To be honest, the Autobot is also a pretty good conversationalist—he’s quite talkative. Since William Thompson was present, he didn’t bring up any sensitive topics, just kept saying that his momentary impulse had caused a great loss to his family.

As for the medicine for treating his injuries, that goes without saying. Recovering this quickly is definitely extremely expensive; the treatment process also required some cultivators to help, and someone had to look after him... Even for jumping off a building, he had to compensate the academy.

There’s no helping it—the black history of the Stargazing Tower as a suicide hotspot is already well known. If he insisted on bumping the thread again, the Guanli Ape would of course deduct his points—who told you to fail at dying?

Listening to his somewhat self-mocking explanation, William Thompson really couldn’t connect him with that petty “senior sister”-calling patient—this guy clearly has more than one face.

Jason Brooks knew what was going on. This inner dorm student didn’t want to talk about anything else, but he didn’t mind. Not wanting to talk didn’t mean refusing; making a connection first is the right way.

William Thompson had no intention of getting chummy with Travis Sullivan, but that’s the funny thing about life—he didn’t seek out Senior Sullivan, yet every time Senior Sullivan came to the library to borrow books, he would always chat with him for a while.

Nothing earth-shattering happened at the academy, and in the blink of an eye, three months passed. On this day, the class was tested on the classics. Although William Thompson often skipped class, he still got an A+, the only one in the Chen class.

The classics instructor praised him again, and the other classmates were a bit jealous. It’s one thing that you’re good-looking, but your academic and martial cultivation grades are also so good, and that’s even when you don’t attend class often.

Fortunately, William Thompson is a poor kid, so everyone’s envy is a bit less. In the Central Land, people value cultivation, but also wealth—“the four essentials of cultivation: partner, method, wealth, and land” isn’t just empty talk.

In fact, William Thompson is under a lot of financial pressure now. In just the past two months, he’s spent more than two silver coins just on food. He really eats a lot, and eats well—if you want to maintain your cultivation, nutrition has to keep up.

On this day, he was sitting in a daze at the entrance of the library when Travis Sullivan walked over, put a book on the table, and greeted him, “Hey, borrowing a book... what are you daydreaming about?”

“Just thinking about what to do next,” William Thompson processed the loan for him skillfully, then swiped his student badge—many places in the academy don’t deal with cash, just swipe the badge, which also prevents money from passing through too many hands.

Travis Sullivan raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Don’t want to do library verification anymore?”

“I’ve read almost all the books I wanted to,” William Thompson replied listlessly. “At first, I really admired this position, but now... the pay is still a bit too low.”

It’s true the pay is low. At the same time, after being in the library for so long and interacting with so many students and instructors, he still hadn’t found anyone who was Yongxin’s reincarnation. Since that’s the case, it’s time to consider another way to make money.

“Read almost all of them?” Travis Sullivan raised his eyebrows, a bit unconvinced. “You really dare to say that.”

The academy doesn’t have that many books, and many can’t be borrowed, but even so, a proper academy with over a hundred years of accumulation still has tens of thousands of volumes. He didn’t believe this guy in front of him was more of a genius than himself.

If I told you, the books I’ve read the most are travelogues, you’d be even more surprised, right? William Thompson raised his hand to rub his forehead. “With a pseudo-genius like you... there’s no way for geniuses to communicate effectively.”

As for cultivation books, there really weren’t many that were useful to him. What doesn’t the Upper Realm have? What he really wanted to learn about were the strange sights and customs of this world.

“Are you kidding me?” Travis Sullivan was immediately displeased. “Come on, let me quiz you. If you can answer, I’ll be impressed... but the loser has to treat, at Hongyun Restaurant!”

In the Central Land, ninety-nine percent of cultivators are fortune cultivators. For a restaurant to dare call itself “Hongyun” (Great Fortune), it’s not just about guts, but about how deep its foundation is to take such a defiant name.

Hongyun Restaurant is one of the most famous restaurants in Qihuan City, the seat of Boling County. Not only is it expensive, but it also restricts entry—at the very least, you have to be a crafting cultivator to qualify to dine there. If you’re not a crafting cultivator, what fortune do you have? Go eat somewhere else.

And yet, business at this restaurant is surprisingly good. Any crafting cultivator with a bit of money is willing to go there to spend, hoping to meet other cultivators of at least equal status—birds of a feather flock together. If you manage to latch onto a powerful backer, your future is set.

It’s a bit like a high-end club on Earth—if you don’t have the status, you can’t even get in.

Travis Sullivan and William Thompson aren’t crafting cultivators yet, but Hongyun Restaurant has suffered at the hands of Boling Academy before.

Years ago, the beloved daughter of the Boling County governor was cultivating at Boling Academy. She went to eat there, but was stopped at the door. In a fit of anger, she had people smash two floors of the restaurant and left a message—students from the best academy in the county aren’t qualified to eat here?

That’s a rumor from over twenty years ago, and may not be true, but now, students from Boling Academy can eat there just by showing their badge, and other patrons don’t object—these are all future crafting cultivators, and students from the best academy in the county surely have bright futures.

“Heh,” William Thompson laughed. “No need for Hongyun Restaurant. If I answer correctly, just pay me one silver coin.”