Fang Yi, Why Are You Here?

The next morning.

Fang Yi got up early. After finishing the Golden Sun Breathing Technique under the morning light, he took a deep breath and made a phone call.

"Fang Yi?"

"Officer Chu, it's me."

Fang Yi had exchanged phone numbers with Chu Lan yesterday, and this call was to her.

As someone from the military, if Fang Yi wanted to learn the details of the fire at Qingbei, he had to go through her. After all, the place had already been sealed off by the military.

"You want to go to Qingbei University? Perfect. I'm heading there today too."

Receiving Fang Yi's call was an unexpected delight for Chu Lan.

Just yesterday, she had suddenly received orders from above to make a trip to the Qingbei campus. After seeing the news, Chu Lan had already planned to leave. There were so many students at Qingbei—if anything went wrong, the consequences would be more than they could bear.

Besides that, there was an even more pressing military secret that worried Chu Lan.

The signs of the Great World Change were becoming increasingly frequent, to the point that they could no longer be concealed. Revealing it to the public was imminent, but how to announce it, and how to train Pioneers afterward, all required careful consideration.

The military was discussing with the state whether they could start with university students, letting them learn about Spirit Qi Recovery and using universities across the country to launch pilot Pioneer training programs.

The state's position was that the pilot program could be implemented, but the troublesome issue was selecting the training instructors.

"Training instructors can't come from the military. That militarized management approach isn't suitable for university students, much less novice Pioneers. Besides, military Pioneers are fine when it comes to suppressing anomalies, but teaching students? Forget it."

"By that logic, there are very few people to choose from. The Spirit Association could assign a group to guide and teach them, since that's already their responsibility. But the Spirit Association has too few Pioneers. Their teams are already stretched thin just covering anomalies within the cities, with no time or energy left for the pilot program."

"After all that, we still need to recruit more powerful Pioneers. They need strength, time, and the willingness to serve as pilot instructors... Difficult."

Chu Lan had been agonizing over the right candidate.

But unexpectedly, Fang Yi's call solved her urgent problem. With a top-tier Pioneer like Fang Yi, the pilot program finally had some direction.

"If only this Heavenly Fire could be controlled."

"Heavenly Fire?"

"Yes. You'll understand once you get there and see it for yourself."

Chu Lan arranged to meet Fang Yi at the school gate.

The Qingbei campus was only a two-hour drive from Tai City, where Fang Yi was.

The news had caused quite a stir.

By ten in the morning, a long line had already formed outside the Qingbei campus. Reporters and curious onlookers kept trying to get inside to find out what had happened with the fire, but the security guards stopped them at the gates.

When Fang Yi arrived, he saw a scene swallowed by a sea of people.

"So many people?"

Fang Yi raised an eyebrow slightly.

At that moment, a tall and striking figure emerged from the crowd, carving a path through the sea of people.

Even the reporters carrying cameras couldn't help glancing her way, their eyes following her figure.

"Chu Lan?" Fang Yi looked at the newcomer.

Chu Lan gave him a slight nod. She wore simple casual clothes today, which highlighted her long legs, slender waist, and exceptionally curvaceous figure.

Her bare face was stunning, and her short hair rested casually on her shoulders.

But what drew the most attention was the sharp aura about her. The confidence and dominance in every gesture completely overshadowed everyone else present.

"I'm not late, am I? How long have you been here?"

"I just got here too." Fang Yi shook his head.

"Good. Let's go in first."

Fang Yi and Chu Lan entered the Qingbei campus side by side. As the gates opened and closed, they shut out the questions of everyone behind them.

The people outside were dumbfounded. Why were they being kept outside while those two got to go in the moment they arrived?

Chu Lan was not wearing a military uniform today. Her casual clothes made her waist look slimmer and her legs longer, giving her a distinctly different charm.

"You're wondering why I'm not in uniform, aren't you?" Chu Lan looked at Fang Yi and shrugged. "Yesterday's Heavenly Fire came too suddenly. Many students were badly frightened, and wearing a military uniform at a time like this could easily agitate them."

"I see."

The two crossed the path beyond the school gate and arrived at the burned-out sports field.

Although he had already watched the footage yesterday, Fang Yi still frowned slightly when he saw the scorched sports field in person.

The field had once been filled with the laughter and joy of students, but now the Heavenly Fire had left it in ruins. Charred scars were deeply etched into the ground, like the frenzied traces left behind by a savage fire dragon.

Scorched chunks of wood and black ash were scattered everywhere, some still giving off thin wisps of smoke, while the pungent smell of burning hung in the air.

Even the lawn beside it had not been spared. The once-green grass had been burned dry and yellow, littered with charred fragments and broken branches.

The neatly arranged facilities on the field had also been reduced to wreckage. The basketball hoops had twisted and collapsed, the white lines on the track had been burned beyond recognition, and the baskets had been destroyed, reduced to warped lumps of iron.

A light breeze swept through, stirring up dust and the stench of ash that spread over the entire field.

"Burned this badly? Was it the Heavenly Fire?"

"Yes. Apparently, it ignited without any warning. Luckily, it happened at night, after curfew. No one was on the field, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable."

Chu Lan's brows were tightly furrowed as she looked at the scene.

"Fang Yi, I'm going to the Principal's office. Will you wait here, or come with me?"

"You go ahead. I'll stay here."

Chu Lan nodded and left the field briskly.

After she left, Fang Yi turned his gaze back to the ruins of the sports field, ravaged by the Heavenly Fire.

The Great World Change was appearing in cities more and more frequently. This was indeed troublesome. They could issue news reports to explain it, but casualties were unavoidable. At this point, the state should be making some moves...

"Fang Yi?"

Just as Fang Yi was lost in thought, a woman's voice interrupted him.

Turning around, Fang Yi saw a familiar stranger.

"Chu Qingli?"

"What are you doing here?"

Chu Qingli looked utterly stunned.

She and her roommate had just finished class and were passing by the field when she spotted a familiar figure in the distance. Thinking she had mistaken someone else for him, she had deliberately come closer—only to discover it really was him.

Fang Yi, her... ex-boyfriend.

Fang Yi glanced at her and gave a slight nod in greeting.

Seeing how calm, even somewhat cold, Fang Yi was,

Chu Qingli felt a heaviness in her chest, overwhelmed by an indescribable sense of unfamiliarity.

"Fang Yi? This is your ex-boyfriend?"

Her roommate linked arms with Chu Qingli and leaned forward to curiously study the young man before them, unable to hide her surprise.

There was no need to elaborate on Chu Qingli's excellence.

A top student.

Cool and aloof.

Beautiful and rich.

She was an all-around beauty who surpassed the average in every aspect. She had both looks and a great figure, and her academic performance was leagues ahead, leaving Qingbei's gifted students of the same age questioning their lives. Even rarer, though her family was well-off, she was never spoiled.

She was a little aloof, but she treated her roommates very well.

When they heard that such a heaven-blessed girl had once dated someone in high school, her roommates' first reaction had been, Damn, which lucky guy was blessed enough to win her heart? But after hearing that her ex-boyfriend had gone to a junior college, all that remained was regret.

The gap between Qingbei and a junior college was simply too vast.

Their futures were destined to be two parallel lines that would never intersect.

What a pity. That sweet, innocent first love from high school... was destined to have no ending.

Her roommate Wang Lu sighed and looked at Fang Yi.

"Bro, I know you may have come here because you still have some lingering feelings for Chu Qingli, but the gap in reality is right in front of you."