Chapter 28

That was true...

With his scores, he definitely couldn't get into any of the three major departments. Even if he applied to the Star Support Department, he'd probably be reassigned to a Fourth Grade instructor. His future would be spent as someone's underling, and making a name for himself would be hard.

As for the four remaining noncombat departments, they were all the same to him.

Yu Hongyuan didn't like refining pills, and he liked hammering iron even less. If he had to choose between Beast Taming and the Agronomy Department... following Li Yang was obviously the safer bet.

Oh, right.

It slowly dawned on him.

What was his goal again? To be Li Yang's underling!

The sight of Li Yang blowing a cultist apart with one punch was etched deep into Yu Hongyuan's mind... When he thought of it, his uncertain gaze grew firm.

His mom was right. He couldn't go wrong following Li Yang.

Yu Hongyuan's guiding principle was... listen to Mom!

Chapter 28

Li Yang reluctantly said goodbye to her senior brothers and sisters in the Agronomy Department and ran back to the fourth-class dormitory.

If she didn't still have a few days of free lodging, she would have wanted to move into the Agronomy Department that very night!

She had just opened her door when Fang Chuyun came out of the room next door.

Li Yang asked, "Haven't you eaten yet?" At this hour, she was probably going to the cafeteria.

"I already ate..." Fang Chuyun asked her, "Have you really decided to join the Agronomy Department?"

Li Yang said, "Mm."

Fang Chuyun said, "I asked my sister during the day. She doesn't know much about the Agronomy Department either, but she said it isn't a very good place to improve yourself..."

Li Yang felt a warmth in her heart. She knew Fang Chuyun had asked around because she was worried about her.

Li Yang said, "The senior brothers and sisters in the Agronomy Department are all really nice. Their cultivation realms are a bit lower, but I'm not that ambitious anyway. I've always liked flowers and plants, so I chose the Agronomy Department."

Fang Chuyun found that hard to understand. "Choosing a department is important. The three major combat departments have the most abundant resources, and not just cultivation resources. There are also plenty of intangible assets, like the instructors in the three major combat departments being the best, and all the outstanding seniors. When we go to the Astral Realm in the future, we'll have a foothold there too. Only then can we reach the pinnacle of Grandmaster step by step..."

Li Yang couldn't explain the real reason she had chosen the Agronomy Department, but she didn't want to brush off Fang Chuyun's kindness either. She thought for a moment, then said seriously, "Chuyun, not everyone wants to become a Grandmaster. Like I said, I'm not very ambitious. I'll be happy if I can graduate safely and smoothly."

"But your talent is so great..."

"Having great talent for a while doesn't mean much," Li Yang said. "There are people with Limit Physique every year, but most of them fade into obscurity."

This was survivorship bias.

Everyone saw that Grandmasters generally had high base physique, but they overlooked the many Star Wielders with 90 points or even Limit Physique who had long since been swallowed up by the river of history.

And those "geniuses" who had been swallowed up were invisible to others.

Li Yang went on, "Chuyun, you come from a good family, and you have your father and sister as examples. Naturally, you want to climb higher and go farther. But I can't think that far ahead. I just want to live well in the present, one step at a time. The Agronomy Department has the exotic plants I like, as well as kind senior brothers and sisters. Rather than compromise myself to fit into another department, I'd rather live freely here."

Fang Chuyun couldn't help lowering her lashes, unable to hide her disappointment.

Li Yang blinked and added, "Besides, if I really am talented, I can make a name for myself in the Agronomy Department just as well."

"It'll be hard for you in Agronomy..."

"Everyone comes from a different background and faces different circumstances, so we define 'hard' differently too."

Fang Chuyun only half understood, but she could tell Li Yang had reached her decision after thinking it through rationally. And she... respected her friend's choice.

"I'm going to the Star Magic Department."

"Good!"

"Then, in the future..."

"We'll just be in different departments. Won't we still be at the same school?" Li Yang said. "Once you've opened three Star Apertures, we can spar again."

Fang Chuyun: "!"

Those words worked better than anything else, instantly rekindling Fang Chuyun's fighting spirit. She wasted no more words. "I'm going back to cultivate."

Li Yang said, "Keep it up!"

The two returned to their rooms. In a wonderful mood, Li Yang went to take a bath and check her system panel while she was at it.

Nothing else had changed, except the lifespan entry-300 years/500 years.

How wonderful.

The more Li Yang looked at it, the happier she grew. The smile never left her lips.

"Hmm... first, I'll raise my Physique Points and Spirit Points."

Although she had opened her fourth Star Aperture, her Physique Points and Spirit Points had both been stuck at 300 because she hadn't had enough lifespan.

"Consume ten years of lifespan to raise my Physique Points." Sister Li was now rich in money—or rather, lifespan—and spoke more lavishly than ever.

[You cultivated continuously for ten years. Because your talent was too poor to match your current realm, your physique increased to 325 points.]

Li Yang: "..." Half her good mood vanished in an instant.

She couldn't help recalling Fang Chuyun's words. With a sigh, she said, "What talent do I have?"

