Chapter 16

After leaving the cafeteria, Xu Jintang still felt uneasy.

In the afternoon, taking advantage of having nothing to do, she deliberately left the academy to gather some information outside.

She went to a stall owner she had cooperated with before and asked innocently, “Boss, have you heard about the recent lockdown and alert across the entire star domain? Do you know what’s going on?”

Secondhand traders usually have their ears to the ground, so asking him was a safe bet.

The stall owner shook the fan in his hand and said, “Isn’t it because of that Ice Soul Dragon? This kind of thing doesn’t concern ordinary folks like us, so don’t worry unnecessarily. But hey, because of this, the sales of fire-attribute runes have exploded. I need to find a chance to stock up more.”

Xu Jintang pricked up her ears. “Fire-attribute runes are selling like hotcakes?”

The stall owner nodded. “Yeah. That Ice Soul Dragon is ice-elemental, right? No one knows where the rumor started, but it says fire-attribute runes might counter it. Everyone’s scared that the beast will go on a rampage and wipe them out, so now everyone’s hoarding fire-attribute runes. The market price has at least doubled.”

Xu Jintang was speechless.

This sounded oddly like people hoarding salt back in her previous life.

She pressed on, “Boss, can that Ice Soul Dragon actually be caught?”

The stall owner waved his fan again. “If it could be caught, it would’ve been caught already. Why else would they lock down the Blizzard Forest? But with the federation making such a fuss, the dragon won’t dare show up and cause trouble easily. We’re still safe. Don’t worry.”

Xu Jintang nodded thoughtfully.

It seemed the investigation wouldn’t reach her, so she could relax.

After gathering the news, Xu Jintang chatted casually with the stall owner a bit more before leaving the secondhand market.

She pursed her lips, a deep glint flashing in her eyes.

She had only wanted to find out the progress of the investigation, but unexpectedly, she had uncovered a business opportunity.

Since the academy classes were suspended, she suddenly had a big chunk of free time.

This opportunity, she must seize it.

Back in her dorm, Xu Jintang placed an order online for ten stalks of Firestar Grass.

Firestar Grass was a spiritual plant that grew on the interstellar continent, rich in fire attributes. Adding Firestar Grass when crafting runes could imbue them with fire-elemental power.

She had never tried making elemental runes before—now was a perfect chance to learn.

She chose expedited delivery, and two hours later, a drone specialized in carrying goods arrived at her door.

Xu Jintang counted the Firestar Grass, returned to her dorm, and began her deep dive into study.

After scouring a mountain of information online, Xu Jintang grew puzzled. “Dragon Brother, do you know how to incorporate Firestar Grass into a rune to make it fire-attribute?”

The Ice Soul Dragon replied, “...I’m just a dragon, not a runecrafter.”

Xu Jintang slumped over her desk in despair.

She couldn’t find any tutorials on making fire-attribute runes online.

It was likely such advanced tutorials were stored within the Rune Crafters’ Guild.

Typically, once a runecrafter successfully made a first-tier basic rune, they would immediately join the guild to access more training resources and knowledge.

But she didn’t want to expose the fact that she had two supernatural powers; joining the guild was too risky.

Moreover, with the entire star domain on high alert and the situation tense, she had to keep a low profile.

After a long silence, Xu Jintang suddenly lifted her head. “No big deal; it’s just a fire-attribute rune. I’m sure I can teach myself!”

Her fighting spirit surged. She picked up a stalk of Firestar Grass, stared at it, and activated her mental energy.

Her star-infused mental power slowly emanated from her palm, enveloping the Firestar Grass.

Upon contact, Xu Jintang immediately sensed the abundant fire element inside.

After a moment of contemplation, she came up with a plan.

She controlled her mental energy to condense into thin threads that extended into the plant, hooking onto the fire element and forcibly extracting it.

There was a lot of fire element, and soon she had pulled out a large amount.

The sparkling fire elements shimmered gently, floating before her.

The Firestar Grass, having lost its essence, gradually withered into dry weeds.

Next, she only needed to infuse these fire elements into a rune to succeed.

Xu Jintang took out a neutral original stone and a rune pen, ready to start crafting when suddenly the fire elements floating before her began to dissipate.

She reached out to grab them, but after a few seconds, the fire elements vanished without a trace.

Xu Jintang frowned. “Where did they go?”

The Ice Soul Dragon explained, “Elemental attributes can’t exist independently in the world. If you pull out all the fire elements but don’t inject them into the rune immediately, they will naturally dissipate.”

“I see.” Xu Jintang understood.

She tossed aside the now-useless Firestar Grass and picked up a fresh stalk.

Since fire elements couldn’t exist on their own, she decided to make the rune first, then draw out the fire elements.

She reversed the sequence, crafting the rune first.

Just as she was about to finish the carving, Xu Jintang paused her mental energy injection, took out the Firestar Grass, and again forcibly extracted the fire elements.

After gathering all the fire elements once more, Xu Jintang grinned and channeled her mental energy to infuse them all into the rune.

A few seconds passed, and a brilliant light burst forth from the rune.

It really worked!

Xu Jintang toyed with the fire-attribute attack rune in her palm, feeling triumphant. “I’m truly a genius.”

The Ice Soul Dragon didn’t respond, but a hint of doubt stirred in its heart.

From what it knew, carving runes was supposed to be quite difficult for humans.

Why did Xu Jintang always seem so effortless when making runes?

Once she mastered the technique, Xu Jintang began mass production.

Within just a week, she had crafted over forty first-tier fire-attribute attack runes.

To avoid arousing suspicion, Xu Jintang sold them through multiple channels, only releasing small batches each time.

Watching her account balance rise steadily, Xu Jintang felt a strong sense of security.

Two days later, Jiang Lu returned to the academy from the main city to hold a class meeting.

“Anyway, this incident is very serious. Both the federation and the military academy have sent experts over. Things might not be so peaceful lately, so keep a low profile and don’t stir up trouble,” Jiang Lu warned earnestly.

Xu Jintang raised her hand to ask, “Teacher, how long will this situation last? Will our assessment tests continue to be delayed?”

Jiang Lu shook his head. “It should be soon. Once everything is back to normal, I’ll notify you.”

Xu Jintang pursed her lips and fell into thought.

So far, no one had linked the Ice Soul Dragon’s matter to her, but with so many federation experts around, it was still unsettling.

The meeting ended, and Jiang Lu hurried off, probably to discuss how to handle the situation with other teachers.

The students didn’t think much of it; after all, this kind of thing had little to do with them.

“Class leader, what’s the plan for the next few days?” Song Duoduo turned around, resting on Xu Jintang’s desk to ask.

Song Tianqi from the back also chimed in, “Are we still going to the simulation battlefield?”

To prepare for the assessment, the three of them had planned to train daily in the simulation battlefield.

Now with the tests suspended, no one knew when they would resume.

Xu Jintang looked up. “No training for now. This matter is too big. Let’s wait for the teacher’s notice.”

Song Duoduo and Song Tianqi nodded in agreement.

Xu Jintang silently stood up and left the classroom.

She hoped this ordeal would pass quickly.