"Exactly as I expected."
Seeing that the opponent, even after upgrading to Rare Level strength, still wasn’t a match for Xiao Ji and Фэн Юань, Agunas said with an expression as if he had expected this all along. Veronia, sitting on a leaf hammock, glanced at Agunas and asked,
"Could you do it if you were in their place?"
"Why couldn’t I?"
"Not Xiao Ji, but swapping with him."
"This..."
Agunas was momentarily at a loss for words. It would not be difficult for him to swap with Xiao Ji, but swapping with Фэн Юань seemed somewhat challenging, especially since he couldn’t freely switch between various weapons to create advantageous conditions for Xiao Ji like Фэн Юань could.
Though Xiao Ji, due to his inherent attributes and the handle’s effect, had no issue breaking through defenses, without Фэн Юань’s use of various weapons to entangle and distract the opponent, it would be hard for Xiao Ji to gradually gain the upper hand.
"You won."
The examiner said, jumping out of the ring with Tratus. Hearing this, Фэн Юань put down the Black Longbow in his hand and said,
"Wouldn’t it have been better to say that earlier? Really..."
Xiao Ji, thrilled, lunged toward Фэн Юань, who, somewhat speechlessly pushing Xiao Ji away, said,
"Don’t be like this, it’s getting hot now. Maybe wait till it’s cooler?"
Xiao Ji gave Фэн Юань a somewhat dissatisfied glance but quickly perked up again and started bustling around. The battle seemed to have fulfilled its long-held desire to truly fight alongside Фэн Юань, even if it was just for an assessment, and it was very happy about that.
"What’s gotten into it? Why does it seem so excited?"
Ци Чэнь looked curiously at Xiao Ji by Фэн Юань’s side, who still appeared overly spirited. Shrugging, Фэн Юань said helplessly,
"It’s nothing, probably just happy that a wish was fulfilled..."
He hadn’t expected Xiao Ji to be so ecstatic. Scratching Xiao Ji’s neck, Фэн Юань turned to Ци Чэнь and said,
"How about we grab some food? Jufu Tower sound good?"
"That place? Better not, it’s too expensive."
"I’ll treat."
Upon hearing Фэн Юань’s words, Ци Чэнь looked at him skeptically and said,
"You aren’t planning something again, are you?"
"Hey! What do you mean ’again’? I just think, since the assessment is over, shouldn’t we relax and have a meal together?"
"You really don’t have an ulterior motive?"
Ци Чэнь looked suspiciously at Фэн Юань, just when a somewhat familiar female voice spoke up,
"How about including me?"
"Lanadi?! You’re back again?"
Фэн Юань was startled and turned, looking somewhat surprised at her. Lanadi said somewhat helplessly,
"I had no choice. The matter in the Ancient City of Yellow Sand, you’re the only one who has the clearest understanding here. Also, that strange thing that spans the entire Divine Land Region, I still need to confirm what exactly it is with you."
"This matter, didn’t the Special Bureau have information?"
"Not clear enough. Since the Alliance detected the anomaly, the active energy intensity in the whole Divine Land Region has dropped quite a bit, and it’s unclear what exactly is going on or if there needs to be any intervention."
"How troublesome... Alright, let’s go eat and talk."
Фэн Юань said, looking at Ци Чэнь who hesitated and then suspiciously said,
"Did you plan this all along?"
"How could I? How would I know she would come to me? I was actually planning to invite Chen Xin and the others."
Фэн Юань said somewhat speechlessly. He just wanted to make the most of their time before officially graduating, as they were technically almost graduates already. He wasn’t sure if after graduation, they would still have the chance to gather together like this.
"We had agreed that when you became the captain, you would have to celebrate with us."
"When I become the leader of the star zone, I will definitely bring Xuanlian Star to prominence. Let everyone know that Xuanlian Star is the best place to reside in the Cangling Star System, and I will look down on those natives of Cangxuan Star blatantly!"
"Haha—that’s right! What right do those guys from Cangxuan Star have to say that we on Xuanlian Star just got lucky! Didn’t they only develop because they took advantage of being the main star in the Cangling Star System? Really annoying, those guys!"
