After dinner and some casual chatting, Fuli hopped into his beloved, highly-modified Type 59 tank and safely escorted Topaz and Anna—who needed to return to the IPC's local headquarters—back to their base.
Yuno and Young Durandal didn't need a ride; the Schicksal outpost was practically right next door to the Hyperion's base, a mere stone's throw away.
Having finished his chauffeur duties, the boy stood in the cool night air and hesitated for a moment. Ultimately, he suppressed the urge to sneak over to the Ghost-Hunting Squad's haunted mansion.
He had promised the girls he would sleep at home tonight, and a promise was a promise.
Besides, it had genuinely been a few days since he last visited his Master to practice his swordsmanship. I'll find some time tomorrow to check in on Master, he thought. Gotta show some love to the lonely, imprisoned Jingliu.
With these thoughts in mind, Fuli parked the tank and strolled into the brightly lit inner courtyard of the Hyperion's base.
"I'm ba—holy shit!"
The sight before him left him utterly dumbfounded.
"Master, please, have some tea!"
There was Kiana, sporting the most incredibly eager, sycophantic, yet charmingly naive smile he had ever seen. She was carefully offering a steaming cup of clear tea to an alluring figure seated gracefully in the grand armchair.
It was a breathtaking woman with flowing, pale silver hair. Even with a thin black blindfold covering her eyes, nothing could mask her cold, transcendent, otherworldly aura.
"Mm. Not bad."
Jingliu accepted the teacup and took a light sip. Her slender fingers tapped the porcelain as she gave a faint nod of approval. "You seem rather clumsy, but you certainly have a filial heart."
Her tone then shifted, laden with pointed meaning. "Unlike a certain ungrateful disciple of mine. He clearly sees his Master sitting right here, yet he hasn't even come forward to properly pay his respects."
"M-M-M-Master?!"
Little Fuli's jaw hit the floor. He rubbed his eyes, refusing to believe what he was seeing. "What are you doing here?!"
"I grew bored of cultivating in solitude, so I decided to pay a little home visit to my disciple." Jingliu's gaze seemed to pierce right through her blindfold, locking onto him with pinpoint accuracy. "What? Is your Master not welcome?"
"You're welcome, of course, but—"
Fuli's eyes darted frantically between his terrifyingly calm Master and the starry-eyed Kiana beside her. A massive retort was lodged in his throat, but he had absolutely no idea where to even begin.
"There are no 'buts.'"
Mei, dressed in comfortable loungewear, stepped forward with a gentle, highly respectful smile. "The Hyperion is Master's second home. Master Jingliu is welcome to visit whenever she pleases."
Coming from the Far East, a region deeply influenced by Confucian culture, Mei possessed a profound reverence for the tradition of respecting one's teachers. She understood perfectly well that in orthodox martial arts lineages, a Master held the exact same weight as a parent.
Frankly speaking, given Jingliu's current status, when Mei and Fuli eventually held their wedding, Jingliu would be the one sitting in the seats of honor representing Fuli's parents, accepting the bows of the bride and groom.
"Mm."
Hearing this, Jingliu's gaze swept over Mei, her demeanor softening into a trace of genuine approval. "Your sword aura is condensed and unyielding; your intent is pure and untainted. This is clearly the result of years of arduous, unwavering practice. At your age, such achievement is truly top-tier."
"You praise me too highly."
The normally aloof Mei displayed a rare, incredibly humble expression.
Watching this exchange from the sidelines, Fuli felt a massive wave of sour jealousy wash over him. He practically wanted to whip out a handkerchief and bite down on it furiously.
Up until this very day, his Master had never praised him! Not even once! If she wasn't calling him an "ungrateful disciple," she was calling his sword intent "impure and chaotic." She didn't even let him introduce himself as her disciple in public! It was like she was systematically gaslighting him into developing a masochistic complex!
What he failed to realize was that this was a common trait among older, traditional masters. They would naturally offer polite praise to outsiders, but when it came to their own direct disciples, only the harshest, most exacting standards would suffice to forge a true diamond.
"So, Master, why exactly did you come all the way here?" the boy asked, genuinely baffled.
"It is because a certain ungrateful disciple of mine hasn't shown his face in days. I feared he was neglecting his sword practice," Jingliu replied, her tone flat but carrying an innate, oppressive weight. "Since I have taken you under my wing, I must fulfill my responsibilities... even if you are a completely hopeless disappointment."
