Originally, Ling Zhou and her group were already the center of attention at Ji Fa. When they came back covered in injuries, the whole academy was instantly curious about what had happened.
Soon, the scenes from the hunt were spread around.
So were the things Liang Xuan had done.
The Ji Fa students who heard the news were dumbfounded, immediately doubting their own ears.
The Tian Tong students who got wind of it, however, were burning with rage.
That day, not a single Tian Tong student could be found in the Ji Fa arena area. Instead, they left behind snide, sarcastic remarks.
—We don’t dare fight with you Ji Fa folks. Who knows if someone will hold a grudge and use something deadly instead of a luck transfer token? Too scary, too scary.
The Ji Fa students, faced with this blunt ridicule, could only put on colorful expressions—without any way to refute.
After all, what was said was true.
But the Tian Tong students had no pleasant faces for Ji Fa people, nor did they have any for Li Yunxian.
They didn’t go to the arena, nor did they visit other parts of Ji Fa. Instead, they all crowded outside Li Yunxian’s dormitory.
Li Yunxian:
Looking at the crowd inside the dormitory, Li Yunxian’s mouth twitched. Glancing at Ying Qian and the others, she said in a complicated tone, “I remember this is the girls’ dorm, right?”
Ying Qian slammed the wall and shouted angrily, “Is that the point?!”
“You knew you were being plotted against, and you waited until the exchange was almost over to say something!”
“Aren’t we in this together?”
“You’re the captain. If any of us were being bullied and didn’t tell you, choosing to handle it ourselves, would that make you happy?”
Li Yunxian:
Honestly, she would feel kind of relieved…
But seeing the faces of her classmates, Li Yunxian decided to go with the flow and answered, “My bad.”
The angry classmates crowding Li Yunxian:
They’d seen Li Yunxian stand proud above all, challenge heaven and earth, even glare down the world, but it was the first time they’d seen her so obedient.
Paired with Li Yunxian’s natural, well-behaved look, everyone’s anger vanished by more than half in an instant.
The scene fell quiet for a few seconds. The group’s eyes wandered, and for a moment no one could continue criticizing Li Yunxian.
So someone changed the target.
“That Liang Xuan actually used foreign methods to harm someone! At Tian Tong, we crippled Du Rong’s Xuewei and expelled him from the academy for less. Ji Fa is covering up for her way too much!”
“Do they think Tian Tong is easy to bully?”
“At the very least, she should be kicked out of the academy.”
Everyone spoke up one after another.
Li Yunxian had to once again calm everyone down, evaluating the situation coolly.
“Staying at the academy might not be any easier for her than being kicked out.”
After thinking about it, everyone fell silent.
It was true.
Now everyone at Ji Fa knew what Liang Xuan had done. Even in the best-case scenario, with no one openly criticizing her, Liang Xuan would still keep wondering—
What are people thinking of her?
What are they saying behind her back?
What are her own friends thinking when facing her?
And that’s not even the most realistic scenario.
At the very least, after all the fuss and sarcasm, there’s no way nobody would discuss it.
If she were expelled, thrown into an environment where nobody knew what she’d done, maybe it would actually be an easier choice for Liang Xuan.
Realizing this, no one argued about the punishment anymore.
Only someone calmly and objectively said, “If she can walk out from under this pressure, her future might not be so bad.”
“But first, she has to get through it.”
Li Yunxian gave a casual affirmation, “Misfortune and blessing go hand in hand. Didn’t Lian Ping only get stuck at Peak Completion for so long because her journey was too smooth and she couldn’t graduate?”
Hearing this example from Li Yunxian, everyone’s expressions grew odd.
Yes, Lian Ping got stuck at Peak Completion because life was too easy. Then, after meeting you in the secret realm, she got so agitated she finally graduated.
Ying Qian stroked his chin and said, “So you’re this strong because you’ve suffered a lot?”
He was intrigued.
Having seen Li Yunxian and entered the academy, Ying Qian realized there were many people stronger than Shen Bofeng. His obsession with beating Shen Bofeng wasn’t as deep anymore.
But if he got the chance, he still really wanted to beat Shen Bofeng up.
Li Yunxian glanced at Ying Qian and corrected, “It’s not just suffering a lot—it’s surviving it.”
“If your luck’s that bad and you still manage to survive, there’s no way you won’t become strong.”
Facing Li Yunxian’s gaze, which clearly said ‘if you want to die, I can help you,’ Ying Qian recalled the message about Liang Xuan, Ling Zhou, and the others encountering two Golden Core-stage beasts.
He immediately behaved himself.
Soon enough, the conversation drifted along with Li Yunxian’s words, turning to insights about the matches they’d fought against Ji Fa students.
She already knew her classmates were standing up for her and had decided not to go to the arena anymore.
Li Yunxian didn’t persuade them otherwise; this was a rare chance for exchange, and personal matters shouldn’t turn into petty feuds with Ji Fa.
These students, all about twenty years old, were hot-blooded. Once they spoke, they couldn’t just take it back.
Besides, there were only three days left.
During this time, Li Yunxian had spent a lot of time mingling with Ji Fa’s club students and learned a lot about their courses.
One by one, she recommended suitable courses or books to her classmates.
In the end, the group left the dorm dizzy, burdened with a pile of new assignments.
Thinking about how the next three days were suddenly jam-packed, they started to doubt their very existence.
—What was it they came to see Li Yunxian for again?
