The Seventh Cafeteria, the closest dining hall to Tingzhu Garden.
Lin Qingyue sat at the dining table, picked up a meat bun, and took a large bite.
The meat filling was savory and fragrant, bursting with broth, and tasted pretty good.
But compared to the soup dumplings she made with her own hands, it ultimately lacked a bit of soul.
She propped her chin up with one hand, completely unable to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Everything she looked at seemed pleasing to the eye, and even the bland bowl of millet porridge in front of her seemed to be bubbling with happiness.
130 pulls, double gold!
One was a walking humanoid revive coin, [Bailu].
The other was the Combat Celestial who cultivated both Dao and martial arts, [Yixuan].
This kind of heaven-defying gacha luck was something she wouldn't have even dared to dream of when playing games in her past life.
"Sis."
Lin Xiyue drank her soy milk while sweeping a suspicious gaze back and forth across her face.
"You've been secretly grinning to yourself ever since you woke up this morning. Did you find some money?"
"Even better than finding money," Lin Qingyue blinked at her with feigned mystery.
It was far more than just finding money.
It was practically like bringing the entire lottery center back home.
Just as she spoke, Su Wan and Xia Lian walked over carrying their dining trays and took a seat opposite them.
"Morning."
Su Wan was concise as always, carefully picking up a crystal-clear shrimp dumpling with her chopsticks. Her tray also held a few small, delicate shumai, looking as exquisite as ever.
Xia Lian's breakfast, on the other hand, was much more simple and filling: a large bowl of steaming soy milk, paired with two golden, crispy fried dough sticks and a few spring rolls.
"Sister Qingyue, your complexion... looks really good today."
Even the most introverted Xia Lian could tell!
Alarm bells blared in Lin Qingyue's heart, but an impeccable smile hung on her face. "Is that so? Maybe it's because I slept rather soundly last night."
No, she had to change the subject immediately.
If she let them dig any deeper, the fact that she engaged in "Dual Cultivation" with the queen last night would probably be exposed.
It just so happened that it was time to introduce the new member to the team.
She lightly tapped her knuckles on the dining table.
The crisp sound instantly grabbed the full attention of the three girls.
"Ahem, let me introduce a new partner to you all."
Under their curious gazes, Lin Qingyue placed the quaint [As I've Written] in the center of the table.
With a mere thought.
The pages turned without wind, and a burst of pink light specks, as brilliant as cherry blossoms, surged out of thin air, swirling in mid-air to converge into an adorable silhouette.
The light dissipated.
A little pink fellow, about half a meter tall, floated quietly in the air.
It had long, fluffy pink ears, wore delicate little pink clothes, and had a large, bushy tail wagging contentedly behind it.
Those heterochromatic eyes, half blue and half purple, were so pure they seemed to hold an entire unpolluted starry sky.
It was precisely Mem in her little form.
"Mem!"
The little fellow playfully twirled in the air, letting out a soft, sweet cry that could melt anyone's heart, before landing nimbly on Lin Qingyue's shoulder and affectionately rubbing its furry cheek against the side of her neck.
The lively chatter in the cafeteria fell into an eerie one-second silence.
"Pfft—cough, cough, cough!"
Lin Xiyue choked on a mouthful of soy milk, spraying it out. Her face flushed bright red from coughing, yet her eyes were wide open, looking as though she wanted to turn into an afterimage and pounce over.
Xia Lian, as if electrocuted, covered her mouth. Her eyes, which usually held a hint of timidity, were instantly detonated by a nuclear-level light called "cute," and even her breathing stopped.
Even Su Wan, who always took elegance and dignity as her code of conduct, suffered a severe loss of facial expression control.
Her hand holding the chopsticks froze in mid-air, her lips slightly parted. Deep in her usually aloof eyes, a flame of "desire" that even she hadn't noticed ignited.
"Mem!"
The little fellow wagged its big tail and politely greeted the three people with their varying expressions.
"This... this is..." Su Wan's voice floated a bit, losing its usual calm.
"This is Mem, a little companion given to me by Queen Ilanier."
Lin Qingyue gave a half-true, half-false perfect explanation.
She couldn't exactly say it was a freebie that came with her equipment, right?
"She can assist in battle and also heal."
This explanation was flawless.
As the great hero who repaired the Dungeon, it was perfectly normal for Her Majesty The Queen to reward her with a rare battle companion.
Although Magic Pets or Elemental Spirits were rare, they were not unheard of in the circles of top Professionals.
"It's—so—cute!"
Lin Xiyue was the first to break, letting out a squeal as she reached out with grabby hands, aiming straight for Mem's criminally fluffy tail.
Mem nimbly dodged the attack, then fluttered down to land gently on top of Lin Qingyue's head. Standing firmly on its two little feet, it looked like a living pink hat.
"Mem!"
Looking down from its high vantage point, it stretched out a small paw and pointed accurately at the xiaolongbao on the table.
"You want to eat too?" Lin Qingyue laughed. She picked one up with her chopsticks, blew on it, and brought it to its mouth.
Mem opened its little mouth and swallowed the entire dumpling in one gulp with a happy "awoo."
Both of its cheeks instantly bulged. It happily narrowed its eyes and shook its head in sheer satisfaction.
"It... it can eat our food?"
Xia Lian stared wide-eyed; this completely exceeded her understanding of Elemental Spirits or Magic Pets.
