Du Rong was taken away by several teachers, Yu Juanshu was sent off to continue recovering, and Du Sen’s chat was also shut down.
In the auditorium, as usual, the teachers gave their speeches—mostly saying that everyone should have gained a lot, that they needed to work hard to digest and comprehend the recent events, and to strive for breakthroughs in Foundation Establishment.
After what had just happened, no one really had the heart to listen.
Once the meeting ended and the teachers left, groups of students started gathering, chatting among themselves about the Du Family incident.
Lian Ping nudged Li Yunxian curiously and asked, “Do you think your friend will let Du Rong survive?”
“Of course,” Li Yunxian replied without hesitation. “But Qiyao will definitely give Du Rong a good beating.”
“That’s just perfect.”
“Why would she even bother training up to Qi Refining Eighth Layer just to fight him fairly and squarely?”
“Now that Qiyao is at Qi Refinement Fourth Layer and Du Rong has no cultivation, the gap is just right. It’s the difference between two cultivators both at the fourth layer.”
“Let Du Rong experience firsthand what fairness really is, based on how he acted back then.”
After finishing, Li Yunxian shouted loudly to the students ahead, “Hey, everyone! If you’ve got grudges against Du Rong, now’s the time to settle them. After this, the opportunity’s gone. If you can hit him now, make sure to give him a good beating.”
The students:
“So ruthless!”
“Truly worthy of being that Silver Ginkgo.”
Lian Ping couldn’t help but chuckle.
She had figured out that Li Yunxian was discreetly signaling Yu Qiyao on what to do, while also giving her a fallback plan.
Even if the Du Family got angry, their ire would only be directed at Li Yunxian.
After laughing, Lian Ping felt a bit helpless and patted Li Yunxian on the shoulder. “Alright, let’s go find my teacher.”
“Ah? Why would I go find your teacher?” Li Yunxian asked, puzzled.
Lian Ping pointed at the bundle she was carrying. “This is something the two of us can’t handle.”
“This bundle contains Essence Souls.”
“Normally, you have to find their families to return them for proper burial.”
“If you can’t find family, they must be sent to the Collective Hero Grave to appease any lingering resentment.”
“This isn’t something students like us can manage. The school has to handle it.”
Li Yunxian waved her hand. “No need, you go ahead. I’m going to sleep a bit. I still have classes this afternoon.”
“Since I’m back, Su Wenjing, that sly fox, definitely won’t cover for me anymore.”
“Eh?” Lian Ping was stunned.
She actually wanted to introduce Li Yunxian to her teacher.
Her Foundation Establishment threshold was loosening; it probably wouldn’t be long before she broke through and graduated.
Lian Ping’s teacher was also at the Fenshen Stage, and without other students, he’d definitely be a sought-after mentor.
Li Yunxian seemed completely unaware of this.
In truth, she understood Lian Ping’s kindness, but she wasn’t prepared to take on a teacher or bind herself with too many karmic ties.
So things were fine as they were now.
***
After bidding farewell to Lian Ping, Li Yunxian left the auditorium and soon noticed a Golden Core stage cultivator outside, staring at her with a look full of grievance.
Li Yunxian: “?”
Who was this?
Why did it feel like she had wronged him?
Li Yunxian studied him carefully for a while, certain she had never seen him before.
Not even among the group of teaching assistants who attended meetings with her back then was his face familiar.
Hesitantly, Li Yunxian approached him.
“Who are you?” she asked.
Looking at Li Yunxian’s pure yet somewhat adorable face, the man introduced himself softly.
“My name is Hua Shunyu.”
Just five simple characters, but they explained why he looked like someone who had been badly mistreated by Li Yunxian.
Li Yunxian:
UKA……
Looking at his expression, she was silent for a few seconds before reaching out to pat his shoulder. “Assistant Instructor, from now on, you won’t have to worry about being unnoticed in the academy.”
FFLX……
“Getting a raise?” Li Yunxian asked.
Hua Shunyu didn’t want to recall what he’d been through since returning to the academy at noon the previous day.
He had never experienced such a warm welcome from his colleagues.