Forget comparing her to Zhongdu Military Academy's Heavenly Chosen. Without the Longevity System, Li Yang probably wouldn't even have qualified to become one of the Star Wielders. Oh, why even think about becoming a Star Wielder? Even among ordinary people, her constitution was extremely poor.

Four Star Apertures corresponded to the Grade One High Stage realm.

Clearly, that realm was already beyond Li Yang's abilities, so raising her Physique Points was becoming harder and harder.

With her lousy talent, Li Yang wouldn't have gone to any of the popular departments even if Zhongdu Military Academy hadn't had an Agronomy Department.

She had a whole pile of secrets. If she went to one of those popular departments packed with people, was she tired of living too long?

So even if the Central Capital hadn't had an Agronomy Department, she would have gone to the least popular department.

Of course, the present arrangement was the best possible one!

She had chosen the Agronomy Department, and its senior brothers and sisters had welcomed her... everyone was happy!

Li Yang put those thoughts aside and invested another 30 years of lifespan, only barely managing to raise her Physique Points to 400.

Not only had raising her Physique Points become harder, the cost of raising her Spirit Points had tripled again. This time, it took a full 120 years to raise her Spirit Points to 400.

Although she was bringing in more lifespan, improving was becoming harder and harder too.

Losing 160 years in the blink of an eye still pained Li Yang greatly.

But looking at it another way, what student who didn't come from an established family could open all four Star Apertures before even choosing a department?

Li Yang turned her attention to Hidden Shadow. Clearly, "Tier 2, 1%" meant it could still be improved.

Then...

"Invest ten years of lifespan to improve Star Skill: Hidden Shadow." She wanted to see what new effect the Star Skill would gain once it reached tier three.

[You cultivated Star Skill: Hidden Shadow continuously for ten years. Because your realm was extremely low, your comprehension was extremely poor, and your compatibility with the Star Skill was infinitely close to zero, your proficiency in Star Skill: Hidden Shadow has barely improved.]

Li Yang: "..."

Ten years!

System, open your eyes and look! That was ten whole years!

One year without a change would be one thing, but how could there be no improvement after ten years?!

Li Yang grumbled inwardly for a while, but the system played dead as usual.

"Your realm's too low, huh..." Li Yang had more or less figured it out. Just as she could hardly improve the quality of Star-Attracting Pills any further, Hidden Shadow was stuck at tier two. Unless she advanced to Second Grade, improving her proficiency in Hidden Shadow would cost an enormous amount of lifespan.

Forget it, forget it.

Lifespan wasn't meant to be wasted like that.

Li Yang put the matter aside and looked at the Star-Attracting Pills and Aperture Stabilizing Pill. She easily raised all of them to Grade One High Stage using three years of lifespan.

More than half of her 300 years of lifespan had vanished in the blink of an eye.

Li Yang stopped.

She took a quick inventory of her belongings. "I have 127 years of lifespan left, five Star-Attracting Pills, one Aperture Stabilizing Pill... one merit point, and cash..."

Li Yang suddenly felt uneasy. She still had plenty of lifespan, but she had far too little money!

She checked the time, got dressed, and went to the trading office again.

This time, she wasn't there to buy anything, but to sell.

Li Yang didn't dare sell too many. She only took out two Grade One High Stage Star-Attracting Pills and listed them for 25 merit points each.

Less than ten minutes later, Li Yang received a notification: "The Star-Attracting Pills you listed for sale have been purchased anonymously. After a 10% transaction fee, the remaining 45 merit points have been deposited into your personal account."

Li Yang: "..."

That transaction fee was far too high! The system was a crooked merchant, and so was the school. Poor Li Yang felt surrounded by crooked merchants!

Li Yang thought about it some more and decided she didn't need to be overly cautious.

First of all, there were plenty of transactions at the trading office. Low-grade pills like First Grade Star-Attracting Pills probably wouldn't attract the authorities' attention.

If she resold them in small quantities, surely no one would find out?

Hmm...

She'd better wait until she could minor in the Pill Department before reselling them.

Those 50 merit points, including the reward for the harvesting task, would be enough to last her a while.

Just as Li Yang was about to leave, another thought occurred to her. She searched the small screen for a while, found the Star Weapon page, and selected a First Grade Low Stage... knife.

She had wanted to find a sickle, but the search told her: this item does not exist.

A knife it was, then.

The knife cost about the same as a Star-Attracting Pill: ten merit points.

Li Yang bought it with tears in her eyes.

After returning to the dormitory, Li Yang said impatiently, "Consume one year of lifespan to improve the quality of Star Weapon: Knife."

[You have no weapon-forging experience and no talent for weapon forging. After forcibly forging Star Weapon: Knife for one year, you have not improved its quality.]

Li Yang wasn't discouraged. The first time she had improved a Star-Attracting Pill, the system had said much the same thing. Although she hadn't improved the knife's quality, she had gained weapon-forging experience.

Li Yang consumed another six years of lifespan, and the knife's quality finally rose to the middle stage.

"Looking at it this way, pills are still more cost-effective..."

"But weapon forging brings in a lot of money at higher levels..."

"I wonder if I can choose several minors..."

Pondering her grand moneymaking plans, Li Yang drifted off to sleep.