Oh! So it's a surprise inspection!
Fuli blinked. He opened his mouth, about to explain that he had promised the girls he wouldn't spend all his time wandering around outside.
"Ah-Li!"
Kiana launched the first attack. She planted her hands on her hips, looking like the absolute picture of righteous indignation. "What is wrong with you?! Why aren't you properly cherishing this golden opportunity to train with Master? This is absolutely unacceptable!"
Fuli: ???
"It truly is unacceptable," Mei chimed in, gently shaking her head. "One-on-one, hands-on instruction from a Transcendent S-Rank expert is a phenomenally rare opportunity. Compared to that, coming home to sleep is completely irrelevant."
Fuli: Wait, hold up, girls! That is NOT what we agreed on earlier!
He hurriedly tried to defend himself. "But earlier, we clearly agreed—"
"Yes, we did discuss the issue of Yuan not coming home often, but that was before you formally took a Master," Mei smoothly interrupted, her logic utterly watertight. "The situation has fundamentally changed. Yuan's absolute top priority right now is to study diligently under Master Jingliu and push your strength to the Sequence Herrscher Class."
...And then get our marriage license, she mentally added.
"Yeah, exactly! That's what I think too!" Kiana chimed in from the side, nodding vigorously in absolute agreement.
"..."
Fuli was so thoroughly blindsided by this perfectly coordinated betrayal that he was practically chanting Amitabha to keep his sanity intact.
Fine! Great! Awesome! Just to farm some approval points with my Master, you two sold me out without a second of hesitation!
Watching the scene unfold, Jingliu—seated in the position of absolute authority—gently traced the rim of her warm teacup. The corners of her lips seemed to curl up just a fraction of a millimeter. "So to speak, I have the permission of your family?"
"Absolutely zero objections!" Mei stated solemnly. "Master, please train Yuan as ruthlessly as you see fit. You need not hold back in the slightest!"
"Very well."
Having secured official permission, Jingliu gave a slight nod and placed her empty cup back on the tea table. "It is late today. I will not drag this ungrateful disciple back to my manor to discipline him tonight."
She turned to Mei, her tone polite. "Miss Mei, might the Hyperion's base have a spare guest room where I could rest for the night?"
"Of course we do. Please, follow me."
Mei elegantly led the way. Jingliu rose gracefully, and the two figures quickly disappeared around the corner of the corridor.
Only then did Kiana sidle up to Fuli. She gently poked him in the ribs with her elbow, her voice bubbling with excitement and curiosity. "I mean, I saw her portrait on the Luofu's wanted posters, but I didn't expect Master Jingliu to be that gorgeous in person! Her aura is just absolutely incredible!"
"Your Master isn't bad either," Fuli retorted. "Yunli is super pretty too. Plus, she comes with the bare-feet attribute bonus. That's easily a top-tier delicacy on the Xianzhou's must-eat list."
The difference in their forms of address clearly highlighted their respective levels of intimacy.
When Kiana referred to Yunli and Yanqing as "Master" (Shifu with the character for 'tutor'), it denoted an instructor who taught skills but didn't assume responsibility for the student's personal life. In modern times, it was simply a polite title for a skilled professional, lacking any deep emotional bond.
However, Fuli's use of "Master" (Shifu with the character for 'father') carried profound emotional weight. It equated the teacher to a parent, embodying the ancient philosophy of "A teacher for a day, a father for a lifetime." It demanded that the Master guide the disciple comprehensively in skills, morality, and life, shouldering responsibilities akin to actual parents.
"Ew! Foot-fetish pervert!" Kiana dramatically leaped away in mock disgust, but quickly resumed her muttering. "Speaking of which, I've been meaning to ask... how come you seem to know so much about Master Yunli?"
"Do I? I don't think so." Fuli spread his hands innocently. "Look, I know plenty about your Master Yanqing too, don't I?"
Investigating a dead person's entire life history definitely counts as 'knowing them', right?
"I guess that's true..." Kiana scratched her head, about to ask something else, but she stopped when she saw Fuli pull out his phone and dial Bronya's number.
A moment later, the boy hung up. "That girl is still out in the Proper World doing cleanup missions on the World Serpent's peripheral organizations. She's not coming back tonight. Let's head to bed."
