Further Ahead

"Jiujiu, why are you here?" Yin Chen stepped forward to greet her.

Xu Jiujiu looked at the silver-haired youth before her. Perhaps influenced by Xu Jiawei's earlier words, a strange ripple stirred in her heart, and her gaze became unbelievably gentle.

She smiled faintly.

"I was just looking for you. There are some things I wanted to tell you."

"What a coincidence. I have something I wanted to tell you too, Jiujiu."

Yin Chen said.

He then made an inviting gesture. "Jiujiu, you go first."

Xu Jiujiu did not decline. She took an exquisitely crafted letter sealed with wax from her Soul Tool and handed it to Yin Chen.

Yin Chen accepted it, his gaze falling upon the letter—it was a city lord's letter of recommendation from a main city of the Star Luo Empire.

With it, he qualified to take Shrek Academy's entrance examination.

"This is..."

Yin Chen held the weighty letter, momentarily speechless.

He had not expected that before he could even say anything, Xu Jiujiu had already paved the way for him.

"Take it and go to Shrek."

Xu Jiujiu's voice was soft, yet filled with support and understanding.

"A broader world awaits you there."

Yin Chen fell silent.

He looked into Xu Jiujiu's clear, gentle eyes, and an indescribably complicated emotion rose within him.

Over the years, he had known full well of Xu Jiujiu's kindness and favoritism toward him.

From his daily needs to his cultivation resources, what he ate, where he lived, what he used, and even his current cultivation—all of it had been nearly inseparable from the wholehearted support of Xu Jiujiu and the Star Luo Imperial Family.

It could be said that he owed Star Luo, and owed Xu Jiujiu, far too much.

Yet because of the ambitions in his heart, he had deliberately ignored these increasingly heavy emotional ties and had even prepared to leave.

At that thought, guilt surged into his heart, tightening his throat until he did not know what to say.

Xu Jiujiu saw the struggle and apology in his eyes and suddenly laughed softly.

That smile was like ice and snow melting for the first time, like spring flowers blooming. Framed by the setting sun, it was breathtakingly beautiful, making Yin Chen's heartbeat skip several beats.

"Silly."

Xu Jiujiu stepped forward and, beneath Yin Chen's slightly stunned gaze, gently embraced him.

Her soft, fragrant body pressed against him, and Yin Chen's body instantly stiffened. Xu Jiujiu's distinctive fragrance lingered at his nose, and he could clearly feel the softness and warmth of her body.

"You don't need to feel sorry for me, and you don't need to think you owe me anything."

Xu Jiujiu gently rested her cheek against his shoulder. Her voice was like a whisper, yet it reached the depths of his heart with perfect clarity.

"As long as your heart... holds Star Luo, and holds me, then it does not matter where you are—whether you remain in Star Luo or go to Shrek."

Feeling the warmth and unreserved trust of the person in his arms, the defenses around Yin Chen's heart, which had long been as calm and frozen as ice, finally cracked open at that moment.

His taut body gradually relaxed. After hesitating for a moment, he finally raised his hand and gently embraced her in return.

At that moment, there were no schemes, no calculations, no ambitions or anxieties about the future.

There was only the real warmth in his arms, the faint fragrance lingering at his nose, and an emotion called peace of mind quietly flowing through his heart.

The setting sun stretched the shadows of the embracing pair long across the ground, intertwining them, as though foretelling that no matter how the future changed, the bond between them had already sunk deep into their bones and blood, becoming impossible to sever.

Uncle Hui stood beneath the corridor of Snow-Listening Pavilion, watching the two figures embracing in the courtyard beneath the setting sun from afar. An uncontrollable, deeply gratified smile appeared on his wrinkled face.

He had cared for Yin Chen for so many years and had practically watched him grow up. How could he not have noticed the string in the depths of the boy's heart that was constantly drawn tight?

Whether it was his nearly crazed cultivation or the composure and calculation far beyond his age that he displayed in daily life, it all seemed as though something was chasing him from behind, leaving him unwilling to relax for even a moment.

But now, watching the noble princess tightly embrace the youth he had watched grow up, watching Yin Chen finally cast off part of his burden and reveal his true emotions, Uncle Hui knew that the block of ice in the boy's heart was being melted by warmth.

The road ahead might still be full of thorns, but he was no longer alone, and this old man no longer needed to worry over him so much.

Time passed swiftly, and the day of graduation arrived as scheduled.

Their time at Star Luo Royal Junior Spirit Master Academy officially came to an end.

The day Shrek Academy began accepting students also drew nearer and nearer.

Since their parting at Snow-Listening Pavilion that day, the relationship between Yin Chen and Xu Jiujiu had entered a subtle yet intimate stage.

They had not completely crossed that final line, and still addressed each other as sister and brother. Yet the warmth in their exchanged glances, the natural closeness they displayed when together, and Xu Jiujiu's increasingly frequent visits to Snow-Listening Pavilion made the truth obvious to anyone with eyes.

Xu Yun was the first to cry that she could not bear it. She circled Yin Chen several times, wrinkling her nose as she said,

"Yin Chen, you... you and my aunt... Aah! When I think that I might have to call you Uncle someday, I feel like the sky is falling! You're only one year older than me!"

She clutched her head dramatically, making Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo beside her cover their mouths and giggle.

But there was a trace of dimness in the way they looked at Yin Chen. That maidenly affection of theirs could only be buried even deeper.

The day of departure finally arrived.

Outside Star Luo City, beside the official road leading east, a carefully crafted Soul Guidance Carriage stood ready.

Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu had already been taken away in advance by people from Duke White Tiger Mansion.

Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo, meanwhile, would travel with Yin Chen, and their family was delighted by the arrangement.

Among Star Luo City's upper ranks, who did not know that Yin Chen was a peerless genius whom the imperial family had spared no effort to cultivate, and that he shared an extraordinary relationship with Princess Jiujiu?

He was the uncrowned king of Star Luo Royal Junior Spirit Master Academy.

For the Lan Family, the sisters becoming friends with Yin Chen was a wonderful thing with every benefit and no drawback.

Xu Jiujiu had come personally to see them off. Today, she wore a light golden court gown, graceful and noble, still maintaining the bearing of a princess. Yet the way she looked at Yin Chen was gentler than ever before.

Xu Yun stood beside her aunt. Though she kept grumbling, her eyes were also full of reluctance to part.

"Be careful on the road. Once you reach Shrek, you'll have to rely on yourself for everything."

Xu Jiujiu instructed him softly, slipping a small storage Soul Tool embroidered with the pattern of a Star Crown into Yin Chen's hand.

"Inside are some funds and supplies for emergencies, as well as contact information for a secret Star Luo outpost in Shrek City. If you need help, you can seek them out."

"Thank you, Jiujiu."

Yin Chen accepted the Soul Tool. It felt slightly heavy in his hand, and he could sense that it contained not only money, but also her weighty concern.

Uncle Hui stood to the side, his old eyes slightly red, repeating only, "Young Master, take care of yourself. Remember to eat on time..."

Yin Chen responded to each of them. His gaze swept over Xu Jiujiu, Xu Yun, and Uncle Hui, warmth surging through his heart.

These were all his ties to this world.