Hearing the Hall Master's words, Qin Chuan smiled, "Teacher, what's this? Martial artists encounter countless things. If it were always like this, cultivation would be too easy."
Although the Hall Master knew Qin Chuan was telling the truth, that's how people are—they're always on edge.
This wasn't particularly stifling, but it was still very unsettling, and even if he suddenly had the ability to vent, he couldn't.
After all, Jiang Tao was a good person; whatever the reason, he was sincere towards him, and that was enough.
"Qin Chuan, your teacher can only guide you this far. From now on, you'll have to walk your own path. I can't help you anymore. You must be careful on your future path, think carefully before you act, and most importantly, always put your own safety first."
"I understand, thank you, teacher. Don't worry, I know what to do." Qin Chuan was still very grateful to the Hall Master.
The next day, Qin Chuan arrived at Chuzhou Academy and learned that the academy had recently enrolled a new batch of students.
Qin Chuan was one of them, and today Chuzhou Academy would be holding a welcome event for the new students.
The so-called welcome event was actually just an opportunity for both new and returning students to shine.
The class was buzzing with discussion; everyone was young, and the topics revolved around a few key points:
beautiful girls and handsome boys, cultivation levels, and some particularly prominent figures.
Qin Chuan's deskmate was a chubby boy, only about 1.7 meters tall but weighing around 200 pounds, round and fair-skinned.
This kind of chubby boy wasn't annoying at all; in fact, he was quite popular, very friendly, enthusiastic, generous, and talkative. So, even though Qin Chuan had only been there a day, he was already quite familiar with this chubby boy.
"Qin Chuan, my goddess, Luo Hua, will definitely be making an appearance at today's welcome event," the chubby boy said excitedly.
"Luo Hua?" Qin Chuan was taken aback. He
unconsciously thought of Luo Hua, the Luo Hua of Luo Hua City Lord, a stunningly beautiful but somewhat naive girl who had given him her chance to survive.
Thinking of her brought a smile to Qin Chuan's face. He would never forget her; every little thing that had happened between them was crystal clear.
Qin Chuan had always wanted to find a chance to go back and see her, wondering how she was doing. He knew he missed her. He missed her
terribly.
"Your goddess? You dare to covet the goddess Luo Hua?" a discordant voice rang out.
Ji Yu, the class's prodigy, although not from one of the five great families of Chu Zhou, would certainly be among the top ten families if there were one.
Besides, the ranking of the five great families had been around for a long time, and many felt it wasn't accurate. Some
families felt they no longer deserved to be among the five great families. Others, seemingly weak, had actually developed rapidly in recent years, showing a trend of surpassing the five great families.
Of course, these were all just speculations.
Regardless, the Ji family was a powerful family, and Ji Yu was a prodigy, handsome and powerful. Everyone knew he liked Luo Hua.
It was just unrequited love; he couldn't even speak to Luo Hua. But in many people's eyes, Ji Yu was at least much closer to the goddess Luo Hua than most. The
chubby boy's face flushed red, but he couldn't say a word.
He wanted to retort, but the gap between him and Ji Yu was too great; he couldn't even manage a rebuttal.
"I heard you can't even speak to the Goddess of Falling Flowers, what right do you have to talk about Jin Zhong?"
The fat man's name was Jin Zhong.
"Who are you? Even if the Goddess of Falling Flowers doesn't like me, she'll never like someone as ordinary as you,"
Qin Chuan said calmly. "Your opinion doesn't count!"
"That's right, you can't even speak to the Goddess of Falling Flowers, what right do you have to talk about us? Maybe the Goddess of Falling Flowers likes someone like Qin Chuan."
Ji Yu glanced disdainfully at Qin Chuan and the fat man, then left.
The fat man was very happy, patting Qin Chuan's shoulder: "Thank you! Brother!"
"If we're brothers, there's no need to thank me, no need to be polite."
...
This was a huge martial arts stage, where the welcoming activities were held. It was a huge talent stage where you could showcase any talent.
Not just martial arts, but since this was a world of martial artists, the best thing to do here was to showcase your strength.
Those skilled in talisman making, alchemy, and formations could also demonstrate their abilities, and if they performed well, they would be even more popular and sought after than those who displayed martial prowess.
The welcoming event naturally had two hosts, both senior students whom Qin Chuan didn't recognize.
One was handsome, the other beautiful, attracting much attention and discussion.
Qin Chuan didn't even know the name of the young man. He smiled and said, "Today's welcoming event now begins. Enjoy yourselves! First, please welcome our Goddess of Falling Flowers with her formation performance."
The audience erupted in cheers.
Qin Chuan hadn't expected the so-called Goddess of Falling Flowers to appear so early; wasn't she supposed to be the grand finale, the last to appear?
But that didn't matter. The event had begun, and the sky darkened, instantly transforming the martial arts arena.
As a woman appeared, Qin Chuan froze.
He could no longer hear the shouts of "Goddess!" because the woman on the stage was Falling Flowers, the Falling Flowers he knew.
Qin Chuan no longer cared why she was there; that didn't matter. What mattered was that he had seen her.
Qin Chuan was utterly shocked, beyond words. He had never dreamed of such an encounter; it was completely unexpected.
He tried to calm himself, looking at the stunningly beautiful woman on the stage. He
remembered what she had done for him. She was a sensible person, knowing when to advance and retreat, never wanting to cause him any trouble.
She loved herself more than herself; the softest part of Qin Chuan's heart had been touched by her, and more than once.
She was still the same as before, incomparably beautiful, breathtakingly so, but her aura was different. She
had matured, become stronger—this change was normal, a natural part of growth. She was composed, easygoing, yet somehow distant.
She was performing a formation, setting up an array on the spot. Initially, Qin Chuan couldn't see anything, as he was only focused on this woman.
However, as soon as she began setting up the array, Qin Chuan trembled again, because this was the formation he had taught her long, long ago.
This wasn't a particularly sophisticated formation, but now that she had set it up, it possessed miraculous abilities.