Chapter 24

Li Yang watched without blinking, ready to snatch the next one with quick eyes and hands, but...

She couldn't get one!

She couldn't get one at all!

Every time, someone claimed it before she could finish reading the task details.

"They're hard to get," a male voice beside her said. "My name is Jiang Shengchu. I'm a new student from the 01 cohort too. I can see you've already drawn Starlight into your body. Interested in taking a team task together?"

Li Yang turned and saw the student beside her.

Jiang Shengchu was quite tall, roughly as tall as Yu Hongyuan. His short hair was neat, and his features were composed and hard. He wasn't striking at first glance, but the more you looked at him, the better he looked.

"A team task?" Li Yang asked.

"Yes," Jiang Shengchu said. "It's a First Grade Low Stage task. Five people can take it, and we're one short. Want to join us?"

"What kind of task?"

"Collecting an alchemy material in the quarantine zone outside the city."

Li Yang glanced at the small screen but didn't see a similar task. Jiang Shengchu stepped forward and tapped it for her. "You can choose a category here."

Once he tapped it, Li Yang understood.

A category bar had been hidden at the side. Tapping it let her filter for team tasks.

Compared with the errand tasks everyone was fighting over, the team tasks were conspicuously neglected.

The first one already had four people signed up and needed just one more before they could take it.

Li Yang took a closer look-

Task name: Collect Star Condensation Liquid ×10.

Task difficulty: First Grade Low Stage.

Posted by: Li Yaowan (associate professor).

Task reward: 10 merit points.

Li Yang: "!"

The reward was so generous! Even split five ways, each person would get 2 merit points, or twenty thousand yuan!

Jiang Shengchu said, "The quarantine zone outside the city is two-star, but we only need to collect Star Condensation Liquid on the outskirts. We don't have to go deep inside, so it isn't very dangerous."

He might have been better off not explaining. His explanation only made Li Yang hesitate.

Li Yang had spent three days without trouble in a two-star quarantine zone during her practical exam, but for one thing, that had been an exam, with proctors watching everywhere. For another, she had the "Entry Instructions," which were basically a super guide to avoiding danger.

Without those conditions, the difficulty of a two-star quarantine zone would skyrocket. For example, if their five-person team ran into a few man-eating flowers, they'd have more than they could handle.

Li Yang didn't know Jiang Shengchu or anything about his circumstances. If she went to the quarantine zone with him just like that, what if... Well, she wouldn't play games with her own life.

"Brother Jiang, did you find someone?" Three more students squeezed over at that moment. They had all opened a Star Aperture, but only one each, and they were all looking intently at Li Yang.

Li Yang had opened three Star Apertures, but with their mental power, they couldn't see clearly. They could only sense Starlight gathering...

"Wow, you've opened two Star Apertures? That's amazing!" a short boy exclaimed at Li Yang.

Jiang Shengchu was still looking at Li Yang. "Want to join us?" he asked.

Li Yang wasn't familiar with the surroundings, and she wasn't so short of money that she had to venture deep into danger. She shook her head. "No."

The short boy immediately said, "You've opened two Star Apertures. What are you afraid of a quarantine zone for? Come on, join us! We can get used to working together and form a regular team to grind tasks later!"

Li Yang refused again. "Sorry, I don't want to leave campus for now."

The short boy said unhappily, "What's so interesting about those errand tasks? You got into the number one military academy, so don't be such a coward."

Li Yang couldn't be bothered to say any more.

Just then, the small screen flashed, and a new task popped up-

Task name: Harvest mutated wheat (one day).

Task difficulty: Gradeless.

Posted by: Si Kui (dean).

Task reward: 1 merit point.

Li Yang: "!!!"

She clicked without thinking. Just as she reached the second confirmation, Jiang Shengchu suddenly spoke up. "Don't take that task!"

Li Yang didn't listen. Afraid someone would snatch the task, she quickly clicked accept.

Jiang Shengchu: "..."

His teammates: "..."

The short boy burst out laughing. "Look, classmate, even if you don't want to team up with us and go to the quarantine zone, you don't have to put yourself through this. Did you read the task properly? It's a famous trap!"

Li Yang ignored him. Her phone chimed, and a new notification appeared in the campus app: "You have accepted the task 'Harvest mutated wheat (one day).' Please go to the Agronomy Department as soon as possible and ask for the task details."

Success!

She got it!

It really was a task from the Agronomy Department!

Li Yang couldn't contain her excitement. Oh heavens, this was wonderful! She could go harvest wheat in the Agronomy Department before she'd even chosen a department!

And she would be harvesting for a day! A whole day!

The task difficulty was Gradeless... That meant the mutated wheat was super safe, making this a super-safe task even new students who hadn't drawn Starlight into their bodies could take.

Not only that, she would be rewarded with ten thousand yuan after completing it!

