Chapter 1981: Young Men Don’t Understand the Benefits of a Wealthy Woman  

Meanwhile, Zu An returned to Mount Yuquan. He first found Zheng Dan and saw that she was describing something at a table with Xie Daoyun. Zu An wasn’t in a rush to disturb them; instead, he leaned against the door and watched on quietly.

He had to admit that watching these two beautiful young ladies focused on research and learning was a delightful sight. Xie Daoyun had a scholarly air about her to begin with, while Zheng Dan normally had more of a warrior’s aura. But after studying here for some time, the latter also became more like a gentle and refined lady.

The two women finally noticed that something was off. When they saw that he was there, they asked reproachfully, “Why didn’t you say anything if you were here?”

“I was too embarrassed to disturb the two of you when I saw that you were so focused,” Zu An said, feeling a bit moved. Just then, when he had seen the two discuss things with each other like top students, he felt as if he had returned to the libraries of his previous world. Only, these two were far, far more beautiful than the bookworms from that world.

“I was asking big sister about something I didn’t understand regarding runes,” Zheng Dan said with a smile. “Senior sister really is beautiful and kind. After she explained it to me, a lot of things that I was confused about before were easily solved.”

“Junior sister is smart and talented. She'd learning about runes even more quickly than I did in the past,” Xie Daoyun said bashfully.

“Senior sister had to figure it out all by herself, but I can consult you for help. I’m merely standing on the shoulders of a giant,” Zheng Dan held her hand and said with sincere gratitude.

“The problems junior sister mentioned are things I’ve never thought about before either. Discussing them with you has also brought me a lot of benefits,” Xie Daoyun replied.

Zu An couldn't help but laugh when he saw these two thank each other back and forth. He said, “Alright, the two of you can stop flattering each other now. You’re both geniuses at runes, and you can help each other. You’re model students of the academy. We’ll publish your achievements in the academy’s journal in the future so that everyone can learn from you two.”

“No way!” the women blurted out at the same time. If that happened, they’d really die of embarrassment.

Zu An roared with laughter. He had been messing with these two to begin with. He took out the two communication jade strips and said, “These are for you two…”

When they heard his explanation and how to use it, the two women immediately fell in love with the item. They both wanted to say something to him, but they were worried about what the other would think.

“So it turns out big brother Zu was busy making this with martial uncle,” Xie Daoyun suddenly realized. She had tried to find him several times before, but she had never been able to meet him, making her a bit upset. Now that she found out that he was doing something so important, she immediately realized that she was the one who had behaved poorly.

Zheng Dan had actually focused on cultivation and couldn't be distracted by anything else. When she saw the jade strip however, she was suddenly really moved. She asked, “I can use this jade strip to chat with senior sister?”

Zu An was speechless. He replied, “You two cultivate here all day. Why do you need to use this to chat with each other?”

“There’ll be times when we aren’t together, right? I can’t bother senior sister every time I have a question either. With this jade strip, I can send her a question and she can help me whenever she has time. That way, it won’t disturb her cultivation as much,” Zheng Dan said. “Also, girls have a lot to talk about, you know?”

Xie Daoyun said with a smile, “That’s right. It seems we can chat back and forth using these jade strips, right?”Zu An was really helpless now and could only teach them how to add friends. At the same time, he warned them to not randomly add friends.

“Don’t worry, we definitely won’t add guys. We’ll just add some sisters to chat between us at most,” Zheng Dan said with a big smile. “Besides, other people don’t even have jade strips to add us, so what are you so worried about?”

Zu An thought to himself, That’s exactly what I’m worried about! If you all add each other as friends and talk about all sorts of things, I’ll be done for!

Unfortunately, he couldn't say such things to them and could only warn them, “This jade strip is extremely precious and there aren’t too many of them. You two absolutely can't show off with them. Otherwise, I’ll be in a tough spot if they find out…”

“They’re that precious? Then I don’t want it anymore. You can give it to someone who needs it more,” Xie Daoyun said, startled; she quickly returned the jade strip.

Zu An was speechless.

Zheng Dan giggled and said, “My silly senior sister, you're one of the people who need it. Of course he needs to give you one.”

