Beaten-up Hero’s Tale – Story

The top 100 battle list at the end of the second year of high school was released. Yan Yan squeezed in to see it, but there was still no Lu Haikong, and no Xie Zi’an.

Back in the dormitory, Sheng Yu and Zi’an were nibbling on duck necks, after chewing on duck necks, the three swept the dead cockroaches that died from bug poison into the trash can in the hallway. It’s been two years, and still she doesn’t know where Lu Haikong has gone, and why Zi’an has changed her ways of attack so drastically.

In this world, the basis of students’ combat power is course grades. Xie Zi’an’s grades are very good and she is skillful at lancing. She used to call herself a lazy salty fish half-jokingly, but now she has indeed become a salty fish who loves nibbling on duck necks and working out. Xiao Shengyu has decided to pursue art in high school, which she quietly but steadily progressed. Although her art grades are enough to be a good defender, she seems to have little interest in fighting. The person who disappeared without a trace said Yan Yan has good looks, it’s even better if she chose the medical path, but being a medic is impossible to fight on one’s own. She could only accept the changes that occur in the world, and with her close friends as well.

Students’ dormitory conditions, uniforms, self-study privileges and so on are all linked to the combat ratings of students, which they can fight on their own or in team battles. But her team’s output was now under seal – there were times when Xie Zi’an picked up a branch and jabbed for one or two times, but most of the time they could only mimic the enemy’s tactics. When the enemy approaches, they draw back. Yan Yan is not very concerned about them living in the more energetic and colorful D-class dormitory. After all, the girls are happy enough just being together nibbling duck necks and eating potato chips. It’s just that she often feels that the calming happiness is always a bit distorted, and just like the cockroaches that hop out from under the bed, the people she likes will suddenly disappear, with no one believing she has the ability to face the bare truth.

The final exam of sophomore year was over. Shengyu carried her drawing board and carried duck necks back to the dormitory. Xie Zi’an saw her coming back and closed her notebook. They didn’t tell Yan Yan that Zi’an still got the fourth place in her year in the final exam and didn’t use a lance anymore because she didn’t have one, but not for some stupid reason such as her mouth has already evolved into a machine gun. Shengyu’s weapon is a shield, she likes mountains and the sea. Zi’an says she has a kind of blunted tenderness, but she always feels like she has a lot of messy worries too.

Winter break is about to begin, and Shengyu is not going to stay in the battle world. She already has a tutoring appointment with her art teacher who loves collecting bug specimens. Yan Yan will be looking for Lu Haikong in the battle world, unsurprisingly. Zi’an said that because the D-class dormitory’s living conditions are too bad that she lost ten kilos, so she will be working out with her younger brother Xie Ziquan to become bigger and stronger, and as a postscript also said she will be staying in the battle world for a few days. Her combat power is technically zero, which means going into the battle world is a suicide mission, but Shengyu did not ask why. She is contented and happy as long as the three of them can gather in the dormitory for the entirety of the winter vacation again.

But the first day of winter break was not quite peaceful, the reason is that the female knight-errant out of the 800 couple declared war on them. The term “800 couple” was coined by  Zi’an, meaning that the two of them could have a combined combat power of 800, which is undoubtedly an S-class combat rating. However, the female knight-errant thinks that Zi’an is mocking them, as their “couple” status is in jeopardy because of the involvement of the famous beauty Yan Yan. She launched a 1v3 forced PK on them, and Shengyu could only enter the arena exhaustedly, just to be beaten up.

In the arena, Yan Yan has just joined online. As a medic with a celestial aura and a good face and posture, she truly is everyone’s favorite. Yan Yan is negotiating with the female knight errant in red. Zi’an also came online slowly, holding in a lot of crap talk to spew. It is worth mentioning that Zi’an’s combat image is barefoot, which makes her look even shorter, Shengyu thought in secret.

The girl’s whip came down, whereas Shengyu did not dodge in time. Immediately her skin lashed open, showing flesh underneath. She and Zi’an looked at each other, thought that there is no other way but to admit defeat. Regrettably, Zi’an opened her mouth to say “if you have the nerves, go hit your man, what kind of person would fight a woman”, and the end is that the three of them were left with zero life value that day.

After being forcefully dropped offline, the three of them decided to have some hot pot in the dormitory. Although Zi’an’s combat rating was F, she easily asked her classmates living in the A-class dormitory to borrow the hot pot and seasoning because her grades were classified in class A. Yan Yan also smuggled back the hot pot ingredients from the school gate under the cover of many suitors.

Zi’an waited for the hot pot to boil. She was the woman with the most mocking expressions and the largest stock of trash talk that Shengyu had ever seen, but unfortunately, she could only end up with a beating in the arena. Yan Yan is carefully using water to rinse the bowls once more, and Shengyu asked her why the girl from the 800 couple would think there was something between Yan Yan and the male warrior.

