Chapter 146: Small troubles

Li Yunxian saw Jiang Qiqing crying so miserably, and for some reason, she couldn’t quite control the corners of her mouth.

Jiang Qiqing noticed, and so she cried even harder.

“I’m already this miserable, and you’re still laughing at me, Yunxian!!” she accused.

Li Yunxian cleared her throat, called upon her ability to control the spirit sword to keep her lips in check, and reached out to gently coax Jiang Qiqing toward the Bieshu.

“All right, all right, it’s my fault. Come in first and tell me how Cuicui bullied you, okay?”

Li Yunxian was genuinely surprised as she said this.

Because two months ago, when she had just arrived in Pingnan, she’d met Fei Cui among the freshman reception volunteers at the teleportation gate.

At the time, they’d even chatted for a bit.

Li Yunxian remembered that when Fei Cui heard her cultivation was already at the eighth layer of Qi Training, her eyes were filled with delight and envy, but there was nothing impure in her gaze.

A very pure and hardworking girl.

But Jiang Qiqing was the same—clean, never with ill intent.

Moreover…

“Aren’t you two best friends?” Li Yunxian asked.

Jiang Qiqing sat on the living room sofa and sniffled, “Not anymore!”

After she finished, Jiang Qiqing started a torrent of complaints.

“Do you know what I’ve been through lately?”

“Cuicui said that since you’re both talented and hardworking, we have to work even harder ourselves.”

“She drags me out of bed at five in the morning!!”

“Five in the morning!!”

“Every single day!!”

“Even cows and horses get weekends off, but I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in fifty-five days!!”

“When I’m exhausted from training and just want to rest for ten minutes, I’m not allowed. She says that’s when you train your body control best.”

“The longest was three hours straight swinging a sword. I didn’t get a break until breakfast.”

“Who even trains like this!”

As Jiang Qiqing talked about her miserable experiences of the past two months, the more she spoke, the sorrier she felt for herself.

So she turned to look at Li Yunxian, wanting proof that Fei Cui was wrong.

She asked, “Yunxian, what time do you usually get up?”

Li Yunxian didn’t really know how to answer.

Jiang Qiqing was puzzled, “What’s wrong?”

Li Yunxian cleared her throat and answered tactfully, “I can’t really remember the last time I slept.”

“Cultivating Tuna can replace sleep…” Before she could finish the word ‘sleep’, Li Yunxian saw Jiang Qiqing clutching a pillow, instantly shrinking into the corner of the sofa, staring at her in horror.

She’d thought Fei Cui was already desperate enough when it came to training.

In the entire dormitory, no one got up earlier or trained harder than Fei Cui.

But it turned out…

There was someone even more of a ‘genius’!

She doesn’t sleep at all!!

How can anyone not need to sleep!

Although it was true that after the fourth layer of Qi Training, cultivating Tuna and drawing in spiritual energy could replace sleep and use spiritual power to repair fatigue.

But that was only after the fourth layer.

With lower cultivation, the amount of spiritual energy absorbed just wasn’t enough.

Of course, theory is theory, reality is reality.

In practice, at every academy, except for special cases, even those at the peak of Qi Training would still sleep at night.

After all, for their first eighteen years, most students were kept in regular cities with restricted cultivation because their bodies hadn’t fully developed yet.

Very few ever broke through to the fourth layer before then.

Which means…

Most people had slept every day for eighteen years straight, and deep down, they still felt like they needed sleep.

Besides… sleeping really is nice!!

How could anyone not want to sleep and train twenty-four hours a day!!

Jiang Qiqing was horrified.

She suddenly felt like Fei Cui wasn’t so bad after all.

At least she still got to sleep six hours.

If she stayed with Li Yunxian… ahhhh!!!

Seeing Jiang Qiqing’s reaction, Li Yunxian finally couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

Jiang Qiqing immediately puffed out her cheeks in anger at Li Yunxian’s laughter, protesting, “You really scared me!!”

Li Yunxian reached out and pinched Jiang Qiqing’s puffy cheek. “I didn’t scare you, but…”

“I know your favorite things are eating, drinking, having fun, and sleeping in your own cozy nook.”

“When I got hurt during the Qingteng selection in the auditorium, you were the one who gave me a pillow and a little blanket—so soft and comfortable.”

“With me, you can do whatever you want.”

