Virtual Universe, Qianwu Dojo Headquarters.
Mitchell's figure appeared on the third floor of the Administrative Building, and he walked straight into the Personnel Department office.
"Heh heh, Mitchell, aren't you serving in the Gold Orchid Army? How do you have the free time to visit an old fellow like me?"
A faint smile rested on Jimmy's wrinkled face, and his cloudy eyes seemed to see through everything.
"Jimmy, stop playing dumb with me." Mitchell walked over to the sofa across from the desk, sat down, and slammed his hand against the tabletop. "I've been in the Gold Orchid Army for nearly twenty years. Why is my personnel file still kept at the Qianwu Dojo?"
"Oh, that matter? Did such a trivial thing really warrant you, the Tenth General, making a trip in person? Wouldn't an email have sufficed?"
A servant brought over two cups of tea. Jimmy took them and placed one before Mitchell.
Mitchell didn't stand on ceremony either, picking up the cup and draining it in one gulp.
"A trivial thing? If I hadn't come in person, who knows how long you, Lord Jimmy, would have dragged out this 'trivial thing'—a hundred years, or perhaps a thousand?"
"Mitchell, you're too impatient. You and I worked together for hundreds of thousands of years. What kind of person I am—don't you know me by now? Would I ever deceive you?"
Jimmy shook his head, seemingly reminiscing about the old days.
Mitchell was slightly moved, and he said, "I know you mean well, wanting to keep my personnel ties with the Qianwu Dojo so that I have a way out in the future. But since I chose the Gold Orchid Army and took up the post of Tenth General, I have already put life and death out of my mind."
His tone was resolute: "If I, a general, am halfhearted and leave myself a way out, how could I ensure the loyalty of the soldiers under me? Jimmy, thank you for your kind intentions, but in these twenty years, I've lived very happily in the Gold Orchid Army. The comfortable days of the Qianwu Dojo aren't what I seek..."
"Very well. Since that's the case, you may take the file with you in a moment." Jimmy sighed, respecting his old friend's choice.
He walked over to the archive shelves in person, retrieved a document, and handed it to Mitchell. "This is the virtual file; take it with you first. Your physical file will be delivered to the Gold Orchid Army as soon as possible. From now on, you will have severed all ties with the Qianwu Dojo completely. Unless Lord Gold Orchid Marquis speaks personally, you won't have a chance to leave the Gold Orchid Army. I hope you will not regret this choice."
"I never regret my choices!" Mitchell took the file, glanced over it, and put it away.
"Heh heh, is that so?" Jimmy seemed to think of something amusing, and he smiled. "Didn't you ask me before to keep an eye on that Two-Leaf Qianwu Practitioner named Lu Qingshan?"
"Lu Qingshan!" With a brief recollection, Mitchell remembered the man—the Two-Leaf Qianwu Practitioner whom he had originally placed high hopes on, only for him to be content with mediocrity. By now, he was probably serving as an instructor at the dojo headquarters.
Mitchell didn't care in the least and said, "I have no interest in news about him anymore!"
A look of amusement appeared in Jimmy's eyes. Chuckling, regardless of whether Mitchell cared or not, he went on, "Silver Moon Marquis personally gave the word to transfer Lu Qingshan into the Qianwu Secret Realm to serve as the instructor to a highness. Today, his status is equivalent to a Special-Class Instructor of the Qianwu Secret Realm. You know that this standing is in no way inferior to yours or mine..."
"What?!" The previously indifferent Mitchell showed a look of utter disbelief.
Having worked in the Dojo Personnel Department's assessment group for hundreds of thousands of years, how could he not know the qualifications required of an instructor in the Qianwu Secret Realm...
Only a Three-Leaf Qianwu Practitioner—and an elite among Three-Leaf Qianwu Practitioners at that, one who had mastered an origin law—was qualified to hold the position.
That Lu Qingshan... twenty years ago, had been merely a lowly Domain Master whose law comprehension was shallow, with only scattered comprehension of the Lightning Origin Law. Even Mitchell himself back then had thought there was only a sliver of a chance he could break through to the World Master realm...
Now Jimmy was telling him that in a mere twenty years, that Domain Master he had given up on had been personally appointed as a Special-Class Instructor by Lord Silver Moon Marquis... How could he possibly believe this?
"That's impossible!"
Mitchell shook his head, convinced his old friend was duping him.
Jimmy, however, remained unhurried and brought out a document.
Mitchell took just one look, and his face instantly darkened. The divine power imprint of Silver Moon Marquis was on the transfer document; who would dare counterfeit that? Even if Jimmy were given a hundred times the nerve, he wouldn't dare do such a thing!
Then there was only one explanation: everything Jimmy had just said was completely true. This...
Seeing his old friend looking completely deflated, Jimmy felt delighted inside and said with a smile, "In truth, Lu Qingshan's law comprehension has always run deep. He simply didn't display it during the assessment. During his very first public lecture at the dojo, he already demonstrated extremely proficient comprehension of the Lightning Law!"
"He is a capable instructor. Toward the dojo's students, he is more responsible than any other instructor... He even created secret methods specifically for his students and helped them solve their problems one by one..."
"The students all deeply love and respect him. In his final public lecture before leaving for the Qianwu Secret Realm, some students even shed tears over his departure..."
"Compared to joining the Gold Orchid Army, the Qianwu Dojo was his best choice after all. His choice was not wrong..."
As the two conversed, Mitchell had already looked up information regarding Lu Qingshan after his arrival at the dojo through the Virtual Universe.
He remained silent for a long while...
The resentment he had harbored from being rejected vanished into thin air at that moment.
"His choice was right. The Gold Orchid Army suits me, but it doesn't suit others. The Qianwu Dojo and the Qianwu Secret Realm are the platforms truly suited to him. Perhaps before long, he will be able to break through to the World Master realm, and his strength will truly stand equal to ours!"
"Heh heh, didn't you say you never regret anything? How is it now that you find your judgment was flawed?"
Jimmy continued teasing him.
Mitchell's expression remained unchanged. "What is there to regret? When I invited him back then, it was because I appreciated his talent, and after being rejected, I didn't hold a grudge or cause trouble for him... When you think about it, I was still his assessment instructor, the one who brought him into the Qianwu Dojo."
"Reasonably speaking, our relationship should be relatively close... Jimmy, my friend, my true body is in the Gold Orchid Army, so I rarely have an opportunity to visit the Qianwu Dojo. Therefore, I must ask you, an old friend, to send a congratulatory gift to him on my behalf... Choose something he urgently needs right now, valued within one mixed element. I trust your judgment, old pal!"
While Mitchell appeared calm and composed on the surface, he was actually making several calls to Sailisi in the Virtual Universe.
*Curse that Sailisi. That bastard better not have blabbed about raising the difficulty of Lu Qingshan's assessment on his own authority!*
***
Qianwu Secret Realm, Wind Thunder Island.
At this moment, Lu Qingshan was still in Ling Yu's manor, unaware of Mitchell and Jimmy's discussion about him.
Even less did he know that Mitchell intended to send him a gift worth one mixed element.
"Teacher Lu, if you have no objections, let us settle it like this: from now on, Instructor White Eyebrows will guide my cultivation for the first half of each month, and I shall trouble you, Teacher Lu, for the second half..."
"As long as Instructor White Eyebrows has no issue with it."
Lu Qingshan nodded; he did not care who went first.
A faint smile graced Ling Yu's exquisite face. "Instructor White Eyebrows has already agreed. Teacher Lu, Ling Yu still has some perplexities she would like to ask about."
Chapter 42