In Xia Fei’s eyes, Moon Song was quite a mysterious woman. She had never once told them her background. Normally, a woman was more inclined to take care of her family and stay with her parents. Even a maniac like Chen Dong would go back to his family once in a while, but Moon Song had never gone back home after she came to the training camp. It seemed that she was enjoying her stay in the training camp.
The handsome Bai Ye was very interested in Moon Song. His gaze on her was always filled with affection, yet Moon Song had never treated him in kind. It was obvious that the two had long known each other, yet she would always treat Bai Ye as her enemy.
Similar incidents had occurred many times. It had been two years since they joined the training camp. Xia Fei and Chen Dong were very familiar with each other. Chen Dong’s father even sent an email to Xia Fei, telling him that he was glad that his son had a friend like him. Moon Song, on the other hand, was still the same carefree woman. Xia Fei did not really know anything about her apart from the fact that she loved eating cucumbers.
Xia Fei was quite shocked when Moon Song claimed that she already knew the danger posed by the Heart of Spirit. Slaughtershadow had kept the notebook related to the Heart of Spirit in his hidden chamber, which clearly indicated how serious he was about the matter. It was very likely that the Adjudicator Union knew the truth too considering their influence and strength, but why did Moon Song know the truth, yet she had never told them about it?
Xia Fei frowned. “Miss Moon, why didn’t you tell us if you know that the method is dangerous? Are you happy to see us go down the wrong path?”
Xia Fei did not sound friendly. It even sounded as if he was blaming Moon Song. The woman’s face immediately turned pale, whose eyes even started to tear up, as if she was feeling very wronged.
Xia Fei suddenly regretted sounding so harsh with his words. He knew that Moon Song was not the kind of woman who would set people up, but he had the tendency to assume the worst side of a person; hence, he would say something inappropriate at times.
Moon Song twisted her lips and turned away with a disappointed look. She said in a sobbing voice, “Xia Fei, I’ve never expected that you would view me like that.”
Xia Fei’s heart suddenly sank. ‘Crap! It sounds like Moon Song is really angry. She even sounded a little desperate.’
“I have nothing to say if that’s what you think. I’m just a bad girl who wants you all dead!” Moon Song finally lost it. Her eyes had become extremely cold.
Moon Song quickly left after finishing her words, leaving Chen Dong and Xia Fei glancing at each other. Some time later, they heard soft sobs of grievance in the distance.
“Why are you looking at me? I’m not the one who made her cry. It’s your job to comfort that tigress. I wouldn’t want to spend even a second more with her,” Chen Dong said while shrugging helplessly.
Xia Fei nodded. Either way, it was his fault for making the woman cry. Chen Dong was quite scared of Moon Song. Besides, he was clueless about how to comfort someone. He would not hesitate to lead the way during a fight, yet the guy was completely hopeless in everything else, especially when it had something to do with women. He always ended up being bullied by women.
“You shouldn’t spend all your time in the training room. It won’t do your health any good. I wouldn’t want to see you turning into a completely different person one day,” Xia Fei said.
Chen Dong patted himself on the head and said, “I’ve long realized that something isn’t right, but I can’t help but go to the training room every time. Do you know? I’ve reached the Advanced Star River rank in these past two years. I’m only a step away from achieving the Legendary rank. I’m afraid I won’t be able to give up now even if you ask me to.”
Every rank before the Legendary rank was named after Star, like Star River, Star Domain, but when a warrior reached the Legendary rank, it meant that they were strong enough to achieve something outstanding and become legends. Therefore, only those who reached the Legendary rank were considered elite warriors.
Chen Dong was a battle and cultivation maniac. There was nothing else in his life apart from battle and cultivation. He was so close to reaching the Legendary rank. Even Xia Fei did not believe that the man would give up on the opportunity to increase his rank in a time like this.
Xia Fei smiled. “The truth is that there’s never just a single path ahead. There are other ways in addition to training endlessly in a training room.”
Chen Dong reflected on Xia Fei’s words seriously and said, “Are you saying that I’m relying too much on the Stygian Training Center?”
“Exactly,” Xia Fei said,. “Look at the seniors who managed to succeed; how many of them succeeded because they spent all their time inside training rooms for years? If a person is aiming to reach a height that others can’t, fortunate encounters are just as important in addition to hard work.”
“Opportunities won’t come looking for you if you keep staying in that tiny training room. As a matter of fact, visiting different places and having friendly duels with other experts aren’t bad ways to train, too. Most importantly, every day is the same if you stay in the training room, but if you go out there, something unexpected might happen at every second, be it a disaster or a surprise.”
