Chapter 54

The rumor-monger posted an apology letter, and with the administrators keeping a close eye on the situation, the matter quickly settled down.

However, Xia Mengrou's incident could not be kept under wraps.

During the morning exercises the next day, various members of the squad expressed their sincere concern and regards.

"You can come directly to us next time something like this happens."

"Exactly. We've been teaming up for so long; when trouble strikes, we're bound to stick together through thick and thin! At least tell us so we can brainstorm a solution together."

"Thank you, guys." Xia Mengrou smiled. "Hanshuang has already helped me sort it out, so there's no need to trouble you."

"Indeed." Yuan Hanshuang, who was nearby coaching Gutong on her form, chimed in casually, "I could take down that rumor-monger all by myself until they hollered. Besides, weren't you guys still recovering from your injuries yesterday? It was so late, so I didn't call you."

"Mengrou treated me to food and fun outside for a whole day, which is why I didn't get the chance to tell you."

Hearing this, Xuanyuan Sheng cast a look of profound respect toward Xia Mengrou.

Gutong said expressionlessly, a deadpan joke, "You can hire me next time. I'll give you a ten percent discount."

Xuanyuan Sheng: "Hey! I'm still standing right here, and you're already openly taking clients!"

The group burst into laughter.

As luck would have it, morning exercises originally only involved Yuan Hanshuang and her two underlings. Later, Xuanyuan Sheng joined, Gutong came over to learn boxing, and Xia Mengrou also participated. Before anyone knew it, the entire lineup of the Silver Star Grim Reaper Annihilation Squad was fully assembled.

Since teaching one person was the same as teaching two, and adopting the mindset that adding another student would allow them to spar with each other and make things less tiring, Yuan Hanshuang decided to teach the young lady a set of boxing forms as well.

Combining their different traits, she chose the Seven-Star Fist—a famous fast-hand boxing style from her past life—for Gutong, and Soft Boxing for Xia Mengrou. After briefly explaining the characteristics of their respective boxing styles and demonstrating them on the spot, she left them to practice on their own.

After morning exercise, the group gathered for breakfast, then returned to their respective dormitories to change clothes in preparation for classes.

Although it had already been a month since enrollment, they had spent the time prior in military training, making today the official start of classes for the freshmen.

Changing out of the camouflage military training uniform she had worn for a month and slipping into Silver Star's gray school uniform, Yuan Hanshuang felt a rather strange sense of unfamiliarity. Standing in front of the full-length mirror, she clumsily tied her collar tie, tugged at her knee-length pleated skirt of the same color, and adjusted her ankle-high socks.

"Isn't this just a pure British-style school uniform?" she muttered inwardly.

Wearing a skirt was certainly pretty, and it genuinely made her legs look long, but it wasn't particularly convenient for fighting.

Xia Mengrou: "Are you ready yet?"

The young lady wore flowing wavy curls today, with blue and pink ribbons braided into her hair, making her look exceptionally youthful and vibrant.

She walked over and cast a critical eye at Yuan Hanshuang: "Where's the lipstick I bought you yesterday? Put a little bit on; it'll make your complexion look better."

Perhaps because her actual hair color was golden, Yuan Hanshuang was a cold-toned fair-skinned person in this lifetime. It looked fine when her hair was blonde, but after dyeing it black, it made her look somewhat abnormally pale. In Xia Mengrou's words, under slightly dim lighting, she could easily rival a professional assassin.

As she spoke, the young lady walked over to the folding vanity cabinet and scanned it with a critical gaze.

Yesterday, she had simply swiped her card to buy Yuan Hanshuang an entire set of cosmetics, courtesy of Xia Mengrou's go-to interstellar luxury brand.

"Here, use this."

"Okay."

The consequence of applying lipstick was that during the first class, Xuanyuan Sheng gave her several strange looks. This class was a compulsory course for the melee department, and the two of them happened to be partnered together.

Yuan Hanshuang, who was exceptionally sensitive to gazes, grew slightly annoyed by his staring: "What?"

"Did you put on makeup?" Xuanyuan Sheng asked with hesitation in his voice.

Yuan Hanshuang expressionlessly replied: "No, I just put on some lipstick."

