# Chapter 343: Done Waiting

Within the Radiant Fire engulfing the entirety of Heavenly Calamity Star, green sinister energy churned as a grotesque phantom bristling with tentacles writhed and twisted. Its appendages thrashed in wild frenzy, as though consumed by boundless rage.

Before long, under the Radiant Fire's relentless blaze, the phantom dissipated along with the sinister energy, fading bit by bit until the entire planet was devoured—reduced to a lifeless husk of barren rock.

Only after the Radiant Fire finally subsided did Lu Yuan, Ruoshui, and Nuxing let out a collective breath of relief.

"It's fortunate we found this Heavenly Calamity Star when we did," Ruoshui said slowly. "If the Mother Nest's will had advanced its invasion any further, it would have radiated into other regions of the universe. The speed of Corruption would have accelerated far beyond our expectations."

Nuxing nodded at her words, then turned to Lu Yuan with a smile.

"We owe you thanks for this one, Lu Yuan."

Lu Yuan smiled back. "Just doing my part."

"Well then—the Heavenly Calamity Cult's headquarters is destroyed, all three Bishops have been killed, and whatever Apostles and cultists remain scattered outside are hardly a threat. We can rest easy for a while." Nuxing grinned as he spoke.

Ruoshui considered for a moment, then turned to address the group of Battle Saints standing nearby, smiles bright on every face.

"As a precaution, I'd like you all to sweep the vicinity of this planet. Make sure no Apostles are lingering in the area."

The Battle Saints nodded and dispersed in various directions to scour the surrounding region.

"I'll remain here on watch for some time," Ruoshui continued. "Those who've undergone Aberration possess abnormally tenacious life force. I want to ensure no one feigned death to escape."

Lu Yuan nodded in understanding. He knew all too well how resilient Aberration-enhanced warriors could be. Those three War Gods from earlier could have been blasted to pieces and still survived—barely weakened, at that.

If not for his use of death-attribute Laws, killing them so cleanly would have been far from certain.

Still, better safe than sorry. Ruoshui's caution was entirely warranted.

"If anything unexpected comes up, Senior Ruoshui, contact me. I can be here in an instant."

The reason it had taken him so long to arrive before was simply that he hadn't known the planet's location. Now that he had the coordinates, he only needed to set a Spatial Anchor Point here and he could teleport over instantaneously.

Ruoshui nodded with a smile. "If anything truly does come up, I'll let you know."

Nuxing chuckled. "I need to get back to guarding the breach. I can only step away briefly—if I'm gone too long, Beidou might not hold things down. Unless it's truly urgent, no need to call on me."

Ruoshui nodded.

"Since everything's wrapped up here, I'll head out first," Nuxing said, then turned to Lu Yuan with a grin. "When you've got time, come visit me and Beidou at the breach. We'll chat."

"Will do," Lu Yuan replied with a smile.

Nuxing tore open space and departed. Lu Yuan turned to Ruoshui. "Senior, I'll be taking my leave as well."

Ruoshui nodded. "Go ahead."

Though Lu Yuan didn't know the route back or even his current location, he could sense the Temporal Projection he'd left on Great Qi Star. Locking onto it, he vanished from the spot.

The next instant, he was back on Great Qi Star, inside Talent Camp.

Standing in the familiar room of his Talent Camp quarters, Lu Yuan stretched lazily. He'd only been gone a few days, but the fatigue was real.

He pulled out his phone. Li Qinghe and the others had been notified by Si Tingyu and Shuangyue that he had business to attend to, so they hadn't bombarded him with messages—just asked him to let them know when he was back.

Beyond theirs, there were messages from Si Tingfeng, Yang Ping, Maige, and the scout squad from the defense line camp—Groat and the others.

Besides the private chats, group messages had piled up too. His high school classmates' group, and the Future War Gods Group he'd joined back when he first teamed up with Wang Xiangxiang and the rest.

Though, ever since Lu Yuan reached War God rank, Wang Xiangxiang had renamed the group to "Lu Yuan's Thigh-Huggers."

It was the only group where he still occasionally chatted. The others, he barely glanced at anymore.

After all, Wang Xiangxiang and the others had been his first friends after transmigrating—the very first companions he'd made in this world upon Awakening.

Now that his strength was immense, he naturally provided them with resources to aid their cultivation. What was trivial to him remained extraordinarily precious to them.

As a result, in barely five years, every one of them had already reached Third-rank Battle General.

That was no worse than some of the average students in Talent Camp. After all, the Camp's benchmark was reaching Battle Venerable within six years—and that was considered passing.

