72: Goodbye, my love

The woman appearing before Xie Ning wore an elegant long dress with white base and blue patterns, a sky-blue sash tied at her waist, and shoulder-length hair flowing gracefully without being messy; a pair of peach blossom eyes held confusion and curiosity, cherry lips slightly parted as if coated with rouge, adding a touch of allure.

Such an image, both elegant and beautiful, seemed contradictory yet blended together perfectly.

She was precisely the Lingnan Academy instructor who had saved Xie Ning's life five years ago during the beast tide in Qingyun Town—Yan Ruyu.

"Student? Are you alright?"

Yan Ruyu frowned and called out again.

Xie Ning finally snapped out of it, steadied himself, and said gratefully, "N-no, nothing. Thank you for saving me."

Yan Ruyu nodded, then inquired about the situation in Flower City.

Xie Ning first fed the Supersonic Mantis an intermediate energy potion, recalled it, then proceeded to wake up the unconscious people one by one while explaining the events to Yan Ruyu.

Halfway through his account, he saw Money Dragon riding a Dragon-Tailed Flying Shark rushing back in a panic. Seeing Xie Ning unharmed and the others starting to get up from the ground, Money Dragon let out a sigh of relief, then noticed Yan Ruyu's presence and suddenly understood.

"Instructor Yan, I didn't expect to meet you here. Thank you for saving these examinees." Money Dragon first bowed respectfully, expressing sincere gratitude, then asked, "Has the reinforcements arrived?"

"Yes. We arrived first; reinforcements from other academies and cities will be here soon."

Yan Ruyu spoke expressionlessly with a cold tone, but Money Dragon was unfazed.

Xie Ning seized the opportunity to finish explaining the remaining details of the battle situation.

"blood fury pill... no wonder... how audacious!" Upon hearing that the Fallen Demon Tamer had used a blood fury pill, Yan Ruyu's originally cold and beautiful face seemed to frost over, radiating killing intent. Ignoring the reactions of Money Dragon, Xie Ning, and the others, she soared into the air, sword in hand, and headed straight for Flower City.

"This..." Xie Ning stared blankly at the receding figure.

"You'll get used to it." Money Dragon said with a bitter smile. "This is Lingnan Academy's Platinum Rank instructor Yan Ruyu. She may seem unfriendly to everyone, but she's actually a decent person. Aren't you applying to Lingnan Academy? You'll have plenty of chances to see her in the future."

"Has she... always been this eccentric?"

Xie Ning asked with a frown.

Seeing Yan Ruyu again, Xie Ning felt a strange sensation.

Five years ago, she was kind and gentle, giving off a feeling like a warm spring breeze; back then, just one of her smiles seemed to melt even ice and snow.

But now, she gave off a contradictory impression. She looked like the same person, just more mature, yet to Xie Ning, it felt as if she had completely changed.

Elegantly dressed, with a beautiful face, yet cold as if the world had nothing to do with her, but occasionally catching a glimpse of concern for her surroundings in her eyes—such contradictions were hard to reconcile with the feeling from five years ago.

"Well... you'll have to slowly inquire about it after you get to the academy. There are many rumors about her, but it's hard to tell what's true. However, I still have a suggestion for you." At this point, seeing that the others hadn't fully recovered, Money Dragon whispered to Xie Ning, "Although she is very powerful and quite kind-hearted, if you're choosing an instructor, I suggest you pick someone else, even if they're weaker than her."

"Huh?"

Xie Ning was taken aback by these words.

Unfortunately, Money Dragon didn't explain and had no intention to. Seeing the students who had come with Yan Ruyu approaching from afar, he patted Xie Ning's shoulder and went to greet them.

The awakened crowd gathered around Xie Ning.

Some helped apply medicine to Xie Ning, while others pressed for details about what happened next.

Xie Ning treated his injuries while recounting the events to everyone. After hearing his story, they were all filled with lingering fear.

