Chapter 866: Classmates

Time flies like an arrow, years pass like a shuttle.

In the blink of an eye, three years have passed since that great catastrophe that nearly ended this world prematurely.

Human memory is limited; those trivial matters are forgotten in an instant, and the focus of public attention loses its heat within days. Even a great catastrophe like the world's end, after three years, is no longer discussed by anyone. If not specifically brought up, most people have already erased this memory from their minds.

These three years, both the Human World and the Qianxian have been exceptionally calm.

Three years ago, in the Void, the two world-leading figures, the Sword Guest and the High Priest of Haotian, set a peace treaty. Although many things happened in the following years, the three-year agreement was still smoothly pushed forward. Even though it was said that intense turmoil occurred in the Tianmo Jie, and even the Shenjie was not spared, with a major reshuffle of the upper echelons, they did not provoke war without authorization and chose to extend the ceasefire agreement.

This may be because the hearts of the people are truly weary of war.

War has been fought for hundreds of years; the Human World has suffered heavy losses, but the Tianmo Jie cannot be said to have gained much benefit either. Although they invaded repeatedly, the places they could hold in their hands were only a part of the Suiyu, and even the Taiyin Domain, the place most heavily infiltrated, was only half-invaded, forming a stalemate. The Human World has not yet occupied an inch of their land, and the floating wealth seized over these years, due to a lack of planning, was mostly not used for development; they only cared about enjoyment, which is essentially squandering it. In recent years, the resistance encountered has become stronger, and the contradictions among the Hundred Races have not eased, so the Tianmo are no longer as warlike as they were back then.

Under the tacit understanding of both sides, no war broke out during the three years. Not only that, some high-level officials skilled in diplomacy even organized exchange activities between the two worlds, with envoys from each side engaging in business, study tours, or research to promote mutual understanding. As the saying goes, "Stones from other hills may serve to polish the jade of this one," and those who participated in the activities gained brand-new insights from the other world, most of them having quite a harvest.

However, this world is just like this: extreme stillness leads to movement, and extreme movement leads to stillness. Once the scars heal, the pain of the past is forgotten.

Three years is enough to make the most warlike group eager to try, make the relatively warlike secretly plot, and make a large majority indifferent, having at least forgotten the horror of battle.

The three-year period has arrived, and peace... is teetering!

Taiyin Domain.

As the place where the forces of the Tianmo and the Human are most balanced, the Taiyin Domain is the forefront of exchanges during the truce period. A "Lianghe City" was even built here, with a Peace Commercial Alliance, a research institute, and a "Friendship Training Academy" that recruits from both worlds, all of which are witnesses to peace.

"Have you heard? Have you heard?" In the first class of the Friendship Training Academy, a young man hurried into the classroom from outside and called out with a mix of excitement and nervousness to the dozen or so classmates who were still persisting in their self-study: "The Other Guest students next door are all preparing to leave. The teleportation arrays have already been opened."

"Hmm?"

Everyone present was quite surprised. Among them, a tall female Sword Guest with a heroic appearance asked in wonder: "So fast?"

"It's not fast anymore." The young man who had just entered was slightly plump and looked very shrewd. Although his grades were not outstanding, he was the best-informed person in this classroom, and his own status was quite high, carrying the halo of the Human imperial family—he was a "little prince." However, in this classroom, his status was of no use. For instance, the aforementioned Miss Yun Xiyan, although she came from the Human world's martial arts factions, had outstanding strength and a forthright personality, counting as a big sister figure in the classroom; even this young little prince had to give her some leeway.

"Three years, counting from April three years ago, is it already February now? Clearing the field in March and starting the war in April; if they don't leave quickly, they won't be able to leave at all."

"I know, but wasn't it said that the Sword Court organized a meeting with the high-level officials on the Tianmo side to discuss whether to extend the ceasefire agreement? I thought they would at least wait for the results before making a decision."

"This matter had a result from the very beginning." At this moment, someone at the neighboring seat spoke. The little prince looked over and saw a young man with a proud expression. This person's status was by no means inferior to the little prince, and perhaps even exceeded it, because he came from the Sword Court of the Sun Court, Han Ziyuan of the Han Clan, a Sword Court family. Most of the disciples in the first training class came from the Sun Court, and the status of the Sun Court was even more important than the Human imperial family, with higher-level sources of information.

"If the high-level structure of the Tianmo Jie was the same as it was three years ago, then there would be a thirty percent chance of extending the truce. But the Tianmo Jie erupted into civil war over the past two years. Now that the God is in power, a large group of conservatives has been suppressed. Now, except for Haotian, the high-level is entirely replaced by radicals. They are itching to invade right now; how could they possibly allow the truce to be extended?"

Yun Xiyan frowned and said, "I heard the civil war hasn't ended yet. Those conservatives are still in a stalemate. One must settle internal affairs before dealing with external ones. They are in such a mess themselves, yet they still want to declare war on us? And isn't High Priest Haotian also inclined toward a truce?"

