Book 10: Chapter 1: Wonderful Youth
Book 10: Chapter 1: Wonderful Youth
Lost Forest was extremely massive, able to hide an army of a hundred thousand. For cultivators, even if they hid themselves in this Lost Forest their entire lives, there would still be enough food, they wouldn’t have to worry about starvation at all.
However, unless you were a cultivator who has already become thoroughly disappointed in this world, there was naturally no way you would spend your entire life here.
It was because the timing for doing so now already passed. Jadefall City’s chaos was already starting to calm. As more academies’ and Yunqin royal court’s cultivators joined, news would spread through Jadefall City again, it wouldn’t be as completely shut as when Wenren Cangyue ruled all of Jadefall City.
Green Luan Academy’s force set out together, starting to truly set off on the path of return.
Lin Xi, Jiang Xiaoyi and Li Kaiyun took the lead, serving as a scouting troop, moving at the very front of their group.
It was because everyone already deduced that the most dangerous times had already passed, moreover, they knew that with these teachers here, a scouting group was nothing more than just for the sake of having one. That was why Lin Xi, Jiang Xiaoyi and Li Kaiyun didn’t get into strict positioning, only walking through Lost Forest shoulder to shoulder, their moods extremely relaxed.
Li Kaiyun and Jiang Xiaoyi’s cultivations were both barely over mid stage Soul Expert level, already a huge difference from Lin Xi’s mid stage Soul Master cultivation level. However, after experiencing so many life and death battles, the three individuals’ underripe auras had already completely vanished, all of them unknowingly giving off a type of mature and steady aura.
This type of aura change and this type of growth speed were perhaps something that would leave even Xu Shengmo extremely shocked if he saw it. As for after the shock, whether or not he would feel happiness or even more unhappiness, that is something only Xu Shengmo knew about.
“Have you contacted her yet?”
Lin Xi looked at the still slightly yellow haired, figure excessively skinny, but already having a bit of a border army high ranking officer aura he was familiar with Li Kaiyun, quietly asking.
Li Kaiyun became a bit stunned. “Who?”
When faced with how Li Kaiyun asked this question when he already knew the answer, even Jiang Xiaoyi couldn’t help but laugh. “Apart from Leng Qiuyu, who else is there? You are still feigning ignorance in front of us.”
Li Kaiyun’s dark and lean face became slightly red, but he then released a light sigh. He looked at Lin Xi and said, “I will often send her letters… only, her replies are extremely few, I fear that she does not have any interest in me.”
“The fact that she replies alone is the beginning of success.”
When facing Li Kaiyun who was opening up, Lin Xi laughed. He gave Li Kaiyun a pat and said, “Let me tell you a secret, good women are scared of being always involved… after being involved again and again, she will have you in her heart. Even if you aren’t the one she favors the most, as long as your shadow exists in her heart, no matter who she meets in the future, she will first compare them to you. As long as you are stunning enough, those people will naturally be defeated, not leaving behind any traces in her heart.”
Li Kaiyun’s face became even more red, but he felt like this made great sense.
Jiang Xiaoyi couldn’t help but release a light chuckle again. “Lin Xi, you are indeed an experienced person. On these matters, you indeed have great experience.”
Lin Xi didn’t act too humble either, smiling complacently. “Xiaoyi, if you are ever interested in anyone, I will definitely be your best coach and devise a strategy for you. I guarantee that things will go smoothly.”
“Then I’ll have to thank you first.” Jiang Xiaoyi began to laugh. “But I think it’s best if you help out Meng Bai first.”
“You all didn’t notice anything,” Jiang Xiaoyi laughed, “but he was clearly getting along quite well with Jiang Yu’er these past few days. The two of them always have a lot to talk about when together, Meng Bai normally even takes the initiative to help her with many things… only, it is a pity that even though Jiang Yu’er is also surnamed Jiang, she isn’t my younger sister, or else I would have played the matchmaker.”
“Meng Bai and Jiang Yu’er?” Lin Xi and Li Kaiyun both looked at each other in dismay. However, after just a few breaths of time, the two both spoke in unison, “They are quite a good match.”
Meng Bai was naturally cowardly, Jiang Yu’er also normally timid. When they thought about it carefully, if the two could get together, then it would be quite the good match as well. At the very least, there won’t be a scene of Meng Bai being dragged all around by a blade wielding tigress without any guts to retaliate.
“However, on this matter, we should still play the fool, not point things out too bluntly, or else we might instead be more of a hindrance than help.” Lin Xi couldn’t help but laugh. A moment later, he seriously said this to Li Kaiyun and Jiang Xiaoyi.
Jiang Xiaoyi was a bit stunned. “What is the reasoning behind this?”
“If the two of them had someone who was more daring and proactive, then that’s fine, but both of them are bottoms… Oh, I don’t think you all will understand if I call them bottoms… it is just that both of them are timid and won’t act on initiative.” Lin Xi explained, “If you ask them, they will definitely be ashamed to the point where they definitely won’t admit it… Now, their emotions are still rather shallow, so if we scared them, they might be even more scared to interact with each other, so we might just end up breaking up a happy couple. We can only wait until everything is right, a suitable time. At that time, helping them break through that fine remaining paper layer, that isn’t a problem.”
Li Kaiyun and Jiang Xiaoyi exchanged a look, unable to help but produce deep veneration. “Lin Xi, you really are a first rate advisor on this topic… our future happiness can only depend on you.”
…
At the same time, in the wasteland meadow between Jadefall City’s West Outskirts and Mountain Sun Path, two youngsters were currently also walking side by side.
