Chapter Summaries

Li Yang joined Zhong Qian and Lin Zhaoqin in attacking the Second Grade dahlia after Zhong Kun lured her in with Star-Attracting Pills. The dahlia retaliated against Li Yang as the three candidates fought over the chance to land the final blow.

• Zhong Kun failed to persuade Lin Zhaoqin to join the fight and called out Li Yang, hoping to draw her into the battle.
• Zhong Kun offered Li Yang three Star-Attracting Pills, promising another if she landed the final blow, and she agreed to fight.
• Li Yang raised her physique value to 95 through her system, then charged the dahlia and struck it with her axe.
• Zhong Kun tricked Lin Zhaoqin into thinking the disguised Fang Chuyun was Li Yang, then provoked Lin Zhaoqin into joining the fight.
• Li Yang, Zhong Qian, and Lin Zhaoqin attacked the dahlia, which roared and lunged at Li Yang with its sharp petals.

Li Yang helped Lin Zhaoqin and Zhong Qian defeat the Second Grade dahlia during the practical exam, and the examinees waited for instructors to determine who earned its 100 points. Li Yang discovered that the plant had given her 20 years of lifespan, while the damage rankings were announced with Zhong Qian first and Lin Zhaoqin second; Li Yang’s result remained unrevealed.

• Li Yang sensed the dahlia’s attacks in advance, identified its weak points, and coordinated strikes with Lin Zhaoqin and Zhong Qian until they felled it.
• The chief examiner ended the three-day practical exam and announced that instructors would assess the damage dealt to the dahlia before finalizing the rankings.
• Zhong Kun reassured Li Yang that he would give her four Star-Attracting Pills, while Li Yang noticed that her lifespan had increased by 20 years to a total of 40.
• The assessing instructor announced Zhong Qian’s damage value of 280 and Lin Zhaoqin’s damage value of 273, leaving Li Yang’s placement unknown.

Li Yang’s final strike earned her the top score in the practical exam, and a retest revealed that her physique value had reached the human limit of 95. After returning from the quarantine zone, she learned that Zhong Qian planned to apply to Central Capital, while Zhong Kun left without discussing the Star-Attracting Pill he had promised her.

• The examiners confirmed that Li Yang had dealt 285 damage, giving her a total of 380 points and first place ahead of Zhong Qian and Lin Zhaoqin.
• Zhong Kun realized Li Yang was not Fang Chuyun and regretted having encouraged her to fight at full strength.
• Li Yang retested at the main control room and measured a physique value of 95; Lin Yunshu suggested the earlier test had missed her growth above 90.
• The examinees returned to the teaching area, where Zhong Qian asked Li Yang which military academy she would apply to, and she answered Central Capital.
• Yu Hongyuan arrived and was impressed by Li Yang’s limit physique and top score.

After recovering from the practical exam, Li Yang received four Star-Attracting Pills and a cultivation manual from Zhong Kun and discovered that her system could spend lifespan to improve pills and cultivate. She lost five years trying to refine a pill beyond her ability, then opened Zhong Kun’s letter and learned he had also sent hush money to keep the practical exam incident secret.

• Li Yang returned to Huangcheng No. 1 High School, slept for a day and night, and reviewed her system stats while considering how to draw Starlight into her body.
• Li Yang received a package from Zhong Kun containing four Star-Attracting Pills, the Basic Star-Wielding Cultivation Technique, and a letter, while her system unlocked new functions for pills and cultivation.
• Li Yang spent five years trying to improve a Star-Attracting Pill, raising it to Grade Two First Stage before the system warned that she could not refine it further.
• Li Yang put the pill away, opened Zhong Kun’s letter, and read that he had sent the pills he owed her along with fifty thousand as hush money for her silence about the practical exam.

Li Yang received Zhong Kun’s money, a Star-Attracting Pill, and a cultivation technique, then discussed cultivation and resources with Fang Chuyun. Fang Chuyun recognized that Li Yang’s pill was a valuable Second Grade Star-Attracting Pill and agreed to buy it.

• Li Yang found an extra fifty thousand yuan in her bank account and read Zhong Kun’s advice about the pill and cultivation technique.
• Fang Chuyun visited Li Yang with a bouquet congratulating her on her exam result and brought another copy of the Basic Star-Wielding Cultivation Technique.
• Fang Chuyun explained that Li Yang could begin cultivating because she had reached the Limit Physique, and she described the resources available through military academy.
• Li Yang told Fang Chuyun about Zhong Kun’s Star-Attracting Pill, and Fang Chuyun advised her not to pledge herself to a prominent family.
• Fang Chuyun identified Li Yang’s pill as at least a Second Grade Star-Attracting Pill and agreed to buy it.

