Bai Tang: I Never Lived Past Seventeen Anyway

Since Bai Tang wanted praise, everyone praised her in turn. Even Stelle chimed in with a "Great job."

Stelle's words made Bai Tang give her a half-lidded look. "Stelle, you'd better not praise me."

"I haven't finished the Luofu story. The world restarted, right? When I woke up, I fell down in front of General Jing Yuan. I looked like a child again, maybe three years old? Jing Yuan adopted me, and a few years later he adopted Yanqing too."

Because of those two times, Bai Tang would always take Jing Yuan's side, no matter what.

Who else would take care of her twice, staying with her as she grew up? He had been a brother, a mother, and a father to her, as well as her childhood friend and playmate.

"Yanqing is a swordsmanship genius who only comes along once in a thousand years. Unfortunately for him, so am I. Jingliu taught me, so I didn't need Jing Yuan to teach me. No matter how good Yanqing got, I could still pin him down and beat him."

As a result, her Yanqing was very modest, with her there to keep him in check.

"When I wasn't learning swordsmanship, I went to the Artisanship Commission to learn a craft. The people there weren't as good at teaching as Yingxing, and they weren't as skilled as him either. Yingxing actually wanted to take me as his apprentice before, or recommend me to General Huaiyan.

"But I was focused on learning the sword, so I only picked up a few things from Yingxing. Even so, I was better than those people. You could say that after Yingxing left, the Artisanship Commission basically had nobody left.

"Zhuming has the best forging techniques in the Xianzhou. After Jing Yuan found out about my situation, he originally wanted to send me there.

"Hmph, I just wanted to stay on the Luofu. If you really count it, General Huaiyan was practically my grandmaster, and I still didn't go to Zhuming. So when Jing Yuan wanted to send me away, I refused to go, no matter what."

After hearing that, Jing Yuan secretly took out his phone and messaged Huaiyan about it. The old general still thought about Yingxing even now, so he would surely be happy to have another granddisciple, especially one taught by his prized disciple.

Jing Yuan thought he was very clever. Yingxing must have talked plenty about his master, and despite how Bai Tang acted, she would surely look after General Huaiyan in secret too.

"Jing Yuan was really hard to deal with once he grew up. I still got sent over, but it only took me two years to sneak back!"

Given Bai Tang's abilities, how could it have taken her two whole years to get back? If she had really wanted to return, she would have been at Jing Yuan's door the day after he sent her away.

So it went without saying what she had been doing during that time.

Bai Tang had happily rushed off to learn forging, only for Huaiyan to recognize his prized disciple's influence in her at a glance. He took her under his wing and taught her personally.

That was why it had taken her two years to return.

Before she left, General Huaiyan had watched her go home.

Although this time was just like when he had sent Yingxing to the Luofu back then: once she left, she could never come back.

General Huaiyan: The feng shui on the Luofu was bad. It was a curse on him specifically. Once his good disciple went there, he could never come home again, and once his good granddisciple went back, she never came again either.

"Yingxing was gone, so it was my turn to restore the Artisanship Commission to its former glory! But I was too young to compete for the title of Hundred Forgers, so I didn't have it. Still, my craftsmanship was nothing to scoff at. I couldn't compare to Yingxing, but I was better than the artisans here!

"After that, I hardly ever did any large-scale forging. My skills probably haven't declined now. I didn't finish learning back then, and now that I have time, I should pick it up again. Yanqing, I'll forge you a sword later. I can manage to make you one while I'm learning."

She might not be as good as Yingxing or General Huaiyan, but surely she was better than the other artisans?

Yanqing liked swords, so she would forge one as a gift!

She had forged very few divine weapons back then. After all, how old had she been? She had died at seventeen. She had only forged two: one for Yanqing and one for herself. The latter had probably been lost in the sea of stars in the end.

Luckily, she hadn't brought out the weapon Yingxing had given her. If she had lost it, she would have been heartbroken.

Yanqing, who loved swords more than anything: "!!! Thank you, Senior Aunt!!"

Jing Yuan discreetly told General Huaiyan about it, wondering whether he should capture Blade and bring him over to teach Bai Tang. Blade might not be able to forge now, but the knowledge was still in his head, so he could certainly teach her.

The child was so young and wanted to study, so of course she should be taught properly. They couldn't let her talent go to waste. Bai Tang herself had said she could be considered Yingxing's apprentice, so there was surely nothing wrong with Blade teaching her a few things.

"More than ten years later, General Jing Yuan died in the line of duty, and Fu Xuan took over. That piece of scrap machinery caused trouble again, and a lot of people died. I took responsibility for certain things and died too. Later, someone brought me back to life, and Yanqing and I became Galaxy Rangers together. The two of us helped Jing Yuan fulfill the wish he never got to."

Bai Tang spoke of death as casually as ever, keeping it as brief as she could and glossing over it before moving on to happier things.

"Jing Yuan, it wouldn't be easy for you to be a Galaxy Ranger. The people there all talk like telegraphs. You have a habit of making a lofty point with every sentence you say; you really were born to be a government official. Even Yanqing couldn't get used to it there, so you'd better not go."

March 7th recalled the string of censored words Bai Tang had used when she cursed at Blade and remarked with a sigh, "So you picked up bad habits there?"

"No way. I was fitting in with the atmosphere.

"Later, there was a little accident. I fell into Nihility and traveled alongside an Emanator. In the end, I died. I don't know what happened after that. It seemed the world restarted again later, and I crawled back."

Bai Tang spread her hands.

That was the story of the two worlds. It wasn't long; she had never lived past seventeen either time, anyway.

She only told the warm little stories, leaving out the heartbreaking parts. When she did mention them, she only spoke briefly before quickly moving on to the next thing. The people listening felt warm inside. Jingliu recalled the happy days of the past, and her Mara-Struck symptoms eased considerably. Blade grew quiet too, remembering those lawless days.

Jing Yuan also felt he wouldn't become Mara-Struck for the next few centuries, but there was no way he would keep working for another few centuries. He had better start planning his retirement sooner.

But if he thought carefully about the things Bai Tang had glossed over, the Mara-Struck symptoms would probably get worse, so he had better not dwell on them yet. He would think about them after returning to the Luofu.

"I've finished telling the Luofu story! All of you, go back to work or get some rest."

Bai Tang began shooing them away. The way she acted, it was as though what she had told them was someone else's story, not her own experiences.

She had only told the Luofu story, so there were surely others, such as the one about the Yaoqing. No one asked about them now, nor did anyone ask how many times the world had restarted in total. They all gathered their things and prepared to leave.

Before they left, Bai Tang gave each of them a healing Hyacinth to use just in case.

Communications unlocked.

After Bai Tang told her story to the people involved, the communications section unlocked for those who had successfully checked in on the panel, except Aventurine. They were only one final step away from resurrection.