Shout-out to TheForgottenKing for joining my patron and supporting me! Thanks a lot!!

***

Ye Sheng had all the authority to recruit teachers in his own hands. Thus, to increase his contribution to the Snow Wind Family, he decided to bring Ye Shou in on the authority of selecting the recruits. This way, Ye Sheng could remain within Ye Shou's recent recollections and thus, forge a relationship with one of the elders of the family.

"You cannot expect us to believe that—" Ye Sheng began with a frown as Nik frowned and spoke up, "I am not asking for remuneration. I need a place to stay, this Institute will be my residence. And, I will be the one to decide who is talented enough to digest my techniques and philosophy. 

I do not want to discriminate against anyone," Nik spoke somberly while knowing for a fact that he will discriminate against males and continued, "That is to say, even the kids from the Gin Family won't receive any special treatment from me.

Most of all," Nik picked the parchments that described the Holy Orchid Institute's Lesson Plans in detail, "I need to be the one to form my the annual examination regarding the Combat Arts and expel any student I deem unfit."

"This!" Ye Sheng frowned. This was one authority that he wouldn't grant to anyone else.

"We can't give you the right to expel. But I can agree to other conditions."

"Alright."

Nik's expression morphed from frustration into calmness and nodded. He had no need to expel anyone. Why would he? It isn't like he has some personal vendetta against a bunch of kids. The only reason he added that condition was to raise the cost of his recruitment so high that Ye Sheng would have to reduce it. This was a simple tactic, really. But Nik thought that being simple was the way to roll in this world.

Nik's sudden agreement cut further chances to reduce his demands and Ye Sheng finally nodded before pulling up a contract. Each contract was under the subject of Saint Judgement Hall. The contract was looked authentic enough and Nik thought for a moment before picking the quill and writing in the same language of this world.

"All right, then. I will be working here from now on, so, please take care of me."

Nik stood up and bent his waist slightly. Turning on his heels, Nik abruptly departed.

"Where are you going? Your room is on the teacher's block!"

Ye Sheng called out hurriedly while Nik turned his head and smiled.

"I am going to explore the institute. I will return after having my food."

Ye Sheng nodded and took three things out of his spatial ring.

"Take these," He handed him a spatial ring, a badge, and a purple card, "The spatial ring and the Demon Spirit Card is given to each teacher. This is your identity badge. Once the classes start, only the teachers with badges are allowed within the faculty."

Nik nodded and equipped the ring on his pinky finger... with how thick his fingers had grown, his pinky finger could easily put a young guy's middle finger to shame. Of course, Nik would still respect the ancient traditions and would only use his middle finger to— give the finger— when necessary.

The use of the Spatial Ring was easy. He just had to mobilize his system energy, or, as a matter of fact, any form of energy made him able to access his Spatial Ring to store or withdraw items.

Leaving the Teacher's block, Nik spared a single glance towards the training field that was held for the teacher's recruitment. The two training fields flanking the teacher's block were only accessible to teachers. There, the teachers of the institute could spar against each other and even exchange techniques that they wished to teach their students. Needless to say, tomorrow, Nik would have to demonstrate many techniques in one of these two training fields so that the Institute could finally push his techniques into their lesson plans. The back of the teacher's black was another inaccessible garden hosting some rare plants that are ordinarily unavailable. The backyard was designed with the intent to soothe the teacher's spirits and inspire them. In front of Nik was the main gate through which he entered the faculty.

He already had a rudimentary understanding of the Holy Orchid Institute. This place had a size befitting a small town with only five locations constructed far away from each other. To the left of the teacher's block was the Student's Block that held apprentice, intermediary, and senior classes. Meanwhile, to his right, a few kilometers would be the genius block filled with talents that could surpass most of the teachers in this school. The only reason that these teachers were the way they are was due to the Principal. Holding onto the thought that knowledge and skill surpass power, this hegemony of a principal boasted strength that rivaled the heads of the High Nobles. Of course, Nik now knew that he was also a pervert befitting Nik's acquaintance.

Nik's destination was neither the Student's Block or the Genius Block. He took a left turn and followed the pavement towards the north end of the Holy Orchid Institute and finally, after a half-an-hour of casual jogging, he reached the Library. Unlike the traditional buildings that the three blocks were constructed into, the Library was constructed in the shape of a tower. Its base was wide and the higher it went, the narrower the tower got. A youth guarded the entrance. Since the institute was barely populated, nobody came for the Library. Nik's appearance did put the youth in a tense position.

Before the youth could act on his misunderstandings, Nik took out his badge and waved it in front of him, "I am the new teacher. I want to read some stuff."

The youth looked at the badge for a whole minute and only let Nik in after finding nothing strange with it.

It was Nik's understanding that most of the collections in the library were excavated from ancient sights and the language inscribed on the parchments were unidentifiable. But there was one thing Nik couldn't understand. The power system of this world was fairly simple yet extraordinary. Kill Spirit beasts highly compatible with your own spirit and then absorb the spirit ring that emerges from spirit beast to gain a unique quality known as— Spirit Technique.

So, why would the institute value the ancient parchments highly and why would they go to such lengths to protect them? 

The answer came in the form of strange markings.

Not one, not two, but most of the unidentifiable scripts held strange runes and markings that are defined as inscription by the current language of this world. In essence, Inscriptions were patterns or charts that drew spiritual energy to achieve special changes to reality. They were like a program.

Feeling too hot? Draw a coolant inscription pattern and inject your spiritual energy within to change the temperature of your surroundings. The degree of change and the affected area is determined by the inscription pattern and the amount of spiritual energy injected.

That is to say, the higher the quality of the inscription, the lower the amount of spiritual energy needed to achieve the intended effect.

Nik placed the book into the shelf. 

It was useless.

Once again, Nik found himself uninterested in the art of drawing patterns... writing down codes and creating programs sounded much more enticing than this.

Exhaling deeply, Nik climbed up the stairs. The lower level was filled with articles describing inscription patterns. The first floor, however, held detailed records on the spirit beasts and plants that are known to produce spirit rings. Since Nik could power up his spirits using unconventional means due to the limit placed by his rank, Nik needed to know the strange creatures out there in the Star Dou Forest.

The rest of the afternoon was spent reading on the detailed records and observing the images of the spirit beasts on the parchments with unreadable languages. To keep himself from starving, Nik decided to tap into his refilled stash and continued going through the myriad records.

***

"Ray'er! Look!"

Ye Hing smiled cheerfully while Ray had an urge to spit. He had already made sure that Ye Hing would ever call him with the names darling or sweetie when in the mood for some fluff but never add 'er' to his name. Alas, within the City Lord's Courtyard, Ye Hong had to keep up with the pretenses.

Dressed in a green set of clothes, Ray turned her head and matched Ye Hong's gaze. 

Ye Hong presented a clip.

Ray could only roll his eyes.

"Hello, elder cousin."

The girl beside Ray spoke up softly. Her long purple hair matched Ye Hong's while her cute face turned, too. A soft blush crept up her cheeks when she saw the clip and put two and two together. But she spoke nothing and stood up. 

"I- I should be going."

The girl averted her eyes and then mentioned Ray.

"I will also come later. We will go out and eat... I know a good place."

Saying that, the girl left hurriedly.

"So? What do you think of Yun'er?"

Ye Hong asked while Ray shrugged.

"She is a talent. What else do I need to think? Anyway, it is hard for me to keep my gender a secret here..."

Ray mumbled before looking at Ye Hong, "The kids here can get married early, right?"