“Sit.”
The furnishings in the thatched cottage were as simple and unadorned as its exterior. After sitting down, the Dean casually spoke and then opened his folding fan, fanning himself gently.
Xu Yi obediently sat at the position below the Dean, placing her hands primly on her lap, her gaze fixed straight ahead, appearing very well-behaved.
A casual glance from the Dean almost made him laugh.
Xu Yi was playing the part of being so honest, but in reality, she was quite cunning.
“Should I call you Xu Yi, or should I call you Ancestor Xu?”
Xu Yi’s eyelids twitched, then relaxed. The status of Kunlun Academy far surpassed that of the five major sects, so how could anything be hidden from the Dean?
She smiled faintly, “Dean, you jest. My current identity is a disciple of Kunlun Academy. Please just call me Xu Yi.”
Xu Yi dared not put on airs of being an ancestor in front of the Dean of Kunlun. She knew full well that the Dean was a ruthless smiling tiger, and if she truly angered him, she would be the one to suffer in the end.
“Xu Yi, you are a smart person, so I won’t beat around the bush. I want to make a deal with you.”
“Please elaborate, Dean.”
Xu Yi’s expression remained unchanged, but her heart was in turmoil.
For the Dean, with his status, to want to make a deal with her, this matter seemed incredibly strange from any angle.
“Let’s make a hundred-year pact. As long as you can become a cultivator in the Combined Body stage within a hundred years, I will grant you any one wish that I am capable of fulfilling.”
Xu Yi: !
After a moment of stunned silence, Xu Yi immediately seized upon a loophole in the Dean’s words and retorted, “And if I don’t achieve it?”
“Very simple. If you fail to achieve it, then you will return that Sky Swallowing Gold to me.”
Xu Yi: !!!
“I…”
The Dean said, “I will give you three breaths of time to consider.”
“Won’t three breaths be too little?” Xu Yi exclaimed in alarm.
“Three.”
“Dean…”
“Two.”
“I…”
“One.”
“I agree!”
Under the Dean’s smiling gaze, Xu Yi painstakingly uttered the three words.
Xu Yi’s courage to agree to the Dean’s terms stemmed from Kunlun Academy’s Time Realm.
Without the Time Realm, advancing from the Out of Body stage to the Combined Body stage within a hundred years, making two consecutive major breakthroughs, was an almost impossible feat.
But with the Time Realm, the extension of time, coupled with the learning within Kunlun Academy, Xu Yi believed it was worth a try.
With a pang of regret, Xu Yi thought that if she failed, at worst… at worst, she would just return the Sky Swallowing Gold to the Dean.
“Xu Yi, since you have agreed, you must give it your all and do not disappoint me.”
“Rest assured, Dean, I will,” Xu Yi replied, determination shining in her eyes.
Even though she knew it was a bait cast by the Dean, she couldn’t resist the temptation and chose to swallow it whole.
“What happened today, you know, and I know. It must not be leaked.”
“This disciple understands.”
After receiving Xu Yi’s promise, the Dean impatiently waved his hand, dismissing her as if she were a fly, his ruthless change of demeanor leaving Xu Yi in awe.
When Xu Yi returned to Courtyard Forty-Four, everyone else was already waiting in the courtyard.
Upon seeing Xu Yi, Yu Xiaoyu was the first to rush forward, hugging her excitedly and stammering, “Xu Yi, Xu Yi, you are so amazing, I, I…”
“Speak slowly, don’t rush.”
Xu Yi gently patted Yu Xiaoyu’s back, a gentle smile playing on her lips.
Xiong Zhuangzhuang and Bei Xinghan and the others also stood before Xu Yi.
“Xu Yi, congratulations.”
Hearing Bei Xinghan’s voice, Yu Xiaoyu shyly released her, then tightly clasped Xu Yi’s arm, unwilling to let go.
Xu Yi smiled as she accepted everyone’s congratulations, then noticed that one person was missing from her side.
“Where is Bai Shan?”
Xu Yi scanned her surroundings and frowned.
“Bai Shan? Wasn’t he here earlier?”
Xiong Zhuangzhuang turned his body in confusion to look, and indeed, Bai Shan was no longer anywhere to be seen within Courtyard Forty-Four.
“Perhaps he is in a bad mood. Let’s give him some time,” Yu Xiaoyu said softly, her eyelashes fluttering lightly.
Xu Yi froze, then understood the implication of Yu Xiaoyu’s words and did not press further.
Night fell.
Xu Yi was meditating and regulating her breathing in her room when a faint rustling sound suddenly came from outside the door. The sound was not loud but was quite clear.
“Bai Shan?”
“…It’s me.”
Before she even saw Bai Shan, Xu Yi had guessed that he would come to find her at night, so she hadn’t set up a barrier outside her room. As expected, she waited for him.
She opened the door to see Bai Shan, with an innocent expression, looking at her pitifully, as if he had suffered immense grievance.
“Sister Xu.”
Whether it was Xu Yi’s imagination or not, she felt that Bai Shan’s address of “Sister Xu” carried a more lingering tone than usual, and she instinctively showed a look of disdain.
Struck by Xu Yi’s gaze, Bai Shan lowered his head.
Xu Yi gave an awkward smile and moved aside, “Come in first.”
Bai Shan obediently entered the room, looking around curiously.
Xu Yi’s room was as bare as the inn she had stayed in Ink City, with only a few simple utensils.
Bai Shan frowned instinctively, wondering if it was precisely because Xu Yi did not pursue material possessions that she was able to make such rapid progress in her cultivation.
Should he then learn from Xu Yi and change his own habits?
But if he didn’t use bedding woven from silk, he wouldn’t be able to sleep.
Bai Shan’s face showed a look of distress.
“You came to find me because you want me to guide you again?”
Xu Yi’s words immediately reminded Bai Shan of the scene where his understanding of the world had been overturned.
He hastily collected his thoughts, daring not to be careless again.
He cautiously glanced at Xu Yi, then suddenly knelt on both knees.
Xu Yi was startled by his action and quickly jumped two steps to the side, “Hurry and get up.”
Could Bai Shan be here to tell her he wouldn’t repay the money?
Xu Yi’s heart pounded like a drum.
“Sister Xu, I want to ask you to teach me.”
“Teach me what?”
“Teach me anything, as long as it can make me stronger.”
Bai Shan clenched his fists tightly. The humiliation he had experienced from the ranking board today was more than any other day before.
He had entered the top ten in the sect competition. Although his ranking was slightly lower, he didn’t care, because he knew he hadn’t exerted his full strength, so he never thought he was inferior to Xu Yi and the others.
However, this ranking at Kunlun Academy finally made him wake up.
While his talent could be considered top-tier among his clan, it was still far from that of true prodigies.
Just like this time, he had tried his best, yet he became the last among the seven people, and even Yu Xiaoyu, who blushed when she spoke, was stronger than him.
Bai Shan could not accept this.
What was even more devastating to him was Xu Yi’s ranking, which was so high that he was beyond reach, something he could not achieve even with all his might.
He hid in the shadows and pondered for several hours, finally coming up with this plan.
He wanted Xu Yi to teach him; Xu Yi must have a way to quickly gain contribution points.
His current subservience was merely to paralyze Xu Yi. Once he learned Xu Yi’s secrets, he could hold his head high and avenge his humiliation.
Bai Shan’s plan was good, but he had forgotten how Xu Yi had coldly shattered his illusions in the past.
Just like now, from an angle Bai Shan couldn’t see, Xu Yi’s eyes were filled with indifference.