“If so, if that arrow from before had hit his body directly, it would have at least severely wounded him.”
Alone in the homeroom teacher’s office, Shen Ning debated with the three reflections of herself.
If they faced Swina and the others again, could she still trigger the Special Arrow for real effect?
The battered reflection offered a certain answer, expressing that even if Swina remained in his stone-white humanoid form, a powerful Explosive Wind would be able to pin him down, skin and bones together.
A sense of relief finally crept into the girl’s heart; the accumulated pressure from the battle at Chencha County had finally eased a little.
But next time, if they clashed again, the other side would surely be prepared—she couldn’t just try the same old tricks.
“What are you thinking? It’s only been a short while. How could they possibly know you’ve gotten stronger again?” The strict reflection rolled her eyes. “You can’t expect everyone to change as rapidly as you.”
That was true.
“I’m not always changing day by day, either,” Shen Ning let out a rare sigh. “Some things just take time.”
She opened the System Panel, entered the Milestone System, and found a thin layer of frost covering it. The timer read: 27 days, 14,135 minutes.
Same as before—a one-month cooldown. During this time, there would only be the occasional Random Daily Mission, nothing major or new to look forward to.
“Hugs, handshakes, and greetings can’t satisfy you anymore, huh,” the strict reflection remarked. “Looks like you’re becoming as repressed as me.”
No, it’s just that the rewards for Random Daily Missions are too meager.
“That’s not the real reason. I think you just want something big to happen.”
At that moment, Yu Jing returned, standing in the doorway as she said, “Shen Ning, you can go now, there’s nothing more. But if this happens again, the school will make sure someone comes to take care of you.”
“Understood.”
Actually, at first Shen Ning didn’t know what Yu Jing meant by “take care of you,” until she walked back to the girls’ dormitory and saw the entire building busy with a massive cleaning effort. The girls were carrying water basins up and down the stairs, and some returned from outside carrying several new window frames.
“Excuse me, make way, don’t get my water on you!”
Shen Ning quietly moved to the side, muttering an apologetic “Sorry” in her heart.
Her own dorm room was just as messy. The pillow, sleeves, and everything else had been blown into the corners, even the bedboard was standing upright. One of the two windows was broken, and the one left was cracked all over, ready to fall at any moment.
Shen Ning summoned a wisp of wind, blowing the dust and debris into the corner for the time being, lowered the bedboard, replaced the quilt with a new one, and straightened everything out.
But there was no new pillow, so she simply took the old one to the window, used Wind Manipulation to blow off the dust, and reluctantly decided it would have to do.
Because the wind had been too strong, the pillow had been flattened and the stuffing inside wouldn’t fluff back up for a while, making it rather uncomfortable.
“If only Li Yao were here,” the strict reflection said. “If Li Yao were here, you wouldn’t have to worry about your pillow at all.”
Whether it was Li Yao’s big bear or Big Thunder, either would be better than any regular pillow.
“I don’t think that’s right,” the battered reflection disagreed. “You’d be comfortable, sure, but Li Yao would feel wronged.”
The strict reflection shot back directly: “Don’t say you wouldn’t use it if Li Yao offered her pillow to you. If she did, would you refuse? If she made one for you, would you not use it?”
The battered reflection couldn’t respond.
The milk-soft reflection piped up, “Li Yao said before she’s a Pillow Princess, so she’s meant to be used as a pillow.”
The strict reflection: “See? There’s even a direct reference for it!”
Shen Ning was tempted, honestly. But after today’s incident, it was better to just sleep alone for the night.
“Good night.”
In the next dorm over, two girls from the neighboring country were also cleaning up their room, following the dorm supervisor’s instructions to give everything a thorough cleaning.
“I can’t quite imagine it,” Mi Xiaolu paused for a rest, glancing at her companion, Big Thunder. “You’re so capable, yet even you clean up your own room yourself?”
Xu Chuyao wrung out her towel and answered calmly, “Why does that surprise you? I have three dazzling stars.”
