CHAPTER 440: CHAPTER 440: PAINFUL FAREWELL

Time slipped by unnoticed, and a year and a half quietly passed.

To college students nationwide, early summer each year is always a somewhat melancholic season. During this time, fully fledged eaglets are ready to spread their wings and soar, while brothers and sisters who have shared years of companionship must go their separate ways.

At the station of departure, tears dot the willow-lined banks.

Be it a regular university or the Star Martial Academy, none can escape the farewells and the scattering of friends to different paths.

In the year 5022, at the start of summer, the first batch of senior students began to pack their bags and embark on their journeys into society. It was the same for the top graduates of Modu City’s Star Martial Academy.

「Phoenix Plaza, a Cantonese morning tea café.」

Sitting across from him, Jiang Xinyu absentmindedly stirred the yogurt in her cup, her gaze outside the window clouded with melancholy.

"This café’s crab roe buns are famous far and wide. When you tear open the thin skin, the delicious soup flows out like spring water, and its rich aroma stimulates the appetite. Take a sip of the crab roe soup—it’s a rare delicacy in this world. Try it..." Wang Lan said as he pushed a wobbly bun the size of a palm towards Jiang Xinyu.

"Don’t you feel the slightest bit sentimental?" Jiang Xinyu shot Wang Lan a reproachful glance. How could he be so heartless?

"What’s there to be sentimental about? It’s not as if we’re experiencing a life-and-death separation. Come on, Ruoyun is just graduating. So what? With communication and travel so convenient now, we can catch up whenever we want, right?"

Wang Lan simply couldn’t understand this sentiment.

Especially when he saw many female classmates drinking and crying their eyes out, he found it utterly baffling. It wasn’t like a breakup. Had the bonds between women reached the point where separation was as painful as a breakup?

What era are we living in? To hear a voice, make a phone call; to see a face, video chat; if you really want a hug, you can cross a thousand miles and return in a single day. All in all, Star Martial Warriors have far more freedom than ordinary people.

Ordinary people can be bound by work, career, or family, but aside from fighting, Star Martial Warriors lead lives of utmost leisure.

Whether in the Pioneer Team or the Star Martial Army, Star Martial Warriors not only enjoy high salaries and generous benefits but also superior welfare. Moreover, they have at least two months of vacation annually, excluding national holidays.

If one ignored the life-threatening risks Star Martial Warriors face, this was practically the perfect, comfortable life.

"You’re heartless! Once Ruoyun graduates, it will be difficult to hang out together, hard to stroll down the streets or to sing and drink together..."

"But we can fight together, can’t we?"

Jiang Xinyu was on the verge of responding when she suddenly stood up and greeted someone at the café’s entrance. Yu Ruoyun, dressed in a form-fitting long dress and smiling, approached.

"I’m so hot. I got up early this morning to queue up; there were so many people. It took me an hour to sort everything out. With that done, all the procedures are complete. I can leave either today or tomorrow."

Yu Ruoyun’s tone was relaxed, showing no signs of sadness over parting. Nevertheless, both Jiang Xinyu and Wang Lan sensed something unusual about Yu Ruoyun today. Normally, she wouldn’t talk so much, especially not about such inconsequential things.

"Hey, you two heartless ones? Only getting things for yourselves? What about mine?"

"Ordered already, but asked them to wait until you got here to serve it," Wang Lan said and then snapped his fingers at the waiter.

"That’s more like it. I’m finally graduating, finally liberated. Fifteen years in school... The first half of my life is finally over," Yu Ruoyun said with a tone of relief.

"What are you even saying? ’First half of your life’? It’s more like a third at best. Where will you go after graduation? It seems like you never told us," Jiang Xinyu asked inquisitively.

"The military is out of the question, and joining a Pioneer Team is even more so. I’m going to the General Staff," Yu Ruoyun replied.

"The General Staff? The General Staff of the Ministry of National Defense?"

"It’s under the Ministry of National Defense, the all-encompassing General Staff Bureau, as you from the Tianjian Bureau jest. General Staff, General Staff, involved in everything," Yu Ruoyun quipped.

Wang Lan had limited knowledge about the General Staff. It was a very secretive department. If the Tianjian Bureau was referred to as the "relevant department" by outsiders, then the General Staff was the "relevant department" as called by the Tianjian Bureau itself.

The Tianjian Bureau reported directly to the Ministry of Defense, but it still had a hierarchy of headquarters and branches. As for the General Staff, Wang Lan only knew of its existence but had no clue about its headquarters’ location, what missions it executed, or the specifics of its duties.

The only thing he had heard from the higher-ups was that any matter handled by the General Staff was classified at S-level or above. Wang Lan had not expected Yu Ruoyun to join the General Staff; their chances of meeting in the future would indeed be sparse.

The General Staff was shrouded in mystique, and its members were certainly kept highly confidential.

"Stop worrying about me. You should think about yourselves. You’re both in your third year; in another year and a half, you’ll be graduating too," Yu Ruoyun advised.

"Us? What is there to think about? I’m already a colonel in the Tianjian Bureau. After graduation, I should continue with the bureau. I might even become the head of a city-level branch," Wang Lan said confidently.

"And what about Xinyu?"

"She doesn’t need to think about it. Wherever I go, of course she goes too," Wang Lan stated matter-of-factly.

Yu Ruoyun chuckled softly, but her expression quickly turned sorrowful. "I really envy you all..."

"Why? Want to fall in love? Wanting a boyfriend is easy, isn’t it? Just lower your standards a tad, I guarantee people would fight to stand before you," Jiang Xinyu joked, trying to comfort her.

