Evening.
When Guan Tong arrived at Shi Jingyi's courtyard, the holes in the walls had already been repaired.
The two ate a simple meal together, then got down to business.
"Initially, I was planning to refuse." Speaking of succeeding to the Dean position, Shi Jingyi said.
"Because there isn't enough time, right?"
"Yeah. Outside of class hours, I need time to improve myself. Especially now that I've obtained the Chaos Return to Origin Authority, I've inherited a great deal of martial arts from the Heavenly Martial Civilization. Mastering them thoroughly will require a lot of practice time."
"Then after you become Dean, your time..."
"After discussing it with the official personnel and the other teachers, the result is that once I take over as Dean, I'll stop teaching." Shi Jingyi said.
So that's how it was.
Guan Tong had vaguely guessed this when he received the news at noon, and only now hearing it directly from Shi Jingyi did he confirm it.
Seeing the "just as I thought" expression on Guan Tong's face, Shi Jingyi asked, "Xiao Tong, did you guess that?"
"Yeah." Guan Tong nodded. "The academy Dean might not have as many duties as a school principal in peacetime, but there are certainly plenty of administrative affairs to handle. If you had to teach classes on top of all that, when would you ever have time to cultivate?"
"Exactly. The proposal to stop teaching came from the official personnel. I was quite surprised at first, but the reasoning they gave was something I found convincing."
"Oh? What did the official personnel say?"
"The official personnel believe that the content and completeness of my three years of teaching and Q&A sessions have been sufficient to compile into a complete 'standard curriculum.' For current and future students, self-studying through this curriculum or having other teachers instruct from it would be enough to get started.
Deeper learning requires higher talent, and the vast majority of students won't reach that level. So the official personnel suggested that if a truly exceptional student appears, I can personally guide them then. Ordinary students will do just fine with the standard curriculum."
Guan Tong listened and felt the official personnel's reasoning made a lot of sense.
The introductory content that needed to be taught, Shi Jingyi had already taught it all. Talented students didn't even need to attend classes—they could get started just by watching the online course recordings.
He himself was a prime example. Back on Mingdao Mountain, he had learned Mind Power flow from watching online courses. As for the deeper Mind Power Martial Arts that came later, he had given up on them due to insufficient talent.
Under these circumstances, Shi Jingyi continuing to teach generation after generation didn't hold much meaning.
It was like teachers in middle schools during peacetime, taking on a new cohort of students every three years. Apart from occasionally updating a few knowledge points, the teaching content was largely the same.
Some exam papers even got passed down through three cohorts—a common sight in middle schools.
This kind of teaching was, in fact, wasting Shi Jingyi's time. A powerhouse like her spending massive amounts of time every day teaching repetitive content was simply not worth it.
Never mind what she herself thought—the official personnel proposed this suggestion because they felt they were the ones at a loss.
The official personnel believed that Shi Jingyi belonged to the official system. The stronger she became, the more benefits it would bring them in the future.
That being the case, seeing her time not being utilized efficiently naturally made them anxious.
Coincidentally, with Zhou Qinfeng's downfall and the Dean position now vacant, why not take this opportunity to have Shi Jingyi become Dean while stopping her teaching, freeing up large amounts of time for her to improve herself?
And Shi Jingyi herself had actually been thinking along the same lines.
After obtaining the Authority, she couldn't wait to master the martial arts inherited from the Heavenly Martial Civilization, to use the Authority's power to convert energy and strengthen her physical body, and ultimately to step into the starry void with her flesh-and-blood body.
Compared to that longing, the appeal of being a teacher instructing students had naturally plummeted. There was simply no comparison.
Moreover, she had told Guan Tong before that one of the reasons she initially agreed to join the academy as a teacher was that she felt it would keep loneliness at bay.
Now, with Guan Tong by her side, and with her pursuit of martial arts, she felt already happy and fulfilled. She no longer needed more emotional validation in her life.
These factors combined ultimately led her to make the decision to stop teaching.
That way, as Dean, she only needed to spare a small amount of time for administrative affairs. The rest of her time could all be devoted to cultivation—far more free time than when she was a teacher.
Afterward, the two moved on to discuss the Authority.
"Xiao Tong, look."
Shi Jingyi raised her right index finger. As she focused her concentration and activated the Authority's power, a mass of grayish, gaseous-yet-liquid-like substance materialized just a few millimeters above her fingertip.
"What is this?" Guan Tong asked, full of curiosity.
"Chaotic matter."
"The chaotic matter mentioned in your Authority, the kind that can be converted into energy using Mind Power?"
"Yeah." Shi Jingyi said. "This substance doesn't seem to be observable with the naked eye. The fact that you can see this grayish mass now is because I'm using the Authority to convert it and make it visible."
"Oh..."
Guan Tong looked at the strange gray substance, finding it utterly fascinating.
"Jingyi, is there a lot of this substance?"
"A whole lot. I feel like there's even more of it than air. When I activate the Authority's power and focus carefully, it feels like this substance is everywhere, throughout the entire universe."
A cosmic chaos that pervades the universe and can't be observed with the naked eye... Guan Tong furrowed his brows. "Somehow this feels like what scientists call 'dark matter.'"
"Dark matter? What's that?"
"I'm not entirely sure either. I just remember seeing it mentioned on a science popularization channel before. Some scientists say it could be the main component of the universe's matter. But it's invisible and can't be observed through conventional means. Its existence can only be inferred through celestial activity and certain anomalous gravitational phenomena."
