Are you all right?

Xianyu's mouth twitched. This world felt utterly absurd.

Seeing that everyone in the group was about to denounce the Cloud Knights, he first checked with Jing Yuan and his classmates. Once he confirmed that no Cloud Knights had been punished recently, he began scrolling through the group's chat history.

He discovered that no one besides him had taken leave recently.

Certain that his tactful colleague had been spreading a rumor, Xianyu stepped forward.

[No replies outside work hours: Don't worry, it's fake. Just a rumor. None of our colleagues have been hurt. General Teng Xiao probably started paying attention to everyone's mental health because he was worried the rumor might come true. I'll handle the "Occupational Psychology Test" and post the answers in the group when I'm done.]

His colleagues had been deep in heated discussion, but Xianyu's reminder immediately put them back on track. Under their tactful colleague's guidance, they quickly divided up the remaining questionnaires.

The tactful colleague cautiously sent him a message, asking how he was doing.

There was a distinctly chivalrous air to their words. They declared that neither the Sword Champion nor any other higher-up had the right to bully someone from the Divination Commission.

Xianyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He solemnly thanked them, then deftly debunked the rumor and spoke up for the Sword Champion, whose reputation had suffered for no reason.

He hadn't originally intended to use that message to clear up the rumor, so he wasn't surprised when his tactful colleague came to sound him out.

After all, he was the only bullheaded fool in the entire Divination Commission who dared to take leave while the Marshal was visiting the Luofu...

Who could have imagined that one night's sleep would leave both his and Jingliu's reputations completely changed!

He couldn't blame outsiders for believing the rumor. They probably never would have imagined that Xianyu had taken leave simply to catch up on sleep.

How should he put it? If someone had maliciously spread rumors about him, he would have squeezed them for all they were worth before letting go.

But faced with well-meaning concern, he felt helpless.

It felt as though they might not believe him no matter how he explained it!

He would just have to wait until he went to work at the Divination Commission tomorrow for the rumor to collapse on its own...

Xianyu sighed, spent over half an hour completing one psychological test, and shared his answers with his colleagues.

He didn't understand. He couldn't make sense of General Teng Xiao's thinking.

Why make the Divination Commission's staff take psychological tests?

Rather than desk-bound clerical workers like them, he should be paying attention to the Cloud Knights who frequently went to war.

They constantly found themselves in danger, where the slightest mistake could cost them their lives.

Surely their mental health deserved more attention.

Unfortunately, employees had little say in such things. No matter how reluctant they were, they still had to follow their superiors' wishes and carry out orders.

Using the answers his colleagues had cobbled together as a reference, Xianyu adjusted a few selections and finally finished the remaining three psychological tests.

The next day, Xianyu abandoned his usual shut-in ways. He eagerly rolled up his sleeves, deliberately showing off his perfectly unharmed arms to dispel the rumor as he went around chatting with his colleagues.

After all, the rumor hadn't named anyone. Bringing it up directly would only make him look suspiciously defensive.

As everyone chatted, the conversation turned to those damned psychological tests.

They had all thought the matter would be over once they finished the tests. They hadn't expected the Diviner to be so quick to act: the general sent out the notice one day, and the Diviner began calling people in for individual conversations the next.

After speaking to several people in succession, Diviner Xiao Lin came over to Xianyu's workstation and curtly said, "Come to my office."

When Xianyu reached the Diviner's Office, Xiao Lin placed a paper document on the desk with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Your Personality Disorder Test results are quite concerning, Xianyu. Any idea why?"

Xianyu frowned, utterly baffled.

He had taken that test very seriously!

He hadn't copied everyone else's answers wholesale. He had answered plenty of questions himself.

Diviner Xiao Lin sighed. Rather than waste any more time on the subject, he asked, "Are you all right? How are things between you and Jingliu?"

Yesterday, the Diviner had run into Sword Champion Jingliu. Her murderous, utterly cold presence had given him quite a fright.

He was only a clerical worker who had risen through the ranks through divination. His work only brought him into contact with people from the Sky-Faring Commission, and he rarely met battle-hardened soldiers.

That sudden encounter with Jingliu had left him in a cold sweat. When she asked for his subordinate's address, he steeled himself and refused to tell her.

Jingliu had looked as though she was out for revenge, and then there were those horrifying Abominations of Abundance sent to Xianyu...

Wasn't that an outright threat?

If he told her, would his subordinate survive?

A little of Xiao Lin's concern had shown on his face, and a subordinate happened to catch it. He couldn't help saying a few more words.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the rumor grew stranger and stranger as it spread, until even the Diviner himself couldn't make sense of it...

The Diviner couldn't help questioning everything.

Had he lost his memory? Had Xianyu really been stabbed?

Seeing his subordinate standing before him, alive and well, Xiao Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Even those blasted personality disorder test results no longer seemed so important.

After all, Xianyu wasn't the only one whose results had flagged a problem.

"Jingliu and I are friends. There's no conflict between us."

Xianyu shook his head, doing his utmost to clear up the rumors about himself and Jingliu.

He could talk until his lips wore out and still accomplish less than a single word from the Diviner. He might as well take his grievances straight to his immediate superior.

"Lord Diviner, please get the Divination Commission under control. I honestly have no idea where this rumor came from!"

The Diviner, who had unilaterally decided the two were enemies, said, "..."

Xianyu continued, "Jingliu has a lovely personality. She just doesn't show much expression, that's all. I don't know why whoever started this rumor is so prejudiced against her."

The Diviner, whom Jingliu had once frightened into a cold sweat, said, "..."

Xianyu heaved a long sigh. "I really don't know what those people who make up rumors out of thin air are thinking. How can anyone who jumps to conclusions at the slightest whisper hold a position in the Divination Commission?"

The Diviner, who had indirectly fanned the flames of the rumor, said, "..."

Xiao Lin pressed a hand to his temple as though nursing a headache and waved Xianyu away.

Seeing that his superior wanted him gone, Xianyu had no desire whatsoever to figure out what the man was thinking. He turned and left, closing the office door behind him.

He was here to work and earn money, not wear himself out trying to read his boss's mind.

At the Divination Commission, Xianyu's guiding principle was to take advice: whatever his superior told him to do, he did.

As for hidden meanings? He knew nothing about them, couldn't understand them, and his teachers at the Academy had never taught them.

He alternated between working and slacking off on his phone, coasting along until it was almost time to leave. Only then did he leisurely tidy the documents on his desk before clocking out right on time.

As Xianyu left the Divination Commission, he immediately spotted the Ambrosial Arbor towering into the sky.

Its upward-reaching branches were dense and intricate, winding their way higher with all their might as though trying to break through the heavens.

Someone who knew nothing about it might have looked at that sight and longed to see the giant tree covered in green leaves.

Only those in the know understood the truth behind that enormous tree.

That seemingly magnificent tree needed neither nutrients from the soil nor sunlight or water.

It stretched out vast, invisible roots, treating countless people's flesh and blood as nourishment. Yet it had never expected that countless others would endure endless agony to dig those roots out of their flesh and blood, cutting off its life completely.

No matter how many times he saw it, Xianyu always felt heartfelt admiration for the strength of the Xianzhou natives.

They had endured countless hardships and waded through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, yet their backs remained unbroken. They truly were remarkable.

Still filled with sincere admiration, Xianyu walked on until he spotted a white-haired man with an explosive mane of hair.

Wasn't that Jing Yuan?

"Xianyu, I've got so much to ask you!"

Jing Yuan's eyes instantly lit up. He rushed over like lightning, grabbed Xianyu, and dragged him toward a restaurant by the roadside.

The two sat down. Jing Yuan quickly placed his order, then handed the menu to Xianyu.

Suddenly, a burly man appeared beside their table.

"Gen-"

Recognizing the man's face, Jing Yuan jolted in surprise and shot to his feet. He was just about to greet him when the burly man gestured for silence.