Chapter 97

Chapter 97

Many ginkgo trees were planted on the campus of the Second Military Academy. These trees were planted when the Second Military Academy was established and had been cared for by the wood-attribute ability users of the school to ensure they remained free from mutation, just like other plants on the campus.

The century-old ginkgo trees stood more than ten meters tall, their trunks straight and sturdy. In the season of early November, the ginkgo leaves turned a brilliant yellow, adding vibrant splashes of color to the campus.

Xu Qiao and Lu Yang sat side by side on a bench under a ginkgo tree, while Qin Chi sat a few meters away on another bench, gazing up at the ginkgo trees.

Xu Qiao quietly told Lu Yang about Lin Kunshan’s ‘invitation’ to treat his illness, including the part where Qin Chi revealed his spirit form.

Lu Yang couldn’t help but glance at Qin Chi.

Xu Qiao smiled. "Are you still worried that I might fall for a mysterious neighbor?"

Lu Yang: "...I know he’s not that kind of person."

Xu Qiao: "Then why do you look so upset?"

The military academy student, hands in his jacket pockets, stared at the ground for over a minute before muttering, "I’m worried he might take you to the Northeast Base. You’re my only sister."

Xu Qiao felt her cheeks flush. "You’re overthinking it. We've only just started dating; we haven't even considered anything that far. Even if we reach that point, I might be the one bringing him to our Southeast Base."

Lu Yang chuckled. "We’ll see. I’m curious to see who will win the other over."

Xu Qiao glared at him. "We’re dating, not planning a crime."

Lu Yang continued to stare at the ground.

Xu Qiao: "Since we've already clarified everything, be nicer to him. No more sulking."

Lu Yang looked at Qin Chi, then back at Xu Qiao, raising an eyebrow. "Should I start treating him like a brother-in-law now?"

Xu Qiao: "..."

Suddenly, Lu Yang jumped up and strode forward. As he passed Qin Chi, he didn’t look back and said, "Until he's a brother-in-law, he's still under observation. I'll watch him for you at the academy!"

His voice was loud enough that nearby students, curious, looked over at the two sitting separately on the benches.

Xu Qiao immediately walked off in the opposite direction.

Not long after, the sound of footsteps followed from behind. Qin Chi looked at his girlfriend's flushed cheeks and asked, "Why did you mention your sister's husband?"

Xu Qiao kept her eyes forward. "I mentioned him because it's none of your business."

Qin Chi said, "Then who is Xiao Yang going to keep an eye on for you? Another admirer or another boyfriend?"

Xu Qiao suddenly stopped in her tracks, and as Qin Chi caught up, she stepped on his shoe.

After the stomp, she looked up and glared at his smiling, handsome face. "If you keep talking nonsense, I won't have any boyfriend left."

Qin Chi stopped smiling, but his gaze fell directly on her entire face.

Her glistening dark eyes glared at him, a mix of embarrassment and annoyance, making her look more animated than usual.

The autumn sunlight filtered through the gaps in the ginkgo leaves, illuminating the area beneath her eyes. Qin Chi could clearly see the fine, golden hairs on her cheeks and her glossy, reddened lips.

When Xu Qiao realized that Qin Chi was staring at her lips, she panicked and hurried away, as if fleeing.

Qin Chi paused for a moment before following again.

After spending over an hour at the library of the Second School, Qin Chi treated Xu Qiao and four cadets to a nearby well-reviewed restaurant at noon.

Sitting in the private room, Bao Wei spoke up, "I could tell a while back that Teacher Qin and Sister Qiao are definitely more than just partners."

Xu Qiao said, "When you saw us, we really were just teammates. We only officially started dating yesterday."

Bao Wei replied, "Still, it was a flirtatious kind of teammates. Otherwise, how could Teacher Qin become official so quickly?"

Lu Yang handed him a can of drink. "Drink up, and stop talking."

Bao Wei cooperatively shut up.

After the meal, Xu Qiao advised the four cadets to study and train hard, then she and Qin Chi got into the car.

Watching the black car drive away, Bao Wei put his arm around Lu Yang's shoulder sympathetically. "Tell the truth, are you secretly in love with Sister Qiao?"

Lu Yang coldly shrugged him off. "Stop with the wild guesses."

Bao Wei turned to Wei Pingye and Zhou Cheng. "It's not just me thinking this, you all noticed it too, didn't you?"

Zhou Cheng immediately lowered his head, and Wei Pingye smiled but remained silent.

Lu Yang left his roommate behind and walked ahead alone, his tall, straight back like a sharp sword.

He couldn't quite define his feelings for Xu Qiao, but he hoped she would be happy.

Qin Chi indeed took good care of her, and he was better suited to be by Xu Qiao’s side.

More importantly, Xu Qiao liked Qin Chi.

Thus, Lu Yang was willing to support her choice.

Since Meng Li and her companion would be landing at the Mercenary Association in the central district in the evening, after leaving Second School, Qin Chi drove directly to Xu Qiao’s villa in the central district.

"This afternoon, I plan to study some professional books on senior healers. What are you planning to do?"

After entering the living room, Xu Qiao asked.

The differences between healers of various levels include not only the level of their spiritual entities but also their treatment methods, the precision and efficiency of their treatments, and more.

While Xu Qiao now possessed A-grade spiritual power, she still lacked the skills and experience of a B-grade or A-grade healer.

According to the certification standards, a B-grade healer is required to heal the flesh wounds of ten injured people within a specified time, while an A-grade healer must heal the bone fractures of ten injured people within the same time frame. Such efficiency and proficiency require significant practice and are not automatically gained when the spiritual entity reaches the required level.

Xu Qiao continued to practice her water ability to boost her combat power but did not neglect her primary responsibilities.

