Chapter 8

Xu Jintang could tell that this was directed at her.

She lowered her head awkwardly.

Of course she valued her life. Without Brother Long around, she certainly wouldn't have dared challenge demonic beasts of her own tier alone.

"Class rep, why didn't you join the winter break special training this time?" Song Duoduo asked curiously.

Xu Jintang made up an excuse. "Something else came up at the last minute, so I didn't join."

Song Duoduo didn't think much of it and soon changed the subject. "Listen, you missed so much gossip by not coming this time. You know those two who used to be super close? They fell out. You hadn't heard, right?"

Xu Jintang was startled and quickly lowered her voice to ask, "Which two?"

Song Duoduo winked and discreetly pointed toward a spot in the group. "Those two over there."

Xu Jintang looked for quite a while before finally figuring out which two she meant.

Those two had once been so close they might as well have shared a pair of pants. She hadn't expected them to fall out now.

Kids these days really knew how to make a fuss.

Having run into the special training group led by Huang Binhan, Xu Jintang had no choice but to join them for the remaining combat training in the forest.

For safety's sake, Huang Binhan assigned them to teams of five, each tasked with taking down a tier-one demonic beast together.

For students who had never encountered real demonic beasts before, this task was still fairly difficult.

But Xu Jintang thought nothing of it.

Several days later, the five members of Xu Jintang's team went all out against a tier-one Phantom Cat Demon. After a fierce struggle, Song Duoduo ultimately delivered the fatal blow.

"We did it! We really killed a demonic beast!" Song Duoduo cheered excitedly.

The other team members also cheered jubilantly at their victory.

Xu Jintang, who had barely done anything on the sidelines, quietly yawned.

That afternoon, the other teams completed their demonic beast hunting assignments one after another.

Under Xu Bohan's leadership, his team killed three tier-one demonic beasts in a row, achieving the best results in this special training session.

Huang Binhan gathered the students and stood before them to announce, "You all performed very well during this special training. There are only two days left before school starts. Get some rest, make whatever adjustments you need, and get ready for the new semester."

Song Duoduo and the others immediately stopped smiling.

At that moment, everyone remembered the academy's annual tradition: the new semester placement exam.

"We spent all winter break training, and now we have to take an exam as soon as school starts. So annoying."

Song Duoduo clutched her hair and began to lose it.

Xu Bohan, on the other hand, looked a little excited. He seemed very satisfied with the results of his winter break training.

Xu Jintang didn't dwell on it. After parting with her classmates, she returned straight to the interstellar main city.

She had spent every day of winter break in Blizzard Forest practicing combat against demonic beasts, and quite a few demonic beast cores had accumulated in her bracelet's storage space.

Have You Earned Money? currently offered a wide range of services across interstellar space, including online shopping, secondhand trading, part-time job listings, and item buybacks.

To make transactions convenient for citizens, it also had physical branches in all the major interstellar main cities. People could buy and sell items simply by bringing them into a store.

Xu Jintang picked a random Have You Earned Money? chain store and approached the demonic beast core buyback counter. "Hello, I'd like to sell cores from tier-one Flowing Fire Lizards."

Demonic beast cores contained the most concentrated essence of the energy the beasts had possessed in life.

However, because they contained dangerous toxins, humans still couldn't swallow demonic beast cores directly to increase their strength.

Only inscription masters could create amplification inscriptions to transfer the energy within the cores into inscription talismans. Ability users could then use the corresponding amplification inscriptions to obtain that energy.

Xu Jintang had far too many Flowing Fire Lizard cores piled up in her storage space. She planned to sell some first, then try making special amplification inscriptions with the rest.

The employee glanced at Xu Jintang and explained flatly, "The official buyback price is standardized. Tier-one demonic beast cores are fifty star coins each."

Tier-one demonic beast cores were too common to be worth much.

The price was reasonable enough.

Xu Jintang nodded in agreement. "I have twenty-five here."

With a sweep of her hand, a pile of demonic beast cores appeared on the counter.

The employee froze. "That many?"

He studied Xu Jintang curiously. The girl looked young. Could she have killed so many demonic beasts on her own?

But it was also possible that several people had hunted the beasts together, and this girl had simply come to sell the cores alone.

After thinking it over, the employee still considered the latter more likely.

He put away his surprised expression and began counting the cores.

"Seven hundred and fifty star coins in total. They've been transferred to your account," the employee said with a smile.

Xu Jintang checked her account balance. After confirming the amount was correct, she nodded. "All right."

Two days later.

On the day students returned to school, the girls' dormitory building at Dawn Academy began to bustle.

Laughter from the various rooms rang clearly through the corridor.

With both hands in her pockets, Xu Jintang strode toward her room.

"Class rep, have you heard? Song Tianqi is coming back to our academy this semester." Song Duoduo suddenly ran up to her.

