'Don't speak with me out loud' the eternium-armored goddess demanded before they landed in the courtyard.

Pef nodded with a grin and tugged at the wing again. 'Must be nice, spending all my resources to Ascend yourself.' he admonished the glove with a knowing voice.

'You wanted an armor made from Eternium. I had to get creative.' the winged goddess answered in a mild voice, as if feeling a bit guilty.

'Anyways, why do you feel so distant?' Pef asked, skipping to the heart of the problem.

The Eternium Knight shrugged. 'So I built myself into a real girl. Even got a heart and all, if covered in a Heart Mirror.'

Pef measured the unscrutable goddess, finding that any attempt to peak inside the armor was blocked, and began reading the Formations enscribed onto the armor. 'I see. If I had to guess, there are powerful people able to scry through the Eternium cover, thus you had to cover your intentions with a mirror. Your mnemonic cloaking has no chance against a Tier 12...' he reasoned in a decently able manner.

'You're close, Soldier, but that's not the reason. Back in the Middle Heavens, I could mask myself with reasonable efficacy agaisnt any other Oracles or scry skills. Here, everything is under constant observation. And with an observer effect in play, all dice have to fall in predictable ways.' the glove answered in a soft voice, while her wings fluttered in fake shyness.

Pef withdrew his hand away, and sat down in the middle of the courtyard, as his senses extended gently until he began to feel the numerous Formations that gathered Qi and purified it for those inside the courtyard. Among the thousands of arrays, there were also several that scanned for a student tablet, and also killing intent and even monitored the health of those inside.

'Field trip tommorow?' he asked instead, remembering the advice of the surveillance golem.

'Controlling the underworld in the Celestial City will be important for your future growth. It's not like rare resources can be found on the free market. When rich people die, their assets are sold on the black market.' the glove explained with a careless wave.

'And, you will also get to decide who dies.' Pef muttered, mostly for himself.

The eternium helmet returned only passive silence, so he knew it was the right answer. The glove would always find a way to pinpoint valuable stuff, not that he minded. Sometimes he felt the glove knew him too well.

'The Ten Elements method has mostly reached the end. Do they teach a better method here?' Pef asked curious, as he found that circulating his method produced minimal results, despite the purity and concentration of Qi in the courtyard, roughly 100 times more than outside the Academy.

'We have the Solar Wind method you found on that North Wind guy, but it's kinda crap on its own. It would be best to gather a dozen such methods and compile our next Twelve Element Method.' the glove advised him with a knowing poke at his student tablet.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

'Better start reading then.' he decided with a sigh, scrolling through millions of books and uncertain where to even start.

'Just unpack the golem packet. It's not like you actually need to study the basics, like these Noble Golden Immortals kids.' the glove said in a dismissive tone, then vanished without a trace.

Pef listened and opened the memory packet, then began to absorb the full curriculum for the next three Academy terms. Only the final term dealt with Tier 10 and more exotic cultivation matters, as the final term students prepared to either leave the Academy or try to Ascend into Iron Patriarch Realm, a procedure with less a 0.1 percent chance of success for normal people.

It wasn't anything that deterred Pef, since as the glove often said, any chance was a good chance. Though the glove was not based on luck, hence its obvious care to avoid observer effects, which forced reality to fall into predictable and not very advantageous patterns. It would be quite like trying to cheat at cards when the dealer could see what you're doing.

A few hours later, he finished digesting the three-term curriculum, with the aid of his numerous Avatars, and rose to his feet to explore his new lodgings.

As Pef walked from room to room, he even found a servant's room beside a small kitchen.

Searching rapidly through the Academy rules, he located the text which allowed a single servant, if properly logged onto his student tablet. In a way it made sense, as many of the Noble scions would be unable to feed or care for themselves, without a family-supplied servant to clean their clothes or even tidy their beds. From what Pef had learned, most Nobles were quite the slobs.

"Lady Si, would you be willing to act as my servant in the Celestial Academy? They have quite some benefits..." he asked tentatively via his Avatar.

"Yes, Heavens yes! Did you think a mortal like myself would ever have to chance to enter the great Academy, and taste their purified Qi in a thousand lives?" the woman exclaimed, in obvious joy.

"Oh, I didn't see it that way. Well, you will need to register your name on this tablet..." the Avatar explained in an amused tone, as he logged Lady Si as his servant, and thus granting her access to his Formation-secure courtyard.

The next second, Pef brought the woman out and showed her his new house and courtyard, then handed Lady Si his Academy-granted storage bag filled with fresh uniforms and other necessities.

"I can't believe we are really here, in the Celestial Academy..." Lady Si murmured in a shy tone, as she gently walked around, breathing deeply from the heavenly air.

"Just take care not to go outside the courtyard, Lady Si. I was attacked by some Noble the minute I entered the Academy, so I'd guess they're mostly a bunch of murderous bastards." Pef warned her with a grim voice, while also setting a new protection array that blocked the woman from leaving, even if she wanted to.

"Divine Cook, you know I'm not a lady, right?" she asked in a strange voice.

"Haha. You are a Saint now. Where I grew up, a Saint was a rare and godly existence, so holy that people dreamed of seeing one once in their life. My own mother is also a Saint in that place, they even call her Holy Mother after I Ascended." Pef disclosed with a tiny laughter.

"Still, we are in the Great Academy now. Even your own Bronze Realm is not very strong in this place." she remarked in a somber voice.

"That's also true. The Celestial Dean is in the Steel Realm, and most teachers are in Iron Realm. They are all pretty strong." Pef admitted with a smile.

"Try not to burn so many people here then. Also, sit straight...I want to make sure your new robes fit right." Lady Si demanded as she took out a celestial-blue robe and draped it over Pef's shape, then sat down and began deftly sewing and adjusting the cut of the robes to fit Pef's body perfectly.

Pef smiled inward and walked into the kitchen, then began to prepare a light noodle soup and some pastries copied from the woman's hometown.