Chapter 8

Upon hearing Brother Long's confident reply, Xu Jintang instantly felt a surge of reassurance.

"Class monitor, I'll go find out more about the military academy student who brought Song Tianqi back." Having said that, Song Duoduo dashed off to gather intelligence and soon vanished from sight.

Xu Jintang turned and returned to her dormitory, closing the door and seating herself at her desk. As the foremost of the five great military academies, Rekdas had always enjoyed an illustrious reputation. It was the dream school for countless ability users. It was said that any teacher at Rekdas was at least a Tier 7 ability user, and their teaching quality and standards were among the finest in the Interstellar Alliance. Being admitted to such an academy would undoubtedly be a tremendous boost to one's future cultivation. However, although thousands of students applied to Rekdas each year, only one or two hundred were ever accepted. The difficulty of getting into the First Military Academy was even greater than she had imagined. Xu Jintang pursed her lips, silently adding Rekdas Military Academy to her list of prospective schools.

In the afternoon, as more students returned to campus, the dormitory building became exceptionally lively. Before long, Song Duoduo came running back to share her findings: "Monitor, I heard that the girl from Rekdas is named Jiang Shiyi. It seems she’s moving into the room right next to yours, and she’ll be joining our class for lessons during her time here."

Xu Jintang was curious. "How strong is she?"

Song Duoduo shook her head. "I'm not sure, but she must be formidable; after all, she comes from the First Military Academy."

As they spoke, a clattering sound came from outside the room. Song Duoduo immediately ran to the door, opened it just a crack, and peered at the neighboring room. "Monitor, come quick! Someone is actually moving in."

Xu Jintang curiously leaned in, peeking through the gap. Two movers wearing "Earn It" uniforms were carrying box after box into the room next door. Moments later, a long-haired girl dressed in black walked by. Her hair was smooth, dark, and glossy, seeming to blend into the black clothing she wore.

"That's Jiang Shiyi," Song Duoduo whispered.

Just then, Jiang Shiyi seemed to sense someone watching her. She suddenly frowned and turned her head to look in their direction. Her calm, steady gaze met Xu Jintang’s.

Xu Jintang offered a smile, boldly pushed the door open, and greeted her, "Hello, welcome to our academy."

Song Duoduo quickly followed suit. "Hi, hello! I'm Song Duoduo from Class 1, Year 2. And this is our monitor, Xu Jintang."

Jiang Shiyi assessed them both and nodded in response. "Hello. My name is Jiang Shiyi."

It was clear that Jiang Shiyi had a somewhat cold personality; after the introductions, the three of them found themselves at a loss for conversation. Xu Jintang cleared her throat and took the initiative to end the exchange. "We won't disturb you further then. Let's talk again when you're free."

Jiang Shiyi gave a soft "Mm" and turned to walk into her new dormitory.

The return-to-school day passed quickly, and Class 1, Year 3 of the Dawn Star Academy welcomed its first lesson. Xu Jintang sat in the front row, chin propped on her hand, observing Jiang Shiyi at the podium.

Jiang Lu led Jiang Shiyi to the center of the stage and began the introduction: "Student Jiang Shiyi is a visiting student from Rekdas Military Academy. She will be studying with us for a while. However, during this period, Jiang Shiyi will not participate in any of the academy's assessments. Please take good care of our new classmate."

Xu Jintang immediately applauded in welcome. Jiang Shiyi raised her eyes and, seeing it was the same Xu Jintang she had met yesterday, gave a slight nod before speaking. "Hello everyone, I am Jiang Shiyi, a first-year student at Rekdas Military Academy. Please look after me."

With that, she walked off the podium and took an empty seat in the back row. Xu Jintang withdrew her gaze, rested her cheek on her hand, and began listening to the homeroom teacher explain the basics of mental power cultivation for ability users.

An hour later, as the theory lesson concluded, Jiang Lu brought up the topic of the baseline assessment. "As per tradition, the academy holds a baseline assessment at the start of every year. This year, the academy has decided on a team-based arena format with three members per team. You are free to form your own groups. By the end of this weekend, each team leader must submit their member list to me."

The arena battle consisted of round-robin matches until only one team remained, who would then be crowned the champions. The competition was fierce, serving as the best test of a team's true strength.

After Jiang Lu left, the classroom was quickly filled with noisy discussions. Within a short time, several friends had already paired up. Xu Jintang crossed her arms on her desk, scanning the room as she considered who to recruit.

"Monitor, monitor! Let's team up!" Song Duoduo rushed to Xu Jintang’s side, blinking expectantly. Xu Jintang remembered that Song Duoduo’s ability was the "Mandala," a plant-based ability that produced hallucinogenic toxins. While not as high-damage as Xu Bohan’s hardening ability, it was highly restrictive to enemies.

"Sure, that works," Xu Jintang agreed.

