Xu Yuan smiled and said nothing for a long while. In the end, he gave a quiet "Mm."
"Pei Shiyu has reached Foundation Establishment too," Lu Yiyi said.
"Who?" Xu Yuan asked.
"Pei Shiyu—the one who competed with you over Imagines at the freshman entrance ceremony," Lu Yiyi said.
"Oh, him!" Xu Yuan said, suddenly remembering.
He had just fought the Old Gods beneath the Ninefold Nether. He was thinking about advancing to Golden Core as soon as possible, and he still had to fight Xu Chengan in a month. Someone as utterly unimportant as Pei Shiyu had long since slipped his mind.
"He just reached Foundation Establishment. He's the second freshman to do it after you, and they say he's gained new insight into Imagines too. Does hearing that put you under pressure?" Lu Yiyi asked.
"Pressure? Mm... it does. I'll have to work hard." Xu Yuan nodded firmly.
He watched the sunset glow at the edge of Heaven, then suddenly added:
"This world is beautiful. It's worth fighting for."
"Yes. It really is."
Resting her chin on her hand, Lu Yiyi gazed at the river and the color of Heaven with him.
Neither of them knew what was happening elsewhere.
In a Teaching Building halfway up the mountain, students who had just finished class packed the corridor.
Jiang Xueyao and Yang Xiaobing edged through the crowd and headed downstairs together, ready to get dinner.
"I'll call Xu Yuan. We can eat together tonight."
Yang Xiaobing eagerly took out her phone.
Jiang Xueyao neither agreed nor objected. Her gaze drifted toward the river outside the corridor.
Then she saw the young man and woman sitting on the railing of the boys' Dormitory rooftop under Heaven.
Jiang Xueyao froze for an instant. Then her hand flashed out like a blur,