Shi Jingyi thought for a moment, then said, "That's possible. There are too many things we humans don't know about, yet the Fire Thief seems to know everything. Perhaps the dark matter that humans speculate exists is what the universe calls 'chaos.'"
Guan Tong nodded. "If that's the case, then wouldn't you have an inexhaustible supply of energy to convert for strengthening your body?"
He added jokingly, "Who knows, maybe in the future your physical strength will be off the charts, and people will have to be careful just being near you, in case a handshake ends with them getting crushed."
Shi Jingyi smiled softly. "Power that can't be controlled isn't truly your own power. Besides, even if chaotic matter is inexhaustible, I can't just keep absorbing it endlessly. I need to purify it with Mind Power first."
"That's true."
Guan Tong remembered Shi Jingyi saying before that absorbing chaotic matter without purification, once it accumulated to a certain degree, would pollute source essence and attract the Demon Race.
This suddenly made him think of something. "Jingyi, since polluted source essence attracts the Demon Race, then working backwards from that—could the Demon Race be an existence that feeds on 'polluted source essence'?
I'm thinking, if the Demon Race is interested in source essence, then maybe the reason some civilizations that forged Authorities ended up dying out has something to do with the Demon Race too."
Shi Jingyi found this plausible. "Maybe you're exactly right, Xiao Tong. If one day we humans gain the ability to forge Authorities, we might also get targeted by the Demon Race... Xiao Tong, your source essence doesn't have any pollution risk, right?"
"It shouldn't, since strictly speaking, those few drops of source essence of mine are all from the Life-Hunting Demon's..."
Even as Guan Tong said this, he thought to himself that his Wordless Book's attraction to the Demon Race was probably stronger than any source essence.
In that case, he needed to be careful.
Back then, the Life-Hunting Demon had been restricted by the Gambling Space and couldn't forcefully seize it, so it could only try to win it through the Ancient Gamble.
But if he encountered other Demon Race members who weren't under such restrictions, and they learned of the Wordless Book's existence, Guan Tong would be in serious danger.
The two chatted for three or four hours, after which Guan Tong stayed overnight at her place for some warmth and intimacy.
The next morning, he didn't immediately leave Pinglu. Instead, he contacted Silver Fox, hoping to meet and talk with her.
Silver Fox quickly replied, saying she'd obtained approval from her superiors.
The two met at the park where they used to gather when forming their temporary squad.
"You taking the initiative to meet up is quite a rarity." Silver Fox said as soon as she saw him. "Considering what happened last time, I feel like I should probably refuse."
Guan Tong knew she was still holding a grudge over the academy incident.
Back then, she had wanted to capture Zhou Qinfeng and bring him back to the base, only for Zhou Qinfeng to be killed right in front of her. That must have left a bitter taste in her mouth.
"If the last incident happened again, I'd still do the same thing." Guan Tong said frankly. "Silver Fox, if the person who got betrayed wasn't Shi Jingyi, but one of your close comrades in arms, maybe you'd understand how I felt."
"...Fine, fine. You're right."
Silver Fox spread her hands, showing no intention of arguing with him.
"I heard that Lecturer Jingyi—ah no, from now on I should call her 'Dean Shi,' right? I heard she's agreed to take over as Dean. She's going to be a big shot from now on."
"Her being Dean is far better than someone like Zhou Qinfeng." Guan Tong said. "At the very least, she won't shirk responsibility."
Back then, Fang Qian had left the academy because of the student murder incident. In reality, she had been made to take the fall for Zhou Qinfeng and the others, because her going to gather intelligence in the first place had been arranged by them.
At the time, Guan Tong was still working as a substitute teacher at the academy, and after that incident, his impression of Zhou Qinfeng had soured greatly. He felt that Zhou Qinfeng, as Dean, had made poor decisions and then refused to take responsibility himself, instead letting his subordinates bear the blame—utterly lacking in accountability.
"I'll agree with that." Silver Fox nodded. "Zhou Qinfeng was probably mentally twisted long before all this."
"By the way, how's Xiao Na doing? She hasn't been given a hard time since, has she?"
"I taught her what to say, and she managed to get through it by following my instructions." Silver Fox paused.
"Dr. Zhang might have noticed something, but in the end, he didn't report it. You should be aware that Dr. Zhang treasures every Ascendant he's nurtured."
Guan Tong nodded.
As the cultivator of Ascendants for the Countermeasures Research Office, Zhang Minglu indeed put his whole heart into every Ascendant he oversaw.
"But Guan Tong, if you truly care about Xiao Na's well-being, don't ask her to do things that harm the base's interests anymore. You should know that puts her in an impossible position, right?"
"...Yeah. I really didn't think it through this time."
Silver Fox gave him a few surprised looks, probably not expecting him to admit he was at fault.
"The reason I wanted to see you today isn't just about Xiao Na." Guan Tong continued. "Suroma might soon use Spatial Folding Doors to transport a war mech legion."
Silver Fox's eyes sharpened instantly, her expression turning gravely serious.
"Is the intelligence reliable? Where are the doors located?"
"The intelligence should be reliable. I don't know the specific locations of the doors. But I think if Suroma is mobilizing their mech legions, the only possible target is Beixing."
Moon Key had said that those prophecy paintings were things she had repeatedly predicted and verified, so the probability of them coming to pass should be quite high.
But where exactly the "doors" were located wasn't reflected in the prophecies.
"If they're planning a surprise attack on Beixing, the doors will definitely be positioned not far from the core cities... This intelligence is very important. Thanks. I'll report it immediately when I get back. The official personnel will definitely put the surrounding environments of several core cities under tight surveillance."