"Oh, 'kay."
The adorably dense white cat was easily derailed. She obediently picked up the critter-cake she had been using as a throw pillow and skipped happily back to her room.
Fuli did the same.
However, an unknown amount of time later, deep in his slumber, he vaguely felt someone open the door to his room.
A fragrant scent tinged with a chilling, bone-deep cold drew near. Immediately after, a soft yet utterly irresistible body expertly locked him in a vice-like grip.
"Who's there?!"
Fuli snapped his eyes open in the pitch black, only to find himself staring straight into a pair of soul-stealing, crimson eyes.
The blindfold was long gone, and the sheer, burning battle lust radiating from that gaze was impossible to mistake.
"Ungrateful disciple..."
His Master leaned down, her warm breath brushing against his ear. Her voice was languid, husky, and incredibly seductive. "Pick up your sword. It is time for you to help your Master suppress her Mara again~"
Little Fuli panicked internally, desperately keeping his voice down. "Master! We're on the Hyperion right now! Mei and the others are right down the hall! Kallen's here too! If anyone notices..."
"Hah. Do you really think anyone else is like you, my ungrateful disciple? Capable of easily 'defeating' a Transcendent S-Rank?" Jingliu scoffed lightly, her arrogant tone laced with playful mockery. "Relax. They won't notice a thing."
"However..." Her tone shifted. The metaphorical tip of her blade lightly traced down Fuli's completely defenseless chest. "When we practice our swordplay tonight, you'd best hold back a little. Make sure you don't make too much noise~"
The bedroom door clicked completely shut. The night was still young.
---||---
"Throughout human history, there have always been two dominant philosophies. The first: 'Truth is more important than life.' The second: 'Nothing is more important than life.' When humans wage war, they use the former as their excuse. When they want the war to end, they use the latter as their justification."
"Bro Fuli, what the heck are you rambling about? It's just a bunch of nonsense."
"Huh?"
On the bustling streets the following morning, Fuli snapped out of the hollow "Sage Mode" induced by his Master's utterly relentless, night-long "training." Walking beside him was Yunli, looking at him with an expression that clearly said, 'Is something wrong with this guy's brain?'
Currently, the two members of Team Classic were walking shoulder-to-shoulder toward the designated base for the "Twilight Courtyard."
The sky above was crystal clear, with only a few wispy clouds drifting like silk. The sun poured down generously, illuminating the towering, majestic silhouettes of the distant mountains.
Yes, despite the location being relatively remote—close enough to see the mountains at the very edge of the Exalting Sanctum—hyacine had ultimately managed to secure this exact plot of land.
Rumor had it she had serendipitously bumped into an old acquaintance with significant influence among the Alliance's upper echelons. Combined with the Twilight Courtyard's genuinely rich historical background, they had been granted the site under a special provision.
This was precisely why an application that should have taken two days had dragged on for a full five.
Because it took so long, hyacine—terrified of holding her team back—had actually considered giving up when she first got the news. It was Castorice who privately contacted Fuli, and the boy had firmly convinced her there was no need to back down.
Add in the fact that abandoning the application would have severely inconvenienced the kindhearted acquaintance who had pulled strings for her, and hyacine finally bit her lower lip and accepted the site.
Still, she felt incredibly guilty about the delay, which was why she had prepared a massive, lavish feast to invite everyone over as a formal apology.
Before long, the Fuli-Yunli duo arrived at an antique, incredibly elegant main hall that exuded historical charm.
Inside, the petite, adorable Healer was bustling about. Standing beside her was a highly suspicious, pink-haired Foxian man with perpetually squinted eyes and a polite smile.
"Mr. Jiaoqiu?" Yunli blurted out in surprise. "You're the 'acquaintance' hyacine was talking about?"
"Indeed I am." Jiaoqiu gently fanned himself with his feather fan, his smile looking completely harmless. He then gave a polite nod to Fuli. "It has been quite some time since we last met. Our General has missed you terribly, you know."
"!!!"
Fuli jolted, a terrifying chill shooting straight from the soles of his feet up to his skull.
"Well, you see... isn't the Merlin's Claw incredibly busy managing the Wardance right now? I was just terrified of interrupting her work!" he stammered defensively. "How about I formally pay the General a visit some other day?"
