Yang Hao was practically defeated. Holding the freshly issued report card, the numbers on it made even his thick-skinned face burn with embarrassment.
Primordial Force Art: 23 points. Flight Technique: 30 points. Swordsmanship: 5 points. Object Manipulation: 15 points.
All of these were scored out of a hundred. Only his usually strong specialty, Perception Art, had scored decently at 85. But Perception Art was the one skill the Empire needed the least right now. If one excelled in Primordial Force Art, they could become a warrior. If skilled in Object Manipulation, they could become a spaceship pilot.
But for students like Yang Hao who were top in Perception Art, the best future jobs were only miners or excavator drivers, digging for relics on long-abandoned planets.
Looking around at his classmates, their results were a mix of good and bad, but at least everyone had a few decent skills. That was one of the goals of Raymond Star Advanced Interstellar Academy, the best and most prestigious university in the Galactic Empire, which specialized in cultivating unique talents for the Empire. Countless children of nobles and officials fought tooth and nail to get in.
However, not all students were born into nobility—Yang Hao was a hundred percent commoner. In fact, he was the only commoner student in the entire school. He had not entered Raymond Star Advanced Academy because of good grades or noble birth, but purely by accident—drawn in like a lucky lottery winner.
To maintain a down-to-earth image, Raymond Star Advanced Academy occasionally selected one lucky commoner student from the Empire through a lottery. Yang Hao was the third such student in the past ten years.
It was said that the previous two commoner students had mysteriously disappeared during their studies, and the reasons remained unknown.
Yang Hao looked left and right and noticed that Essie’s seat was empty. Thinking of Essie brought a rush of excitement to his heart, a small comfort in his otherwise dreary life.
Yang Hao had secretly admired Essie for a long time, as had more than half the male students in the academy. She was the daughter of the Empire’s ambassador to Raymond Star, and beautiful beyond words—rumor had it that her father had married and conceived her on Angel Star, the homeland of beauties, so Essie’s appearance alone was worth at least a 90.
To Yang Hao, Essie was even more beautiful than an angel. Her delicate, exquisite figure and long legs could steal anyone’s soul. Even when she dozed off in class, she was stunning. Sitting close to her, Yang Hao often saw Essie resting her chin on her hand, her long eyelashes fluttering, so beautiful it made him sweat.
Unfortunately, Essie was always surrounded by a crowd of rich young men, so Yang Hao never got close. Until yesterday, he finally summoned his courage and handed Essie his very first love letter.
And today, before the report cards were released, Essie had secretly come over and invited Yang Hao to meet her at the back of the school grounds.
Even now, Yang Hao felt like he was floating on clouds, his heart sweet as if soaked in honey. Among so many noble students, only he had received the privilege of a private date. He no longer cared much about the terrible scores on his report card.
The back mountain of Raymond Star Advanced Academy was absolutely a forbidden zone. According to school rules, no one was allowed to enter. Among the four great campus legends, it was said that the back mountain was the oldest meteorite-landed sacred mountain in the galaxy, crashing down thousands of years ago, and hiding a super powerful monster inside.
Although the school rules stated this, almost every student had secretly visited the back mountain. So as Yang Hao sprinted up the mountain path, he felt no sense of unfamiliarity.
At the mountaintop was a concave depression—said to be the impact point of the meteorite. But now, there was no sign of any meteorite, only a pale blue lake nestled there. Surrounded by green trees, it was the perfect romantic spot.
Looking at the blue sky and the shining silver sun, Yang Hao felt full of anticipation. Perhaps today he could finally win over his long-admired Essie and become the envy of all the boys in the school.
“Kid, you sure arrived on time,” a rough voice, accompanied by a distinctive roaring sound, came from behind.
Yang Hao turned around. He recognized the roaring sound immediately—it was the hoverboard used by noble students to compensate for their poor Flight Technique. Although Yang Hao’s Flight Technique was also terrible, he couldn’t afford one, so he had to run.
Turning around, Yang Hao was deeply disappointed. It wasn’t Essie who had come, but Big Bear Kevin. Kevin was a humanoid bear, standing two meters tall, his body covered in iron-like muscles and brown fur. It was said that the Bear People were the strongest race in the universe when it came to Primordial Force Art, but they were basically incapable of flight.
“Kevin?” Yang Hao was confused. “What are you doing here?”
Normally, Kevin treated Yang Hao terribly, glaring at him every time they met. Today, his bully-like behavior was even more annoying, ruining Yang Hao’s good mood.
“I’m here to teach a brat like you a lesson,” Kevin jumped off his hoverboard, holding a thick metal club. The club was thicker than Yang Hao’s arm, as if to emphasize Kevin’s brute strength.