Because Yan Yan went to class A to find that nerd, I bet.

Zi’an said lazily.

The nerd in question is, in fact, the second place of this semester’s master ranking, Shen Yanran. He and the male knight-errant of the 800 couple are both in the science A class. Once the legendary beauty Yan Yan heads to the science A class, it doesn’t really matter who she is looking for anymore.

Shen Yanran and the girls were junior high school classmates from the same class, but at that time Lu Haikong was still their friend, and they would hang out together. Yan Yan likes Lu Haikong, to the point where the whole junior high knows. Yet, Lu Haikong disappeared after the high school entrance examinations. It seemed that Shen Yanran was the only one who knows the reason for his disappearance. Shen Yanran is a bad liar, but he is very good at shutting up. No matter how Yan Yan cries and makes a scene, he is silent, albeit sympathetic. Xie Zi’an, who couldn’t stand it anymore, even brought a lance and fought with Shen Yanran, ending with the shattering of Shen Yanran’s sword, “Cheng Feng”, along with their friendship.

Yan Yan hasn’t pried Shen Yanran’s mouth for the last year, this time she also asked without hope if there was any news about Lu Haikong. Shen Yanran told her succinctly that there was none and then stood there in silence, not knowing what to say. Yan Yan was suddenly surrounded by other boys from Science A class. She seemed to hear Shen Yanran ask about Zi’an, but before she could think about it, Shen Yanran already went back to his seat.

In this world, 18 years old is a dividing line. The school is like a cocoon to familiarize the students with the two worlds. After 18, each person can choose whether to live in the ordinary world or in the combat world. But once you step out of the cocoon, you enter the real Jianghu. Shen Yanran feels that those who choose to live in the combat world are brave, but no one should be brave simply to find another person.

Few people know that the “Sword Saint” Shen Yanran’s sword is not his initial sword; his initial sword died in Zi’an’s hands before he became famous. “Cheng Feng” died abruptly instead of a wronged death because Zi’an gradually guessed that Lu Haikong had joined the Shao Jing Camp. The Shao Jing Camp only accepts teenage geniuses under 18 years old. Using the undying buff of underage students, they risk life and death situations for the patrons in the combat world. With high risk comes high reward, and taking missions is a good way to root down in the world of combat. Lu Haikong must be determined to cut off his past if he’s already well into the camp. She also considered telling Yan Yan about her suspicions, but the thought that Yan Yan might end up in tears and attempt to be Lu Haikong‘s personal medic, Xie Zi’an’s head might just swell three times bigger.

Xie Zi’an didn’t even tell Shen Yu about her speculation because it was often hard for Shen Yu to resist Yan Yan’s begging tactics. She just kind of felt sorry for Shen Yanran, it really was a secret that couldn’t be told, but she made him pay the price of losing his initial sword. After all, one’s initial sword is often the most competent weapon. Xie Zi’an knows she has a vicious mouth, but she firmly believes that her conscience is not bad. She melted her initial lance, Long Yin, and with a full two years are collecting materials and learning skills, she would be able to return “Cheng Feng pro” to Shen Yanran this winter break.

Zi’an only wished that she would be able to successfully forge “Heng Feng pro” this winter break without distractions and with some luck. However, the female knight errant forced her into a 1v1 PK. She’s not targeting Yan Yan, so it must be Zi’an’s own big mouth that caused all this trouble. As someone who is not famous in school to the point of being transparent, Zi’an had not joined forced 1v1 much, so when she came online this time, she was surprised to find that almost the entire Science A’s had come to watch.

The science class A’s students said that she deliberately does not use weapons, which is an act attempted to humiliate the female knight-errant, Xie Zi’an couldn’t explain herself even with a hundred mouths, and so can only sincerely wish for the 800 couple’s longevity, and begs for a light beat of the whip. But it’s probably because of Zi’an’s habit of speaking ironically, the lines she delivered were simply dripping with irony. So again, her life value went down to zero today.

After going offline, Shengyu applied sticky tape to her mouth, said this is the best way to save her life. Yan Yan dropped tears like the beauty she is (not in a bad way), and feels that it’s all her fault. But Zi’an feels that it’s not Yan Yan’s fault, or her mouth’s, for that matter. The only thing to blame is this damned sentimentality. If “the center of the universe” Lu Haikong had not appeared, Yan Yan wouldn’t have a shitty relationship, and she wouldn’t spew that much bullshit as well.

