Chapter 3

The barrage of comments seemed to freeze. After a while, someone tentatively left a message.

“That… I’m not seeing things, right?”

“Not sure, my vision seems to have gone blurry too.”

“Suddenly blind +1”

“Get out of the way, I have good eyesight, let me tell you! This girl is the one who ran past super fast this morning! The star beast in her hands is the one that chased the military academy students half an hour ago, making them terrified! She’s that strong, she’s made the Empire’s geniuses look like trash!”

As soon as these words were spoken, someone immediately retorted: “[Who can prove that the star beast was killed by her? Maybe she just got lucky and found it, it doesn’t prove her strength.]”

“If she didn’t kill it, did you? Come on, come on, show us your skills!”

“People who are arguing, go away. Let’s analyze this rationally. From the time the students entered the desert to now, it’s been two whole days, and they’ve only encountered the girl. And the students encountered the star beast, and then the girl appeared dragging the star beast, with a 38-minute gap in between. The probability of another person appearing in the desert within those 38 minutes is obviously very low. So, the most likely scenario is that the star beast was killed by the girl.”

“I see that the star beast doesn’t have any obvious wounds. Did she use some kind of poison?”

“That’s not the point, everyone! Didn’t you see? The girl is dragging a thousand-pound star beast with her bare hands! Bare hands!”

“She’s so strong, she runs so fast, she’s so strong. It’s true that those who can survive in a place like the desolate planet are not ordinary people.”

The commotion in the live stream also caught the attention of the Imperial Military Academy.

Imperial citizens were paying attention to the military academy’s graduation exam, and as the school authorities, they would be even more attentive.

Several senior officials and instructors from the military academy were sitting in a large conference room. On the holographic screen in the center of the room, the exam situation of dozens of student squads was being broadcast in real time.

At this moment, the screen belonging to the desolate planet squad was enlarged, and the three-dimensional image of Song Chunshi dragging the star beast was frozen.

A female instructor said with appreciation, “The wound is in the left eye, pierced through the skull with some kind of sharp weapon, a fatal blow. Very beautiful.”

Without seeing the actual object, it was difficult to judge what weapon the girl used, but even if it was more advanced than the dagger in the students’ hands, her accuracy and composure were still commendable.

“Looking at this child’s physique, she should be no more than twenty years old. Her potential is amazing. Principal, I think we should recruit her immediately and cultivate her well,” said another older instructor.

The principal was a stern-looking middle-aged man. After a moment of contemplation, he said, “Let the instructor in charge of the desolate planet keep an eye on her first. The situation there is complicated, it might not be that simple.”

The desolate planet was a lawless zone, located in the buffer zone between several major interstellar powers. Although the population was small, the forces were complex. It was easy to recruit the girl into the academy, but they were worried that she might have ties to other forces, which would cause political problems.

The older instructor was a little anxious. “What else do you need to keep an eye on? It’s just recruiting a student. You’re dragging your feet. By the time you’ve finished considering, she’ll already be in someone else’s bowl!”

Although the Imperial Military Academy was known as a gathering place for geniuses on Starnet, there were still differences between geniuses.

For example, this girl, her strength, courage, and composure were among the best, even within the academy.

Such a talented person, if they weren’t discovered, that was fine. But once they were revealed to the world, they were a delicious dish, with countless hungry wolves eyeing them!

Their academy was known as the number one military academy, but the second and third military academies were all eyeing them with envy!

The principal sighed helplessly. “We need to figure out her background.”

The instructor asked, “As long as we confirm that the child’s background is clean?”

“Yes.” The principal nodded. He was also a person who appreciated talent, and he wasn’t unappreciative of the girl, but he needed to consider everything carefully.

The older instructor was finally satisfied. He immediately opened his communicator, bypassing the school authorities and directly sending instructions to the instructor in charge of the desolate planet squad. The instructor happened to be his former student, so he couldn’t disobey.

On the desolate planet, Song Chunshi finally dragged the massive prey back to the oasis, huffing and puffing all the way.

The moment she stepped onto the grass, she tossed the beast’s tail and collapsed onto the ground.

