A Crown of Shadows and Starlight

Chapter 10

Choosing to become an apothecary was not an impulsive decision for Meilin; she truly believed she had a talent and advantage in this field.

She was born into a mid-level noble family. Her mother had a passion for collecting, but when Meilin was two years old, her mother passed away. Her father remarried, and although Meilin was not mistreated, she was inevitably neglected after her younger siblings were born. However, her father, the Viscount, made the most correct decision when she was ten—he sent his eldest daughter, Meilin, to Shuiyun Academy.

Life in the academy followed a similar pattern. At first, she was noticed, but eventually, she was ignored, making her experience the fickleness of human nature. Fortunately, since childhood, she had followed her garden-loving mother and learned some cultivation techniques. Her interest in plants led the academy to assign her a small herb garden to manage. Otherwise, she might not have been able to sustain her life in the academy. Now, with the mysterious nebula in her mind, Meilin had even more reason to pursue this path.

“What are you daydreaming about? Give me your identity token,” the old wizard said good-naturedly, seeing Meilin lost in thought.

This was probably the most mild-mannered official wizard in the academy. Based on Meilin’s observations, most official wizards had quite bad tempers, making this old librarian quite an anomaly.

“Oh.”

Meilin snapped back to reality and quickly handed over her identity token.

“Alright, wait a moment.” The old wizard checked it briefly, reminded her, and then turned to walk toward the door behind him.

“Ah—”

Seeing that the old wizard seemed to have misjudged the distance and was about to walk straight into the door, Meilin instinctively reached out, trying to grab his robe. But before she could, the figure in front of her suddenly disappeared. She grasped at nothing—the old wizard had vanished.

“Ahem.” Meilin felt a little embarrassed. Thinking about it, it made sense—after all, he was an official wizard. How could he possibly make such a low-level mistake?

After a short while, the old wizard returned, placing her identity token and a pale green crystal orb on the table. He even let out a dissatisfied snort, as if venting some frustration.

“Thank you,” Meilin said, feeling somewhat apologetic. Her face flushed slightly as she put away her identity token and picked up the crystal orb.

The knowledge transmission process of wizards was direct and forceful. As soon as Meilin held the crystal orb, an overwhelming flood of botanical information and magical texts surged into her mind. At first, she could vaguely distinguish them, but soon, the transmission speed increased so much that the sheer volume of knowledge made her nearly lose consciousness. After what felt like the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, she gradually regained awareness.

“With your identity token, you can now access the second floor and above. Free books are available for unrestricted reading, but for paid books—you’ll need magic stones,” the old wizard said before closing his eyes again, slipping back into his habitual dozing.

After thanking him once more, Meilin eagerly ascended to the second floor. Unbeknownst to her, after she left, the old wizard opened his eyes, a contemplative look flashing across his face.

“This little girl has a kind heart. Moreover, her mental strength is impressive—she recovered from the impact of the knowledge transmission in less than half an hour.”

Meilin had no idea about the old wizard’s evaluation of her. To be honest, she remained wary of official wizards, unsure if they could detect the nebula within her mind.

From the second floor onward, the library was filled with various collections of books. Each level had a large reading hall with chairs and tables for public reading. The books were divided into two categories—those available for free and those requiring payment.

In the second-floor reading hall, several apprentice wizards were already reading. Meilin’s arrival did not attract much attention. She swiftly walked to the bookshelves and began searching for texts related to meditation techniques.

“Useless! All of you are useless!”

In another part of the academy, a handsome young man kicked a disheveled girl to the ground. The girl, Keli, had a large bruise on her beautiful face.

“What does she have that I don’t?!” Keli cried, tears streaming down her face, her sorrow laced with resentment.

The young man was none other than Filler, who had been fixated on Meilin. As a member of a wizard family, Filler was not the heir to his clan but was still highly valued by his family. Since the day he entered the academy, he had always gotten whatever he wanted. Women surrounded him like a revolving door, and he was never stingy—each lover received a generous amount of resources, which to him were mere trifles.

But his usual charms had utterly failed against Meilin. No matter what he offered, she remained indifferent. When he learned that Meilin had advanced to a first-level apprentice, his fury exploded, and he took it out on Keli, who had been with him just moments ago.

“What makes you think you compare to Meilin?”

Filler sneered, his anger boiling over. “You? You’re no different from the women I can buy on the streets for a night! Oh wait, the only difference is that your status is slightly higher. But so what?!”

Blinded by rage, he no longer bothered to conceal his true thoughts.

“You… I… wuu—”

Keli first looked shocked, then felt utterly humiliated. She sobbed, scrambling to her feet, hastily fixing her clothes as she ran out.

“Get lost! Get lost and don’t come back! Do you think I’ll ever run out of women just because of this?!”

Filler fumed, pacing the room like an enraged bull. Finally, he stopped by the window, glaring outside with gritted teeth. “Meilin, just you wait! Even if you’ve become a first-level apprentice, you’ll never find a mentor willing to take you in!”

Filler planned to use his family’s influence to block Meilin’s future advancement, but ironically, this fit perfectly with her own plans. If Meilin had advanced to a first-level apprentice soon after joining the academy, then despite the Filler family’s power, someone would have taken in a student with such a rare level-five aptitude. However, since she had taken nearly four years to advance, with her future potential still uncertain, no mentor would risk offending the influential Filler family for her sake.

Meilin was unaware of these behind-the-scenes schemes. She spent the entire day in the library searching for information on the mysterious nebula, but found nothing. However, she did come across some texts about her meditation technique. Based on her research, the meditation method she practiced appeared to be of Golden Rank—a tier beyond what Shuiyun Academy’s highest-ranking Second-Level Wizard could access. She had no idea where her meditation technique had originated.

Still, Meilin did not intend to tell anyone about this. At the very least, she now knew she was not as talentless as others assumed. As for the nebula—though she had yet to uncover its secrets, it wouldn’t stop her from making her next move.

“Meilin!”

Just as she returned to her room, she heard someone calling her name.