222: Chapter 223 She's not an ice wall; she can also ask if she can stop.

[Shen Tingxue: Request to suspend the Ice Phoenix career review and enter a safe exit evaluation]

When this line of text lit up in the center of the Old Awakening Hall, it was even quieter than all the large-scale exit applications just now.

Because Shen Tingxue was not an ordinary professional.

She was an S-rank Ice Phoenix Mage.

She was once the brightest talent of the Jiangcheng Combat Academy.

She was the frost that suppressed the death line in countless dungeons.

She was the person beside the White Tower, gods heart, Dead Water Well, and Wuye City drainage outlets who could always make the collapse speed a beat slower.

Therefore, the first thing the system popped up was not a confirmation.

But a warning.

[High-risk core career holder applies for safe exit evaluation]

[Related functions being retrieved]

[Ice-type plugging: Thirty-seven locations]

[Temporary cooling valves: Twelve locations]

[Waste page mud stable edges: Four locations]

[gods heart residual dose cooling: One location]

[Team combat system: High dependence]

[Recommendation: Reject the suspended review]

Chen Ye opened his mouth.

He instinctively wanted to say, "Don't be impulsive."

But the words reached his lips, and he managed to swallow them back.

Zhou Heng gripped the Thunder Spear tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"System, don't speak of dependence on our behalf."

Shen Tingxue stood in the cold light with a calm expression.

"I am not going to tear away the Ice Phoenix right now."

"What I am asking is: Do I have the qualification to evaluate an exit?"

She looked toward Lin Jin.

It was not asking for permission.

It was letting him testify.

Lin Jin raised his head, his voice very steady.

"You do."

The system immediately suppressed back.

[Shen Tingxue currently bears a large amount of public cooling functions]

[Exit evaluation may trigger social risks]

[Recommended to postpone until the end of the bottom-level review]

Shen Tingxue chuckled lightly.

That smile was very faint, yet as cold as the back of a blade.

"So every major event is never over."

"Every time, I am needed."

"Every time, they say 'wait until later'."

She raised her right hand.

The Ice Phoenix pattern emerged from her wrist bones, so pretty it was almost cruel.

"Then when will this 'later' arrive?"

No one spoke in the Old Awakening Hall.

Because this sentence was too familiar.

Cheng Du had waited.

Gu Changye had waited.

Zhou Lan had waited.

The people of Wuye City had waited.

People caught by the Career System would always be told: "Wait a little longer, wait until the world is a bit more stable."

But the world was never stable.

Therefore, they could never stop.

Lin Jin placed the new tool on the calibration disk.

"First dismantle the dependence."

"Not dismantle her."

He wrote the first line:

[Safe exit evaluation is not equal to immediate career stripping.]

[The existence of public dependence does not constitute a reason to reject the evaluation.]

[Dependence should be broken down into functions, locations, time limits, alternative solutions, risks, and personal wishes.]

Ye Guizhou stamped it.

[Evaluation application received]

Luo Wensheng Record:

[Shen Tingxue's personal statement: Requests to evaluate whether she can safely exit or suspend holding the Ice Phoenix career.]

He Zhibai opened the ledger:

[The Ice Phoenix public dependence list must be made public, and she must not be summarily suppressed back with "She is very important."]

The system began to shake.

Afterward, the thirty-seven ice-type plugging points were projected out.

The first was the ice wedge at the edge of the Dead Water Well in Wuye City.

Shen Tingxue glanced at it.

"That is temporary ice."

"Now we can replace it with wooden piles and sinking sand panels."

Zhong Minglin immediately connected.

"Wuye City can make wooden piles."

"Don't write that it requires long-term maintenance by the Ice Phoenix."

The second was the cooling medicine cabinet of Nanling Hospital.

Fang Ning frowned.

"That should have been replaced with a regular freezer in the first place."

"Previously there was a power outage, and I temporarily asked her to supplement the temperature."

The third was the cooling of the gods heart residual dose.

The faint light of gods heart residual number one flashed.

[I can reduce the output]

Lin Jin nodded.

"Lower it first."

[It will lead to a decrease in the assistance efficiency of five red stations]

"If it decreases, let it decrease."

Shen Tingxue looked toward him.

Lin Jin did not dodge.

"We cannot freeze you here for the sake of efficiency."

The fourth was the ice defense line at the North Gate of Jiangcheng.

Looking at that ice wall, Zhou Heng said in a deep voice:

"I can use the Thunder Spear to change this wall into a gravel protective belt."

Chen Ye immediately said:

"I am responsible for the pressure-bearing test."

