When Ruan Chen asked that question, her heart began to pound violently.

She used to think of herself as just an observer, but as time went on, she began to often feel that Ruan Chen was herself.

In her dreams, she feels pain and anger because of Ruan Chen's tragic situation, and wants to put a knife in her hand so that she can take revenge.

"I don't know the answer to that question either; you'll have to experience it for yourself."

Ruan Chen sighed wearily and asked, "And you, Chi Xiao, can you sense yourself on another timeline?"

Chi Xiao honestly replied, "I'm sorry, I can't feel it."

When Ruan Chen and Fu Jianzhi returned to the teaching and research office, the discussion should have already reached a conclusion, and the professors were quietly looking at the documents in their hands.

"Mentor?" Ruan Chen reminded him softly.

People in the conference room looked up and saw Ruan Chen and Fu Jianzhi. Fu Jianzhi gently shook his head.

His reply to the professors was that Ruan Chen had failed again.

The director of the Martial Arts Research Institute coughed lightly. Although he was still disappointed and couldn't accept it for the time being, he still managed to say in a gentle tone, "Ruan Chen, we just discussed it. The summer camp starts next week, and you can participate as usual. During the summer camp, you will also have another opportunity to sense the Ten Famous Swords. Try again. If it really doesn't work, we will adjust the next step of the training program."

Ruan Chen gave a soft "hmm," her expression and tone filled with disappointment.

Ruan Chen: I was really sad, but I was faking it.

"Jianzhi, why don't you take Ruan Chen home?" a professor said.

Ruan Chen recalled that when she arrived today, Duan Jingfu and several other professors personally greeted her at the door. Now that she saw that she could not become the person they expected, their attitude suddenly changed drastically.

Tsk.

But I can understand.

“Sister,” Fu Jianzhi, probably worried that Ruan Chen was really sad, obediently called her “Sister”. “It’s okay. That’s how these professors are. Before, when my brother and Zhan Lu had a connection, they were very obedient to my brother and gave him all the good resources. Now that my brother has been abandoned, I have become their main focus.”

“I’m not going to be upset about something like this,” Ruan Chen said, her expression already calm and composed. “I’m just pretending. You just mentioned Zhanlu? So you’re the pilot of Zhanlu? I always thought that you had to wait until you were an adult, or at least close to adulthood, to find your own sword. You’re doing this pretty early.”

Ruan Chen could feel the closeness and mutual dependence between herself and Chi Xiao, who were connected by blood. Chi Xiao was hers, without a doubt.

Fu Jianzhi explained to Ruan Chen in a flattering manner, "Normally that's how it is, but Zhanlu is a special case; it only recognizes the Fu family."

As he spoke, he took off the ring on his little finger in a flattering manner, saying, "Try it on, you've seen it before."

Ruan Chen had an excellent memory and recognized it at a glance. After Ruan Wenlou was stabbed, she went to the Ruan Group to settle accounts with Ruan Zhengde. Before leaving, Fu Jianzhi put this ring on his hand.

"Try using your mental power; it will obey you. You can make it do whatever you want." Fu Jianzhi's obsequiousness was practically written all over his face.

"Isn't that a bad idea?" Ruan Chen knew that the Ten Famous Swordsmen wouldn't accept two pilots at the same time.

“It’s okay, just give it a try.” Fu Jianzhi insisted.

Ruan Chen shook her head and handed it back, saying, "It's against the rules, no way."

She just put herself in others' shoes and thought that if Chi Xiao were controlled by someone else, she would probably feel very uncomfortable.

Fu Jianzhi withdrew his order with some disappointment.

The opening ceremony will be held one week later.

Ruan Chen wasn't too busy this week; she mostly stayed home reading the research materials that Duan Jingfu had assigned to her.

The only noteworthy experience was being summoned to the Municipal Public Security Bureau by Xu Xiaolan once to inquire about clues related to Feng Shuang.

On the same day that nobody and Ruan Chen made contact, Feng Shuang also disappeared. The Municipal Bureau reviewed all the surveillance footage along her route after she left home that day, frame by frame.

Strangely, Feng Shuang last appeared on the camera that morning, walking into a blind spot in the underground parking lot, and then never came out again.

The municipal bureau thoroughly searched the underground parking lot three times, but found nothing. It was as if Feng Shuang, a perfectly healthy person, had simply vanished into thin air.

The matter concerning "them" is top secret. Ruan Chen went to the Municipal Bureau and hinted to Xu Xiaolan that the Municipal Bureau should report this matter to the Research Institute—the Research Institute has a department that specializes in handling such inexplicable strange events.

It is obvious that they tampered with the surveillance.

As expected, after the matter was reported to the research institute, it was filed away by the municipal bureau.

The opening ceremony was quite simple: self-introductions, ice-breaking activities, and introducing the students to the Ten Divine Swords.

There are nine people in total, including Ruan Chen.

In the classroom, the students sized each other up with a reserved and aloof air. Each of them exuded an aura of being someone not to be trifled with, while carefully concealing their goodwill and forcibly putting on a mature demeanor.

They already know what the summer camp is about, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, they will choose their mentors and confirm their research directions during the summer camp activities.

Most importantly, there is the sword selection ceremony. The reason they are so indifferent to each other is that during the sword selection ceremony, they are not classmates or friends, but life-or-death competitors.

The Martial Arts Research Institute has six swords and nine people.

Even if each sword finds its pilot among them, three people will inevitably end up with nothing.

Furthermore, not every sword will find a suitable pilot among the nine of them, so even more people will be eliminated.

The self-introductions were lukewarm, the ice-breaking ceremony lacked passion, and the occasional interactions between the students seemed to be trying to spark something special. The teacher in charge was also helpless; he knew what these students were waiting for.

Ruan Chen seems to have been isolated by everyone once again.

Although she has a cold personality and a do-not-be-approachable expression, it really wasn't her fault that she was isolated this time.

Although the students looked down on each other and had many conflicts, they were surprisingly united on one thing: they looked down on Ruan Chen.

I don't know which big-mouthed professor told his students that Ruan Chen and the Ten Famous Swords had no connection. Once words are out of your mouth, they grow wings and fly everywhere.

Ruan Chen arrived five minutes early. When she arrived, everyone was already there, and all eyes were on her.

Ruan Chen casually opened a small mental net, and the whispers rushed into her ears.

"This is Ruan Chen. She's number one in academics, and her mental strength level is said to be extremely rare, but the Ten Famous Swordsmen didn't choose her. Tell me, is she a genius or a piece of trash?"