Today had been quite tiring, even her physique was starting to feel the strain.

After lying down for a while, remembering the refreshed feeling she had after meditating earlier, she sat up again, crossed her legs, calmed her mind, and silently recited the instructions.

Perhaps her thoughts were too scattered, it took her longer to enter the state this time, but the effect was still obvious. When she woke up from meditation, her body felt like she had just had a good night’s sleep, relaxed and agile, her fatigue completely gone.

She felt happy inside. “The internal martial arts manual was such a good buy. It’s a little expensive, but it’s not its fault, it’s my fault.”

She brought up the panel again to check her personal information.

Name: Song Chunshi

Accumulated Energy Value: 503 points

Current Energy Value: 1 point]

Seeing that lonely 1 point, Song Chunshi belatedly felt a pang of pain. The previous two hundred plus points were the result of two years of hard work. Now she was back to being poor again. If she wanted to exchange for anything in the future, she would have to start saving from scratch.

Fortunately, the system’s condition for sending her back home was to reach 1 million points in accumulated energy value, not 1 million points in current energy value. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to go back in her next life.

Weapons Exchanged: Dagger (ordinary), Bow and Arrow (fine)

Martial Arts Exchanged: “Mystifying Legs” (Mastered), “Swift Wind Fist” (Mastered), “Shadowless Bow” (Mastered), “Eternal Spring Manual” (Entry 1/40)]

The weapon list hadn’t changed, but the martial arts list had added “Eternal Spring Manual,” with the status “Entry.”

The system had set the martial arts progress into four stages: Entry, Small Success, Great Success, and Mastery. “Eternal Spring Manual” had a total of twelve levels. The first and second levels were Entry, the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth levels were Small Success, the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth levels were Great Success, and the eleventh and twelfth levels were Mastery.

Song Chunshi had only just stepped into the door, and she could already feel the magic of this manual. She couldn’t help but look forward to the future when she reached Great Success and even Mastery.

Resurrected again, she didn’t delay and began to dismember the prey under the starlight.

The dagger she had exchanged from the system store, although only of ordinary quality and priced at only 2 energy points, was surprisingly useful. It had been in her hands for five years and could still cut hair.

The dagger sliced precisely along the joints, skillfully separating the prey’s head and limbs. The bloody smell attracted nearby beasts, who circled around, unwilling to leave but also afraid to get too close.

They knew who was the master of this oasis. They had learned their lesson from repeated punishments.

If anyone were to pass by now, they would probably be scared to their knees.

Under the dim starlight, a group of beasts with glowing green eyes surrounded the human girl. Their foul-smelling saliva dripped onto the ground, as if they were about to pounce on her and tear her to shreds in the next second.

Song Chunshi just glanced at them and casually said, “Don’t rush, haste makes waste.”

She didn’t panic or tremble. Soon, she had disassembled the mountain-like prey into pieces.

The head and bones were in one pile. There wasn’t much meat on them, but they could be exchanged for supplies in the Great Oasis. Someone specifically collected them, she didn’t know what they were used for, she didn’t understand.

Because she was a direct transfer of her original body, Song Chunshi didn’t know the interstellar common language. She had been living in isolation, and she only knew some basic communication. Anything more complex she couldn’t understand. Fortunately, she was strong enough. Problems that language couldn’t solve could be solved with fists, which was equally effective.

Besides the bones, there was also a pile of animal skins and scales. They couldn’t be eaten, so she kept them to make leather armor. They were strong and durable, worth having.

There was a huge pile of meat, at least several hundred pounds. The meat wasn’t very tasty, but it was filling, full of energy, and could be made into jerky to store for mining, martial arts training, and physical labor.

As for the internal organs, she only kept the heart and liver, the rest she left on the ground for the waiting beasts.

She took the parts she wanted and left. Soon, the sounds of beasts devouring, tearing, and fighting came from behind.

It was terrifying to outsiders, but she was used to it.

These beasts living in her territory were also her prey reserves. They were like chickens and ducks raised at home. They were allowed to roam freely, occasionally fed some unwanted internal organs. When they were fattened up, they would be caught and slaughtered.