In response, Qin Chi retrieved a book from his spatial ring.

Xu Qiao glanced at the cover—it appeared to be one of the historical classics from the Old Era.

Qin Chi smiled and said, "Go upstairs. I’ll be in the living room."

Qin Chi was already a top-tier S-grade Awakened Expert with a mastery of spiritual power, so he could treat reading as a leisure activity. Xu Qiao was far from reaching that level.

With the help of the lotus, Xu Qiao only realized she had been studying for over three hours after receiving Qin Chi’s message reminding her it was time to leave.

They drove straight to the Mercenary Association in the central district.

At 5 p.m., the massive aircraft landed promptly on the helipad behind the association building.

Seeing the two teammates waiting, Sun Fushan ran over happily, while Meng Li merely quickened her pace.

Their companions, Chen Min and Yang Bainian, greeted them from afar before heading home separately. Although they were all upgradeable psychics, they weren’t required to form a new team together due to differences in age, personality, and combat level.

Due to his stutter, Sun Fushan struggled to express himself, so upon reaching Qinchi’s car, he pulled Xu Qiao to the back seat and had her sit between him and Meng Li.

Qinchi continued to drive.

Once seated, Xu Qiao hugged the small green turtle that had fallen into her lap and first asked the two teammates, “Did you get injured out there?”

Meng Li nodded. “However, we had a healer with us who healed our wounds immediately.”

Sun Fushan typed quickly, “My grandfather helped formulate the training plan. He’s really ruthless. He argued that life-threatening training is the most effective. For the last two days, Meng Li and I were tasked with killing A-level beasts together. The guards only ensured we didn’t die, not caring if we got injured. Let me tell you, my arm was broken and reset. It hurt like hell!”

After venting, Sun Fushan rolled up the sleeve of his right arm, revealing a newly healed scar on his fair upper arm.

Xu Qiao imagined the scene and felt a pain in her own arm. “You kept the scar on purpose to show it to the Deputy Marshal, right?”

Sun Fushan shook his head. “It’s for you to see. He wouldn’t care about a minor injury like this.”

Xu Qiao, “...Do you want me to help remove the scar?”

Sun Fushan nodded. “Showing it to you would be enough. Otherwise, I’d have psychological trauma every time I touched the scar while bathing.”

Just as Xu Qiao was about to touch Sun Fushan’s scar, she suddenly withdrew her hand.

Before Sun Fushan could react, the familiar tingling sensation of healing spread through his arm. Looking down, he saw the scar had vanished.

Xu Qiao smiled. “I just learned this today.”

A C-level healer still needs to touch the injured person, but a B-level healer can heal from a distance.

Sun Fushan grinned. “Impressive, I knew you wouldn’t just be idle at the base.”

Reflecting on her recent activities, Xu Qiao glanced at Meng Li.

Meng Li immediately met her gaze, her cold, focused eyes locking onto hers.

Xu Qiao thought for a moment and asked, "Do we have dinner together tonight, or go home first?"

Meng Li replied, "Let's go home. We can always get together later."

At that moment, Qinchi looked at Xu Qiao through the rearview mirror. "It wants to come out," he said.

Sun Fushan and Meng Li both looked over at the same time.

Xu Qiao coughed and explained to her teammates, "Qinchi's spiritual entity has been much more stable lately. I've already met it. Do you want to meet it?"

Sun Fushan exclaimed excitedly, "Yes! I've been wanting to see it!"

Meng Li leaned back in her seat, her expression remained calm as she silently comforted her fire scorpion spiritual entity, which was showing fear towards the fierce bird.

Xu Qiao said, "You have one minute to prepare yourselves. Its spiritual entity is very special."

Sun Fushan nervously shifted his position.

The small green turtle that had been nestled in Xu Qiao's arms blinked and suddenly disappeared, aware that certain raptors prey on turtles.

Xu Qiao leaned forward slightly, her left hand gently resting on Qinchi's right arm.

A dragon head the size of a fist emerged first and quickly coiled around Xu Qiao's left arm, its head raised high, exuding arrogance.

Sun Fushan's eyes widened in shock. Meng Li also sat up straighter.

After a moment, Sun Fushan stammered, "Is... is this a dragon?"

Xu Qiao replied, "Yes."

After hearing the answer, Sun Fushan's expression changed several times rapidly, and he finally asked in a small voice, "Is he supposed to be this small, or...?"

Dragons and phoenixes are both mythical-level spiritual entities. If this size is typical for Qinchi’s spiritual entity, it made sense that Qinchi, like them, had a body that evolved gradually over time. Otherwise...

Before he could finish his thought, the fire dragon suddenly left Xu Qiao's wrist, climbed onto Sun Fushan, and grew to over a meter long, coiling on Sun Fushan’s lap, its head held high, spitting fire at him and saying, "I'm not small! I'm huge, more than a hundred meters long!"

Sun Fushan froze, his black pupils reflecting the golden-red flames.

Xu Qiao leaned closer to Meng Li and persuaded the fire dragon, "We’re teammates. Don’t scare them."

The fire dragon was just about to shrink when its body was suddenly tightly hugged by a pair of arms, causing the unprepared dragon to collide with a shoulder.

Regaining his composure from the shock, Sun Fushan had one arm wrapped around the upper part of the dragon's body. He couldn't help but slide his hand down the dragon's back, looking at Xu Qiao excitedly. "A dragon, a genuine dragon!"

Of the four bases, his favorite was the Qin family’s dragon spirit from the Northeast Base.

However, the "genuine dragon" didn't like him. It immediately shrank and tightly coiled around Xu Qiao’s right arm, with a fierce expression, it bared its teeth at Sun Fushan.

No one except Xu Qiao and Lianhua could touch it like that.