When Shengyu returned to the dorm with her drawing board as usual, she learned that Xie Zi’an had been flogged in public again today. She knew something might have gone wrong with Zi’an’s initial weapon, but she couldn’t understand why Zi’an acted like she had forgotten how to jab. In the past, Xie Zi’an would babble over this question, but today she said it was almost time, she had loaded her skills space with forging materials before, so she could unload them right away soon enough.

Shengyu did not ask why she had loaded the forging materials to the full before, she just sincerely felt happy for her. If sister Zi’an could move her lance around again, she believed they could definitely cooperate together and move out of the D-class dorm, or even into the nice A-class dorms. Xie Zi’an advised her to wake up from her daydream, but she would always firmly overestimate Xie Zi’an’s abilities.

After Yan Yan went offline, she deeply reflected on her foolishness in finding Shen Yanran, which had caused a lot of inconvenience to everyone. Shengyu did feel that the whipping was Xie Zi’an’s own doing, and that the fact that Yan Yan had never given up looking for Lu Haikong was the biggest problem. Shengyu can understand how sunflowers chase the sun, but in her world, if the sun decides to leave the sunflower’s world, the sunflower cannot uproot itself to find the sun.

She tried to talk very seriously with Yan Yan about life planning, romantic relationships, and Lu Haikong. Although they are very good friends, their brain structures still seem to differ. After all, Xie Zi’an mocked her for not having the teenage heart of a young girl, while Yan Yan breathed in the shape of a marriage certificate. But she still felt admiration for Yan Yan’s persistence and tenacity.

Shengyu hopes that someone worth following behind can also appear in her life, but she feels she has many small goals to achieve before that happens.

Three days later, word came that the 800 couples suddenly broke up. This brought Zi’an so much joy that she drank two more cups of protein powder than usual.

Xie Zi’an’s reasons for drinking protein powder have to do with her cousin Xie Ziquan. Xie Ziquan is a year younger than Xie Zi’an with average grades, whose future dream is to be a good-tempered fitness instructor. Today, he asked Zi’an to work out together and become bigger and stronger. Xie Ziquan waited after their workout, until they are both tired, to stammer that he is at the risk of failing his exams this year. If he ends up in F-class, can sister-sama come and visit him in prison-like living conditions?

She did not understand why her cousin could not inherit one ten thousandth of her smarts in examinations, just like she could not understand why she had a hunchbacked brother of 185 centimeters tall when she only barely reaches 160 centimeters on tiptoe. Xie Ziquan listened to her scolding half-heartedly, told Zi’an that his plump dormmate is reselling Air Jordan sneakers, he is planning to get a pair for Zi’an and himself for a low price, it would be so cool if they went to the gym in those. She was touched by Zi Quan’s filial piety in offering AJs again, forgetting about the F class talk completely, hooked her arm around his shoulder on the way to eat beef energy bowls.

While eating, Xie Ziquan said that brother Shen had recently asked why your combat score was so low, it was almost as if you were completely paralyzed. Xie Zi’an loudly retorted that Shen Yanran wouldn’t make such a boring analogy. Xie Ziquan chuckled, said that he added that phrase, but he also wondered why Xie Zi’an was all obsessed with forging lately. The exam scores in this world are only the base score of combat power. They are also multiplied by the coefficient of combat skill proficiency and weapon proficiency for the final combat power. Although Xie Zi’an’s base score is also around 400, her combat coefficient is almost zero, because all she carried in her skill storage for two years were forging skills.

Xie Zi’an raised a cup of Popeye Spinach Juice and clinked glasses with Xie Ziquan, telling her brother in a weathered tone, that you always have to pay back when testing the waters of the Jianghu.

Xie Zi’an returned to the dorm with light toes after working out, thinking that at this point that Shengyu and Yan Yan were taking a nap, but who knew that they were chatting with the 800 female knight-errant about the legendary Shao Jing Camp.

The 800 knight-errant saw Zi’an come back, and asked directly, are you looking down on me?

Xie Zi’an was just about to speak, but Yan Yan winked madly at Zi’an while Shengyu began to look for tape, and the 800 female knight-errant apologized to the three of them. Her boyfriend was cheating but cheated on her with a little beauty of the science A class right under her nose. Yan Yan is just a shield for his actions.

Yan Yan tenderly patted the 800 female knight-errant, with Shengyu still unable to comprehend this love-hate relationship. Xie Zi’an accepted the 800 female knight-errant’s apology, spoke frankly that the 800 female knight-errant is such a beauty, and should not be looking for a boyfriend in the trashcan. The 800 female knight-errant carefully mulled over Zi’an’s words, trying to detect if there is irony involved. She then digressed to ask Xie Zi’an if she also received an interview from Shao Jing Camp. Xie Zi’anan thought, no wonder Yan Yan’s face has been cloudy today. The secret of Shao Jing Camp was finally out in the open.

