But now, Su Fu cleared her mind—it was time to work.
She closed her eyes and activated Nuwa’s Destiny ability: Communication Technique or, to be precise, the art of communicating with all things.
The building beneath her responded: “I estimate I can last another ten minutes, little girl. One more tremor and I’ll collapse for good.”
Her awareness extended farther, reaching a low building.
It said: “So many people—why are they all coming to me?”
Further on, more buildings and ruins began transmitting information to her.
These messages quickly wove into a network.
She opened her eyes and blurted, “Found it.”
Anomaly tide profile: Location—southeast, twenty kilometers away, extremely fast speed, massive numbers, prefers ambush from high ground.
Should she wait for them to attack in twenty minutes, or go wipe them out first?
[Wind Fire Wheels]
Su Fu of course chose the latter.
‘Off to work!’
She leapt onto her Wind Fire Wheels and shot off, the blaze in the gloomy sky so striking, like fireworks in the night.
The examinees who saw this movement immediately froze.
“Well, guess there’s no need to try.”
“If you’re in the same exam room as Su Fu, the exam’s already over.”
They all gave up struggling in tacit agreement—after all, they couldn’t fight or outsmart her, there was simply no competing.
No longer hiding, they stepped from their cover, greeting each other.
“Let’s go watch?”
“Of course! I didn’t get enough last time on the Greece map.”
A group dashed in Su Fu’s direction, not even bothering to hide—wherever she passed, everything would be thoroughly cleared.
They leapt over broken walls and collapsed bridges, heading southeast.
Upon arrival, they saw a dense, black mass of anomalies surging in from the sky.
“Whoa—” the crowd gasped, “there are so many!”
“My god, this has to be at least a B-level anomaly, right?”
No wonder it was called a tide—they’d run into high tide, meaning the anomaly numbers had surged.
The anomalies swarmed, covering their vision—at least a thousand, blotting out the sky.
In the face of this terrifying tide, Su Fu seemed so small—like a drop in the ocean.
But even though none of them had ever seen such a massive B-level anomaly assault, they weren’t nervous at all.
In fact, they kept chatting.
“How long do you think she’ll take this time?”
“With such a huge area, probably ten minutes.”
“I think less, five minutes maybe.”
“No way! There’s so many anomalies, even killing them one by one wouldn’t be so quick!”
“Don’t forget, this is just a 2A-level map.”
Just then, they saw Su Fu move—holding a short blade none had ever seen before.
“Whoa, is that a new artifact?”
“She’s actually going to use that blade?”
“Ah, no, I wanted to see her use the Golden Staff, that super-strong one!”
As they talked, the anomalies closed in.
A sea of black blotted out the sky, screeching like metal scraping, countless talons reaching for that tiny human.
Su Fu raised the short blade before her.
A faint blue light rippled along the blade, like moonlight over calm water, waves of blue radiating out.
The next moment, she struck with a one sweeping slash!
All they saw was a swath of black instantly split in half, a blinding white line revealed, as if slicing through the curtain of night.
A shrill wail rang out.
Then, another white line!
They saw Su Fu gripping the blade, charging into the black tide, her form flickering in and out.
They couldn’t pinpoint her location, but every white line left by her blade drove the anomalies back, like light chasing away darkness.
But some could see—
That the blade, when she changed her attack angle, it could even adjust its own trajectory, until the final strike, when the blade flashed like a pouring Milky Way, illuminating the whole wasteland.
The black mist of anomalies instantly vanished.
Though wielded by Su Fu, the blade almost seemed to have a will of its own, spinning nimbly, shifting at her whim, automatically tracking down any fleeing anomalies!
Su Fu sheathed the blade.
‘Feels very smooth.’ She thought to herself, “This level of adjustment should be enough.”
Though she wasn’t very skilled with blades, with its guidance, it felt like they’d become one.
The short blade trembled in her hand: “Not bad.”
Su Fu turned the blade sideways, laughing: “Not bad? This is excellent, isn’t it!”
It was the blade she’d made for Teacher Tang Yu.
The results were excellent—even someone like her, unskilled with blades, could use it to this level.
In Tang Yu’s hands, the power would be at least ten times greater.
She sighed at the blade: “You’ve graduated, you know. I’ll find you a teammate who’s really skilled with blades to match you.”
The blade was doubtful: “Really?”
Every time Su Fu wanted to modify it, she’d make such promises.
She’d said the same before using it this time, always stringing it along!
“Of course!”
Su Fu solemnly promised, “Don’t worry, I definitely won’t let you down.”
She sighed inwardly—’ah, once they gain sentience, they’re so much harder to fool!’
Meanwhile, the crowd behind her was still immersed in the shock: “Where’d she get that blade?”
“This artifact is insane!”
“The blade is practically alive!”
“Especially that last slash—so damn cool!”
“Suddenly I want to use a blade. I want to buy one.”
“It must be custom-made. I want to find the same craftsman!”
“…So, who’s going to ask?”
“Ahem, it must be one of their forging class’s craftsmen. If you go observe the midterm field, you’ll find out.”
“Anyone want to go together? Maybe we can haggle the price?”
“Me, me, me!”
With the anomalies cleared, the instance ended.
Su Fu returned to Shen Yan Space.
The system prompt sounded: [“Congratulations! You ranked first in this Combat Division midterm practical assessment.”]
