Chapter 18 (continued)

Li Yang was amused by what she read. She set down the envelope, picked up her phone, and checked her bank balance... Oh wow, there really was an extra fifty thousand yuan in it.

As for how Zhong Kun knew her bank account details... Well, that wasn't hard. She was a low-income student at Huangcheng No. 1 High School; Zhong Kun only had to do a little digging to find them.

After all that wailing, Zhong Kun had also written her a long, serious passage-

[Don't use the Star-Attracting Pill yet. It's for cultivation after you become a Star Wielder. Of course, if you need money, you can sell it instead, but remember, this is a Grade One High Stage Star-Attracting Pill. The market price is at least 150,000 yuan a pill, so don't sell it as a low-stage one.]

[You can take a look at that "Basic Star-Wielding Cultivation Technique" beforehand. Normally, people don't draw stars into their bodies until they turn eighteen, but you're different... You've already reached the Limit Physique. Aaaaah, you terrifying woman, aaaaah, you actually reached the Limit Physique! Fine, I guess it's not so embarrassing that my brother lost to you. He's full of fighting spirit now... Ahem, I'm getting sidetracked. Anyway, you can try drawing stars into your body now. I'm guessing nobody's taught you, either? So I'm giving you a cultivation technique handed down through the Zhong Family! All right, actually, everyone in Huaxia uses this same one. I won't lie to you anymore. See how honest I am? I never lie to you! You big liar!]

There was nothing useful after that. The rest was packed with "big liar" over and over, and Li Yang pretended she hadn't seen any of it.

Where had this big liar come from?

She was an honest person.

Li Yang put down the envelope and picked up the "Basic Star-Wielding Cultivation Technique." She gave it a quick flip. She recognized every character, but put together, they filled her head with question marks.

"Meditate... breathe... sense Starlight... become aware of the Star Apertures..." Li Yang tried following the instructions in the book.

Nothing happened.

The meditation step alone was hard enough.

Bang, bang, bang.

Someone was knocking at the door.

Li Yang looked through the peephole and saw who it was-Fang Chuyun.

Fang Chuyun had already messaged Li Yang to say she would come over shortly, though she had arrived quite quickly. Li Yang tidied away the Star-Attracting Pill and the cultivation technique, then got up to let her in.

When the door opened, Fang Chuyun looked as cool and aloof as ever. She was tall, and standing there, she looked as though she might bump her head on the doorframe.

"Come in..." Li Yang had barely finished speaking when she got a fright.

With a flourish, Fang Chuyun pulled an enormous bouquet of flowers from behind her back.

Li Yang had noticed something behind her earlier, but she really hadn't seen what it was.

Now the enormous bouquet was thrust in front of her, almost filling the hallway.

The flowers were pink and blue hyacinths, quite beautiful, with a card beside them that read: 380 hyacinths, wishing you a triumphant return.

Li Yang: "..."

What surprised her even more was still to come. A little figure with a blank face poked its head out from among the hyacinths and said, "Total score: 380 points. First place in Donghua Province. Congratulations to student Li Yang on your triumphant return!"

The little figure kept repeating itself. The hyacinths were clustered together in bunches, and paired with the cool-faced

mature beauty

holding the enormous bouquet... Li Yang couldn't help it. She burst out laughing.

She couldn't take it. The contrast was too great.

What had happened to the cool, aloof goddess? How was she getting more and more adorably silly?

Fang Chuyun said, "Hyacinths mean victory in the language of flowers."

Warmth filled Li Yang's heart, and she smiled. "Thank you."

She took the enormous bouquet and welcomed Fang Chuyun inside.

Fang Chuyun had brought more than flowers. She also pulled a small book from her schoolbag and said, "This is the 'Basic Star-Wielding Cultivation Technique.' You've already reached the Limit Physique, and my dad said you can try drawing stars into your body."

At that, Li Yang grew serious. She had really wanted to know more about the subject, but she couldn't find anything online, and there was no suitable person to ask. Zhong Kun had mentioned it in his letter, but he had been rather vague.

Fang Chuyun's father, Fang Xiyuan, was an important figure in Huangcheng City, a Fifth Grade Star Wielder.

Even in the provincial capital, let alone Huangcheng, a Fifth Grade Star Wielder carried considerable weight. Lin Yunshu, the chief examiner for this practical exam, was a Fifth Grade Star Wielder too, for example.

Fang Xiyuan, however, seemed to be only at the Fifth Grade Initial Stage, while Lin Yunshu had reached the Fifth Grade Peak.

Whether at the Fifth Grade High Stage or a low stage, they were all far beyond the reach of a Gradeless high school student like Li Yang.

Li Yang looked at the "Basic Star-Wielding Cultivation Technique" Fang Chuyun held out and said, "Actually, I already have a copy."

Fang Chuyun said, "Did you buy it yourself? You shouldn't just read any random one. There are lots of counterfeit, shoddy basic cultivation techniques on the market. If you cultivate them carelessly, you could damage your foundation."

Li Yang answered truthfully, "I didn't buy it myself. Zhong Kun mailed it to me from the provincial capital."

There was no reason she couldn't say that, and it wouldn't reveal the little secret Zhong Kun had asked her to keep. She added, "I met Zhong Kun during the practical exam. It was only later that I found out he was Zhong Qian's younger brother."

Realization dawned on Fang Chuyun. "Someone from the Zhong Family..."