That left them needing one more teammate. Xu Jintang turned and scanned the room, her eyes passing over the other students. Song Tianqi, misinterpreting the situation, grinned and walked over to her. "Monitor, you... want me to join your team?"

Clearly, he had mistaken her gaze for interest in him. Xu Jintang smiled and went along with it. "We were just looking for one more person."

Song Tianqi patted his chest heroically. "Then let the handsome and charming me join you!"

Xu Jintang: "..." She had thought that since Song Tianqi was specially recruited by the First Military Academy, he might have become more mature.

Once the team was set, Song Tianqi covered his mouth and whispered, "Let me tell you, my time at Rekdas nearly wore me out. Even their first-year students could utterly crush our academy's teachers. It's too competitive!"

"It was so good before, when I was a bottom-tier student that no one cared about. Now, just because I awakened a top-100 ability, I've got people watching me everywhere I go. It makes me so anxious I can't sleep."

Xu Jintang was silent for a moment before asking, "Do you know what 'Versailles' means?"

Song Tianqi scratched his head. "What's that?"

Xu Jintang smiled as she explained, "It's a form of speech where someone expresses dissatisfaction in a subtle way to inadvertently show off their superiority."

After a brief silence, Song Duoduo was the first to react. "Doesn't that just mean Song Tianqi is being a 'Versailles'?"

"I am not! I really am not!" Song Tianqi protested loudly. "I really do feel a lot of pressure."

At that moment, Jiang Shiyi stood up and passed by Song Tianqi without stopping, heading straight for the classroom door. Her silhouette soon vanished.

Xu Jintang looked away and asked, "Is she your senior?"

"Yes," Song Tianqi said, cautiously glancing at the door before whispering, "And I heard from the military academy teachers that she is already a peak Tier 3 ability user."

Song Duoduo covered her mouth in shock. "She doesn't look much older than us, but she's already at the same level as our homeroom teacher."

Xu Jintang was also taken aback.

Deep within her mental sea, the Ice Dragon suddenly spoke: "That girl’s strength is indeed impressive. It seems Rekdas Military Academy has a decent way of training its students. Prepare yourself well and try to get into that academy."

Xu Jintang fell into deep thought. If even Brother Long said so, she really did need to work hard to prepare for Rekdas.

Song Duoduo asked in confusion, "If she's so strong, why did she come to our academy as a visiting student? Isn't that a waste of time for her?"

Song Tianqi shook his head and sighed softly. "She was punished by the military academy and sent here to train with me in a lower-tier star system. I don't know the specifics, but I know she's incredibly strong. The punishment is basically negligible; they just did it because of her talent."

Military academy discipline was usually much stricter than that of a regular academy, so such a punishment really didn't amount to much.

"As expected, geniuses get special treatment for everything," Song Duoduo remarked with envy.

"Song Tianqi, want to join our team? With me, Xu Bohan, and you, we're guaranteed to take first place." A tall, slender girl appeared behind them.

Xu Jintang looked up. The girl was Yao Wenna, who had wavy hair and dark green eyes with a cold, haughty air of superiority. Led by her and Xu Bohan, the group of students surrounding them consisted of the academy's top elites, who usually looked down on everyone else. Because Xu Jintang often associated with average or struggling students, she was excluded from their circle. As for Song Tianqi, the perennial bottom-ranked student, he was ignored even more.

Song Tianqi quickly replied, "I've already teamed up with the monitor and Song Duoduo."

Yao Wenna’s beautiful brow furrowed slightly. "Xu Jintang only has a support ability, and Song Duoduo’s power has no offensive capability. Combined, they aren't even worth one of me. Are you sure you want to reject our offer?"

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting!" Song Duoduo, feeling slighted, stood up and slapped the table. "What do you mean we aren't worth one of you?"

Yao Wenna’s attitude remained arrogant. "Am I wrong?"

Song Tianqi, who had been looked down upon for his status as a "bottom-tier" student for so long, stood his ground. "So what? With me here, I alone am worth all three of you!"

Song Duoduo chimed in, "That's right, worth three of you!"

Yao Wenna’s expression darkened. "Suit yourselves." With that, she turned and left.

Xu Jintang watched her go and flexed her wrists.

Song Duoduo crossed her arms and snorted. "How ridiculous. They never even looked at Song Tianqi before, but now that they know he has a powerful ability, they come over to invite him to join their team."

"I wouldn't join their team anyway," Song Tianqi said with disdain.

Xu Jintang rested her clasped hands on the desk, a subtle smile playing on her lips. "In that case, let’s make sure we fight them for that first-place spot this year."

The top three finishers in the academy’s baseline assessment always received special rewards. In the previous year, the prize had been a combat-grade artifact for each winner. These artifacts were permitted in the joint exams and provided a significant boost to combat power, but they were so expensive that ordinary students could never afford them. She was quite looking forward to seeing just how generous the reward would be this time.