The irresponsible teacher Hu Jiaping continued to find a shady spot under a tree to sleep soundly, completely unconcerned about the children's progress in their cultivation.
Today's situation was much better than yesterday. Nearly half of the students could now slowly fly around the entire Young Phoenix Academy. Those who could fly farther had all gone off to play elsewhere. Baili Gelin was still gritting her teeth, wobbling unsteadily above the Disciple Room, flying even less steadily than the day before.
"This is so frustrating!" She finally jumped off her sword and plopped onto the ground. "I can't concentrate at all—it's all because of that Lei Xiuyuan!"
Ye Ye hovered absentmindedly on his sword above her, looking around.
"Ye Ye, what are you looking at? Come down and talk to me!" Baili Gelin tugged at his clothes.
Ye Ye sighed and shook his head. "Your top priority right now isn't worrying about him—it's mastering sword flying. Do you want to spend money on meals every day?"
Baili Gelin's face darkened, answering irrelevantly, "I never realized how sneaky he was before! I thought he was a gentle, good person!"
Ye Ye mused, "When I first met him, I noticed his extraordinary talent. At the time, I just found it strange why someone with such gifts could be so timid. I thought maybe that was just his nature..."
Baili Gelin fell silent for a moment before saying, "Turns out, he's also from Gaul Country. If my sister hadn't just told me, I would never have guessed—he doesn’t have any accent at all."
"Ah," Ye Ye nodded. "Changyue once mentioned to me that she suspected he might be the child of Vice Minister of Rites, Lord Lei... If that's true, he should recognize me, but he never brought it up. When you think about it, there are too many suspicious and inconsistent things about him."
Baili Gelin gnashed her teeth. "He’s such a good actor! Pretending to be all pitiful and weak! It’s infuriating!"
Noticing Ye Ye’s distracted and restless demeanor, she couldn’t help but ask, "What’s wrong with you? What are you looking for?"
Ye Ye smiled sheepishly. "Changyue disappeared somewhere. She was just here a moment ago."
Baili Gelin rolled her eyes. "All you care about is my sister!"
The Book Collection Pagoda of the Young Phoenix Academy stood on the highest floating island. Most disciples couldn’t fly there yet, leaving the island deserted except for a few cranes leisurely circling the lotus pond in front of the pagoda. The white lotuses in the pond were in full bloom, their pristine petals swaying gently in the breeze.
Baili Changyue flew up to the floating island on her sword. As soon as she landed, she spotted the young man leaning against the white stone railing, gazing at the flowers. She took a step forward, about to speak, but he beat her to it: "Here to demand an explanation?"
Baili Changyue replied calmly, "You know you’re guilty... Why did you suddenly drop the act?"
Lei Xiuyuan chuckled softly. "Though I’m not sure how you saw through it, now that you have, there’s no fun left. Besides, I was getting a little tired of it anyway."
"Tired of it?" Baili Changyue pondered for a moment. "I have something to ask you."
"Oh?"
Baili Changyue fixed her gaze on him. "Lei Xiuyuan, you’re from Gaul Country, aren’t you? You’re Lord Lei’s child, right?"
Still not turning around, he asked, "Did you guess that? Or did Jiang Li Fei tell you?"
"Half guesswork, half memory. I think I saw you once before Gaul fell."
He remained silent, as if tacitly agreeing.
"You recognized Ye Ye from the very beginning," Baili Changyue added.Lei Xiuyuan's voice was indifferent: "Yes, I recognized him as the third prince of Gaul Country from the start. So what?"
"Up until a year ago, Ye Ye was still being hunted by Wugou's men. Lord Lei was a man of iron and blood who hated evil, and his child shouldn't bear the stain of his name."
Lei Xiuyuan glanced up at her: "You really know how to lace your words with barbs... Suspecting I work for Wugou? I have no interest in your affairs. The world isn't just Wugou and Gaul."
Baili Changyue fell silent for a moment before continuing, "When I first met you, I noticed something was off. You cried as if you were about to faint from being beaten, yet your heartbeat remained calm the whole time. You weren't scared at all—you were faking it."
Lei Xiuyuan finally seemed somewhat interested: "Oh? Your hearing seems quite sharp. No wonder you noticed."
"Yes," she stared at him. "Many times when you cried, your heartbeat was completely calm. I thought I might be overthinking it, but the day before yesterday in Xiao Bangchui's courtyard, I heard you provoking the young lord. You did it on purpose. Why? You're so capable—why did you need Xiao Bangchui to stand up for you? She's just a girl. Why drag her into it?"
Lei Xiuyuan plucked the stamens from a lotus flower and tossed them into the pond: "Why should I answer?"
"Because she considers you a true friend, and you deceived her."
He suddenly shook his head and threw all the stamens in his hand into the lotus pond, his tone indifferent: "I'm tired of this. Leave."
Baili Changyue silently watched him for a long moment before murmuring, "If you keep this up... you'll regret it someday. You'll never gain any genuine sincerity."
She flew back to the Disciple Room on her sword, spotting Baili Gelin from afar wobbling unsteadily on her sword above the building, with Ye Ye and Li Fei flanking her protectively.
"Sis!" Baili Gelin looked up and suddenly saw her. The moment she spoke, her spiritual energy faltered, and her stone sword could no longer stay aloft, plummeting straight down. Fortunately, Li Fei grabbed her, preventing her from face-planting.
"Where did you run off to? Ye Ye was worried sick!" She deliberately teased, pushing Ye Ye toward Baili Changyue. "Alright, she's here now. Look at how distracted you were earlier!"
"Brat," Ye Ye grumbled, flicking her forehead lightly before turning a concerned gaze to Baili Changyue. "Did you go looking for Xiuyuan just now?"
