After the eting ended, Guan Tong had just walked out of the conference room and hadn't even gone down the stairs when Fang Qian chased after him.
"Guan Tong, wait... I have sothing to say to you."
Guan Tong stopped, turned around, and looked at her with an expressionless face.
"What is it."
"I didn't expect to et you again here." Fang Qian's tone carried a hint of guilt. "About what happened last year, I've actually always wanted to apologize to you in person."
"Didn't I say it was unnecessary when you ssaged
before? That's all in the past now, bringing it up again doesn't an much."
Guan Tong wasn't pretending to be magnanimous; he had genuinely moved on and didn't care anymore.
To be honest, after the experiences of this past year, he had gained a deep understanding of the evil in human nature.
Especially since the Fire Thief often used the rules to place people in extre environnts, which further fueled the evil within people's hearts.
When granaries are full, people learn propriety; when clothing and food are sufficient, they understand honor and disgrace.
If a hundred people faced a situation where they would starve to death without stealing food, perhaps only a few could resist the urge to steal.
So by now, Guan Tong had long since let it go. Especially after witnessing those provider organizations and those warlords who killed without batting an eye, Fang Qian's little transgression really didn't amount to much.
However, Fang Qian seed surprised by Guan Tong's response. "You really don't bla
anymore?"
"Whether I bla you or not, what difference does it make? None of that matters anymore, not even this conversation between us. If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
After saying that, Guan Tong turned and left, leaving Fang Qian standing there in a daze for a long ti.
She had ntally prepared herself to accept whatever Guan Tong threw at her, whether it was sarcasm, curses, or scolding.
But what she didn't expect was Guan Tong's completely indifferent attitude, which instead left her feeling sowhat at a loss.
However, Guan Tong's attitude of treating her like a stranger also made it very clear to her that returning to their previous classmate relationship of mutual help and support was impossible.
"Qianqian, how did your talk go? Why did he leave so quickly?"
Fang Qian's good friend Qin Qing ca over from behind. She had seen the two talking earlier but hadn't co over to interrupt.
Fang Qian shook her head without saying anything.
Seeing her friend's troubled expression, Qin Qing tactfully changed the subject, her face showing indignation. "Honestly, during the eting just now, everyone was looking at you. It was obvious they wanted you to take on that thankless task. It's so infuriating."
Among the students staying at the academy, Fang Qian was the one who usually helped others the most. But this task the Dean assigned—"infiltrate the student Mind Network to monitor ssages"—would definitely lead to complete isolation from all the students once they found out.
No one wanted to take on this job, so everyone looked at Fang Qian, the perennial nice person, and she had no choice but to accept it.
"It's fine."
"So what are you going to do? Find a student to connect with?"
"That's the only way." Fang Qian said. "I have a few juniors I'm on good terms with. I'm not sure if any of them would be willing, but I'll ask them."
Qin Qing nodded. "I guess that's the only option."
...
In the temporary training room at the gymnasium.
Yelanka completed her fourth practical training session, looking even more exhausted than the previous two tis. She had to lean back against the wall to rest, barely avoiding collapsing to the floor from fatigue.
Guan Tong said, "Very good. You show improvent with each training session. It seems you put in a lot of work reviewing and analyzing after our sessions."
He basically gave Yelanka practical training every four or five days. Each ti, her performance improved. She beca more skilled at applying Mind Power Flow in dynamic situations, clearly having put in trendous effort in her own ti.
As soone in the teacher role, Guan Tong was quite satisfied with this.
Yelanka was currently so tired she couldn't even speak. Guan Tong wondered what reason drove her to push herself so desperately.
Looking at other students, there were diligent ones too, but few reached her extre level of effort.
"If you can maintain this pace, in about another month, you should have it mastered."
"...Thank you, teacher." Yelanka said, having recovered a bit of her strength.
"Mhm, that's all for today." He finished speaking and was about to leave. After taking a few steps, he paused, turned his head, and asked, "Student Stasiya, have you connected to the Mind Network among the student groups?"
Yelanka shook her head. "No."
Guan Tong had guessed as much.
After teaching these days of classes, he had beco familiar with the faces of the more motivated and distinctive students.
Among them, due to the extra training, he was even more familiar with Yelanka. He knew her personality was very aloof, having almost no contact with other students.
Furthermore, once Guan Tong overheard a few female students chatting by the classroom door. When they ntioned Yelanka, they said she didn't live in the student dormitories but resided off-campus.
This surprised him as well.
Because academy regulations required students to live in dormitories. This was for convenience in centralized protection and managent when facing certain special rules.
For Yelanka to live off-campus, soone must have specially approved it. However, Guan Tong seriously doubted whether Dean Zhou Qinfeng had that authority.
Even in regular schools, day students generally have worse relationships with classmates compared to boarding students, let alone at the academy. Not to ntion Yelanka was from the Xisiya Empire, a foreigner, making it even harder for her to make friends.
Given this, it was no surprise she hadn't connected to the student Mind Network.
"Teacher Guan Tong, do you want to connect to the student Mind Network?" Yelanka asked.
"I won't be connecting."
Guan Tong hadn't forgotten the "fusion" characteristic of the Mind Network.
He already had access to the academy Lecturers' Mind Network. If he connected to the students' network as well, the two networks would rge.
At that point, any Lecturer speaking would be recognizable to the students just by their voice. Then every student would realize the teachers were in the sa network as them, likely causing a mass exodus.
This was also one of the reasons why Dean Zhou Qinfeng didn't ask the Lecturers but instead had Fang Qian and those counselors send soone to infiltrate the student Mind Network.
"By the way." Guan Tong ntioned before leaving, "So students might be dissatisfied about
giving you practical training. If there's any gossip, don't pay it any mind. Improving your own strength is more important than anything."
"I understand." Yelanka said calmly.
Looking at her expression, Guan Tong knew his reminder was unnecessary. There was no need to worry about her taking any rumors seriously.
After Guan Tong left, Yelanka felt her own progress and gradually gained so confidence in her heart.
Just as Guan Tong said, as long as she continued to improve, she would definitely achieve her goal before October.
By then...
"Yelanka."
A voice abruptly sounded in her mind.
Not through the Mind Network, but soone had used a [Communication Scroll] to initiate a call with her.
The mont she heard that voice, Yelanka's face darkened.
"I already know you went to the academy in Beixing."
The voice continued speaking in her mind, its tone carrying a kind of disdain, along with a trace of barely perceptible anxiety and anger.
"Do you really think you can compete with ? Ridiculous."
Yelanka did not respond.
The voice beca sowhat annoyed. "Yelanka, listen to
carefully. Going to the academy won't change anything. When October arrives, I'll make you watch with your own eyes as I complete that grand ceremony that belongs to
alone."
The voice did not speak again.
Yelanka put away that tiny bit of self-satisfaction she had felt earlier and once again steeled her resolve to strive until the very last mont.
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