It is said that each person’s image and skills in the combat world is a reflection of her inner world, Xie Zi’an’s combat image has changed after the interview with Shao Jing Camp.

It is said Zhao Yun’s seven ins and seven outs of Chang Ban Po used the lance, so that the lance symbolized loneliness, power, and heroism in Xie Zi’an’s eyes. Xie Zi’an’s initial battle image was clad in silver armor with the look of a young hero. With self-proclaimed heroism, she battled the bald dean with her friends, continued to jab with her lance after getting beaten to the ground. Spitting out blood, she fought again.

Until the summer of her junior year graduation, she received a waitlist interview for Shao Jing Camp, the examiner told her a lance can actually string 12 heads together, and it is not used to poke birds in the butt. Xie Zi’an dumbly entered the second round of the martial arts test and was instantly back-stabbed out of the game, and her combat image changed a bit to the assassin’s outfit that she favors today.

Haruki Murakami said that people do not grow old slowly, but instead grow old in an instant. Perhaps, growing up is the same. In that short half-day, she learned that the gun in her hand can be there to kill or save people, and the line between the two is so blurred. She liked the feeling of fighting, but wasn’t ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of it. Her expectations of herself had also changed from a hero to a nameless person.

The range of action one can reach in the combat world was determined based on the battle ranking, because neither her team nor individual ranking was on top, Yan Yan could not actually enter the real battle world. She could only ride around the battle world aimlessly, waiting for a miracle, or waiting for herself to stop expecting miracles.

When she was in junior high school, Yan Yan loved to peek at Lu Haikong when doing eye exercises, and Lu Haikong wouldn’t laugh at her if he didn’t know about it. So now she is also quietly looking for Lu Haikong, alone. Lu Haikong doesn’t know about this, and so he wouldn’t mock her for her effort.

Yan Yan’s grades are not particularly good, nor does she have any special hobbies, and even being a beauty is not much of an obsession of hers – it just randomly happens. But she liked Lu Haikong, with admiration, devotion, and attachment. She liked Lu Haikong in that way. Her feelings were not unanswered, Lu Haikong also once sent a message to confess to her, he said aishiteru, Yan Yan looked it up on Baidu, and then knew that it was “I like you” in Japanese. She did not know to find this laughable or not, but she still jumped at the chance to propose a relationship joyfully. Unfortunately, this much-anticipated relationship lasted for two weeks before it came to an end, and soon after, Lu Haikong disappeared.

Lu Haikong clearly liked her, after all, he had confessed his love for her, right? At first, she thought the disappearance was a prank, Shengyu joked that Lu Haikong was disfigured by acne. Zi’an took them to eat pickled fish, saying that the stray puppy will naturally return home when hungry. At that time, they did not take the disappearance seriously.

Two years later, Shengyu often forgets that Yan Yan and Lu Haikong had fallen in love, and Zi’an did not make much fun of her romance. They seemed to have a tacit understanding that Lu Haikong didn’t like her that much in the first place, he wouldn’t even say I like you properly in Chinese, naturally he didn’t do anything touching during the relationship. It was Yan Yan who took an unintelligible Japanese sentence far too seriously.

Xie Zi’an went straight to Lava Valley as soon as she got online in the morning. To make sure the process goes smoothly, she didn’t say a word on the way over. She finally arrived at the core area, the Hundred Forging Terrace, in the evening. The Hundred Forging Terrace is the only place in the safe zone where you can forge a good sword, she made an appointment at the front desk of Lava Valley three months in advance for today.

She laid out all the materials she had prepared for two years before realizing that the Chinese knot she had tied was missing. In her junior high school years, she went to Chao Feng Island a total of seven times, before plucking enough crimson bird tail feathers, and braided a crooked peace buckle. After seeing the buckle, Shen Yanran asked her sincerely how to braid one, saying that it is very suitable for hanging on the sword. She waved the sword tassel and told him that the braiding part was not difficult, plucking the tail is. If he is free, they can go together to pull peacock tails.

Xie Zi’an sighed and thought to herself that her highest artistic achievement was thus extinguished, what a disaster in the history of art. She counted the number of core materials again and confirmed that none were missing. For two years she refined them like a hen hatching eggs, resulting in her not being able to equip a single attack skill. Today, she can finally be liberated.

The art teacher was fiddling with his insect specimens, and Shengyu drew sculptures in front of the drawing board. Her phone suddenly vibrated three times in a row, she picked it up suspiciously to take a look – after all, she had already set Zi’an, the king of rubbish output, also crybaby Yan Yan as no disturbance on her phone.

Shen Yanran: Shengyu, you there?
Shen Yanran: Shengyu, do you know where Zi’an is?
Shen Yanran: Zi’an seems to have dropped her Chinese knot.

