CSMCDB - Chapter 166
Chapter 166
Qiu Fei wore a complicated expression. She didn't really want Wen Yuncheng's congratulations… at all. But then she thought of Tao Jingyun, who was only at the second layer of Star King, even if her cultivation had been delayed by academy affairs. At least she wasn't at the bottom among her peers… which was a slight comfort.
"I wonder what's next…" Yan Ling remarked with a strange sense of emotion. "We were all getting ready to go join the fun at the strongholds, but in the blink of an eye, we heard you'd blown up all three fortresses." She glanced at Qiu Fei. Every time she remembered that she had only taken Wen Yuncheng as a disciple because Qiu Fei had won a bet, she found it a little amusing.
"Huanling won't stay quiet for long," Wen Yuncheng said seriously. "But a temporary break is good too. The Empire's Star Emperors can get some rest, and more troops and attention will shift toward Dragon Island."
"The Celestial Fox King also said that most of the sovereigns in the Demonic Beast Great Forest have stated their positions, although he won't proactively reveal their whereabouts or exactly who they are," Wen Yuncheng said. "But Protector Chu has gone to the Demonic Beast Great Forest again. The Green Flood Dragon King, the Dragon Ape King, and the Lynx King, who have already left, will probably make a move soon."
However, based on the layout of the Empire, the Imperial Capital was undoubtedly the safest place. If this was truly an invasion, those guys would probably first secure a region on the Starry Sky Continent as a base, then gradually encroach and annex territory…
Unfortunately, the sole Star Saint couldn't leave the Plane Consciousness's space; otherwise, the Starry Sky Consciousness would have a hard time resisting the Huanling Consciousness's erosion. If the Star Saint could act, he could definitely intimidate Dragon Island to a great extent. It wouldn't even be a problem to beat that group of generals back where they came from.
The Star Emperors wouldn't have to be running around so exhaustedly, trying to get close to Dragon Island but unable to completely conceal their auras. Dragon Island had set up a formation to prevent spying, leaving them no choice but to launch a direct assault and tear away all pretense. On top of that, they were being tied down by the three fortresses within the Empire's borders. It was only after Wen Yuncheng blew up the fortresses that the Star Emperors had the confidence to go to Dragon Island and demand an explanation.
"It's good that they're making a move. What's scary is them staying quiet while planning something big," Yan Ling said, shaking her head. "Once the constraint of the fortresses is gone, the first thing the Empire needs to do is make all the other parties formally declare their stance. Naturally, they won't let the situation in the Demonic Beast Great Forest remain ambiguous. After all, those sovereigns are all Star Emperors. Although the Green Flood Dragon King and the others are slightly inferior, their explosive power cannot be underestimated."
However, it was more accurate to say the Green Flood Dragon King and the Dragon Ape King had defected to Dragon Island rather than the Huanling Continent. It was just that Dragon Island had always rejected these inferior demonic beasts with mixed bloodlines, looking down on "flood dragons" as worms and "dragon apes" as monkeys. Although they had dragon blood in their veins, the Dragon Race disdained to acknowledge it. With this new development… Wen Yuncheng couldn't guess whether those two sovereigns would be able to obtain the dragon blood and bones they craved to break through their limitations. The Green Flood Dragon King… was probably pursuing transformation into a true dragon, right? The Dragon Ape was likely just pursuing pure power. Wen Yuncheng guessed at the sovereigns' motivations. The only one she didn't understand was the Lynx King.
The youngest sovereign in the Demonic Beast Great Forest, young but ranked third in strength—what price had the Huanling Continent offered him? She really couldn't figure it out.
"Do you teachers have any plans coming up?" With more than half the students gone from the academy, many teachers were now idle. Yan Ling had never liked taking on disciples, so she was probably one of the more idle instructors. Qiu Fei… also didn't seem to be teaching any new students.
"Have you found another Fu stronghold?" Yan Ling asked in surprise. "I don't have any plans recently. You can find me anytime."
"Haha, not yet. But if there's no movement from Huanling, I'll probably go scout out some Fu strongholds." After all, it would be a waste not to use her Disguise and Monitor abilities. She had marked two soldiers who had returned to the Huanling Continent, and she still had one slot left.
Wen Yuncheng chatted with Yan Ling, incidentally confirming her public bodyguard for when she went to stir up trouble if Huanling remained inactive. Lin Jinyu, meanwhile, sat quietly face-to-face with Qiu Fei.
"Second layer of Star King already." Qiu Fei sighed with endless emotion. What do I do? My disciple is about to catch up to me! Urgent, waiting online for an answer!
"Yes, I was lucky to have received many opportunities," Lin Jinyu said softly. "The Star Emperors killed Huanling's Phantom Saint, and the heavens bestowed a reward. I was nearby and absorbed many of the light clusters."
"That's also because your foundation is solid. Otherwise, you wouldn't have advanced so steadily even with the reward of the light clusters." Qiu Fei was only emotional for a moment before she stopped dwelling on it. It was a good thing that her disciple was getting stronger; she was just unwilling to accept that the crude Yan Ling was stronger than her. It had been hard to beat Yan Ling in the past, and now… and even in the future, Qiu Fei felt it was probably impossible. "How are things… between you and Wen Yuncheng?"
At the mention of Wen Yuncheng, Lin Jinyu recalled the day she had cried while hugging her. She tilted her head and gave a faint smile. "Very good."
