Chapter 26

Those 100 years had come easily, but they had gone just as quickly.

In the blink of an eye, she had only 18 years left.

Li Yang activated the Star Skill Hidden Shadow again, wanting to see how the second-tier Star Skill had changed.

The most obvious difference was the Starlight consumption, which was much lower than at the first tier. Before, Li Yang had felt she could maintain Hidden Shadow for five or six minutes at most. Now... half an hour was the bare minimum.

With a ding, the system displayed a line of text: [Second-tier Star Skill detected. A new function will soon be unlocked.]

Another new function!

Li Yang actually felt that the decades she had spent hadn't been wasted.

The system lit up again, and a new option appeared on the system panel-

Star Skill appraisal.

The option was unusual. Unlike the previous ones, it wasn't listed under her personal information, but had a separate section beside it.

Li Yang silently said, Star Skill appraisal.

The screen switched to a new page.

Its title was Star Skill Appraisal.

There were two small icons below it, each bearing the name of a Star Skill.

The first was Fist Burst, and the second was Hidden Shadow.

"And then?" Li Yang tried saying, "Appraise Star Skill: Fist Burst."

System: [Spend one year of lifespan to appraise the Star Skill Fist Burst?]

Li Yang: "..." You really can come up with all sorts of ways to swindle me out of my lifespan!

She wasn't about to waste a year of her life on Fist Burst. Li Yang said again, "Appraise Star Skill: Hidden Shadow."

The system asked again: [Spend one year of lifespan to appraise the Star Skill Hidden Shadow?]

Li Yang gritted her teeth. "Yes."

Before long, the system displayed the following information-

Star Skill name: Hidden Shadow.

Star Skill tier: Second tier.

First-tier effect: Upon use, enters the "stealth" state. This state requires the power of Starlight to maintain; if Starlight is insufficient, the "stealth" state will be lost. It can effectively evade probes from seas of consciousness with Spirit Points three times higher than the user's.

Second-tier effect: Upon use, enters the "harmless" state. This state can conceal the number of Star Apertures; the Starlight within the concealed Star Apertures can still be used. It can effectively evade probes from seas of consciousness with Spirit Points ten times higher than the user's.

Li Yang's eyes lit up as she read. That year had been well spent; it had helped her understand the Star Skill's effects.

So that was how it worked...

The "stealth" state was tied to her Spirit Points. In other words, she could now evade the probes of Star Wielders with roughly 900 Spirit Points.

The second-tier effect was undoubtedly what delighted Li Yang most. She pondered, ...Does concealing a Star Aperture consume much?

Li Yang gave it a try. The third Star Aperture in her body turned into a cloud of thick mist and vanished from her heart.

Never mind anyone else-even she couldn't see it anymore.

How amazing!

Li Yang checked and found that she needed only a tiny amount of Starlight to maintain the "harmless" state.

Her Star Apertures were already absorbing Starlight from their surroundings at a slow pace. What they absorbed was roughly enough to cover the consumption of the "harmless" state, which meant... Li Yang could maintain it indefinitely.

What use was the "harmless" state?

It was incredibly useful!

Leaving aside how it could make people lower their guard in a fight, Li Yang could now try to break through with this "harmless" state.

Opening her Star Apertures too quickly had made Li Yang uneasy.

What if someone with ulterior motives noticed her, thought something was wrong with her, and dragged her off to be sliced up for research? She had hardly any ability to protect herself right now.

Now that she had the "harmless" state, Li Yang could quietly develop her strength.

Li Yang's current Spirit Points were 300, so ten times that was 3,000 points... What kind of expert would that take? Maybe a sixth-grade or even a seventh-grade one!

As long as Li Yang stayed put in the agronomy department, she certainly wouldn't run into an expert like that anytime soon.

"Breaking through is the most urgent thing." Li Yang couldn't sit still any longer. She wanted to visit the trading center that very night and try to buy a Realm-Breaking Pill.

She still had 400,000 in scholarship money. Converted into Merit Points, that was 40 points. That should be enough to buy a Realm-Breaking Pill, right?

If she couldn't afford one, she still had a Star-Attracting Pill and an Aperture Stabilizing Pill. After purifying them, she should be able to sell them for a good price!

In any case, she would check the trading center first.

If she managed to break through tonight, her maximum lifespan might even increase... In that case, she could harvest wheat to her heart's content tomorrow!

Chapter 26

Li Yang switched on her navigation and hurried toward the trading center.

She had searched the forum and found that the trading center stayed open until ten at night. It was only a little after seven, so she had plenty of time.

The trading center was close to the mission center. Both were on the same plaza, in what could be considered the central area of Zhongdu Military Academy.

The mission center was noisy during the day, but surprisingly quiet at night.

There probably weren't many new missions, and there was no need to compete for certain regular ones, so fewer people waited around here.

The trading center, on the other hand, was brightly lit even at night.

