When Yingxing first heard the news of Jingliu's engagement, his first reaction was relief.
Because of the difference in lifespans between him and his friends, he had always wanted to personally witness Jingliu obtaining happiness.
After the relief, he immediately thought of the formation-blade blueprints on his workstation in the Artisanship Commission, and then of the gift he was supposed to prepare for Jingliu, one that didn't even have blueprints yet.
Yingxing calculated the time.
Jingliu and Zero would get engaged in half a year. If he added some overtime, he should still be able to finish it in time.
The only problem was that he had to find a way to hide it from Jing Yuan, who came to the Artisanship Commission every few days to rush progress.
It was fine for Yingxing, Dan Feng, and Baiheng to add to Jingliu's gift, but if a junior like Jing Yuan found out, how awkward would that be? It would look like they were excluding him.
Wait, why did it feel like once he started working overtime, it never stopped? When would he ever get off work on time again?
As Yingxing kept thinking, he suddenly remembered a joke he'd once made to Jingliu.
She wouldn't still be planning to ask him to make the rings again, would she?
Even splitting him in half wouldn't be enough.
Yingxing barely managed to control his expression. He froze his face and cursed Dan Feng in his heart.
'This isn't what you said! Didn't you say at least ten years, dozens of years?!'
Oh, and the earlier gift money too, that was also because of Dan Feng.
Could it be that he'd offended the Dragon Lord at some point without realizing it?
Yingxing couldn't figure it out. The more he thought, the angrier he became, and he turned his gaze toward Dan Feng beside him.
Dan Feng's expression didn't change. He stood there calmly, unmoving.
In others' eyes, he was still the High Elder Imbibitor Lunae, refined enough to debate dragonmasters with words, and fierce enough to cut down abominations in battle.
Dan Feng showed nothing on his face, but inside he was utterly confused.
This wasn't how he imagined it would go at all.
The former marshal was clearly a conservative type.
The kind who did everything step by step, consulted his lover about every move, and left at least several months or even years between each step.
'How long had he and Jingliu even been dating?'
'Why were they already getting engaged now?'
Dan Feng thought as he turned his head away.
Was this his fault? Could this really be blamed on him? Who could have predicted this?
Even the successor personally raised by the former marshal probably wouldn't have expected this.
So wasn't it perfectly normal that he misjudged things?
The Dragon Lord pretended not to notice Yingxing's scorching gaze that seemed ready to bore a hole through him, and instead focused on the others.
Baiheng was probably the happiest person there, aside from Jingliu herself.
The foxian showed her emotions openly, almost jumping up from her chair in excitement as she exclaimed, "Wow, that's wonderful!"
Jing Yuan's hand holding the chopsticks suddenly froze.
People eventually have to face reality.
Even if it means calling someone your grandmaster-in-law, so what?
Very quickly, the slight awkwardness in Jing Yuan's heart was replaced by relief for his master and friend finding happiness.
He smiled. "Congratulations. Where are you holding the engagement banquet?"
Jingliu shook her head. "He and I… only set the date."
The other two offered Jingliu their congratulations, until all three of them turned their eyes toward Yingxing and Dan Feng, who still hadn't spoken.
Dan Feng, who carried the memories of all past Imbibitor Lunaes, quickly adjusted his emotions and calmly offered his congratulations to Jingliu. Then the pressure shifted to Yingxing.
Yingxing gave a dry laugh. "Jingliu, congratulations."
Jingliu replied, "There are some things I'm afraid I'll need to trouble you with, Yingxing."
Yingxing's heart sank.
Back then, he was just joking with Jingliu.
He'd only said it casually.
Who could have known Jingliu would actually plan to ask him to forge the wedding rings?
If he agreed, how many more forging hammers would he have to destroy?
Yingxing worked hard to move his facial muscles and forced out a smile that wasn't quite so stiff.
He laughed a few times and spoke sincerely, "What trouble? You're the most talented and capable apprentice I've ever met. You graduated long ago!"
Yingxing lavished Jingliu with praise, practically using up all the insincere words he had left in this lifetime.
Jingliu fell silent for a moment, her expression hesitant.
Seeing this, Yingxing pressed on, offering to help prepare the tools for forging the rings.
This time, Jingliu didn't refuse, and she stopped mentioning asking him for help.
Yingxing finally let out a sigh of relief.