Forgotten.
***
Three days later, the exchange ended.
Knowing that the Tian Tong students were leaving, everyone at Ji Fa finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After that noisy quarrel with Li Yunxian, the Tian Tong students didn’t do anything else like they had at the arena. No more sarcastic comments or face-slapping.
Instead, they attended classes quietly and read their books.
But whether or not Liang Xuan felt the weight of others’ stares, many Ji Fa students certainly did.
The Tian Tong group became cold and indifferent, barely responding to anyone, acting as though they hadn’t said a word, and yet, as if they’d said everything.
It was even more uncomfortable than when their faces were being slapped in the arena.
Yet, standing at the moral low ground, the Ji Fa students couldn’t say anything in return.
Now that they’re gone, at last, it was over.
As for Liang Xuan…
After her injuries healed, she took on a new task and left the academy again.
The other day she came back with a Foundation Establishment-stage beast, handed in her assignment, and without stopping for a moment, took on another and headed out again.
No one knew when she’d return.
No one really cared about her.
And those who did, had nothing comforting to say.
Everyone understood why she was spending less and less time at the academy, choosing instead to fight foreign tribes in the wild.
Meanwhile, Li Yunxian and her group had already returned to Tian Tong.
Familiar sights reappeared before their eyes.
This kind of change of scenery might be a novelty to other students, but Li Yunxian, having gone through it many times, found it all routine.
Other students in the academy, seeing them return, all crowded around, chirping curiously about the exchange.
But in Li Yunxian’s ears, there was an extra layer of sound.
“Are you planning to go to Pingnan Zhan Gu next?” Su Wenjing’s voice transmitted quietly.
Li Yunxian had already experienced three of the Four Academies’ Zhibao; the only one left was this, so Su Wenjing figured she’d definitely go—probably soon.
After coming out of the Immortal Waterfall, the speed of cultivating Jingmai Qiaoxue was on a whole different level.
Without even deliberately training, Li Yunxian had already shot up to Qi Refining level eight.
She was even not too far from level nine.
Since she hadn’t formed her Foundation or graduated yet, experiencing Pingnan Zhan Gu was still relatively easy.
Li Yunxian didn’t deny it. Instead, she asked, “Why? Is there a problem with the war valley?”
Su Wenjing hadn’t expected Li Yunxian’s first reaction to be whether there was something wrong with the war valley.
Well, that’s fine too.
He was speechless for a moment.
From Su Wenjing’s perspective, nothing major had happened with Li Yunxian in Tian Tong’s Blood Pool, except that she’d sucked an entire Qi Refining pool dry.
Her time at Ji Fa’s Immortal Waterfall had gone pretty smoothly too.
It seemed Li Yunxian had quite the psychological shadow about forcing the Spirit of the Heavenly Ladder to follow her around.
Su Wenjing’s mouth twitched as he briefly described the situation for “re-training” participants entering the war valley.
“The war valley, in theory, projects the most deeply-impressed battle scene from your memory.”
“Failure or death won’t have any real effect—you’ll just restart the fight.”
“This continues until you die a hundred times or until you defeat your opponent and can leave.”
“Once you win, the war valley will turn your opponent’s strength into pure energy and fuse it into your body.”
Su Wenjing spoke to Li Yunxian very seriously, “You need to control your memories and thoughts—don’t conjure up a battle with too high of an Xuewei level.”
“Even if you win in the end, you could die from energy overload.”
“And one more thing.”
“The strength of the battle scene you summon will also affect others in that part of the war valley, so remember to walk toward the area for higher Xuewei practitioners.”
Li Yunxian carefully memorized all of Su Wenjing’s words.
If she asked anyone else, she wouldn’t get such specific details.
After organizing the information, Li Yunxian heard Su Wenjing’s offer again.
“Want me to put in a word with Pingnan, help send you over?” Su Wenjing said offhandedly. “You’d owe me a favor.”
Li Yunxian didn’t hesitate for a second and refused instantly, “No need.”
Then, sounding quite pleased, she told Su Wenjing, “I’ll ask my teacher for help.”
“She’s been waiting for me to ask for something for ages—keeps telling me not to hide things and that I can trouble her if I need anything.”
“When I asked you to keep an eye on Liang Xuan last time, she seemed a bit upset.”
“I have to make it up to her.”
Su Wenjing looked at Li Yunxian, who seemed to be subtly bragging, and was silent for a moment before letting out a dry chuckle and saying indifferently, “Suit yourself.”
Li Yunxian noticed something odd about Su Wenjing’s tone and turned to look at him.
But before she could see his expression clearly, Su Wenjing’s figure vanished from sight.
He’d gone back to his own villa.
Recalling their conversation, Li Yunxian:
“?”
Is there really anyone else fighting my teacher over who gets to help with my Pingnan task?
Li Yunxian was utterly confused.
So she decided not to bother figuring it out.
After chatting a while with her classmates, she ran off happily to find her teacher.
“Teacher! I’m back to trouble you with something!”
“What is it?” Li Tianying felt her heart skip a beat.
She instinctively clutched her Chuanxun Pai.
Anything that Li Yunxian needed help with had her worried she couldn’t handle it.
“I want to go to Pingnan!!” Li Yunxian said directly, not beating around the bush at all.
Hearing this, Li Tianying breathed a sigh of relief. She lifted her chin slightly, adopting a calm, “nothing-can-faze-me” demeanor and said,
“Easy.”