Han Ziyuan said indifferently, "He was inclined before, but he isn't now." As he spoke, he revealed an expression of "those who understand, understand; those who don't, there's no need to tell them," and began to pack his things.

"So that's it. Using external conflicts to divert internal ones, forcing internal reconciliation. Is that what you mean?" A calm-looking young woman sitting nearby said.

Han Ziyuan glanced at the student next to him, Pei Shoujing, who had one of the top grades in the class, and said, "Something like that. You can figure out the logic behind this yourself; war is inevitable. In a month at most, this training class will also disperse, everyone will go home, and then pack up to go to the Qianxian. Everyone, I'm very glad we met. We come from all over, with different backgrounds; if not for this 'Joint Seedling Plan,' we might never have met in our lives. Since we have met and are classmates, we have gotten along happily this year, which is fate. If we happen to meet on the battlefield, we can lend each other a hand." Saying this, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and left the classroom.

With him leaving like this, among the crowd, except for the little prince muttering, "Too pretentious," everyone else only thought about what he had just said and couldn't help but feel heavy-hearted.

For a time, everyone had no heart for studying and left one after another. Yun Xiyan sat for a while, also feeling restless, so she stood up. Seeing that Pei Shoujing had also stood up, she said, "Shall we go together?"

"Okay."

There were not many women in the first training class. Pei Shoujing and Yun Xiyan were both considered the best among them, but the two were not close, perhaps because their interests and personalities were different.

Pei Shoujing was a relatively standard good student; she was excellent at reading, practicing martial arts, and studying Sword Dao, but her own hobbies were relatively inclined toward quietness. Reading was one thing, or she would just sit quietly drinking tea, with no heart for fighting. After a year as classmates, the vast majority of people did not know what her sword was.

Yun Xiyan was exactly the opposite. She could basically not read books, but she had extraordinary talent in martial arts and Sword Dao. Moreover, she was competitive. Throughout this year, she frequented the martial arts arena, and whether it was on the Human side or the Tianmo side, as long as they were willing to step down and practice, she had beaten them all.

And her sword was also unknown to others. It wasn't that she didn't strike, but that she didn't need to draw her sword. Relying on her fists and kicks, she could be said to have swept through the level of Sword Guest, and no one was qualified to make her draw her sword.

The two were classmates for a year but rarely communicated privately; it was just that they happened to walk together today.

As Yun Xiyan pushed the door open, she happened to see the door of the opposite classroom also open. The person inside walked face-to-face with her, and then with a "pop," the opposite door closed.

Yun Xiyan was stunned. Seeing that the opposite side was quiet and the door was tightly shut, she paused for a moment. Pei Shoujing said, "Let's go first. If she doesn't want to see us, we'll go first; this can avoid mutual awkwardness."

Yun Xiyan sighed. She also understood what it meant. Inside the opposite door was also a training class, and the students in that class were all Tianmo.

Over the past year, the students of the Human class and the Tianmo class had classes on the same floor, and sometimes they could even have classes in the same large classroom, seeing each other every day.

There was even a plan by the Academy's high-level officials to let Humans and Tianmo study in the same class, truly living together and helping each other, but because it was too radical, it could not be implemented to this day, and there would probably be no chance to realize it in the future.

However, the person who just came out from the opposite side, although it was only a flash, Yun Xiyan recognized her. That was a female Tianmo; except for a pair of horns on her head and a body thinner than a human's, there was no difference from a human in other respects.

This Tianmo was also one of Yun Xiyan's defeated opponents, and the other party was also very combative, one could say she fought repeatedly despite being defeated, but the two did not hate each other. On the contrary, after fighting so much, they developed a bit of mutual sympathy.

Later, the two would sometimes make appointments to eat together and practice together, and gradually they really developed a friendship. If they had been classmates for a few more years, perhaps they would have really become good friends.

But there would probably never be a chance. The next time they meet, it might be a life-or-death battlefield.

Although Yun Xiyan was not a sensitive person, she felt a sense of melancholy.

"We are really going to fight." Yun Xiyan sighed.

"We are going to fight. At the fastest, next month; at the slowest, before next year, the first small-scale war will occur, and then the battlefield will spread out comprehensively, quickly returning to the state of a few years ago, where there is war everywhere and everyone is fighting. If we want to stop again this time, it might require one side to be completely wiped out, and the world to be occupied or completely conquered by the other side."

Yun Xiyan said, "Doesn't that mean there will never be peace?"

Pei Shoujing said "Hmm?" and said, "Do you think both sides will never be able to determine a winner?"

Yun Xiyan said, "They might determine a winner, but it should be a long, long time from now. By then, I will have turned to dust. After death, everything is empty; for me, that is forever."

Pei Shoujing was lost in thought, and after a while, she said, "Yes. I also don't want to spend my whole life—a short hundred years—without having enjoyed happiness, without having finished the books I like, without having done the things I wanted to do, just picking up a sword and fighting endlessly until I die. How can the chaotic world end?"

"If only a great hero who could save the world would descend from the sky."