The villains are redeemed, and the heroines cry and beg for forgiveness.

It saves a lot of trouble.

Overall, this ocean voyage was relatively successful, except that Ariel's hatred for him deepened.

However, when Gu Ran thought of Alice, his heart suddenly calmed down.

He was starting to not want to come to the ocean anymore.

I also don't really want to see Ariel again.

Although he knew this was escapism, he knew escapism was shameful.

But... escaping does work.

Using a spatial artifact to open a spatial portal, Gu Ran stepped inside.

After returning to Canglong City, Gu Ran subconsciously used his mental power to check on the current situation of Canglong City.

Azure Dragon City has emerged from the low point of the internal strife, and with its recent great victories over New Covenant City and Far East City, it has even surpassed its old rival, Vermilion Bird City. The city's residents are generally beaming with joy.

Nothing's wrong.

Gu Ran felt relieved.

He just felt something was strange, because he didn't sense Xue Yingsong's mental power today.

Generally speaking, Xue Yingsong would cover Lanxin University with his mental power to keep track of its situation at all times.

He valued Lanxin University more than his own life.

Then, when Gu Ran extended his mental power into Xue Yingsong's highly functional research room, he was suddenly startled.

The next moment, he immediately used his fastest speed to rush back to Xue Yingsong's research room.

To save time, he even barged in without properly opening the door.

"Principal, what's wrong?"

When Gu Ran arrived at the research lab, he was shocked to see Xue Yingsong lying on the ground, her face pale and her life force waning.

Before she could figure out why Xue Yingsong had ended up like this, Gu Ran quickly checked on his condition.

After a quick inspection, Gu Ran frowned.

Overall, Xue Yingsong's physical condition is actually "healthy." Not only are there no visible external injuries, but there are also no major problems with her internal organs or muscle activity.

Everything is within the normal range.

The only abnormality is that the vitality of the snow-covered pine is gradually declining, and its heartbeat is in a state of "healthy and powerful" frequency reduction.

For a moment, Gu Ran couldn't find any "problem" and wanted to immediately use his telepathy to notify Xue Xiling, and then call the best medical team from Lanxin University.

However, before Gu Ran could even begin to use his telekinesis to call out to the others, Xue Yingsong opened her eyes and grabbed his arm.

"No...don't tell anyone else!"

"It will...it will cause chaos..."

"I...I can hold on!"

Gu Ran looked at Xue Yingsong with surprise.

Xue Yingsong's once energetic face had lost all its luster, and even speaking was difficult for him.

But his eyes remained as sharp and resolute as ever.

"Alright, explain the situation first. If it's reasonable, I'll grant your request. If you can't convince me, then it's not up to you. I'll notify the others at Lanxin University immediately."

Gu Ran raised an eyebrow slightly and said.

Upon returning to Canglong City, he found Xue Yingsong lying on the ground, her life force gradually fading away, which was a huge "surprise" for him, a truly unexpected and surprising turn of events.

He is now very curious about what exactly happened to Xue Yingsong.

He had just scanned Lanxin University with his telekinetic powers and found no other external enemies.

So how exactly did the snow-welcoming pine become like it is now?

Xue Yingsong struggled for a moment, then gestured to Gu Ran to put him on the bed where he was supposed to rest.

After Gu Ran put him on the bed, he lay there like a critically ill patient.

His face was filled with deep sorrow.

"Perhaps this is the price of peeking into fate."

"Who knows that fate cannot be predicted, yet everyone hopes to see it clearly."

"Are you wondering why my life force has decreased so much even though I have no injuries or illnesses?"

Gu Ran nodded.

“This is actually caused by forcibly peeking into fate,” Xue Yingsong said slowly. “I want to see the future of Canglong City, the future of Lanxin University, and the future of you, Xiaoling.”

"But fate... This involves world rules that researchers cannot study. In the end, I only saw an inaccurate corner of the future, and even so, I paid a huge price for it. And that price is what you just saw—my life, my vitality."

"To glimpse fate?" Gu Ran stared at Xue Yingsong. "You can glimpse fate? Is it some kind of evil magic? Sacrificing your own life, only to find it's all a fool in the end?"

Xue Yingsong smiled and shook his head: "Evil magic? I don't know if it is or not, but I know I have no choice but to do it."

"Lanxin University has been established for over three hundred years, which is a long time. However, if we look at the entire Human Alliance, compared to other universities, Lanxin University is actually a very young university. There are many universities that have been established for longer than Lanxin University. But no other school can have the same influence in the main city as Lanxin University."

"Moreover, having visited the ruins and received recognition from the first principal, you must understand that the first principal of Lanxin University was not a driving force for Lanxin's development after his disappearance, but rather a heavy historical burden."

"Even so, Lanxin University has only been around for a little over three hundred years to successfully become one of the top universities in the Human Alliance and to become one of the symbols of Canglong City, profoundly influencing the city."