Among them, Wang Xiangxiang and Cao Yan had the highest aptitude, both with a real shot at breaking through to Battle Venerable by next year—graduation level by Talent Camp standards.

Zhuo Ming, Wenni, Gu Yu, and Mo Li were a step behind, though that was only natural. Everyone absorbed Spirit Power at different rates, and their number of Gene Locks varied.

Still, the gap wasn't vast. With a bit more support from Lu Yuan down the road, he couldn't promise they'd reach Battle Saint or War God, but as long as they put in the effort, Battle Emperor was well within reach.

It wasn't just Wang Xiangxiang's group, either. Captain Groat and the other members of the scout squad had received substantial resources from Lu Yuan too, ensuring they could cultivate and grow without worry.

Yang Ping, Maige, Si Tingfeng—Lu Yuan naturally looked after them as well. In terms of closeness, aside from Li Qinghe and the girls, those three were his closest friends.

The Aberration crisis could intensify at any time, and Lu Yuan couldn't guarantee he'd always be on Great Qi Star to protect everyone. He wanted his friends to have enough strength to defend themselves—so he wouldn't be left with regrets.

After chatting with everyone for a while, Lu Yuan put away his phone and went to find Li Qinghe.

Well... they'd already crossed that line, after all. Once you'd tasted the sweetness, you only craved more—and sometimes Li Qinghe was even the one to take the initiative.

Inside Li Qinghe's villa.

Si Tingyu and Li Qinghe sat together eating while a smart robot tidied the house around them.

Li Qinghe's face was bright with excitement. "I'm about to break through to Battle Emperor! When I do, I'm definitely having Yuan inscribe a Saint Grade Transcendent Gene for me! Yeye, Anastasia, and Lingling—those three little upstarts have all gotten Saint Grade inscriptions already. We're actually weaker than them now. So annoying!" She paused, then grinned. "But I'm about to close that gap!"

Si Tingyu nodded in agreement.

Their own aptitude was respectable—just not quite top-tier. But even among the absolute elite, possessing a Saint Grade gene at the Battle Sovereign level was exceedingly rare across the entire universe.

With Lu Yuan's help, Yeye and the others had all succeeded.

This had given Si Tingyu, Li Qinghe, and Shuangyue no small amount of urgency. As the senior women of the group, how could they let the juniors surpass them?

"I'm close to breaking through too," Si Tingyu said. "When I do, I want a Saint Grade inscription as well."

Neither of them mentioned Divine Grade. Even Lu Yuan had made it clear—unless they reached Battle Saint, he wouldn't agree to inscribe them with a Divine Grade gene. Their foundations had already been established, and Saint Grade was the current limit of what they could safely receive.

This left all three of them somewhat resigned. Meanwhile, Yeye and the others, having received their Saint Grade genes now, might have a real chance at a successful Divine Grade inscription once they reached Battle Emperor.

To say they weren't envious would be a lie.

But there was nothing to be done about it. Besides, their current strength already far exceeded their original expectations. In the future, they could even aspire to War God level.

Li Qinghe sighed softly, a tender smile spreading across her face. "Yuan is so good to us. My original goal was just to follow in Grandfather's footsteps—become a Battle Emperor, take up his responsibility, eventually pacify the Forbidden Zone. I never imagined there'd come a day when I could actually become a War God."

Her mind drifted through the moments she'd shared with Lu Yuan, and deep affection shimmered in her eyes.

Beside her, Si Tingyu nodded gently, a faint smile on her lips. "With him around, we really are lucky."

Li Qinghe nodded, then let out a huff, displeasure written across her face. "It's just that there are too many women!"

Si Tingyu laughed softly. "Others might not know, but how could we? If someone bore his children and they inherited his Transcendent Gene, that child would possess an innately mythical-grade gene—something that has never existed in the entire universe. Add his aptitude and strength to the equation, plus how prominent he's been lately... if Yuan were willing, countless peerless prodigies among the Human Race would throw themselves at him. He's already shown remarkable restraint. And that's not even mentioning the Nightshade Race—you know how they are. Even Anastasia ended up that way, let alone the rest of them."

Li Qinghe rolled her eyes, shooting Si Tingyu an exasperated look. "You certainly seem at peace with it..."

Si Tingyu studied Li Qinghe. On that normally composed and dignified face, a rare hint of mischief appeared. "Have you and Yuan already... been together?"

Li Qinghe froze, then gave Si Tingyu an odd look. "What are you talking about?"

