Star Academy

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Star Academy
Alias(es)	星辰学府
Affiliation	Great Xia; Tianxing City; Tianxing Army
Occupation/Role	Elite martial arts academy and frontline defensive institution against alien demons
Status	Active
First Appearance	53

Background / History

Star Academy was established in Tianxing City, a Great Xia-built city within an Alien Demon Battlefield. Its purpose is to prevent alien demons from entering Great Xia through Tianxing City’s front; according to Elder Li, no alien demon had crossed into Great Xia through this route during the academy’s forty-five-year history 53 66.

The academy is distinct from ordinary martial arts academies: it recruits through invitations and its own assessment rather than the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam. Candidates are evaluated before the exam, invited if eligible, and must pass Star Academy’s test to enroll 53.

By the arrival of Lu Sheng’s cohort, Star Academy had recruited 288 students across forty-five years. Including its teachers and leadership, it had counted 372 members; 22 students, 36 teachers, two vice deans, and one dean had died in battle 66.

Campus and Location

Star Academy stands inside Tianxing City, one of Great Xia’s frontline cities in the Alien Demon Battlefield. Tianxing City has restricted access outside recruitment periods, generally requiring proof of identity or military orders 53 59.

• The academy entrance is marked by a crudely built gate bearing the name “Star Academy.” 57
• The campus is expansive, with numerous buildings, student residences, training facilities, and a central memorial plaza. 62 65
• Student housing costs twenty points per month, making mission points essential even for basic living arrangements. 67
• The academy possesses the Spirit Realm, a virtual-world training system capable of simulating specialized environments and training grounds. 80
• Its memorial plaza contains nineteen Golden Body statues honoring Golden Body experts who died defending Star Academy and Tianxing City. Members below the Golden Body Realm who die in battle have their remains left in the Alien Demon Battlefield. 66

Admissions

Invitation and assessment

Star Academy evaluates prospective students throughout Great Xia before the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam and sends invitation letters to those it considers qualified. An invitation does not guarantee admission; the recipient must pass the academy’s assessment 53.

• Candidates must reach Tianxing City within one month of receiving their invitation. 56
• The assessment begins upon receipt of the invitation, not at the academy gate. 56
• One initial test requires candidates to travel alone from their home region to Tianxing City. 56
• Tianxing City’s residents and Star Academy seniors may be part of the assessment, testing candidates’ judgment, awareness, resolve, and ability to resist exploitation or intimidation. 59 60
• The entrance test includes overcoming a senior student’s oppressive aura and attacks to reach the reporting point. 60 61
• Candidates who reported were later subjected to a simulated alien demon attack; those who fled were eliminated for lacking the courage required of Star Academy students. 63 65

Failure normally costs a candidate their eligibility for that year’s Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, requiring them to apply again as a repeat student. However, candidates eliminated after successfully reporting in Lu Sheng’s intake were granted exam eligibility when Elder Li submitted their names to the Martial Alliance 53 65.

Lu Sheng’s intake

Lu Sheng reached Tianxing City after traveling alone from Jiangnan City and entered the academy by forcing his way past Bai Ming’s blockade 56 62. Of the many invited candidates, only five passed the full assessment and became members of the forty-fifth cohort 65 66.

• Lu Sheng
• Long Tianxing
• Gu Yun
• Yu Qianqian
• Xia Kong

Education and Rules

Star Academy combines cultivation instruction with frontline preparation. Its students are expected to become warriors capable of defending Tianxing City and Great Xia, rather than merely academic martial artists 54 66.

Probation and dismissal

• New students undergo a one-year probationary period. 67
• In the annual assessment, the last-ranked student loses their resource privileges and mission-point rewards for the following year while still being required to complete designated academy tasks. 67
• Lan Zhan’s class must reach the Viscera Refining Realm within a year; those who fail are dismissed and have their academy records erased. 80
• Failing the Heart Questioning Steps trial results in expulsion from Star Academy and removal from its records, though the individual may choose to remain as a Tianxing City resident. 105

Points and resources

Mission reward points function as Star Academy’s internal currency. Students may exchange points for cultivation resources, martial arts, weapons, and accommodation 67.

• Every student receives ten points per month. 67
• Student accommodation costs twenty points each month. 67
• Resources are earned through missions and assignments from supervising teachers. 67
• The academy considers its resources to have been bought with the blood of previous students and teachers; new members are expected to earn their use through contribution. 67

Training

Star Academy provides personalized training programs through the Spirit Realm. Lu Sheng’s Sword Dao program included attaining Perfection in Sword Dao, comprehending Sword Qi, simulated combat, challenging the Sword Tower, and ascending Sword Mountain 81.