The Chinese knot that Xie Zi’an would rather tie on her head was made of bird’s butt hair and was very ugly. The majority of Xie Zi’an’s middle school handicraft class assignments were finished by Shengyu, and were thrown on her desk in the morning after she had finished them at night. Therefore, this peace buckle, which represented Zi’an’s highest artistic achievement, was still objectively ugly.

She replied to Shen Yanran that Zi’an was in the combat world and was online early in the morning, not knowing what she was doing. Then, she put down the phone and intended to continue painting, Shen Yanran asked her again if it was convenient to take him to Zi’an. Shengyu was a bit hesitant, as she did not know if Zi’an would feel offended. The art teacher looked at her through the glass bottle containing the bugs, making his eyes look big. He said, you don’t have to draw during winter vacation, play more with your classmates. Shengyu could only carry the drawing board back, and join Shen Yanran to find Xie Zi’an in the combat world.

Shengyu opened up the follow the team leader option and was surprised to find that Xie Zi’an had actually wandered into Lava Valley. Shen Yanran drew his new sword and invited Sheng Yu to join him for speeding up. Shengyu asked him why he said he was suddenly looking for Zi’an. Shen Yanran bowed his head and played with a Chinese knot, only saying that there was just finally a reason for this. Shengyu knew that he was running out of words to say again, so she quickly said that Zi’an seemed to have some problems with her lance, so please help her more if you can. Shen Yanran said yes.

Xie Zi’an threw all the materials into the sword forging furnace. The display said the sword would take 18 hours to forge, and she knew that her luck this time had gone overboard. Generally speaking, it takes 12 hours to forge high-grade weapon, and 18 hours for a top-grade weapon. She sat cross-legged on the material table, watching the furnace fire, and began to think about how to sneakily return Cheng Feng pro to Shen Yanran without the risk of the sword being thrown away.

But she only thought about it for 20 minutes and then fell asleep. She looks like someone who would lie in bed and write down in a small notebook all night, but in fact, she can fall asleep every day whenever she puts down her phone. When she woke up, there were two more people around her. Shengyu asked her if she had remade a lance, and she awkwardly said it was a sword. Shen Yanran unconsciously fondled the sword in his hand, with the expression of a puppy waiting for a meal to start. Xie Zi’an explained that Cheng Feng shattering in front of her made her very guilty and so she wanted to return Cheng Feng pro, but she also did not expect to actually forge a Cheng Feng max.

Shen Yanran solemnly said that he never felt Zi’an needed to compensate him for the sword, but if she did forge a sword, then would she please give it to him and him only. Xie Zi’an smiled and said it’s great that you like it, but the lances sold on the market are so expensive these days.

Before the start of the school year, Shen Yanran took Xie Zi’an to the combat world weapons store to pick a gun. Shen Yanran knew that Zi’an had melted her own Long Yin just to make a sword, which angered him to the point where he nearly threw his sword onto the ground in front of the entire school. Xie Zi’an can only cajole him that Long Yin was not handy to use, the initial lance predicted her height incorrectly due to a genetic error, and it’s really embarrassing to plunge her lance forward with the end of the lance dragging on the ground.

Although that is what Xie Zi’an said, she paused in her walk when she saw a lance that looked similar to Long Yin. Shen Yanran observed Xie Zi’an’s face and thought it would fit Zi’an’s requirements if it was made shorter, so he asked the shopkeeper if he could saw the lance a bit shorter. The shopkeeper replied that they could only paint it rose gold but could not change the length. In fact, Zi’an was not very impressed by it, but there is a kind of liking which is called boys think you like pink, so Zi’an dragged a rose gold lance back home.

In the evening, the three girls gathered in the dormitory to view the lance that shone of money, Zi’an sighed and said that the tasks science A class received make a lot of money. She probably won’t earn that much money taking tasks for ten years from arts A class, she could only forge a weapon herself. Shengyu huffed from her nose and said that’s because you’re only good at salty fish backstabbing, so that you can only afford one flavor of duck necks, Shen Yanran makes AOE damage, so the concluding fees are naturally not the same. Yan Yan said naturally that Zi’an is the one who is best fitted for the Shao Jing Camp the 800 female knight-errant spoke of last time. But Xie Zi’an saw the weakness in her own body, and just the same with junior high school graduation, she did not have the courage to enter a world where you die once your life points clear to zero, but, at the same time, she cannot part with that free and wonderful world.

