“Maybe I’m the first one to make it,” Yang Hao remained quite optimistic. “At the very least, the school has no reason to expel me. I don’t have any family vendettas or anything like that.”
“You definitely do,” Iris replied decisively.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you remember offending Wang Zhijun?” Iris reminded him. “I heard that after you beat him up, he went home crying and asked his family to intervene and get you expelled.”
As she mentioned Wang Zhijun, Iris wore a look of deep contempt, clearly disdaining the idea of a man being so weak. Yang Hao, however, felt a chill run through him. “Come on, could he really try to expel me over such a small matter?”
Iris nodded helplessly. “The Wang family has always looked down upon commoners in the Empire. Many years ago, they were commoners themselves, but managed to attain noble status by sacrificing their top experts. Because of this, they now desperately suppress others’ chances of advancement.” She explained the key point to Yang Hao, “Don’t forget, if you graduate from Remon Star Advanced Academy, you’ll be able to directly join the Imperial Army. If you earn some merit, you could even become a rising noble yourself. Would they really allow a commoner like you, who has already offended Wang Zhijun, to rise up?”
This argument made perfect sense, and Yang Hao fell into deep thought. He couldn’t help but worry about his situation. Although Yang Hao had entered Remon Star Advanced Academy purely by luck, with his tuition waived, the high cost of living alone had already placed a heavy burden on his modest family. He absolutely refused to be expelled from school.
“I haven’t committed any wrongdoing,” Yang Hao said slowly and firmly. “Even if they want to expel me, they’ll need to find a reason first. I won’t give them any opportunity to do so!”
Iris stared at Yang Hao, somewhat stunned. This man boldly declaring his intentions no longer resembled the timid, quiet commoner student she had known before. Of course, Iris had no idea about the tremendous, miraculous changes that had recently occurred within Yang Hao’s body.
As the class signal light illuminated, Master Jack, the sword instructor, walked into the room. Unlike usual, he didn’t open his sword manual or lead the students outside for practice. Instead, he sighed heavily and sat down, constantly glancing at Yang Hao.
“Why are you looking at me…” Yang Hao felt uneasy under Jack’s gaze and muttered to himself.
“Apprentice, looks like trouble’s brewing,” Hunyuanzi’s voice suddenly appeared, as usual filled with schadenfreude.
Yang Hao punched his stomach hard. “If you hadn’t caused me trouble in the first place…”
“Tsk tsk, you ungrateful fellow,” Hunyuanzi grumbled and retreated. “Don’t come running to me when trouble really does come.”
“What kind of trouble could there be!” Yang Hao stubbornly refused to acknowledge any concern.
However, thirty seconds later, Yang Hao could no longer maintain his bravado. Once again, Hunyuanzi had accurately predicted the situation—today’s trouble was indeed aimed directly at Yang Hao.
After sighing for quite some time, Master Jack finally stood up and announced, “I’ve been entrusted by the school to inform you all that within one week, every student must submit a raw crystal stone to be used as necessary props for the school. Otherwise, you will face expulsion.”
“A raw crystal stone?”
Instantly, the entire classroom erupted into murmurs. Obviously, this requirement came as a sudden surprise to most students, except for a few like Wang Zhijun, who sat calmly and confidently.
“You’re doomed,” Amanda suddenly blurted out.
Yang Hao cautiously turned to look at her. Although they hadn’t seen each other for just a short while, Amanda seemed even more beautiful, her face glowing in a way that drew attention. Yang Hao couldn’t help but stare.
“What are you staring at? Haven’t you had enough?” Amanda harshly kicked Yang Hao under the table.
“Not enough, never enough,” Yang Hao, noticing that Amanda didn’t seem angry at all, relaxed and joked around. However, Amanda wasn’t in a joking mood. She worriedly reminded him, “This sudden regulation from the school probably targets students for expulsion.”
“But it’s just a raw crystal stone. How could that relate to expulsion?” Yang Hao hadn’t yet grasped the seriousness of the situation. After all, throughout the universe, various types of crystals were extremely common and many were quite cheap.
“You don’t even know what a raw crystal stone is?” Amanda was shocked.
Yang Hao shook his head. “Is it an energy crystal?”
At this, Amanda’s concern deepened. She suddenly remembered that Yang Hao came from a commoner family and probably hadn’t heard much about such high-end items. These premium crystals were typically only used by noble or extremely wealthy families.
“Raw crystal stones are a specialty of Remon Star,” Amanda briefly explained. “These crystals store energy similar to the Force. Humans can use certain methods to absorb this Force energy into weapons, significantly enhancing their power.” She continued, “Although raw crystal stones aren’t exclusive to Remon Star, they are only produced here within several nearby star systems.”
“If it’s locally produced, then it’s not that serious,” Yang Hao thought it wasn’t a big deal. “I can just go dig one up myself.”
“You make it sound so easy,” Amanda poured cold water on his idea. “The place where raw crystal stones are found isn’t somewhere you can just dig at will.”
“Am I afraid?” Yang Hao, unusually confident today, said, “I even dared to visit your house, which is supposedly the second most terrifying place near Remon Star Advanced Academy. I’m still alive and well, aren’t I?”
Amanda looked at Yang Hao meaningfully, her gaze extremely strange. “The place where raw crystal stones are found is absolutely more terrifying than my house?”
“How could that be possible!”
“Because…” Amanda teased him slightly, “It’s the number one terrifying place—the Dark Beast Nest!”
Yang Hao was instantly stunned, his eyes wide open, speechless.
The Dark Beast Nest was extremely famous—not just known within the school, but probably known to everyone on Remon Star. The school’s top three terrifying places included the back mountain only because it was a school restricted area, and Amanda’s house was only somewhat scary to others. These places couldn’t really be considered terrifying. But the Dark Beast Nest was different. Located within a mountain near Remon Star Advanced Academy, this cave was said to house dark monsters. Therefore, most who entered never returned. Moreover, the cave constantly emitted yellow mist, indicating the monsters inside were always awake. Anyone daring to enter would essentially be risking their life.
“No way! The Dark Beast Nest actually produces raw crystal stones?” Yang Hao finally recovered from his shock after a long time.
“Only there on Remon Star,” Amanda looked at Yang Hao sideways. “Are you going? I’ve heard that thousands of stone miners have already died there. It’s said that only one in dozens survives.”
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