Endure in Silence, or Kill His Whole Family

The Starry Sky Temple would open in three days.

Over those three days, Jiang Chuan familiarized himself with the various facilities of the Darkstar Institute.

Training grounds,

libraries,

material warehouses,

weapons vaults—everything was available.

What pleased him most was the cafeteria. Its ingredients were all high-tier spirit beast meat imported from the territories of other races. Not only was it delicious, but it also came with all sorts of miraculous bonuses.

Of course, enjoying those things required Stellar Crown Academy's exclusive academy points.

Academy points could be earned by completing missions.

In this regard,

even Jiang Chuan, with his SSS-rank talent, received no special treatment.

Shen Zhiyi's explanation was perfectly reasonable. The academy was a place to nurture talent, not a place for him to lie around and become useless.

Even with an SSS-rank talent, he had to earn his own meals.

However, Jiang Chuan needed to provide research samples to the Starsea Institute.

That counted as a part-time job.

And it was an extremely well-paid one. The academy points he earned were more than enough for him to spend freely.

Another thing happened during those three days—Ling Aoshuang's SS-rank talent was detected, and she was specially recruited into the Darkstar Institute as well.

She had awakened in the same batch as Jiang Chuan, and her level was currently stuck at ten too.

Perfect.

She could enter the Starry Sky Temple with him.

Three days later.

The day the Starry Sky Temple opened.

Before dawn had even broken, Shen Zhiyi dragged Jiang Chuan out of bed.

She handed him a set of black combat clothes. The material felt like silk, but it was surprisingly heavy in his hands.

"Armor made from the hide of an eighth-tier spirit beast. Ordinary attacks won't pierce it."

Shen Zhiyi stood with her back to him, her voice cold. "Put it on."

Jiang Chuan did not waste time. He quickly pulled on the combat suit. It fit perfectly, as though it had been custom-made for him.

"Let's go."

Shen Zhiyi led him and Ling Aoshuang through the underground passage beneath Darkstar Tower, arriving before a massive teleportation array.

All the array's runes had already lit up. Pale blue light filled the entire hall, making it resemble the deep sea.

"This teleportation array will send you directly to the outer region of the Starry Sky Temple."

Shen Zhiyi's tone turned serious. "Once the temple opens, you will have seven days to explore. Seven days later, the teleportation array will activate again and bring you back. But if you fail to reach the teleportation point in time, you'll have to remain inside for an entire year!"

"Understood."

Jiang Chuan nodded.

"One more thing." Shen Zhiyi glanced at Ling Aoshuang. "Do not trust anyone inside. Humans will still draw blades against one another in order to fight for inheritances. The only people you can trust are yourselves!"

"Go."

The two stepped into the teleportation array, and the blue light surged.

When the light faded,

Jiang Chuan found himself standing in an enormous plaza.

More than a hundred people had already gathered there. They were all around sixteen or seventeen years old, standing in small groups and speaking in low voices.

They wore different clothes. Some had Stellar Crown Academy badges pinned to their chests, while others wore family crests in vastly different styles.

Jiang Chuan and Ling Aoshuang wore only the badges of ordinary students on their chests.

This was for their protection.

Even within the academy, the members of the Darkstar Institute were not publicly announced. They were trained in secret to prevent assassinations by other races.

After all, no matter how thorough Shen Zhiyi's protection was, there would always be moments of carelessness. A thief could not be guarded against for a thousand days.

Jiang Chuan swept his gaze over the crowd and understood the situation.

These were the finest talents of the human race's younger generation. Every one of them had passed through layers of selection to earn the right to enter the Starry Sky Temple.

They had only one goal: complete their Sublimation class advancement within the temple and become the future pillars of the human race.

Among the crowd, several groups clearly carried themselves differently from the rest.

On the eastern side of the plaza, a youth in golden armor was surrounded by seven or eight people.

He was tall and handsome, his chin slightly raised as he looked down on everyone around him. A golden Stellar Crown badge was pinned to his chest—the mark of an S-rank talent.

On the western side of the plaza, a youth in a cyan robe sat cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed, resting quietly. There were also quite a few people around him, but they were noticeably quieter than the group around the youth in golden armor.

At the center of the plaza, even more people had gathered together. Several outstanding young talents stood within that circle, all of them bearing extraordinary poise.

Jiang Chuan merely gave them a cursory glance.

To him,

these human talents were not his main competitors.

Because the places he intended to go were perilous lands these people would never dare set foot in.

Jiang Chuan did not notice that someone in the crowd had spotted him. Her smile froze, and she quickly lowered her head.

It was Su Yao.

Relying on her A-rank talent and pretty appearance, she had stood out among the new students.

