"BOOM—"

With a loud bang, the first boy to open the window felt as if the world before his eyes had turned into a curtain of water, like an inverted waterfall. Water from the crescent-shaped artificial lake shot into the sky.

Then, a shocking scene unfolded. As the water streamed upward, endless flames surged from the lakebed like boiling magma, instantly engulfing the entire area, including the artificial lake.

The flames rolled and churned, shooting three stories high. The intense heat instantly scorched everything within reach. Even the water of Half Moon Lake vaporized into mist and rose into the sky.

Professor Zheng Gong stood frozen before the window, his mouth agape, a distorted expression of shock on his face.

"My God... What kind of Star Martial Skill is this?"

"Is this Soul Bead Imprinting by Wang Lan? What level of Star Martial Skill are you attempting to imprint? The entire Half Moon Lake, seven hundred meters of it, ruined by just one Star Martial Skill from you?"

The commotion not only scared everyone at the Soul Bead Research Institute witless but also activated the entire academy's defense system. Such intense activity, such violent attacks—who wouldn't think it was an enemy invasion? No one would believe otherwise!

"What happened?" Eld Di's voice rang out. His body radiated golden light as he floated in the sky, hands clasped behind his back. With a wave of his hand, ten thousand rays of golden light sprinkled onto the earth, rapidly extinguishing the surging flames below and swiftly causing them to dissipate.

"Principal, that was... an accident," Wang Lan replied, shrinking his neck slightly in fear.

With a flash of golden light, Eld Di's silhouette appeared before them.

"A rampage during Soul Bead Imprinting? Is anyone hurt?"

"No!"

During Soul Bead Imprinting, the slightest negligence could trigger an inadvertent release of a Star Martial Skill if spiritual power and the skill weren't properly coordinated. This often happened during the production of Soul Bead grenades.

Fortunately, Soul Bead grenades were much safer than real grenades. Even if one exploded accidentally, other completed Soul Bead grenades would remain unharmed.

"Principal, I originally wanted to create a more powerful Soul Bead grenade for strategic use. Unfortunately, the capacity of the medium-grade Soul Bead is limited, preventing me from imprinting a sufficient spiritual power barrier, which resulted in the Star Martial Skill being released."

Knowing it was important to admit mistakes with the correct attitude, Wang Lan explained to Eld Di with a look of grievance.

"What's the name of the Star Martial Skill you just tried to imprint? I've never seen it before."

"Flame Method—Earth Fire Roar! It's based on the Earth Surge Fire Sea. I improved upon it by mimicking volcanic eruptions spewing lava and incorporating properties of the Extreme Heat Light Beam. This greatly enhanced both its power and attack range."

"Is this what you call a 'slight' improvement?" Eld Di asked, his lips twitching. "You've basically upgraded the Earth Surge Fire Sea. Its power is only a fifth of your technique, which is now an Ultra S-Grade Star Martial Skill."

Good eye! Wang Lan silently commended Eld Di in his heart.

"Imprinting an Ultra S-Grade Star Martial Skill with a medium-grade Soul Bead? You're quite ambitious. Why didn't you use a high-grade Soul Bead?"

"I just thought that if a medium-grade Soul Bead could handle it, there'd be no need to waste a high-grade Soul Bead, considering how precious they are."

"Nonsense! Can 'precious' put food on the table? Professor Zheng Gong, give all the high-grade Soul Beads to Wang Lan. I'll go ask around for more. These Ultra S-Grade Soul Bead grenades—I want you to make them for me. The more, the better!"

Having said that, Eld Di slowly ascended into the sky to calm the students and cancel the alarm.

"Yes, Principal, take care... take care..."

As Eld Di soared into the sky, Wang Lan waved enthusiastically. Thank goodness he didn't suggest I pay for anything. Even though I could afford to compensate for an artificial lake, it would be so embarrassing. Since he wasn't asking me to pay, it means this incident wasn't my fault and has nothing to do with me.

"Wang Lan, thank you," Professor Zheng Gong said gratefully. "If you had told the truth just now, I definitely would have been blamed. Despite my current reputation as one of the inventors and guiding figures behind the Soul Bead grenade, I'm still far beneath Eld Di in standing. Besides, there are many master imprinters in Jade Country stronger than me, and many eyes are watching."

"It's only right. You are my teacher, after all."

It was an interlude, merely an interlude for Wang Lan, but for many, it was a shock that would not subside for a long time.

Wang Lan, really just a first-year student? Really at the Star Cloud Stage?

Casually imprinting an Ultra S-Grade Star Martial Skill... if you said you were a Titled Strongman now, I'd believe it.

Wang Lan's breakthrough to the Galaxy Stage had occurred in the Kingdom of Ice and Snow, so his official Star Martial rank was indeed only the Star Cloud Stage. But even if he were at the Galaxy Stage, this display of power was still ridiculously strong.

「When Eld Di returned to his office,」 many concerned department heads and vice-principals hurried over.

"Principal, what happened? What was that just now?"

"Nothing to worry about, it's not a big issue," Eld Di hurriedly assured them. The Star Martial Academy of Modu City had been peaceful for too long. Before Wang Lan's enrollment, the academy had been remarkably stable for decades.