Yang Hao felt a chill of foreboding. “If you want to beat someone up, just do it. Why are you staring at me like that?”
Kevin stopped, digging his nose with effort, his voice muffled. “Because this fool is you.”
“Me?” Yang Hao realized he was already within the club’s striking range and had no chance to escape. “Why me? I haven’t even provoked you.”
Kevin sneered loudly. “Haven’t provoked me? You, a lowly commoner, actually dared to pursue Essie. Isn’t that provocation enough?”
Yang Hao’s heart tightened. He knew full well that in a fight, he had no chance against this big brute. But he still refused to back down verbally. “Anyone can pursue Essie. She doesn’t care if I’m a commoner. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have invited me here.”
“Hahahaha!” Kevin laughed unpleasantly, shaking fur off his body. “Stupid fool, can’t you figure it out? If she hadn’t invited you here, how else could I teach you a lesson?”
Yang Hao was stunned. From Kevin’s words, it seemed Essie had sent him to beat him up. Still, Yang Hao held onto a sliver of hope. “I don’t believe you. Essie wouldn’t do that.”
“Who knows?” Another roar of a hoverboard sounded, and a silver, scooter-like hoverboard floated out from the trees. On it were two people—noble student Wang Zhijun and Essie.
Wang Zhijun sneered. “Essie is our angel. How dare a poor nobody like you even dream of pursuing her? Don’t you think you deserve a beating?”
Seeing Essie in this situation left Yang Hao completely shocked. He desperately hoped Essie, sitting so intimately with Wang Zhijun, would speak up and stop them.
But soon, his hope vanished.
Today, Essie wore a beautiful silver dress, with the latest princess-style hat, highlighting her fair complexion, making her look extremely adorable.
But her voice was icy cold. “Why haven’t you started yet? So slow. I’m getting bored.”
Seeing the beauty complain, Wang Zhijun quickly signaled. Kevin, the brute bear, obeyed and laughed loudly as he swung his club at Yang Hao.
Although the club was still over a meter away, a domineering force surged forward, striking Yang Hao forcefully in the stomach and sending him flying.
That was the power of Primordial Force—no matter what weapon was used, the force could generate special energy, capable of striking without physical contact.
Wang Zhijun flattered Essie. “Kevin is an outstanding Primordial Force expert. Among students, almost no one can rival him. Even I can barely beat him.”
Essie paid little attention to Wang Zhijun’s boasting, but Yang Hao, who was struck, was in great pain. He flew several meters, landing hard on the pebbles by the lake, his stomach burning with agony.
But Kevin wasn’t done. He continued to use Primordial Force to hurl nearby pebbles at Yang Hao, treating him like a toy.
What hurt Yang Hao even more was his heart. Now he finally understood—he had no right to pursue Essie. He was just a commoner. How could such a lowly commoner ever hope to win the favor of a noble girl?
The cold wind from the lake chilled Yang Hao’s body, making him feel even more humiliated. He raised his head with effort, whispering in a voice only he could hear, “Even a commoner has his anger!”
“What?” Kevin didn’t hear clearly. He paused his club. “What did you say?”
“I’ll make you taste Yang Hao’s anger!!” Yang Hao shouted with a voice he had never used before. All the usual timidity and submissiveness toward nobles vanished, replaced by a surge of courage.
Seeing Yang Hao charging toward him, Kevin felt a bit nervous. After all, he had always seen Yang Hao as a weakling, someone who would only endure beatings, never daring to fight back. He never expected Yang Hao to actually resist.
Kevin gripped his metal club tightly, filling it with as much Primordial Force as he could. He wanted to knock Yang Hao down with one strike, to teach him a lesson.
But before Yang Hao even entered the club’s striking range, he threw a handful of pebbles from the lakeside. The pebbles whistled through the air with great force.
It seemed Yang Hao had poured all his 23 points of Primordial Force into those pebbles, and the result was impressive.
Kevin didn’t dare to be careless. He swung the club hard. The two forces collided, the pebbles exploded into fragments, creating a gray mist that completely enveloped Kevin.
Taking advantage of the moment, Yang Hao threw his last big stone, hidden in his hand, with all his might. It accurately hit Kevin’s big head. Still rubbing his eyes in the gray mist, Kevin had no idea another attack was coming. He was hit and knocked unconscious.
“Yes!!” Seeing Kevin’s huge body slowly collapse, Yang Hao excitedly raised a victory sign.
