Bai Xiaowen walked into the Super God Potion Shop and spotted Sun Hecheng in the Alchemy Department.
Sun Hecheng looked pleasantly surprised. "Bai Xiaowen, you're still alive?"
Bai Xiaowen's mouth twitched, and he coughed. "Yes, Master Sun."
"You hadn't shown up these past few days, so I asked around and learned something had happened to you. Good thing you're a lucky kid. You were taken away by a Spirit Realm invader and still managed to come back alive. That wasn't easy," Sun Hecheng said with repeated sighs. "You must have suffered quite a bit."
"I was all right..." Bai Xiaowen said apologetically. "Master Sun, I originally took a week off, but I ended up being several days late. Sorry about that."
Sun Hecheng waved his hand. "It's nothing! Nothing matters more than you coming back safely. This was force majeure. No one's blaming you."
Sun Hecheng suddenly remembered something. "Bai Xiaowen, Miss is at the shop these days too. Since you're here, go see her."
"Li Shuyi is back?" Bai Xiaowen's heart stirred. Li Shuyi should have entered the Spirit Realm before he did, so it was normal for her to have returned by now.
"Yes, but she's been in a bad mood. I heard that after learning you'd gone missing, she became even more depressed. Go on. Miss is in the manager's office in the back courtyard. She'll definitely be happy to see you safe and sound," Sun Hecheng said.
Bai Xiaowen nodded and walked straight out of the Alchemy Department hall, following the garden path toward the manager's office in the back courtyard.
After knocking and entering, Bai Xiaowen saw Li Shuyi sitting behind the desk.
Li Shuyi was still dressed in a white training outfit, her hair tied in a neat ponytail, a book in her hands. Hearing him enter, she looked up, and her eyes met Bai Xiaowen's.
"Bai Xiaowen!" Clear surprise appeared in Li Shuyi's eyes, followed by overwhelming joy that blossomed into a smile. She abruptly stood up and practically rushed over to him.
"I heard you went missing. What exactly happened? I tried calling you, but your phone was always off..." Li Shuyi's eyes reddened slightly.
Bai Xiaowen took out his battered phone. "See? It ran out of battery ages ago. By the way, do you have a charger here? Let me borrow it..." Since returning, Bai Xiaowen had not had a chance to charge his phone, so he had not seen Li Shuyi's call records.
After charging his phone, Bai Xiaowen sat across from Li Shuyi. "Master Sun said you haven't been in a good mood lately?"
A trace of melancholy flashed across Li Shuyi's face before she forced a smile. "What are you talking about? Don't listen to Uncle Sun's nonsense."
"Tell me. Your feelings are written all over your face," Bai Xiaowen said.
Li Shuyi hesitated, then sighed. "Do you remember the last time we met? When I went to visit you in the hospital..."
Bai Xiaowen smiled. "Of course. You helped me find a job at the potion shop."
Li Shuyi said, "I was actually saying goodbye to you then. At the time, I was going to the Spirit Realm to undergo an Awakened's trial."
Bai Xiaowen naturally knew. He had already used Insight to observe her; he knew all four of her attributes, including her unactivated talent skills.
Hearing Li Shuyi say this, Bai Xiaowen could more or less guess the outcome. He asked worriedly, "Was the trial difficult?"
"If only I'd set my sights lower," Li Shuyi sighed softly, her slender fingers absently twisting the hem of her white training outfit. "I was too ambitious and chose the hardest of the three Class Change missions—A+ Tier difficulty... Unfortunately, I failed."
As though worried Bai Xiaowen would not understand, Li Shuyi explained:
"Class Change mission difficulties generally come in B+ Tier and A-Tier grades. The B+ Tier corresponds to Standard Classes, which gain around five total attribute points per level. A-Tier Class Change missions correspond to Elite Classes, which generally gain seven total attribute points per level, though there are subtle differences. For example, A- Tier and A+ Tier Class Change missions differ in difficulty, and the Elite Classes gained from them also vary somewhat."
