“Lin Jinyu, you stand still for me!” Qiu Fei slammed her palm on the desk. Looking at Lin Jinyu, who stood before her with an unchanged expression, she felt a splitting headache from anger. “Have you forgotten what I said? Star Practitioner, third layer. You’re only a third-layer Star Practitioner. You can only go to the Fire Tempering Bath once a week, for no more than two hours at a time.”

“Teacher, I can endure it,” Lin Jinyu said. “I want to break through to Star Warrior as soon as possible.”

“What’s the rush? Breakthrough, breakthrough, yes, we absorb Star Power to cultivate for the sake of strength. But you’re still young, and your life has many other things, you—”

“In two months, it will be the anniversary of my mother’s death. I want to break through to Star Warrior before that day.” Lin Jinyu fell silent for a moment before saying, “A fifteen-year-old Star Practitioner is a greater source of pride than a sixteen-year-old one.”

“Although cultivating in the Fire Tempering Bath is a painful process, it can also refine the medicinal toxins left in my body from pills I’ve taken in the past.” Lin Jinyu said earnestly, “Teacher, I know what I’m doing. If my body couldn’t handle it, I wouldn’t do this. I won’t stop at Star Warrior; even Star Venerate and Star Emperor are not my final goals.”

“Fine, then. You’ll come with me for the Beast Tide this time, lest I leave and you plunge headfirst into the Fire Tempering Bath and drown yourself while I’m gone.” Qiu Fei waved her hand dismissively. “Interact more with your seniors in the S-Class. They are all top-tier geniuses; there’s always something you can learn from them.”

“I will. Thank you, Teacher.”

Everyone at Star Academy was cultivating desperately. In their spare time, they would also pay attention to the placement matches of the upperclassmen. Of course, the spectator stands for the A-Class were always packed.

Wen Yuncheng never went to watch the excitement. After all, she was different from others. Just watching someone else’s fighting style wouldn’t allow her to learn their star techniques. It was better to diligently attend class and spar. At worst, even running two thousand meters was more worthwhile than spectating.

She continued to earn experience and Star Stones with all her might. It wasn’t until there were only seven days left before her agreement with the vice headmaster that Wen Yuncheng dazedly calculated her earnings from this period.

Host: Wen Yuncheng

Race: Human

Age: 15

Class: Mechanical Master

Level: 13

Experience: 2915/3500

Points: 112

The experience was mainly from matches in the Dueling Arena. Her luck hadn’t been great, and she hadn’t run into many students from Star Academy, so her experience points were a little less than expected. It wasn’t that she hadn’t lost in the Dueling Arena; she was almost guaranteed to lose whenever matched against a third-layer Star Practitioner. However, the arena maintained a balance of power, and unless there were truly no other opponents, it wouldn’t pit her against someone with too great a disparity in star rank.

As for her points, they hadn’t increased but had instead decreased by one. This was mainly because Wen Yuncheng couldn’t resist the requests of Zhou Xuan and the others and had spent points to treat them to noodles. A bowl of plain noodle soup wasn’t actually expensive, but Wen Yuncheng was just too poor. One treat cost a total of twelve points, which she couldn’t really afford. After treating them twice, she refused to do it again, switching to occasionally treating them to meals in the cafeteria instead.

Compared to points, Wen Yuncheng was more willing to spend Star Stones.

However, at the end of the third week, Yan Ling sent Wen Yuncheng a message.

-“Come find me after class tomorrow.”

“Teacher, it’s not the end of the month yet. Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to settle the Star Stones early?” Wen Yuncheng’s first reaction was money. She spoke weakly from her end, “In three weeks, I’ve only earned a net total of 6,270 Star Stones. Six hundred seventy-two Star Stones really isn’t much. I still have to run at noon tomorrow. I have an agreement with the vice headmaster, and there’s only a week left. I want to reach the third layer of Star Practitioner quickly.” Even though the agreement was for a full month, Wen Yuncheng couldn’t really drag it out until the last day to break through. Therefore, even though she wasn’t far off in experience, she didn’t slack off.

-“It’s not about Star Stones. It’s an opportunity for you to break through faster.” Yan Ling was speechless for a moment. How could this student remember money so clearly that the numbers just rolled off her tongue? “I fought for a long time to get this opportunity for you. But this is an exception, so you can only go at night. Find me tomorrow, and I’ll explain the details.”

