Su Liqian wasn’t one to fall behind. She immediately pulled out a B-level weapon card from The Great Magician and summoned the Bone Magician’s Staff to block the attack. 

Taking advantage of the brief pause after her opponent’s round of offense, she equipped herself with a B-level equipment card from The Starry Sky She Watches Over. 

Ren Yi, who had only used one equipment card, gradually found herself at a disadvantage. 

After her third failed attack, Ren Yi, now looking a bit flustered, glared at Su Liqian with growing resentment. She clenched her teeth and pulled a new card from her Star Moon Stone. 

“Unlock.” 

A blue light gathered in her hand, transforming into a blue, high-speed gun. 

On the other side, Su Liqian frowned when she saw the weapon. 

Just a few days ago, she had created a B-level weapon card—also a high-speed gun—back at the dorm. Weirdly enough, before she had the chance to infuse it with her spiritual strength and store it in her Star Moon Stone Belt, it mysteriously disappeared. 

At the time, she suspected that someone might have taken it, but before she could investigate further, she unexpectedly saw another identical card in Ren Yi’s hand today. 

Su Liqian wasn’t the type to accuse people without proof, but this was way too much of a coincidence. 

Before she could think about it further, Ren Yi raised her weapon and fired several rapid shots at her. 

Thankfully, after several weeks of matches, Su Liqian had gained quite a bit of battle experience. She barely dodged the incoming attacks. 

This high-speed gun fired at an incredibly fast rate—so fast the energy bullets were nearly invisible. 

Su Liqian swung her bone magician’s staff with practiced ease while erecting a barrier to shield herself from the incoming hail of bullets. As she defended, she chanted under her breath and cast a spell: “Slow!” 

Ren Yi, focusing on constantly channeling her spiritual strength to launch attacks, showed no signs of wanting to dodge. The magic landed perfectly on the high-speed gun in her hands. 

She frowned, but since she didn’t feel anything happen, she just snorted and kept firing. 

But this time, the gun’s speed was noticeably slower. 

“What’s going on?” 

Ren Yi finally noticed something was off. She stared at Su Liqian in disbelief. 

“What did you do?!” 

Su Liqian didn’t bother answering. Instead, she used her illusion card’s water element boost to channel water energy into her staff, then shaped it into sharp icicles. 

“Ice Rain!” 

As the spell completed, she shouted, and a storm of crystal-clear icicles rained down toward Ren Yi. 

Ren Yi looked up, eyes wide, seeing the dense shower of ice coming straight at her. She had no time to activate a defense card. Frozen in place, she instinctively closed her eyes. 

Boom! Boom! Boom! 

When she opened them again, she found herself surrounded by a glowing shield. 

The judge had stepped in. 

She lost. 

Su Liqian calmly walked forward. Her usual polite smile was gone—she stared coldly at Ren Yi and held out her hand. 

“That card belongs to me.” 

Ren Yi froze at those words. Guilt flashed in her eyes, and she avoided Su Liqian’s gaze. 

After a long pause, a soft snort escaped Ren Yi. Reluctantly, she pulled out the card from her Star Moon Stone and slapped it into Su Liqian’s hand. 

“Whatever. I didn’t want it anyway.” 

With that, she turned and stormed off. 

The card was finally back in Su Liqian’s hands—but it was already infused with Ren Yi’s spiritual strength, meaning it was unusable now. 

She quietly stored it away and returned to the audience seats. 

From a distance, Ji Yanxi was already waving at her. When she sat down, he gave her a big pat on the shoulder. 

“Nice one! That’s the kind of fight I’d expect from someone who beat me!” 

Beside him, Ning Yishi nodded in approval. 

“You’re really something. This level of skill at your age? You’re going to make a great card master one day.” 

“Of course! Liqian hasn’t lost a match yet, has she?” Ji Yanxi said with pride. 

“You two seem to be keeping an eye on me,” Su Liqian said suddenly, breaking her silence. 

Ever since she’d first met them, something felt… off. 

A celebrity card master and a university professor just happened to be here watching an early-stage district match? And Ning Yishi had been giving her some weird looks the whole time. 

“You two… aren’t just here to watch, are you?” 

She gave them a suspicious look, finally voicing what she’d been thinking. 

“Ahahaha…” 

Ji Yanxi gave a few awkward laughs and couldn’t help but mumble under his breath, “I told you I’m not really good at this…” 

“Mm, we did come to watch this match because of you,” Ning Yishi replied indifferently after being caught. 