Bai Xiaowen nodded. Even Classes of the same grade had differences. Take Bai Xiaowen himself, for example. The three Classes he had gained after completing his Class Change mission—Bone Dominator, Soul Messenger, and Spirit Medium—were all Hero Classes, but the Spirit Medium Class was clearly far stronger than the first two.
What also caught Bai Xiaowen's attention was that none of Li Shuyi's Class Change mission options had included an S- Tier Hero Class mission! He further speculated that S- Tier Class Change missions probably only appeared during a trial when an Awakened met certain special conditions.
For example, Bai Xiaowen had held a Soul Stone at the time, which was why the S- Tier Class Change mission option, Black Soul Stone, had appeared. If he had not possessed the Soul Stone, that mission definitely would not have appeared.
Bai Xiaowen felt regret over Li Shuyi's failed A+ Tier Class Change mission, but he could not exactly tell her about his own successful Class Change—much like when he had faced Xiao Jinsheng.
Li Shuyi suddenly smiled. "I was feeling pretty awful, but now that you're back, I'm not sad anymore. I'm happy instead... So what if my Class Change failed? Being an ordinary person with you... wouldn't be so bad."
Bai Xiaowen could only comfort her. "It's okay. One failure doesn't prove anything. Prepare well, and you'll still have another chance."
Li Shuyi shook her head. "The next trial will be fifty percent harder... My dad doesn't have much faith in me, so he sent me to the potion shop to learn some basic knowledge about potions. If I can't become an Awakened in the future, then I'll become an Alchemist."
Bai Xiaowen asked, "Then would you rather be an Awakened or an Alchemist?"
Li Shuyi said gloomily, "Becoming an Awakened has been my dream since childhood, but it isn't something I can achieve just because I want to. My dad has always opposed it, saying I'm going down the wrong path and wasting time. Now it seems he might have been right."
Bai Xiaowen stepped forward and closed the alchemy textbook Li Shuyi had been reading.
Meeting Li Shuyi's astonished gaze, Bai Xiaowen said seriously, "If you don't give it everything you have, how will you know whether you can succeed? You're only seventeen this year. You can afford to make mistakes! Even if your second and third trials fail, how much time could you possibly waste? A year? Half a year?"
Bai Xiaowen concluded, "Put these books aside for now and prepare properly for your next trial. Only by giving it your all can you avoid regrets."
With Bai Xiaowen staring into her eyes from so close, Li Shuyi's vision was filled with his handsome face. Her breathing grew slightly hurried, and a blush rose to her cheeks.
"Y-you support me continuing down this path too?"
"Of course!" Bai Xiaowen said firmly. "I'll do everything I can to help you!" He straightened up and sat back down across from Li Shuyi.
Li Shuyi let out a soft breath, and a smile returned to her pretty face. "Thank you, Xiaowen... You really have changed so much compared to before. You don't need to think about how to help me. Having your encouragement is enough."
Li Shuyi quietly dropped the "Bai" from his name, making it sound much more intimate. Bai Xiaowen naturally welcomed it. He was no longer the sensitive, introverted Bai Xiaowen from before, too afraid to accept the affection of a beautiful, wealthy girl.
"Boom-cha boom-cha boom-cha boom-cha... Everybody, come on, let's go!..."
A string of ringtone music sounded, startling them both.
Bai Xiaowen awkwardly picked up his charging phone. "Sorry, I need to take this."
Li Shuyi laughed. Bai Xiaowen had always been introverted and sensitive, but he had changed a great deal recently. Even his ringtone had become so... cheerful. This should count as a good change, right?
Bai Xiaowen answered the call. "Hello? Brother Zhang, what is it... Hm? Someone's smearing me online?"
Zhang Bo's voice was rushed from the other end of the phone. "I just saw it too. It feels like the other side came prepared—they're definitely targeting you on purpose! I sent you the link. Expert Bro, hurry up and take a look!"
Flowers in celebration of Chapter 50! Dropping to my knees with a thud—please give me a recommendation vote!~~~
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