Jiang Qiqing:

Her eyes turned red again.

With her head buried in the pillow, her voice was muffled, “I know I’m a bit lazy and just want a good life, not really interested in working hard…”

Li Yunxian’s eyes curved with a smile. “But when that bus accident happened, you still wanted to rush to the front.”

“You’re Jiang Qiqing. You only need to consider what kind of person you want to be.”

“If you want to work hard and improve, and be better tomorrow, that’s Fei Cui.”

“If you like taking care of others and doing things together, that’s Yu Qiyao.”

“If you’re always loud and noisy but love making food for everyone’s fridge, that’s Lin Xiufeng.”

“But you are Jiang Qiqing.”

“The ocean is wonderful, but maybe you’re an elephant, and elephants don’t need to live in the sea.”

***

After she finished, Li Yunxian asked Jiang Qiqing, “Have you ever thought about what you want to do after graduation?”

Comforted, Jiang Qiqing’s cheeks flushed, and her mood clearly improved. She replied, “I want to go to the Education Bureau and be a kindergarten teacher.”

“Play games with the kids and teach them how to practice Naxi.”

As she spoke, Jiang Qiqing shared her ideas for teaching: how to comfort little kids, what games to play, and what unexpected situations might come up.

Excited, she even showed Li Yunxian several of her treasured videos.

Li Yunxian watched with a smile, then patted Jiang Qiqing on the head. “You’ll definitely be a great teacher and protect them well.”

Jiang Qiqing grinned, her eyes shining with stars at having her long-held dream recognized.

So Li Yunxian laughed too. “You haven’t slept well for days—have a good rest here.”

“I’m going out for a bit,” said Li Yunxian.

Jiang Qiqing was confused. “Yunxian, where are you going?”

She knew Li Yunxian hadn’t left the Bieshu in days.

The incident at Battle Valley was such a big deal.

Although Pingnan’s students didn’t know the details, word had gotten around, and Li Yunxian’s teacher had come to help, leaving no time to take her back to Tiantong for now.

Probably as a token of thanks, people from Pingnan had been delivering things to Li Yunxian these past few days.

—All good stuff!!

Jealousy written all over her face.

That was all Jiang Qiqing had heard from the rumors; she knew Li Yunxian hadn’t left yet and even which part of the academy she was in.

But now…

Why did Li Yunxian have to leave the moment she showed up?

Li Yunxian smiled, her eyes curved. “No choice, I really have to go out.”

“I have a feeling there’s someone else named Cuicui in Pingnan Academy who’s probably crying right now too.”

Jiang Qiqing:

She went silent.

Li Yunxian snickered, giving Jiang Qiqing a little wave. “I’ll be back later.”

Jiang Qiqing covered her face and whispered,

“…I was a bit mean to Cuicui today.”

Li Yunxian smiled, “All right, I’ll find her and apologize for you.”

Whether it was to apologize or to make up, that was up to her to decide.

***

Li Yunxian going out didn’t just surprise Jiang Qiqing—Su Wenjing was shocked too.

She’d barely taken a few steps when his voice sounded in her ear.

“Why are you going out?” Su Wenjing’s voice was full of vigilance.

When Li Yunxian leaves the house, it’s always something major!!

Just look at how many big shots Battle Valley has troubled already.

Li Yunxian blinked, her pace unchanged.

She was a little surprised—Su Wenjing actually hadn’t used his divine sense to check inside her Bieshu.

Since he showed her respect, Li Yunxian would give him some dignity in return.

There was no one else around, so Li Yunxian lowered her voice and briefly recounted what had happened.

After she finished, Li Yunxian smiled, a little sentimental. “Isn’t it great? At eighteen or nineteen, your troubles are still so small.”

Su Wenjing:

……But you don’t look like someone with any troubles.

His voice was filled with grievance.

As the only Tribulation Transcender present, Su Wenjing had put in more than his fair share of work at Battle Valley.

Li Yunxian didn’t argue; she even lifted her chin, proud. “Well, of course—I’m nineteen this year, after all.”

Su Wenjing:

In front of him, Li Yunxian’s age was always calculated as needed.

Sensing Su Wenjing’s speechlessness, Li Yunxian burst out laughing, then asked, “No wonder you like staying at the academy, listening to these youngsters’ worries. Isn’t it interesting?”

