Academy Star

Not to mention the surprise in the hearts of the two proctors.

The young man surnamed Bai walked out of the examination hall, and an old man immediately followed after him.

"How did it feel, Young Master?" the old man asked.

The young man shook his head. "Not great. But it was somewhat interesting. One guy handed in his paper before I did."

"But that doesn't prove anything. Maybe he thought it was too difficult and gave up."

The old man nodded. "With your knowledge, Young Master, you could have directly taken the university entrance exams."

The young man glared at him. "Our ancestor graduated from Bo Ning Academy back then. I've been stifled in the family for so long, and I finally got permission to leave. Is there a problem with retracing our ancestor's path?"

The old man immediately gave a wry smile and agreed. "No problem, no problem."

The young man ignored him and took out his phone, speaking lazily.

"Hello, Crow? It's me."

"Mm, you said you had a candidate for that matter last time. How's it going?"

"The best candidate didn't contact you? Idiot, how do you get things done? Talent is worth a fortune these days—go find him yourself!"

"I don't care. Within three days, I need a qualified substitute Assault Soldier."

"Don't talk to me about how tight the deadline is. If you can't handle it, throw money at the problem. Young Master Bai has nothing but a little too much money!"

On the other end of the call, Crow nodded and bowed as he hung up on Young Master Bai. He immediately began mobilizing every connection he had, wearing a miserable expression as he searched for Ronan.

That night, he had witnessed Ronan's miracle firsthand.

With his professional headhunter's eye, he could naturally tell that Ronan had been speeding purely on instinct.

That kind of physical ability was definitely not ordinary.

He had heard that this young master from Yi Lin Manor had even defeated Xiang Feihu in a Light Mech battle, though he did not know whether it was true. Crow's only concern was that even if he found Ronan, how could he persuade him to join Young Master Bai's newly formed Begonia Squad?

"Young Master Ronan acted strangely that day. He seemed to be short of money."

"Looks like I can only try using that as an opening. If it doesn't work, I'll have to find someone else."

That was what Crow thought.

After going to great lengths, he finally got Ronan's number from Lin Chenluo by evening. Yet when he called, Ronan's phone was switched off!

Night gradually fell.

But Ronan had already turned off his phone and left Bo Ning Academy!

He did not know that someone named Crow was frantically searching for him.

He only knew that he had a plan tonight.

A plan to seize the bait.

"How is it? Did you send out the purchase intent on the Dark Web?"

Ronan walked through the night and asked softly.

Noah's pale green screen appeared directly on his retina. Rows of data and information flowed past, accompanied by its trademark irritating voice.

"The order has been placed on the Dark Web. According to your instructions, the transaction location has been set at Academy Star."

"I have to say, you're pretty sly, going that far away to make the trade."

Ronan said quietly, "Azure Ring Island is too small."

Azure Ring Island was too small. Even if he obtained that wizard's manual, it would be easy for others to trace it back to him.

Academy Star, not far from the Emerald Star Region, was much larger.

Not only was it home to Migratory Bird University, the best university in all of Blue Sea Province, it was also the home ground of Weird Equation, a Blue Sea Province A3 Mecha League club. It was extremely popular; because people from other planets often came to watch its home Mecha Competitions, the flow of people was immense, making it a good location for underground transactions.

Tonight, Ronan intended to secure the wizard's manual Noah had found earlier!

Although Noah had made it clear that this was highly likely to be a trap set by the Empire's Wizard Tribunal, Ronan had still made thorough preparations.

"You don't have thirty million. How are you going to trade with them?" Noah teased.

Ronan replied naturally, "They weren't sincere about making a trade anyway."

"Besides, you said it yourself—my existence already violates Imperial law. Doing something illegal once in a while isn't too much, right?"

"Not too much," Noah said with a dry laugh. "But what about those few little tails following you?"

"That Fan guy isn't easy to deal with, and there's another old man who's been following you for a long time. He's changed disguises several times, but my biological recognition system isn't for show!"

Ronan thought for a moment before answering, "Uncle Fan has been protecting me in secret, but he can't know about this matter; that other old man is probably here to kill me. It wasn't so obvious before, but his appearance this time is too much of a coincidence."

"Now isn't the time. Once we reach Academy Star, we'll shake them off."

With that, he arrived at an open square on Azure Ring Island.

Inside the square stood a series of towering gateways, each one gleaming with pure white light!

This was a stargate!

One of the many pieces of black technology the Kindling Tome had left humanity!

Humans did not know the exact principles behind how stargates worked. They only knew how to build them.

Through stargates, humans could travel between planets.

Of course, using a stargate was still a rather luxurious way to travel. Most people chose cheaper spacecraft instead.

Ever since Ronan's street race at Azure Dragon Mountain, his wealth had soared. Naturally, he would not choose a spacecraft, a method that made him easier to track.

He directly paid 10,000 Eagle Horn and used a stargate to teleport to Academy Star!

Behind him, Fan Wenbin frowned and quickly followed.

"What the hell is that kid up to?!"

"It's already evening. What is he going to Academy Star alone for?"

Not far away, Silver Fox also quietly began her own plan.

At the same time, deep within Bo Ning Academy, a girl led a dog to a deserted corner.

"Shaobing!"

"Opening a Path!"

The girl named Xiao An rarely spoke two sentences in a row.

The lazy dog suddenly raised its head, and a string of strange syllables burst from its throat!

The next second, a door of light appeared directly before her.

"Good boy, Shaobing."

Xiao An stroked the dog's head, but it still looked listless.

The girl and the dog entered the light door together, vanishing into the depths of Bo Ning Academy.

Passing through a stargate actually felt just like walking through an ordinary door. There was no sensation at all.

Leaving the quiet Azure Ring Island behind, Ronan arrived on another planet in an instant.

The stargate transit station on Academy Star!

Various forms of transportation stood not far away.

After giving it some thought, Ronan chose a Maglev train, bought a ticket, boarded, and swiftly departed.

"Noah, activate concealment mode."

"Tonight, I don't want anyone disturbing me."

The next second, Noah chuckled.

"No problem! But you know that a full-spectrum concealment costs at least 5% energy."

Ronan said calmly, "A wizard's manual is worth that price."

Whoosh!

The Maglev train carried a mixed crowd of passengers as it sped toward the distant city.

The next second, Fan Wenbin and Silver Fox, who had appeared in the stargate transit station, both revealed astonished expressions.

They had actually lost Ronan's trail!

"Where the hell did that guy go?"

Fan Wenbin was both shocked and furious.

The tracker he had placed on Ronan had completely failed—could Rose Blood Knight have done something?

The next second, he pushed through the crowd and grabbed the equally stunned Silver Fox.

"If you dare touch a single hair on Ronan's head, I'll make your Rose Blood Knight disappear completely!"

The Maglev train raced onward, leaving the Capital Star transit station and heading for a city called Central City. It was the home base of Weird Equation, a famous team in the A3 Mecha League, and the crowds there were enormous.

That city was where Ronan had arranged to meet the seller of the wizard's manual.

He had successfully shaken off Uncle Fan and the other assassin.

That meant all the possible unexpected factors tonight should have been eliminated.

As for the Imperial Wizard Tribunal... a cold glint surfaced in Ronan's eyes.

He had not forgotten how his mother had died. If Luo Tiger had been the fire, then those black-robed monsters of the Wizard Tribunal had been the oil poured over it long ago.

What he did not know was that at the Maglev's terminal station, a girl had already been waiting for quite some time.

The dog named Shaobing lay lazily on the ground, as though it had no interest in the entire world.