The Great Worm Lich

Staring at the gradually disappearing silhouette of the leader of one of the most famous universities in the world, Zhang Lisheng suddenly felt that wealth was a very magical thing. Especially in a society that paid attention to ‘fair trading.’

Just as he was deep in his thoughts, he suddenly heard Steven’s voice shouting beside him, “President Hannes, since I’ve managed to find such a generous donor for the university, can I get a fixed parking space outside of the laboratory building?”

“I’m sorry, Professor Steven! Money can’t let us get everything we want. If you want to get a fixed parking space, you better get a Nobel Prize in biomedical science first!” Hannes waved his hand without turning around and entered his car, completely ignoring Steven’s subsequent roaring.

“What the hell?! That award should have been granted to me when I carried out the ‘Similarity of a Dolphin’s Encephalon to a Human’s Brain Experiment’ 25 years ago!”

Upon hearing this, Maggette, who was silent beside him, immediately whispered in a grave expression, “Steven, have you lost your mind? You actually dared to yell that damn experiment out loud in the public? That time, without receiving any permissions, you secretly dissected the brains of more than 100 Baiji dolphins, and this scandal is enough to utterly discredit you now!”

“It’s because of these scruples of yours that you’re wasting your talents! You won’t be able to become a great scientist like this, Maggette!” Steven curled his lips in disdain in the face of his best friend’s warning. “Let’s go, Lisheng! I’ll bring you to settle your admission registration. I guarantee that you’ll be able to receive a Ph.D. in Stanford after three years at most!”

“What the hell, Steven? You can’t make such a promise to your student before he has even enrolled!”

“Drop the act, Maggette! This child’s contribution to the development of biology is now much bigger than yours! You can get a Doctorate in Science, so of course, he will be able to get one as well!” Steven waved his hand in disagreement and brought an awkward-looking Zhang Lisheng away.

After the two of them had driven for a moment, they turned into a new campus, and at once, a crowded scene that looked as though the supermarket was having its Sunday sale entered Zhang Lisheng’s sight.

Steven gradually stopped his car by the roadside. “Do you still think that Stanford’s campus is deserted?”

“It looks like I’ve been wrong, Professor.” Zhang Lisheng opened his mouth. “It’s really bustling here! I’m afraid we’d have to queue till 2 am before we can complete the admission process.”

“You’re wrong again, Lisheng! The admission procedures for ordinary freshmen can be done on any computer in Stanford University within the LAN (local area network). Most of these children are here to choose for their clubs.”

“So what am I here for? I’m not interested in joining any club at all!” Zhang Lisheng walked out of the car and followed Steven to walk along with the shade in order to avoid those happy and excited Stanford freshmen. Finally, they managed to squeeze themselves with great difficulty into a three-story office building painted in reddish-brown.

When they entered the corridor of the office building, the surrounding environment became quiet, prompting Steven to breathe a sigh of relief. “Of course I know about that! I remember you didn’t join any club back in Lowbige as well. The reason I brought you here is that you’re a student of special admission. According to Stanford’s old and inflexible school rule, you must register through the Student Management Office to be officially enrolled. It’s at the seventh door after we turn into the left corridor… Here, it should be this one!”

Striding, Steven came to an old heavy wooden door on the first floor of the office building.

The young man followed him and said with a smile, “In that case, let us finish our registration soon, Professor. I forgot to inform you that my secretary has prepared a mansion with two swimming pools near Silicon Valley, so you’re welcome to be my guest today.”

“That sounds great!” Steven nodded and knocked on the door before walking into the office.

The office looked ordinary, not too small nor big. It was furnished with a desk, two office chairs placed face to face and two beige sofas separated by a coffee table. Despite the somewhat old furniture style, they looked durable with a thick Californian practical style.

Upon hearing the sound of the door being opened, the owner of the office, a Caucasian man between the ages of 40 and 50 who looked serious and stiff, wearing a clean old gray suit raised his head that had a face as skinny as cured meat. He then asked with a blank expression, “May I know how I can help you, esteemed sirs?”

“Hello, Mr. Fegri. I’m Steven Pigros from the Biology Faculty. I’ve already called you through the phone this morning.”

“Oh hello, Professor Steven! You’re here to settle the admission for the special admission of your student, right? Please sit down and wait for a while.” The skinny Caucasian man stood up and shook his hand with Steven before looking at Zhang Lisheng and pointing to the office chair directly opposite him. “Sit here please, young man.”

“Yes, sir!” Zhang Lisheng sat in the office chair in a very well-behaved manner.

“Your name is Lisheng Zhang…” After typing on his keyboard for a while, Fegri looked at the computer screen on his desk and asked the young man a few very simple questions. After finishing the records, he stood up and took the initiative to reach out his hand, “It’s done, Mr. Lisheng. Congratulations on becoming the youngest graduate student in Biology at Stanford University this year!”

