Chapter 7

Song Chunshi didn’t wait specifically for Carol, unsure when he would return to the barren planet.

After finishing the enlightenment material, she began searching for a new energy mine.

She had already dug through all the surface energy mines nearby. The ones deep underground were impossible to reach alone, so she had to look further away.

This new energy mine was nearly a hundred kilometers from her territory. Just going back and forth every day would take Song Chunshi several hours.

Fortunately, she now had internal energy, so running wasn’t tiring. She considered it exercise.

To her surprise, the new mine had a very abundant energy reserve. She collected a total of 26 energy points, more than double the previous mine.

With these energy points, Song Chunshi could finally rest assured about winter. Otherwise, with an empty pocket, she wouldn’t feel safe.

The first snow fell in the blink of an eye. After just one night, the entire desert was covered in a white blanket.

In the morning, Song Chunshi pushed open the stone slab. The cold wind, carrying snowflakes, roared in. She gently breathed out, and the puff of white air hadn’t even formed before it dissipated in the wind.

The surroundings fell into a quiet silence. The system suddenly asked, [Is he not coming anymore?]

Song Chunshi was shoveling snow at the entrance of the cave with her shovel. She casually said, “The capital star should be quite far away. He probably won’t be here so soon.”

[If he comes, will the host leave the barren planet?]

“It depends. He seems to want to recruit me into a military academy. As far as I know, military academy students have requirements for psychic powers. Once he knows I don’t have psychic powers, he might change his mind.” Song Chunshi answered calmly.

If she had the chance to leave, she still wanted to go out and see the world. The barren planet was too barren, and there were too few opportunities. Just relying on mining, she might never be able to go home in her lifetime.

However, others recruited her because they thought she was valuable. If she lost that value, the outcome would be uncertain.

The system didn’t like this idea. It complained resentfully, [Psychic powers are nothing special. The mecha’s strength is just so-so. The host will be able to kill them all in seconds later!]

Song Chunshi smiled and said, “Even if I can enroll, military academy tuition is not cheap. After mining for so many years, you haven’t even left me a single energy stone. What will I use to pay tuition then?”

[Uh… this… this…] The system stammered, then quickly pretended to be dead.

“You stingy thing.” Song Chunshi rolled her eyes at it.

The barren planet’s winter wasn’t suitable for going out to mine or hunt. Otherwise, if you sweat a little, you risk being frozen into an ice sculpture.

Song Chunshi closed the cave door, leaving only a few ventilation holes. She turned on the heater and hung up the little bald robot for lighting. The cave instantly became warm and bright like spring.

Now that she had plenty of time to hibernate, she could focus on studying the martial arts in the “Eternal Spring Manual.” She was most interested in the move “Spring Wind Caressing Willows,” a light-footed martial art. After using it, one could move as quickly and lightly as the wind.

Following the internal energy running route in the secret manual, Song Chunshi practiced it over and over again in the cave, from one end of the cave to the other, and back again. She failed countless times, but she just learned from her previous experience and then started the next time.

Outside the cave, the snow was flying and the sky was cold, but she was sweating profusely.

The system didn’t say anything to bother her. It had always had unwavering confidence in Song Chunshi. Before, it had no hesitation in believing that she could defeat a mecha later, half because of its own confidence, and the other half because of Song Chunshi.

The system had never had other hosts before, so it had nothing to compare it to. But over the years, the human being’s resilience in the face of hardship, her courage in the face of danger, and her determination to achieve her goals had left a deep impression on it, a non-living entity.

It thought, if someone like this couldn’t succeed, then others wouldn’t be able to either. Otherwise, humans would be too terrifying.

A faint sound of breaking air suddenly came from inside the cave. The system quickly pulled itself out of its thoughts. It saw Song Chunshi standing beside the rock wall at the bottom of the cave, her black hair sticking to her forehead, and large drops of sweat rolling down her chin, wetting her rapidly rising chest.

She looked very disheveled, but her eyes were brighter than the stars at night.

[Did you succeed?] The system asked.

Song Chunshi gasped heavily, unable to speak for a moment. After a few more breaths, she said, “I’m not sure. I’ll try again.”

She recalled the feeling just now, slowly circulated her internal energy, adjusted her breathing frequency, and moved her feet slightly.

Her tall figure, like a wisp of spring breeze, swept through the cave. The next second, she was already at the entrance of the cave.

The system dinged. The mechanical voice sounded more cheerful than usual, [Congratulations, host, you have successfully used the martial art “Spring Wind Caressing Willows.” Please keep working hard.]

Song Chunshi’s smile was as bright as summer flowers. She suddenly collapsed onto the ground, leaning against the stone slab door, waving her hand weakly, “I’ll sleep for a while, and then I’ll keep…”

Before she could finish, her head drooped low, and she fell asleep.

This scene had happened several times in recent days. Every time, she would practice until she was exhausted, then fall asleep. When she woke up, she would eat something casually and then continue practicing.

Song Chunshi always felt a sense of urgency. She didn’t know how long it would take her to go home.