"It's just… Teacher, I'm really looking forward to our wedding. We were planning it before this whole Huanling business, but now everything has been completely disrupted." Lin Jinyu was a little troubled and uncertain. She knew Wen Yuncheng liked her very much—their feelings and their time together couldn't be faked, but… "But, Wen Yuncheng doesn't seem to have much expectation or interest in it."
"…" Qiu Fei looked shocked. Time really flew. The disciple who was still a child in her memory was actually starting to talk about marriage. "Maybe once everything calms down, Wen Yuncheng will give you a surprise?"
"A surprise?"
"Yes. Even if she acts like she doesn't care, maybe she's secretly preparing things in private?" Qiu Fei said, nodding. "Those two little ones used to go on dates every day and give each other all sorts of birthday surprises every year. How could Wen Yuncheng not care? She definitely cares! Her silence now probably means she's holding in a surprise." However, Qiu Fei had absolutely no idea that in Wen Yuncheng's mind… she really didn't care too much about things like marriage.
After hearing Qiu Fei's words, Lin Jinyu thought about it in silence and felt it made some sense. Then she became a little embarrassed. "Thank you, Teacher."
"It's nothing. But that Wen Yuncheng is always taking risks. Now she even dares to pull tricks right under the nose of a half-step Phantom Saint, and she did it three times… There's no one else like her on the entire continent. It's okay to take risks on some things, but if she's not confident, you have to talk her out of it."
"I know."
After seeing off her two most outstanding disciples, Yan Ling leaned back in her chair and sighed. She had never thought about training any disciples in her life, and she hadn't paid much attention to her only one at the beginning. After all, not only had Wen Yuncheng gotten in through the back door, but she had also been forced on her as part of a bet after Qiu Fei beat her in a drinking contest. As it turned out, Wen Yuncheng gave her a surprise almost every time and constantly refreshed her understanding of "Star Power Mutation." By now, this disciple she'd picked up so cheaply had already grown to the pinnacle of her age group.
She might even surpass her soon. But when she thought of this, the first feeling that arose in Yan Ling's heart was actually gratification.
Back then, when she had casually said, "Wait until Wen Yuncheng has grown to a certain level, then she can protect the Star Auction House"… she hadn't actually held much hope. Her real intention was to motivate Wen Yuncheng to cultivate even harder. As it turned out, before Wen Yuncheng had even reached her 23rd birthday, she was already not far from being able to fulfill those words. Time really flew…
Yan Ling opened a box, looked at the cans of beer inside, and then kicked open the door to Qiu Fei's office while holding the box. "Hey, want a drink?"
"A drinking contest?" Qiu Fei glanced at Yan Ling and snorted. "You can't outdrink me anyway."
This tone made Yan Ling raise an eyebrow. She gave a cold smile. "Why don't we try?"
"Fine. Let's get Jingyun to be the judge. Don't you dare deny it when you lose—no using Star Power while drinking." Qiu Fei stood up, walked over to Yan Ling, and took a can of beer from the box she was holding. As soon as she took it out, beads of condensation formed on the cold can. Qiu Fei pulled the tab, tilted her head back to take a gulp, then lifted her chin at Yan Ling with an unrestrained smile.
This kind of provocation… Yan Ling was already used to it. She felt that her temper had gotten better and better since taking on a disciple. Even seeing Qiu Fei's provocations didn't make her hands itch for a fight anymore. She put the box into her storage ring with a backhand motion, then raised her hand to cover Qiu Fei's, pressing it down and drinking the remaining half of the beer clean. "Let's go?"
Qiu Fei… had really not expected this turn of events. She looked at Yan Ling, quite startled, and changed the subject in the next second. "Big Sis Yan~ How many times have I told you not to be so crude when you drink? Look at you. It's because you're always like this that no one wants to drink with you~"
"Oh? So you're not a person?"
"…"
Qiu Fei began to miss the old Yan Ling, the one she could provoke into a furious rage with just a few words. Damn it, she hadn't seen Yan Ling fly off the handle in a long time. What was wrong with this she-tyrannosaurus? Qiu Fei gritted her teeth. The most unbelievable thing was that in the past two years, new young teachers had come to the academy, and those people were always fawning over Yan Ling—
Things had changed, changed. Everything had changed.
When leaving the academy, Wen Yuncheng went to check on Xiao Shi'er again. However, she didn't reveal herself, only watching as Xiao Shi'er was being trained by the Celestial Fox King. After watching, she felt very gratified and returned to her residence hand-in-hand with Lin Jinyu.
I hope Xiao Shi'er can return to her original adorable appearance! A fluffy creature should be fluffy, not a ball of fat! The fluff should be airy and poofy, not solid!
Next, Wen Yuncheng went to the First Princess to request information on Fu's strongholds again. However, Wen Yuncheng had already wiped out ninety-nine percent of the ones the Empire knew about last time. Upon hearing this request again, the First Princess said she needed to communicate with the Star Emperors. So, Wen Yuncheng could only wait in the Imperial Capital. And during these few days of waiting, Huanling made a new move.
—Or rather, it was Wen Yuncheng who discovered Huanling's move.
The two soldiers she had marked had suddenly reappeared on the Starry Sky Continent! She could suddenly locate them again! However, the Empire had no information about any planar passages being opened! Wen Yuncheng brought out a map and compared it with the Monitor's location, discovering that the two soldiers were in the same place—
Dragon Island.
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