The young girl tried to blow away the scorch marks on her sleeve with the wind, but it was useless.
Xu Chuyao laughed twice at the awkward gesture.
“Spirit Snake, this thing was never worth keeping anyway. I’ll just go back and change.”
If this had happened before, the name Spirit Snake alone would have earned at least ten points on the bad guy scale. But now, Shen Ning simply let out a faint sigh.
The sexually repressed shadow suspected she might have been brainwashed by the Snow Council’s mind control. “Chuyao, how can you not cherish such a good opportunity to make connections?”
They walked back to the girls’ dormitory together, strolling along the hallway.
“Then, good night~”
“Good night, good night—”
Xu Chuyao hung onto Mi Xiaolu’s little hand and ran off. After today’s hectic events, she was really exhausted and decided to go rest.
Shen Ning stood in the hallway for a moment, watching until her friend’s figure completely disappeared from sight.
“What are you doing? I already said good night means no kissing. If you don’t kiss, then what was the good night for?” The sexually repressed shadow was frustrated. “You can only kiss if it’s a mission; no mission means no kiss.”
“Well then, what if you don’t have any missions at all?”
Shen Ning fiddled with her fingers, then turned and headed back to her own room. Honestly, she was debating whether or not to go after her friend, but Chuyao had already run too far ahead.
“There’ll be a next time.”
The night was a strange thing. Xu Chuyao felt very tired while outside, but as soon as she lay down, she suddenly felt energized.
“Ning, did you hear? I made Third Rank!”
The moment she was awake, she couldn’t wait to brag.
Mi Xiaolu had just finished writing her weekly journal and tucked her diary back into her bag. She took off her shoes and slowly climbed into bed, glancing at her roommate.
“I heard, but the training ground was too crowded. It was hard to get a spot outside.”
“Well, then you’re lucky. I can show you now…”
Xu Chuyao reached out to show her, but the moment she noticed the scorch mark on her sleeve, she hesitated and put her hand down.
“Forget it. It’s hard to really practice in the dormitory. Better to wait for tomorrow.”
Mi Xiaolu also noticed the blackened patch on Chuyao’s sleeve. “You burned your own clothes?”
“It’s just a little bit. Didn’t hold it right. The main reason is this: when Spirit Power is released from the body, initially it’s pure Spirit Power, just like Second Rank. Then it gradually converts into elements. There’s a brief transition period.”
Xu Chuyao explained while gesturing, showing how Spirit Power flowed from the body and transformed into lightning elements. At the training ground, she had danced with the electricity after transformation, accidentally scraping her sleeve.
“So why was it just the robe that got burned?”
“Spirit Power is really strange.” Mi Xiaolu, a late Second Rank Spirit Power User, said with a sense of awe.
“Yeah, right!”
Xu Chuyao had originally planned to tell the story of the Twin Star Town’s great battle with the Yang Demon, but after some thought, she realized there wasn’t much substance and gave up.
“Today’s story is boring. Next time, I’ll tell you about the Solar Project!”
“Thanks, buddy.”
It wasn’t a genuine thank you.
Lying on her bed, Xu Chuyao did one last thing before sleep—playing on her phone. As she expected, the “Thunder-loving Great Huo Girl” had become the hottest topic at school today. The straightforward students said they really wanted to try that thunder.
However, the global number one was still Wen Fang, who was now still paralyzed in the hospital.
Cheng Li and other classmates were giving Xu Chuyao advice, suggesting she assemble some practical elemental skills.
Some suggested creating a lightning ball that moves quickly along the ground, emitting the shrill sound of a thousand cicadas.
Others proposed a “Lightning Blade,” capable of wiping out everything, attacking fiercely with an electrified edge.
Still others recommended a mighty thunder stomp that causes a shockwave, dealing damage to nearby enemies while raising a Spirit Power Shield to prevent falling.
Xu Chuyao appreciated her classmates’ enthusiastic suggestions but didn’t adopt a single one.
Because Chuyao wasn’t a competitive person; she wouldn’t train specific skills just for her own desire—it all depended on luck and the system’s summons.
After playing on her phone for a while, she was satisfied and went to sleep.
Zzzz
“We caught one of our colleagues, Wen Fang, the town guardian of Twin Star Town at the Central District’s edge.”
“Who?”
“Wen Fang… no, she should be called Prada Lady.”
“Why didn’t you just say that earlier? Nobody knows who she really is by her real name.”
Several voices exchanged heated discussion over a special radio.
“I don’t understand. Prada Lady has always been a staunch realist—if she doesn’t see any advantage, she wouldn’t act. Why did something happen at this moment?”
“She really didn’t take action, but she’s getting closer to Center City, and the one catching Wen Fang is our old friend from the Academy—Xu Chuyao.”
“You mean that white-haired girl…”
“The same one from our Academy.”
There was a brief silence over the radio.
“By the way,” the voice continued, “people from Twin Star Town said there was a fierce wind and thunder battle today, and the big-breasted one was controlling the storm.”
The radio erupted: “You mean our brilliant archenemy is now both brave and skillful?”
There was no response from the other side, but that wasn’t really a question.
