"I'm just asking when I can hunt Exotic Beasts, and you give me a lecture? Are you sure there's no chance for a freshman?"

"Generally speaking, the chances are indeed slim. However, Modu City Star Martial Academy opens the Nine-layer Pagoda once a year. The Nine-layer Pagoda is like a trial space, but the Exotic Beasts inside are much stronger. It's usually meant for senior students to make their final sprint."

"When does it open?"

"Around November, I guess."

November, that's a little over two months away, not too long. After all, Mrs. Sun Li had promised him many benefits. Although the Nine-layer Pagoda was intended for seniors making their final sprint, wasn't the school supposed to focus on nurturing him specifically? They ought to bend the rules a bit for him, right?

In a daze, Wang Lan's eyelids grew heavy.

DRIP... DROP... DRIP... DROP...

Clear dripping sounds echoed in his ears. It sounded like water droplets slowly carving through stone in a silent cave, falling from a stalactite.

He was clearly sleeping in the school dormitory, so where was this dripping sound coming from? Was a faucet not turned off tightly? That wasn't right either; it wasn't the old-fashioned type of tap that could drip.

His consciousness gradually cleared, and Wang Lan slowly opened his eyes.

But in the next instant, his pupils dilated sharply because the dripping sounds were not from actual water droplets, but from drops of blood.

Before him, in the open space of the room, stood a woman enveloped in a hazy white light, a sword pierced her chest. Blood dyed her snow-white dress red and dripped from her fingertips.

"Junior... avenge me... avenge me..."

Suddenly, a breeze blew, and the woman in front of him vanished like smoke. Wang Lan, who should have sat up, instead suddenly opened his eyes to find himself lying comfortably in bed.

"PHEW—" Wang Lan sat up abruptly, quickly scanning the dark space before his eyes, but there was no girl wrapped in white light, nor the dazzling blood.

Dreaming?

"Oh my god! Wang Lan, I just felt a bit cold, so I turned the air conditioner up by two degrees. Did you have to react so dramatically? It was like you just rose from the dead!" exclaimed Ming Guodong from beside him.

"Huh?" Wang Lan turned his head to look at Ming Guodong. "Just now... I had a dream."

"Pfft! Dreaming? I dream every day. Out of 365 days a year, I dream I'm one of the Five Emperors for about 200 of them. Let's sleep, let's sleep! Didn't expect it to be colder here at night than other places."

"That dream felt so real. I haven't dreamt in a long time, let alone had a nightmare!" Wang Lan figured that misery loves company; why should he let his roommate sleep soundly after he himself had been startled?

"Just now, a really beautiful older girl was standing right there, radiating a light like moonlight, wearing a snow-white dress..." Wang Lan's low, eerie voice sounded as he pointed to the spot where the woman had appeared in his dream.

Ming Guodong's breathing became noticeably heavier, and he gulped.

"Then what?"

"A sword was thrust into her chest, with blood staining her front. The blood dripped down her fingers, pooling into a lake of blood on the ground... She slowly came to your bedside, stood right next to you, and whispered..."

"Whispering...what?"

"Junior, avenge me..."

"AAH—" Ming Guodong suddenly screamed and switched on the light with a snap. The room instantly brightened.

Wang Lan was also stunned by this. You're a Star Cloud Stage Star Martial Warrior, and that's all the courage you have?

At this moment, Ming Guodong looked at Wang Lan with a face full of horror. "Are you serious? Don't scare me, man! Did you see a photo or something? You..."

"What photo?"

"What's with you two? Up so late, are you having a little bromance? What was all that noise earlier?" He Jing knocked on the door from outside.

"He Jing, hurry up, bring that photo you found today over here."

"For what?"

"Just bring it."

Soon, He Jing returned to Wang Lan's room, casually tossing a photo next to Ming Guodong.

"Why the rush? Were you so desperate you couldn't wait to get your kicks from the photo? Don't you dare defile my goddess! I was planning on asking around tomorrow to find out which year's senior she is."

Ming Guodong took the photo and handed it to Wang Lan. "Take a look. Is this the girl you were talking about?"

Wang Lan took the photo, and with just one glance, his expression changed dramatically.

Ever since waking up, Wang Lan had thought it was just a very vivid dream. But the moment he saw the photo, his heart suddenly tightened.

Could there truly be ghosts in this world?

The woman in the photo was the same one Wang Lan had just seen; even her clothes were exactly the same. But how could that be possible?

Wang Lan could accept the existence of gods in this world because he had crossed over into it. With the Demon Clan in existence, the presence of gods was completely logical. But that said, the presence of gods didn't necessarily mean that ghosts must exist too.

Gods are but unexplained science. Demons, merely creatures beyond human understanding.

Even the existence of Star Martial Warriors had been scientifically identified as linked to a segment of the X gene in human evolution; some people possessed this gene, while others didn't. Moreover, this gene was scattered throughout the entire human population and wasn't mandatorily hereditary.

