Li Yunxian answered calmly, then, out of curiosity, turned to Su Wenjing and asked, “Do you have any regrets?”
Su Wenjing was silent for a while before finally answering, “I regret it.”
Li Yunxian was both surprised and unsurprised by this answer.
Given the way she thought, it was hard for her to imagine anyone feeling regret.
Especially Su Wenjing.
It wasn’t because Li Yunxian knew Su Wenjing well, but rather because Su Wenjing had once been at the Tribulation Crossing stage.
To reach the Tribulation Crossing stage meant Su Wenjing’s heart and mind should be very strong.
It was hard to imagine Su Wenjing belonging to the regretful type.
But thinking about it, if Su Wenjing didn’t have such feelings, he wouldn’t have asked her that question.
That’s right, everyone has their own thoughts. Even among those who reach the Tribulation Crossing stage, among the people Li Yunxian knows, no one’s personality is exactly the same.
She considered what she knew about Su Wenjing.
It didn’t matter.
In a sense, perhaps this was Su Wenjing putting his own thoughts into practice.
Li Yunxian didn’t judge whether his thoughts were good or bad; she was just curious about one thing.
“If you care about this, why do you keep coming to play with me?”
I can’t get past the Nascent Soul bottleneck, so I only have eight hundred years of life.
At first, between Li Yunxian and Su Wenjing, they kept track of favors clearly—who owed whom, always calculated.
Now, they didn’t care much about that anymore.
To Li Yunxian, the two of them might not count as real friends, but they could definitely be called acquaintances who could chat.
As for Su Wenjing…
Li Yunxian felt she might be more important to him.
One regret after another—so, a fox who hadn’t talked to anyone in perhaps a thousand years, finally found a person he could talk to…
Sometimes, Li Yunxian even felt this fox was a chatterbox.
And Su Wenjing, upon hearing Li Yunxian’s words:
Su Wenjing:
He recalled every time he went to find Li Yunxian.
Alright, it really was quite frequent.
Over this past year, he’d come nearly dozens of times.
In all his two hundred years in Tiantong, he’d never been this diligent in seeking anyone out.
Was this what he wanted?
When Li Yunxian said these things, did she not think about what she did every time?!
Eight hundred years of life?
Su Wenjing’s expression turned odd.
What echoed by his ears now were the voices of the upper echelons of the Four Great Academies doing accounting.
They were accounting for everything Li Yunxian had done at each academy.
Those in charge only had part of Li Yunxian’s story, so hadn’t felt much, but now that everything was laid out, it was shocking.
Truly, wherever she went, she caused a stir—never a moment of peace.
Now, those who were resting had already started checking Li Yunxian’s first year cultivation journey, and were contacting the Academy to investigate what she had done in Jin City.
But even based only on what Su Wenjing had already heard, it was enough to leave him in awe.
“I don’t think I need to worry about that. Feels like even if I die, you still won’t. A true disaster lasts for a thousand years.”
Li Yunxian: “?”
She felt there was more to Su Wenjing’s words.
Forget it, it wasn’t anything serious anyway.
“So, you mean you don’t regret meeting me?” Li Yunxian’s voice carried a smile.
Su Wenjing: …Narcissist.
Li Yunxian stifled a laugh.
Still didn’t deny it, did he?
Immediately, Li Yunxian felt Su Wenjing’s voice transmission at her ear cut off.
The fox had been ‘angered’ and left.
Li Yunxian laughed even louder.
She needed a moment to recover before, feeling the time was about right, she headed back to her villa.
Sure enough.
Feicui and Jiang Qiqing were fully recovered.
When Li Yunxian entered, the two were haggling and bickering.
Jiang Qiqing: “Getting up at five is absolutely impossible. Everyone says eight hours is the minimum for sleep, and considering the time it takes to fall asleep, going to bed at 22:00, the latest should be 7:00…”
Feicui: “Then you have to actually sleep after 22:00, not play games under the covers.”
Jiang Qiqing: “That’s called building up to sleepiness!”
Feicui: “I don’t believe you at all!!”
The two quarreled back and forth, but when they saw Li Yunxian return, both girls gave embarrassed smiles.
Li Yunxian pretended not to notice their awkwardness, raised both hands, and as if performing magic, grabbed the food she’d taken from her storage space out of the air.
“Since you’re all better, let’s have a feast.”
“I’ve got specialty dishes from all the academies here. This kind, I shared with Yu Qiyao and the others before; Qiyao really liked it, so it should suit your Kui City taste too.”
“And this, I snatched some shaved ice from Lin Xiufeng. He made it with magic—what flavor syrup do you want?”
Li Yunxian’s stylish move immediately drew cries of amazement from the two.
The three of them happily began eating, and Jiang Qiqing told Li Yunxian the consensus she and Feicui had reached after talking.
“She doesn’t pressure me, so I’ll try a bit harder at cultivation!” Jiang Qiqing clenched her fist.
Li Yunxian gave her an enthusiastic seal-like clap.
With Li Yunxian’s encouragement, Jiang Qiqing suddenly seemed emboldened, and showed off to Feicui.
“Also, it’s just that I’m not diligent enough. My temperament is fine. I’ve cultivated all this way, and it’s only ever been an issue of speed, never a bottleneck of mind.”
Hmph.
“Cui Cui, that rascal, is so confident and just assumes my cultivation will always be lower than hers?!”
“Maybe I’ll be the one to see her off! When that day comes, just watch—I’ll definitely dance on Cui Cui’s grave!” Jiang Qiqing snorted. Feicui retorted, “Only probabilities deserve ‘maybe’!”
Li Yunxian enjoyed her food as the two girls whacked each other with pillows in a mock cat fight.
After the commotion, they returned to the table.