He'd just prepare extra materials and forging hammers for her.
Spend money to avert disaster, nothing wrong with that.
Out of the corner of his eye, Yingxing glanced at Dan Feng, who remained calm and unflustered.
He thought, 'Dan Feng, you're finished. You'd better not fall into my hands! Otherwise, otherwise…'
Well, there was really nothing he could do.
In front of everyone, Yingxing couldn't lose his temper, so he vented his anger on the food, burying his head and eating like a soulless eating machine.
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill and dispersed, Yingxing crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, clearly waiting for Dan Feng to give him an explanation.
Could the Dragon Lord admit fault? Of course not.
No matter how much Dan Feng contributed, it wouldn't reduce Yingxing's overtime by even a single day.
Could it be that if Dan Feng gave gifts for him, he himself wouldn't prepare anything for Jingliu? What kind of logic was that?
Yingxing sighed inwardly.
Looks like he needed to hurry up and finish the blueprints.
Aim to complete the designs in just one month.
That way, while forging the formation blade, he could squeeze out a little time to slowly work on it.
Maybe he'd only need to work three extra hours a day?
Thinking of this, Yingxing was overwhelmed with joy.
He had no interest in continuing to talk with Dan Feng. After a hurried farewell, he turned around and headed straight back to the Artisanship Commission.
Dan Feng watched Yingxing walk away in that direction.
The Dragon Lord had observed him earlier, first frowning, then suddenly looking delighted.
Dan Feng didn't understand it, but he was deeply shaken.
He truly couldn't comprehend Yingxing's level of grind.
The Dragon Lord walked back to his residence at a leisurely pace and instructed a servant to go to his private treasury, over a thousand square meters in size, and find the gift he planned to give Jingliu.
Dan Feng checked the gift list repeatedly. After confirming everything was correct, he had the items put away.
The Dragon Lord returned unhurriedly to his bedroom, lit some sleep-inducing incense, and slept through the night without dreams.
The next day, Dan Feng went to the Alchemy Commission as usual to sit in consultation.
Before long, General Teng Xiao sent him a message.
Dan Feng glanced down and immediately spotted the words "psychological assessment" in the long message.
He casually picked up his jade communicator, transferred ten thousand xundis to his assistant, and had them come to his office.
When the assistant arrived, Dan Feng shoved the jade communicator into their hands.
"Same as usual. Count it as overtime pay."
Watching the assistant happily take the communicator, the Dragon Lord couldn't help thinking to himself.
The people who most needed psychological assessments weren't the Cloud Knights, and certainly not him, the Imbibitor Lunae.
The one who truly needed the Xianzhou's, no, to be precise, the entire universe's, attention was currently in the Divination Commission.
At the same time, Zero, whom Dan Feng was thinking of as "mentally ill," was diligently reading.
With the goal of messing with Zandar's mindset, Zero deliberately picked several books from Zandar's reading list.
After finishing them, he casually wrote a paper and sent it over.
[Zandar: If you're sending me a draft, I won't say much, but at least send the full text]
Zero stared at the jade communicator, speechless for a long time.
Zandar, you're really good at insulting people without swearing.
He replied expressionlessly.
[Zero: This isn't a draft. And this is the full text]
[Zandar: ...]
———
The next day, Zero received a new notification.
[Zandar downloaded your document]
Zero, "..."
'Wow. Was that really necessary?'
'Did Zandar spend an entire night preparing himself mentally before downloading my paper?!'
A few days later, Zandar sent message after message with suggestions. His tone looked extremely gentle, as if the sarcastic Zandar from before was his second personality.
After sending a long series of comments, Zandar finally changed direction.
[Zandar: Only now does it resemble a paper]
Zero, "..."
It felt like he was about to be driven into mara-struck madness.
With a cold face, he continued searching the StarNet for ways to mess with a supervisor's mindset.
Before Zero could find a breakthrough, Zandar sent another message, his tone full of regret.
[Zandar: You shouldn't have erased your own information]
Zero thought to himself, if he didn't erase it, then what? When he died, should everyone under him die with him?
And after that? Could the Xianzhou still operate normally? What about Hua?
If anyone erased information, Zandar wasn't much better off.
On the surface, Zandar only had the "Imaginary Tree" theory and the achievement of hand-creating a Star God.
Zero typed a retort without changing expression.