“No, I just mean, you’re so good at the Three Defenses, I thought there would be an easier way to handle things like this.”
“I’ve thought about it, but the problem is, Big Thunder isn’t much use for cleaning, and it could even cause an electrical overload in the whole dorm.”
If only she were a Water Element user, like some people. It’d be so much easier for cleaning and even, when fighting with her girlfriend, she could use water to drive her out…
The thought made Xu Chuyao crack up, unable to stifle a laugh.
“Xu Chuyao, what’s so funny?”
“Nothing, really… I was just thinking about Shen Ning getting in so much trouble today, having to face the teacher alone in the office like a cawing crow. It’s pretty funny.”
Actually, Li Yao thought this was about as funny as anything, but she kept it understated so as not to damage her own cool and untouchable image.
As for maintaining the aloof persona, well, let it be. She was already the youngest in the group anyway.
“Wait, what did you just say?” Mi Xiaolu suddenly realized something. “Was it Shen Ning?”
“Of course. Who else could it be? Among us, only she has the Wind element,” Xu Chuyao said, finishing up her cleaning and climbing onto her bed. “That sudden powerful wind earlier? Obviously man-made.”
She didn’t bother hiding it; it wasn’t some big secret anyway, and she often shared these things with her roommates.
Mi Xiaolu finished up as well, put her towel into the basin, and sat on her bed. “But this time it was way too strong. Did Shen Ning have a breakthrough again?”
Xu Chuyao shuddered. “No way, that’s too fast!”
Don’t mess with me, girl. I just had a small breakthrough myself—don’t tell me she did too. Li Yao had promised that next time she’d be the one on top.
“At this scale of wind…”
“What’s so strange about that? I… I can do it too!”
Mi Xiaolu was startled. “You can too?”
Someone so good at the Three Defenses…
“Of course,” Xu Chuyao looked rather proud. “Just give me an open area, enough time, and enough materials, and I can whip up a big one for you!”
That’s right. It’s just like that. It’s not that Shen Ning has gotten stronger again—she’s just using her skills well.
“So, you’re the one who’s improved…”
“Now you get it. That’s right, I’m the one who’s improved. So about what I told you before, just wait and see. Enough talk, time to sleep. Got official business tomorrow.”
Zzzz
A mighty wind swept across Shengling Academy. Although it seemed dramatic, the actual impact was manageable. After every class and every dormitory in the school had been thoroughly cleaned, everything returned to normal, except for a pile of broken desks, windows, and bed boards.
In this incident, only a few Falling Dew Snakes were injured—because while they were shouting “Earthquake! Earthquake!” and running everywhere, some of them hit the wall and ended up with bumps on their heads.
For these students, the homeroom teacher had a heartfelt talk, telling them to be braver in the future.
None of this had much to do with Li Yao. On a quiet late morning, Li Yao took out her phone and dialed an overseas number she hadn’t called in a long time.
Ting Xiaojia, no one answered.
Xu Chuyao looked at her phone, then out the window at the sky—it was already late morning, sunlight pouring in.
If someone was still sleeping at this hour, weren’t they afraid of getting tanned? She dialed again.
Southern Seat, Seat Pavilion, Chang Ming Tang.
After ringing many times, the call finally connected, and a groggy, annoyed voice answered.
“…Who is it, what is it?”
“It’s me! Why aren’t you up yet?” Xu Chuyao said seriously. “Even I got up!”
Heavens, how could there be anyone in this world who gets up later than Li Yao.
“Because I’m in New London! Xu Chuyao, you dumb snake!” The other party was so angry her voice changed. “It’s only two in the morning here!”
“Ah, right, it’s… jet lag. I’ll call you again in the afternoon, then.”
“Don’t! Since you’ve called, just say what you have to say.”
Since she had called anyway, she should just get to the point so the other could go back to sleep.
Xu Chuyao thought that made sense, so she cleared her throat: “In your family, has there ever been someone named Shimei Long?”