Xie Daoyun’s face heated up, her heart beating quickly. She thought to herself, What is the meaning of this? Could it be that…

Zu An shoved the jade strip into her hand and said, “Little sister Ling’er, you should put it away. I might have to leave for a while. I’ll see if I can improve these jade strips to make them capable of long-distance communication in the future.”

Judging from the current situation, it seemed there would definitely be no way of chatting once he got too far away. However, as long as the messages weren’t lost, it would still be good to read the messages when he could.

“Where are you going?” Zheng Dan asked. Now, even she was becoming nervous.

“There's an important material that I need to personally collect, but I'm not sure of the exact process yet. I'll tell you guys when the time comes,” Zu An replied.

When they saw that he was talking about a serious matter, the women naturally couldn't say much else. Even though they wanted to go together with him, how could they say such thoughts out loud?

…

After chatting for a while longer, Zu An bade them goodbye and left. Soon after, there was some activity from his jade strip. When he took it out and gave it a look, he saw that it was from Zheng Dan.

“Should I help you get together with senior sister? From what I can tell, she seems to have quite the good impression toward you, you know?”

“Don’t mess with red strings of fate randomly and focus on your studies,” Zu An replied.

He wondered what kind of reaction she would have if she found out about their relationship. But compared to all of the major events that were happening one after another, he wasn’t in the mood to murmur endearments at all, and hadn’t struck while the iron was hot. Xie Daoyun even seemed to have a bit of a hidden grudge when she looked at him.“You really don’t want her?”

“I don’t.”

“Hm? You’re actually not interested in such a pretty girl? When did you change your personality so much? No wait, did you already get her in the bag a long time ago?”

Zu An was speechless.

“Stop saying random things, or else it might affect your relationship as fellow disciples under the same master. It’ll affect your cultivation.”

When Zheng Dan saw the last message, she swallowed the words she had been about to send to tease Zu An about Xie Daoyun. She quickly changed the topic.

…

Then, Zu An paid Sang Qien’s courtyard a visit. He kissed the baby in his arms until her face was covered in saliva and she cried out loudly. He himself couldn't help but laugh heartily at all of this.

Sagn Qien shot him a reproachful look as she picked up Sisi and tried to calm her down again.

Zu An walked over and hugged both mother and daughter; before leaving, he gave her one of the jade strips. Not long after he left, Sang Qien’s messages quickly appeared on the jade strip. They were basically all about their daughter Sisi.action

When he saw how careful she was being, Zu An felt a bit heartbroken. He hurriedly replied, “Little Qien, don’t just talk about Sisi. You can talk about some other things you want to talk about too.”

“What do I have to talk about?”

“You have a lot to talk about. For example, how are you studies in puppetry skills going? Also, are your breasts swollen again…”

“You’re so annoying!”

Back in that room, Sang Qien was looking at the jade strip with a completely reddened face. She carried her adorable daughter in her hands while saying softly, “Sisi, your father is a really gentle and considerate person…”

…

Meanwhile, Zu An was going to keep giving out the jade strips when he suddenly noticed activity from his recording mirror. He quickly returned to his own room. He took out a dozen or so heaven grade ki stones and placed them around the recording mirror, then connected the call.

Soon after, a charming and beautiful young madam appeared in the mirror. She was none other than the Second Empress, whom he had been separated from for a long time. She seemed to be in her own chambers. Even though she held the mirror so close to her face, her skin that was as beautiful as snow was still perfect without the slightest flaw. Rather, she only looked even more moving and stunning. She clearly dressed in a dignified and prestigious style, but her eyes still looked incredibly gentle and charming, her pink lips flickering with a captivating luster that made it difficult for others to fear her.

Zu An couldn't help but say with a sigh of amazement, “You really are beautiful!”

The Second Empress clearly grinned, but she said, “Tsk, you only know how to be a smooth talker. You never took the initiative to contact me all this time, and it was only after I received Nan Xun’s message that I contacted you.”

“It really isn’t that I don’t miss you, but rather that recently, too many things have happened one after another. Besides that, I used up too much time refining pills and artifacts, so I didn’t have any time to use the recording mirror…” Zu An explained with a sullen expression.

The Second Empress immediately sat up straight when she heard that. “I've heard that you're now a regent of the human race too. The human race actually put you in such dire straits? How ridiculous. Stop helping them and come over to the Fiend races already. I’ll help you take care of all of the artifact refining!”