Chapter 19 (continued)

Li Yang closed her eyes again and entered a meditative state to examine the Star Apertures in her body. There had been only one point of starlight before, but now there were two. The first was much brighter, while the second was comparatively dim.

"I see." Li Yang understood now. "An ordinary person's physique maxes out at 95. Only after drawing a star into the body can they hold more power, and one Star Aperture holds roughly 100 points of physique."

Thinking about it that way, Li Yang also understood the logic behind Star Wielders' cultivation.

First, they drew stars into their bodies to fill their Star Apertures. As the apertures filled, their physique continued to grow...

For now, Li Yang only knew the physique range for a First-Grade Star Bearer: roughly 100 to 500 points.

That meant she counted as a Star Wielder now, right?

For a Star Wielder, 120 physique points were nothing. Li Yang felt she could grind it up a little further.

Lifespan was important, of course, but strength was crucial too.

This world was far from peaceful. Only when she was strong would her lifespan count as time she could actually live.

Li Yang was just about to spend some lifespan when she remembered that she still had Star-Attracting Pills.

These pills were an important cultivation resource for Star Wielders!

The system had also said there was "too little Starlight." If she took a Star-Attracting Pill, would her physique increase more?

Li Yang took out a Grade One High Stage Star-Attracting Pill and hesitated. "A hundred and fifty thousand..."

Oh well. Only what she ate was truly hers.

Wasn't earning money all about spending it on herself?

Li Yang steeled herself and swallowed the hundred and fifty thousand.

The Star-Attracting Pill tasted pretty good, with a fresh fragrance and a sweet, slightly astringent flavor. As soon as she swallowed it, Starlight filled her body.

Li Yang hurriedly began meditating and easily drew the densely packed Starlight into her second Star Aperture.

When she opened her eyes, she found that her physique had risen to 130.

Uh...

She hadn't even had time to burn lifespan yet!

Li Yang added, "Spend one year of lifespan to increase my physique."

[You cultivated in seclusion for one year. Because there was too little Starlight around you and you had too few Star Apertures, your physique increased to 155.]

Li Yang: "..."

Did this mean she couldn't pop pills and burn lifespan at the same time?

One Star-Attracting Pill had only raised her physique by 10 points. That was less than burning a year of her life!

But hadn't Zhong Kun said those four Star-Attracting Pills would last her until Grade One High Stage?

Was she using it wrong?

Or was her constitution special, making it unsuitable for popping pills?

Li Yang's heart clenched with pain. Come on... a hundred and fifty thousand! Gone in a single gulp!

In the provincial capital, at the Zhong Family residence.

Zhong Kun let out an enormous sneeze. "Who's talking smack about me?"

It couldn't be Li Yang, could it?

He'd given her everything he was supposed to. She'd better not be talking smack about him!

Zhong Kun thought it over carefully and decided he had done nothing to wrong Li Yang. He had even kindly told her not to use the Star-Attracting Pills yet.

In a backwater like Huangcheng, taking any number of Star-Attracting Pills would be a waste. There was hardly any Starlight around to gather.

Star-Attracting Pills only worked when taken in an isolation zone or the Astral Realm.

But Zhong Kun didn't dwell on it. He didn't think Li Yang would take a Star-Attracting Pill.

Drawing a star into the body was difficult. No matter how gifted she was, it would take two or three months.

Zhong Kun was also trying to draw a star into his body. He had no choice: his base physique had reached its limit at 84, and no matter what he tried, he couldn't raise it any higher.

Base physique affected the power of one's Star Apertures later on.

For example, with Zhong Kun's 84 points, once he opened his Star Apertures, he would be able to use no more than 80 to 84 percent of their power.

Li Yang, on the other hand, was a woman who had reached the physique limit, so she could consistently use 90 to 95 percent of her Star Apertures' power.

At first glance, the gap didn't seem that large, but the higher a Star Wielder's grade, the more terrifying the difference would become.

For example, if their Star Apertures' power reached 10,000 points, that 10 percent gap would be absolutely deadly.

And Zhong Kun was already a scion of a prominent family who had been popping pills since childhood. Many ordinary Star Wielders began drawing stars into their bodies with less than 70 points of base physique.

The gap later on would be outrageously large. That was why the great families were so determined to raise their descendants' base physique.

Of course, once someone turned 18, their base physique was set, and raising it any further was practically impossible.

Zhong Kun gathered his thoughts and meditated, muttering inwardly, Just you wait, you big liar. I'll scare you to death when school starts!

There were fewer than three months left before enrollment.

Li Yang might not manage to draw a star into her body, while he, Zhong Kun, would successfully open his second Star Aperture and raise his physique to at least 150!

This was probably his only chance to surpass Li Yang.

He had to seize it and put on one hell of a show when the time came!

Li Yang put away the Star-Attracting Pills. She didn't want to waste any more money.

Her life was important, of course, but she could earn more "life."

There were vast fields of wheat in the agronomy department waiting for her to harvest. There was no need to waste cold, hard cash here.