Chen Dong came to a realization. Xia Fei’s words had greatly motivated him. Even though it was not easy to look for an opportunity, if he remained in the training room forever, he would never encounter one. Xia Fei only said this so he could convince Chen Dong in leaving the training center; at least, this way, the latter would not rely on it too much.
“If someone invites you to a party, are you willing to go?” Xia Fei asked.
“Of course not; I still need to cultivate. Besides, I don’t enjoy those unctuous social events.” Chen Dong shook his head.
Xia Fei smiled. “Fine, you didn’t go to the party, but a legendary expert happened to attend it, too. You had the chance to learn a lot from him, but you ended up missing it.”
Chen Dong opened his mouth wide. “You’re clearly over exaggerating. We are not talking about street vendors. People like that don’t show up so easily.”
Xia Fei said, “But you didn’t even consider attending it. How do you know what’s going to happen? From the moment you decide not to go, you’ve already missed out on that opportunity.”
Chen Dong fell silent. Life was interesting because it was full of unpredictable events. It was easy to say ‘no’, yet it was equivalent to rejecting the future and every uncertainty.
Some people preferred remaining sheltered like snails in their shells by rejecting everything they could not predict. Similarly, they were bound to miss out on every opportunity.
Xia Fei was merely sharing the ‘yes’ theory that was popular on earth. If someone wanted their life to be vivid and colorful, to be full of opportunities, they would have to keep saying ‘yes’ to others, since they would never know what was going to happen next.
A roommate asked if another wanted to accompany him to go shopping. The latter rejected the offer because they wanted to play video games. A few days later, that roommate returned with a beautiful lady whom he met when he went out shopping. He found his true love, yet the other only obtained a third-tier weapon in an MMORPG. Almost everyone shared a similar experience, and the reason was because they said ‘no’.
“I’m going to ask you again. I will now invite you to a party, but I can’t say for sure what’s going to happen during the party or whom you’re going to meet; are you willing to go?” Xia Fei asked.
Chen Dong nodded seriously. “I’ve never liked social activities, but after hearing what you said, I suddenly have an urge to go to one. I have a feeling I’m going to miss out on something if I don’t.”
Xia Fei patted Chen Dong on the shoulder. He rose to his feet and said, “You finally understand it. Even though you are only a step away from reaching the Legendary rank, you will find yourself in a similar situation many times in your life. There’s still the Eternal rank after the Legendary rank. Do you think you’re going to stay in the training room forever?”
Chen Dong smacked himself on the head. “What was I thinking? Having spent two years in that training room, I might’ve missed out on many opportunities to talk to impressive people.”
Xia Fei turned and left. “It’s not too late to realize it now. I’ll go check on Moon Song. Let’s eat dinner together. My treat.”
Chen Dong accepted the invitation. Xia Fei proceeded to Moon Song’s living quarter.
The door was not locked. Moon Song was crying loudly, almost wailing. Xia Fei could not really understand why she was grieving so much. He was only a bit harsh when he said the words. How did she fail to take it as a friendly chastisement?
Xia Fei assumed it was because Moon Song was a woman, so she was not good at handling criticisms, or perhaps he had somehow triggered her and reminded her of some unpleasant memories—hence, her reaction.
*BANG BANG BANG!*
Xia Fei knocked on the door three times. The crying inside the room stopped, followed by a series of noises as if she was flipping through the shelves and cabinets. He was unsure what Moon Song was doing. He then heard the sound of the tap running as if Moon Song was applying makeup again for she did not want Xia Fei to know that she had been crying.
Over ten minutes later, Moon Song finally opened the door and invited Xia Fei in calmly.
Xia Fei stared at Moon Song’s face for a few seconds. Even though she had already put on some makeup, it failed to cover the tear stains at the corners of her eyes. He still could see the stains left by her tears. She had changed into a fresh set of clothes, too, from a purple dress to a half-transparent white gown. He could faintly see her body.
“Sit.” Moon Song pointed at the couch.
Xia Fei did not treat himself as a guest. He sat in the living room. Moon Song’s room was a little strange. It was clean generally, yet there were still remains of snacks on the table. There were not much clutter around, either.
Xia Fei said with a harmless smile, “Moon Song, I didn’t mean it just then. Please don’t take it too seriously if I said something wrong.”
Moon Song looked outside the window thoughtfully. She said stubbornly, “I didn’t; I don’t really care about what you said.”
Something unexpected happened next. The cabinets suddenly sprang open as a pile of junk fell out from them. There were half-eaten cucumbers, half-emptied snacks, and dirty clothes.