Xiao Ya patted her underdeveloped chest, saying with lingering fear, "Thank goodness this instructor arrived, or we would have been done for."

"Exactly. At that moment, I truly felt my own insignificance, like a grain of sand on the beach facing a doomsday tsunami." Jin Feng nodded.

"Speaking of which, Lan Yu, you were really brave... I was so scared I couldn't move at all, yet you managed to pick up a dagger and stab him! You're practically an idol!" Ye Chong became animated at this point, waving his hands excitedly. "You guys don't know, Lan Yu's dagger wounded that Dark-Skinned Guy. From my angle, I could see the dagger was stained with his blood..."

"Shut up!"

"Shut up!"

Lu Bingyun and Xiao Ya shouted in unison, their loud voices immediately silencing Ye Chong.

Jin Feng and Zhan Yingying exchanged glances, unsure what was going on.

Xie Ning: "..."

You're the Dark-Skinned Guy!

Your whole family are Dark-Skinned Guys!

Seeing Lan Yu staring blankly at the dagger, Lu Bingyun and the others quickly pulled her into conversation to distract her from dwelling on it. They didn't notice Lan Yu's emotional instability.

"Did... did I say something wrong?"

Ye Chong scratched his head, asking with a puzzled expression.

Jin Feng sighed and patted his shoulder; Zhan Yingying also looked at him sympathetically, though neither knew what Ye Chong had said wrong.

"Alright, let's not talk about this now. The battle at the city gate isn't over yet; we should head back."

At this moment, Money Dragon returned and arranged for Xie Ning and the others to ride on the Demon Tamers Beasts of the Lingnan Academy reinforcements.

In this battle, their Demon Tamers Beasts were quite injured and could no longer serve as mounts.

No one objected. Under Money Dragon's arrangement, they each mounted up. During this process, Xie Ning also fed the Poison Flame White Wolf an intermediate energy potion, comforted it a few times, then recalled it.

Just as Xie Ning was wondering who to trouble for a ride, a tall male student walked over and said with a smile, "Student Xie Ning, you can ride with me."

This male student looked a few years older than Xie Ning, with handsome features and a warm smile. He wore casual clothes but carried an ancient black sword on his back, and beside him stood a Purple Giant Eagle nearly three meters tall.

"May I ask your name, senior?" Xie Ning asked with a smile.

The male student replied, "I'm Mu Tian, an Advanced Class student, though not from Teacher Yan's class just now. My teacher is Mu Changfeng."

"Then I'll trouble you, senior." After saying this, Xie Ning sat with Mu Tian on the back of the Purple Giant Eagle, heading toward Flower City along with the other Lingnan Academy students who had come as reinforcements.

There were nearly a thousand of these students, all at least Silver Rank in strength. Not to mention in Flower City, even in any city on Earth Star, they would be a significant force.

At this moment, Xie Ning truly felt the might of Lingnan Academy.

While Xie Ning observed the Lingnan Academy students, they were also quietly observing him.

For someone who had attracted the academy's attention even before entering the Secret Realm, it was hard not to know him.

Not only had he accepted the academy's most difficult Rank mission and survived, but he had also led fellow students to counter-kill the Fallen Demon Tamer and thwarted their grand conspiracy to eliminate examinees. Such a feat, even they wouldn't dare claim they could accomplish, yet this person before them—only Bronze Rank and looking disheveled—had done it.

Moreover, he had led a team and appeared outside Flower City with City Defense Bureau officers. Could it be that he also led examinees to counter-reinforce Flower City?

Thinking this, the students felt a chill run down their spines, their hearts filled with awe.

If that were really the case, what kind of strong heart and immense confidence would it take to dare do such a thing?

No wonder Mu Tian was so eager to befriend him; even someone from the Imperial Capital wouldn't fare much better.

Watching Xie Ning on the giant eagle's back, chatting and laughing with Mu Tian, though ragged but confident and composed, the students following closely behind were filled with curiosity.