Chapter 27 (continued)

They had all eaten more than usual, but compared to Li Yang, they were mere sorcerers before a master.

After eating seven steamed buns, Li Yang showed no sign of stopping...

Lü Shunshun sent a message through their mental seas. "See? She really didn't get enough to eat yesterday."

Xia Putao marveled, "Such a little body, such a big black hole!"

Feng Yiqiao saw what was happening. "Looks like she can efficiently absorb the Starlight in the mutated steamed buns."

Xia Putao: "???"

Lü Shunshun understood and asked, "Could her base physique be 90?"

Feng Yiqiao said, "It's possible."

Xia Putao was stunned. "A Heavenly Chosen!"

They communicated through their mental seas, so Li Yang couldn't hear a thing. But because her mental power was so high, she could faintly sense some fluctuations. Since she lacked knowledge in this area, she didn't think much of it.

Seven steamed buns were just enough to fill one Star Aperture.

That raised a question: should she eat 28 steamed buns or 21?

Filling four Star Apertures would be nice, but for one thing, her appetite was a little frightening, and for another, Li Yang was afraid she would eat the Agronomy Department into poverty.

If one steamed bun sold for 100, then 28 would cost 2,800.

Forget it. They were all her future senior brothers and sister, so she ought to have a little decency.

By the time she had eaten 21 steamed buns, the trio had gone numb from watching.

Feng Yiqiao asked quietly, "Have you had enough?"

Li Yang beamed. "I'm full!"

Lü Shunshun said, "If you haven't had enough..."

"I'm full!" Li Yang got up. "I'm going back to harvest wheat."

With that, she rushed toward the wheat field like a little whirlwind, leaving the "old father and old mothers" gaping behind her.

"She's so hardworking."

"She's so capable."

"Have you two run out of ways to praise her?"

Beneath the blazing sun, the little freshman's nimble figure moved swiftly through the wheat field. She swung her sickle, leaving bundles of golden wheat stalks behind her.

To the Agronomy Department trio, the sight was worthy of being a world-famous painting.

"Senior brother..." Xia Putao suddenly said, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if she were our junior sister?"

Lü Shunshun had been nodding off, but her eyes suddenly snapped open. "Taozi, I'm backing you up this time."

Xia Putao glared at her. "Do I need you to back me up?"

Feng Yiqiao couldn't help indulging in the fantasy as well. "Come to think of it, our department can recruit freshmen too... right?"

"Why couldn't we?" Xia Putao puffed out his chest. "Our department is one of the eight major departments too. It's only because our teacher is absorbed in cultivation and pays no attention to worldly affairs that people have overlooked us!"

Feng Yiqiao shook his head again. "Even if we can recruit students, Li Yang isn't stupid. Why would she... ahem..."

Before he finished, the other two were already staring at him with burning eyes.

They all liked Li Yang very much, but they also had to admit that there was something a little odd about the way the kid's little head worked.

What normal person would take this lousy wheat-harvesting mission?

What normal person would come back for a full day's work after suffering through half a day?

How could Feng Yiqiao not see what the two of them were thinking? But he was older, after all. Although he had tricked plenty of people, they had all been bastards so greedy that a snake would try to swallow an elephant. He had no qualms about tricking them.

But this kid in front of him...

He couldn't bring himself to do it.

Feng Yiqiao's conscience gave a faint twinge. "Forget it. Her talent is so high, and her base physique is probably 90 points. She's a first-rate Heavenly Chosen, no question. If we really tricked her into joining our Agronomy Department, wouldn't we be ruining her future?"

Xia Putao objected. "How would we be ruining her future? We might be good-for-nothings, but our teacher is amazing! If Teacher were willing to teach her, wouldn't that be much better than any of the three major departments?"

Feng Yiqiao gave him a leisurely look. "Are you sure Teacher knows how to teach?"

Xia Putao was stumped. "Uh..."

Granted, the three of them had ordinary talent, but they had genuinely passed the entrance exam for Zhongdu Military Academy. Even though the admissions cutoff had been lower that year, their base physiques had still averaged 78 points.

And then the tragedy began.

They were reassigned to the Agronomy Department and became Si Kui's disciples.

To this day, the trio still didn't know what realm their teacher had reached, but there was no doubt that her realm was high... very high... high enough to beat nine out of ten experts at the Zhongdu Military Academy with ease.

And yet, a master of that caliber had taught the three of them into becoming good-for-nothings.

Si Kui thought her explanations were very simple.

To the trio, though, she might as well have been reading from a heavenly tome.

After both sides tried for several years, they both gave up.

Si Kui couldn't be bothered with them anymore. "Do as you please."

The trio wept bitter tears. "Thank you, Teacher, for the grace of not teaching us!"

The past was too painful to look back on, and all three felt the same sorrow.

Feng Yiqiao still shook his head. "Don't put the kid through this. She's already done more than enough for us."

Xia Putao refused to give up. "She's different from us! Her talent is so high that maybe she can understand what Teacher is teaching!"

Lü Shunshun thought for a moment. "I think she's different from us too... Senior brother, why don't you go ask Teacher? Maybe she wants to take a disciple."

