novelraw Chapter 285: Fighting Against the Erosion of Time
Chapter 285: Fighting Against the Erosion of Time
Su Zhan aimed for a dense patch of primeval mountain forest below, abruptly retracted his wings, and dove down, plunging into the thick tree canopy without making too much noise.
Once his feet touched solid ground, he immediately dispelled his aberration form.
Temporarily safe.
But the identity of "Chen Qing" was completely ruined.
His flying ability was also most likely exposed.
"I must find a way to obtain a new identity as soon as possible... Also, I need to learn more about the official movements..."
Su Zhan's gaze was profound.
He needed information, he needed channels, he needed a foothold that would allow him to lie low for a while.
...
Vermilion Bird City.Inside a private room of a local restaurant brimming with life and atmosphere.
Feng Jue, Liu Ziming, and Xu Hao sat around a table, which was set with a few homestyle dishes and several bottles of chilled beer.
Two years, four months, and two weeks had already passed since Su Zhan's disappearance.
Time had left clear marks on them.
The auras of all three were several times more robust and profound than two years ago, clearly having broken through that critical threshold and stepped into the first stage of the Tide Realm.
Now, they were fourth-year students at Vermilion Bird Academy.
According to the academy's six-year system, in just over two more years, they would graduate. Following Daxia Law, they would then be required to serve a mandatory term of military service at the border before they could freely choose their future paths.
"Sigh, cultivating in the Tide Realm is really damn slow."
Liu Ziming took a big gulp of beer, leaning back in his chair without a care for his image. "Feels at least twice as slow as when we were in the Stream Realm. At this rate, I'll be thanking my lucky stars if I can reach the second stage of the Tide Realm by the end of this semester."
"Just be content. Being able to smoothly break through to the Tide Realm already puts you ahead of many people."
Xu Hao chimed in. "Think of all the seniors in the academy stuck at the peak of the Stream Realm for years without making any progress.
Resource consumption is huge too. If it weren't for the academy subsidies and the savings from our previous missions, just relying on the little support from home would be tough. Of course, you rich second-gens are the exception."
"That's easy for you to say, but look at the situation at the border."
Liu Ziming curled his lip. "The Mist Creatures are getting fiercer and fiercer. Boosting our strength earlier means more security when we serve later, right?"
Feng Jue slowly set down his chopsticks, his expression as cold and stern as ever, and spoke calmly. "Rushing is useless. Build a solid foundation, and success will follow naturally."
"I know, I know, Poker Face!"
Liu Ziming retorted with some annoyance, then seemed to remember something, his eyes dimming slightly. "Speaking of which... if Brother Su were still here... with his monstrous talent, he'd probably be at the mid-stage of the Tide Realm by now, or even... touching the threshold of the high-stage, right?"
Mentioning Su Zhan.
The atmosphere at the table instantly turned heavy.
Xu Hao silently put down his glass and sighed. "Over two years... not a single piece of news... entering the Mist World... sigh..."
Feng Jue stared at the amber liquid swirling in his glass and said quietly, "He's not that easy to kill."
"Damn it, I just can't accept it! Sister Xie Xi is gone, Brother Su is gone! A perfectly good squad, and now it's just the three of us left!"
Liu Ziming rubbed his face hard. "If Brother Su were here, with his brains and his SSS-grade Life Soul, we definitely wouldn't be where we are now! We might even be able to take on higher-level missions as a team!"
Xu Hao shook his head with a bitter smile. "There aren't that many 'what ifs.' Brother Su... perhaps he has his own opportunities."
Even he didn't quite believe the words as he said them.
It was more a kind of powerless comfort.
Feng Jue raised his head, his gaze sweeping over his two companions. "Live. Get stronger. Then we'll have the chance to uncover the truth."
He was referring to the truth behind Xie Xi's sacrifice.
And also the possible hidden circumstances behind Su Zhan's disappearance.
Liu Ziming and Xu Hao both fell silent, picked up their glasses, clinked them together heavily, and then downed the contents in one go.
Some pains and regrets don't fade with the passage of time. They only settle at the bottom of the heart, transforming into motivation to move forward.
They often brought this matter up.
Especially when they made some progress or faced important milestones, they would involuntarily mention the teammates they believed were lost.
There were two reasons for this:
First, it was to spur themselves on.
Su Zhan's SSS-grade talent and astonishing growth speed, Xie Xi's formidable strength and the responsibilities she carried, were like an invisible mountain standing before them.
Whenever they felt complacent about breaking through a minor realm, or whenever they felt slack due to the hardships of cultivation, thinking of these two teammates would bring a sense of urgency.
"If Brother Su were here, he'd definitely be much stronger than us..."
"Sister Xie Xi wouldn't allow us to be so useless..."
These thoughts dispelled laziness and spurred them to keep moving forward.
They transformed this regret and unwillingness into motivation to become stronger, as if only by becoming strong enough could they be worthy of their fallen comrades.
Only then could they, one day in the future, have the ability to investigate the truth behind it all.
Second, and this was a deeper reason... they were afraid of forgetting.
Time is the most merciless thing in the world. It can heal wounds, but it can also wash away memories.
They clearly felt that as the days passed—with studies, cultivation, new missions... the waves of life constantly surging forward—those vivid memories of fighting side by side with Su Zhan and Xie Xi were inevitably becoming somewhat blurred.
They were afraid.
Afraid that years, or even over a decade later, when they were fighting bloody battles at the border or living ordinary lives somewhere, suddenly remembering these two comrades who had once shared life and death with them would require a conscious effort of recollection, or even searching through their phone photo albums, just to barely recall what they looked like.
That was something they feared more than death... being forgotten, and... forgetting.
So, they had to mention them often.
At the dinner table, during training breaks, at every moment they could remember them.
Mentioning Su Zhan's aloof yet reliable demeanor.
Mentioning Xie Xi's tsundere yet fiercely protective temper.
Using words, using memories, repeatedly tracing their images, resisting the erosion of time.
This wasn't wallowing in the past. It was to draw strength from the past, and more importantly, to refuse to forget.
They wanted to make themselves, and each other, remember that there were once two people who truly existed, who fought alongside them.
And who would forever be an inseparable part of their lives.
The door to the private room was gently knocked on.
It opened.
A man wearing gold-rimmed glasses walked in.
Wang Mingyuan was dressed in a well-fitting light-colored shirt and dress pants, a gentle, pleasant smile on his lips, though a trace of weariness, not easily noticed, seemed to linger between his brows compared to two years ago.
"Teacher."
"Teacher Wang."
"Teacher, you're here!"
Seeing him, Feng Jue, Liu Ziming, and Xu Hao immediately stood up to greet him, genuine respect evident on their faces.
Wang Mingyuan was not only their guide on their cultivation path but also an elder who had given them much care and support after the successive incidents involving Xie Xi and Su Zhan.
"Sit, sit, no need to stand on ceremony with me."
Wang Mingyuan smiled and waved his hand, naturally pulling over a chair to sit down.
His gaze swept over the three students, and he nodded with satisfaction. "Good. Your auras have stabilized. It seems the adaptation period after breaking through to the Tide Realm went well."