If it weren't awkward to tell Fang Chuyun, she would have wanted to sell all the Star-Attracting Pills for cash.

Li Yang took a deep breath and obediently went back to burning lifespan.

Ever since she had drawn a star into her body, her physique had increased much more steadily than before, by around 25 points a year. But after her physique reached 200... a new note appeared on the system panel.

Note 3: Star Aperture limit reached. Please find an opportunity to break through.

Stuck again.

Li Yang closed her eyes and examined her body. She had two thoroughly filled Star Apertures, both hanging full to the brim by her heart.

How was she supposed to open a third Star Aperture?

Li Yang opened the Basic Star-Wielding Cultivation Technique again and read it carefully. The technique not only aided cultivation but also included some general information.

As she read, Li Yang more or less understood...

She had hit a bottleneck.

She was now a proper First Grade Low Stage Star Wielder, but opening a third Star Aperture required an opportunity. That opportunity could be a fight against someone at the same stage, or she could take a Realm-Breaking Pill.

Once she opened three Star Apertures, she would be a First Grade Middle Stage Star Wielder.

Li Yang had no interest in fighting. She just wanted to save up for a Realm-Breaking Pill.

It shouldn't be too expensive, right?

Once she got to the Central Capital, she would first look for a way to resell the Star-Attracting Pills and make some money.

Li Yang was very satisfied with her 200 physique points. She felt that if she faced the Four-Leaf Clover again, she could chop it down in just ten minutes!

Hmm, looking at it that way, teaching assistant He Song really was impressive. He only needed two slashes.

His physique must have been at least 1,000!

Now that her physique was up, she couldn't let her spirit lag behind. Li Yang began burning lifespan to raise her spirit as well.

Unlike physique, spirit rose by only 10 points after she burned a year of lifespan.

Li Yang gritted her teeth and poured in a full 10 years, forcing her spirit up to 200.

Sure enough, because she only had two Star Apertures, her spirit also got stuck at 200.

Li Yang looked at her current system panel-

Name: Li Yang

Lifespan: 8 years/100 years

Physique: 200

Spirit: 200

Star Apertures: 2 (100%)

Cultivation technique: Basic Star-Wielding Cultivation Technique (100%)

Pills: Star-Attracting Pill (can be improved)

Note 1: Only 8 years of lifespan remain. Please harvest plants as soon as possible to obtain lifespan.

Note 2: The Star-Attracting Pill contains too many impurities. It is recommended that you spend lifespan to purify it.

Note 3: Star Aperture limit reached. Please find an opportunity to break through.

Although she only had eight years of lifespan left, Li Yang felt refreshed and invigorated. Not only was her body brimming with strength, but raising her spirit had also brought a qualitative change to her memory.

She only had to glance at Three Years of College Entrance Exams, Five Years of Practice Tests on her desk to memorize almost all of it.

What was more, when she looked at the Star-Attracting Pills again, she could judge their grades more clearly.

When she concentrated fully, she could even faintly make out the Starlight in the air.

"There's so little..." Li Yang murmured.

There was very little Starlight in Huangcheng, but that wasn't a bad thing.

Starlight could help Star Wielders advance, but it also spawned mutated creatures. So for the busy ordinary people, less Starlight meant peace and stability.

The next morning, Yu Hongyuan came knocking bright and early.

Li Yang had only slept for two hours, but she was full of energy and in better shape than Yu Hongyuan, who had slept for eight.

Yu Hongyuan had long since shed his former arrogance. He smiled rather obsequiously. "Li Yang, let's go get tutored in our academic subjects!"

They had all passed the practical exam, but their academic subjects were important too. If they failed to meet the standard, they would still miss out on the top military academies.

Huangcheng No. 1 High School had specifically hired an expert teacher to tutor the three of them, afraid that any mishap might affect their admission.

Yu Hongyuan had his own little reason for being so eager to find Li Yang.

He had already decided he was her underling, and he genuinely admired her physique.

But!

Li Yang wasn't good at her academic subjects.

She had even taken half a year off school and fallen behind in a lot of classes, so she had to be doing even worse.

He wanted to tutor Li Yang. He really, really wanted to.

That was why he had come rushing over early in the morning.

Yu Hongyuan wanted to get ahead of Fang Chuyun and have the pleasure of tutoring the provincial top scorer first!

Yet just three days later, Yu Hongyuan was ready to drop to his knees and call her a study god.

In Huangcheng No. 1 High School's academic mock exam, Li Yang had placed first in the entire school, crushing Yu Hongyuan!

Yu Hongyuan held his exam paper, his face full of disbelief. "How is this possible?!"

Fang Chuyun said calmly, "You idiot, her spirit went through a second growth too. Li Yang has at least 90 spirit points now. Learning this little bit is like child's play to her."

That was the difference information made.

Fang Chuyun might not have been a scion of a prominent family, but with a third-grade elder sister and a fifth-grade father, she knew a great deal about Star Wielders.