In Sumeru, pretend to be a scholar

"Long time no see, Boss Dolly. Looks like you made a good profit on this trip," Wang Yan replied.

Dolly laughed even more heartily: "Haha, just a little bit, I only made a little bit."

Judging from the curve of the corners of his mouth, it's not just a little bit, but a billion bits.

"Haha, your rooms have been arranged, but the conditions aren't great, so please don't mind." Dolly changed the subject and led the group to the cabin.

It's true that the conditions are bad.

Because of Dolly's needs, the main purpose of the spaceship is to carry cargo, and several people live in one room.

The single rooms that are reserved will naturally not be large.

There's only the space for one bed.

However, Kavi and Elhesen had obviously already experienced it, so they didn't say much, simply put down their luggage, and left the cabin to go to the deck.

Although it was a spaceship, there seemed to be some kind of rune array protecting the deck, and there was no strong wind as expected; instead, there was a gentle breeze.

"Is this also a technique of the Mysterious Theory School?" Wang Yan asked Kavi with some curiosity.

Kavi shook his head: "To be precise, it should be considered Liyue's technology. Have you been to the Jade Pavilion?"

“No, that’s a place only important people can go up to.” Wang Yan shook his head.

In the game, he jumps off the Qunyu Pavilion every now and then, but I have never actually seen him do it in real life.

“This is a technique from the Qunyu Pavilion that can stabilize the surrounding airflow and avoid strong convective winds at high altitudes,” Kavi explained. “But it’s not plagiarism; we paid the patent fees.”

"The Order of the Liyue still needs to adopt Liyue's technology?" Wang Yan asked, somewhat surprised. "Doesn't the Order of the Liyue have anything similar?"

“Liyue will also use the Academy’s technology.” Kavi was a little confused as to why Wang Yan was surprised. “We have technology that can form a shield on the airship to block the airflow, but after evaluation, we found that the energy consumption of this technology is far higher than that of the Jade Pavilion’s airflow stabilization technology, so naturally we will choose Liyue’s technology.”

"Okay, then what other technologies don't belong to the Order of the Order?"

“Hmm…and the keel of the spaceship is modeled after the design of the Maple Tree.” Kavi thought for a moment and said, “It’s not exactly a complete copy, because the energy source of the Maple Tree is completely different from ours, so it has been improved.”

Kavi probably felt it was inappropriate to talk about his own school of thought like that, so he added, "However, compared to the unstable desolate energy of Maple Leaf, our spaceship is much more stable and won't suddenly explode in the desolate energy while we're sailing."

"Hmph, I think the most convenient thing is to use elemental power. You can go anywhere, unlike the autonomous mechanisms of Fengdan, some of which don't work well outside of Fengdan."

Dolly appeared beside the two of them at some point, and when she heard Kavi talking about the energy of the desolate wilderness, she chimed in.

"It seems there's a story behind Old Man Sangge Mahabayi?" Wang Yan asked with a smile.

Dolly immediately looked indignant: "Someone smuggled a batch of self-regulatory agencies out of Fengdan before, but it turned out they were all powered by Manghuang energy. They collapsed after arriving in Sumeru. I contacted them, and they actually wanted to sell me Manghuang energy blocks! When have we ever been taken advantage of like this before!"

"We dismantled all these self-regulatory agencies, then sold them to those scholars of the 'Wonderful Theory' school, making a small profit. We even sent someone to Fengdan to report those smugglers..."

As she spoke, her expression suddenly froze, as she remembered that there seemed to be a true scholar of the "Wonderful Theory" beside her.

Kavi glanced at Dolly, not angry, but looked at Wang Yan who was smiling: "Don't laugh. The materials for the crossbow I bought for you before were also bought from her. If I were to rip her off, I would have ripped off you too."

Wang Yan's smile faltered, and he looked at Dolly with a deep gaze.

Dolly was a little embarrassed; how could she have spoken so quickly!

"Haha, you two are already my partners. From now on, if you need any materials, I'll definitely give you a discount, a 20% discount!"

Wang Yan looked at her and said, "It's not like they'll raise the price first and then offer a discount, is it?"

"Hey! How come you... cough cough, of course not, of course not, it was on sale at full price!" Dolly looked like she'd been found out, but she tried to remain calm.

Wang Yan smiled, didn't delve any further, and changed the subject, asking, "How long will it take to get back to Sumeru City?"