It was wonderful. Li Yang wouldn't have dared dream of something so good!

Jiang Shengchu said helplessly, "Classmate, this task is a real trap. A few days ago, a new student accepted it by mistake. He spent a day harvesting wheat and was so tired he got dizzy. In the end, because he'd harvested too little wheat, it showed that his task completion was insufficient, and he only got 0.001 merit points as a reward..."

Li Yang didn't care what he said. She was in a great mood, as good as could be.

"It's fine." Li Yang gave Jiang Shengchu a radiant smile. "I really like this task."

Jiang Shengchu froze.

Several of his teammates froze too.

By the time they came to their senses, Li Yang had already left the task hall.

The short boy said awkwardly, "She really is pretty, but her brain doesn't work too well, huh..."

Chapter 24

Central Capital Academy, Agronomy Department.

He Song stood outside a secluded farmhouse courtyard and took several deep breaths before finally working up the courage to knock. "Dean Si, it's He Song."

A cool female voice came from inside. "Come in."

He Song swallowed dryly, then gently pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped inside with great care.

Before him was a small, exquisite courtyard house. The ancient buildings exuded the weight of history, while the flowers and plants growing freely in the courtyard lent a youthful color to the aged place.

To the left was a little bridge over running water. A woman who appeared to be around thirty reclined in a bamboo chair.

She wore a fitted, high-collared qipao and lounged in a relaxed pose, holding a long, slender stalk of foxtail grass in her left hand and using it to tease a Fifth Grade Blood-Devouring Lotus in the pool.

When He Song entered, the Blood-Devouring Lotus suddenly sprang up and opened its bloody maw. But the foxtail grass gave it just one light tap, and it immediately settled down, whimpering aggrievedly like a puppy.

If He Song had encountered this Blood-Devouring Lotus in the Astral Realm, he would probably have had no choice but to wait for death.

Even now, his heart was in his throat. Beads of sweat slid down his forehead, and his voice grew even drier. "Dean Si..."

This was Si Kui, dean of the Agronomy Department and one of the Grandmasters of Zhongdu Military Academy.

Si Kui glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Old Niu sent you?"

The way she addressed him made He Song's scalp tingle. He said quietly, "Director Niu asked me to... um, come ask about your plans for recruiting students this year."

Si Kui gave a cold laugh and tossed away the foxtail grass. "Say what you came to say. If you can't explain it clearly, tell Old Niu to come see me himself."

The fine sweat on He Song's forehead turned into large beads. Under the pressure of this Eighth Grade Grandmaster, his legs began trembling beyond his control.

The Old Niu Si Kui spoke of was the head of the Academic Affairs Department, a Sixth Grade Peak expert.

He was the one who had sent He Song.

The reason He Song had come wasn't that Director Niu was making things difficult for him. Rather, He Song's parents had once been soldiers under Si Kui's command and had later died fighting in the Astral Realm. Si Kui had been the one to make arrangements for the young He Song.

Although many years had passed and He Song had hardly had any contact with Si Kui, there was still that bit of personal connection between them.

Had it been anyone else, they would probably have been sent flying out of the Agronomy Department before they could even speak.

He Song was terrified too. This Grandmaster's temper was famously strange. Anyone who had spent a few years at the academy knew there were certain people they must never provoke.

Si Kui was one of them.

"Dean Si..." He Song tried to keep his voice from shaking as he said earnestly, "Director Niu means that the military academy is a place to nurture outstanding students. The Agronomy Department hasn't produced any research results or a top-hundred student in the past twenty years, so perhaps..."

Si Kui said coldly, "What? Is there no longer room for me at Zhongdu Military Academy?"

He Song's throat tightened. He said quietly, "Director Niu means that you are a Grandmaster who cultivates both mental power and Star Magic. You could become vice dean of either the Spirit Department or the Star Magic Department at any time, as long as you give up the Agronomy Department..."

Before he could finish, Si Kui shouted, "Shut up!"

He Song had already started and could only finish what he had to say. "Dean Si, you're just wasting time like this, wasting the school's resour-"

"He Song." Si Kui rose, an immense aura surrounding her. Invisible pressure spread out, turning the entire farmhouse courtyard into a land of thunder. Her voice seemed to carry the weight of a thousand tons. "I only let you in for your parents' sake. If you say one more word, don't blame me for disregarding the bond between comrades-in-arms!"

He Song jerked his head up. "Dean Si, it's been more than twenty years. They..."

"Get out!" At that furious shout, He Song felt dizzy. By the time he came to his senses, he had already flown several hundred meters and landed heavily on Zhongdu Military Academy's main road.

Just then, an aged voice sounded in his sea of consciousness. It was Director Niu of the Academic Affairs Office. "Little He, thank you for the effort. Let's leave it at that."

He Song paused, then couldn't help asking, "Director, is Central Capital really planning to shut down the Agronomy Department?"