Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) knew the situation might change upon seeing Mao Peilan. Combined with their words, she realized she might have been in the cave for more than a day. Hearing Lu Jianshan's question, she immediately came up with a different story and recounted it without a blush.
"I did land safely then, and Yan Qinghuai said he was going to pick up the others. But not long after he left, two black-robed figures suddenly emerged and attacked me fiercely. If my primary cultivation wasn't in defense, I might not have been able to withstand it. I ran afterwards, stumbled, and accidentally found a cave to hide in."
"I don't know how long passed afterwards, but the sounds of pursuit outside stopped. My divine beast egg also hatched in the cave. Sensing my predicament, it grew large and flew me back," Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) indicated her divine beast egg.
"Oh! Is this a divine beast Yinglong?" Niu Yong and Lu Jianshan both stood up in surprise and quickly walked down to examine it.
Dandan was closing its eyes, feigning extreme weakness as instructed by its mother. Its breathing was faint, looking like it was about to die at any moment.
"Why is it so listless?" Niu Yong reached out to touch it.
Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) quickly dodged, "Dandan doesn't like others touching it much. Perhaps its spiritual energy has been too depleted. It didn't even make it to the other side and shrunk, loosening its grip midway. Fortunately, the place I landed had tall branches to borrow strength from, otherwise, I would have sunk into the marsh."
A clever lie is half true and half false, making it indistinguishable.
"The students all say that Yan Qinghuai had the best relationship with you before. Do you truly not know his intentions?" Niu Yong's style was completely different; he got straight to the point.
"I truly don't know! If you hadn't said he drugged you, I wouldn't have known he wanted to harm me! After all, he brought me safely to the other side, and it wasn't him who attacked me afterwards!" Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang)'s face showed the pain of being hurt by a friend, her eyes welling up with tears. "How could Yan Qinghuai suddenly become like this... he was fine before. Could there be some misunderstanding? This divine beast egg was also a prize from his first major trial, he gave it to me!"
"Alright, alright, don't cry! We'll handle the situation now, you kids just focus on yourselves!" Niu Yong felt a headache coming on seeing the little rabbit's tears.
Mao Peilan also came forward and hugged her, "Perhaps he was also coerced! And he didn't harm you!"
"But..." Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) said, then stopped, "I just hope he can clarify things with us, after all, we've been friends for so many years."
Lu Jianshan stopped them and kindly asked Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang), "Junior Bai, we checked the old records. You and Yan Qinghuai enrolled together. Do you know how you met?"
This was something they could find out, so Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) didn't hide anything and recounted how she arrived at "Yanzi Ridge" and then came to "Huoling City" together.
Lu Jianshan stroked his beard and secretly nodded, "This little rabbit spirit is telling the truth, it seems she truly doesn't know." Then he looked at the divine beast Yinglong and said with the tone of an elder, "Spiritual energy is scarce in the vast lands. It's already rare for a divine beast to hatch. Since you have this fate, you must treat it well, understand?"
"I understand, thank you!" Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) didn't miss the greed in his eyes, but since divine beasts could only form a contract with one master, there was nothing he could do even if he was envious.
"Alright, alright, you few children have worked hard. Go back and rest well!" Lu Jianshan finally let them leave.
After that, Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) spent eight months in peaceful cultivation, and then the great war between the Chaos Continent and the Vast Continent erupted.
It turned out that after Feng Qinghuai reclaimed his original Phoenix City, he rapidly took control of the entire Chaos Continent. He then used his half-demon, half-devil physique to tear open the barriers that sealed them in various places. He also united all the demons and netherworld beings and set foot on the territory of the Vast Continent.
This time, not only were all the people from "Tongling Academy," but also many cultivation families and demon cultivators were mobilized. The humans and demons of the Vast Continent had been indoctrinated since childhood that demons and netherworld beings were evil, so at the beginning of the war, everyone was filled with righteous indignation and killed any they saw.
As the seals between the two realms completely collapsed and lost their function, more and more powerful natives of the Chaos Continent emerged. They were originally at a disadvantage due to insufficient spiritual energy in their own lands, thus focusing more on practical combat training. Upon arriving here, where the spiritual energy was much more abundant than in the Chaos Continent, they became even more formidable with the ability to absorb so much spiritual energy daily.
After only a few days of fighting, some of the demon and human races from the Vast Continent surrendered. They were willing to submit to the demons and netherworld beings and then helped them fight against their own kin.
Another portion of the cultivators from the Vast Continent pinned their hopes on the immortals from the Star Continent to help them. However, the Star Continent also had limited resources, and the immortals wanted to absorb more spiritual energy for themselves, so they secretly closed the gates leading to the upper realm.
Thus, for hundreds of thousands of years, there had been no new enlightened beings in the Vast Continent. Even the two powerful figures from "Tongling Academy" had been waiting for the tribulation lightning of ascension for a long time.
Of course, there were still some powerful cultivators who continued to resist. Just like the four-person squad led by Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang), they carved out their own territory with their strong capabilities. They found a city to settle in, protecting the common people and cultivators there.
"Qiushui, have you heard? The leader of the Chaos Continent is named Feng Qinghuai. Do you think it might be him?" During this time, Bai Qiushui had demonstrated formidable strength, and Mao Peilan no longer called her "Sister Qiushui."
"Does it matter if it's him?" Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) said, stroking the surrounding trees, which were now her eyes and ears.
"If it's him, then he shouldn't be completely irredeemable, right? Should we go talk to him? After all, he didn't take our lives back then!" Jin Lang also said.
"Talk about what? Tell him to take his subordinates and get back to the Chaos Continent?" Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) asked, turning her head.
"...It's not like that. It's just that the people from their Chaos Continent killed so many people and demons from our Vast Continent!" Bai Ruzhen also knew that going to talk to that person was a pipe dream.
"Weren't the first ones to make a move our cultivators from the Vast Continent?" Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) asked doubtfully. "And do you know why they came to the Vast Continent? Why can only demons and netherworld beings survive in the Chaos Continent, while the immortals from the upper realm can reside in the Star Continent with the most abundant spiritual energy?"