Chapter 34

At night, the two major universities presented a scene of contrast – one dynamic, the other tranquil.

On ordinary days, the Empire’s top military academy was effectively sealed off. In the words of the Silver Star, they were quiet like a tomb every night.

On the other hand, the students of the Silver Star, since the arrest of the school leadership, experienced no curfew. Dormitories were not inspected at night, and they could enter the campus freely, anytime, anywhere. It was a carefree and unrestrained atmosphere, with the air filled with a lively spirit.

“Barbecue! Who’s up for barbecue?”

For example, tonight, a group of students openly set up a barbecue stall in the middle of the sports field. The fragrance wafted to the dormitory building, tempting many to rush downstairs and gather for skewers.

Inside the Silver Star campus, there was a bustling crowd, lively and animated. The online users on the school forum reached the peak daily traffic.

Silver Star’s forum used its encrypted intranet, accessible only with a student or staff ID. Even some bored alumni would log in to the forum to see what’s going on.

With the new semester beginning, the forum gathered many new posts. For instance, the schedule for this year’s courses, which teacher’s final exams were easier, whether the cafeteria menu had fewer options than before, and complaints about the stinginess of part-time jobs at the back street near the school gate.

Student days were always carefree, with a passing grade of sixty points – anything more was a waste.

In one particular thread, there was a casual chat section where everyone would idle away their time.

“Speaking of which, this year’s freshmen seem unusually quiet.”

“Indeed, usually our forum is lively with freshmen. How come a year has passed, and it’s still you seasoned veterans passionate about flooding the forum with nonsense?”

Xiao Hua, grilling skewers on the sports field, opened his light-brain device, “Freshmen are all busy with military training; they don’t have time to chat and gossip with you guys.”

“Hoho! Isn’t this Senior Xiao? How come it’s been ten years, and you still haven’t graduated?”

Xiao Hua: “If you can’t speak sensibly, you can stay silent. No one is forcing you.”

“Hahaha.” Many students about to graduate laughed mischievously.

The room suddenly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

This throat is quite useful; after chatting for a while, new students joined the conversation.

【So tired from military training】: There are no new students because they all died halfway through military training.

“Really? Is military training that tough this year?”

A graduated senior brought coffee: “Back in our day, we just scraped through to earn our credits.”

“Senior, you don’t understand. This year, Silver Star hitched onto the neighboring Empire Military Academy for military training, and the Third Legion personally came to supervise. They say only half of the students can earn credits. It’s a real tragedy.”

“Well, that’s interesting,” someone interjected, “With the Legion leading the supervision, isn’t that a significant boost in strength?”

“Just so-so,” Xiao Hua said while holding a skewer, “I don’t know if our strength has increased, but it’s genuinely exhausting.”

“Speaking of which, next year is the triennial academy ranking competition. I remember Senior Ming Jia hasn’t graduated yet. I wonder who will become the next president of the academy next year.”

“If nothing unexpected happens, the next president should be Gu Dong from the Agility Department.”

“Oh, that young master from the Gu family. Our Silver Star is really going downhill.”

The senior sighed, “Are there any outstanding new students this year?”

“There are plenty of outstanding new students this year. The Empire’s S-class little prince, and also Miss Xia from the Xia family.”

“No, no, no, the most outstanding this year is not these two.”

Xiao Hua replied mysteriously, “This year, there’s a Close Combat junior sister who entered at the fourth rank. She is the most outstanding newcomer.”

“Impossible! Someone more impressive than the S-class prince? Also S-class?”

“Not S-class, but A-class. However, she can take on S-class opponents.”

Thinking about the scene that happened during the military training showdown, Xiao Hua shuddered, “And she’s a Martial Arts user! During physical training, she pulled off quite a few impressive moves. You might not have heard of her, but she’s quite famous among the new students.”

He had been paying attention to those potential new students, especially Yuan Hanshuang, who displayed formidable strength during physical training. However, the reality proved that Xiao Hua’s judgment was sharp, with no mistakes.

This afternoon, during the duel between Xuan Yuansheng and Yuan Hanshuang, Xiao Hua secretly watched the entire process.

Because he had seen a spectacular lightsaber duel a few days ago, people like him were not in the minority.

Who would have thought that the slender, tall, twin-tailed, black-haired beauty would casually blast out a punch?

That simple and straightforward punch directly sent Xuan Yuansheng, who was standing in a defensive stance, repeatedly retreating. He retreated almost five or six steps, from the defensive barrier to under the nearby tree.

The moment he touched the trunk, the entire big tree trembled a few times, and tree leaves fluttered down.

Before Xiao Hua could be astonished, he saw Instructor Niu and Instructor Ma walking over together.

“This student, can you please perform the military body boxing set you just used.”

Yuan Han Shuang followed their instructions.

Watching her complete a seamless set of military body boxing, even someone like Xiao Hua, a support major, could see some tricks. After all, he had been in school for more than ten years and, while not an expert in hand-to-hand combat, had seen enough to recognize the terrifying power in the movements.

Sure enough, the instructors announced directly, “You don’t need to undergo unarmed combat training; go practice swordsmanship instead.”

Niu Hu’s tone was complex, “By the way, this year, a few of us instructors are responsible for teaching basic and advanced combat arts at Silver Star. After the formal start of the school year, you don’t need to attend these three courses. Just go directly to elective courses, as there’s nothing we can teach you.”

“Really, where did the heir to an ancient martial arts lineage hide so deeply?” he muttered.

The Silver Star freshmen who heard this were dumbfounded.

“Thank you, Instructor Niu.”