Ironclad Group Chat: Red and Black Lists Engraved with Heroic Epics

Xi Lian became somewhat shy when praised, or rather, she only felt nervous and shy when praised by her.

"Am I especially beautiful right now?"

"Of course." Ripples of the Past praised generously: "Cheerful, beautiful, and optimistic, just like how I imagine myself growing up."

Xi Lian's smile deepened.

Even though she has long surpassed Momo in terms of strength, the highest praise for her is that she is like her.

"Because the poems you left behind are being gently continued by everyone."

"We made a promise that when we meet again, it will be my turn to tell you a story."

Ripples of the Past smiled knowingly: "A story about love, isn't it? I've been waiting for it."

[Qingque: Even a savior can't escape graduation exams?]

Xi Lian nodded slightly: "Then you must still remember the crystal flower and the little fairy, and the first poem I wrote for you."

That immature story was the last lesson Peach taught her.

At that time, she did not understand what pity and love were, but today, she can fill in the gaps.

"So now, I want to add another chapter to this story, and to you and me."

She cleared her throat and said in the gentlest voice, "On the day the flower shattered, facing the empty ground, I think... the little fairy finally saw the light."

"But it is neither in the flawless flower, nor in the fairy's eyes."

"But rather, it is in the world reflected in each shattered crystal."

Xi Lian pressed her hand to her chest, recalling that "clumsy" memory. Back then, her story only contained peaches, and only peaches could shine and illuminate others.

So she piled all the beautiful concepts onto Peach.

But now, she knows what "imperfection" means, and finally understands the "love" that blossoms within it.

"All those who chase the fire, they walk in your thirty million tales. And at this moment, memories intertwine, and all past lives gain meaning."

[Screw Gum: The "flawless" crystal flower, in order to embrace the "flawless" world, willingly shattered itself, and though flawed, it blossomed with true beauty. Visual beauty and ugliness correspond inversely to truly praiseworthy beauty and ugliness. How wondrous.]

[Black Tower: Don't resort to allegory at times like this. Tsk, who would have thought? What I initially thought was just a clumsy story now seems like a prophetic poem.]

[Star: Hiss~~ I knew it…]

Xing felt as if she had been stabbed in the back again without anyone noticing.

Was the ending already being foreshadowed back then?

Elio, you really know how to plant the foreshadowing in the script... and that's really impressive!

This kind of fast/slow knife is the most stomach-sore.

However, she also understood that this wasn't Xiao Ai's fault. She simply had no other choice.

Xi Lian's eyes sparkled: "Chasing fire is a journey of constant loss and moving towards steadfast relinquishment."

She wrote a romantic interpretation of this prophecy: "People will understand that time and again, when they stand at the crossroads of fate, they have no other choice."

"In the experiment of [knowledge], in the breeding ground of [destruction], it is entropy increase, it is cold truth, it is the instinct of evil..."

"But in the writings of [Memory] and [Pioneering]..."

"It is knowing the brokenness of fate, yet still embracing fate with brokenness, a journey of longing to be loved, and even more longing to love."

[March 7th: Knowing there are tigers in the mountains, yet venturing into the tiger's den! In the circle of the Ancients, everyone is merely nourishment for the Iron Tomb, but in our rewritten story, this is an epic of the dominated resisting oppression through "love"!]

[Himeko: Little March, you're right. Pioneering has nothing to do with romance, but when you swallow the flames of knowingly doing the impossible, an unprecedented romance can blaze forth. This is a very important lesson on the path of pioneering.]

[Walter: Ahem!]

[Xi Lian: That's why I said this is a romantic story unlike any other!]

Ripples of the Past smiled contentedly.

"Just hearing that makes my heart flutter."

"But, according to my aesthetic sense, I would add a tiny touch."

There is another figure who is indispensable in this poem.

"I would write: 'Love is a pure white flower that grows silently, inspiring longing in everyone who passes by.'"

"But flowers cannot reach for the sky on their own..."

Xi Lian's heart tightened. At a time like this, she couldn't afford to be naive.

Unable to reach the heavens and earth... no, it's that the flower alone cannot reach the heavens and earth!

She immediately understood, smiled with relief, and, as if guided by a telepathic connection, added the ending to the poem: "Unless someone plants love in their heart and carries it into tomorrow, right?"

Xing's eyebrows furrowed slightly in surprise.

And what about her? But... that's all there is to it!

Ripples of the Past nodded and chuckled: "You've learned it completely."

[Qingque: Congratulations on your graduation!]

[That Moment Summer: Ah... the ripples of the past are truly enviable. Her students not only didn't need her professors to desperately try to save her, nor did they need to make her professors pretend to be deaf and dumb during her graduation defense, they could even complete their research projects independently.]

[Dr. Truth: Don't continue. Just thinking about some people's exam papers makes me want to die...]

The ripples of the past transformed into vibrant points of light: "Then, together with all the [flowers] in this story..."

Let's write an ending unlike any other for this world we love so much♪

Following Pam, the Genius Group, the Foster Mother Group, and the Brothers Group, another long-awaited partner has returned to the audience.

Xing smiled with relief.

Then she encountered the last and most important audience member of the trip.

The man, who resembled the final boss and whose style matched hers, appeared silently: "Why are you pioneering?"

[March 7th: Oh, so this is where we met! No wonder this scene looked so familiar.]

[Hanabi: I just realized, this is my friends and family coming over one by one to cheer me on.]

[Qingque: Can't we just attack directly... Well, okay, it's useless for someone who's not strong enough to attack, and someone who's strong enough to attack seems a bit too strong.]

Xing solemnly declared, "I choose [Exploration], because I have already embarked on this journey!"

The other self departed peacefully. He will never appear again on this journey.

Xi Lian stared blankly at Xing, who was inexplicably talking to thin air.

But she knew something must have happened. She trusted her most capable partner to handle it.

And after that, their journey was finally about to begin again.

"At the end of chaos lies pure darkness, pure... [destruction]."

"But Onphalus's light has thirteen colors; we won't lose to it, will we?"