She didn't think much of it and simply said, "Then it's fine. These are all standard editions. Once we get to school, they'll be handed out to everyone anyway."

Li Yang nodded, looked at her, and said, "I flipped through it just now, and I was a little confused."

Fang Chuyun said, "It's all right. This stuff is hard to learn in the first place; it takes time to comprehend. Even when we get to military academy, we'll spend most of our time studying on our own. My dad's point was that since you've already reached the Limit Physique, you shouldn't waste these next few months. Comprehend as much as you can."

Li Yang listened in bewilderment and asked, "Won't the teachers at the military academy teach us?" Why would they still have to study on their own?

"It doesn't make much difference. The teachers at military academy do give classes, but really, they're the same as what's written in the book. You just have to follow the instructions. It's like improving our physique stat. Everyone knows that eating regularly and exercising diligently will improve your physique, and a teacher's role is just to keep you at it. For the most part, you still have to rely on yourself."

"So that's how it is..." Li Yang asked curiously, "Then why go to all the trouble of getting into a military academy?"

"Resources." Fang Chuyun explained, "You'll understand once you become a Star Wielder. Advancing each stage takes a huge amount of resources, and once you become a military academy student, you get the basic resources allocated by the school. There are other ways to earn resources at school too... In short, there are lots of benefits to getting into a military academy. The teaching side of things is comparatively less important."

Li Yang understood the gist of it.

She recalled what Assistant Instructor He Song had said: there were all kinds of bounty missions at military academy that not only trained the students' abilities but also let them earn bounty money.

Only with money could they buy the resources they needed.

Take the Star-Attracting Pill, for instance...

Even the most ordinary one cost a hundred thousand yuan. That was far too expensive for ordinary people; they really couldn't afford it.

"By the way..." Li Yang cleared her throat and added, "Zhong Kun gave me a Star-Attracting Pill. I don't know what it's used for."

Fang Chuyun was straightforward. She immediately asked, "Is the Zhong Family trying to recruit you?"

Li Yang: "..."

Fang Chuyun said seriously, "Li Yang, you have a great future ahead of you. Don't choose a prominent family to pledge your loyalty to so easily. The Zhong Family may be well regarded in Donghua Province, but it's nothing much in the whole of Huaxia. Once you get to the Central Capital, you'll have more and better choices!"

Li Yang understood what Fang Chuyun meant and smiled. "No, it's just a personal matter between Zhong Kun and me. I helped him deal with a mutated plant during the practical exam, and he didn't want to owe me a favor, so he gave me a Star-Attracting Pill."

Fang Chuyun breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."

Li Yang added, "Besides, I'm just a student who hasn't even drawn stars into her body. The Zhong Family might not think much of me."

But Fang Chuyun said, "The Limit Physique is very rare. Even the major prominent families can barely manage to raise one or two people to it each year."

Li Yang smiled and hit the nail on the head. "But my surname isn't Zhong."

Fang Chuyun paused. "That's true. Families like the Zhong Family place great importance on passing down their own family's legacy. They wouldn't go so far as to train someone with a different surname from scratch."

Fang Chuyun was young after all, while Li Yang saw things more clearly.

This so-called Limit Physique was like getting a perfect score on the college entrance exam in her previous life.

Granted, a perfect score was rare. Anyone who achieved it would be reported on and become famous, and they were unquestionably an outstanding prospect.

But no matter how outstanding they were, their futures were still uncertain. At least, no "major company" would start signing contracts with them as soon as the college entrance exam was over.

Li Yang steered the conversation back. "Can the Star-Attracting Pill only be used after becoming a Star Wielder?"

Fang Chuyun said, "Yes. Only after drawing stars into your body can you use the pill without wasting it."

"Going by the name, does it attract Starlight?"

"More or less. It's also one of the important resources we'll need after becoming Star Wielders. Without the aid of Star-Attracting Pills, cultivation will be very slow."

"Ahem..." A thought stirred in Li Yang's mind, and she volunteered, "Zhong Kun said the Star-Attracting Pill he gave me was very good quality, much better than the ones on the market. I was thinking..."

Fang Chuyun knew Li Yang's situation. She was short of money, and the scholarships from the city and provincial capital would only be distributed gradually after the academic exams.

"You want to sell it for money?"

Li Yang took out the Second Grade Star-Attracting Pill. "Yes, but I don't have any connections."

Fang Chuyun's spirit stat was quite high too. On top of that, her older sister Fang Suyun ran a pill company, and Fang Chuyun had learned a little from her, so she recognized it at a glance.

"This Star-Attracting Pill is at least Second Grade!" Fang Chuyun said at once. "First Grade Star-Attracting Pills generally go for 100,000 to 150,000 yuan. A Second Grade Low Stage one is worth at least 250,000."

Li Yang: "!" Second Grade pills were worth that much?

Then another thought struck her, and she sighed.

Ordinary people really couldn't afford to become Star Wielders.

Cultivation depended on Star-Attracting Pills, and from what Zhong Kun had said, she would need at least four to cultivate from the First Grade Low Stage to the Grade One High Stage. Didn't that mean it would cost a million yuan at the very least?

Li Yang looked at Fang Chuyun and asked tentatively, "Do you want this Star-Attracting Pill?"

"Sure. Sell it to me," Fang Chuyun said. She would need it eventually anyway, and this Second Grade Star-Attracting Pill looked to be of very good quality. After all, it had been circulated within the Zhong Family.