Chapter 515: I Did Not Accept the Assessment

"What position are you standing in?"

Liu Erlong rolled her eyes: "Just stand on the opposite side of the Spirit Hall."

Grandmaster was unable to grasp her meaning for a moment, and said in a daze: "Then what about Qin Jian? We can't possibly set ourselves against him, right?"

"Ahem."

Flender couldn't listen anymore and hurriedly reminded him: "Erlong is telling you to set yourself against that Pope."

"Uh..."

Grandmaster felt ashamed.

"Dean, Grandmaster, Aunt Erlong..."

Qin Jian walked back with Tang San and Ma Hongjun.

"The plaques have been changed, and I will give you the basic Spirit Academy regulations next, then I have to go find Xiao Wu."

A flash of worry crossed the depths of Qin Jian's eyes: "I don't know why, but Xiao Wu seems to be getting further and further away from me..."

Upon hearing this, Liu Erlong hurriedly said: "Then you should go find Xiao Wu quickly. Anyway, it was said that you'll be returning to Heaven Dou City soon, so don't linger here any longer."

She had a pretty good relationship with Xiao Wu back then, she just hadn't acknowledged a mother-daughter relationship.

"Mm."

Qin Jian nodded.

Seeing that he was about to leave, Grandmaster suddenly stepped forward and couldn't help but say: "Qin Jian, can I ask you a question?"

"Huh? What question?" Qin Jian turned his head in confusion.

Grandmaster had originally intended to wait for an opportunity to ask privately, but seeing Qin Jian about to leave, he could only ask it now.

He cautiously glanced at Liu Erlong, then leaned over to Qin Jian's side and whispered: "I... I want to ask... is she doing well now?"

Liu Erlong had already been circulating her soul power and pricked up her ears; hearing this, she almost turned into a mother tyrannosaurus on the spot.

"Calm down, calm down!"

Flender grabbed her: "Xiaogang is just asking, he doesn't mean anything else."

"Grandmaster is talking about the Pope?" Qin Jian's expression was strange.

"Mm."

Grandmaster hurriedly waved his hand and said: "I don't mean anything else, it's just that at that time, didn't I see that she liked you very much? So I wanted to know if she had found that love of her own."

Qin Jian's gaze became even stranger.

Even Liu Erlong quieted down, because she truly couldn't comprehend the mood in which Grandmaster said this.

Could it be that he was still verifying that saying, that there is a kind of love called letting go?

"This time I broke through the shackles in my heart, and recalling the past, I only then noticed some clues..."

Grandmaster sighed in a low voice: "My self-esteem was too strong at that time, and I didn't think about the underlying reasons at all; I just felt she was too heartless. Now that I think about it, perhaps I wronged her."

"You did indeed wrong her, but she would still have separated from you; that was inevitable..."

Qin Jian suddenly said: "Because at that time, I had already stepped into her life."

Grandmaster unexpectedly shook his head: "Actually, it doesn't count as separating; I didn't even touch her. Those past events were nothing more than some foolish things done by a young man who admired a goddess..."

"Since you say so, does that mean you have already..." He stopped mid-sentence.

Qin Jian smiled: "It counts as half, I suppose."

"What does half mean?" Grandmaster asked in confusion.

Qin Jian folded his arms: "Half means that what should have happened has happened, but we don't yet fully trust each other. Because of the issue of her status and my position, and also because of an old matter from four years ago, we still need to continue to adjust to each other..."

Grandmaster's complexion became abnormally strange, a bit gratified, and a bit green...

"Are you done asking what you wanted to ask?"

Liu Erlong's voice rang out eerily: "Then come back with me! Kneel on a durian or kneel on ants, you choose yourself. The durian must be crushed, and the ants must not die..."

Grandmaster: "..."

"Zhuqing, Rongrong, I am going to leave temporarily. Are you two returning to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"

Qin Jian turned and walked to the front of Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing.

"Mm, I'm returning to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect," Ning Rongrong said obediently.

Zhu Zhuqing, however, looked up: "If you are going to find Xiao Wu, is the direction to the south?"

"Yes, and it's quite far. I don't know why Xiao Wu has been heading south; it seems she is about to exceed the range of the Star Dou Great Forest."

This was also what Qin Jian couldn't understand. If she had encountered danger on the road, Xiao Wu should have returned directly to the Star Dou Great Forest. What was this about bypassing the Star Dou Great Forest and heading south?

"Wouldn't that be the direction of the Star Luo Empire?" Zhu Zhuqing's eyes brightened.

"Yes." Qin Jian didn't understand why.

Zhu Zhuqing then stepped forward and said: "Then I will go on the road with you."

"Zhuqing, are you not living with me anymore?"

Ning Rongrong immediately grabbed her hand and said with some reluctance: "Where are you going?"

Zhu Zhuqing grabbed her hand back and said softly: "My becoming stronger requires me to return to my family and change that inheritance system of the family."

"What does this have to do with you becoming stronger?" Ning Rongrong asked.

Zhu Zhuqing replied: "It counts as a fortuitous encounter from when I was traveling the Dalu before. There will be some Assessments, and each time I pass one, I will receive a significant increase in strength. It sounds a bit like Oscar's."

Ning Rongrong frowned imperceptibly: "Zhuqing, have you asked what the final Assessment is?"

This question was a bit strange, and Qin Jian also pricked up his ears.

Zhu Zhuqing shook her head and said: "I didn't ask that, why? It's just that for me, the current Assessments are quite to my liking, and now I can return to the family."

Ning Rongrong silently let go of her hand and said in a low voice: "You had best ask about the final Assessment before deciding whether to continue. I think... it's best that way."

"Rongrong, you seem to... know something?" Qin Jian interrupted, frowning.

Ning Rongrong turned her head to look at him, nodded, and said softly, "I do know some things, but I cannot say, just as there are things you, Brother Jian, cannot say."

Qin Jian's expression became serious: "Then what can you tell me?"

Ning Rongrong pondered for a moment before looking up and saying, "I can only say that I did not accept, and cannot accept, that final Assessment."

Qin Jian's heart sank; that feeling of being shrouded by a net returned...

"Sorry, I cannot ask what the final Assessment is..."

Zhu Zhuqing suddenly opened her eyes and said, "But I can give up at any time; this I am certain of."

"That's good then." Ning Rongrong breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Na'er, I need to break up as soon as possible," Qin Jian suddenly said in his heart.

"You're feeling a sense of crisis, aren't you?" Na'er asked.

Qin Jian nodded: "The things that have happened recently have made me feel less and less in control."

"But you also said that even the breakup feels like it has been arranged," Na'er said.

Qin Jian was silent for a moment before saying, "There is only one path laid out before me now, but I have not yet reached the end; changing paths halfway is impossible, so I can only continue, but I also need to accumulate my own confidence, which is something outside of this path, that is... you."

"I understand..."

Na'er said softly, "I have not yet recovered to my peak and still need a few years; this cannot be accelerated, but there is one point that absolutely no one knows, only we know, and it is also the most crucial breakthrough point..."

"Our Fusion," Qin Jian suddenly said.

Na'er gave a hum: "Yes, our Fusion."

(End of this chapter)