She felt that she was quite good at recycling and sustainable development.

When she returned to the cave, it was already late at night. As soon as she pushed open the stone slab that blocked the entrance, a round, glowing little robot rolled over, making a clicking sound at her feet.

“Little bald head, get out of the way, you’re blocking the way,” Song Chunshi dragged a large bag of loot into the cave.

The little robot continued to circle around her feet, almost getting stepped on several times. She had no choice but to manually push it away.

“This thing is stupid, it’s not useful at all. If the host wants a light, you can buy a night pearl,” the system suddenly spoke, its mechanical voice tinged with a hint of sourness.

“Are you kidding me? Take a look at how much a night pearl costs before you talk.”

The system store had night pearls, and they were in the weapon category. Song Chunshi still didn’t understand how they were used as weapons. Did you just hit people with them? That would be too expensive. One hit would cost 8 energy points, which was beyond the reach of a poor person like her.

The system had been constantly urging her to throw away the little robot and exchange for a night pearl for lighting, but she thought it was completely not cost-effective.

She had traded a piece of jerky for the little robot from two kids. They said it was a technological artifact dug out of the trash. Of course, now it had no function, it couldn’t even speak, it could only be used as a mobile light bulb.

Every time she saw it running around in her cave, Song Chunshi felt a sense of disconnect. She also clearly realized that although she lived like a primitive person, this was indeed the interstellar era, with robots and spaceships.

As she lay in bed, she thought hazily that she could bring this little thing back home later and let her grandfather have a laugh. It would be a souvenir from her time in another world.

The next day, Song Chunshi didn’t get up immediately. She didn’t have to mine today, and she was thinking about what to do.

She had to continue processing the prey she had dragged back last night. Some needed to be dried, some needed to be tanned. She would go to the Great Oasis tomorrow or the day after tomorrow to exchange for winter supplies. Then, before winter arrived, she would dig another energy mine. When the coldest part of winter came, she could stay in the cave and focus on practicing martial arts.

With her plan in place, she jumped out of the stone bed. “Get up and work!”

However, as soon as she left the cave, Song Chunshi found that there were uninvited guests in her territory.

Looking from the low slope where the cave entrance was located, she could see several figures by the pool.

She frowned slightly. “Those seem to be the people from yesterday?”

This was the third time she had seen them. Were these people just circling around in the same place?

By the pool, the military academy students were divided into two groups. One group was taking water, and the other was on guard. They couldn’t hide their exhaustion.

In the past, they were all proud children of heaven. However, after several days of exams, they were feeling quite deflated.

For students who had been surrounded by various high-tech since birth, being separated from technological means was like being forced to remove their protective clothing. The physical suffering was secondary, the psychological anxiety and unease were the most tormenting.

But as the instructor said, if they wanted to join the army and become real soldiers, they had to endure it, because they never knew what kind of situation they would encounter in the future.

Several students all had firm beliefs, no one thought of backing down.

The leading student suddenly made a gesture, and the team members immediately put down their belongings and moved towards him diagonally.

The team leader looked around the pool, and finally, his gaze fell on a clump of lush bushes, as if it were tangible.

What was hiding behind it?

Everyone was anxious, they couldn’t help but guess.

This oasis was clearly owned by someone. To occupy such a fertile territory, they must be a top predator, with enough deterrence, and they knew how to hide and ambush…

“Crack—”

The sound of a branch breaking, subtle, but deafening.

The students’ hearts skipped a beat, some of them had already turned pale, but they forced themselves not to retreat.

“Crack, crack—”

Something was stepping on the dry branches and approaching, the air seemed to become thick, as if—

An invisible blade was slowly raised, its edge radiating a chilling gleam.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from behind the bushes, a girl!

She had black hair and black eyes, carrying a longbow nearly as tall as a person, wearing a short skirt made of star beast scales. Her exposed limbs were strong and slender, her honey-colored skin kissed by the sun. She was like a discerning feline, the king of her own territory, walking with light and carefree steps, scrutinizing them with unrestrained curiosity. Her eyes were innocent yet wild.

She seemed so dangerous, yet they couldn’t look away.

The students instinctively held their breath.