On the way here, Fu Xuan's heart was extremely uneasy.
She wasn't worried about the danger of the mission, but rather afraid that her own poor performance would make General Qingque lose face.
That's right—Fu Xuan didn't care what happened to herself.
She had grown up looking up to the name "Qingque."
Here is Fu Xuan's recollection:
At that time, Fu Xuan was born into a prestigious family on the Yuque Xianzhou. Everyone said that after her birth, Yuque would gain another Diviner who could scheme against heaven and earth and calculate the secrets of the universe, and she even had the potential to reach the position of Diviner Head.
However, reality was not as kind. Despite Fu Xuan working extremely hard, she was still troubled by the vast and complicated knowledge. Compared to other Diviners, she could only be described as mediocre and showed none of the talent everyone expected.
That period was the most distressing time of Fu Xuan's childhood: mediocre talent, pressure from those around her, confusion about her life goals… But it was during this time that she met the person she would never forget in her life.
Perhaps her family saw that Fu Xuan's prospects on Yuque were truly slim, so they sent her to the Luofu to study abroad, hoping to "gild" her and secure a good future career. It was here that Fu Xuan met Qingque.
At that time, Qingque was still the Diviner of the Luofu Divination Commission. Although she was the Helm Master of one of the Six Commissions, Qingque herself usually appeared rather laid-back. This made the always diligent and hardworking Fu Xuan question: Can someone so idle really become a Diviner?
With this doubt, after work one day, Fu Xuan stopped Qingque under the pretext of treating her to a meal, hoping to ask her to resolve her confusion.
Fu Xuan still clearly remembers the situation back then:
"Eh eh eh! You can't say that casually. If others hear it, they'll suspect I'm abusing my power to seduce a female subordinate!" Qingque covered her face helplessly. "Let's just go AA. Ask whatever you want."
"Alright, sorry for bothering you, Senior… Eh eh eh?!"
Senior Qingque actually agreed?
Fu Xuan was shocked for two seconds because she hadn't held much hope of success. After all, the difference in their statuses was like heaven and earth—one was the second-in-command of an entire Xianzhou, while the other was just one of countless employees in the Divination Commission. No matter how you looked at it, they were worlds apart.
Except in height.
But she never expected Qingque to agree so easily!
"Senior Qingque, I-I-I want to ask you—h-how can I b-become as outstanding as you?! Please teach me. This is really important to me!"
As she spoke, Fu Xuan bowed deeply to Qingque, her delicate body trembling slightly.
"…Oh? You really want to improve? That's not impossible, but… you have to give something in return, right?"
"Eh?"
Fu Xuan couldn't see Qingque's expression, but hearing such slightly problematic lines, some bad fantasies immediately surged into her mind.
Wait… the way Senior Qingque is speaking, does she mean… Eek!
Th-That… how could that be?!
Because Fu Xuan was bent over, Qingque couldn't see her expression either and was completely unaware of the girl's shy and annoyed look. She simply stroked her chin and pondered: "…For example, enough time? Effort? Resources? Connections? All of these are indispensable."
Fu Xuan: "…Eh?"
Qingque crossed her arms and said seriously: "Ah… let me think where I saw this information… Right, it was from those Dragon Masters."
"Although the Luofu Dragon Masters are proper capitalist dogs, cs within cs, their 'Artificial Genius' project is indeed leading among the Xianzhou. What I just said comes from their latest research."
"I remember you—Divination Commission grassroots Diviner Fu Xuan, employee number XXXXX. In the monthly statistics, your overtime hours are the highest, so I have a deep impression of you. I probably don't need to say any chicken soup motivational stuff. What I want to remind you is that your direction is wrong."
Fu Xuan's eyes widened: "H-How could that be?"
"As long as you're willing to endure hardship, you'll definitely get to eat bitterness." Qingque raised one finger. "However, if you want to become outstanding, simply pouring in time is very inefficient."
"You need to know what you want to do, and what you need to give to do it. It's like a game—systematically break down the tasks. For someone who wants to succeed, effort is only the most basic thing, because anyone can work hard."
"What you need to do is find a way to learn or obtain what others don't have."
"······"
Fu Xuan quietly listened to Qingque's advice and silently memorized every word. She didn't know how long Qingque spoke, but when Qingque finally stopped, she quickly handed over a bottle of water: "Senior Qingque, you've worked hard. Your words have helped me a lot! I will definitely work hard!"
"Hahaha!"
Qingque laughed and casually patted Fu Xuan's head, saying gently: "Don't worry. I've always seen your efforts. As long as I'm still your leader, I'll definitely protect you and won't let a talent like you be buried."
...!
Fu Xuan was stunned. She stared straight into Qingque's eyes and thought: Just now… Senior praised me as outstanding…
Senior even patted my head. That's too intimate, right?
Fu Xuan secretly made up her mind: Even if not for herself, but for Senior, she must work hard and never let Senior Qingque down!
One day, she would become Senior's left and right arm!
Senior clearly holds one of the highest positions in the entire Luofu, yet she's still willing to treat an ordinary Diviner like her with such patience, care, and seriousness…
Senior's height is about the same as hers, yet her shoulders always seem able to support the heavens…
The light on Senior… is really… so dazzling, so dazzling!
For Senior Qingque, no matter what she asks me to do, I'm willing!
The recollection ended here.
With this mindset, when Huohuo proposed that Fu Xuan join her on the mission, Fu Xuan agreed without the slightest hesitation. This wasn't for herself, but purely for Senior.
Although she had long heard that Helm Master Huohuo was also a pillar of the Luofu, every time she heard Helm Master Huohuo speak to Senior Qingque in that tone, Fu Xuan couldn't help feeling a trace of anger in her heart: Why use that kind of attitude?!
Fu Xuan had already made up her mind this time: No matter what, she must prove to Helm Master Huohuo that Senior Qingque was definitely not the lazy, idle, useless person she imagined!
...
"Diviner of the Luofu Divination Commission, Fu Xuan, greets Helm Master Huohuo!"
Fu Xuan stood in front of Huohuo, her gaze firm: "On behalf of General Qingque, I offer my assistance to the Helm Master!"
"Please give the orders!"
However, no one noticed that behind Huohuo, the Heliobus-transformed tail was showing slight chaotic fluctuations—the normal side effect from Tail's little brother devouring the Lustful Heliobus.
"Ah…"
Huohuo rubbed her brow, her mind briefly dazed. A moment later, a trace of playfulness appeared in her eyes as she looked at Fu Xuan: "Oh? Give orders?"