From the moment he registered his return at the Mission Center, the staff had been enthusiastic.
Everyone greeted him warmly, saying, “Assistant Instructor Hua, you’re finally back!”
He was overwhelmed by the attention.
People asked about his experiences outside, how he found a substitute for his classes.
Hua Shunyu answered honestly, even excitedly explaining the inspection mission he’d taken.
But he could tell his colleagues weren’t really listening, barely suppressing laughter.
Then they all escorted him to Number Three Teaching Building.
Seeing this place made Hua Shunyu nervous.
He had wanted to come here anyway to check on his terrifyingly increased teaching credits during his absence.
Now he was here, but the excited looks on everyone’s faces made him even more uneasy.
Swallowing hard, Hua Shunyu nervously asked, “Did something bad happen? Are you trying to prepare me psychologically…”
The words were written in bold.
“How could it be?” other assistants laughed heartily. “It’s a good thing. A very good thing.”
“Yes, a great thing.”
“There’s hardly anything better than this.”
Hua Shunyu’s mind was full of question marks, and eventually, surrounded by everyone, he was brought to Classroom 1007.
Passing the classroom door first, he saw the class nameplate clearly displaying his name and the title 《Jianshu Introduction》.
That seemed normal.
But…
Hua Shunyu looked ahead.
Why were there so many people outside the classroom window?
And at first glance, it seemed they were all Golden Core stage cultivators.
Stunned, Hua Shunyu was pushed to the window and instinctively peeked inside.
The classroom’s display screen wasn’t showing the PPT he had prepared.
All the chairs were neatly folded away, and 35 students were orderly practicing sword techniques.
Very standard sword techniques.
It seemed they had really started the Introduction to Swordsmanship.
All in the two months since he’d left.
Hua Shunyu froze, then felt as if something appeared in his eyes.
It had long, silvery-white hair, a blue flame mark on its forehead, and narrow phoenix eyes that glanced at him faintly.
Hua Shunyu:
Hua Shunyu:
He stepped back.
His mind seemed to flash with many things, then suddenly nothing at all—a complete blank.
“Ha.” Hua Shunyu heard his own dry voice. “Li Yunxian really looks like Su Professor.”
When tasks were issued and accepted through the Mission Center, the real names were always shown. Hua Shunyu knew Li Yunxian’s full name.
Someone patted Hua Shunyu on the shoulder. “That’s Su Professor.”
“Li Yunxian got Su Professor to substitute teach for you. Happy now?” The voice was full of barely concealed anticipation for the show.
Hua Shunyu took a long time to process this news. His mind was so overwhelmed, he had no concept of happy or unhappy anymore.
He asked blankly, “Li Yunxian brought Su Professor? What’s their relationship?”
Colleague A: “Well… it starts with Professor Du Sen ambushing Li Yunxian.”
Hua Shunyu: “?”
Hua Shunyu: “There’s more about Professor Du Sen again?”
Colleague B: “Then you have to hear about Li Yunxian going to the Xuanwen Secret Realm.”
Hua Shunyu: “?”
“Wait?!” He felt he’d misheard. “Assistants can participate in the Secret Realm now?”
Colleague C: “That goes back to the conditions you set when posting the mission.”
Hua Shunyu:
He’d been away less than two months, not two years, or twenty!
How could there be so many stories to start?!
Hua Shunyu stared blankly at everyone, listening as they gleefully recounted everything Li Yunxian had done at the academy—both what she did under his name and what she did without it.
Everyone was extremely satisfied watching Hua Shunyu’s completely shattered expression, recording the whole thing and thoughtfully sending him a copy.
How could this not count as a uniquely memorable life documentary?
When the kind colleagues were done, they patted Hua Shunyu’s shoulder and offered him some comfort.
“Look on the bright side—at least now everyone knows Li Yunxian is truly Li Yunxian.”
Hua Shunyu:
“Well, then who was the person named in the meeting records who opposed Principal Zhou?” Hua Shunyu asked softly.
Everyone struggled to hold back laughter as they offered their condolences: “Just pretend you don’t know.”
“Then don’t tell me!” Hua Shunyu wailed.