Li Yunxian quietly and obediently accepted her teacher’s words.
She had originally wanted to say that she had already handled the follow-up matters with the blood pool and wouldn’t trouble the teacher anymore.
But now, she couldn’t bring herself to say a word.
However, Li Tianying understood her reliable student’s nature well enough. Just by looking at Li Yunxian’s expression, she had already guessed something.
“You had someone else handle it?” Li Tianying asked, but she didn’t need Li Yunxian’s reply before continuing with the main question on her mind: “Who was it?”
Li Yunxian answered honestly: “I asked Professor Su.”
There was more than one Professor Su in the academy, but usually, this title referred to only one person.
Su Wenjing.
Li Tianying was momentarily stunned.
Su Wenjing’s attitude of not involving himself in affairs was deeply rooted in the academy. Li Tianying’s first reaction was that Li Yunxian must have called him by the wrong title.
But she quickly recalled that Su Wenjing had substituted a class for Li Yunxian.
Come to think of it, even the teachers themselves had once wondered how Li Yunxian and Su Wenjing knew each other.
Now, with all the information connected, everything seemed to make sense.
— Every relatively important teacher in the academy knew that Su Wenjing oversaw the entire institution.
Su Wenjing treating Li Yunxian differently was probably because she had absorbed half of the Qi Refining stage blood pool at Qi Refining Level Two.
No matter who found out about this, they would definitely keep a closer eye on Li Yunxian.
“How did you get him to help?” Li Tianying asked.
Li Yunxian shook her head: “He said I was using it normally, so it’s not his problem.”
“That’s more like it.” Li Tianying nodded.
But after nodding, she suddenly felt something was off.
Her face twisted slightly.
So that was Su Wenjing.
He had known about the blood pool anomaly for over half a year and never mentioned a word to her, only after the Xuanwen Secret Realm collapsed did he say something to her—just repair the realm first.
This guy claimed he didn’t care as long as there were no problems, but in reality, he didn’t utter a single word!!
Didn’t he realize how much Li Tianying had doubted her own technical skills when she couldn’t detect the blood pool’s condition initially?!
Thinking of this, Li Tianying’s thoughts suddenly stalled.
She suddenly remembered something else.
The damage to the Xuanwen Secret Realm seemed to be related to her own student.
Li Tianying silently observed Li Yunxian for a moment, recalling all the major incidents that had occurred in the academy since Li Yunxian arrived.
It seemed that behind every event, there was a shadow of her student.
She suddenly understood why her past six months had been so painful.
Had all the storms that the academy should have borne been absorbed by herself alone?
Li Tianying looked at Li Yunxian with suspicion and uncertainty in her eyes.
Her student was so obedient and lovely—it shouldn’t be what she feared…
Li Tianying suddenly said, “Are you sure you want to go to Wenwu for a few months?”
Li Yunxian nodded.
“Then… have fun.” Li Tianying said solemnly.
She needed some calm from Wenwu to prove that her sudden thoughts just now were wrong.
“Mm!” Li Yunxian responded cheerfully.
***
In the following days, Li Yunxian completed the forging task she had just taken and received no more assignments from Li Tianying.
But that didn’t mean she was free.
Li Yunxian fully experienced the ‘pain’ of being a costume-changing character.
Knowing that Li Yunxian was leaving under her watch, Li Tianying almost wanted to arm her down to her teeth.
Robes, magical artifacts—she piled them on Li Yunxian like they cost nothing.
Every item on her body, even a mere ribbon, was specially forged with unique functions.
This was the Refining Masters’ indulgence at Tiantong Academy.
If it were just this, Li Yunxian wouldn’t feel any ‘pain.’
What troubled her was what came next.
After cooperating with Li Tianying in changing her outfit, it seemed like Li Yunxian had accidentally activated some special switch.
Once the full set of magical artifacts was complete, Li Tianying’s choice of robes became clearly influenced by her own preferences.
One day, Li Yunxian even walked out of Li Tianying’s room dressed in soft pink, tender and delicate, with a large butterfly bow tied on her back.
It had to be said, this outfit perfectly matched Li Yunxian’s slightly cute appearance.
On the way back to the villa, Li Yunxian received admiring glances all along.
Many faces looked dazed and fuzzy, as if they had been sniffing catnip.
Li Yunxian kept a wooden face, unwilling to speak, but sometimes she had no choice.
Before she even returned to her own villa, she was blocked by a group of people who had received the news.
These blockers wore smiles that were all charm and mischief, completely like troublemakers.
The Xia Yun Sword silently appeared in Li Yunxian’s hand, radiating a threatening glow.
This move immediately sharpened everyone’s senses.
Yu Qiyao and a few other ‘bullies’ stopped their playful gestures in time, but their expressions couldn’t hide how utterly charmed they were: “Yunxian, that outfit is absolutely stunning!!!”
Li Yunxian glanced at these temporarily distanced friends coldly: “If it’s pretty, you can wear it.”
One sentence made Yu Qiyao and the others avert their eyes.