Jiang Qiqing, sipping her special milk tea, asked curiously, “Yunxian, I want to be a kindergarten teacher. Cui Cui wants to join the Military Guard. What about you?”
“Shouldn’t you be graduating soon?”
Li Yunxian, chewing barbecue, replied, “I can go back and start graduation procedures any time now.”
“I’m already at Foundation Establishment mid-stage.”
Jiang Qiqing and Feicui stared, eyes wide in shock at Li Yunxian.
They both remembered that just two months ago, Li Yunxian was only at Qi Refining eighth level.
Though winners at Battle Valley improved quickly, in their minds, reaching early Foundation Establishment would already be remarkable.
But mid-Foundation Establishment…
The further you go in cultivation, the harder it gets. The leap from early to mid-Foundation was harder than all of Qi Refining 1-5 put together.
But Li Yunxian…was already mid-Foundation Establishment?!
Their peer had reached Foundation Establishment mid-stage.
Jiang Qiqing and Feicui couldn’t suppress the complexity of their emotions.
Especially Jiang Qiqing.
“Cui Cui, now I get why, after you saw Yunxian that day, you were so shaken you forced me to get up and train.”
Jiang Qiqing’s voice was full of anguish.
Li Yunxian snickered and went on, “After graduation, I’ll probably join the Special Management Bureau.”
“I really like their way of handling things—if you dislike someone, you can just slap them.”
“And there’s no strict management like the Military Guard; as long as you meet your monthly quota, it’s pretty relaxed and free.”
“But I haven’t decided which city to go to yet. I’ll ask my teacher for a recommendation later.”
The two listened to Li Yunxian and fell silent.
How could they not know the Special Management Bureau’s style wasn’t really ‘if you dislike someone, just slap them’?
The Bureau only had authority for those who broke the rules, or for dealing with other races, right?
But…the two looked at Li Yunxian.
They found it hard to imagine the kind of person Li Yunxian would actually dislike.
In their eyes, Li Yunxian was gentle and caring, always good to everyone.
Even at the end of the selection trial, when Shen Bofeng provoked her, Li Yunxian calmly let it slide—never showing any dislike.
She looked young, but really, she was a reliable big sister, mature beyond her years.
Anyone Li Yunxian disliked must be someone who really broke the rules or belonged to another race.
So Jiang Qiqing lifted her milk tea and toasted Li Yunxian, “Alright, then here’s to you, Yunxian, our future Bureau Chief.”
Feicui echoed, “Come on, future Chief, cheers!”
The three mapped out their futures together, but reality always differs from dreams.
After the accounting was over, those from Battle Valley looked at Li Yunxian’s remarkable achievements in silence.
No matter where she went, she made a splash—no exceptions.
Looking back, seeing Li Yunxian’s current cultivation, everyone had the same question as Jiang Qiqing and Feicui.
“Where will she go after graduation?”
Whether it was Military Guard, Academy, or Special Management Bureau, they all mainly assigned people to various cities.
Wherever she was placed, it felt like she’d bring trouble.
Each city had millions of people—they couldn’t handle the chaos!
“Maybe send her to Xia City, West City, or Zhou City?” These were all major cities of Shenzhou.
“I think the capital would be fine, too. Plenty of strong people there, nothing could go wrong.”
Someone said quietly, “Wasn’t Heavenly Ladder Battle Valley filled with strong people, too?”
The one who gave the suggestion:
Everyone at the Four Great Academies was at their wit’s end.
They’d never imagined a fresh Foundation Establishment student would be this difficult to place.
After a round of heated discussion among the professors, Principal Ji of Ji Law School had a thought and suggested a seemingly good plan.
“We were discussing the exchange program with the Interstellar side, weren’t we supposed to bring a Foundation Establishment along?”
“Let’s take Li Yunxian.”
Even if the world exploded, the only ones affected would be other people.
But for Fu Ling, who’d made a deal with Li Yunxian, she was reluctant.
She hoped Li Yunxian could stay, safely reach Golden Core, and then go to the Divine Ruins.
“She’s the perfect seedling. There are several Tribulation Crossing cultivators on the Interstellar side, even some at the Great Ascension stage—if she provokes someone…that’s way too risky.”
The principal of Pingnan, however, agreed with Principal Ji, “We all take risks to get here, and the best seedlings can’t be overly protected.”
“Besides, what Li Yunxian did can only be called destructive, not wrong.”
“If the Interstellar side can’t tolerate this, then we’ll see their true colors.”
The group argued, but clearly, the more self-interested Fu Ling was outvoted.
Seeing she couldn’t win the argument, Fu Ling didn’t insist, but…
She looked to Su Wenjing. “This will be our last full exchange with the Interstellar side.”
“Sending someone too strong or too weak isn’t appropriate.”
“The former seems provocative, and the top experts all have heavy responsibilities.”
“But those who are too weak might never make it back.”
“Elder Su, would you consider leading the team?” Fu Ling asked.
She was trying to add a safeguard for her chosen genius.
Su Wenjing, hearing this suggestion:
This time, it wasn’t reluctance to get involved that made him silent, but rather the realization—seeing the others’ expressions—that left him speechless.
Su Wenjing understood everyone’s intentions. This time, every academy, the Special Management Bureau, and the Military Guard were all sending people.
All outstanding elites—everyone hoped they’d return safely.
But…
Su Wenjing thought of his own luck, then of Li Yunxian’s luck.
He didn’t need a premonition to know—something big would definitely happen.
Not just big—disastrously big.
He didn’t want to go.
“Alright…” Su Wenjing replied coldly.
If it really comes to that, at least he wouldn’t knowingly let Li Yunxian, who’d already suffered soul damage, face it alone.