One of them was a beautiful young lady with an exceptionally beautiful appearance. Even though she was dressed in ordinary black armor dyed in blood, her figure still seemed extremely wonderful. Anyone who saw her would feel that she was exceptionally beautiful, perhaps unable to forget her appearance and figure even after a long amount of time passed.
She was Qin Xiyue, the pearl that who knew how many first year Green Luan Academy students fell in love with.
The figure of the young man at her side was rather tall. His appearance was extremely ordinary, it was just that he was extremely steadfast.
This young man was Zhang Ping, a Natural Arts student, also one of Lin Xi’s good friends.
The mission his and Qin Xiyue’s small troop had was to enter Jadefall City’s outskirts, hold up some of the troops loyal to Wenren Cangyue in Jadefall City.
The focal point of the decisive battle between the academy, Yunqin’s royal court and Wenren Cangyue was Jadefall City East Outskirts’ Mountain Sun Path. That was why most of Jadefall City West Outskirts was still equivalent to Wenren Cangyue’s rear lines, the degree of danger the small troops who infiltrated this side experienced not less than directly facing the great armies led by Cheng Yu and Wenren Cangyue.
Some local battles were still continuing.
This very day, the small troop Zhang Ping and Qin Xiyue were in was completely scattered. Zhang Ping and Qin Xiyue, despite breaking their way out, didn’t know if any of the others were still alive. They only knew that right now, Jadefall City East Outskirts was already comparatively safer, so they were heading in Mountain Sun Path’s direction.
Even though they were the only two people moving across this Jadefall City pieced together with boundless grasslands and mountain forests, possibly running into scattered troops and cultivators at any time, extremely dangerous, it was also because it was only the two of them that Zhang Ping’s mood was extremely complicated. Not only did he not think of any danger, he even wished that this journey would never end, that they would just continue like this forever.
However, when he saw Qin Xiyue’s goddess-like appearance, saw the other party’s expression, he knew that the other party didn’t have any emotions towards him beyond that of an ordinary fellow student and friend… making him feel unknowingly low and petty. Even though they were walking side by side, if someone watched from the side, they would discover that he never walked right next to Qin Xiyue, always half a step behind Qin Xiyue.
Qin Xiyue wasn’t someone who was slow and sluggish. Towards the matters of impressions between men and women, women always had sharper intuitions than men.
She obviously sensed the feelings Zhang Ping had towards her, but because she indeed didn’t have any special feelings towards Zhang Ping, she always pretended that she didn’t notice.
Only, when she saw the bandages on Zhang Ping’s shoulder that produced bits of blood again, she naturally couldn’t turn a blind eye to this. As such, she took the initiative to slow down, turning around to look at Zhang Ping and quietly asking, “Your wounds are bleeding… should we stop for a bit of rest?”
When he heard the other party’s warm voice, Zhang Ping’s mind trembled. He immediately shook his head and said, “It’s nothing. If we find some more staunching medicine along the way and replace the bandages, there shouldn’t be any issues.”
“Thanks.”
Qin Xiyue nodded. She quietly organized her somewhat messy hair, completely unaware just how beautiful these movements were for an ordinary person. Zhang Ping’s expression became a bit sluggish, but she instead directly sincerely expressed her thanks. “If it wasn’t because you rushed over immediately, the one who would have been injured would definitely be me.”
Perhaps because Qin Xiyue was close to him at this time or perhaps because Qin Xiyue’s expression was too warm, Zhang Ping couldn’t help but blurt out, “Even if this blade was a bit heavier, I would still take it for you.”
After saying this, Qin Xiyue’s brows furrowed slightly. She didn’t expect Zhang Ping to actually suddenly say these words that clearly exposed his true feelings.
Meanwhile, the moment he said these words, Zhang Ping himself also froze up.
The moment the atmosphere became a bit awkward, Qin Xiyue’s brows suddenly furrowed even tighter. “Listen…” She quickly made a hand gesture towards Zhang Ping, making a movement to be quiet, quietly saying this with a voice only the two of them could hear.
Cold sweat poured out from Zhang Ping’s palm. He heard the faint sound of wind chimes. However, there shouldn’t be any way for there to be wind chimes in Jadefall City. This type of sound could only be the sounds of armor grinding from rapid movement, and it was definitely not far from them, or else there was no way they could hear it.
The two of them quickly crouched down, nervously and cautiously making their way over to a hill to the side, almost crawling on the ground.
Between the gaps in the grass, the two of them saw a cavalry army currently moving through the sea of grass with great speed.
This cavalry army was only a bit over two hundred members in total, but the aura coming from every single soldier’s body was more powerful than that of an ordinary soldier. Moreover, their bodies all carried a large bronze metal chest, on these metal chests was a sinister wolf’s symbol. Those wind chimes noises were precisely the metal ringing noises made by the bronze chests when they moved quickly.
“Green Wolf Heavy Armor!”
Zhang Ping who came from Natural Arts Department naturally understood what these chests were more clearly than anyone else. He coldly squeezed out these four words from his throat.
“Our friendly forces in the western outskirts have all been broken down… this type of orderly, massive Green Wolf Heavy Armor army can only be Wenren Cangyue’s subordinates.” Qin Xiyue said coldly.
Zhang Ping nodded. This was something extremely obvious.
“For this type of heavy armored army to move with such astonishing speed, what do they wish to do?” Qin Xiyue took a deep breath. Immediately afterwards, she decisively said, “Let’s follow them.”
Zhang Ping’s expression became a bit pale. “That’s too dangerous.”
Qin Xiyue gave him a look and said, “Even if we are not a match, if we can provide a bit of warning ahead of time, we can still save many people.”
Zhang Ping took a deep breath. While looking at her steady and beautiful appearance, he no longer said anything, merely nodding his head in response.