Li Yang traded a high-grade Star-Attracting Pill for lower-stage pills, then used her lifespan to improve pills and master the Basic Star-Wielding Cultivation Technique. The system upgrade revealed that she had opened a Star Aperture, and raising her physique greatly increased her strength and lifespan.

• Li Yang traded Fang Chuyun a Second Grade Star-Attracting Pill for three First Grade Low Stage pills and decided to improve them for profit.
• Li Yang spent one year of lifespan on each of three low-stage pills, raising them to Second Grade.
• Li Yang consumed ten years of lifespan to reach 100% in the Basic Star-Wielding Cultivation Technique, triggering a system upgrade.
• Li Yang saw that she had one Star Aperture at 95% and sensed a bright point of starlight at her heart.
• Li Yang spent one year raising her physique, which jumped to 120 as her Star Apertures increased to two and her maximum lifespan rose to one hundred years.

Li Yang raised her physique and spirit by cultivating, but reached the limit of her two Star Apertures and learned she needed a breakthrough opportunity to advance. After Yu Hongyuan tried to tutor her, she crushed the school mock exam, leaving him stunned.

• Li Yang used a Star-Attracting Pill and lifespan to raise her physique, then reached 200 and learned that opening a third Star Aperture required a fight or a Realm-Breaking Pill.
• Zhong Kun meditated to draw a star into his body, hoping to open his second Star Aperture and surpass Li Yang before school enrollment.
• Li Yang raised her spirit to 200, discovered she could sense Starlight, and saw that only eight years of lifespan remained.
• Yu Hongyuan came to take Li Yang to academic tutoring, hoping to tutor her before Fang Chuyun.
• Three days later, Li Yang placed first in Huangcheng No. 1 High School's mock exam, and Fang Chuyun explained that her spirit had grown enough to make studying easy.

Li Yang and her classmates chose Zhongdu Military Academy and prepared to leave Donghua Province for Central Capital. As their escorted convoy crossed the provincial border, Li Yang observed the dense Starlight in the wilderness, and the students began their journey beyond the safety of home.

• Li Yang, Fang Chuyun, and Yu Hongyuan all chose Zhongdu Military Academy, while Jiang Yuqing was the only top-twenty student to choose Star-Slaying Military Academy.
• During the summer, Li Yang grew close to Teacher Xu, who often fed her, and Li Yang gave her a new oven with her scholarship money.
• Fang Chuyun explained that the Descending Star Cult wanted the Astral Realm opened, while Li Yang and Yu Hongyuan reacted to the danger this posed to ordinary people.
• Principal Sun warned the departing students about the dangers of crossing provincial borders, and Huangcheng arranged an escorted convoy led by a third-grade Star Wielder.
• Teacher Xu gave Li Yang cookies before the convoy departed for Central Capital with twenty-three students and a ten-person city guard squad.
• After the convoy crossed Donghua Province's wall, Li Yang saw the murky wilderness and its dense Starlight as the students stared outside.

Li Yang received training in the Fist Burst Star Skill from Leader Lin Yuesuo during the convoy’s wilderness journey and used her system to master it by spending two years of lifespan. Meanwhile, the Descending Star Cult prepared an ambush, with Shadow Man assigned to capture Li Yang and Yu Hongyuan.

• As the convoy camped for the night, Lin Yuesuo ordered Li Yang, Fang Chuyun, and Yu Hongyuan to stay inside a tent and warned Li Yang that the Descending Star Cult might attack.
• Lin Yuesuo used Mental Resonance to teach Li Yang the Fist Burst Star Skill, and Li Yang’s system added it to her abilities.
• Li Yang spent two years of lifespan to raise her Fist Burst proficiency from 1% to 100%.
• Ten kilometers away, a Descending Star Cult leader organized more than twenty people to attack the camp and assigned squads to distract Lin Yuesuo and the city guards.
• The leader ordered Shadow Man to target Li Yang first and Yu Hongyuan second, and offered a reward for capturing Li Yang alive.

Li Yang, Fang Chuyun, and Yu Hongyuan waited in their tent as the City Guard prepared for a possible Descending Star Cult ambush. The cultists attacked after midnight, and Lin Yuesuo fought them off while a hidden attacker remained poised to seize the students.

• Li Yang warned Yu Hongyuan that the route could expose them to an attack, so he stayed in the tent with her and Fang Chuyun.
• The Huangcheng branch leader planned to use Shadow Man’s stealth skill to abduct Li Yang and Yu Hongyuan while the other cultists distracted Lin Yuesuo.
• A sudden explosion at two thirty in the morning woke the students as the Descending Star Cult attacked the camp.
• Lin Yuesuo charged into the battle and killed a Grade One High Stage cultist, bolstering the City Guard’s morale.
• Li Yang watched the fight and recognized the danger, while Fang Chuyun tried to reassure her and Yu Hongyuan retched in fear.