Si Tingyu smiled. "Last time I came to wake you in the morning, you weren't nearly this shy."

Back then, when Si Tingyu had come to call on her, Li Qinghe had outright told her Lu Yuan was in her room.

A rosy flush crept across Li Qinghe's cheeks. The circumstances had been different then—the mood had swept her along, so the words came naturally. But being confronted about it directly like this...

Even someone as bold as her couldn't help feeling embarrassed.

Si Tingyu chuckled. "We grew up together. You think I don't know you? Don't try to fool me. At first I only had my suspicions, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized there was only one explanation."

Li Qinghe rolled her eyes. "...Fine. Yes, we did."

"I knew it..."

A flash of envy crossed Si Tingyu's gaze. Then she smiled. "Everyone else was planning to use the Gene Inscription as their opportunity—let things happen naturally during the process. But you went and did things your own way." She paused. "Then again, that's exactly the kind of thing you would do."

Having said it aloud, Li Qinghe shed her embarrassment entirely. She arched an eyebrow, a hint of pride in her expression. "Obviously. I'm not like the others."

Si Tingyu nodded. Then something hardened in her eyes—a quiet resolve—as she fixed Li Qinghe with a serious gaze. "You're right. I should learn from you."

Li Qinghe blinked. "...Huh?"

She stared at Si Tingyu in bewilderment.

*Learn? Learn what? Learn how I made the first move on Yuan?*

*What is there even to learn about that...?*

*Why pick up bad habits instead of good ones?!*

Li Qinghe felt a headache coming on.

Just as she was about to talk some sense into Si Tingyu, Lu Yuan materialized in the room.

Both women went rigid mid-conversation, turning to stare at his sudden appearance.

Lu Yuan had come looking for Li Qinghe to spend some quality time together, but he hadn't expected Si Tingyu to be here too.

He paused, then smiled. "Instructor, you're here as well."

Si Tingyu glanced at Lu Yuan with a peculiar expression, then back at Li Qinghe.

She raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Mm, just chatting with Qinghe."

Noticing Li Qinghe's flushed face and slightly exasperated expression, Lu Yuan asked curiously, "What were you two talking about? Why does Qinghe look like that?"

Before Li Qinghe could say a word, Si Tingyu rose to her feet and flashed her a smile. "Qinghe, let me borrow one of your rooms." Her gaze steadied. "I'm done waiting."

With that, she walked up to Lu Yuan, fixed him with earnest eyes, seized his hand, and pulled him toward the stairs.

"Come with me."

Lu Yuan's mind went blank. "???"

*Why does this feel so familiar? Like déjà vu?*

He looked back at Li Qinghe in bewilderment—and found her expression frozen somewhere between shock and disbelief, her features contorting in ways he'd never seen before.

She watched, utterly slack-jawed, as Si Tingyu led Lu Yuan upstairs.

*Her best friend. In her own house. Snatching her man. Right in front of her face.*

*And so brazenly, at that!*

Indignation burned through her chest until it physically ached.

*This is unbearable!*

She even shot to her feet, ready to march upstairs and put a stop to it.

But after standing there a moment, she thought it over—and realized she'd kind of done the same thing to the other girls first.

*Well...*

She wrestled with herself briefly, then slumped back onto the sofa in defeat.

Early the next morning, Lu Yuan came downstairs alone. Li Qinghe sat on the sofa, her face dark as a thundercloud.

She hadn't slept. The sounds from upstairs had been... rather audible, and she hadn't been able to focus on cultivation at all.

Seeing her stormy expression, Lu Yuan coughed awkwardly and sat down beside her. "Morning, Qinghe."

Her lip curled into a cold smile as she cut her eyes toward him. "Had a good time, did you?"

Lu Yuan blinked, replayed the previous night in his mind, and nodded slowly. "...I suppose so?"

"You're actually savoring the memory?! I'm furious! That Big Bad Rain—how dare she! Hmph!"

Li Qinghe launched herself at him in a flurry, sinking her teeth into his shoulder.

Lu Yuan considered for a moment, then ventured carefully, "...But wasn't it kind of the same when you—"

"????"

That shut her up entirely. She couldn't find a single retort.

She bit down harder on his shoulder, then sprang to her feet and dashed toward the stairs.

"I'm going to check on that Big Bad Rain!"

Lu Yuan watched her disappear up the staircase and couldn't suppress a smile.

He had to admit—even he hadn't expected his instructor to be so forward. Si Tingyu's temperament was nothing like Li Qinghe's; she must have steeled herself quite a bit to go through with it.