Shisan coldly added:

"Don't write 'Thunder Spear Family Takeover' again."

Zhou Heng glanced at him.

"Write that Zhou Heng personally participates temporarily, with a review every seven days."

Ye Guizhou stamped:

[Temporary participation received]

[Cannot be converted into a family obligation]

After one dependence after another was dismantled, everyone saw a fact clearly.

They had indeed depended on Shen Tingxue.

But not every item required continuing to depend on Shen Tingxue.

Some could be downgraded.

Some could have materials replaced.

Some could be suspended.

Some could be rotated among multiple people.

Still others were just the system being too lazy to update, labeling all the places where she had once taken action as "Ice Phoenix long-term maintenance."

Looking at that increasingly short dependence list, Shen Tingxue's breathing became a bit lighter.

But just as the last five items appeared, the Ice Phoenix pattern suddenly burst out with dazzling cold light.

[Bloodline-type S-rank career cannot naturally exit]

[The Ice Phoenix career possesses inheritance attributes]

[If the current holder exits, a successor must be designated]

[Candidate: Shen Qingshuang]

When Shen Qingshuang's name lit up, the air suddenly dropped in temperature.

Shen Qingshuang's channel on the other end was silent for a moment.

Afterward, her voice came through.

"Not taking it."

The system did not stop.

[Candidate: Shen Family direct-line minor adapter]

A string of children's names began to emerge.

Shen Tingxue's gaze instantly turned cold.

"Stop."

The cold aura around her surged, and spiderweb-like ice patterns formed on the ground.

"Who told you to pull up the children's list?"

The system's response was cold and hard.

[Bloodline career exit requires maintaining inheritance completeness]

[No successor will lead to the death of the Ice Phoenix career]

Shen Qingshuang let out a laugh.

There was no temperature in that laugh.

"Let it die then."

The system immediately warned.

[The death of an S-rank career may cause backlash to the holder]

[Bloodline freezing, mental tearing, ability hollowing, collapse of historical battle Records]

Shen Tingxue's complexion turned pale for a fraction of a second.

This was not an ordinary threat.

The Ice Phoenix was bound together with her blood, her bones, her childhood training, and the long-term resource investment of the Shen Family.

To exit was like pulling an ice vein that grew on the bones out of one's body.

Chen Ye grew anxious.

"This is not safe!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he realized that his words might sound like obstruction again, and immediately changed his phrasing:

"I mean… we can't forcefully exit."

"But the evaluation continues."

Shen Tingxue glanced at him.

"I know."

Lin Jin stared at that inheritance definition.

"Who said that the death of a career equals a person suffering backlash?"

The bottom-level system surfaced the old definition.

[Bloodline-type career = Family ability continuation carrier]

[Holder = Career continuation node]

[continuation failure = Node bears disintegration]

Teacher Xu Wenzhou picked up 002.

Shen Qingshuang said in a cold voice:

"For this clause, I want to personally provide collateral evidence."

Her old clearance enforcer Record was also pulled out, but this time, it did not drag her back to her post.

She only stood in front of the channel as a person who had been hurt by the Shen Family bloodline career.

"The Shen Family used to treat the Ice Phoenix as family assets."

"Older sister, younger sister, daughter, child—whoever is compatible goes up."

"An exit is always called betrayal."

"Career damage is always called impure bloodline."

"This definition is not a rule."

"It is family law that the Shen Family wrote into the system by borrowing it."

Ye Guizhou stamped:

[Family law does not constitute world rules]

Luo Wensheng Record:

[Bloodline inheritance must not be automatically regarded as a public function.]

He Zhibai added:

[Family resource investment can enter the accounts, but must not be converted into personal holding rights.]

Lin Jin pressed the new tool down on that definition.

"Shen Tingxue is a person."

"She is not an incubator for the Ice Phoenix career."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou dropped the blade.

Click!

[Holder = Career continuation node] snapped.

New gray-white characters labored to emerge.

[Bloodline-type career exit evaluation should distinguish between: ability safety, physical medical treatment, psychological trauma, family debt, public functions, and personal wishes.]

[When there is no successor, it can enter career dormancy, downgraded sealing, split learning, or historical archiving.]

[Minors or relatives must not be designated for compulsory inheritance.]

The cold light around Shen Tingxue finally stopped expanding wildly.

But the Ice Phoenix pattern on her wrist bones began to shatter.

It was not disappearing.

It was cracking very painfully.

Cold sweat oozed from her forehead, yet she did not retreat half a step.

System prompt:

[Entering the first step of safe exit evaluation: Load reduction]

[Whether to reduce the current external functions of the Ice Phoenix career?]