At eighteen or nineteen, girls usually hated pink—not on themselves, but on others.
Li Yunxian smiled as she looked at them.
If they wouldn’t be bullies, then she would take that role.
Soon after, Yu Qiyao and the others were ‘enthusiastically’ dragged back to their villas by Li Yunxian with the Xia Yun Sword, forcibly made to change outfits.
How could this ‘pain’ be suffered by only one person?!
Amid laughter and cheer, everyone’s phones accumulated a pink, tender ‘black history.’
After the fun, the group lay scattered like corpses in the villa’s living room when Yu Qiyao suddenly spoke up: “Yunxian, I heard you’re going on a mission with Wenwu? How about I come with you?”
The movements of Wenwu’s teachers and students were no secret.
Yu Anle’s acceptance of a task to clear out strange beasts, with Li Yunxian as his only reported partner, quickly spread.
Out of so many Wenwu students and teachers, why did it have to be Li Yunxian?
Yu Qiyao felt something was off when she heard the news.
But since Li Yunxian and Yu Anle seemed close recently, she didn’t want to say anything to ruin the mood and only suggested joining the mission.
Others quickly agreed.
“I can come too.”
“I feel like the people from Wenwu have been very happy recently.”
“Like the happiness before something good happens.”
“Something’s wrong.”
Everyone chattered, each contributing their intuitive, often unreasonable suspicions.
Cultivators had instincts, and they all agreed that there was indeed trouble at Wenwu.
Li Yunxian listened silently, smiling inwardly.
How did Wenwu’s people manage to plot with no secrets?
But it was understandable.
The teachers were experienced and could control their emotions well, but they led students in their twenties who knew too much—keeping it all a secret would be surprising.
Those who succeed keep secrets!
Li Yunxian never thought she’d one day have to clean up after Wenwu.
But she wouldn’t betray her own people.
She just gave the group a meaningful smile.
“Don’t worry, it’s not certain who’s scheming against whom.”
Everyone fell silent, looking at Li Yunxian’s expression.
They vaguely understood now why their seniors had such complicated expressions whenever the ginkgo was mentioned, and what kind of image Li Yunxian had in those stories.
She was completely a cackling villain.
They suddenly realized that maybe they should be worrying about Wenwu’s people instead.
After soothing her friends, Li Yunxian finished handling everything here.
Finally, the day arrived for the task led by Yu Anle.
At the academy’s outer entrance, Li Yunxian met Yu Anle, dressed in sturdy gear.
Ignoring the Wenwu teachers and students lurking in the shadows watching to confirm whether she was really acting with Yu Anle, and, inexplicably, Su Wenjing among them.
The moment Li Yunxian sensed Su Wenjing, a jade token suddenly appeared in her hand.
It was the same kind of token that Duan Qiu had slipped to her before.
Only that Duan Qiu’s token pointed to her, while Su Wenjing’s token, without doubt, pointed to Su Wenjing.
Li Yunxian glanced at Su Wenjing’s location and recalled his lone warning when she first entered the Xuanwen Secret Realm.
Did this token mean that before she blew up the whole planet, she was supposed to call him for rescue first?
Li Yunxian pondered for a few seconds, then decisively abandoned the thought of Su Wenjing’s intentions.
Whatever he thought, since he gave her the item, it was up to her how to use it.
Without hesitation, Li Yunxian picked up her phone and swiped the pass with Yu Anle.
The two stepped out of the academy calmly and uneventfully.
Around them, the scenery resembled a wild zone from the “All Things” realm.
Li Yunxian led Yu Anle on a short walk before stopping in front of Li Tianying.
Teachers at the academy all had a protective instinct for their students.
Li Tianying was no exception.
Even fully armed, she wouldn’t let Li Yunxian wander through the dangerous dense forest with someone at Qi Refining Level Nine.
Li Yunxian had originally intended to ask Duan Qiu for help, but Li Tianying vetoed the idea.
What could someone at the Golden Core stage do? The time cost for a round trip would be enormous!
Li Tianying chose to go herself.
“Are you ready?” Li Tianying asked.
Li Yunxian nodded.
Immediately, Yu Anle’s surprised and excited shouting came to her ears.
Before their eyes, the scenery rapidly changed.
Everything seemed stretched into straight lines.
When it stopped, the three of them had already arrived in a bustling city.
The entire journey took less than five minutes.
“Know why? This is the Separation Spirit stage!”
“Separation Spirit, at this cultivation level, is the difference between man and god.”
Li Tianying said calmly with great style.
“We’ve arrived, Jin City.”
Jin City—the city where Li Yunxian’s biological mother lived.
Li Yunxian had promised to come here after graduation, but now she had arrived early.
As for the scheming from those at Wenwu, their troubles in the forest—getting lost, missing things, all of that—goodbye.
She was simply taking the Wenwu academy student route home to have some fun!
As for those Wenwu people who later panicked searching in the forest and couldn’t find her, she had no idea.
She was just a Tiantong student who happened to receive a task with Yu Anle and was kindly escorted home by a good person.
Yes.
That’s how it was.