Xia Putao chimed in, "Right, right! Have a good talk with Teacher. Whatever else you say, our teacher really is amazing, and she has some resources of her own... Little Li Yang wouldn't lose out by joining us."

Lü Shunshun added, "Besides, the three major combat departments are constantly at odds. Li Yang is talented, but she has no backing. Even if she joined one of them, she'd only be neglected. She might as well come to our department. If Teacher happens to take a liking to her... that would be much better than scheming against each other in the three major departments!"

That made some sense. After hesitating for a moment, Feng Yiqiao said, "Then I'll go sound Teacher out first..."

Xia Putao said excitedly, "Go, go! We'll be waiting for your good news!"

In the small courtyard halfway up the mountain.

Si Kui walked straight through the main house and entered the cave abode behind it.

The little courtyard had been built halfway up the mountain, but it was really just a facade. Another world lay within.

Behind the main house was a cave abode in the mountain, protected by layer upon layer of restrictions.

The Starlight in the cave abode was astonishingly dense. If a low-level Star Wielder entered, they would probably burst apart and die.

That dense Starlight came from the Ninth-Grade Lianxin resting in an ice crystal coffin.

Though he was called Lianxin, that was merely a name humans had given him.

He was a snowy-white plant half a meter tall. At first glance, no one would think he was a lotus heart.

He was white all over, so white he glowed, so brilliantly white he seemed unearthly.

And indeed, he was not a living thing from Earth.

Si Kui gazed steadily at the Ninth-Grade Lianxin.

Twenty-eight years ago, the Fenglie Clan had attempted to break through the entrance to the Astral Realm and invade humanity. The Huaxia army had fought a fierce battle against the Fenglie Clan in Starport City. Humanity ultimately won a pyrrhic victory, but several thousand Star Wielders also died in battle.

The greatest prize humanity gained from that battle was this Ninth-Grade Lianxin.

The Ninth-Grade Lianxin's origins were unknown. According to intelligence obtained from the Fenglie Clan, they had found him deep in the Astral Realm. He was a seed left behind by an ancient divine lotus, and once mature, he would become a formidable Ninth-Grade star plant.

A natural sacred treasure like this had many uses, even before it matured.

One of them was helping Eighth-Grade Star Wielders break through to the next realm.

Si Kui had been stuck at the peak of Eighth Grade for a long time. If she could successfully assimilate this Ninth-Grade Lianxin, she would have a chance of reaching Ninth Grade.

Once she broke through to Ninth Grade, she would fight her way back into the Astral Realm, slaughter the Fenglie Clan, and avenge the thousands of fallen comrades!

But twenty-eight years had passed, and Si Kui had still been unable to assimilate him.

Knock, knock, knock.

There was a knock at the courtyard gate, followed by Feng Yiqiao's cautious voice. "Teacher, it's me, Little Feng."

Si Kui left the cave abode and returned to the courtyard in front.

"What is it?"

Feng Yiqiao was still very nervous. He might be in his forties now, but the memory of Si Kui thrashing him when he was a teenager was still as fresh as yesterday. "Teacher... um, the new students have arrived. I wanted to ask whether our department can also recruit..."

Before he could finish, Si Kui sneered. "You're well informed."

Feng Yiqiao: "???" Did he need to be well informed for that? Didn't new students arrive at this time every year?

Si Kui said flatly, "What's the rush? Even if they shut down the Agronomy Department, it won't be until next year."

Feng Yiqiao: "!!!"

It was like a bolt from the blue, blasting Feng Yiqiao senseless.

Si Kui waved a hand. "If you care about it, then go and cultivate properly. Didn't Niu Laoqian say that as long as the Agronomy Department produces a student in the top hundred, they won't shut it down?"

This was the last thing Feng Yiqiao had expected. He had come to ask about recruiting students, so how had such terrible news fallen out of the sky?

Shut down the Agronomy Department?

Heavens!

Feng Yiqiao hurriedly said, "Teacher! There's an age limit for the top hundred rankings. The three of us are all too old to get on the list, so can our department recruit a freshman?"

Si Kui gave him a cold look. "Who are you planning to trick into joining the department?"

Feng Yiqiao: "..."

He said stiffly, "Well, it's like this. We happened to meet an orphan with excellent talent. She doesn't have a great family backing her, so even if she went to one of the three major combat departments, she'd probably be overlooked. We thought we might as well invite her to the Agronomy Department... and have you give her some guidance, Teacher..."

Si Kui's interest was piqued. "What's her name?"

Feng Yiqiao said, "Li Yang."

Si Kui didn't even need to take out her phone. She connected to it directly with her mental power and quickly pulled up Li Yang's information. After just one glance, she said, "Keep dreaming."

Feng Yiqiao: "???"

Si Kui said, "She has a Limit Physique, and she's connected to the Zhong Family. The Star Combat Department has probably already reserved her."

Feng Yiqiao: "..."

By the time Feng Yiqiao came to his senses, he had flown out of the courtyard and landed steadily at the edge of the field.

That was how their teacher was. With a casual wave of her hand, she could send them flying from halfway up the mountain to its foot—and the important thing was that they came away completely unharmed.