"The goods have been purchased. We're on the way back without stopping. As long as there's no extreme weather, it should arrive in about three days," Dolly replied with a sigh of relief.

Wang Yan: "That's pretty fast."

It took a whole month to get here, but it only took three days to get back.

The difference between land and air transportation is so vast that it is astonishing.

Spaceships are really great. When I have money in the future, I will definitely buy one as a research vessel and go wherever I want.

Presumably fearing that Wang Yan would bring up the discount issue again, Dolly left quickly.

The group lost interest in chatting and found a spot on the deck to read their own books.

Wang Yan even took out a bunch of notes and started racking his brains.

"How should I write this paper?"

……

Have a safe trip.

Three days later, at dawn, the spaceship slowly landed outside Sumeru City.

Lushan, looking dazed, led the listless Wang Yan off the ship, followed by Kavi and Elhesen.

As it turns out, even with the blessings of angels, one can become exhausted when faced with something like a thesis.

Fortunately, with the help of Kavi and Elhesen, Wang Yan completed his first epistemological paper, "A Preliminary Exploration of the Symbolic System in the Reliefs of the Temple of Flora—Focusing on the Symbol of 'Lily of the Sand'".

After dozens of revisions, the paper finally passed through Erosson's hands.

Upon returning to the Chancellery, it must be submitted to the Shravasti Academy. After the renowned scholars of the school have reviewed and approved it, it can be published in the Chancellery's publications.

Once it is officially published, Wang Yan will have a formal paper.

"Rest today, come to my house tomorrow," Eros said, giving Wang Yan the day off, and then left on her own, walking quite quickly.

Wang Yan looked at his two friends beside him: "A tavern?"

“Okay!” Kavi nodded immediately.

Elhesen naturally wouldn't refuse; after returning from the desert, who wouldn't want to have a good drink?

After saying goodbye to Dolly, the three headed to Lambad Tavern.

It wasn't the weekend, and the scholars were still in the Academy of Educational Affairs, so there weren't many scholars in the tavern, but there were quite a few foreign merchants and mercenaries.

The three were received by Erfan, the night shift waiter at the tavern.

Wang Yan asked curiously, "Qishan quit?"

“How could that be? She also passed the entrance exam for the Order Academy and officially began studying at the Mysticism School. I’m covering for her day shifts for a few days,” Elfan replied. “She’s going back to Liyue in a few days, so she’s catching up on her studies these days.”

"Hmm? The School of Wondrous Theories, then she's become your junior sister." Wang Yan said to Kavi with a smile.

Kavi shook his head: "I was busy with the spaceship project before, and after I finished, I went to the desert. I didn't pay much attention to the new members of the school."

After saying that, Kavi's eyes darted around, and he smiled and said, "However, to celebrate Qishan's birthday, Elfan, serve up the best wine and food."

"Alright, please wait a moment, you three." Elfan smiled and responded in agreement.

After he left, the three of them sat down and started chatting about this and that.

Suddenly, Elhesen looked at Wang Yan: "By the way, Wang Yan, are you going back to Liyue?"

"Huh? Why do you ask that?" Wang Yan was taken aback.

“Because the Lantern Festival is coming up, isn’t it in the middle of next month? Elfan just mentioned it.” Kavi said matter-of-factly.

Wang Yan then realized that Elfan had said Qishan was going back to Liyue because the Lantern Festival was approaching.

"Calculating the time, it's only about twenty days, plus you have to work on the paper..." Kawei said with concern, "If you want to go back, you have to make plans early, otherwise time will still be quite tight."

Wang Yan pondered for a moment, so... should we 'go back'?

Chapter 101 Should we go back to Liyue?

Whether or not to go back to Liyue for the Lantern Festival is a good question.

First of all, although Wang Yan claims to be a Liyue native, he does not actually have Liyue residency and is completely unregistered.

In terms of identity, it's better to stay with Sumeru.

However, he does have a student status in Sumeru.

However, going back doesn't seem to be without its advantages.

Wang Yan recalled it briefly, and the memory came back to him clearly.

Following the Nordkalley Moon Goddess incident, the Lantern Festival in Liyue should feature the storyline of the White Horse Herald, Zibai.

Of course, Wang Yan didn't have much interest in interfering with Zibai's storyline. To be honest, it was indeed impressive that Zibai withstood a Sky Spike, but Wang Yan didn't think he could save him like the Traveler.

Rather than intervening prematurely, it's better to let things develop naturally.