Eld Di lowered his gaze, his mind replaying the sea of flames he had witnessed. Improved from the Earth Surge Fire Sea? The more he thought about it, the less it made sense. Could an improvement yield such a result? Perhaps I should have him try to improve my Great Sun Illumination too?

"Zhang."

"Principal."

"Let the students who returned from the Kingdom of Ice and Snow have their internship evaluations tomorrow. Notify everyone."

"Okay!"

With Eld Di's strong support, Wang Lan could have any Soul Bead he wanted. Although the failure rate for high-grade Soul Beads increased from thirty percent to fifty percent, causing Professor Zheng Gong immense heartache.

But seeing the strategic Ultra S-Grade Star Martial Skills he now had access to, he smiled broadly, thinking it was a fantastic deal.

Flame Method—Heavenly Fire Extinguishing World.

Flame Method—Earth Fire Roar.

Wood Skill—Mandala Flower.

Thunder Method—Thunder Scale Descent.

Such domineering names! Toss one into a crowd, and however many Exotic Beasts were present, that's how many would die—including those at the Star Sea Stage. As long as they were within range, none could escape death.

In a single day, Wang Lan had amazingly produced six Ultra S-Grade Soul Bead grenades. Professor Zheng Gong couldn't help but kiss one of them, as if he had found a long-lost significant other.

This kid, Wang Lan... He's a good kid, just too lazy. Without a little pressure, he wouldn't willingly make Soul Bead grenades. Look, weren't six grenades made in a day?

If Wang Lan knew Professor Zheng Gong was thinking this, he would definitely pack his bags and run off to live outside the school. Otherwise, who knew if Professor Zheng Gong might appear out of nowhere with a whip, exploiting his poor labor?

「Back at the dorm,」 He Jing and Ming Guodong were actually studying instead of playing games.

"Yo, the prodigal son returns, huh?"

"I'm back... What choice do I have? I can't afford to lose face. Without the old man keeping an eye on us this semester, I admit I goofed off a lot, but I can't flunk, right? I figured the first-year courses wouldn't be too tough, that a month or so of self-study would get me through. Who knew they'd be this insane? And I even picked the easiest ones!"

"Wang Lan, are we brothers or not?"

"What's up? I'm not helping you cheat."

"Are we those kinds of people? Even if we flunk, that's just how it is. Cheating? What's that? You're a study god; just tutor us a bit. Trying to understand these books on our own is making our heads explode."

"Fine!"

Seeing his two roommates no longer gaming their days away so carelessly, Wang Lan was pleased. In the past, he could have pushed them, but he hadn't. After mentioning it a couple of times and seeing they wouldn't listen, he stopped nagging.

It was their path to choose; prying too much would only annoy them. There were many people like He Jing. Since lying down was already comfortable, why bother standing up? With powerful and influential families and backgrounds, even with terrible grades, their starting point in life would still be far ahead of most people.

However, that was all contingent on war not breaking out.

War shatters all rules. It reshuffles the deck, allowing the talented to rise while those who've given up become mere stepping stones. Seeing them striving so hard now, Wang Lan felt genuinely pleased.

"F*ck! Such a simple concept, explainable in two or three sentences, and this moron who wrote the textbook has to drag it out over seven or eight chapters? Is he brain-dead or something?"

"F*ck! So that's what it means? Got it! Wang Lan, keep going, don't stop—"

These two animals actually showed the same passion for studying as they did for gaming. Wang Lan was quite surprised by this. But he wouldn't have been if he knew what Ming Baiye had said to Ming Guodong:

"If you pass the exams, it's clear skies ahead. If you fail, you'll be hanging from the rafters all summer!"

「The next morning,」 Wang Lan received a notification from the school. Internship evaluation? What's that? Another exam?

"It's not an exam!" Yu Ruoyun explained. "An internship evaluation is to assess your progress during the internship period and grant rewards based on your performance."

"The results of the evaluation are rewards in the form of points; a successful overseas aid mission can earn fifty to one hundred points. This is why students prefer overseas aid missions."

"Overseas aid missions always involve other countries facing imminent threats that require swift resolution. In contrast, interning in Pioneer Space is mostly about guard duty or pioneering. If you don't encounter major events, you won't earn many points."

"Oh, so it's basically like they're grading us?"

"After you demonstrate your progress, they give you a score. The scores are based on two factors: improvement in strength and the evaluation from your supervising instructor."

"Then... how many points do you think we can get?" Wang Lan asked, suddenly intrigued. "Points aren't just points; they can be exchanged for Star Martial Skills, even S-Grade ones!"

"Hard to say, maybe a thousand or so points? You'll definitely get more than me."

"We'll see."

A comparison with the evaluations of previous fourth-year students showed an average strength increase of seventy percent. The testing method was simple: attack the Energy Detection Barrier with your strongest attack. The barrier would display a specific numerical value corresponding to the attack's power.

"Aiwei, growth: one hundred twenty percent. Not bad, keep up the good work. Next, Wang Lan!"

Hearing his name, Wang Lan stopped whispering with Yu Ruoyun and quickly stood up, walking to the testing platform.

"Teacher, do you have a record of my full-strength attack data from before? How am I supposed to be tested?" Wang Lan asked, puzzled.

"You're only a freshman; we'll use your enrollment test data as the baseline."

"You... sure?"

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