Jiang Xinyu didn’t understand, but Wang Lan did. Yu Ruoyun had long talked to him about this. She was destined to inherit the position of Sect Master of the Yu Family, and to end the imperial lineage of Jade Country, she would not consider romance or marriage.

Of course, the only two people who knew about Yu Ruoyun’s plans were Wang Lan and the Qing Emperor. Until Yu Ruoyun had firm control and a secure position, this plan must not be revealed, or she could forget about becoming the Sect Master.

Yu Ruoyun smiled. "After experiencing the vast ocean, other waters are but streams; after seeing the clouds of Mount Wu, all other clouds are pale in comparison..."

"Huh?" Jiang Xinyu’s eyes widened in shock. "You’ve fallen for someone?"

"No, what I mean is that lowering my standards is impossible. As a woman, if I find a man who is inferior to me in every way, and I have to cover for him, what use is such a man? If it’s just for the sake of continuing the lineage, I’d rather find a surrogate."

"Then I guess it’s impossible. Look around the whole world, there’s no man who can match up to you," Jiang Xinyu said.

Yu Ruoyun’s gaze unintentionally swept over Wang Lan and settled on Jiang Xinyu. She really wanted to say, your man seems pretty good to me.

Of course, she dared not voice such a thing. If anyone else joked like that with Jiang Xinyu, Jiang Xinyu wouldn’t take it to heart. But Yu Ruoyun knew she couldn’t.

Having shared a dorm with Jiang Xinyu for many years, Yu Ruoyun was very aware of her own excellence and the pressure it put on Jiang Xinyu. Yu Ruoyun could boldly claim that aside from her looks, Jiang Xinyu was not her match in any aspect.

But some things were simply about who comes first. The fact that Jiang Xinyu was with Wang Lan was not a matter of good luck or some fluke. Their relationship had grown from a time of youthful ignorance; they had been childhood sweethearts, practically family, for twenty years. If Yu Ruoyun dared to try and steal him away, she would most likely lose everything.

To willingly be a shadow like Xie Sisi? Yu Ruoyun was incapable of that, and her status wouldn’t allow such an act.

"That’s not necessarily true," Yu Ruoyun stirred her yogurt cup lightly, a cryptic smile on her face as she looked at Wang Lan. Only when she noticed the hairs on his back stand on end did she speak leisurely.

"Just because there isn’t one now doesn’t mean there won’t be in the future... My destined man might still be in elementary school..."

"Oh man, only you could think something so dark and twisted!" Wang Lan gave Yu Ruoyun a thumbs-up on the spot.

"Okay, no more jokes. When are you leaving? Shall we see you off?" Jiang Xinyu asked.

"Not sure yet. I’ll let you know when I do."

However, the next day, Jiang Xinyu and Wang Lan only received a text from Yu Ruoyun. She had booked a flight to the Imperial Capital early the previous morning and, after breakfast, would be boarding the plane.

She didn’t want to see their reluctant faces as they sent her off, nor did she want to feel the sadness of parting. So she left alone, hoping there would be a chance in the future to walk the streets, drink, and sing together again.

After receiving the message, both Wang Lan and Jiang Xinyu’s spirits dampened.

"This is depressing; I’m starting to want to graduate already. Watching familiar faces leave one by one, it’s unsettling," Jiang Xinyu said offhandedly.

"How about we speed up our studies and graduate early?"

"Huh?" Jiang Xinyu looked at Wang Lan, her eyes suddenly sparking with interest. "That’s worth considering. Graduate early and complete the first stage of life."

"I don’t have a problem with academic credits. How about you?" Wang Lan asked again.

It was better not to mention it; once brought up, Jiang Xinyu felt defeated again. People always said that once you endure the National College Entrance Examination, you’re free to roam the seas joyously ever after.

But in reality, it was the opposite. Who said college was easier than high school? Where did the idea that the more you study, the simpler it gets come from? Those who thought college was easier than high school were mostly those who had let themselves go completely free there.

While other universities might differ, at Modu Star Martial Academy, the complexity of the academic courses was definitely more than double that of high school. Even those two guys in Wang Lan’s dorm had to study hard over the past year just to barely avoid failing.

Moreover, in high school, Wang Lan had been the ’academic god,’ and Jiang Xinyu the ’academic ace.’ But at Modu Star Martial Academy, geniuses abounded. Who among them hadn’t been an ’academic ace’ before? Thus, it was at Modu Star Martial Academy that Jiang Xinyu first realized she wasn’t a genius, even if the ’academic god’ remained just that.

Because Modu City was filled with geniuses of high IQ and combat strength, its graduation requirements would be seen as insane by any normal Star Martial Academy. For Spiritual Engraving alone, the academy directly set the bar at Level 7.

Furthermore, the graduation requirements for Star Power theory and Star Power control were even beyond the level of some specialized teachers at other Star Martial Academies. Not to mention, senior students had to achieve Dual-attribute Star Power Fusion to graduate.

Many thought that once admitted into one of the top four Star Martial Academies, they had made it and a happy life awaited them. However, for students at Modu Star Martial Academy, getting in was just the beginning; graduating was the truly daunting part.

Thankfully, the environment there encouraged perseverance. As long as one wasn’t completely lacking in aptitude and put in a similar level of effort as others, graduating in the fourth year wasn’t particularly difficult. However, managing to graduate a year or even six months early was a feat as terrifyingly difficult as improving a hundred-meter sprint time from ten seconds to eight.

"No worries, I’ll help you review," Wang Lan said, watching Jiang Xinyu’s increasingly troubled expression, and smiled smugly.

So what if you’re intelligent? Studying is about the methods!