"Yeah, she can eat whatever we can. She isn't picky and is very easy to feed." Lin Qingyue nodded.
During the breakfast that followed, the mood took a completely different turn.
The three girls entered full "feeding mode," and the dining table instantly became a battleground for favor.
"Mem, try my shrimp dumpling! There's a whole shrimp inside!"
Su Wan was surprisingly the first to drop her aloof demeanor. She picked up a shrimp dumpling with her chopsticks, her tone unprecedentedly gentle.
"No, no, no, Mem, drink my soy milk first! It's sweet, it'll soothe your throat!"
Not to be outdone, Lin Xiyue held her cup high in the air.
"Um... my spring rolls are really good too..."
Xia Lian meekly joined the battlefield from the side.
Watching the little one getting buried in food, torn between three doting "mom fans," Lin Qingyue shook her head helplessly.
Seeing how utterly captivated they are, if I just summoned Mem in her young Cyrene form and claimed she was an orphan I picked up in a Dungeon, they'd probably stage a custody battle right then and there.
Breakfast concluded in this chaotic yet strangely harmonious atmosphere.
Having eaten her fill, Lin Qingyue clapped her hands.
"Alright, you've met our cute little companion. Now it's time to get down to business."
She glanced at her three teammates, who had clearly not yet recovered from the cuteness overload. The corners of her lips curled up as a burning fighting spirit ignited in her eyes.
"Our goal today is the Time-Light Training Ground!"
-
Tianshu University's Logistics Treasury, Tianji Pavilion.
As soon as the four of them stepped inside, they were awestruck by the sight before them.
The hall was as vast as a plaza. The Magic Crystals embedded in the domed ceiling radiated a sun-like brilliance, illuminating the entire space as brightly as high noon.
On the surrounding walls, massive magic Displays scrolled through a dazzling array of exchange lists, with each line flashing numbers large enough to make one's heart skip a beat.
"Epic Staff [Winter's Roar], Credits required for exchange: 95,000 points!"
Su Wan's gaze was firmly pinned to it; it was a Divine Artifact that any Ice Mage would dream of.
"Legendary Shield Blueprint [Unfalling Bulwark], Credits required for exchange: 120,000 points!"
Lin Xiyue blinked hard, repeatedly verifying the string of zeros before letting out a wail. "My God... My 10,000 Credits aren't even enough to buy a fraction of a blueprint!"
She felt her newly inflated sense of wealth instantly slapped back to reality by the cruel truth.
"That's exactly why we need to prioritize leveling up."
Lin Qingyue, on the other hand, was unusually calm about it.
"Only with a higher level can we challenge higher-difficulty missions and Dungeons to earn more Credits. It's a virtuous cycle."
"Qingyue is right." Su Wan reluctantly withdrew her gaze and nodded in agreement.
They passed through the bustling hall and arrived at a relatively secluded area.
Here stood a row of over a dozen portals shimmering with a silver radiance, with the archaic characters for "Time-Light Training Ground" carved into the lintels above.
A man sat behind the counter.
The senior student wore thick black-framed glasses, his expression so focused it bordered on the pious.
In front of him floated over a dozen hourglasses of various sizes and shapes.
His ten fingers elegantly danced and plucked at the empty air, as if conducting a silent symphony.
With every flick of his finger, the flow of sand in one of the hourglasses would undergo a subtle change—accelerating, slowing down, or even flowing in reverse.
His entire being was enveloped in a Grandmaster's aura of "having everything under control." It was as if what flowed past his fingertips was not sand, but time itself.
As soon as the four of them approached, the senior student's tightly closed eyes slowly opened, his profound gaze sending a chill through their hearts.
His suspended hands paused in mid-air, and he spoke in a world-weary, exhausted tone: "Time-Light Training Ground, new rules. 300 Credits per person per hour. The time flow inside is four times normal. The minimum session is two hours, which equals eight hours inside. You may exit early, but there are no refunds."
His voice was entirely flat, lacking even the slightest ripple of emotion.
"600 for one session, for four people that's 2400..."
Lin Xiyue's face wrinkled in distress. "This is daylight robbery!"
"The fact that it burns money just proves its worth." Lin Qingyue patted her shoulder, her tone brimming with anticipation.
Just as they were about to swipe their cards, a barely audible "ding-dong" chimed from beneath the counter.
The senior, who had been exuding the air of a true Grandmaster, felt his eyelid twitch violently. The calm, time-controlling detachment on his face instantly crumbled.
A visible flash of annoyance and sheer frustration crept over his features.
With hand speed so fast it left afterimages, he frantically jabbed at something under the counter, muttering rapidly to himself.
Lin Qingyue possessed exceptional hearing, and she clearly caught his muttered rambling.
"Damn it! I missed the half-price coupon for that pork trotter rice place in the south of the city again! I clearly slowed down the local time flow by 1%!"
Lin Qingyue: "..."
Good grief.
Your masterful time management skills are just used to grab takeout coupons?
The vibe of this school was indeed reassuringly consistent.
"Let's go, let's see what kind of surprises these eight hours, bought with 2400 credits, will actually bring us."
She took the lead and walked towards "Door Number One" that the senior had pointed out.
Su Wan and Xia Lian exchanged a glance and followed suit.
The four of them stood before the silver door that flowed with liquid radiance, and stepped inside.