Shen Tingxue looked toward everyone.

"I confirm."

Lin Jin immediately said:

"All related nodes, prepare for replacement."

"Don't wait until she can no longer hold on before moving."

The Wuye City wooden piles fell into place.

The Nanling freezer was connected to hand-cranked power.

The North Gate gravel belt was established.

The gods heart residual reduced its output.

The edge of the Dead Water Well was changed to use sinking sand panels and waste page floating rafts for support.

Every time a location was replaced, the ice patterns on Shen Tingxue's body faded by a fraction.

It wasn't a fading of becoming weaker.

It was a fading of carrying one less stone on her back.

But by the last location, the system still got stuck.

[Team combat system: High dependence]

[After exiting, the survival rate of Lin Jin's squad decreases]

Chen Ye's expression sank.

"Are you using us to pressure her again?"

Zhou Heng struck the Thunder Spear against the ground.

"A decrease in the survival rate is not a reason why she must stay."

Shisan looked toward Shen Tingxue.

"If you exit, we won't scatter either."

Looking at them, Shen Tingxue's gaze finally had a slight fluctuation.

Lin Jin walked up in front of her.

"Do you still remember the team contract?"

Shen Tingxue nodded.

Lin Jin recited the line they had written together.

[Any member must not be used as a sacrificial node for the survival of the team.]

Ye Guizhou stamped.

[Contract is valid]

Luo Wensheng added:

[Team dependence must not override a member's right to exit.]

Shen Tingxue took a light breath.

"Then I apply."

"To suspend the comprehensive review of the Ice Phoenix career."

"To enter the load-reduction observation period."

"During the observation period, I will not undertake permanent public cooling, I will not undertake the Shen Family inheritance, and I will not undertake the team's necessary output."

"Retain necessary self-preservation abilities."

"Retain my right to stop the evaluation at any time."

"The evaluation result can be continuation, it can be exit, or it can be redirection."

The system was silent for a very long time.

Finally, it wrote back:

[Shen Tingxue: Safe exit evaluation established]

[Current stage: Load-reduction observation period]

[External public functions: Ninety-one percent unloaded]

[Bloodline inheritance: Frozen, must not be transferred]

[Minor inheritance list: Deleted]

[Personal status: Retains self-preservation ice-type abilities, stops permanent public load]

[Re-examination after seven days; can apply to suspend or continue in advance]

In the Old Awakening Hall, that Ice Phoenix phantom did not spread its wings to protect the entire venue for the first time.

It only quietly landed on Shen Tingxue's shoulder like a tired bird.

Shen Tingxue raised her hand and touched it.

Her fingers were trembling.

Very slightly.

Lin Jin did not reach out to hold them.

He just stood to the side, leaving her with enough distance to breathe.

Chen Ye's eye sockets were a bit red, but his mouth was still stubborn.

"So in future fights, do I have to take a few more hits?"

Shen Tingxue glanced at him.

"Didn't you always say you are a shield?"

Chen Ye immediately puffed out his chest.

"Of course."

Shisan said coldly:

"Even if the shield breaks, it can still be withdrawn."

The corners of Chen Ye's mouth twitched.

"Can you not undermine me right when I look my coolest?"

There was finally a bit of laughter in the Old Awakening Hall.

Not much.

But real.

But just when everyone thought Shen Tingxue's evaluation was temporarily stable, the bottom-level review window suddenly popped up a second high-risk application.

[Gu Changye: Application for Terminal Processor career redirection evaluation]

[Current career functions: End abnormalities, handle abysses, seal failed lines]

[Risk: If redirection fails, the terminal authority may go out of control]

Immediately following, a third one.

[Inspector Han Su: Application to suspend review of the Job-Slayer career, review historical blade-wielding Records]

A fourth one.

[Zhou Lan: Application to completely exit the Healer career]

The fifth, sixth, seventh…

The global high-risk professional queue poured out like a floodgate opening.

And the most dazzlingly harsh one came from one of the nineteen people not yet rescued from the depths of the Dead Water Well.

[Shi Nan's teammate: Career page rotted into the heart]

[Application: Do not recover, do not subside, just want to know whether they can still live]

The risk evaluation given by the system had only one line.

[Recommendation: Abandon rescue, avoid the spread of waste page pollution]

In the direction of the Dead Water Well, the alarm suddenly sounded.

Having just unloaded ninety percent of her public load, Shen Tingxue raised her eyes to look toward Lin Jin.

Lin Jin gripped the new tool tightly.

"It seems the second bottom line is even harder to build than the first one."