"Oh, is that so?" Xuanyuan Sheng, who actually didn't understand the difference between lipstick and makeup, scratched his head. "By the way, tonight is the Chief Selection Tournament."

"Got it," Yuan Hanshuang said with a lack of enthusiasm.

Soon after this class ended, they ran into Wu Haoxuan, who happened to have chosen the same elective for the next period, and the entire conversation repeated itself.

Thus, Yuan Hanshuang had an epiphany. To straight men, wearing a full face of makeup without lipstick meant no makeup at all, while wearing no makeup but applying lipstick meant a heavy stage face. This law surprisingly applied just as well in the interstellar era!

With a full schedule of classes all day, Yuan Hanshuang rushed off to the Silver Star Library the moment class ended.

Over the past two days, she had caught wind of a piece of gossip: it was rumored that as long as one borrowed many books at the Silver Star Library, attended self-study sessions frequently, and studied late into the night, they might luck out and bump into the librarian, gain their appreciation, and secure a reading card for the Imperial Academy Library.

Right now, the internal defenses of the military academy were tight, and the area around the library connected to the clock tower was guarded heavily. Surrounded by a group of sixth-tier talented individuals keeping watch under broad daylight, the possibility of sneaking in at midnight was completely severed, leaving only the normal daytime borrowing process as an option.

Yuan Hanshuang figured that even with Bian Yu's student ID card, she still needed to successfully infiltrate the military academy's library. She couldn't just swagger in waving Bian Yu's student ID, so getting her hands on a legitimate reading card was essential.

Moreover, time was of the essence; she had to do it within the next couple of days. What if Bian Yu went back, discovered his student ID was missing, and requested a replacement? Then all her previous efforts would go to waste.

Tonight, the library was empty and practically deserted, making Yuan Hanshuang—who was putting on a show of hugging books—stand out conspicuously.

Students left in twos and threes, clutching their homework.

"The Chief Selection Tournament is about to start!"

"Hurry up, if we go late, there won't be any good spots left to watch."

The Chief Selection Tournament had always been a top-tier event at Silver Star Academy. Especially with the Inter-Academy Ranking Tournament coming up next year, it meant that the department chiefs elected in this year's tournament would serve as the main force players in next year's rankings. Given how much this concerned collective honor, even Silver Star students not personally participating in the tournament paid close attention, flocking to the Silver Star Auditorium after class to spectate.

Those who dared to run for chief were students with genuine skills. Not only were their fights exceptionally exciting to watch, but one could also absorb a wealth of combat experience from them, making it well worth the look.

At this hour, the auditorium was packed with people.

Ming Jia signaled everyone to step back and leave an open space in the middle.

"Fellow students, the annual Chief Selection Tournament is about to begin." Her gaze slowly swept across the room. "As everyone knows, next year is an extremely crucial year. The department chiefs we select this year will lead ten elites from each department next year to compete against other advanced academies."

"And I am about to graduate, passing the burden of the academy president onto you."

Amidst the speech, Xuanyuan Sheng deliberately glanced around.

Failing to spot Yuan Hanshuang's figure, though he had mentally prepared himself beforehand, he still felt a slight trace of disappointment.

The matches during military training hadn't really been true bouts, and Xuanyuan Sheng was actually looking forward to sparring with his new friend in such an upright and formal setting to see just where he fell short.

After a brief speech, Ming Jia announced the start of the tournament.

Six distinct areas had been specially marked off in the auditorium to serve as rings for the different departments. Any students willing to accept the challenge could choose to step up and fight. Winning the challenge allowed them to hold the ring, and three years—no, three hours later, whoever was still standing in the ring would successfully secure the position of department chief.

This year's tournament was visibly fierce.

Meng Mingcheng stood to the side, sighing with emotion: "It seems the victory in the confrontation match this year has deeply motivated the freshmen. The number of freshmen challenging the rings is many times higher than in previous years, and the senior students defending them are under immense pressure."

Only Ming Jia remained frowning.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she focused her observation on the ring for the melee department.

Early this morning, Meng Mingcheng had sent the list of potential-laden freshmen, compiled over the better part of the night, to Ming Jia's optical brain inbox. On it, he had highlighted the potential freshmen who needed focused attention this year and could likely be properly cultivated to deploy directly next year.

