Rong Yuan said he wanted to talk to Gu Lingzhi regarding the entry procedures, but all he did was explain the structure of the Royal School to her.

From what he had told her, Gu Lingzhi learned that the entire Royal School was divided into three sections. Each section catered to different levels of Martial Artists - Martial Students, Martial Pract.i.tioners and Martial Teachers.

In other schools, one could graduate as long as their cultivation had reached that of a Martial Pract.i.tioner. In some smaller areas, if one had the cultivation of a Martial Teacher, they would already be considered an expert.

But in the Royal School, a Martial Teacher was still considered a student. Only those that broke through to the lowest grade of a Martial Teacher rank would be qualified to receive the graduation certificate and an honorable award from the school.

“According to what Your Highness has said, one can graduate after advancing to become a Martial Teacher. Why then is there still a section in the school for Martial Teachers?” Gu Lingzhi asked, slightly confused.

Rong Yuan smiled mysteriously, “Do you know why the Royal School is known as the number one school in the entire Xia Kingdom?”

Wasn’t it because of the Royal Family?

Seemingly reading Gu Lingzhi’s mind, Rong Yuan wagged a finger in front of her, indicating that her thoughts were wrong.

“The reason why the Royal School has been able to be so outstanding in the past hundreds of years is not just because it has the backing of the Royal Family. It is also because the school possesses many Heaven Level technique books in its Hidden Library.”

“Heaven Level techniques?” Gu Lingzhi was surprised as the Royal School had exceeded her expectations.

Highly satisfied that he was able to surprise her, Rong Yuan smiled and continued, “The Royal School operates on a 15 years basis. As long as you don’t get expelled, you will be able to study there for 15 years, even if you are a Martial Teacher. In this time, if you are able to collect enough points, the entire collection in the Hidden Library is yours to read.”

“Including the Heaven Level techniques?”

“Including the Heaven Level techniques!”

Gu Lingzhi finally understood why so many people fought tooth and nail to enter the Royal School. There were less than 20 books of Heaven Level techniques that existed, yet the Royal School simply left them in the Hidden Library for the students to use. It was no wonder some Martial Teachers refused to graduate. 

Even though it had only taken a few hundred years to build the Xia Kingdom, it had already established a strong foundation. As the people became more powerful, so does the kingdom.

Gu Lingzhi could not help but become curious again.

“I heard that Your Highness was one of the fastest students to graduate, did you manage to earn enough points to learn the Heaven Level techniques?”

Rong Yuan gave her a half-hearted smile as he said, “Do you actually think that I would have to collect points like everyone else if I wanted to learn Heaven Level techniques?”

She realized that it was really naïve of her to ask this question.

The entire Royal School was managed by the Royal Family; if there were any highly valuable techniques, the Royal Family was sure to have access to them first.

While the two people chatted, the news of the highly-admired Third Prince personally inviting Gu Lingzhi to study at the Royal School spread like wildfire.

After hearing this news, other than Gu Lingzhi and Gu Rong, the happiest person in the Gu Clan was Cui Lian.

Once she thought of how she had pledged her loyalty to Gu Lingzhi and became her first confidant, Cui Lian became certain that the hards.h.i.+p that she had suffered was worth it. Gu Lingzhi would surely bring Cui Lian with her when she went to the Royal School to study. She would be just as popular as her mistress when Gu Lingzhi became successful in the future and she would no longer need to worry about having a chance to get back at Lin Yue-er.

Her hatred for Lin Yue-er had grown after being punished multiple times by her.

Nightfall.

Lin Yue-er and Gu Linglong were in Gu Rong’s study.

Gu Linglong held onto Gu Rong’s arm indignantly as she pleaded with him to put in a few good words for her in front of the Third Prince.

“Father, I don’t know what tricks Gu Lingzhi pulled in order for the Third Prince to be so bewitched by her. He even personally invited her to study at the Royal School. She only has the cultivation of a Level One Martial Student, she is not worthy at all! Father, you must talk to the Third Prince, I should be the one entering the Royal School instead.”

Lin Yue-er patted Gu Linglong’s head affectionately, feeling bad for her daughter. She then said, “That’s right, dear husband, our Linglong is already a Level Six Martial Student. Although she qualifies to take the entry examinations now, how could she not be better than Lingzhi? She may be talented in Alchemy now, but who knows how far she will progress? The Royal School is full of talents - for someone like her who has not seen the world, there is no way she will not feel extremely pressured. It would be a huge loss if she lost whatever spiritual energy she has right now.” 

Although she sounded like she had Gu Lingzhi’s best interests in mind, she was reminding Gu Rong how Gu Lingzhi was unreliable with every sentence.

Gu Rong frowned. It was not that he had never considered what Lin Yue-er said, but the talent that Gu Lingzhi demonstrated was indeed rare and extraordinary. If she could enter the Royal School to study, it could be the solution to the problem of having a lack of good Alchemists in the clan. Looking at Gu Linglong, he strengthened his resolve as he rejected her, “Linglong, it is not that Father doesn’t want to help you, but you have also seen the Third Prince’s att.i.tude today. It is obvious that he prefers your sister. Furthermore, since you are already a Level Six Martial Student, all the more you can partic.i.p.ate in the entry examinations this year, why do you need to fight with your sister for the position? When the time comes, both of you can study together, isn’t that great?”

“I don’t want to study with her!” Gu Linglong shouted unsatisfied, “She’s just a wastrel who’s cowardly and dumb, who knows if she would just cause me to lag behind? If she embarra.s.ses herself in school, wouldn’t that affect me as well?”

“How could you say that about your sister?” Gu Rong reprimanded, “No matter how much you dislike her, she is still your sister. If she really becomes successful in Alchemy, she will be an important member of our clan. As members of the Gu Clan, we should always think about what’s best for the clan whenever we do something. If you can’t differentiate between your private and public matters, how can you achieve anything in the future?”

“Father…” Gu Rong’s scolding caused Gu Linglong’s eyes to redden as she looked at him, feeling wronged. 

“That’s enough. Go back with your mother and reflect on what you did wrong. No daughter of mine should be so narrow-minded.”

Gu Rong then started to flip through the scrolls by his side.

Gu Linglong opened her mouth to say more but was stopped by Lin Yue-er, who shook her head firmly and pulled Gu Linglong’s sleeve, leading her out of the room.

“Mother, why won’t you let me plead with Father? Who knows, maybe if Father talks with the Third Prince, he’ll change his mind?” 

Lin Yue-er rubbed her head with her fingers and sighed, “Silly child, if it was so easy to persuade the Third Prince, don’t you think your father would’ve helped you already?”

“Ah, could it be that the Third Prince has taken a liking to that s.l.u.t?” Gu Linglong’s expression suddenly turned sinister, “To think that she pretended not to care about the Third Prince, who knew that it was because she had already seduced him. She’s a s.l.u.t just like her mother!”