Feng Yiqiao had already gone on stage, originally still worrying about Li Yang’s physical condition, but upon hearing Sui Kui’s voice, she froze for a moment.
Meanwhile, Li Yang was shouting in her spiritual sea:
“Teacher, why suddenly go into seclusion? You don’t want to break through to the ninth rank, right? Is it safe? Don’t be impulsive, half-step Supreme is already amazing, let’s take it step by step…”
As she was speaking, Li Yang realized that Sui Kui had cut off the connection to her spiritual sea.
Sui Kui had always left a trace of “will” in Li Yang’s spiritual sea.
This trace of will didn’t actively check on Li Yang’s condition; it was just like a phone number that could be dialed at any time—whenever Li Yang called her or triggered some specific conditions, it would automatically connect.
Li Yang had always felt this small “will.”
Not only did she not dislike it, but it also made her feel at ease.
She felt as though there was a half-step Supreme always watching over her.
That’s why she could move so freely in the academy.
Now that the will was cut off, it made her feel empty.
Li Yang turned over and said, “I’ll go back and check.”
Feng Yiqiao grabbed her and said, “Don’t worry, once you reach the teacher’s level, they’ll often go into seclusion.”
Li Yang understood this too.
Even without mentioning a half-step Supreme teacher, even a sixth-rank Star Practitioner often needs to go into seclusion for a year or more to break through, and she had heard that a professor in the spiritual system had been in seclusion for over twenty years, claiming he wouldn’t come out until he became a master.
But Li Yang still felt uneasy.
She couldn’t explain why, only attributing it to her intuition.
“Anyway, the competition is over,” Li Yang said, “I’ll go take a look, maybe I’ll be back soon.”
Feng Yiqiao still tried to hold her back, but with her “Frenzy” ability, Li Yang’s speed increased so much that he couldn’t hold her anymore.
He Song and the others also came over to celebrate Li Yang’s victory.
Wala Ge looked around and asked, “Where’s Little Li?”
Not just He Song and the others, but the top twelve all came up, and Fang Chuyun also asked, “Where’s Li Yang?”
Feng Yiqiao could only explain, “Uh… Teacher is looking for her, she’s gone back to the Agriculture Department.”
The group gathered around.
After hearing Feng Yiqiao’s explanation, they became even more curious.
At this point, Zhong Kun pondered and said, “If it’s a half-step Supreme calling for her, she should go back right away. A mere first place in the monthly exam is nothing special.”
His words sounded like a casual rhyme, which stunned the students who had gathered to watch the excitement.
Immediately, someone spoke up, “What? Half-step… what?”
“Li Yang’s teacher is a half-step Supreme?!”
“How is that possible? The small Agriculture Department…”
For ordinary students, this was impossible to know, but several children from prominent families had already investigated.
Especially those like Ying Qi and Lin Zhaoqin, who were very interested in Li Yang, had already figured out the situation in the Agriculture Department.
Lin Zhaoqin deliberately said, “MÇŽi Zi, do you think I can meet that half-step Supreme who once single-handedly killed two ninth-rank Supremes if I go to the Agriculture Department now?”
It seemed like she was talking to Little Mai Ran, but her voice was loud enough for all the new students to hear clearly.
At this moment, not only the new students on-site but also the older students in the live broadcast were shocked.
The live stream hadn’t ended, and they weren’t in a hurry to leave.
They didn’t expect to hear such explosive news.
“Wow, what’s going on, the head of the Agriculture Department is a half-step Supreme?”
“The heads of the three main departments are only rank seven, right? How could the Agriculture Department have a half-step Supreme as their head?”
“If I’m not mistaken, our school has no eight-rank and only the principal is a ninth-rank…”
“The highest-ranked are the three department heads, and they’re just at the peak of the seventh rank! Even though the difference between seven and eight is only one major rank, the power gap is huge.”
The news about the Agriculture Department’s head being a half-step Supreme was as shocking as if the cafeteria worker in Li Yang’s world had won a Nobel Prize in research.
Li Yang winning first place in the monthly exam seemed insignificant compared to this revelation!
Many students rushed to ask their mentors.
However, most students’ mentors were only at the fourth or fifth rank.
Even those with a sixth-rank mentor would just raise an eyebrow and slap them with a lecture:
“Have you improved your physical strength? Have you trained your mind? Have you finished your tasks? Earned achievements? If you don’t have money, how will you break through, advance, or graduate? Stop worrying about others and focus on cultivating! This is the key to survival, understand?!”
There was no need to ask; the answer was obvious.
Children from prominent families looked as though they had already “known” and their attention on Li Yang only confirmed it.
“Ah, no wonder Li Yang is so strong!”
“She has a half-step Supreme guiding her, no wonder winning first place in the monthly exam is nothing to her.”
“It’s like Lin Zhaoxia, Zhong Qian, and Shen Shangchi… as if their families don’t have a ninth-rank Supreme.”
“Li Yang didn’t win that easily, but… it makes much more sense now!”
The live stream exploded, and the school forum was even more chaotic.
Some students dug up Li Yang’s posts when she first chose her department and bumped up all the posts that mocked her.
The comments were blunt and simple, just a “clown” meme.
Others started analysis threads:
“A Brief Discussion on Whether Li Yang is the Half-step Supreme’s Love Child.”
“An In-Depth Analysis of Li Yang and the Half-step Supreme’s Past and Present.”
“Click to See Li Yang’s Unspoken Connection with the Head of the Agriculture Department.”
Countless threads flooded in, making the academic office staff, like Niu Qianqian, sweat profusely.