The academy’s training progresses toward direct experience of Tianxing City’s defensive duty. Exceptional students are sent to the Tianxing Great Wall earlier than usual, where their resolve and suitability as Star Academy members are tested 82 99 101.

Mission and Authority

Star Academy’s central mission is the defense of Tianxing City and Great Xia against alien demons. Its members are expected to be the first to resist if Great Xia faces destruction 66.

“If one day, Great Xia is on the verge of destruction, the Star people will be the first to charge!” 66

Although officially associated with the Martial Alliance, Star Academy operates with unusual autonomy within Tianxing City. The academy initiated both Tianxing City and the Tianxing Army; within the city, Star Academy’s directives are supreme unless a Great Xia Ten Saint intervenes 105.

• Students above the Viscera Refining Realm can be mobilized for urgent missions to the Tianxing Great Wall. 111
• The academy’s combat squads undertake missions against alien demons on the battlefield and Demonic Cult forces within Great Xia. 121
• Combat squads are directly managed by Star Academy and are regarded as mobile frontline forces. 121
• The Star Order is Star Academy’s highest authority; when issued, both the Martial Alliance and military must support it. 118

Key Personnel

Individual	Position / Connection
Lin Xuan	Fourth-generation Dean of Star Academy; issued a Star Order to exterminate the Demonic Cult after the attack on the academy 96 118
Elder Li	Senior academy authority who oversees admissions, explains the academy’s mission, and guides training decisions 65 66 82
Lan Zhan	Great Xia Sword Saint and teacher of Lu Sheng’s five-person cohort 69
Zhang Tianfang	Member of the forty-third cohort; assisted with admissions and later defended the academy during the Demonic Cult attack 65 113
Bai Ming	Top student of the forty-fourth cohort; served as a gate assessor and defended the academy against Demonic Cult attackers 60 113
Wang Mu	Former member of the thirty-fifth cohort who betrayed Star Academy and later threatened to unseal a suppressed Demon Venerable 116
Xu Changqing	Star Academy’s thirty-third student; died delaying Wang Mu during the attack on the academy 78 118

Story Role / Major Arcs

Lu Sheng’s recruitment

Kong Xin recommends Star Academy to Lu Sheng after revealing its location and dangerous purpose. Lu Sheng chooses to pursue admission after reflecting on the alien demon threat and his responsibility to defend Great Xia 53 54.

Lu Sheng receives the academy’s star-marked invitation card and must travel alone to Tianxing City. He passes the entrance blockade, survives the staged Beast Demon incident, and becomes one of only five admitted students 56 62 65.

Forty-fifth cohort training

Star Academy places Lu Sheng’s cohort under Lan Zhan, introduces its probationary rules and points system, and subjects the students to specialized Spirit Realm training. Lu Sheng completes his first training stage in seventeen days, breaking the academy record 67 80 96.

The cohort later undergoes the Tianxing Great Wall trial, where students confront the responsibility inherent in Star Academy’s mission 99 101 104.

Demonic Cult assault

During an alien demon emergency, most of Star Academy’s stronger members deploy to the Tianxing Great Wall. Demonic Cult members exploit the reduced defenses and attack the academy, but its students and remaining seniors defend the entrance 111 112.

Bai Ming and Zhang Tianfang fight Bone Forging Realm attackers, while Lu Sheng’s cohort faces multiple Demonic Cult martial artists. Xu Changqing intervenes to protect the academy but dies confronting the traitor Wang Mu 113 116 118.

Following the attack, Lin Xuan issues a Star Order ordering the extermination of the Demonic Cult, triggering a Great Xia-wide crackdown 118.

Combat squad training

The forty-fifth cohort’s third training phase assigns its members to combat squads. Lu Sheng is initially assigned to the elite Night Owl squad, though he later refuses the placement and Lin Xuan directs Ye Ying to drop the matter 110 121 125.

Trivia

• Star Academy once had an intake year in which no candidate passed its assessment and no students were admitted. 65
• Another year saw no Star Academy students graduate alive. 54
• Graduates who survive Star Academy commonly become high-ranking Great Xia officials or powerful martial artists, forming part of the nation’s defensive backbone. 54
• The academy’s forty-fifth cohort is also the forty-fifth batch of students since its founding. 66