[“Subjects yet to be examined: Three”]
[“Completed subjects: Two:]
She’d just finished the Combat Division’s practical class and the Divine Guide class.
According to the midterm schedule, the next subject was Artifact Forging.
Ahem, Su Fu was already preparing to have that short blade appear—she thought, not just for midterms, it could probably speedrun the finals too.
Don’t be fooled by Frank’s strict appearance—he was actually the most flexible.
As long as you met the requirements, it was fine.
Su Fu silently promised in her heart: ‘Blade, after the exam, I’ll definitely bring you to Teacher Tang Yu.’
Short blade: “….”
‘Heard you, thanks.’
After confirming the forging exam’s time and place, she exited Shen Yan Space, preparing to visit the Lingshan Society for some resources.
On the way, examinees hurried past, all busy preparing for midterms.
Suddenly, Su Fu remembered that transfer student who’d been the talk of the forums.
Even till the end, no one knew who the transfer student was.
She mused, ‘wasn’t this person just too low-key?’
And honestly, it was really hard to spot them.
After all, everyone was a freshman— nobody knew each other to begin with.
If someone new joined, it’d be like a drop of water in the sea.
Lost in thought, she arrived at Lingshan Society and found Zhou Yu sprawled on a comfy floating chair, legs crossed, watching his optical computer, who knows what.
He looked completely at peace.
Hearing her approach, he turned his head and saw Su Fu: “Yo, finished your exam?”
“Mm,” Su Fu was a bit puzzled, curious: “I mean, everyone else is busy as hell with the league—why are you so relaxed?”
Zhou Yu, as a sophomore, had just registered for the league this year.
If he could place among the top in the league, it would be a huge boost for applying to Genesis Main Academy in his third year.
Zhou Yu raised an eyebrow at her words: “Hey, don’t say that.”
“This is called ‘sharpening the axe won’t delay chopping firewood.’ I’m thinking about which Genesis Main Academy I should go to.”
To Su Fu, it sounded just like those times in elementary school when kids debated between Tsinghua and Peking University.
She could only shake her head: “Isn’t it too early to worry about third-year? If you really want to go, go win first place in the league first.”
Zhou Yu spread his hands, brimming with confidence: “Of course, I’ll definitely take it. And I already know almost everything about our class—no one can beat me.”
“First place is in the bag.”
He lifted his chin slightly: “But you, don’t embarrass our Tianqiong Path Academy next year—especially don’t embarrass Lingshan Society.”
“I’ve read plenty of comics,” he stroked his chin, “about some declining school suddenly getting a prodigy who bulldozes everyone and tramples the top academy.”
“Sounds exciting, but too bad—we’re the top academy. We’re the ones who get beaten.”
Su Fu: “…..”
She was speechless and she asked, “Read fewer comics, will you?”
“Give me access—I want to go to Ling Shan.” Su Fu stretched out her hand righteously.
“For the honor of the Lingshan Society, I need to go cultivate!”
Time to gather some resources again.
She sighed—’ah, university life was just this dull and tedious.’
Zhou Yu: “…..”
‘Again? Soon there’ll be nothing left!’
***
Apollo Family.
In the Golden Temple, sunlight streamed through the grand dome, casting countless golden beams.
Merlin stood in the center of the temple, head bowed, emotions suppressed: “Father, I heard that person has already arrived from the Central Star System at Tianqiong Path Academy.”
He sounded impatient: “Such a good opportunity… right before my eyes, and I still can’t go to school?”
Merlin was unwilling to accept it: “It was just one loss—how much longer must I wait?”
The current head of the Apollo family, Phoebus Apollio, glanced at him and said, “Three years.”
“What?!” Merlin’s head snapped up in shock, his striking features full of disbelief.
“Three years?” He couldn’t believe it—just one loss, and he had to wait three years?
It was just a minor accident—how was this fair?
Phoebus’s expression was complicated.
He sighed softly: “Merlin, a god’s life is long—your future is even longer.”
“These three years are but a passing moment. Laying low is so you…” he paused, “won’t be in the same era as Su Fu.”
“Why?” Merlin was unconvinced, holding back his resentment.
“Father, you clearly know— The prophecy is clear. A surging era is about to begin.”
“Even that one from the Central Star System has come down—next will be an Era of the Starry Hosts, and you want me to be silent?!”
He was indignant, unconvinced—why should he step aside for Su Fu?
“My Lord Apollo is the God of Light, Father. Are you really going to have our family hide in this era? What of the light?”
As descendants of the God of Light, each generation must stand beneath the sun, basking in admiration and worship.
This was faith born in their blood.
If his father couldn’t give him a convincing reason, he would never accept it.
Phoebus sighed deeply: “Merlin. If I told you this was prophecy and the will of the gods?”
Merlin’s expression froze.
He looked at his father in disbelief: “What do you mean?”
Impossible—how could the God of Light hide in the shadows?
How could this be divine will?
It was completely contrary to the faith of light.
Phoebus’s voice suddenly became distant and mysterious: “The gods say, Chaos draws near—the Twilight of the Gods is about to begin. Before then…”
“Light must hide within darkness, only then… can it be reborn at the final moment.”
Chaos, the god of primordial disorder, also meant endless darkness and eternal turmoil.
Merlin froze.