Shengyu knows the least about Shao Jing Camp, but since the 800 female knight-errant told Yan Yan all about it last time, the fact that Lu Haikong went to Shao Jing Camp is not a taboo topic between them anymore. She asked Yan Yan if he couldn’t get in touch with his original friends after he went to Shao Jing Camp, and Yan Yan shook his head and said he should be able to, but he didn’t. Shengyu then pulled out the pack of Moyushuang to comfort Yan Yan. They discussed the reason why Shen Yanran did not go to Shao Jing Camp, Zi’an said that’s because Shen Yanran was a righteous puppy, but Yan Yan smiled and said he probably was just unwilling to part with you, Shengyu was surprised and shouted at the top of her lungs, what what what did I miss?

Shen Yanran did not go to the Shao Jing Camp not only because he is unwilling to part with Zi’an, but he is unwilling to part with many people. If Lu Haikong’s ambition is to fly in the sky, he seems to be content as long as he runs on the ground, which he thinks may also be the reason why Xie Zi’an always says he is like a puppy. Zi’an didn’t only talk about it, but also gave him a Shiba Inu pillow on his birthday, the third year of junior high. He would carefully place the pillow in the center of his bed every day after he woke up.

The Chinese knot he asked Zi’an to make for him is on the bedside table, which is a bizarre little thing, from the color to its shape. The material used is the feathers from cowardly peacocks from Dream Island, these peacocks would shriek in the sound of a broken gong once they see Xie Zi’an approaching. Xie Zi’an chased these peacocks around the island three times, with Shen Yanran following behind to pick up the fallen feathers, and then they rubbed the feathers together into a thread. The more skillful between the two, Xie Zi’an braided a perfunctory Chinese knot, with the thread in bizarre hues of blue and green. Xie Zi’an excused her handicraft, saying that the Chinese knot is not beautiful because these feathers are not willingly dropped by the peacock, it has a grievance in its heart. If you played Chopin before plucking the feathers, the Chinese knot will be beautiful.

Of course, he would not be stupid enough to believe this nonsense, but he always found it interesting, so he would note it down, and after writing it down for a long time he almost believed it. When he ate unsatisfactory rice, he would think of playing Chopin when harvesting the rice, when he couldn’t finish the last question for a math test, he would think of playing Chopin when formulating the question.

After that, Xie Zi’an was angry at him because he wouldn’t say a word about Lu Haikong’s whereabouts. She challenged him for one-on-one and he accepted. That was the time when Cheng Feng shattered into pieces. After shattering, the ugly Chinese knot had nowhere to attach to, and so he put it near his bedside, inviting the Chinese knot to listen to fine bedtime music with him, praying that the knot and the person who made the knot would be angry no more. Unfortunately, Xie Zi’an contacted him less and less as high school went on, and he hadn’t the courage to tie the unhappy knot onto his new sword. It was until he received Cheng Feng max that the Chinese knot was truly freed from Chopin’s influence.

The first semester of the senior year started, and Shengyu began to apply to various art universities. Every day, Zi’an and Yan Yan would come back from class and see her strapping the microphone to her face for online interviews. So, she received a wireless microphone from Zi’an and Yan Yan on her birthday.

The microphone she received was not of good quality, she guessed this was due to the stinginess of her dormmates. She was embarrassed to be holding the microphone in her hand, with the teacher on the opposite side of the video held up a sign saying “I can’t hear you”. And so, the headset cord was wrapped back around her face. As a punishment, she gave Xie Zi’an the job of filling out the college application form by hand. Xie Zi’an complained that the desk lamp was too yellow, the table was too short, and the air was too humid while copying. The pretty and kind Yan Yan poured her a glass of water, turned on the fan for “dehumidifying”, and asked, brimming with anticipation, can we move out of D-class dorm this semester?

Shenyu is not interested in the world of combat, but is still very active in improving the accommodation of the dorm through combat. After training all winter break, her art skills improved, her combat ratings reached B level, and could reach an A if she pushed to her limits. As long as Zi’an can still hold a knife, she never doubted Zi’an’s combat levels reaching A and upper. And with Yan Yan as their support, they could move into B class dorm room with air conditioning and a fridge for the very least.

At this time Yan Yan was going through her late-coming rebellious phase, saying that she wants to switch her specialty as a medic. She wants to either attack enemies like Zi’an, or to be steady under all circumstances like Xiaoyu. Either way, she’s not going to be a medic anymore, a fool’s job.

Shengyu was worried like a mother hen franticly flapping its wings, pleading to Yan Yan saying that she doesn’t want her to get beaten up as well. Zi’an rubbed her hands together embarrassedly, saying that she is better at trash talk and sneak attacks, it’s not a bright and just position, after all. And so, Yan Yan made her role model Shen Yanran, having the determination to become a sweeping female sword hero, but in discussing this with Shen Yanran, he pointed out mercilessly that sometimes, her AOE damage is similar to gua sha massage.

