The Main Timeline Shifts

Xu Yuan and Yang Xiaobing exchanged a glance.

They both understood.

Someone was stirring up trouble!

"Hmph! How dare they spread rumors like that and think they could fool me? I'm going to find out who did it!"

Yang Xiaobing clenched her little fists, indignant.

"Don't let it bother you. Focus on the monthly exam. If you do badly, your parents will come knocking on my door," Xu Yuan said.

"I know. This exam's pretty important. You work hard too." Yang Xiaobing patted his shoulder.

She skipped along beside Xu Yuan. The four large characters meaning "Pursue Excellence" on the back of her white-and-blue school uniform swayed with her ponytail.

A breeze blew past.

The streetlamps cast pools of warm yellow light across her flawless face.

She was youth itself.

Xu Yuan grinned. Suddenly, being alive again felt wonderful.

Yang Xiaobing turned and leaned close, looking mysterious.

"I have something to tell you. Don't tell anyone else."

"What?" Xu Yuan asked.

"I can use three talismans at once now." Yang Xiaobing lifted her chin, her face all but begging him to praise her.

Qi Refining had nine levels.

At the first and second levels, a cultivator's spiritual energy was too limited to activate three talismans at once.

She had broken through to the third level of Qi Refining.

"Congratulations! You'll have to treat me to a feast!"

Xu Yuan spoke with a smile.

"Hehe, that's not the important part." Yang Xiaobing covered her mouth and smiled smugly.

"Don't keep me in suspense," Xu Yuan said.

Yang Xiaobing leaned toward his ear and whispered.

"I took the independent admissions tests for the Nine Luminaries and Luofu. They said I had extraordinary talent for talisman arts and spirit plants."

Xu Yuan gave her a surprised look.

The Nine Luminaries and Luofu were this world's equivalents of China's top two universities.

With talent like hers, Yang Xiaobing had a bright future ahead. By the time she graduated from university, she would almost certainly be at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Foundation Establishment cultivators had little to fear from ordinary firearms. They could defend themselves or escape at any moment.

Those at the peak could even fly.

And if they advanced further and formed a Golden Core—

That would truly be "one Golden Core swallowed into the belly, and my fate belongs to me, not heaven."

High-level cultivators stood almost at the very top of the world.

"What did you do during the tests? Can you tell me?"

Xu Yuan lowered his voice.

"I folded talismans into a paper figure as tall as me, drew it to look like me, and kept it alive for two days," Yang Xiaobing whispered back.

"What else?" Xu Yuan asked.

"I also grew a new kind of plant that could spit fireballs." Yang Xiaobing sounded proud.

Xu Yuan nodded.

I get it.

Plants vs. Zombies.

Back when I died, all kinds of plant-based tower-defense games were popular on Earth.

With cultivation abilities that trendy, getting into one of the top two makes sense.

Come to think of it—

Information about the independent admissions tests was extremely useful.

And this was a cultivator's personal secret.

The fact that Yang Xiaobing was willing to share it showed she truly considered Xu Yuan one of her own.

"I'll treat you to dinner later."

As he always had, Xu Yuan reached out and ruffled her hair.

She immediately dodged away and covered her head with both hands. "Stop touching my hair! I told you all that because I want you to promise me something."

"What?" Xu Yuan asked.

"Team up with me for the group battle, okay? Don't let the rumors get to you," Yang Xiaobing said.

"Sure. Whoever's making trouble won't change that," Xu Yuan said firmly.

Their eyes met, and Yang Xiaobing was the first to smile.

They had grown up together. Now that the misunderstanding was cleared up, she seemed happy.

Xu Yuan had a clearer picture too.

Three days had passed between the delivery of that love letter and her rejection.

It had hardly even been a rejection.

Yang Xiaobing wanted Xu Yuan to become a Qi Refining cultivator. She had even encouraged him!

In that case...

She must have been torn up about it too!

That fake love letter didn't just hurt me. It affected her as well!

Who did it...?

Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes and silently searched his memories for clues.

"Oh, right. I ran into Jiang Xueyao at the independent admissions tests. We got along pretty well, and she invited me to join her team."

Yang Xiaobing tugged at Xu Yuan's sleeve as she chatted on.

"Oh?"

Xu Yuan's expression shifted.

Jiang Xueyao was a true daughter of heaven.

She had been the first to awaken her sense of qi, formally begun cultivating in her first year of high school, and often competed in events held by universities.

She was the top high school student in Jiangbei Commandery.

Few people in all of Jiangnan Province could compare to her.

"Is she joining us?"

Xu Yuan asked.

"She's already teamed up with someone else," Yang Xiaobing said.

"Then don't worry about her. You, me, Zhao Afei, and one more person will make a team of four. How's that?" Xu Yuan asked.

"That rich guy Zhao Afei? Sure!"

Yang Xiaobing agreed at once.

That's one problem solved!

Xu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

He had no idea where the danger would come from.

So he was checking for gaps, filling them in, and building up his advantages and initiative bit by bit.

He could not let even the smallest thing slide!