“…Okay, Teacher, I understand.” Wen Yuncheng had originally wanted to say that she didn’t need such an opportunity. After all, her situation wasn’t a mutation at all, but an upgrade of her system template. But everyone else thought she had a mutation, and on this continent, even if people with mutations had different forms of Star Power, they all ultimately reached the same goal. Some methods could be universally applied.

Yan Ling said she had fought for a long time and that it was an exception. Wen Yuncheng couldn’t refuse such a request under any circumstances. She watched the stone in her hand return to its blue color and sighed, clutching it in her palm. She felt that this cheap teacher of hers had shown her more care than her own parents from the Wen family.

Really, wasn’t this just another favor she owed?

If Teacher Yan Ling were coveting her beauty, that would be one thing. But this teacher seemed to genuinely want to nurture her, which made Wen Yuncheng feel quite awkward.

And then there was Lin Jinyu. To this day, Wen Yuncheng still didn’t know why Lin Jinyu would help her. During this time, she had thought about Lin Jinyu’s cultivation-maniac personality and recalled seeing Lin Jinyu “passing by” the spectator stands during the G-Class competition…

To say Lin Jinyu had a secret crush on her… Wen Yuncheng wasn’t that conceited. The only connection between them was the engagement contract, and the only time they had met was to annul it. The two of them had barely even spoken. After thinking it over and over…

Could it be that Lin Jinyu felt she owed her something because of the annulment?

Wen Yuncheng: Never would have thought that beneath Lin Jinyu’s icy exterior hid such a pure heart.

Perhaps this was a trait of a young ice mountain.

Wen Yuncheng didn’t feel that Lin Jinyu owed her anything. Regardless of what Lin Jinyu was thinking, she had, in any case, accepted a favor from her.

[Do you think you’re good-looking?] 1947 suddenly asked.

“Isn’t that obvious? With my flower-like, moon-like beauty, I’m more handsome than Pan An when dressed as a man. If I hadn’t been so disheveled during the competition and accidentally made some little girl cry, I’d definitely have tons of people chasing me by now!”

[…] Although it had some understanding of its cub’s narcissism, 1947 was still stunned speechless.

[Then who’s better looking, Lin Jinyu or you?]

“Well, Lin Jinyu hasn’t fully matured yet.” Wen Yuncheng stroked her chin and thought seriously for a moment. “She’s probably better looking. I think she’ll be even more beautiful when she grows up, and her ice-mountain aura will really come out. Right now, she hasn’t been beaten down by the world yet; she hasn’t transformed. When she becomes Ice Mountain Jinyu, she’ll definitely be super cool.”

[You really are just lusting after her body.] 1947 was furious. It knew it! Wen Yuncheng’s refusal to do the missions was because she had a favorable impression of that woman!

“Nonsense, I’m as straight as they come.” Wen Yuncheng rolled her eyes. “This is appreciation, you understand? A person must have an eye for beauty.”

[Cub, don’t be so rebellious. Aren’t points and experience tempting?]

“They are, but why don’t you just tempt me with a hundred or eighty thousand experience points and points all at once?”

1947 fell silent.

It threw out a familiar “You’re dreaming” and stopped paying attention to Wen Yuncheng.

After finishing her friendly daily banter with the system, Wen Yuncheng took a quick shower and prepared for bed. After all, she had to wake up early to run.

To be honest, she had never been this diligent before transmigrating. But now that she had stuck with it, she found that this fulfilling life wasn’t bad at all, and it came with a great sense of accomplishment.

With every increase in experience, every level-up, Wen Yuncheng knew that this was something she had earned through her own hard work, bit by bit. The feeling was marvelous, different from her school days.

Before falling asleep, Wen Yuncheng had a sudden thought: it was also possible that because there were no video games in this other world, she might have otherwise remained a lazy bum.

The opportunity Yan Ling mentioned… was it a bath?

Oh, of course, it wasn’t technically a bath. It was said to be incredibly painful to get in, but it could temper one’s body and bones. This reminded Wen Yuncheng of the blessed lands in some cultivation worlds, which seemed to have such things. As for the pain, the descriptions in novels were terrifying, but she had no idea what it would be like to experience it firsthand.

Wen Yuncheng felt a mix of anticipation, apprehension, and a little bit of panic.

“Normally, new students are absolutely not allowed to go here. This time, it’s an exception made for the S-Class,” Yan Ling said. “You’re using the back door, so you can only go sneakily at night. Keep track of the time yourself, and leave immediately after two hours. Otherwise, you won’t be able to withstand the power.”