Shengyu thought Yan Yan would stop there, but Yan Yan seemed completely unscathed by Shen Yanran’s mocking comment about gua sha. She even thought that it would still be better than her being backup, whose damage is as strong as scratching an itch. Shengyu kept on worrying like a mother hen walking in circles.

Shen Yanran abandoned his original teammates to join Zi’an’s team for the new semester’s battle level points team competition stage. Shen Yanran originally joined a full attack dormitory team of six people, three with swords and three wielding knives. Reacting with rash attacks once encountering the enemy, others sent them the team name Rash Man. One day, unexpectedly, Shen Yanran abandoned his teammates for a team full of girls, his teammates changed the team’s name in anger to Five A Scenic Area, just to show their nobility.

Xie Zi’an also changed the team’s name from Nine Trees and Flowers Idol Girl Group to winRAR, saying that everyone fighting together is an act of decompression and relieves tension. Plus, the abbreviation win is also very auspicious. Because of the addition of another output, Yan Yan’s plan to switch careers also went bankrupt.

In the first battle test of the school year, their team score rose to B. The three of them moved into the comfortable and pleasant B-class dormitory with great joy. To celebrate, they ordered egg yolk pot roast and crawfish takeout. Xie Zi’an said she hadn’t eaten such good food since she started losing fat and gaining muscle, and Yan Yan took the initiative to open three cocktails to wish her sisters to climb to the top and enter A-class dormitories one day. Shenyu appreciated the little beauty and took small sips from her cup.

Yan Yan said if she gets team A level, she can enter the real combat world and asked everyone to accompany her to find Lu Haikong. Zi’an coolly says that Lu Haikong may have already asked for three wives, and Shengyu pats Yan Yan’s shoulder (although she is very interested in how a man puts up with the chatter of three women!). Yan Yan pushed her hair behind his ears and said lightly that it is good to have an ending, either way.

Soon after the rise in the team’s scores, the individual combat ratings of Shengyu and Zi’an have also gone up to A. Shengyu asks Zi’an to go on a spring trip in the combat world. Xie Zi’an says that today is her hip and leg workout day and she wants to get her buttocks fried up from the training, but it turns out that Shen Yanran asked her to go kite flying so her butt doesn’t have to be fried, to which Shengyu snickers. She rented a shared white horse to visit the combat world, and when she got tired, she planned to do some sketching by the lake. When she passed a grocery store, the owner said she could fish for pond loaches at the lake in front of her, so she bought two bags of worms.

She finished the bag of earthworms before sunset and harvested two fat loaches weighing three taels (which she thought were very rare), but had no choice but to release them because they were so scarce. She threw the two loaches into the river, and the next moment an arrow pierced through the air and nailed them to a tree.

Shengyu recognized this arrow, although Shengyu had not seen its owner for two years. Lu Haikong smiled and came ashore, wet but cheerful to greet her, and said old classmate who has not seen for a long time have become more beautiful. Shengyu gets a little stiff when she encounters scenes she finds difficult to handle, and she can only repeat along that it has indeed been quite a long time. She then frantically taps Xie Zi’an’s avatar, hoping that this friend will spend a little gold to flash by and save her from an awkward social event.

Lu Haikong walked over to the tree to pull down the arrows, told Shengyu he was training to shoot arrows underwater. It can practice underwater combat ability on the one hand, and on the other hand, it can improve his accuracy with arrows. He came up with this training method all by himself and should be able to improve the survival rate in the future. Shengyu gave him a thumbs-up, and Lu Haikong continues to talk about his life at Shao Jing Camp, which, in a nutshell, is about how he continues to be a genius among the talented youngsters, and the love letters he receives every day are so overwhelming to the point that he can’t draw his bow.

Shengyu remembered Lu Haikong to be a bit of a chūnibyō, but he wasn’t much of a talker. Maybe he suppressed himself too much in these two years, being a genius. After chattering for a bit, Lu Haikong asked Xiaoyu how has she been for the past two years. Xiaoyu said frankly that she has been good recently, and that Zi’an is, too. However, Yan Yan hasn’t been too well for a long while.

Lu Haikong smiled, and two sweet dimples appeared as if he knew that Shengyu would definitely say that. He scratched his head with his fingers and muttered that it was good that Zi’an and the nerd had not come, otherwise one would have scolded him and one would have beat him to the death. But in fact, those two are already on their way.

Shengyu said that Lu Haikong should say goodbye to Yan Yan in person, and Lu Haikong looked a bit troubled. Shengyu held on. She said it’s not your problem that Yan Yan likes you, but if you don’t like her, please let her give up on you. Lu Haikong said weakly that he didn’t dislike Yan Yan at all, but was stared at by Sheng Yu with dead fish eyes, so he could only swallow the last half of his sentence. At this time, Shengyu saw that Zi’an’s coordinates were within 500 meters, and she should soon be able to arrive. Shengyu tried to delay the center of the universe for another 3 minutes, but she did not expect Lu Haikong to drop a quick sentence I will think about it and, as if predicting the future, run away in a flash.

