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At night, the two great schools presented a study in contrast: one in motion, one in stillness.

The Imperial First Military Academy operated under strict lockdown. In the words of the Silver Star students, it was as quiet as a graveyard every night. In contrast, Silver Star Academy was a haven of freedom. Ever since the school leadership was apprehended, there had been no curfew, no dorm inspections, and students could enter the campus at any time simply by scanning their faces. The air was thick with a lively, carefree atmosphere.

"Barbecue time! Who's up for some barbecue?"

This evening, a group of students had brazenly set up a grill in the middle of the sports field. The aroma wafted up to the dormitories, enticing many to scramble downstairs to join the feast. The campus was abuzz with noise and excitement, and the school forum saw its peak daily traffic.

Silver Star's forum ran on a private, encrypted intranet accessible only with student or faculty IDs. Even bored alumni often logged in to watch the drama. With the new semester underway, the forum was flooded with new posts: the upcoming class schedules, which professors were easiest to pass, complaints about the cafeteria menu shrinking, and how the part-time jobs on the street behind the campus were paying less and less. Student life was ever carefree; a passing grade of sixty was enough, and anything more was considered a waste of effort.

Amidst the threads was a casual chat room where everyone hung out when they had nothing better to do.

"Speaking of which, this year's freshmen are exceptionally quiet."

"True. Usually, the forum is dominated by freshmen, but a year later, it's still you old dogs who love to spam."

Xiao Hua, while eating skewers on the field, opened his light-screen: "The freshmen are busy with military training. They don't have time to chat and slack off with you lot."

"Whoa! Isn't this Senior Xiao? How come you're still not graduated after ten years?"

Xiao Hua replied, "If you can't speak nicely, you don't have to speak at all. No one is forcing you."

"Hahahaha!" Many students stuck in the limbo of graduation laughed at his expense. The room was instantly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

This jab actually worked; after a while, a freshman surfaced.

[Military Training is Exhausting]: There aren't any freshmen because they all died halfway through the training.

"No way, is it that tiring this year?" An alumnus chimed in with a cup of coffee: "We all just coasted through for the credits back in our day."

"Senior, you don't get it. This year, Silver Star's training is being supervised by the Third Legion alongside the Imperial Academy. They say only half the students will get their credits. It’s absolutely brutal."

"That sounds great, actually," someone interjected. "Supervised by the Legion? Wouldn't that mean a massive boost in strength?"

"Maybe so," Xiao Hua said, chewing on a skewer stick. "I don't know if their strength increased, but they are definitely dying of exhaustion."

"By the way, next year is the triennial Inter-Academy Ranking Tournament. I remember Senior Ming Jia hasn't graduated yet. I wonder who will take the title of Academy President."

"If nothing goes wrong, the next president should be Gu Dong from the Agility Department."

"Ugh, that young master from the Gu family? Silver Star is truly in decline."

The senior sighed, "Are there any standout freshmen this year?"

"There are plenty. The Imperial S-rank royal grandson, and the eldest daughter of the Xia family."

"No, no, the most impressive one isn't either of them." Xiao Hua replied mysteriously. "There's a freshman in the Melee Department who was already Tier 4 upon entry. She’s the real star."

"Impossible, right? Someone better than an S-rank royal grandson? Is she S-rank too?"

"Not S-rank. She's A-rank. But she can beat an S-rank black and blue."

Recalling the scene during the training duel, Xiao Hua still felt a lingering shock. "And she’s quite devious! She pulled off a lot of dirty tricks during physical training. You might not have heard of them, but she's quite famous among the freshmen."

***

He had been keeping an eye on those potential-filled freshmen, especially Yuan Hanshuang, who had displayed immense power since the physical training began. As it turned out, Xiao Hua’s judgment was razor-sharp.

This afternoon, Xiao Hua had secretly watched the duel between Xuan Yuan Sheng and Yuan Hanshuang from the sidelines. Having witnessed a brilliant lightsaber duel a few days prior, many others were doing the same.

Who could have expected that the slim, tall, black-haired girl with twin tails would simply throw a casual punch? That simple, straight punch sent Xuan Yuan Sheng—who was standing his ground in a defensive stance—reeling back five or six steps, knocking him from the defensive barrier all the way to the tree outside. The moment he hit the trunk, the entire tree shook, sending a shower of leaves fluttering down.

Before Xiao Hua could recover from his shock, he saw Instructors Niu and Ma walk over.

"Student, please demonstrate the military combat punch you just used."

Yuan Hanshuang complied. Watching her execute the fluid, effortless set of military combat moves, even Xiao Hua, an Auxiliary student, could see the caliber of her technique. Having spent ten years at the academy, he had seen enough to recognize the terrifying force contained within those movements.

As expected, the instructor announced, "You don't need to do unarmed combat training anymore. Go practice with the sword."

Niu Hu spoke with a complex expression, "By the way, we are the ones responsible for teaching the basic, intermediate, and advanced combat courses at Silver Star. Once the semester officially starts, you don't need to attend these three classes either. Skip them and take electives instead; we have nothing left to teach you."

