Rong Taotao’s heart skipped a beat. "Huh?"

’She’s leaving?’

’This...’

Gao Lingwei had promised to team up with Rong Taotao and grow stronger alongside him. But given his personality, Rong Taotao would never do anything to stand in the way of her development.

If she really had to leave, Rong Taotao could only offer his blessing and wouldn’t try to make her stay. After all, this concerned her future prospects.

The corner of Gao Lingwei’s mouth lifted slightly. She turned to the dazed Rong Taotao and said, "I didn’t accept the Snow Burning Corps’ offer."

Rong Taotao was floored.

His expression was complicated. "This is a big deal. Don’t act on impulse. You really need to think this through carefully..."

Gao Lingwei said, "The Snow Burning Corps stated that regardless of my answer, they would forcibly conscript me."

Rong Taotao was speechless.

Gao Lingwei sighed softly, resuming her slow walk. "I pleaded with Professor Zheng Qianqiu for a long time. He eventually spoke with the Snow Burning Corps, and they reached an agreement. I can return to school and continue my studies."

Rong Taotao couldn’t help but crack a grin. "Could you not be so dramatic? Are you messing with me?"

"Heh." Gao Lingwei revealed a playful side he’d never seen before, her eyes twinkling as she spoke. "However, if there’s a mission, I’m required to unconditionally join a Snow Burning Corps team and provide support and assistance on behalf of Songjiang Soul Martial University."

The moment she finished speaking, both Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei suddenly stopped in their tracks.

Had the pitch-black, snowy night suddenly grown a little brighter?

There were streetlights on both sides of the road, and they were indeed quite bright when the snowfall was light.

But this light was different from that of the streetlamps...

In the blink of an eye, the utterly pitch-black sky, devoid of any light, instantly lit up.

Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei stood rooted to the spot. They both tilted their heads back to look at the sky, watching as that familiar light once again descended upon the Snow Realm.

The entire Songjiang Soul Martial University seemed to freeze at that very moment!

The bustling Martial Arts Arena, the crowded supermarket entrance, the eight-person and four-person dorm rooms...

Everyone stopped what they were doing, as if time itself had frozen solid!

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

Gao Lingwei raised her right hand to shield her eyes, peering through the gaps between her slender fingers at the increasingly blinding light in the sky. Her eyes narrowed to slits...

In the next moment, it was as if the entire world "woke up." The first faint cheers drifted from the student dormitories.

"It’s daybreak!"

"There’s light! It’s daybreak..."

"It’s real. It’s really happening... I’m not dreaming..."

The sounds cut through the frost and snow, spreading everywhere. The stadium, the Martial Arts Arena, the academic buildings, the supermarket, the stables, the cafeteria... even the ever-silent library erupted in a frenzy.

Exuberant cheers and cathartic sobs, streams of sound like rivers, finally converged into a vast ocean.

It spread from Songjiang Soul Martial University to the entire city of Songjiang.

All of it for the dazzling sun in the sky.

The Snow Realm had been shrouded in darkness for far, far too long. Buried beneath the thick snow were not just the dim years, but also countless skeletons, endless sorrow, and suffocating despair.

Rong Taotao never imagined that the warm winter sun of his memories could be so blinding.

The sun hadn’t risen gradually. Instead, it had pushed aside the seemingly endless darkness to slowly reveal itself.

Gao Lingwei gazed at the sky through her fingers. Though her eyes were narrowed, she refused to close them, letting the brilliant light sting her vision.

Listening to the waves of sound faintly reaching her ears, she murmured, "I’m not leaving. I promised you we would get stronger together, stand on the highest stage, and stand by the banks of the Dragon River..."

Rong Taotao reached out and gently took her hand.

It was cool, and soft.

"Alright. We’ll do it together."

"Yes. Alright."