Among this list, the two students Ming Jia valued most were from the melee department.

One was Xuanyuan Sheng, and the other was Yuan Hanshuang.

Not only were both early fourth-tier, but each possessed extraordinary traits and leadership skills. With hard work over the year, they might genuinely be capable of taking over the burden of the academy president. After all, within the current Chief Council, those with high cultivation levels were ill-suited for major responsibilities, while those with lower cultivation levels were still merely mid fourth-tier.

Although the support department helped replenish stamina, going up later in tournament matches was actually more advantageous.

Clearly, Xuanyuan Sheng was not the type to exploit rules for shortcuts. Just as the Chief Selection Tournament began, he took off his school uniform jacket, leaped confidently onto the ring, and announced his challenge.

Silver Star's melee department chief was a senior student who was only mid fourth-tier.

Given the potency of Xuanyuan Sheng's mimicry ability, he was fully capable of pulling off a cross-tier challenge.

"Congratulations to student Xuanyuan for successfully winning the challenge!"

Sure enough, about a quarter of an hour later, this suspense-free battle ended with the defeat of the previous melee chief. Xuanyuan Sheng smiled, shook his hand, and took over the authority of the melee department chief.

"Is there anyone else who wants to challenge?"

Standing in the ring, those were Xuanyuan Sheng's first words.

He tilted his chin up slightly, his tone arrogant yet his expression quite calm: "You are welcome to come and challenge me."

"Because only by experiencing it firsthand will you realize just how vast the gap is between you and me."

A single stone stirred a thousand ripples.

"Holy cow, this freshman punk is way too arrogant!"

"Even if he's a junior imperial grandson and a contributor to the confrontation match, this is too much. Brothers, grab your weapons and get up there! We senior veterans can't let him look down on us!"

"Charge, charge, charge! Teach him a lesson!"

Before long, several senior melee students took off their jackets and leaped onto the ring. Unfortunately, without exception, all of them were beaten down by Xuanyuan Sheng.

True to his provocative and arrogant words, Xuanyuan Sheng held nothing back during the duels, truly walking the talk and making these senior students realize the gap between themselves and a true genius.

Seeing this, Ming Jia frowned inwardly.

An academy president needed more than just a high cultivation level and heavy fists; most importantly, they needed personal charisma and the ability to win people over to boost group cohesion and lead the academy to high rankings in the tournament.

As for Xuanyuan Sheng, while he undoubtedly possessed strength and charisma, his working style was a bit too aggressive, making it easy for him to breed resentment. And without near-dominant strength, this lingering resentment would inevitably cause internal discord within the academy.

After all, the martial world wasn't just about killing and fighting; it was about human relationships and social finesse.

Ming Jia silently placed a question mark behind Xuanyuan Sheng's name in her mind.

After watching for a moment, she suddenly sensed something amiss and turned back to look at Meng Mingcheng: "Where is Yuan Hanshuang?"

"Huh?" Meng Mingcheng, who had been busy processing documents on his optical brain, was taken aback.

He stood up and took a look. "Eh? That's right, where is she?"

Realistically speaking, apart from Xuanyuan Sheng who knew in advance, probably no one would have guessed that Yuan Hanshuang—who had single-handedly turned the tide in the confrontation match—did not intend to participate in the Chief Selection Tournament at all.

"Achoo!"

Being talked about by everyone, she couldn't help but sneeze in the library.

"Who's talking about me?"

Just moments ago, Yuan Hanshuang had successfully broken through a bottleneck that had been lingering for quite some time, stepping into the mid fourth-tier.

Regrettably, having only fought through a single night of late-night studying, she failed to win the favor of the Silver Star librarian and secure the reading pass for the neighboring military academy.

With the moon hanging high in the branches, the library announced its closing.

With no other choice, Yuan Hanshuang could only put down her books and leave to the sound of the closing bell. However, instead of returning to the dormitory, she sent a message to the young lady telling her not to wait up for her late return, and headed straight for the school gates.

At the school gates, a pre-ordered black-market unlicensed taxi had been waiting for a long time.

She planned to make a trip to the Black Street to see if she could find any other way to sneak into the military academy's library.