Li Yunxian actually found Jiang Qiqing’s sob story pretty entertaining and relaxing.

Su Wenjing didn’t deny it.

Back during that earth-shattering righteous-demonic war, it seemed the world was about to end—his family and friends all perished, leaving only him alive.

Thousands of years passed. Only after Tiantong Academy was founded did his heart start to heal.

Watching these teenagers grow up and graduate smoothly, that’s when he felt everything back then was worth it.

But he’d never tell Li Yunxian any of this.

His voice was steady as he added, “Mm, and the teachers’ gossip is interesting too.”

“Oh?” Li Yunxian instantly perked up.

“Not telling you.” Su Wenjing’s tone was deliberately ‘mean’.

“Tch.”

Li Yunxian didn’t pursue it, not as interested in gossip as Su Wenjing expected. What she really cared about…

“Have they never thought about guarding against you?”

“I’m the Su Professor who never meddles,” Su Wenjing replied calmly.

Li Yunxian: “Have you ever told anyone?”

Su Wenjing: “No.”

Li Yunxian: “Will you ever?”

Su Wenjing: “No.”

That ‘no’ came without any hesitation. Li Yunxian heard the certainty in his words immediately.

Since others trusted him, he’d never betray that trust.

Li Yunxian chuckled softly, “Then, Professor Su who never meddles, help me with something now.”

“I’m looking for someone, but can’t find her anywhere.”

Since advancing to mid Foundation Establishment, her divine sense range had expanded to a thousand meters.

But after circling almost all of Pingnan’s activity zones, she still hadn’t found Fei Cui.

Su Wenjing knew who she was talking about.

Li Yunxian had already told him what happened earlier.

“I don’t know what Fei Cui looks like.”

If he didn’t know a person, even with divine sense he couldn’t tell who was who.

Divine sense wasn’t a system—you couldn’t just give it a name and have it find someone.

On this, Li Yunxian, who also had divine sense, was very clear and gave Su Wenjing more information.

“She’s sixth layer Qi Training. See if there’s anyone at that level in the academy who’s crying or just finished crying.”

Su Wenjing:

Suddenly he felt like he was doing two jobs for Li Yunxian.

One for Battle Valley, one for finding people.

So why had he spoken up in the first place? If he hadn’t, whatever happened would just be someone else’s mess.

Like Battle Valley.

But since he had spoken…

Now it was his responsibility.

Su Wenjing was silent for a moment, but in the end gave Li Yunxian a filtered answer.

“If she has a ponytail, she’s probably squatting in the corner below Girls’ Dormitory No.2.”

As soon as he said this, Li Yunxian knew for sure—it was Fei Cui.

She’d just checked the dorm earlier.

Seemed her luck was at work again; she’d left, and Fei Cui came back.

“Thanks.” Li Yunxian waved her hand.

Before long, her figure flickered several times and she quickly appeared at the spot Su Wenjing mentioned.

—Normally, only those at Golden Core could Shrink the Ground to an Inch, but as a practiced user of this technique, Li Yunxian could already use a simplified version.

Suddenly, someone appeared nearby. Fei Cui jumped in shock and quickly turned around.

When she saw it was Li Yunxian, Fei Cui finally relaxed, then muttered, “So Jiang Qiqing went to find you after all.”

There was only one reason Li Yunxian would suddenly come looking for her now.

Seeing Fei Cui’s eyes even redder than Jiang Qiqing’s had been, Li Yunxian silently handed her a tissue.

“Haven’t you always been closest to Qiqing? You’ve known her for ages. Why force her to do things she doesn’t want to do?”

“And don’t say it’s for her own good.”

Li Yunxian half-joked.

Fei Cui pressed her lips together; the excuse she most wanted to use was exposed, and she couldn’t get the words out.

In the end, Fei Cui gave up altogether, her tears streaming down as she pitifully confessed the dark thoughts in her heart.

“I don’t want to be separated from Qiqing. We’re best friends—I want us to be together forever.”

“I don’t want to see her go.”

“If she can’t reach Foundation Establishment, her lifespan will be the same as an ordinary person. Even if she does, she’ll only live three hundred years. I want us to both reach Golden Core,” “And reach Nascent Soul together.”

“I don’t want her to leave me behind.”

“Yunxian, am I being selfish…”

“But I want to keep training with Qiqing, and she has such good talent too…”