"It’s all thanks to the teacher, but... should I call you teacher or classmate?"
The noisy sounds, the unrestrained uproar, the expectations for the future—this seemed like memories from the past... Shaking his head, Фэн Юань rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes. After a while, he opened his eyes and saw Ци Чэнь and the others looking worriedly at him.
"What’s wrong? Are you okay?"
"I’m fine, just got lost in thought for a moment, really regrettably..."
Thinking back to the noisy graduation dinner in his memory, and now only having Ци Чэнь, Dou Yanlan, and Lanadi present, it seemed that Chen Xin and the others had already left the examination venue, and Фэн Юань had not found anyone else. But realistically speaking, it wasn’t exactly graduation time yet.
"Still... feeling a bit reluctant, huh..."
Even though it wasn’t his first time experiencing this, Фэн Юань could still sense his own anxiety. Perhaps, he would never quite get used to those moments of parting.
Xiao Ji burrowed into Фэн Юань’s arms, looking puzzledly at him, not understanding what was wrong with him—why he seemed weird. Agunas flicked its tail, somewhat confused, while Veronia seemed to guess something and looked sympathetically at Фэн Юань.
"Regret what? You’re not really thinking about getting a bunch of people together to eat, are you?"
Ци Чэнь looked at Фэн Юань somewhat speechlessly, not knowing what the other was thinking. Фэн Юань smiled without arguing, pushed Xiao Ji away from his chest, looked at the time on his phone, and said,
"Why is it taking so long for the dishes to come?"
"There’s no helping it, the restaurant is too crowded today, and they can’t cook everything so quickly."
Ци Чэнь glanced at the door of the private room and spoke helplessly—indeed, Jufu Tower was completely packed today; if they had not arrived early, they probably wouldn’t have gotten a seat.
"Just a simulated assessment and it needs to be celebrated?"
Dou Yanlan looked at the tea cup in her hand and spoke with an indescribable tone. Ци Чэнь was stunned and didn’t know how to answer; Lanadi smiled and said,
"Perhaps for them, this is just a normal expense. If we really talk about it, your future might be brighter than most of theirs—"
Lanadi had borrowed and reviewed Dou Yanlan’s assessment results before, and naturally could guess her capabilities. Dou Yanlan smiled and said,
"No, the differences in family background and Укротитель зверейs are there. What I can do is just try and catch up to those who have already moved ahead."
"I believe you know it yourself, but is it really okay to just give up on your greatest advantage?"
Staring at Lanadi for a long while, Dou Yanlan shook her head and said,
"No, I don’t have the necessary conditions to do that; I... can’t do it."
Upon hearing Dou Yanlan’s answer, Lanadi gently pursed her lips and said,
"That’s also true, but you’re lucky, unlike me..."
Saying this, Lanadi laughed carefree. In reality, somethings, the longer they linger in the memory, the more beautiful they become. Now, after truly interacting with him, she realized that she had perhaps added too many of her own fantasies to that memory.
"I didn’t expect the Hunters to actually split up, but this makes things more troublesome. Who knows how those extremists will act."
After listening to Фэн Юань’s account, Lanadi said with a bit of a headache. The situation in the Ancient City of Yellow Sand had already been clearly understood; indeed, the external affairs were not something the Alliance could intervene in. Rather, it was the internal strife among the Hunters that Фэн Юань had casually mentioned that troubled her.
Without the split, the original leader might have been able to suppress those extremists. Now, letting those people roam around, even the Mordan region might not settle down. The issues were becoming more and more numerous and complicated, Lanadi thought with some irritation.
"How is Estir doing now?"
Lanadi, reminded of something, looked at Фэн Юань who glanced at Agunas and said,
"I’m not sure about that; it was Nagna who took over the treatment work then. I don’t know the current situation."
Agunas flicked its tail and said,
"It’s okay, at least she has woken up for now and is temporarily staying on Mist Island. With the protection from Lorraine Tower, there should be no major safety issues there."
"That’s really good."
"Let’s not talk about this; do you want to go to the riverside later?"
Фэн Юань patted his belly and said with a mischievous grin, Agunas glanced at him speechlessly, not understanding what he was planning to do.

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