Although the system had said that it could send her back to the time she crossed over, what if something went wrong, and the time was a few years later? Her grandfather was already old. Would it be too late to see him one last time?

So she always felt that if she could become stronger, even stronger, maybe she would have a way to quickly meet the system’s conditions.

By the time Carol returned to the barren planet, Song Chunshi had completely mastered this light-footed martial art. She could now use it instantly and continuously.

She heard the sound outside the cave and came out to check. She saw a small spaceship landing at the edge of the oasis. Carol got off the spaceship and waved to her. His red crew cut was very conspicuous in the snow.

Song Chunshi ran down the small slope and quickly crossed the snow-covered oasis to reach him.

Carol looked surprised, “I remember your speed wasn’t this fast before.”

He should say, the girl’s speed was already fast before, now it was even faster.

Back then, he was secretly observing her. Several times, he almost lost her. And his body was enhanced—

“It’s much stronger than ordinary people.”

He didn’t expect that after just a month of not seeing her, the girl’s speed had broken through again. This time, if he didn’t use external force, even if he used all his strength, he wouldn’t be able to catch up.

Song Chunshi didn’t answer. She looked curiously at the spaceship and asked, “Where’s your mecha?”

Her common language was much more standard than before. Although her speaking speed was still slow, at least it was fluent.

“Interested in mechas?” Carol laughed, showing his white teeth, “Mine is a single-person mecha. It can’t carry people. To take you with me, I have to take the spaceship.”

“I probably can’t go to the military academy you mentioned,” Song Chunshi said directly, “My psychic powers aren’t up to standard.”

She didn’t say that she might not have psychic powers. In the interstellar era, everyone has psychic powers. The weakest is E-level. If she didn’t have any, who knows if she would be considered an anomaly.

But Carol just shrugged, not caring at all when he heard this, “We decided to admit you, not because of your psychic powers.”

Then he touched his chin and thought, “But if you don’t meet the standard, you can’t choose some majors, like mecha infantry.”

He looked at Song Chunshi, with a hint of regret on his face. Most young people apply to military academies because they want to study mecha. He thought the girl in front of him was the same, and he felt sorry for her.

Carol had no idea that Song Chunshi was interested in mechas, not to drive them, but to see them as her target opponents.

She threw another question at him, “Which military academy did you mention before? Is the tuition expensive? I can’t afford it if it’s too expensive.”

If the tuition was reasonable, maybe she could hunt a few star beasts to earn money before she left.

She now knew that many of the strange beasts on the barren planet were ordinary animals, while others were star beasts.

The biggest difference between star beasts and ordinary beasts is that they also have psychic powers, and they are very bloodthirsty. They like to devour the psychic powers of other species to strengthen themselves.

Similarly, humans can also increase their own psychic powers by eating star beast meat, so these beasts are expensive.

If the military academy tuition was too expensive, she might not be able to afford it. It was winter now, and many star beasts were hiding to hibernate. It wasn’t easy to catch them.

She asked seriously. Carol couldn’t help but laugh.

This was the first time a student had heard that they had been admitted to a military academy and was first concerned about tuition.

But thinking about the girl’s environment, it didn’t seem so strange. He patiently explained, “I can apply for a tuition waiver for you. As long as you can pass the final exam with honors at the end of the semester, you can also get a full scholarship. Also, the academy that admitted you is the Empire Military Academy, the number one university in the Purple Jasmine Empire, the best one.”

The enlightenment material hadn’t been learned in vain. Song Chunshi knew about the Purple Jasmine Empire, one of the three major interstellar powers, known for its powerful military strength.

She was actually going to be admitted to the number one school in such a powerful country?

Song Chunshi, who had been a terrible student since she was a child, felt a little unreal.

Thinking about it, there didn’t seem to be any other questions. She said, “Please wait a moment. I’ll go pack my things.”

She didn’t doubt that he was lying to her. If he just wanted to grab her and go, with the man’s strength and equipment, there was no need to go through so much trouble.

Carol smiled and pointed towards the cave, “Do you mind if I take a look?”

Song Chunshi shook her head. There were no secrets in her cave that she couldn’t show. Anyway, she was leaving, so feel free to take a look.

This cave was the first time anyone other than Song Chunshi had stepped inside.

Carol stood at the entrance of the cave and could see all the way to the bottom. The rock walls clearly showed signs of human excavation. Besides the living quarters, there was also a storage room.

He took a few steps closer and first saw a pile of stones haphazardly stacked in the corner of the storage room.

Carol’s gaze swept over them, then suddenly stopped. He bent down and carefully examined one of the stones. His eyes slowly widened, “What is this?”

Song Chunshi was packing her jerky. She didn’t know how long the journey would be, so she was figuring out how much to bring. When she heard this, she casually glanced at it, “I don’t know. I picked it up in the desert. It looked pretty, so I brought it back.”

She would occasionally dig up other minerals or strange rocks while mining. Some were quite pretty, so she would pick them up and use them as decorations.

Carol didn’t know what to say. He pointed at the thing in his hand and took a long time to find his tongue, “You’re still worried about the tuition being too expensive. This stone is enough for you to finish six years of military academy!”