There was another difference between the two places: plenty of freshmen gathered in the mission hall, while the trading hall was filled almost entirely with older students.

The moment Li Yang entered, she was taken aback by the hall's splendid grandeur.

Compared with the plain mission hall, the trading hall positively glittered with gold.

If the mission hall was like a stock exchange, then the trading center was a lavish, opulent banquet hall.

It went without saying that Li Yang had already grasped one truth:

Doing missions-poor.

Trading-rich!

The trading center was also much quieter than the mission center. The older students all stared intently at their own small screens, operating them from time to time.

Li Yang watched discreetly for a while and noticed that the people here tended to be older. The youngest looked to be twenty-five or twenty-six, while others looked thirty-four or thirty-five, or even in their forties or fifties.

Were they teachers?

Probably.

Li Yang didn't dwell on it. She found an unoccupied screen, entered her name and ID number, and registered and logged in.

Before long, the trading page appeared on the screen. The page was as clean and uncluttered as the one at the mission center.

The trading center's access restrictions weren't as strict as the mission center's.

Freshmen could get into trouble if they accepted certain missions recklessly, but that wasn't a concern at the trading center.

Basically, as long as you had money, you could buy whatever you wanted.

But there was also a reminder on the screen: "Spend in moderation, and benefit for life."

Li Yang couldn't agree more. She even silently added, Spend lifespan in moderation, and you'll have a life to live.

Li Yang first searched for "Realm-Breaking Pill." A huge amount of information popped up with a whoosh. The interface was a little like a shopping app from Li Yang's previous life.

There were pictures, brief descriptions, and prices. Clicking on an item also brought up a details page.

The trading center didn't offer delivery, however. For small items, once a transaction was completed on the screen, the goods would appear in a small box below, like in a vending machine.

Li Yang took one look and couldn't help sucking in a breath. "So expensive!"

The Realm-Breaking Pill at the top cost a whopping 100 Merit Points.

Li Yang's head buzzed.

One million Huaxia Currency! Who could afford that?!

Did she have to find another intruder before she could break through?

No...

Li Yang soon realized she had misread it. She hadn't mistaken the price, but the grade of the Realm-Breaking Pill.

"So it's a Realm-Breaking Pill for breaking through to Third Grade..." Li Yang breathed a sigh of relief, though she still felt somewhat rueful.

Being a Star Wielder really burned through money!

Cultivation required Star-Attracting Pills, breakthroughs required Realm-Breaking Pills, staying alive required rare Star Skills, and fighting probably required all kinds of Star Weapons...

No wonder there were so few high-grade Star Wielders.

Talent was one factor, but a lack of money was probably the biggest issue!

Li Yang clicked the filter and easily found Realm-Breaking Pills for First Grade breakthroughs. She let out a breath when she saw the price.

"Thirty Merit Points. Not bad..."

Even as she spoke, Li Yang found it unbelievable.

Three hundred thousand!

That was enough to buy a small house in an outlying part of Huangcheng!

And now she actually thought it was—not bad.

The trading center offered currency exchange. In a flash, 300,000 vanished from Li Yang's bank card, while a paltry 30 Merit Points appeared on her student card.

Li Yang really hated to part with the money. She searched the page for quite a while longer, but couldn't find a single Realm-Breaking Pill for less than 300,000.

Forget it...

Once she had lifespan to spare, she would definitely get into the business of reselling Star-Attracting Pills.

After successfully buying the Realm-Breaking Pill, Li Yang didn't hurry back. Instead, she took some time to learn about the trading center.

Some commonly used pills were subject to price controls. Apart from listings by people in urgent need of money, they were generally posted at a normal price to wait for buyers.

For example, First Grade Star-Attracting Pills ranged from 10 Merit Points for low-tier ones to 25 Merit Points for high-tier ones.

Aperture Stabilizing Pills all cost about the same: around 10 Merit Points.

Realm-Breaking Pills were the most expensive First Grade pills. The cheapest went for 25 Merit Points, but it was hard to snag one at that price. Li Yang reckoned she might not get one even if she camped here all night.

Then there were Star Skills.

Li Yang searched for Fist Burst and couldn't help raising her eyebrows. "Even this costs one Merit Point..."

As for the other Star Skills, there was a bewildering variety, and the prices grew increasingly outrageous.

There was also an interface similar to stone gambling.

Everything sold there was an unappraised Star Core. Buyers could appraise them after taking them home. Whether they contained an ordinary Star Skill worth one Merit Point or a rare one worth 500 was entirely down to luck.

And each of those unappraised Star Cores cost 30 Merit Points.

All Li Yang could do was let out a poor person's scornful sneer. "Heh, I'd have to be crazy to buy that stuff!"

She couldn't stay in this trading center any longer.

Li Yang didn't want to look at those heart-stabbing numbers anymore. She prepared to collect her Realm-Breaking Pill and go back to focus on breaking through.