[Zero: As the saying goes, great teachers produce great students, you should take a look at who my teacher is]
[Zandar: ...]
[Zandar: Like I told you before, our plan, wait a little longer. Now isn't the best time. When the time comes, you can decide whether to carry it out]
[Zandar: Actually, you didn't have to go that far]
Zero stared at the messages.
He had been thinking about the dimensional ascension plan Zandar mentioned, but the last message instantly caught his attention.
Didn't have to go that far? Did that mean… he didn't have to die?
Up to now, Zero didn't regret his decision to die.
Whenever he saw words expressing regret over his death, he felt inexplicably irritated.
It was like… working overtime for five thousand years, finally dying, and then being forced to resurrect and keep working.
He just wanted to die. Was that really such an unreasonable request? The fact that he didn't drag a few Star Gods down with him as burial companions already showed how kind he was.
Seeing that Zero didn't reply, Zandar continued sending messages.
[Zandar: This time, don't rush. Be patient. Just wait]
Zero half-closed his eyes.
Zandar kept emphasizing that he should wait… did something change midway?
Zero opened his jade communicator and searched for information about Zandar related to the Xianzhou.
Very quickly, he found the time when Zandar arrived at the Xianzhou and borrowed the "Purification Core" from the museum.
Zero knew himself well, unless there was something to gain, he would never lend the core to Zandar.
Even brothers settled accounts clearly, let alone a teacher from who-knows-how-many cycles ago.
Of course, to the version of himself who was on the verge of mental collapse back then, Zandar's appearance would have been especially significant.
He really might have made an exception for Zandar.
Zero had fought alone for thousands of years for a certain goal. At the brink of despair, he saw that parable and suddenly realized he wasn't alone, that there was an elder, an ally, striving toward the same goal with him.
Add to that the core he had proactively lent out… Zandar must have given him an answer he found satisfactory at the time.
Connecting this to the messages Zandar sent, it seemed that in both Zero's past life and this one, Zandar's words were probably much the same, telling him to be patient and wait quietly.
Zero closed the search page and opened the Cangcheng Laboratory report, checking the date of his obituary.
Logically speaking, after hearing Zandar's words, he would definitely have tried to live a few more decades, a few more centuries, doing everything possible to hold on until the "right time" Zandar mentioned.
Yet from the time he met Zandar to his death… only ten years had passed.
Something was wrong.
Zandar was definitely hiding something from him.
Zero replied.
[Zero: That depends on you]
It depended on the truth Zandar was hiding.
Compared to Zero, Zandar's attitude was exceptionally frank.
[Zandar: Yes, I hid one thing from you. But aside from that, I will not stand against you, and I will never hurt you. Even your group of loyal, utterly obedient subordinates would make the same choice as me]
[Zandar: You can try to put yourself in my shoes. To make it easier to understand, I'll exaggerate a bit]
[Zandar: Say you meet a student with average talent who can't even do simple addition. You start from zero and teach him bit by bit]
[Zandar: You turn him from someone whose papers aren't worth more than printer paper into someone capable of single-handedly taking responsibility as the chief director of a colossus project]
[Zandar: And of course, besides the colossus, he also joins even more difficult weapons development projects, like the Heaven-Scorching Divine Weapon, or the Ether Attraction Engine we're currently collecting data on]
[Zandar: If it were you, would you let something happen to him?]
Following Zandar's line of thought, Zero quickly arrived at the answer.
Of course not.
Just like how he raised Hua, the one who once said "why not eat meat", into what he is now.
Just like how he raised Lan, the one who used to blow up planets at the drop of a hat, into an environmentally conscious individual who conserved mineral resources.
How could Zero ever let anything happen to them?
It was just that… Zandar's words were a bit too sentimental, weren't they?
As he was thinking that, another message arrived.
[Zandar: You are my student. At first, you ruined my reputation in the academic world, but at the same time, you made my prestige in the education world grow day by day]
[Zandar: At least in education, no one can surpass me anymore]
Zero thought, 'Zandar, you really are something.'
'You always manage to insult me without swearing right when I'm feeling awkward and embarrassed.'
Once he got angry, Zero didn't have the mental space to feel awkward anymore.
Zandar repeated the message he'd sent before.
[I hid one thing from you, but you must believe me, I won't hurt you]
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[email protected]/XenosX
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