The year the Sky Rift first appeared, Qu Yi was already six.

But Qu Yingguang and Xia Qing had only just turned twenty-six.

So even now, they were only thirty-six.

If Qu Yi told Xia Qing right now that she'd found a boyfriend in his early thirties, she'd probably scare both Xia Qing and Qu Yingguang into a heart attack.

Even though Ye Thirteen looked like he was only in his early twenties, he was still quite a few years older than Qu Yi.

But Xia Qing only frowned slightly. She didn't object right away.

After all, not everyone had it as smooth as she and Qu Yingguang did, going from childhood sweethearts to growing old together.

Back before the Great Cataclysm, the legal marriage age in the Dragon Realm had been twenty. Otherwise, the two of them probably would've married even earlier.

And Xia Qing seemed to remember that back then, people her age, and even the older generation, often married very late.

So she didn't feel any particular dislike toward Ye Thirteen.

To Xia Qing's generation, being single in your twenties was still pretty normal.

But by Qu Yi's generation, that way of thinking had changed a little.

After all, the legal marriage age in the Dragon Realm had already been lowered to sixteen.

When Qu Yi saw that Xia Qing had only frowned and hadn't spoken up to oppose it, she let out a sigh of relief.

Xia Qing looked at her for a long while. In the end, she only said,

"You can try dating him. But if you're going to make it official, you need to bring him home first."

"ヾ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ Yay~"

The moment Qu Yi got Xia Qing's approval, she started bouncing all over the pink bed in excitement.

She knew her parents, and even her grandpa, had been worrying about her love life.

There had even been rumors that she liked girls.

Seeing Qu Yi this happy, Xia Qing couldn't help but smile knowingly.

It would be a lie to say she wasn't worried Qu Yi might get hurt.

But Qu Yi was sixteen now. She was already a legal adult.

And in that photo, Qu Yi's dazzling smile was something even Xia Qing rarely got to see.

Qu Yi was serious about this.

So Xia Qing could only take a step back to move forward.

Dating was fine.

But if they were really going to be together, he had to come home first.

With how smart Qu Yi was, she should understand what Xia Qing really meant.

That night, Xia Qing unusually slept with Qu Yi again. Mother and daughter whispered to each other and slowly drifted off.

Only Father Qu's room stayed lit the entire night, looking a little lonely and a little sad...

Qu Xuelin was still using every connection he had to search for Ye Thirteen's whereabouts.

But if even Lu Xueqi couldn't find her own former captain, then Qu Xuelin had even less chance.

Still, Southgate Garrison was holding up for now, so Qu Xuelin wasn't in too much of a hurry. He stayed patient and took it slow.

In that peaceful atmosphere, the Dragon Realm's annual Spring Festival quietly arrived.

January 25th. New Year's Eve.

A good day for wealth and trade.

Once today passed, the people of the Dragon Realm would welcome another new year.

By now, ordinary middle school students were already on winter break, staying home and surfing the internet like crazy.

But Demonhunter trainees like Qu Yi were still on duty.

Every winter and summer break was the easiest time of year for ordinary students.

It was also when some Demonhunter members at Southgate Garrison took turns going on leave.

Because during that period, most duty assignments were handed over to the various Demonhunter middle schools.

That gave the official Demonhunter personnel a chance to catch their breath.

"Morning, Uncle!~"

By the time Qu Yi's voice fell, she was already hanging off Ye Thirteen's back, looking smug and pleased with herself.

Ye Thirteen said helplessly,

"If you don't get down now, Classmate Han's going to carve me up."

Every time Qu Yi got affectionate with him, Han Xiangxue would always find some handy weapon and try to chop him.

And not just once or twice.

Lai Yingxin walked over from behind with a cup of soy milk in hand and said with a smile,

"Oh? So you're only afraid Classmate Han will stab you. You're not actually bothered by Yiyi doing this, right?"

Ye Thirteen rolled his eyes at the black-bellied Lai Yingxin, then only said to Qu Yi,

"Come down already."

Qu Yi didn't push it too far and climbed down from his back.

Then the very next moment, a white motorcycle happened to speed into the residential complex, flashed past the three of them, and shot straight into the underground parking garage.

Speak of the devil.

In the whole team, only Han Xiangxue rode a motorcycle around all day.

Part of it was because her home was far away and in a pretty remote area.

But more importantly, the girl really did just like riding motorcycles.

By the time Ye Thirteen and the other two walked into the base, Han Xiangxue had already taken the elevator down and arrived inside.

Because of the training schedule Ye Thirteen had given them, Qu Yi and the others all completed one round of cultivation at home before heading to the base.

It only took setting aside fifteen minutes anyway, so it wasn't much.

The reason even Han Xiangxue had become this obedient now was simple.

The training plan Ye Thirteen gave them worked insanely well.

Qu Yi had already reached level thirty-nine a few days ago.

And today, both Lai Yingxin and Han Xiangxue had reached level thirty-eight too.

Jumping two levels in a single month had shocked not only Qu Yi and the others, but even Ye Thirteen himself.

Only after the three girls had all sat down did Ye Thirteen say helplessly,

"Looks like the training plans your families made for you before were really pretty rough.

"The reason all of you jumped two levels in one month is partly because my friend's training plan helped a lot.

"But it also has to do with how you were training before.

"Your elders probably don't know much about this area, so they only focused on giving you the best resources without bringing out their full effect.

"As a result, those resources kept building up inside your bodies.

"Good thing you're still young. Otherwise, in a few more years, that built-up energy wouldn't just stop helping. It would turn into a ticking time bomb."

Qu Yi and the other two didn't argue with him.

Because over the past month, Ye Thirteen had shown them exactly what one word meant—

professional.

And under Ye Thirteen's guidance, the three girls had finally experienced what flying progress in cultivation felt like.

At this point, even Han Xiangxue, who disliked Ye Thirteen the most, deeply respected him when it came to Demonhunter knowledge.

She no longer questioned him in his field of expertise.

Ye Thirteen gave Qu Yi and the others a few more reminders about what to watch out for in their recent training.

Only then did he turn to Lai Yingxin and ask,

"Classmate Lai, how's the thing I asked you to handle?"

Hearing his question, Lai Yingxin replied,

"You mean trying to make sure every student team gets assigned an instructor? That's basically already been implemented. If anything, our squad's the one dragging things behind, huh~ Uncle, are you worried things are about to get too busy?"

Qu Yi sprawled carelessly across the sofa and chimed in,

"It should still be okay, right? The adults have started rotating leave, sure, but the school teachers are still on standby."

Ye Thirteen slapped a file onto the table and said with a serious expression,

"If things were still like before, then yeah, it probably would've been enough.

"But recently, more and more Micro Sky Rifts have been appearing in the urban districts.

"In the past, Sector 069 had at most twelve cases a month. On average, it was around ten.

"But this month isn't even over yet, and we've already had fifteen.

"That's an increase of over thirty percent.

"The other sectors aren't as extreme as Sector 069, but on average, they've still gone up by around ten percent too."