Ning Xuan was inside the laboratory, completely focused on fighting the simulated extreme environment, utterly unaware that a huge commotion had erupted outside.

"Move aside, move aside!" Shen Wenwen rushed over in a flurry. She pushed to the very front and barraged the young man with questions. From the color of his clothes and his hair accessories to his height, hairstyle, appearance, and demeanor, she interrogated him about everything. Finally, Shen Wenwen’s lips trembled, and she burst into tears with a loud "WAAAH!" "It really is Ning Xuan, isn’t it? Waaah... Why didn’t you listen to me? Why did you have to join this group? And if you were going to join, why did you have to be so serious about it? Waaah..."

"Miss Shen, can you contact Ning Xuan’s family?" the young man who had just gone to find Shen Wenwen asked. "We’ve already sent for Dean Bai and contacted emergency medics. However, the fee for requesting an emergency medical pod is quite high, so we need to contact her family to get approval."

"I only have Ning Xuan’s contact info, I can’t reach her family! Oh, wait, I know! I’m injured! I’ll just have my family request a pod and send it over for me." With a flash of inspiration, Shen Wenwen immediately sent a communication to her father, intending to have him request an emergency medical pod and have it delivered.

"That won’t be necessary, Miss Shen." Yan Fuzhen interrupted Shen Wenwen’s call.

"And you are?" Shen Wenwen looked at Yan Fuzhen with suspicion. Although she couldn’t gauge his strength, her intuition told her he was not someone to be trifled with.

After Yan Fuzhen appeared, dozens of people in the crowd silently bowed their heads to him in respect. These were all people Yan Fuzhen had planted there. Ning Xuan preferred peace and quiet and didn’t allow anyone to follow her during class, so he could only arrange for personnel to protect her in secret. Who would have thought she would enter a laboratory and start an extreme environment simulation training?

He had rushed over the moment he received the news. A moment later, Lin Mo and Chen Nan also arrived.

"I am Miss Ning’s butler. Her current physical condition is excellent. There is no need for you to worry, Miss Shen." Yan Fuzhen already had an emergency medical pod on hand. Never mind that Ning Xuan’s condition was stable; even if something had truly gone wrong, he could have produced it at any time to save her life. There was no need to go through a hospital to request one.

"Her physical condition is excellent? This is an interstellar storm environmental simulation! How can she be ’excellent’ in there? You’re not just spouting nonsense, are you?!" Shen Wenwen looked at Yan Fuzhen with growing suspicion.

Yan Fuzhen smiled faintly. "My master is indeed fine. Everyone, please return to your own business." This was before the official competition; he couldn’t let Ning Xuan become a household name over this incident. Her name getting out was likely unavoidable, but her face couldn’t become instantly recognizable. As long as people couldn’t put a face to the name, she could maintain a low profile when she attended class in the future.

None of the onlookers wanted to leave. Shen Wenwen, in particular, squeezed to the very front, making it clear she was going to wait for the person inside to come out.

Yan Fuzhen sent out a few messages on his Light Computer. Soon enough, instructors and team captains from various schools and districts came to collect their people, leading their students or team members away. The only ones left crowding the laboratory entrance were Yan Fuzhen, Lin Mo, Chen Nan, Shen Wenwen, and the young man who had gone to find her.

Yan Fuzhen glanced at the unfamiliar man. ’Don’t know him.’ Since this was a public place, and no one had come to claim him, he couldn’t very well chase the man away.

Yan Fuzhen checked the remaining time for the simulation while also monitoring Ning Xuan’s vitals on his Light Computer. Her condition was stable, and there were only five minutes left. Suddenly, his heart began to pound with tension.

Yan Fuzhen knew Ning Xuan’s physical fortitude was far greater than that of an average woman, but he hadn’t expected her to last this long in an interstellar storm environment. He was already prepared to perform emergency treatment at a moment’s notice. As the end time drew nearer, his anxiety mounted.

Lin Mo and Chen Nan were also on edge, terrified they would suddenly hear an alarm.

With a "DING," time was up. Yan Fuzhen moved in a flash and rushed inside. By the time Shen Wenwen reacted and followed him in, the laboratory was empty. She quickly ran back out. At the entrance, aside from the young man who had gone to find her, there was no one.

"Honestly! I just wanted to see if Ning Xuan was okay. Why’d they have to run off so fast?" Shen Wenwen stomped her foot in frustration.

Elsewhere, Ning Xuan hadn’t suffered any severe injuries, but her body was covered in numerous superficial wounds—scrapes and bruises, high-temperature burns, and low-temperature frostbite. There were quite a few of each.

Chen Nan and Lin Mo looked at the injuries on Ning Xuan’s body, both filled with self-reproach. They had never participated in an Alchemist competition and were unfamiliar with the various rules of the unrestricted division. They had researched a lot of related materials recently, but none of that information had mentioned that the pre-competition training for the unrestricted division would include extreme environment simulation.

Under the stark white light of the treatment room, Ning Xuan lay exhausted on the bed, not wanting to lift a single finger. The burns crisscrossing her arms glowed an unnatural purplish-red, intertwining with the pale blue frostbite on her neck to form a frightening, web-like pattern.

"Hand me that bottle of blue medicine," Yan Fuzhen instructed Lin Mo. He was wearing sterile gloves on both hands and applying a topical ointment to Ning Xuan’s wounds.

Lin Mo silently handed over the bottle of blue medicine. Within the crystalline blue liquid, a golden thread of light flowed slowly. This was a Star-grade Medicine, a First-order Healing Medicine.

Yan Fuzhen finished applying the ointment and wrapped her wounds in bandages. With the medicine’s effects, Ning Xuan’s injuries would likely be completely healed before she even woke up the next morning.

As Yan Fuzhen removed his gloves, he saw Ning Xuan’s pale lips move slightly, though her eyes remained closed. He knew she felt a little embarrassed facing him after acting so recklessly. He sighed internally, instructed Chen Nan to give Ning Xuan the bottle of blue Healing Medicine, and quietly withdrew.

Chen Nan supported Ning Xuan’s back with one hand, carefully helping her sit up. He brought the bottle of blue Star-grade medicine to her lips.

Ning Xuan could sense the energy surging within the medicine. Although she knew her injuries weren’t serious, she cooperatively drank it and fell into a deep sleep. When she woke up the next day, she felt completely refreshed. After yesterday’s extreme environment simulation training, the meridians in her body had become even stronger than before. Even the feathers on her Companion Spirit, the Little Red Bird, had grown a bit denser.

The next morning, after breakfast, Yan Fuzhen stood solemnly before Ning Xuan. He stated that from now on, when she went to class, she had to choose one of them—him, Lin Mo, or Chen Nan—to accompany her. She would no longer be allowed to go alone.

Ning Xuan was very unhappy to hear this and was about to lose her temper, but the three men knelt before her in unison, their expressions resolute.

In the end, both sides compromised. Ning Xuan could bring one of the three with her, but they were not to interfere with anything she did outside, and they had to stay far away during class so as not to disturb her training schedule.