"Because the presidents after the first president all accurately grasped the pulse of the times and chose the right path, allowing Lanxin University to continue to develop."

"But do you know why? It's because of the first principal."

At this point, Xue Yingsong couldn't help but feel deeply moved.

Gu Ran's curiosity was piqued: "The first principal? Didn't he disappear? Why can he still influence Lanxin University?"

Xue Yingsong said, "Perhaps there really are people in this world who are born with knowledge and can accurately predict the development of the times hundreds of years to come."

"Although the first principal disappeared, he left behind a diary in which he recorded his thoughts on the development of academia over the next few hundred years. He believed that Starstone Technology would definitely become mainstream and have a huge impact on all aspects of human production and life."

"Therefore, in his diary, he emphasized that Lanxin University must vigorously develop in the direction of Xing Shi Technology. At that time, he did not know that he would disappear completely soon afterward, so many of the words in the diary were spoken to himself, and should be considered as his own admonitions and reminders."

"However, that diary disappeared in the following decades, and even many records kept by scholars disappeared along with it. To this day, it remains an unsolved mystery."

Gu Ran's first reaction upon hearing about the diary was, "Who writes a diary if they're a decent person?"

Then I realized that the first president of Lanxin University didn't seem to be a decent person.

That's fine.

"Therefore, Lanxin University actually had very complicated feelings about its first president."

Xue Yingsong continued, "Without him, there would be no Lanxin University. Without his guidance, there would be no great development of Lanxin University over the next few centuries. However, at the same time, he is a tyrant who is nailed to the pillar of historical shame and has been insulted by later generations."

"So at the beginning, Lanxin University kept him a secret. But strangely, and to the delight of later Lanxin University people, as time went by, historical records about him became increasingly scarce, and people gradually forgot about Lanxin University's first president, as if it were only natural that Lanxin University did not have a first president."

"If things had developed normally, the first president of Lanxin University would have gradually become someone like the ancestor of martial arts, and no one would have associated him with the tyrant of Canglong City at that time. Oh, right, even the identity of the tyrant of Canglong City was slowly forgotten by the people of Canglong City."

"It seems that everything related to that person is destined to be forgotten."

“I didn’t pay much attention to these things before, and I didn’t understand them until I became the president of Lanxin University and I obtained the first president’s ‘treasure’, which should be considered as the treasure he left behind.”

Xue Yingsong said tremblingly, "That treasure may be of little use to others, but it is extremely valuable information to the president of Lanxin University."

"A diary of the first principal, and notes and annotations on the diary by several subsequent principals."

"The first principal's diary? The annotations of subsequent principals?" Gu Ran couldn't help but say, "Could it contain methods for glimpsing fate?"

If it were the diary of the first president and the annotations of subsequent presidents, it would indeed be more valuable to Lanxin University.

It allows us to learn a lot about the secrets of Lanxin University at that time.

Moreover, Xue Yingsong seems to have gained something of great value from it—it actually allowed him to glimpse fate.

“Yes.” Xue Yingsong nodded slightly. “I did obtain a method to glimpse fate from it, but I can only glimpse a small part of fate. The larger the scope of the glimpse, the greater the price to pay.”

“In the past, I would simply make predictions about small things or individuals, so the cost was not very high. This time, I originally wanted to broaden the scope and peek into the fate of Lanxin University, but what I did not expect was that the cost would be so huge.”

“Even if the price isn’t very high, there will still be a price to pay. Why did you suddenly have the urge to pry into fate today?” Gu Ran looked at Xue Yingsong and said with some doubt.

"It's not a whim of mine, but an unprecedented crisis is about to strike Lanxin University, and I... I must find a way to resolve it," Xue Yingsong said with a wry smile. "I originally thought that what happened before was already a crisis for Lanxin University, but compared to a real crisis, it was nothing but child's play."

What is the real crisis facing Lanxin University?

"What crisis will Lanxin University face? And how do you know that Lanxin University is about to face a major crisis?" Gu Ran asked.

"Because the first principal's diary... recorded all of this, predicted all of this, even my death."

Xue Yingsong turned her head slightly to look at Gu Ran.

"Your death? You predicted you would die from the backlash of peeking into fate? But you still did it?" Gu Ran's gaze sharpened. "Where's the diary? Let me see it."

Xue Yingsong gripped Gu Ran's sleeve: "The diary thing... don't worry about it for now. Can you promise me one thing before I die?"

"What's wrong?" Gu Ran frowned slightly as he looked at Xue Yingsong, suddenly feeling that something was amiss.

"Cough cough... After I die, the things I will miss the most are Xiao Ling, Lanxin University, and Canglong City."

"The people of Canglong City, as well as the teachers and students of Lanxin University, have already given you their full approval. If you take over, I will be very reassured... It's just that Xiaoling, sigh."

"Could you please take good care of her for me? I'm a dying man... I beg you."