She had caught the eye of a young man from a prominent family and entered a top-tier circle of wealth and power.

She was doing fairly well now.

Someone noticed her strange reaction. A youth asked curiously, "What's wrong, Yaoyao?"

"Nothing... nothing."

Su Yao did her best to hide it. "I saw a friend I used to know."

Following Su Yao's gaze, the youth saw Jiang Chuan. His eyes lingered on him for a few seconds, and a trace of contempt flashed through them.

Cheap, unidentifiable equipment.

No family crest.

He was obviously someone who had come to try his luck.

People like that were only worthy of serving as cannon fodder to scout the first floor for them.

He withdrew his gaze and reminded her in an even tone, "Yaoyao, now that you've entered our circle, don't keep in touch with those poor friends of yours. You wouldn't want to make Young Master Li unhappy."

Poor friends...

Bitterness welled up in Su Yao's heart.

Because of the confidentiality agreement, she could not reveal Jiang Chuan's SSS-rank talent in public.

But compared to his current status, she was probably the poor one... perhaps she did not even count as a friend anymore.

With the opening of the Starry Sky Temple drawing near, more and more people gathered in the plaza.

The few geniuses with S-rank talents naturally became the center of attention.

The tall youth in golden armor was the first to speak. His voice was booming, filled with unquestionable confidence. "Everyone, I am Chu Minghui, an S-rank warrior. The first floor of the temple is filled with low-tier alien hunting parties. Going alone is simply seeking death. I still need a few scouts on my side. Anyone willing to join, I guarantee that I'll lead you all to a satisfactory inheritance!"

Among the group in the center, a handsome youth also spoke calmly. "I am Li Chenfeng, with an S-rank archer talent. My team still has three openings. I require scouting talents of B-rank or above. As long as you obey orders, that will do."

Whispers immediately rose throughout the plaza.

The Chu Family,

the Li Family,

both were illustrious top-tier families in Skywatch City.

Though everyone knew exactly what they were thinking—they merely wanted to recruit cannon fodder to charge into danger for them—

what Chu Minghui said was also true.

After entering the temple,

they could encounter professionals from other races at any time.

The Blood Cat and Corpse Hound races in particular, in order to fundamentally weaken humanity's strength, specifically targeted humans for slaughter. If one ran into them alone, there might not even be a chance to escape.

Quite a few lone professionals exchanged looks.

They hesitated over which side to join.

The youth who had lectured Su Yao earlier looked around, then suddenly fixed his eyes on Jiang Chuan. A teasing smile curled across his lips. "Hey, you two, what are you standing around for? Didn't you hear Young Master Li recruiting? Miss this chance, and there won't be another!"

The moment Su Yao heard this, her heart tightened. Instinctively, she hid behind the crowd.

Jiang Chuan glanced at him.

He said nothing.

Seeing his attitude, the youth became even more worked up. "What, you're still being picky? Judging by your badges, you should be freshmen from Stellar Crown Academy this year too. Having Young Master Li lead you to an inheritance is your good fortune. Don't be so ungrateful!"

Ling Aoshuang's eyes turned cold as she was about to speak, but Jiang Chuan pressed down on her wrist and calmly uttered three words:

"Not interested."

His voice was not loud, but it was just enough for everyone nearby to hear.

Li Chenfeng frowned and turned his gaze toward them. When he saw Ling Aoshuang's face clearly, a flash of admiration passed through his eyes, though he did not show it too obviously.

The youth reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, jumping up as he shouted, "Not interested? Who the hell do you think you are! Young Master Li is giving you a chance because he thinks highly of you, and you're putting on airs? Bah! Once we enter the temple, don't come crying and begging us to take you along!"

Jiang Chuan finally gave him a direct look. His gaze was overly calm, as though he were looking at a stone by the roadside.

"Are you done?"

The youth choked at his reaction and was about to curse again when Li Chenfeng suddenly spoke from the side. "Forget it, Wang Tong. Everyone has their own ambitions. You can't stop someone determined to die."

Only then did the youth called Wang Tong shut up resentfully. Before leaving, he did not forget to throw out a final, "You don't know what's good for you."

Jiang Chuan withdrew his gaze, too lazy to bother with him.

Coldness churned in Ling Aoshuang's eyes as she whispered beside Jiang Chuan, "Master, once we enter the temple, should we teach them a lesson?"

Jiang Chuan shook his head slightly and imparted some experience to her. "Teaching them a lesson will make enemies. Making enemies brings trouble. If you want to avoid trouble, you have to silence them forever... There are too many people watching here, so it isn't convenient to silence them. Don't bother arguing with them."

Ling Aoshuang fell into thought upon hearing that.

"Let's go. The teleportation array is about to activate."

Jiang Chuan strode forward.