Book 2: Chapter 207: Proud But Fragile |
Vol 2 Chapter 207: Proud But Fragile
It was probably because the appreciation in Zheng Fa’s eyes was a little too obvious that Xiao Yuying shot him a glance, a trace of pride surfacing in her gaze.
Praise between people carries different weight.
Her life had been almost a string of victories—luck, talent, all enviable.
Countless people had looked at her with more blatant, more heated, even more flattering eyes than Zheng Fa's.
But she usually wouldn’t spare them a glance.
Zheng Fa was different—he was someone who had always faintly suppressed her.
She wasn’t someone who couldn’t tolerate others being stronger than her, but how could she not have a competitive heart?
No exaggeration to say, a bit of Zheng Fa’s praise was worth a hundred compliments from others.
Class ended, and Zheng Fa and Xiao Yuying left the classroom together, heading toward Ten Thousand Immortals Island.
As a Nascent Soul cultivator, Xiao Yuying was currently staying as a guest on Ten Thousand Immortals Island, and the small courtyard she lived in wasn’t far from Zheng Fa’s.
Along the way, they ran into many students coming for class.
“Teacher Xiao! Sect Master!”
“Fairy Xiao, when will you teach us again?”
“Teacher, your story last time wasn’t finished. Can you continue it next time?”
Zheng Fa noticed that this group of disciples greeted him less and were all focused on Xiao Yuying.
She was honestly quite popular in the Jiushan Realm nowadays.
On one hand, it was because her stories were exhilarating...
No matter the hidden realm or dangerous land, she always seemed to come out with the treasures.
It was like a natural power-fantasy novel—super immersive.
On the other hand, it was because she actually delivered real, practical content.
Xiao Yuying wasn’t someone who liked socializing, but though she didn’t look particularly cheerful at the moment, she didn’t seem impatient either.
She’d occasionally nod to the students, her attitude clearly better than how she treated most other cultivators, and her gaze even seemed warm.
Seeing Zheng Fa’s slightly puzzled expression, Xiao Yuying glanced at him and said, “I still think staying in the Jiushan Realm is a little boring… but since I promised you, I’ll teach properly.”
“Any student I, Xiao Yuying, have taught shouldn’t be too bad.”
Zheng Fa paused.
It dawned on him…
During class, she didn’t seem very enthusiastic, maybe not even focused.
But the content she taught was incredibly useful—almost without holding anything back.
Only now did he truly feel… the deep-rooted pride within Xiao Yuying.
...
“Fairy Xiao, wait.”
As they reached his courtyard, Zheng Fa suddenly spoke.
“Hm?”
“I have something to show you.”
Xiao Yuying was a bit confused, but still followed Zheng Fa into the courtyard.
Zheng Fa searched around in his study and took out a small booklet.
Xiao Yuying lowered her head and saw the cover: Tianhe Disciples’ Copper Tower Archaeology Report.
She abruptly looked up and stared at Zheng Fa.
Zheng Fa explained, “Since you’ve treated me with sincerity, I’ll speak plainly.”
Xiao Yuying looked at him without saying a word.
“I’d like to continue working with you in the future—collaborating on archaeology in the hidden realms.”
Still silent, she listened as Zheng Fa continued, “I invited you to lecture on Electromagnetism, and to be honest, I don’t feel like I took advantage of you.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuying gave a slight nod and didn’t refute it.
Even though she had basically sold herself off.
But the more she studied Electromagnetism, the more she understood how precious it was.
Truthfully, she didn’t think she was worth that much.
“But I think I’ve come to understand your personality, Fairy Xiao,” Zheng Fa said frankly. “So I figured I should just be straightforward.”
Xiao Yuying gave him a long, deep look, then suddenly smiled and said:
“If you hadn’t said all that, no matter what was written in this booklet, I wouldn’t have looked, and I wouldn’t have agreed.”
“But now…”
“I agree.”
...
Having said that, Xiao Yuying didn’t say anything else. She simply opened the small booklet.
Zheng Fa explained beside her, “Back when we went to the Copper Tower together... my cultivation was too low at the time, and I wasn’t confident in keeping things secret, so I went back later to collect…”
“You collected the soil and that corpse?”
“Yes. What’s recorded in this booklet is what we discovered back then. Some of the content is confidential—if Jiushan Realm didn’t have some power to protect itself, I wouldn’t even be showing you this.”
Xiao Yuying nodded, acknowledging the logic.
But as she read the analysis in the booklet, her expression gradually shifted.
“Slaying-Immortals Technique… nothing else but the sword?”
“Life-bound Treasure, fused completely with the body?”
“Sword Cultivator’s Path?”
She examined the bone cell diagrams in the booklet even more carefully, as if to see whether Zheng Fa’s team had just made stuff up.
“These are just hypotheses we came up with based on what we found… whether they’re correct, we still don’t know.”
Zheng Fa explained.
“I don’t know much about the Slaying-Immortals Technique, but the Life-bound Treasure…” Xiao Yuying was silent for a long time before saying, “Makes a lot of sense.”
“...”
“My master once said something similar.”
This was the first time Zheng Fa had heard her mention her master, but he knew that Xiao Yuying’s teacher had to be at least Soul Formation.
Xiao Yuying lowered her gaze, staring at the little booklet. After a long silence, she suddenly asked, “This archaeology… do you need me to teach it?”
Her tone carried a deep sense of self-doubt.
“Fairy Xiao, this is just one of our research methodologies… whether it works in the Xuanyi Realm, and who can apply it best, those are all open questions.”
Zheng Fa’s goal in working with Xiao Yuying was very straightforward.
He only knew the general framework of archaeology, but when it came to actually applying it—Xiao Yuying was way more suitable than him.
“My thinking is: you’re the expert in exploring hidden realms, Fairy Xiao.”
“But when it comes to analyzing what’s found—I’m more confident.”
“We can both benefit.”
Xiao Yuying nodded, then suddenly asked, “I have a feeling… can I take this archaeology report back with me?”
“Of course.”
With the booklet in hand, Xiao Yuying turned and walked off—but the moment she turned, she couldn’t hide her expression anymore…
She had explored countless hidden realms.
That Tianhe disciple’s Copper Tower wasn’t even one of the most valuable.
But now it felt like… she’d picked up a sesame seed and dropped a watermelon?
She didn’t lack for treasures, so compared to others, she actually valued knowledge more.
For example, with Electromagnetism—treasures others were reluctant to give, she offered without hesitation.
That said a lot about her mindset.
If she’d only known about this method earlier…
She hurried off mainly because she was afraid she couldn’t hide her disappointment.
...
Mu Qingyan and a few other cultivators were walking toward Zheng Fa’s courtyard when they happened to run into Xiao Yuying coming out.
One look at her expression, and none of the disciples dared to say a word.
After she walked far off, a Senior Sister next to Mu Qingyan gave her a look.
The expression was cryptic and confused Mu Qingyan a bit.
“Senior Sister?”
“You looked just like that when you came out of the first Golden Core Engineering lecture.”
The Senior Sister didn’t name names, but Mu Qingyan immediately understood. She turned to look at Xiao Yuying’s back.
Yo, you shattered too?
...
When Zheng Fa saw them in the courtyard, he immediately understood: “You guys took the National Health Survey assignment?”
Mu Qingyan and the others nodded.
“Alright then, I’ll teach you what to measure and what to record.”
The National Health Survey—was conducted on the mortals of Letu Island, and its primary purpose was still tied to Golden Core Engineering.