“These newbies are really fearless! If this was thirty years ago, who would dare post such things?!”
“Oh, back then we didn’t have this broken school app.”
Niu Qianqian quickly shouted, “What are you waiting for? Delete the posts! Block them! Mute them! Add restricted words!”
Soon, the posts were all gone within less than a second, and the students who tried to cash in on the drama were muted and given warnings.
Students also noticed new restricted terms—Sui Kui, Agriculture Department Head, Half-step Supreme.
These restricted terms essentially stamped and confirmed the news.
The teachers in charge of department transfers were overwhelmed, one after another saying, “Director Niu, a bunch of people are applying to transfer to the Agriculture Department…”
Niu Qianqian bluntly said, “Temporarily close the transfer channels!”
The atmosphere quieted down, but that didn’t stop everyone from getting even more excited!
The Agriculture Department, which had been neglected for over twenty years, now had a crowd of people trying to get in, but couldn’t.
“Wait, how did this Yu Hongyuan get into the Agriculture Department?”
“Because he’s in the same class as Li Yang, and I heard his mom even supported Li Yang…”
“That’s strange, though… Yu Hongyuan doesn’t seem that talented. He’s not stronger than me.”
Once these words were spoken, the enthusiasm of those wanting to transfer to the Agricultural Studies Department was greatly diminished.
Not only was Yu Hongyuan unimpressive, but there were also one stubborn student and three major problems in the Agricultural Studies Department.
Seeing these four people, the students gradually calmed down.
Li Yang was an exception.
Even if they transferred to the Agricultural Studies Department, they would probably end up just growing crops and steaming buns.
Forget it, forget it… The conditions for receiving personal guidance from a Half-Step Supreme must be very high. Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to catch her attention.
Li Yang rushed back to the Agricultural Studies Department.
Normally, it would take her ten minutes, but this time she only needed three.
“Teacher!”
Li Yang began shouting as soon as she reached halfway up the hill.
The small courtyard gate was tightly shut.
The wooden door that would usually open automatically for her couldn’t be opened no matter how much she knocked.
Li Yang knew that Si Kui could hear her, so she simply shouted her words again through the door.
Before she could finish speaking, Si Kui appeared in front of her.
“Okay.”
Li Yang’s eyes lit up, “Teacher, you’re not planning to do something sneaky, are you? Why do I feel so uneasy?”
Si Kui glared at her.
“What bad thing could I possibly do?”
“I’m too foolish to guess,” Li Yang replied.
“You really dare to guess!”
“Of course not, Teacher!”
Li Yang pounced and hugged her arm, blinking her eyes.
“I got first place in the monthly exam!”
“Our plan has moved forward a lot,” Li Yang continued.
“Why don’t you seem happy…?”
Li Yang thought for a moment and added, “Oh, I see, it’s just a small monthly exam. But Teacher, don’t rush into seclusion yet. I’m still preparing, and when everyone arrives, how will you accept disciples if you’re in seclusion? I see several good candidates!”
Si Kui said, “If they truly wish to become disciples, there’s no rush in the next ten or twenty days.”
Li Yang relaxed upon hearing this.
“Well then, Teacher, you can go into seclusion. Just ten days, right? By the time you come out, I should be ready as well.”
“Who told you it’s only ten days?”
Li Yang gritted her teeth.
“At most half a month! It can’t be any longer!”
Li Yang had already figured out the soft spot of the Sunflower Lady and sweetly acted cute, “Teacher, without your ‘will,’ I feel so uneasy. When I’m uneasy, I can’t sleep at night. And if I can’t sleep, how can I train, improve, or grow!”
Si Kui said, “You’re eighteen already.”
Li Yang replied confidently, “So what if I’m eighteen? Even at twenty-eight, one can still grow!”
Si Kui, though still looking stern, was already softened beyond measure.
However, when she thought about Li Yang’s bloodied appearance, her heart tightened with self-reproach.
“I’ll promote… Even if I remain at the first level of Ninth Stage for my entire life, that’s fine,” Si Kui thought.
At least she could properly protect Li Yang, allowing her to grow with peace of mind.
Si Kui said, “Fine, half a month at most, I’ll come out of seclusion.”
Li Yang finally let out a sigh of relief, then said, “Alright then, Teacher, go ahead and enter seclusion. I’ll take good care of the seniors and juniors… Oh, and the younger brothers too!”
Li Yang didn’t return to the training field.
The monthly exam was over, and she had already secured the qualification to enter the Star Ash Secret Realm. There wasn’t much left to do.
As for when the Star Ash Secret Realm would open, she would have to wait for the notice.
The process of opening this kind of secret realm was complex, and the timing was unpredictable, though it was generally within this month.
The school’s app had already posted the rankings for the monthly exam.
Only three people made the list.
1st: Agricultural Studies Department – Li Yang
2nd: Star Warfare Department – Lin Zhaoxia
3rd: Star Warfare Department – Zhong Qian
In this year’s freshman exam, the Star Magic Department was completely defeated.
Not just the freshmen, but even the seniors felt embarrassed.
However, because of Shen Shangchi and Ying Qi’s prestigious statuses, no senior dared to say anything.
The so-called “seniors” were those who lacked the talent to quickly advance to the Third Stage.
The children of prominent families advanced rapidly, often graduating even before the freshmen enrolled.
Therefore, the true geniuses were mostly among the new students.
Once someone became a “senior,” they often were no longer considered a genius.The children of prominent families rarely stayed behind to teach at the school; they had to travel through the star realms to challenge the various races and constantly raise their cultivation level.
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