Chapter 157 | The Mahayana Cultivator Who Can’t Learn Magic

A few more days passed in the blink of an eye.

The royal capital gradually regained its former bustle, and the streets grew livelier with passersby.

Although many places still bore the scars of that night, life, after all, had to go on. The living needed to continue with their lives—they had to work, study, and rest.

And so, time smoothed over the old wounds, bringing with it a brand-new day.

But at the teahouse, things remained exactly as they had always been—whether the doors opened or not depended entirely on Li Yuan's mood.

In any case, the teahouse's earnings over this period had far exceeded his expectations, to the point where he was almost starting to wonder if he possessed some innate talent for business.

Hogg and Venus seemed to have coordinated with each other; every time they visited, they left behind gold coin cards with substantial sums.

Over time, as Li Yuan watched the stack of gold coin cards in his drawer grow higher and higher, he actually began to develop the illusion that he had achieved financial freedom.

Of course, it was merely an illusion. After all, who would ever complain about having too much money?

Today, the teahouse welcomed its usual two regular customers.

Hogg sat at the bar counter, a cup of chilled milk tea sweating before him. It was something Venus had specifically recommended before she left... Although their relationship could hardly be called harmonious, they were still comrades-in-arms who had fought side by side.

Who would have thought that a single sip would lead to trouble—no other tea tasted good anymore; only the milk tea hit the spot.

Napa sat to the side, cradling a cup of black tea, his complexion looking much better than it had recently.

After a period of recuperation, his physical injuries and chaotic mana had mostly recovered, leaving only a lingering trace of exhaustion in his demeanor.

Seeing this young man and elder sitting together, an outsider would probably assume Napa was the older one.

After all, Hogg's face made him look like a young man in his twenties, whereas Napa, burdened by recent busy affairs and newly recovered from his severe injuries, showed a bit more age around his eyes.

“Has the academy still not decided on resuming classes?”

Li Yuan asked casually as he wiped a glass.

Napa set down his teacup and shook his head slightly.

“Not for the time being.”

His tone carried a bit more helplessness and exhaustion than usual.

“The shortage of instructors is too severe. Practical magic classes, magical beast countermeasure classes, vocational strategy classes, and so on have all been affected. The royal family's current stance is to keep the students on leave until we can finish reallocating the teaching staff.”

Hogg picked up his cup and took a small sip through the straw, a look of satisfaction immediately spreading across his face.

“There's really no other way,” he said.

Napa sighed immediately after.

“But keeping the students away from classes for too long isn't a good thing after all. Especially the lower-year students—their temperaments aren't stable yet. If they stay home too long, we'll probably have to drill them on the basics all over again once they return.”

Hearing them say this, Li Yuan suddenly remembered a certain young lady from a duke's family who had already spent three full months in the small world.

Calculating the time, she was just about reaching the deadline he had originally set.

Come to think of it, he hadn't checked on her progress since that day... He wondered how the little girl's cultivation was going.

Still, Hui hadn't reached out to him on her own initiative during this time, so everything was presumably proceeding according to plan.

As for crossing the threshold...

To be honest, he hadn't held much expectation for that from the very beginning.

Cultivation wasn't something that could be forced. Although the current Setis possessed a Demon Emperor Body, she was, after all, a latecomer to the path, and she was learning a completely different system. Expecting her to cross the threshold in three months was indeed a bit of a stretch.

Setting this deadline was merely to give her a sense of urgency, preventing her from slacking off.

As Li Yuan was thinking, Hogg suddenly looked up at him.

“What are you thinking about, Sir?”

Li Yuan snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head with a smile.

“Nothing, I just remembered a rather troublesome student of mine.”

Napa's brow twitched slightly.

“You have a student, Sir?”

Hogg was also somewhat surprised.

He had known Li Yuan for so long, yet this was the first time he had heard of Li Yuan having a student, which stirred his curiosity.

Li Yuan paused what he was doing and thought about it. She could indeed be considered his student.

“I suppose so.”

Napa suddenly grew quite interested as well.

“To be taken in as your student, Sir, her talent must be extraordinary.”

Li Yuan's expression turned slightly complicated as he shook his head gently.

“Her talent isn't bad, but her personality is a bit too lively.”

Hogg immediately wore a look of deep empathy.

After all, he also had a handful of a disciple under his wing.

If there were a ranking for troublesome students, Angela would definitely be in the top three.

Napa couldn't help but chuckle twice as well, similarly reminded of his own junior, feeling quite sympathetic.

Seeing their odd reactions, Li Yuan quickly caught on. He, too, felt a slight headache whenever he thought of Miss Angela, who happened to be absent today.

It was a rare moment where they were all on the same page, and the teahouse was instantly filled with a jovial atmosphere.

Just as Li Yuan was about to place a dried teacup back onto the shelf, a sudden wave of communication in his mind made his brow twitch slightly.

It was a familiar wave of spiritual energy from the small world.

Was it... Hui?

Moreover, the connection was incredibly direct. She didn't bother to explain much, only persistently urging him to hurry up and open the gate.

Li Yuan's mind filled with confusion. Had some accident occurred within the small world?

Or... was that old fox up to something again?

He set down his tea towel and nodded apologetically to the two.

“Pardon me, please wait a moment.”

Hogg and Napa were both sensible enough not to pry.

Li Yuan waved his hand.

The space beside the bar counter rippled with waves, and a door glowing with a faint golden halo slowly materialized.

This display made Hogg and Napa set down their teacups almost simultaneously, their faces painted with astonishment.

Neither of them was a stranger to spatial abilities.

Yet the scene before them was nothing like the spatial magic they knew. It was common knowledge that spatial magic was highly unstable; using spatial teleportation without the aid of a magic circle was like drawing a blind box—the destination was entirely random.

But this suddenly appearing door was different; it was clearly something Li Yuan had deliberately created.

It possessed no mana fluctuations, required no magic circles to deploy, and unlike teleportation circles, did not need to be calibrated beforehand.

Hogg remained relatively calm. Having spent plenty of time around Li Yuan, he had experienced similar shocks many times before and was already somewhat accustomed to it.

Napa, however, stared with wide eyes, his teacup frozen halfway to his lips.

In the next second, a figure emerged from the spatial gate.

And it was a familiar face—none other than Setis, who had been missing for three months.

The moment she stepped into the teahouse, her eyes lit up, and she almost instinctively threw her arms open, lunging toward Li Yuan.

“Li Yuan—”

Li Yuan's eyelids twitched, and he instinctively dodged backward to distance himself.

As she drew near, he raised his hand and extended two fingers, pressing them precisely against her forehead.

Setis's embrace was abruptly cut short... halfway.

She was leaning forward with her arms wide open, but her forehead was pinned firmly in place by his two fingers. No matter how hard she pushed, she couldn't take another step forward.