dressed in red stood by the door to the courtyard, which he had forgotten to close earlier. An ostentatious pearl necklace hung around her neck, highlighting her smooth complexion, and a jade bracelet was wrapped around her wrist. 

A quick glance told him that all of the accessories the woman wore were expensive.

“Isn’t this woman afraid of getting robbed, flaunting her wealth openly like this?” murmured Zu An under his breath. 

Even though the woman was dressed rather extravagantly, she didn’t give off the crass air of a nouveau riche. Although, if he were honest, it could just be her beautiful appearance that swayed his opinion.

“Who are you?” Shang Liuyu looked uncertainly at the woman standing by the doorway.

That woman’s rage intensified. “Shang Liuyu, don’t you know me?! I took one of your classes before!”

Shang Liuyu replied calmly, “I don’t go through the trouble of remembering each and every one of my students’ names.”

Her composed disposition seemed to curb the woman’s fiery temper and left her with no room to further act up.

A man walked up and introduced the woman, “This is the First Miss of the Sunspring Duke’s Wu clan, Wu Qing.”

Another man entered on the heels of the first and added, “She’s ranked fifth on the Sweetheart Ranking. Teacher Shang, how could you not have heard of someone as famous as her?”

“Fuck, Wu Qing?” exclaimed Zu An. He had never imagined that anyone would have such a weird name.

[2]

The trio whipped their heads toward him in unison. Wu Qing’s visage took on a terrifying aspect. “What did you just say?” 

You have successfully trolled Wu Qing for 233 Rage points!

Zu An belatedly realized what he had just said, and quickly clarified, “No no, I mean it as an exclamation. I didn't mean that I want to fuck you or anything… Gah! Anyway, it’s not what you’re thinking!”

He regretted his explanation immediately. It was only making things worse.

“How dare you use such vile words to take advantage of Miss Wu!” The two lackeys beside the woman wore incredulous looks as they berated Zu An.

“State your name! I would like to see which clan you are from, for you to dare to act so insolently!” Wu Qing’s face remained livid, as if a volcano on the verge of erupting.