Chapter 46
Chapter 46
[Clear Spring Academy]
The name had been carved in bold, vigorous strokes into an ancient stone stele that stood before the academy gates.
Pedestrians streamed past outside. Many young people had even made a special trip to admire the renowned academy.
Every one of them gazed at it with longing and envy, praying that they might one day be admitted.
The Central Region was also known as the Central Safe Zone.
Unlike the Eastern and Western Regions, it was not divided into Safe Zones numbered 01 through 100. Instead, the entire region formed one unimaginably vast urban complex.
Just how vast was it?
If Eastern Safe Zone 088, where Qin Lan lived, was a bowl of water, then the Central Safe Zone was an enormous lake.
Many people mistakenly assumed that the “Central Region” referred to a small core surrounded by the Eastern, Southern, Western, and Northern Regions.
In reality, those four regions were more like children sheltered by the Central Region.
Resources flowed outward from the center, nurturing the many smaller Safe Zones scattered throughout them.
Clear Spring Academy had earned a resounding reputation in the Central Region and secured a place among the Nine Academies. It was a top institution that countless people dreamed of attending.
Calling it a school hardly did it justice. Clear Spring Academy covered an area comparable to a small city.
Its infrastructure was comprehensive, satisfying every aspect of daily life.
Land in the Central Safe Zone was worth a fortune. The fact that the United Government had granted Clear Spring Academy so much of it showed just how highly the academy was valued.
At that moment, inside one of Clear Spring Academy’s most famous scenic areas, Su Xiaoyue sat on a bench and stared blankly at the waterfall before her.
It was no gentle stream, but a magnificent cascade.
Water thundered down onto the rocks below, shattering into a fine mist that cooled the surrounding air.
Clear Spring Academy had built an entire natural attraction on campus solely to give its students somewhere to relax.
Its extravagance was breathtaking.
“Su! You made it!”
An excited female voice rang out.
A petite girl came jogging over, her cheeks flushed and her expression full of delight.
“I checked it several times! Your name really is on this year’s Elite Program list!”
“You’re going to be famous!”
“Oh my god, my roommate actually made the academy’s Elite Program… I can start selling your autographed photos…”
She chattered on, gesturing wildly in her excitement, while Su Xiaoyue remained far calmer.
“Did you even hear me?”
Yu Qianqian patted Su Xiaoyue’s shoulder and pouted. “Why do I feel more excited than the person who actually got selected?”
“Do you have any idea how prestigious the Elite Program is? Let me tell you, it–”
Su Xiaoyue smiled and shook her head.
Of course she understood the program’s significance.
Every year, after a new class enrolled, Clear Spring Academy drew up a list based on the freshmen’s performance in the entrance examination.
Those who passed every subsequent review were formally admitted into the Elite Program.
They received exclusive instruction from top mentors, abundant resources, and meticulous personal development plans.
Things ordinary students could envy for a lifetime were merely routine for members of the Elite Program.
Su Xiaoyue’s Talent had begun from an exceptionally high starting point. A-rank Talents that combined both survival and combat capabilities were rare. Not long after her awakening, she had already managed to hold back a 2-Star anomaly inside an instance, if only briefly…
After the entrance examination, Su Xiaoyue quickly began to distinguish herself.
With the aid of Clear Spring Academy’s Curse Codex, her understanding and application of her Talent advanced at a breathtaking rate.
Her admission into the Elite Program was only natural.
“You’re not… still thinking about that boyfriend back home, are you?”
Yu Qianqian looked frustrated by her stubbornness. “My dear roommate, you need to broaden your horizons!”
“This is the Central Safe Zone! Hidden dragons and crouching tigers are everywhere. There are more brilliant young men than you can count. Why chain yourself to one old tree?”
“You could toss a brick into a crowd here and hit a handsome guy who’s better than him…”
As Su Xiaoyue’s roommate, Yu Qianqian had heard her talk about Qin Lan.
But the information she had gathered was limited: an F-rank Talent with bleak prospects, a slum upbringing and worrying family circumstances, dead parents and a potentially warped personality, plus a career as an Anomaly Hunter that might get him killed at any moment.
Put together, those details had already allowed Yu Qianqian to imagine her roommate’s miserable future.
Su Xiaoyue would be dragged down by a poor boy and sacrifice her future for him. After graduation, she would return to that remote little Safe Zone and waste the best years of her life. Then one day, her lover would suddenly die in the Fallen Zone, leaving her a widow before she was even married…
No. Yu Qianqian could not let that happen.
They had not known each other for long, but she genuinely believed Su Xiaoyue was a good person.
She was gentle, kind, and beautiful. She possessed an A-rank Talent, yet showed no trace of arrogance.
Yu Qianqian believed Su Xiaoyue deserved a better life.
“And what is that guy thinking? What future could he possibly have as an Anomaly Hunter in a tiny place like that?”
“He and Xiaoyue are destined for different paths, but he still refuses to let her go…”
Yu Qianqian grumbled inwardly, brimming with hostility toward the Qin Lan she had never met.
“Don’t talk about him like that.”
Su Xiaoyue gave her a displeased look. Yu Qianqian opened her mouth to argue, then stuck out her tongue instead.
“Fine. I won’t say anything else…”
After a moment of silence, Su Xiaoyue spoke softly.
“I don’t think anyone else can compare to him.”
“Qin Lan is braver than anyone I’ve ever met, and he works harder than anyone.”
“He grew up in the slums, but there is nothing sly or underhanded about him. All he has is the fierce determination never to yield to anyone.”
“And… he never makes grand, empty promises. He always proves everything through his actions…”
Su Xiaoyue caressed the small box in her pocket, her gaze growing softer.
“Would you risk your life to give someone a lifesaving item as a present?”
“He isn’t good with words. At the time, all he could do was insist that it was a replacement birthday gift… But I understood. I knew what he kept hidden in his heart and was too embarrassed to say aloud…”
“He never replies to my messages, but I looked it up. Men born under his zodiac sign just don’t like replying to messages.”
“When he isn’t contacting me, he must be thinking about me every moment, just as I think about him.”
“Yes. He must be working hard so that he can come find me one day.”
Yu Qianqian stared at her, hesitant.
“Um…”
“Xiaoyue, don’t you think you might be falling in love with your own fantasy?”
“How long has this been going on? Should we find you a doctor?”
“Because this seems pretty serious…”