He had, after all, secretly learned her signature movement technique, the Lan's Form.
Sure, the system explicitly stated it was a reward for turning in the Jackal. But in reality, a top-tier, custom-created martial art like that was an absolutely priceless secret. No amount of money could buy it. The fact that Feixiao was willing to pass it down to him was already a favor so massive it could crush him.
"Feel free to visit her anytime," Jiaoqiu smiled warmly. "The General won't eat you, I assure you."
I highly doubt that!
The pink Foxian's smile was loaded with hidden meaning, but as the chief strategist of the Yaoqing, he was a master of exactly this kind of unfathomable, psychological bluffing. Fuli, being a young pup in comparison, couldn't spot a single flaw in his facade.
The mouth-watering aroma wafting through the air made the boy take a deep breath. He casually caught the little Ica that flew over to him, his eyes locking onto the feast spread across the hall. "Smells amazing! Our precious hyacine's got some serious culinary skills!"
"They're all medicinal dishes carefully prepared with special herbs!" Wearing a cute little apron, hyacine turned around, a bright, heartwarming smile on her face. "Trust me, Li-bao! I'm actually really confident when it comes to medicinal cuisine!"
"By the way, how do you two even know each other?" Yunli couldn't help but ask.
"As the sole 'Descendant of the Sky' within the Twilight Courtyard, Miss hyacine traveled across the various nations, seeking knowledge wherever she went." A trace of nostalgia flickered in Jiaoqiu's eyes. "One of her instructors in traditional Shenzhou medicine happened to be a dear friend of mine. We gradually became acquainted through that connection."
"Mm..." Hearing her teacher mentioned, hyacine's eyes dimmed slightly, revealing a touch of sorrow.
Of course the girl remembered the "dear friend" Jiaoqiu spoke of—a kind, endlessly wise traditional doctor well into his nineties.
One day, the old man had suddenly asked hyacine to check his pulse. When she did, he calmly told her it was a 'pulse of death.' He then asked her to touch his back, which was slick with a thick, sticky sweat. The old man peacefully explained that this was the 'sweat of final exhaustion, thick as oil.'
Less than four hours later, the teacher had passed away peacefully in his sleep.
It wasn't the first time hyacine had experienced something like this during her travels. Those veteran healers always accepted their own deaths with absolute calm, using their final moments to deliver one last, dignified lesson to their students.
"Of course, as a prodigy who inherited the accumulated wisdom of countless medical masters, Miss hyacine has never let any of her teachers down." Jiaoqiu strolled over to the window and pointed his feather fan at a silk pennant hanging on the wall.
Fuli reflexively read the embroidered words out loud: "Asclepius Reborn(Chrysos Heirs), Hippocrates Incarnate"?!
"A patient's family dropped it off not too long ago," Jiaoqiu supplied helpfully. "The original one they sent said 'Hua Tuo Reborn, Bian Que Incarnate.' I felt that didn't quite fit Miss hyacine's cultural background, so I suggested they change it."
"And they actually changed it to this?" Yunli looked both amazed and utterly thoroughly baffled. Mr. Jiaoqiu truly is a man of culture, she thought.
"Actually, it wasn't even a complicated illness," hyacine admitted, suddenly looking extremely embarrassed. "It was just a kid from the neighborhood who suddenly started panting incredibly hard all the time. The parents panicked and rushed him over to me."
"Panting hard? What kind of disease causes that?" Fuli asked curiously.
"I gave him a full checkup and couldn't find a single thing wrong with him." The girl sighed heavily at the memory. "Just as I was starting to doubt my own medical skills, I happened to look out the window and saw that their family kept a massive, incredibly fierce wolfdog in their yard."
"Rabies?!"
"No. The kid just really liked pretending to be the dog, so he was mimicking how it panted."
"..."
Fuli was instantly rendered speechless, his facial expression management nearly failing him on the spot.
"Honestly, that's not even the worst of it. When you're a doctor, you're guaranteed to see all sorts of bizarre things," hyacine smiled wryly. "Compared to the time a patient came in because their hand got clamped by a live crayfish while they were fishing it out of their own rectum... a kid pretending to be a dog is absolutely nothing."
"PFFFT—!"
Holy shit. This time, even Yunli couldn't hold it in. She violently spat out the water she had just taken a sip of.
Right into Fuli's face.