“Teacher, is this… very painful?” Wen Yuncheng couldn’t help but ask the question she was most concerned about.

“You’re afraid of pain?” Yan Ling’s expression instantly turned hostile.

“No, no, no, no, no—” Wen Yuncheng sensed the killing intent and shook her head repeatedly. “How could a dignified man like me, who stands tall between heaven and earth, be afraid of pain? I was just asking, just asking…”

“Get back to your noon break. If you dare not go tonight, you just wait for me tomorrow.”

“I’m going, I’m going. I’ll definitely go since Teacher went to so much trouble to get me this back-door access.” Wen Yuncheng’s eyes welled with tears. She hesitated for a moment but didn’t ask again just how painful it was. She just walked out of the office building in a bit of a daze.

This… a teacher’s favor wasn’t so easy to accept.

1947, this… Fire Tempering Bath, is it, is it useful for me?

[It’s useless for Star Power cultivation, but it’s useful for purely tempering your body and bones.]

Alright, as long as it’s useful. At most, for others, it’s 100% useful in all aspects, while for her, it’s discounted to only 50% useful in one aspect.

Sigh, it was a free opportunity. Even if it hurt a little, so be it. Wen Yuncheng thought, trying to console herself.

The night was deep and quiet, the moon was hidden and the wind was high. It was a perfect—

Night for sneaking through the back door.

After finishing her two-thousand-meter run, Wen Yuncheng went directly to the location Yan Ling had told her about. All of Star Academy’s special resources were guarded. She showed the token Yan Ling had given her, registered Yan Ling’s name, and was let in.

This teacher is so reliable!

It was a passageway, sealed with various enchantments on all sides. Wen Yuncheng walked straight ahead and then saw a staircase.

She slowly descended. The surrounding walls were originally made of black stone, but as she went deeper, they were replaced by fiery red crystals. The dense fire element made Wen Yuncheng start to sweat.

The Fire Tempering Bath, it really is a bit like a hot spring. Wen Yuncheng thought to herself. She didn’t know how many turns the staircase had made or how many floors she had descended. She stopped several times to drink water. If she hadn’t stored water in her storage ring, wouldn’t she have died of thirst on the way?

Her clothes were soaked with sweat. This was even more intense than a sauna. Wen Yuncheng touched her face and suddenly felt that this place was also a good spot for beauty and wellness. No wonder Yan Ling’s skin was so good. When her level was higher, she would come here for a sauna every day. She would even get a VIP membership (not really).

However, when Wen Yuncheng saw the huge pool of fiery red, magma-like liquid, she was completely stunned.

It was very similar to a hot spring, except the water had been replaced with magma.

“1947, are you sure I won’t melt instantly if I go in?”

[It’s the Fire Tempering Bath, not magma. You’ll know once you try it.]

Try it and die.

Wen Yuncheng felt her face must have turned pale with fright, but when she touched it, it was burning hot from the steam.

The Fire Tempering Bath wasn’t open at night, which was one of the reasons Yan Ling could brazenly let her use the back door without fear of being discovered. Wen Yuncheng took a moment to mentally prepare herself, then began to take off her clothes. She had pajamas ready in her storage ring, planning to put them on right after the bath and go back to sleep.

Wen Yuncheng tentatively dipped a foot into the “magma” and found that it really wasn’t that hot. So, she confidently submerged herself completely.

This magma-like liquid was completely different from water. It was warm and a bit viscous. The resistance to movement inside it was quite high.

“This is actually kind of comfortable?” Wen Yuncheng sighed contentedly. But just as the sigh left her lips, she felt a dull ache begin in her bones, and all the muscles in her body started to ache and throb— “1947? 1947, what’s happening, this—Ugh!”

[It’s for tempering your body and bones. Just bear with it.]

At this point, Wen Yuncheng couldn’t make any other sound. Her whole body was tense as she suppressed the scream that almost burst from her throat. She even shamefully shed a couple of tears, but they evaporated before they could even fall.

[Two hours, the timer has started. You have to persevere like a Long Aotian!]

Oh, my ass. Wen Yuncheng’s face was contorted in pain, her eyes rolling back. She felt she must look no different from a female ghost right now.

Why was it so hard for a Long Aotian like her to get an opportunity…

[Maybe it’s because you’re poor and haven’t paid to win,] 1947 analyzed reasonably.

Wen Yuncheng: Grass (a type of plant)