Xu Xiaoyan's arrival did not affect Class Zero's subsequent lessons.
Jiang Xia and the others still visited the Spirit Ascension Platform once a week.
The rest of their time was spent on regular cultivation and combat training.
Xu Xiaoyan herself was rather frail, but under the mandatory requirements, she still diligently completed her tasks and gradually adapted to the rhythm of battle.
The Eastsea Spirit Pagoda.
"You want to learn how to build a Spirit Ascension Platform too?" Gu Yue looked at him strangely.
She still remembered Jiang Xia mentioning Na'er back at the academy.
Although Jiang Xia had explained at the time that it was an ability of his Broken Dream Martial Soul.
That still could not erase the special way Gu Yue viewed Jiang Xia.
After all, Na'er held a special significance for Gu Yue.
She was the human part of her that had taken form.
It was not that Gu Yue lacked even a shred of humanity, but Na'er was entirely pure in that regard. The foundation of her consciousness was the part newly born after taking human form, rather than Gu Yue's consciousness, which bore the original memories.
Although Na'er had subsequently shared all her memories, knowledge, and thoughts, a different foundation was still a different foundation.
Na'er was more like a human, while Gu Yue was a beast.
To Gu Yue, Na'er's existence was something forbidden for others to touch, especially the relationship between Na'er and herself. She did not want anyone to know about it.
It had clearly been a secret unknown to anyone.
Yet Jiang Xia had learned of it.
Especially after hearing Jiang Xia's explanation that information about Na'er had actually been picked up by Broken Dream, Gu Yue was rather speechless.
She actually believed Jiang Xia.
Based on his understanding of Jiang Xia's Martial Soul, it should have been because she and Na'er communicated telepathically, while she could also learn of Na'er's experiences, knowledge, and thoughts.
So perhaps some fluctuations had leaked out.
After this reminder from Jiang Xia, the connection between Gu Yue and Na'er became even more concealed, to prevent anyone gifted in this area from eavesdropping on their secrets.
After all, the communication between Gu Yue and Na'er had always been confidential.
Its contents were all secrets that even Di Tian did not know.
They were Gu Yue Na's deepest thoughts, her most fundamental ideas.
"Why are you looking at me like that? What's wrong with wanting to learn how to create illusory spaces?" Jiang Xia was rather speechless too.
He actually felt guilty as well.
He had become somewhat agitated earlier that day. Learning that Tang Wulin actually had no younger sister, only his parents, had naturally stirred his emotions.
There was no helping it. Aside from continuing to investigate why his parents had been murdered, he now had to give even more consideration to his own future. He still had to keep cultivating and pave the way ahead.
And his greatest source of confidence in this era was his advantage of knowing the plot.
If even the plot had changed, and changed right from the beginning, in a way entirely uninfluenced by him, then Jiang Xia absolutely could not accept it.
Because that meant everything in the future could potentially change.
That could introduce numerous uncontrollable variables.
For example-
Where the Godslayer Missiles would land!
That was exceedingly deadly.
In the original story, three Godslayer Missiles had landed in total. The two weaker ones had struck the heart of Shrek and the Tang Sect. Even the Tang Sect headquarters had been razed to the ground. Shrek, on the other hand, had gained a brief reprieve thanks to the Golden Ancient Tree and Yun Ming. Countless teachers had detonated themselves, buying precious time for the students to enter the underground shelter, but the losses had still been devastating.
When the final Godslayer Missile landed, its destructive power was even more astonishing.
It had directly pushed the final decisive battle to a climax.
Those were where the three Godslayer Missiles had landed in the original story.
But if their landing points changed, everything would be different.
The Spirit Pagoda absolutely had no way to withstand a strike from a Godslayer Missile.
Jiang Xia could even imagine it: if, when the time came, he assumed that no Godslayer Missile would land on the Spirit Pagoda and holed up there instead of going to Shrek, then just as he and the others thought they could sleep easy, a Godslayer Missile suddenly landed on the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.
He did not even dare imagine that scene. Jiang Xia felt that the very thought carried an endless chill that made his hair stand on end.
That was why he had lost his composure at the time.
He had even directly asked about Na'er.
And precisely because he had asked such a question, although Jiang Xia had offered an explanation and Gu Yue had not questioned it, he still felt guilty.
Na'er had never had any contact with Tang Wulin, and Jiang Xia had never had any contact with Na'er either. One could imagine how shocking it was for Gu Yue that Jiang Xia knew of Na'er's existence.
"By the way, why did you think Na'er was Tang Wulin's younger sister earlier today?"
Gu Yue also realized that something was off about Jiang Xia's emotions and took the initiative to return to their earlier topic.
"Because when I first picked up that thought, I was closest to Tang Wulin."
One lie required countless more to cover it up.
It was best not to leave any holes in the logic. The simpler, the better.
Jiang Xia could now only explain his lies with more lies, so he chose the most direct answer.
He had been closest to Tang Wulin, so he had assumed that the thought came from Tang Wulin.
Gu Yue could not refute that.
So that was how it happened?
She observed Jiang Xia, considering his attitude just now.
"So do you know who Na'er is connected to now?"
Jiang Xia curled his lips. "You."
As he said this, he watched Gu Yue's expression. Seeing no killing intent, he felt slightly relieved.
Gu Yue said, "You pry into my innermost thoughts so casually?"
She smoothed the hair beside her ear, hooked a strand around her fingertip, and toyed with it as she gave Jiang Xia a teasing look.
Jiang Xia laughed awkwardly. "Passive reception, passive reception. I'm not actively prying."
"And it only happens when your emotions fluctuate strongly."
Gu Yue said, "So what exactly do you know?"
Here it comes. She finally asked that question after all.
Jiang Xia sighed inwardly.
He had actually been thinking about this question all along the way.
Knowing too much was naturally no good.
But flatly denying it and saying that he only knew Na'er's name and no further details would certainly fail to gain Gu Yue's trust.
"I only know that you and Na'er share the same thoughts, and that she's currently the disciple of the pavilion master of Shrek Academy's Sea God Pavilion."
"The Soul Spirit she fused with is..."
"Oh, right, her Martial Soul is the Silver Dragon Spear. It seems to be a Martial Soul you fabricated, and it possesses artifact-grade quality in its own right."
Hearing Jiang Xia reach this point, Gu Yue frowned.
He actually knows this much.
However, the things Jiang Xia mentioned really were all matters that had caused relatively strong emotional fluctuations in Na'er.
Na'er was never someone who startled at every little thing.
Naturally, the things that could stir her emotions were matters such as progress in cultivation and her Martial Soul awakening.
Gu Yue was now grateful that by the time she met Jiang Xia, Na'er had already accepted her memories.
Otherwise, who knew how many secrets Jiang Xia would have picked up?
Of course, Gu Yue was now operating on the principle of presuming guilt when in doubt and assumed that Jiang Xia knew more of her secrets.
She would do her best to guard against him in the future.
Of course, while inwardly on guard, she maintained an indifferent appearance and accepted Jiang Xia's explanation.
Seeing Gu Yue nod, Jiang Xia breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let's talk about the technology for creating virtual spaces."