Xu Jintang stopped and hesitated for a moment. "Wasn't he taken to a higher-tier star region to develop?"

Song Duoduo leaned close to Xu Jintang's ear and lowered her voice. "Apparently, they want him to spend a year gaining experience in a lower-tier star region before returning to Leikdasi Military Academy. The military academy seems to value him a lot. They even sent an exceptionally talented cadet back with him this time, probably to protect him."

Xu Jintang was a little surprised. "Song Tianqi was specially admitted straight into Leikdasi Military Academy?"

"Yeah. It's really beyond envy," Song Duoduo sighed. "The Federation's First Military Academy! So many people fight tooth and nail to get in and still can't. Song Tianqi has really shot to the top. I wonder just how powerful his awakened ability is."

A flicker of interest rose in Xu Jintang, and she asked the Ice Soul Dragon about it.

"Brother Long, between my ability and Song Tianqi's, which one is stronger?"

The Ice Soul Dragon gave a slightly haughty chuckle. "At the same tier, no one can defeat your Domain of Ice."

This was the innate confidence of a tier-ten divine beast.

No matter how powerful other people's abilities were, their ability manifestations were merely virtual constructs shaped by mental power.

But a real dragon lived inside Xu Jintang.

Chapter 8

Hearing Brother Long's confident reply, Xu Jintang immediately felt reassured.

"Class rep, I'll go find out more about that cadet who came back with Song Tianqi." With that, Song Duoduo ran off to gather more information and soon disappeared from sight.

Xu Jintang turned back to her room, closed the door, and sat down at her desk.

As the foremost of the five great military academies, Leikedasi had long enjoyed a widespread reputation.

It was also the dream school of countless ability users.

Reportedly, any teacher at Leikdasi Military Academy was at least a tier-seven ability user.

Its teaching capabilities and standards were also among the very best in the Interstellar Alliance.

Getting into that military academy would certainly be a tremendous help to her future cultivation.

But tens of thousands of students applied to Leikedasi every year, and only one or two hundred were ultimately admitted.

Getting into the First Military Academy was even harder than she had imagined.

Xu Jintang pressed her lips together and silently added Leikdasi Military Academy to the list of military academies she would prepare to apply to.

That afternoon, more and more students returned to school, and the dormitory building grew exceptionally lively.

Before long, Song Duoduo came running over with more information. "Class rep, I found out that the girl from Leikdasi Military Academy is called Jiang Shiyi. Apparently, she's moving into the room next to yours temporarily, and she'll also be attending classes with us for a while."

Xu Jintang was a little curious. "How strong is she?"

Song Duoduo shook her head. "I'm not sure, but she should be really strong. She's from the First Military Academy, after all."

As they chatted, a series of clatters came from outside the room.

Song Duoduo immediately ran to the door, quietly opened it a crack, and peered toward the room next door. "Class rep, come quick. Someone really is moving in."

Xu Jintang also moved over curiously and looked outside through the crack.

Two movers wearing Have You Earned Money? uniforms carried box after box into the neighboring dorm room.

A short while later, a long-haired girl dressed in black slowly approached.

Her sleek, jet-black hair gleamed, seeming to blend into her black clothes.

"That's Jiang Shiyi," Song Duoduo whispered.

Just then, Jiang Shiyi seemed to sense someone watching her. She suddenly frowned and turned to look their way.

Her calm eyes met Xu Jintang's directly.

Xu Jintang smiled, openly pushed the door wide, and greeted her. "Hello. Welcome to our academy."

Song Duoduo hurried to introduce them as well. "Hi, hi! I'm Song Duoduo from Class One, Year Two. This is our class rep, Xu Jintang."

Jiang Shiyi looked the two of them over and nodded. "Hello. My name is Jiang Shiyi."

Jiang Shiyi was clearly somewhat aloof. After exchanging greetings, the three had nothing more to say.

Xu Jintang gave a light cough and took the initiative to end the conversation. "We'll leave you to it, then. Let's talk another time."

Jiang Shiyi murmured an acknowledgment, turned, and slowly walked into the neighboring room.

The day of their return soon passed, and Class One, Year Three of Dawn Star Academy welcomed its first lesson of the semester.

Seated in the front row, Xu Jintang propped up her chin and studied Jiang Shiyi at the front of the classroom.

Jiang Lu led Jiang Shiyi to the center of the platform and began the introduction. "Jiang Shiyi is a visiting student from Leikdasi Military Academy. She'll be attending classes and studying with everyone for a while. However, she won't be participating in any of the academy's assessments during this period. Please look out for your new classmate."

Xu Jintang immediately applauded in welcome.

Jiang Shiyi looked up. Seeing that it was Xu Jintang, whom she had met yesterday, she nodded to her before continuing: