By the time the summit had fully dispersed, dusk had already crept over the eaves.
Orange-red sunset clouds spread across the horizon. The evening breeze carried the fragrance of spirit-tree blossoms along the campus paths, where fallen petals fluttered in profusion.
Jiang Qingyuan did not take the main road through the front gate. Instead, she led Chen Fan along a secluded woodland path.
This path led straight to Han University's hillside villa district. Quiet and seldom traveled, it was normally used only by senior professors.
"Your performance today exceeded expectations." Jiang Qingyuan walked ahead, her voice drifting back on the wind. "This approach of quantifying cultivation could become a formal research project.
"I'll approve dedicated funding for you later and assign two top engineering students to assist you. Start with basic sword moves and breathing methods, and turn them into standardized teaching materials."
Following behind her, Chen Fan's eyes lit up. "It can really get approved? I thought I'd have to polish it for a while longer."
"No need. The approach is sound. You can work backward to examine and verify it afterward." Jiang Qingyuan glanced back at him. "Professor Shen Moru just told me he wanted to introduce your theory into introductory teaching for the theory of the origin Dao. Once the teaching materials are ready, they might even be selected for the Immortal Palace's standard introductory sword Dao textbook."
A surge stirred in Chen Fan's heart.
If this worked out, he would effectively leave his name in the history of cultivation education throughout the Immortal Palace.
"Don't worry, Professor Jiang. I'll make sure the research is solid." His tone was firm. "I definitely won't tarnish your reputation."
Jiang Qingyuan chuckled softly without replying.
The two walked side by side along the woodland path, their shadows stretched long by the setting sun, occasionally overlapping.
The atmosphere was quiet and relaxed, without the tension of the summit or the reserve between teacher and student. Instead, it had the comfortable ease of lovers together.
"By the way, once the project is approved, where do you plan to start?" Jiang Qingyuan changed the subject, breaking the slightly intimate silence.
"With the twelve basic sword forms," Chen Fan replied immediately. "There are plenty of samples, they're easy to verify, and the results come quickly. I'll establish optimization standards for basic sword moves first and pilot them with lower-year students. If the results are good, I'll expand to breathing methods and movement methods. Secure each foothold and proceed step by step."
"Yes, that's the right approach." Jiang Qingyuan nodded approvingly. "Don't chase too much or rush. With cultivation systems, a hair's breadth of error can lead a thousand miles astray. Every step must be verified repeatedly."
"Understood."
As they walked, they discussed the project's details, from sample selection to data verification, from funding budgets to personnel assignments. The more they talked, the more they found themselves on the same wavelength.
Chen Fan's thinking was bold and unconventional, often producing ingenious ideas; Jiang Qingyuan, seasoned and experienced, could always pinpoint the flaws and complete the framework.
One older, one younger; one letting his imagination gallop through the skies, the other steady and thorough. They actually worked together with extraordinary harmony.
As they talked, Chen Fan suddenly realized that, at some point, they had reached the most secluded stretch of the path.
The trees around them grew increasingly dense. Their crowns blocked the sunset, and the light abruptly dimmed.
The wind had stopped as well. The woods were unnaturally quiet; even the insects had fallen silent.
Something was wrong.
Alarm bells suddenly rang in Chen Fan's heart, and the hairs on his body stood on end.
Almost instinctively, he seized Jiang Qingyuan's wrist and pulled her half a step behind him.
"Watch out-"
"Hiss!"
Before his words faded, three pitch-black Yin blades sliced through the air, carrying a sickly-sweet, corrosive scent as they shot toward them from three different directions!
The Yin blades were incredibly fast. Their shrieks as they tore through the air were piercing, and even the leaves along their paths were instantly corroded into black liquid.
The Holy See's power of Yin corrosion!
Chen Fan's pupils abruptly contracted. Without thinking, he unleashed fire cloud true fire from his palm, blocking the space before him.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Sparks flew as the Yin blades struck the wall of fire, ringing like clashing metal and sending up billowing black smoke.
The fire cloud true fire shook violently. Chen Fan's arm went numb, and he had to retreat half a step before steadying himself.
Such tremendous force! At least an all-out strike from the Foundation Establishment late stage!
Leaves rustled in the woods as five black-robed figures leaped down from the trees, landing before the two in an encircling formation.
Each wore a silver mask, their bodies shrouded in dense, cold death Qi. The leader's presence was deep and heavy as an abyss-his cultivation was actually at Foundation Establishment perfection! The remaining four were all at the Foundation Establishment late stage.
Every last one of them was a Holy See death warrior.
Chen Fan's heart sank.
Sending this lineup to assassinate a Qi Refining Realm freshman like him was practically firing a cannon at a mosquito.
Clearly, the outcome of the enforcement action against Leon had made him famous-and drawn the Holy See's attention to him.
His first reaction was to glance at Jiang Qingyuan beside him.
With her cultivation, crushing these death warriors would be no different from crushing ants.
But the next moment, he saw Jiang Qingyuan standing at his side, her presence completely withdrawn. She watched the scene calmly, showing no intention of intervening.
Chen Fan understood instantly.
She did not want to intervene, and Chen Fan did not want her to intervene either. After all, he had yet to truly fight and had no actual combat experience.
"Chen Fan, come quietly, and we can still leave your corpse intact." The lead death warrior's voice was hoarse, like two pieces of rusty iron scraping together. "Refuse, and your body and soul will both be annihilated."
His gaze roamed only over Chen Fan. Incredibly, he paid no attention at all to Jiang Qingyuan beside him.
Clearly, Jiang Qingyuan had deliberately withdrawn her presence. Under the influence of her mighty Mahayana power, her figure appeared hazy and indistinct, and those death warriors subconsciously regarded her as nothing more than an ordinary female cultivator accompanying him, beneath notice.
Chen Fan took a deep breath, suppressed his nervousness, and stepped half a pace forward, shielding Jiang Qingyuan completely behind him.
One at Foundation Establishment perfection and four at the Foundation Establishment late stage-it was certainly a lavish lineup.
But he was no ordinary Qi Refining Realm cultivator.
He quietly condensed a strand of fire cloud true fire as fine as a hair at his fingertip. His gaze swept over the five as his mind rapidly worked through positioning and attack angles.
"A few skulking rats like you think you can capture me?" Chen Fan sneered, his tone dripping with mockery. "Has the Holy See run out of people? Sending a few crooked melons and cracked dates out to die."
"Arrogant!"
The lead death warrior's gaze sharpened, and he raised his hand to order a coordinated attack.
The air in the woods instantly froze as murderous intent pressed down from every direction.