Li Yang sensed an intruder in the tent and killed a Descending Star Cult attacker who tried to ambush her, revealing that she was already a Star Wielder. After learning Hidden Shadow by spending three years of lifespan, she faced the aftermath with Lin Yuesuo as the cultists retreated.

• Li Yang remained wary despite Fang Chuyun and Yu Hongyuan reassuring her that nobody could have entered the tent.
• A shadowy Descending Star Cult member approached the students, discovered Li Yang had a Star Skill, and decided to attack her.
• Li Yang dodged his blade and repeatedly used Fist Burst, breaking his defensive Star Skill and killing him.
• Lin Yuesuo sensed the intruder, ordered guards to protect Li Yang, and the cultists outside retreated.
• Li Yang spent three years of lifespan to learn Hidden Shadow, and Lin Yuesuo ordered the attacker’s body removed before telling the students to stay in the bloodstained tent.

After Li Yang defeated the cultist who attacked the students, Lin Yuesuo rewarded her with an Aperture Stabilizing Pill and explained the incident to Fang Chuyun and Yu Hongyuan. Li Yang discovered she had opened her third Star Aperture and began drawing in Starlight, while the group remained at the wilderness camp.

• Lin Yuesuo confirmed that Li Yang had mastered Fist Burst, praised her for protecting her classmates, and gave her an Aperture Stabilizing Pill.
• Lin Yuesuo examined the dead attacker and identified him as a First Grade Low Stage Star Wielder with a rare concealment Star Skill; city guards reported that Huangcheng had sent forces to pursue the fleeing cultists.
• Fang Chuyun and Yu Hongyuan thanked Li Yang, and Fang Chuyun explained that rare Star Skills could cost hundreds of merit points and often came from the Astral Realm.
• After learning that the Aperture Stabilizing Pill cost about ten merit points, Li Yang checked her system panel and saw that she had three Star Apertures, with the third at one percent.
• Li Yang meditated and found that drawing Starlight into her body was easier in the wilderness, then wondered whether a Star-Attracting Pill would improve the process.

Li Yang arrived in Central Capital with Fang Chuyun and Yu Hongyuan and reached Zhongdu Military Academy, where she began settling in as a new student. She learned that campus housing and daily expenses required Merit Points, and considered earning them through beginner missions rather than taking out a loan.

• Li Yang and the other students traveled safely to Central Capital, where Li Yang saw the city’s many Star Wielders and arrived at Zhongdu Military Academy.
• Lin Yuesuo told Li Yang that her niece Lin Zhaoqin wanted to challenge her, while Li Yang said she planned to get along peacefully with Lin.
• A senior separated Yu Hongyuan from Li Yang and Fang Chuyun, then gave the girls enrollment kits, room cards, and information about dorm fees and student loans.
• Li Yang learned that a dorm room cost one Merit Point per week and that Merit Points could be bought with money or borrowed through a student loan.
• The senior suggested that Li Yang earn Merit Points by taking simple new-student missions before the opening ceremony and department selection.
• Li Yang unpacked in her hotel-like dorm room and complained that the accommodation was too expensive.

Li Yang explored the military academy’s departments, dorms, and merit-point system, then went to the task office to find a way to earn money. She began browsing easy tasks for freshmen, but another student claimed the first one she tried to accept.

• Li Yang read the enrollment information, learned about the academy’s departments and assessments, and decided to pursue Agriculture while exploring the other options.
• Li Yang discovered that better dorms offered denser Starlight but cost far more, and she resolved to look for paid tasks.
• Li Yang told Fang Chuyun she was heading to the task office, then walked five kilometers across the enormous campus.
• Li Yang registered at the task office and saw that welcoming freshmen could earn merit points.
• Li Yang tried to accept a 0.5-merit-point document delivery task, but another student claimed it before her.

Li Yang accepted a one-day mutated-wheat harvesting task from the Department of Agronomy, delighted despite warnings that it was a trap. Meanwhile, He Song confronted Dean Si about the academy’s plans for her department and was thrown out before learning whether it would be shut down.

• Jiang Shengchu invited Li Yang to join a team task collecting Star Condensation Liquid, but she refused to leave campus.
• Li Yang accepted Si Kui’s mutated-wheat harvesting task, ignoring Jiang Shengchu’s warning that it was a trap.
• He Song visited Si Kui and relayed Director Niu’s suggestion that she give up the Department of Agronomy for another position.
• Si Kui angrily rejected the proposal and hurled He Song out of the courtyard.
• Director Niu told He Song to leave the matter there, and He Song asked whether Central Capital planned to shut down the Department of Agronomy.