After a while, Cheng Feng pro carrying the Xie and Shen duo came. Shengyu found it hard to digest her failure, while Zi’an reassured her that she had tried their best. If Lu Haikong didn’t not want to see them, even Tilanqiao prison could not withhold him.

In the second monthly ranking list, they had become one of the best A-rank teams, with Shen Yanran’s violent output, Zi’an’s single-rider battling, Shengyu’s standing firmly in peace, and Yan Yan’s healing level, although unsteady at times, is making progress. The door to the world of combat finally opened to Yan Yan, like a pilgrim trekking through the mountains standing in front of the gates of the Potala Palace.

The first group bonding event of the winning squad after the promotion to A-class was held grandly in the barbecue restaurant, and the smoke and fire of the barbecue smoked all of their cheeks a glowing red. In the aroma of food, warm air, and the clinking of beer glasses, Lu Haikong lifted the curtain and walked into the restaurant just like Moses splitting the sea.

The meat skewer in Shengyu’s hand stopped near the mouth, who swelled her nostrils to glare at Zi’an, who inexplicably glared back at Shengyu and looked at Shen Yanran with a suspicious face, who innocently pursed his lips. Yan Yan suddenly stood up, knocked over two water cups that drenched half of her pants, but she seemed to feel nothing, just stumbled and said, Lu Haikong could see the messages she sent him for these two years, after all.

Lu Haikong picked an empty space to sit down, he rubbed his face with a body still chilled from the cold, and said that we had not been together like this for a long time. Zi’an was the first to laugh and said he could come more often if he wanted to, and he could also work in their team. Lu Haikong sighed and said he was quite busy, but his eyes kept looking at Yan Yan. Yan Yan is a bit restless; she just wants to press the pause button now and clear her mind so she doesn’t look so silly.

Zi’an said she had cram school appointments with Shengyu, Shen Yanran came over and hugged Lu Haikong firmly and left with them. Yan Yan felt a bit sad. Lu Haikong is Zi’an and Shenyu’s old classmate and is Shen Yanran’s best friend, but they both gave him up so he could spend time with her. Lu Haikong said that after graduating from junior high school, he got into a very good school, so he didn’t have time to say goodbye and left, he was sorry for all that. Yan Yan did not say anything, Lu Haikong took two new cups to pour barley tea in, clinked glasses with Yan Yan to congratulate her happy 18th birthday in advance. It would be difficult to meet in the future, but he still wishes her to be happy every day. Yan Yan took the cup but could not restrain her tears. The tea in the cup sloshed along to accompany her trembling cries. This time Lu Haikong did not help her wipe her tears.

The coming-of-age ceremony of 18 years old is only three days away, each student will make their own choice at the ceremony. Zi’an and Yanran have signed up for the Guardian Program, they will become teachers who will maintain the campus and the combat world. Shengyu obviously didn’t think about the combat world for a second and had already arranged a date with her new boyfriend to go sketching in various places in college, just waiting to say no to the combat world loudly at the ceremony.

Yan Yan looked at everyone who already had a goal and felt a bit empty in her heart. Lying in the lower bunk at night, she used her long legs to tap at Zi’an’s bed, tapping Zi’an beyond her endurance. She simply climbed out of bed and turned on the light to start last night’s talk in the dorm.

Yan Yan asked her sisters how she should choose. With her level she can go to the combat world to work as a good medic, but she should also be able to get into an ordinary first-level university and live a life in peace. Shengyu said forget about that center of the universe, I will paint to support you.

Yan Yan laughed a little and said, do you know, his combat rating rose to S level. Rising to S level has the only opportunity to add to the combat power of others, and he added it to my fan. His cleverness, his character all still touches my heart, but I know this time it really is goodbye.

Zi’an came inside her blankets, sticking her cold hands to Yan Yan’s neck, and said there’s nothing bad getting a freebie from the Lu god, but afterward, your life will not have to revolve around him anymore. Shengyu also wanted to hop on top of them but was called off by Zi’an and Yan Yan, so she can only sit by Yan Yan’s bedside. She said whether to go to battle or continue to study, she respects Yan Yan’s choice, but she still hopes that in the future they will have the opportunity to meet again.

On the day of the coming-of-age ceremony, Yan Yan was bathed in the lights of the auditorium. She suddenly remembered that the endless attraction of the combat world to her actually all came from someone who had left. Everyone had made their choices, those who had left had given their goodbyes, and it was time for her to close the doors of the Potala Palace.

Wishing them all a bright future that is to come.