“Thank you, Mr. Fegri! I can’t wait to be a part of this great university! In fact, in order to better integrate into Stanford, I’ve even bought a house here!” Zhang Lisheng shook his hand with this middle-aged man in front who was even much skinnier than him and casually replied, “I won’t bother you any much longer…”

“Wait a minute, Mr. Zhang Lisheng. There’s one thing I want to remind you. If you have bought a house in Stanford, I regret to tell you that you won’t be able to use it unless you are on vacation, because you’d have to live on the campus.”

“Why?” Zhang Lisheng was dumbfounded and said in astonishment. “Isn’t this Stanford that practices the motto ‘Die Luft der Freiheit weht (The wind of freedom blows)? Don’t tell me it will actually force a student to live on campus?”

“Mr. Fegri, my student is a graduate student and not a first-year freshman or a transfer student! Even though it’s indeed true that this is his first year of enrolling, the rules of compulsory accommodation don’t apply to him!” Steven also spoke in support.

“You’ve misunderstood me, Professor Steven. It’s not us who asked your students to live on campus. It’s Madam Li Lili, Mr. Zhang Lisheng’s mother, who asked her son to live on campus. According to Californian law, she has the right to make such a request as a guardian before Mr. Zhang Lisheng turns the age of 23.”

Upon hearing this answer, Zhang Lisheng became dumbfounded. He knew very well that after his career had risen at a bizarre speed and had gradually possessed more influence, his mother, who was an educator, had always wanted to train him to establish a positive and forward outlook on the world.

On the last few days before he came to Stanford, Lili had even repeatedly stressed that he should be more in touch with his peers and make more friends, instead of thinking he was better than everyone else. She even told him that he should be learning how to treat people humbly from the bottom of his heart and so on. She also stressed how valuable these things that might seem insignificant to one’s life and that they were precious wealth.

Now, Zhang Lisheng finally understood the intention of his mother when she said those words. To a certain degree, he could understand the painstaking efforts of his mother but to him, a wizard, who had spent nearly a year to continue cultivating his secret method and who had even forcibly destroyed a tribe in the supernatural realm’s island after killing the two tribal guardians and thousands of aborigines before he completed one-third of his Rank-6 Wizard’s cultivation, it would place him in a very difficult position having to stay in the same dormitory with other foreign students and carry out his secret cultivation method at night carefully.

“I don’t understand why would California have such an absurd law, Mr. Fegri.” For this reason, Zhang Lisheng’s calm expression gradually changed and his ‘bigshot’s tough traits’ that assumed an air of command began to exude out of him involuntarily as he voiced his objection. “I can run for the mayor of Stanford City when I reach the age of 18 years old, but I’m forced to live in campus instead…”

“I’ve said before, Mr. Zhang Lisheng. This is not a compulsory residence, but it’s your mother, Madam Li Lili, who made such a request. According to Californian law, Stanford University is authorized by her to control you from buying alcoholic beverages and tobacco secretly and to fulfill the obligation of providing accommodation to the student. This decree came from the Prohibition Era in the 1930s, when California was still barren land, and most of the universities here were unable to provide the necessary accommodation for students. Because of this, many young people studying in the university lived outside and slowly learned to earn pocket money by selling illegal alcoholic beverages, so in the end….” With a blank expression, Fegri explained in great detail.

“What if I insist on living outside?”

“There are only three solutions—either you drop out of Stanford, or you ask your mother to withdraw the application. On the other hand, you can file a lawsuit at the US federal court against this unconstitutional decree of California and win it!” Fegri said solemnly.

“Mr. Fegri, I just donated 50 million USD to this university…” Zhang Lisheng had hit a dead end, so he had no choice but to take out his ultimate card.

Fegri became dumbfounded for a moment before replying in a professional manner, “Looks like I’ve been too negligent with you, Mr. Zhang Lisheng. Thank you for your donation to Stanford University. Please believe that every contribution you make will be the cornerstone of human scientific progress. However, this matter has nothing to do with what we just talked about. The law is the law, I’m sorry.”

Zhang Lisheng opened his mouth and turned to look at Steven, he saw this professor who had always been wild and intractable in his heart shrugged and said helplessly as well, “What Mr. Fegri said is right, Lisheng. The law is the law. Don’t worry, there’s always a way to come around. As a graduate student, if you’re not used to living in a dormitory, you can stay in the lab all night long. I used to do that when I was still studying in the university.”

“I have the ability to influence the US election, but I don’t have the right to refuse to live in a dormitory. What kind of f*ckery is this?” Zhang Lisheng muttered to himself and pulled out his phone to look up his mother’s number. After hesitating for a long time, he put the phone back into his pocket and said helplessly to the middle-aged man who looked like cured meat, “Mr. Fegri, does Stanford have a single dormitory?”