Wang Zhijun and Essie on the side were stunned. It took a long time before they could reluctantly accept the fact that the usually pathetic Yang Hao had actually defeated the formidable Kevin.
“So useless,” Essie muttered unhappily. Probably because Wang Zhijun had promised her something beforehand, the sudden reversal left her expressionless.
Wang Zhijun was furious. He immediately jumped off the hoverboard and drew a shining silver short sword from his waist. The sword was originally only a palm’s length, but when Wang Zhijun infused it with Primordial Force, a blade of over a meter long emerged.
Wang Zhijun lightly swung the blade, advancing step by step toward Yang Hao. “You brought this on yourself. Don’t blame me.” His eyes already showed a murderous glint, making Yang Hao shiver all over.
“Kevin started it,” Yang Hao argued, though he was scared. “I was only defending myself.”
“Only nobles can beat commoners,” Wang Zhijun sneered. “Commoners who resist can only die!”
“You’re actually going to kill me…” Yang Hao couldn’t believe it. Now he understood how the previous two commoner students had mysteriously disappeared.
“What’s there to be afraid of? It’s just killing a couple of commoners. My father will take care of it.” Before attacking, Wang Zhijun still couldn’t resist waving at Essie, striking a pose he thought was cool.
As if Yang Hao was already a dead man.
Of course, what strength did Yang Hao have to fight Wang Zhijun? Wang Zhijun came from a famous sword family in the Empire, where almost every male descendant became a general. It was said that their children underwent a special training different from Primordial Force from a young age, giving them an extraordinary boost when wielding swords.
Moreover, Wang Zhijun’s swordsmanship was already very high. When he first entered the academy, he had automatically passed the basic sword course. Now he had even surpassed the intermediate level and started advanced sword training.
Compared to Yang Hao, who had only scored 5 points in the basic sword course, the gap was enormous.
So when Wang Zhijun swung his blade into a flower-like shape, Yang Hao’s face turned deathly pale.
Wang Zhijun looked at him with contempt. “If you kneel and beg me, I’ll only cut off one of your arms and let you live as my slave on your knees.”
“No!” Yang Hao’s voice was solemn.
“No?” Wang Zhijun laughed. He couldn’t imagine what qualification Yang Hao had to say that word.
But it was clear Yang Hao meant it. “I won’t be your slave. My hands still have other things to do.”
“Then die!” Wang Zhijun raised his sword stance. “Let’s see what you can use to block my sword.”
Yang Hao was unarmed, having no weapon left. But the way he clenched his jaw showed great courage—almost beyond courage, it was like a shining light radiating from his body.
Suddenly, Yang Hao’s body emitted a strong glow. Wang Zhijun, who had already believed victory was his, was shocked. “Are you crazy? Daring to break the rules and use Primordial Force on your own body?”
What made Wang Zhijun almost lose his composure was Yang Hao’s current action—he was actually channeling Primordial Force into his own body, just like infusing it into a weapon. Everyone knew this was illegal in Raymond Star Advanced Academy and even throughout the entire galaxy. From the very beginning of learning Primordial Force, the school rules had clearly stated that using Primordial Force on one’s own body would result in severe consequences. If caught, one would have all their techniques stripped and be imprisoned in the Empire.
Yet now, Yang Hao dared to break the law, continuously channeling Primordial Force into his body, making his glow brighter and brighter, almost like a radiant star shining with countless rays.
“I won’t die, and I won’t be anyone’s slave,” Yang Hao shouted with all his might. “I don’t have a sword, so I’ll fight you with my body.”
“So what?” Although the scene was terrifying, Wang Zhijun had no reason to be afraid. “Even if you use all your Primordial Force on your sword, you still can’t beat me, let alone on your body.”
Wang Zhijun thought this would scare Yang Hao into retreating. But he never expected Yang Hao’s stubbornness to kick in, ignoring all consequences. Radiating light, Yang Hao charged straight at Wang Zhijun like a meteor.
Wang Zhijun swung his sword, using the family sword technique “Ephemeral Bloom” to meet him head-on. His blade erupted into a silver-white flower, colliding with Yang Hao’s glowing body.
According to Wang Zhijun’s previous dueling experience, with this move, his opponent would at least be severely injured, if not torn apart. But this time, he made a huge mistake.
When the sword strike met Yang Hao’s glowing body, it failed to penetrate. Instead, it exploded. An unprecedented force erupted, sending Wang Zhijun tumbling to the ground, covered in dust.
Yang Hao fared even worse. Being the first to bear the explosion, he was thrown hundreds of meters away, crashing into a hillside and creating a crater, burying himself inside.
A dreamlike encounter had now embraced Yang Hao.
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