“Ever since I saw footage of your match with Yanxi, I’ve been following your games.” 

He paused, then asked, “You’re a Dream Caster, right?” 

“Yes.” 

“Hmm…” 

Ning Yishi went quiet for a moment. 

Although he had already suspected it, seeing Su Liqian in person and hearing her admit it herself finally made the reality sink in—this was the youngest Dream Caster in history, standing right in front of him. 

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sleek chip card, then stood up and handed it to her formally. 

“Let me introduce myself properly. I’m Ning Yishi, Dean of the Card Studies Department at Xingqi University, specializing in card crafting and spiritual strength shaping.” 

“Nice to meet you.” 

By now, Su Liqian had more or less figured out why they were here. 

She guessed it had something to do with the “unusual” cards she’d shown off during her previous matches. 

“I’ve been really intrigued by the cards you’ve used in competition. And you’re also the youngest Dream Caster I’ve ever heard of in the entire interstellar.” 

Ning Yishi spoke politely and kindly, perfectly fitting the image of a well-educated intellectual. 

“I’ve wanted to meet you for a while, so I asked Yanxi to come with me to this match.” 

Now that their intentions were clear, Su Liqian didn’t drag things out. She answered a few of Ning Yishi’s questions openly and exchanged contact info with both of them. 

Ning Yishi mentioned that he was working on a research related to card crafting and might need her help with some data. In return, he’d offer compensation and free consultations. 

Of course, Su Liqian wasn’t going to turn down an offer like that. 

He was a well-known professor at a top university, and just by helping out, she could get free guidance—a dream opportunity for any student. 

After the match ended and they said their goodbyes, Su Liqian made a quick stop back at school. 

She wasn’t about to just let Ren Yi off the hook for stealing her card. If someone took something from her, there had to be consequences. 

Of course, Su Liqian didn’t plan to do anything over the top. She simply sent Ren Yi a shopping link to a High-Speed gun card, along with a short message: 
 
[The market price for a High-Speed Gun card is 50,000 star coins, but since we’re roommates—and since you took it without asking—I thought it wasn’t too much to slightly raise the price.] 

Ren Yi, out of curiosity, clicked the link. But the second she saw the listed price of 100,000, she nearly lost it. 

Ren Yi: What do you mean ‘took it without asking’? Do you have proof? How dare you slander me! If I wanted a card, I could just buy one myself—why would I want your overpriced one? 

Su Liqian wasn’t fazed by her reply. 

Right—there weren’t any cameras in the dorm, and the only trace left on the card was Ren Yi’s spiritual energy. Ren Yi probably figured Su Liqian had no proof. 

But Su Liqian chuckled softly and replied calmly— 

Su Liqian: Oh? So you’re saying the high-speed gun card you used in the match was your own creation then? 

Ren Yi: Obviously! 

Su Liqian: Then why did you give it to me? 

Ren Yi: You snatched it from me! 

Su Liqian: Heh. If it was your creation, you’d remember the back design, right? 

Ren Yi: The back? What are you talking about? It’s just the standard Mecha Storm B-level card back. 

Su Liqian smirked and sent over a picture of the card’s back. 

Su Liqian: Really? You didn’t even realize it was a custom transparent card endorsed by Mu Xixi? You know, those special-edition ones? If you bought a set, you should have more of those custom cards lying around, right?” 

That was when Ren Yi started to panic a little. She finally realized she’d walked right into Su Liqian’s trap and said way too much. 

Ren Yi: I just forgot, okay? A few messages aren’t proof of anything. 

Su Liqian: True. But since you’re not planning to buy it, I’ll just send the card for authentication. If I’m wrong, I’ll apologize. But if it turns out you did steal it, I’ll be posting the results on Star Net. 

Ren Yi: Authentication? Are you crazy? Getting a card authenticated costs as much as an A-level card! 

Ren Yi didn’t believe Su Liqian would really spend that much on an authentication. Even though a card authenticity check could confirm the crafter’s spiritual imprint, it was pricey and often seen as not worth it. 

Still, despite what she said, Ren Yi couldn’t help but feel nervous. On one hand, she doubted Su Liqian would spend the money; on the other, she feared the consequences if she did—especially how it might affect her reputation at school or in future competitions. 

Su Liqian snapped a picture of herself standing near the station that led to the Card Authentication Center, then closed the chat. She didn’t bother reading any more of Ren Yi’s messages after that. 