"Good grief, which ancient martial arts lineage is hiding such a gem?" he muttered.

The surrounding Silver Star freshmen were stunned.

"Thank you, Instructor Niu."

Watching the girl walk away happily clutching her light-sword, the shock in Xiao Hua’s heart was immeasurable. Not to mention that Xuan Yuan Sheng was an S-rank mimic and a recognized genius of the Empire—defeating him meant something serious. In his ten years here, he had never seen anyone skip three levels of combat courses to jump straight to electives.

Even Xuan Yuan Sheng, who had studied the lightsaber for ten years under the Sword Saint, only received praise from the instructors, never a precedent for skipping levels like this.

Combining this with Instructor Niu’s mutterings, Xiao Hua felt he had uncovered the truth. The girl must be the sole disciple of some ancient martial arts lineage. No wonder she was so strong! She was destined for greatness!

"Skipping three levels of combat is impressive, but you're exaggerating," many seniors on the forum expressed skepticism. "Do you know the gap between A-rank and S-rank mimics? And they are both Tier 4 beginners."

"Exactly, Xiao Hua. Are you just making up stories because we've all graduated?"

"Believe it or not." Xiao Hua rolled his eyes. "If nothing goes wrong, I'll be graduating this year."

"Oh? Really? You said the same thing last year."

"Hahahaha!" The crowd laughed heartlessly, and the thread moved at a dizzying pace.

After a dozen posts of boring meme battles, someone spoke up.

"But you know, if this is true, maybe we can look forward to next year's tournament. What if?"

"Wake up. The tournament is full of veterans. I looked it up—not counting the two 'galactic battleships' of the Imperial and Federal military academies, Qingbei’s lineup is terrifyingly strong. Their president is at the peak of Tier 4, ready to break into Tier 5 at any moment. How is our Silver Star supposed to win?"

"Excluding the two military academies and Qingbei, isn't there still Crape Myrtle? Moving from fifth to fourth isn't bad. Our academy hasn't moved in decades!"

"Sigh, Silver Star is just unlucky. If this Tier 4 freshman had arrived two or three years earlier, we might have had a Tier 5 powerhouse."

"Yeah, even if she's strong, she's still just a freshman. Forget it, better to hope for the royal grandson. I remember he's also Tier 4 and S-rank. Maybe?"

"Being Tier 4 as a freshman is useless. It takes a year to reach the next tier. Even the S+ mimic, the Saint of Light next door, takes two years. You'd be better off dreaming!"

Looking at the replies on his light-screen, Xiao Hua stopped typing. He took the bamboo stick out of his mouth and grilled another sausage for himself, staring blankly at the burning charcoal.

For some reason, whenever he thought of that girl, Xiao Hua had an inexplicable premonition. There were some people born with the aura that they could create miracles. With her, perhaps Silver Star could finally soar high in next year's tournament.

Yuan Hanshuang was unaware of her small-scale fame on the Silver Star forum. After demonstrating the punch for her "cheap cousin" yesterday, she had pondered for a while before bed. She had chosen the method that would save him the most face, but the punch was similar to the "Iron Mountain Lean" of Baji Quan, focusing on high-explosive, short-range power.

Having practiced martial arts for years, she had long since reached the level of total muscle control. Concentrating her entire strength into a single point was exactly what she had done. In Baji Quan, the technique could even be used to strike through objects; with enough force, it became a lethal killing blow. Back in the underground fighting arenas, she could blow an opponent from one side of the hall to the other if she used full power.

It was clear that Xuan Yuan Sheng surviving with only a few steps backward was actually quite impressive. Of course, the most important reason was that she had enjoyed a free meal from him a few days ago. When well-fed, Yuan Hanshuang’s attack power increased significantly.

"The patron's generosity ultimately leads to the patron's misery," Yuan Hanshuang mused before falling into a peaceful sleep.

As it turned out, her worries were unnecessary. During military training the next day, while other students were doing unarmed combat, she practiced her swordplay alone. She was always focused during training, oblivious to the world around her. She didn't know that Xuan Yuan Sheng had spent the entire morning challenging every S-rank freshman from the Imperial Academy, taking them down with a relentless set of Kyokushin Karate.

When she put away her light-sword during a break, a revitalized Xuan Yuan Sheng walked over to her. After his morning of experiments, he had confirmed one thing: it wasn't that he was weak, but that his new friend was simply too strong. Once he realized this, his frustration vanished, replaced by a fierce competitive spirit.

"As expected of my friend! You really are amazing!" He gave his signature thumbs-up. "I will definitely train hard! One day, I will catch up to you!"

"Don't let your guard down! Be careful not to let me surpass you!"

Yuan Hanshuang: "..."

Although his words were as annoying as ever, her cousin's mindset was actually quite good. In her past life, many opponents had their spirits completely crushed by her. Thinking it over, she decided this was a good thing.