Wang Yan was interested in Zi Bai's identity.

Xingyi, the immortal, is only one of them. She is also the messenger of the moon from the ancient Langya Kingdom.

What Wang Yan is interested in is her original identity, which is [Angel].

He had recently received an angelic blessing from the goddess of flowers, and to figure out exactly what this meant, asking another angel would obviously be a good idea.

There are not many active angels in Teyvat at present.

Nabu Marikata, the Flower Goddess, has fallen, and Sibyl, the Golden Bee, has also perished.

Aside from those beings that have degenerated into celestial spirits, Wang Yan only knows of two angels: Nico from the Witches' Guild and Zibai.

Compared to the elusive Witch N, the White Horse Hermit, who will likely live in Liyue Harbor after the storyline, is naturally the best target.

Wang Yan remembered that after the Lantern Festival, Zibai would gradually integrate into life in Liyue. Sometimes he would guide others in planting vegetables, and he also liked to guide others in mathematics and physics. He would also help teach students at the academy and incidentally help with the construction of the Langguang Temple.

Judging from this part of her memory, Zibai, after recovering, at least partly had the intention of becoming a teacher. Perhaps you could get the answer by asking her about the "angels".

Thinking of this, Wang Yan looked at his two friends beside him: "I should go back, but... how to get back is still a question. Do you have any advice?"

“There are only two routes to Liyue. One is by land, which is the one you took when you came here, through the Wayforest.” Kavi answered without hesitation. “The other is by water, which is through the Sky Arm Pond Wharf to Ormus Harbor, and then from Ormus Harbor to Liyue Harbor.”

Wang Yan nodded slightly: "Which one is faster?"

“Of course, the waterway is faster,” Kavi said. “Although the land route seems shorter, it goes through rainforests, caves, canyons… and not a single section is easy to travel.”

"Although the waterway seems to be a long way around, the waterway is well maintained nowadays, and as long as there is no extreme weather, it should take about ten days to get there."

"Especially the ships from Liyue. They all look like wooden boats, but they're all incredibly fast and have plenty of firepower. Last time, I even saw a merchant ship take down a giant sea monster with a single shot."

Kavi's last sentence carried a hint of emotion.

However, Wang Yan could understand.

In fact, regarding ships in Liyue, taking the Southern Cross of the North Star as an example, if you look closely, you will find that the Dark Star is not wooden at all, except for its appearance which looks like a wooden ship.

Whose wooden boat dares to shoot at the demon god?

Even if the Death Star were to take flight one day, Wang Yan would still think it would be normal.

There is another reason, which is that Liyue merchant ships can travel through the seven countries. If it is really just an ordinary wooden ship, then... why can it travel through the seven countries?

The premise of Xingyi is opening the door, and how to open the door is self-evident.

“The boats in Liyue…” Wang Yan nodded slightly. “I’ll go back to Baoshang Street and ask if there are any boats going that are going the same way.

“It should be available. If not, ask Dolly; she often has goods to eat!” Ben said.

Wang Yan nodded: "Okay, I've got it. But let's drink first."

While the three were talking, Elfan had already brought out the food and drinks.

Although they were supposed to be drinking, Wang Yan and Elhesen only had a couple of drinks. The main drinker was Kavi. I don't know if all the students in the Civil Engineering sect are like this, but this guy can definitely drink a lot.

While eating, they chatted about all sorts of gossip, and the meal lasted for a full two hours, until Kavi suddenly slammed his head on the table.

Wang Yan and Elhesen exchanged a glance, both seeing the amusement in each other's eyes.

"I'll pay the bill, you help him up."

As Wang Yan spoke, he paid the bill, and then he and Elhesen each grabbed one of Kavi's arms and dragged him out of the tavern.

Along the way, no one was surprised to see two tall and handsome scholars dragging a drunken scholar along.

Perhaps... scholars getting drunk is something the people of Sumeru are already used to.

There are always some scholars who drown their sorrows in alcohol because of project failures, plagiarism checks on their theses, or even delayed graduation.

After helping Alheisen toss the sleeping Kavi, who was like a baby, onto his bed, Wang Yan said goodbye and left their house, turning to walk towards his own cabin.

Before going to the desert, Wang Yan went to the Academy to pay the rent for December and January, so there was no notice on the door and the area in front of the door was cleaned very well, so it didn't look like anyone lived there.

Wang Yan took out his key, unlocked the door, and pushed it open. A stuffy, stale air rushed towards him.