Half a minute later, a male voice sounded, “Let’s talk about some good news. How are the people in the Research Institute doing? Any progress?”
“It’s only been a few days. Don’t rush. After all, Moros is more anxious than anyone.”
Laughter filled the radio, lifting the mood.
There wasn’t any good news, but being able to laugh at others still helped.
Indonesia, Southern Region, Valhalla Research Institute
Barf was feeling pretty good these days. The first few days were quiet, and he wandered around the common areas, meeting some “colleagues.” Besides the usual staff, he had come into contact with two key people.
Goli, in charge of security and emergency handling, was the main security supervisor of the institute. He was the man who had escorted Barf here. Barf was a bit afraid of him—always dressed in a dark suit, polite on the surface, but if business went wrong, he could be ruthless.
Luen, the supervisor of Laboratory One, was the leading figure at the institute. Rumor had it that he was originally from the Bokmogen family’s research department, recruited here because of his extensive experimental experience. Most of his attention was on his work. At first, Barf didn’t even understand why he was assigned here or why the experimental project had changed so much.
A few days ago, Barf had heard from insiders that the previous valley institute’s supervisor had made a huge mistake, causing a massive explosion.
“Ford?”
“No, it was someone named Axe Wei Chun.”
“Don’t know him. That’s why I say, if Ford was the supervisor, things wouldn’t be so chaotic.” Luen held a precious test tube, standing still as if watching the peak. “Back then, Ford and I were on the same team. We had many happy times together.”
“Got it. I’ll listen to your stories another time.” Barf looked around to confirm Goli was not nearby, then cautiously approached. “I want to ask about the experiment we did today…”
Yes, today he finally began his own work. Early this morning, a helicopter landed on the small hill, delivering five smart people. Goli asked him to plant Soul Guidance on these people, so that no matter what happens, they’d maintain a spirit of exploration.
Barf naturally accepted.
“How long does it last?”
“Usually about a week. Because this is a subconscious influence, and the subject is very low profile in daily life…”
Before he could finish, Goli pulled him into Laboratory One. Barf witnessed an astonishing sight—a living person slowly transformed, their whole body covered in mineral-like growths, before instantly being incinerated.
No one explained it to him, but no one scolded him either. That night, restless and unable to sleep, he went to ask the experiment supervisor.
Luen patted his shoulder: “Don’t worry, that normal person will come back. By then, it depends on whether your abilities work. Good luck.”
After yesterday’s wild celebration, school life went on as usual.
The only difference was that Teacher Hu once again found a reason to encourage everyone to train harder.
“Look at Xu Chuyao. She’s the same age as you, but how hard does she work? Maybe you don’t see it, but she’s been secretly training. There’s an old saying: one minute on stage takes ten years off stage. If you want to be like her, you have to give it your all. Heaven rewards effort!”
The only teacher who didn’t hype everyone up was Li Xuefan, the Culture teacher.
“Class, I’ve already finished reviewing your weekly journals. Most students focused on yesterday’s training ground experience.”
Saying this, her lips curled almost into a smile.
At the thought that their beloved Chuyao had become the center of everyone’s attention—even Culture teacher Li Xuefan couldn’t help but praise her.
“Alright then, for this week’s culture assignment, I want everyone to make sentences using the words ‘thunder’ and ‘electricity’—at least ten sentences with those words.”
The students of Class 3-1 groaned, their brains feeling fried.
Fortunately, Shen Ning didn’t have class, so she didn’t have to worry about homework. But she had her own worries—about the plan they discussed yesterday, to try kissing her girlfriend goodnight.
“Failed again today…”
“Sounds like you already gave up.” The sexually repressed shadow chuckled. “You didn’t even try, how could it work?”
But Shen Ning couldn’t be blamed, because after lunch, Xu Chuyao went straight back to the dorm and hadn’t come out yet.
Dinner was only at five o’clock, and the sun was still high. She just couldn’t bring herself to go say goodnight.
“Yeah, Chuyao is too wild.”
The sexually repressed shadow nodded, then suddenly thought of something.
“Tell me, with Chuyao’s cunning personality, do you think next time she might just shock you all of a sudden?”
Lying in bed, Shen Ning casually traced invisible patterns.
“What?”
“Impossible,” the sexually repressed shadow jumped up, “Chuyao has a golden heart. I don’t think she’d do something like that. If she really did, then you’ve gone too far.”
The shadow coldly smirked: “What does it matter to me? I’m always messing around. Chuyao is used to it and wouldn’t make such a move. But Chuyao is unpredictable, and this kind of thing happens naturally.”
Chuyao had just reached Third Rank, skillfully using Wind Element to keep Shen Ning helpless. Now that Chuyao herself was Third Rank, it’d be rude not to return the favor.
“Sometimes she might just randomly shock you. If you don’t stop her, you better watch out—if you get too close, you might get electrocuted to death!”
Shen Ning looked suspiciously at the poster on the wall.
“Getting electrocuted to death?”
“Next time on the mission, you’ll find out. Don’t think five-star missions are just about romance.”
“Told you, if you’d worked hard earlier, Chuyao wouldn’t have learned electricity so fast. Now look at you—get zapped!”