Besides, once he won this match and resolved his immediate crisis, he would return to his studies and take the university entrance exam.

He was preparing for that in advance too!

"Xiaobing, come here!"

Someone called from beneath a large tree beside the road.

A boy and a girl stood there.

The boy was handsome and tall, with a graceful bearing.

The girl was so beautiful she could bring a kingdom to ruin, yet she radiated a coldness that set her apart from the world.

It was the boy who had called out.

"Your friend's calling you. I'll head off," Xu Yuan said.

"Okay. Say hello to your mom for me." Yang Xiaobing knew he had somewhere to be, so she nodded.

Xu Yuan waved and turned away. Soon he had left the school and was walking toward the hospital.

Yang Xiaobing went over to the tree and greeted the boy.

"Song Huaijin, what did you want?"

"Have you made up your mind?" Song Huaijin leaned against the tree with his hands in his pockets. "Our team is missing an excellent talisman practitioner like you."

"Sorry, I've joined someone else's team." Yang Xiaobing shook her head.

Song Huaijin looked surprised. "Jiang Xueyao's on our team, and you still chose someone else?"

"I have a friend who's really good with swords and hand-to-hand combat. I'm teaming up with him," Yang Xiaobing said with a smile.

"Who?" Song Huaijin asked.

"Xu Yuan," Yang Xiaobing said frankly.

Song Huaijin put a hand on the sword at his waist and said disdainfully,

"Why don't he and I spar? Whoever wins gets to team up with you. How about it?"

He glanced in the direction Xu Yuan had gone.

If I go now, I should still be able to catch that kid.

It's time he woke up and learned his place.

A girl as good as Yang Xiaobing shouldn't—

Thud!

A muffled impact cut him off.

Caught off guard, Song Huaijin was sent flying seven or eight meters by a powerful blast of force. He drew his sword and shouted angrily,

"Yang Xiaobing, what are you doing?"

The smile vanished from Yang Xiaobing's face.

Two glowing talismans were held between her fingers. Her brows rose sharply.

"I'm free to team up with whoever I want. Why are you picking a fight with him?"

"Xiaobing, we're in our final year of high school. Every monthly exam matters. You can't keep letting someone drag you down," Song Huaijin said earnestly.

"As for that shameless kid—"

He drew his sword and fixed his gaze on the direction Xu Yuan had gone.

As soon as the blade left its sheath, frost-white mist rolled off its edge. Even the ground began to freeze.

At the sight, Yang Xiaobing flicked her fingers, replacing the glowing talismans.

A black talisman appeared silently in her hand.

"You want to fight him? Beat me first!"

Her eyes turned cold.

With a crackling hiss, a long bolt of lightning sprang from the talisman and stretched all the way to the ground.

Holding that talisman, Yang Xiaobing looked as though she gripped a long whip of lightning!

Song Huaijin looked at the talisman, then at the sword in his hand. He was riding a tiger and could not easily get off.

A Thunder-Summoning Talisman.

Lightning was an immensely powerful force of nature. If it struck him, there was no telling what would happen.

"That's enough, Huaijin."

The girl beneath the tree suddenly spoke.

At her words, Song Huaijin seized the chance to sheath his sword. "I'm only stopping for Xueyao's sake," he said coolly.

With that, he turned and left.

"Thanks, Xueyao." Yang Xiaobing put away her talisman, grateful.

The girl was Jiang Xueyao, whom she and Xu Yuan had been discussing earlier.

She was the famous high school prodigy of Jiangnan Province.

The first time she touched a sword in her first year of high school, she awakened her sense of qi.

By her second year, she could fight her swordsmanship teacher to a draw.

By her final year, she had challenged opponents across Jiangbei Commandery and even all of Jiangnan Province. She could not find a single high school student who could match her.

"This monthly exam is a joint exam between eight schools. Both the Nine Luminaries and Luofu are paying close attention to the results," Jiang Xueyao said calmly.

"So?" Yang Xiaobing asked.

"Think about your own future. Don't let sympathy cloud your judgment," Jiang Xueyao said.

Hearing the sincerity in her voice, Yang Xiaobing softened her tone as well.

"Xu Yuan has worked incredibly hard all these years. He's no worse than anyone else."

"He hasn't even awakened his sense of qi. You call that working hard?" Jiang Xueyao shook her head.

"He reached the first level of Qi Refining ages ago. He's just been focused on cultivating, so he never registered with the school or drew attention to himself," Yang Xiaobing said.

Jiang Xueyao was startled. "Really? How good is he in a fight?"

"With me backing him up? Absolutely amazing." Yang Xiaobing raised a confident thumbs-up.

Meanwhile.

Xu Yuan was walking down the road when he suddenly sneezed.

"I'm not coming down with a cold, am I? Can you even catch a cold in the Qi Refining Realm?"

He muttered to himself.

Then several lines of faintly glowing text quietly appeared before his eyes:

"Please note."

"Witness Yang Xiaobing has spread word of your branch history."

"This branch history has officially become part of the main history."

"Everything in the next three days will begin to shift in unknown ways."

(The end of this chapter)