Thus, even if this world seemed unscientific, Wang Lan only believed in things that had been proven to exist. Those that had never been witnessed by anyone or verified were mostly denied or ignored by most people. Ghosts fell into that category.

The human soul had been proven to exist, but ghosts hadn't. Because the soul and body were symbiotic, the phenomenon of the soul remaining after the body's death didn't exist, let alone the soul detaching to become another life form. This symbiotic relationship theoretically eliminated the possibility of ghosts. Once someone died, their soul would dissipate. Without a soul, how could there be ghosts?

But… what did I just see?

"Wang Lan, stop spacing out... Tell me, did you or did you not just see her?"

As Wang Lan's face turned pale, Ming Guodong already had an answer in his heart, his voice shaking unconsciously.

"What are you talking about? Wang Lan saw that senior girl? Where, where?" He Jing asked excitedly, like a dog in heat, only just short of sticking his tongue out.

"Right in this room," Ming Guodong's trembling voice arose, causing He Jing to pause slightly.

"Wang Lan said that the senior girl, with a sword sticking out of her and covered in blood, told me to avenge her... We're done for... We might be haunted."

"Hold on!" He Jing quickly cut Ming Guodong off. "Revenge? How could such a cute senior girl die so young? We can just ask the upperclassmen about her tomorrow."

"By the way, where did you get this photo?" Wang Lan asked curiously.

"We came early today and found it under the bed while cleaning."

"Isn't this a men's dorm? How could there be a photo of a woman here?"

"Who knows? We'll ask tomorrow. But the problem is, what are we going to do tonight? I'm too scared to sleep," Ming Guodong said before suddenly turning and looking at He Jing with a mournful expression.

"What's with that look? My gender is male, and my preference is female. Definitely no bromance," He Jing declared firmly.

"Let's squeeze into your room."

"Are you… serious?" He Jing still didn't quite believe what Wang Lan and Ming Guodong were saying, asking hesitantly.

"At this point, do you think I would joke about something like this?"

"I…" Wang Lan's eyes suddenly lit up; he realized an ongoing mission had appeared on the system interface.

He knew that since receiving the admission notice from Modu City Star Martial Academy, the mission column had been empty. Now, with an ongoing mission added, could it be the female ghost? No way! Is this going to be an unfinished human-ghost romance?

"I think I'll just sleep here. After all, she didn't come for me," Wang Lan said after some thought. Since the female ghost wants me to avenge her, she probably won't harm me. Besides, this so-called female ghost is likely different from the kind I imagine—not one that can attack people.

Ming Guodong ended up sleeping in the next room over, and Wang Lan fell asleep shortly after lying down.

「Early the next morning」

He was awakened by Ming Guodong's knocking.

"Wang Lan, you still alive?"

"Get lost!" Wang Lan responded with a strong voice.

School hadn't officially started yet, but the cafeteria was already in full operation. The three of them went to the cafeteria for breakfast together. After returning to the dorm, Wang Lan picked up his laptop to search for information on the girl.

However, it was strange that he couldn't find any data about the girl on the school network. Could she be a senior from a long time ago? Wang Lan took a USB drive out of his luggage bag and plugged it into the computer.

The progress bar quickly filled. "Xiao Ai 007 has been successfully awakened. Hello, Wang Lan," a synthesized voice announced from the laptop.

"Xiao Ai, infiltrate the school's system network for me and pull up the information of the person in this photo," Wang Lan commanded.

The laptop camera turned on, swiftly scanning the photo. "Alright, Wang Lan. Please do not shut down the computer or disconnect from the network," Xiao Ai replied.

Letting Xiao Ai do the searching, Wang Lan took his reading card from the bed and headed to the library.

Although Modu City Star Martial Academy was a school for Star Martial Warriors, focusing on teaching fighting techniques and the practical theory of Star Martial Skills, it was also a first-class academic institution in the country. It had all the courses a regular university would have, and possibly even some that they didn't.

Therefore, not all teachers at Modu City Star Martial Academy were Star Martial Warriors; many were ordinary people holding titles like doctor or professor. Naturally, the Modu City Star Martial Academy library was also a vast ocean of knowledge.

Although Wang Lan had always been considered a genius by others, he knew he wasn't truly one. He just worked harder than others and knew how to make better use of his time.

Last night during dinner, although he found Yu Ruoyun's words somewhat confusing, he didn't dismiss them like He Jing and the others did. Arriving at the library, Wang Lan followed the category signs to find the section on advanced Star Power.

An entire shelf was filled with books detailing the theoretical analysis and practical records of advanced Star Power. Since a unifying theory to serve as the discipline's backbone had yet to be established, many of the books' titles and viewpoints conflicted.

Perhaps in the future, some genius will have a flash of insight, developing a groundbreaking theory to integrate all these diverse books into a systematic body of knowledge.

Wang Lan randomly pulled out a book titled "Phenomena and Questions of Advanced Star Power" and took a seat to start reading. He soon became engrossed in the explanation of what constituted advanced Star Power.

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