Sure enough, a few minutes later, she got a notification: 100,000 star coins received. 

Leaning back in her seat on the ride home, Su Liqian couldn’t help but feel pretty pleased with herself. 

She made quite a bit of money from that incident. 

If people were always this quick and generous with their money, she wouldn’t mind getting “robbed” a few more times. 

But if she’s being honest, this was only possible because Ren Yi was young and felt guilty. Su Liqian didn’t even need to do much—she got the money effortlessly. 

For Ren Yi, 100,000 star coins probably wasn’t a small amount. Su Liqian hoped this would be a good lesson for her. 

At the very least, it should teach her one thing: Su Liqian is not someone to mess with. 

Back at home, Su Mingyang and Bai Yao had, as usual, prepared a big dinner, waiting for their daughter to come home. 

They’d always wanted to attend one of her matches in person, but work kept them too busy. Every time they tried to take time off, Su Liqian would turn them down. So, they resorted to sneaking peeks at the livestreams during work. 

Lately, Bai Yao had become obsessed with “bullet comments.” Whenever Su Liqian appeared and got complimented, she would feel incredibly proud. 

These days, even her coworkers were congratulating her on having such an amazing daughter. 

Who would’ve thought that not long ago, this same girl was struggling just to get into high school? 

Bai Yao looked at Su Liqian with a mix of pride and motherly concern. 

She’s proud, of course—but ever since her daughter started high school, she’s been hiding away in her room to study every day after coming home. Lately, the competition schedule has also gotten more intense. 

Bai Yao couldn’t help worrying that Su Liqian might be pushing herself too hard. 

“Here, eat a bit more.” 

Thinking that, Bai Yao added more food to Su Liqian’s bowl. 

“Thanks, Mom.” 

“Oh, by the way, if I make it to the next round, you and Dad should come watch the match in person.” 

Su Liqian said it casually, while picking up another bite. 

Her parents froze for a second, then bright smiles lit up their faces. 

“Alright, let me check the schedule. I’ll need to ask for leave in advance—just in case…” 

“Of course we’ll go. Your dad and I wouldn’t miss it.” 

Su Liqian glanced at her dad pulling up his calendar and her mom beaming beside him. A gentle smile played on her lips. 

Right after the competition came the long-anticipated placement exam. 

On Monday, as Su Liqian walked into class, she could instantly tell the atmosphere was different. 

Normally lively and noisy, the classroom was unusually quiet. Everyone had study materials spread out on their desks, trying to squeeze in one last bit of review before the exam. 

Su Liqian sat down at her desk. Ye Zilan turned to greet her. 

“How’s your preparation going?” 

“Not bad. You?” 

“Same as you.” 

They exchanged a knowing smile and went back to their books. 

The first test of the school year wasn’t super hard—it mostly focused on written exams. But to get into the Special Class, they also had to factor in daily performance and how you did in the Star District card matches. 

After a few weeks of studying—and being someone who had already been through college once—Su Liqian felt pretty confident. 

Aside from a couple tricky questions, she was able to handle most of it. 

Turns out, her hard work paid off. Her written exam score landed her in the top three of the entire grade. 

And once everything was tallied up—including performance and competition points—she actually ranked first and got into the Special Class! 

“Aaaaah! Qian Qian, you’re number one! That’s amazing! I’m sticking to you like glue from now on!” 

Sen Ya came running up and hugged Su Liqian as soon as the results popped up on everyone’s communicators. 

“You did great too—20th place. All that sleepless, non-stop studying totally paid off.” 

“Hahaha! I know, right? I can’t believe I made it! Just barely squeezed into Special Class! Thank goodness I double-checked that one question at the end!” 

Sen Ya laughed and recalled just how “dangerously close” that exam had felt. 

“Now we can finally be in the same class! I’m calling first on sitting next to you!” 

She glanced mischievously at Ye Zilan, who was sitting nearby. 

Ever since they’d eaten together that one time, the three of them had grown a lot closer, and jokes like this had become normal. 

“Not so fast. I want to sit next to the top scorer and learn a thing or two.”  

“You’re already second place! What more do you need to learn? What if you overtake Qian Qian? We can’t have that!” 

“Hahaha, alright, alright, quit bickering—Special Class doesn’t even have shared desks.” 

She pulled up a picture of the classroom layout and showed them. Sen Ya let out an exaggerated groan while Ye Zilan pretended to pout. 

These two… 

Su Liqian couldn’t help but laugh.