Si Kui gave up on training her three unmotivated students, while Feng Yiqiao welcomed Li Yang to the agronomy department’s wheat-harvesting task. Li Yang eagerly harvested a stalk of mutated wheat and gained one year of lifespan, leaving her ready to continue.

• Si Kui returned to her courtyard, saw her three students slacking off, and resolved to abandon teaching and return to the Astral Realm if she could not assimilate the Ninth-Grade Lianxin.
• Feng Yiqiao and Xia Putao discussed luring a student into harvesting wheat for one merit point while Lü Shunshun slept.
• Li Yang accepted the task and reached the agronomy department, where Feng Yiqiao mistakenly assumed she wanted to start the next morning.
• Li Yang insisted on beginning immediately, took a sickle that the system identified as a low-quality Star Weapon, and entered the wheat field.
• Li Yang struck a mutated wheat stalk until its head came off, and the system awarded her one year of lifespan.

Li Yang harvested mutated wheat for three hours, gaining lifespan until she reached her hundred-year limit, then joined Feng Yiqiao and the agronomy students for dinner. She discovered that mutated wheat buns helped replenish Starlight and eagerly ate more, while Feng Yiqiao felt guilty for mistaking her for a rich young lady.

• Li Yang harvested mutated wheat while Feng Yiqiao, Lü Shunshun, and Xia Putao watched and speculated about her background.
• After three hours of harvesting, Li Yang reached her lifespan limit and agreed to stop when Feng Yiqiao urged her to rest.
• Feng Yiqiao invited Li Yang to dinner and led her to the agronomy department's free living quarters.
• Feng Yiqiao introduced Li Yang to Lü Shunshun and Xia Putao, then served mutated wheat buns and pickles.
• Li Yang enjoyed the buns, discovered they replenished Starlight in her Star Apertures, and asked Feng Yiqiao for more.

Li Yang worked for steamed buns, then spent much of her newly restored lifespan improving her stats and Star Skill: Hidden Shadow. She forced Hidden Shadow to stage two without a matching Star Core, leaving herself with far less lifespan than before.

• Li Yang ate seven Starlight-rich steamed buns while helping Feng Yiqiao, Xia Putao, and Lü Shunshun, then agreed to return the next morning.
• Li Yang returned to the dormitory, saw that her lifespan had reached 100 years, and spent ten years raising her physique to 300 and filling her Star Apertures to their limit.
• Li Yang spent thirty years raising her mental stat to 300, then used twenty years to bring Hidden Shadow to stage one, 100% proficiency.
• Li Yang tested Hidden Shadow and found that it consumed a great deal of Starlight but could conceal her from stronger opponents.
• Li Yang learned from the school app that Star Cores contained Star Skills and that matching cores were normally needed to advance a skill's stage.
• Li Yang spent twenty-two years forcing Hidden Shadow to stage two without a matching Star Core, leaving her lifespan greatly reduced.

Li Yang appraised her second-tier Hidden Shadow Star Skill and discovered it could conceal her Star Apertures with little Starlight, letting her develop in secret. She bought a First Grade Realm-Breaking Pill at the trading center and left to attempt a breakthrough.

• Li Yang spent one year of lifespan to appraise Hidden Shadow and learned that its second-tier effect concealed her Star Apertures and evaded probes from seas of consciousness with spirit stats up to ten times her own.
• Li Yang found that maintaining the harmless state required little Starlight and decided she could use it to develop her strength without attracting attention.
• Li Yang went to the trading center to search for a First Grade Realm-Breaking Pill.
• Li Yang exchanged 300,000 Huaxia Currency for 30 Merit Points and bought a First Grade Realm-Breaking Pill.
• Li Yang browsed prices for pills and Star Skills, then collected her pill and prepared to return to attempt a breakthrough.

Li Yang used her Realm-Breaking Pill to open a fourth Star Aperture, reaching Grade One High Stage at the cost of nearly all her remaining lifespan. The next morning, the agronomy students waited for her to return to the wheat field, while Fang Chuyun woke her for her meeting with Dean Si.

• Li Yang overheard Zhong Kun discussing her strength and realized he had opened two Star Apertures.
• Li Yang purified the Realm-Breaking Pill to 96% by spending fifteen years of lifespan, then swallowed it and opened her fourth Star Aperture.
• Li Yang’s lifespan limit rose to 500 years, but her remaining lifespan fell to one year as she reached Grade One High Stage.
• Li Yang concealed her fourth Star Aperture with second-tier Hidden Shadow and went to bed.
• Feng Yiqiao, Xia Putao, and Lü Shunshun waited for Li Yang at the wheat field and discussed whether she would return to harvest.
• Fang Chuyun knocked on Li Yang’s door at 7:30, waking her before her scheduled meeting with Dean Si.