Baili Changyue nodded. "Mm. He knows everything, but it doesn't seem like he's connected to Wugou."
"Stop bringing that guy up!" Baili Gelin still held a grudge. "I'm so mad I still can't fly properly!"
Ye Ye said sternly, "Your inability to fly has nothing to do with Xiuyuan. You're just not focusing."
Li Fei, hearing them mention Lei Xiuyuan and Wugou in turns, couldn't help but ask curiously, "What are you talking about? What happened with Xiuyuan?"
Baili Changyue thought for a moment before replying, "It's good to tell you. Simply put, we once suspected Lei Xiuyuan had ties to Wugou Country."
Li Fei was startled. "No way!""Gelin and I are daughters of the Bai Li noble family from Gaul Country. We trained in dance since childhood. After the Bai Li family was annihilated by Wugou Country, I escaped with Gelin and we made a living by performing. Ye Ye is the third prince of Gaul Country. After Gaul fell, he was hunted by Wugou's forces until we met him a year ago. The three of us supported each other, evading Wugou's pursuit as we traveled east, finally finding temporary safety within Yue Country's borders. It was then that the Young Phoenix Academy's preliminary selections were about to begin, so we rushed to Lu Gongzhen. This all happened before we met you and Lei Xiuyuan."
Li Fei was startled again: "Ye Ye is a prince?!"
She couldn't help but look at Ye Ye. Though she'd always sensed his extraordinary bearing, she never imagined he was royalty. Wasn't that similar to Ji Tongzhou then? Both from royal families, yet worlds apart in temperament!
Ye Ye smiled bitterly: "I stopped being a prince long ago. Gaul fell when I was seven. To survive, I even changed my name. Wugou had been eyeing Gaul for years, and though our royal family was alert, no child with a Spirit Root had been born among us—until me. But it was too late. Before I could become a Celestial, Gaul was destroyed. A seven-year-old, even with a Spirit Root and great talent, couldn't withstand hundreds of warriors, let alone when they had Celestials supporting them. Among my pursuers were disciples from an Immortal Sect—I nearly died by their hands."
"Were they hunting you because of your Spirit Root?" Li Fei felt his understated words hid something harrowing. Fleeing since age seven for four whole years—what kind of living hell was that?
Ye Ye nodded: "To eliminate future threats. Wugou relied on Zongquan, the new elder of Five Zhang Mountain from Long Mingzuo. Had a royal Celestial risen to power within an Immortal Sect, it would have been our moment of triumph. Changyue, her sister, and I endured countless hardships to reach Young Phoenix Academy solely to become Celestials. I've long abandoned thoughts of restoring my country, but Zongquan must be eliminated."
This was the first time the three had shared their past with her, revealing so many secrets and bloodshed. Li Fei suddenly realized their openness meant they truly saw her as a life-and-death confidante.
Her heart warmed, and she whispered, "I'll help too."
Baili Gelin squeezed her hand, laughing: "We'll talk about helping later—we've just entered the academy! Only after the major sects select new disciples a year from now, and we join a proper Immortal Sect, will we truly take our first step."
She sighed: "Right now, mastering Sword flying is indeed the most urgent."
Ye Ye flicked her forehead: "Finally understood? Get on your sword—let's continue."
He led Baili Gelin to resume Sword flying practice. Noticing Baili Changyue's hesitation, Li Fei asked, "Changyue, what does all this have to do with Xiu Yuan?"
Baili Changyue gazed at her and said softly, "Xiao Bangchui, Lei Xiuyuan is a very dangerous person. You should stay away from him."
Dangerous? Lei Xiuyuan? The shock made Li Fei laugh instead: "Why would you say that?""He has extraordinary potential, likely ranking first among this year's Young Phoenix Academy disciples. I once suspected he might be connected to Wugou, but now I'm certain they have no relation. However, this child gives me a very bad feeling—his every word and action seems feigned, though I don't know his purpose. You should be careful."
Baili Changyue rarely spoke so much, and her expression showed no hint of jest. Indeed, her personality probably didn't even comprehend what a joke was.
Li Fei fell silent.
Looking back, she realized she'd never deeply considered Lei Xiuyuan's circumstances. He appeared weak and incompetent, performing averagely in the Second Selection. Yet even the black-veiled woman had said this year's Second Selection was the most difficult in history, with all eighteen chosen disciples being exceptional talents. Setting herself aside—Ye Ye's trio, Ji Tongzhou and the princess, and even those unfamiliar children—who among them lacked pride? Even Ji Tongzhou's lackeys carried themselves with arrogant airs daily.
A person's capabilities should be clearest to themselves. With a Spirit Root stronger than most, immense potential, and having stood above peers since childhood—such a person shouldn't be weak.
Why was Lei Xiuyuan the sole exception? Stranger still, none of them had noticed anything unusual about him. From their first meeting, he'd consistently played the weakling—crying at every difficulty, hiding behind her while calling her "big sister boss," making them overlook that he too had passed both selection rounds.
Suddenly she recalled the small demons Lei Xiuyuan had slain during the Second Selection—each killed with clean efficiency, revealing the perpetrator's cold, merciless nature. Afterwards, he'd sat sobbing loudly, drawing her to investigate... Had he detected her presence and deliberately made noise to lure her over?
The more Li Fei pondered, the more alarmed she became. Every unexamined incongruity about Lei Xiuyuan now surfaced vividly.
Was it all an act? But why?
She struggled to believe it—resisted believing it.
"Still, I doubt he'll remain close with either of us going forward. Perhaps I'm overthinking this, but you should keep it in mind."
With these words, Baili Changyue flew away on her sword, leaving Li Fei standing stunned. As she reviewed every interaction with Lei Xiuyuan since their meeting, each memory struck her with terrifying new implications.
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