[“I do know a bit. The most famous are the three universities in the Upper Ring Belt: Heavenly Road Branch, Eternal Gate Branch, and Ring of Radiance Branch.”]
[“They each have their specialties. Heavenly Road Branch focuses on mountain and peak dungeons—as the name implies, ‘Road.'”]
[“Like Ling Shan, Himalayas, Olympus, even Atlantis’s underwater mountain ranges—almost all famous divine mountains and sacred lands.”]
[“Eternal Gate Branch specializes in spatial dungeons. Their ‘Key of the Gate’ series is famous across the Star Ring, but sometimes you open the wrong door and get lost forever.”]
[“As for Ring of Radiance Branch, they focus on starry sky and deep sea dungeons—extreme environments.”]
[“But don’t worry, these schools collaborate; going to one doesn’t exclude access to others.”]
It was the first time Su Fu had heard such detailed school descriptions.
At higher Star Rings, dungeons were categorized like this.
She thought, if she could enter Heavenly Road Branch, she could level up all the Monkey King’s and other divine skills from Journey to the West!
Wow, that was tempting!
Journey to the West had countless gods.
Maxing out those divine skills to obtain top-tier SSS-level abilities…
But then she thought, it didn’t have to be Heavenly Road Branch—Kunlun probably cooperated with the Ling Shan dungeon series as well.
Speaking of which, what specialties did Kunlun have?
Did they have the Prehistoric Era, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and Nuwa dungeons?
Or the exotic beasts of the Classic of Mountains and Seas?
[Su Fu: Thanks for all the advice! This is so exciting, I wish I could start university right now.]
[“Haha, don’t rush. Pass the Third Star Ring exam first. But with your talent, I don’t think reaching the Second Star Ring is a problem.”]
[“@Su Fu, a reminder—be extra careful during the Third Star Ring exam. You took down Odinson, and his family won’t let that slide.”]
[“As one of the Seven Great Families, the Norse Asgard Family is all about face. Even if the Thor Lineage is just a branch, losing face like this will definitely provoke retaliation.”]
[“They have plenty of candidates in the Third and Second Star Rings, so watch your back.”]
[“Ugh, these noble families are disgusting! They can’t stand losing and just seek revenge.”]
[“Typical freeloaders living off their ancestors’ glory, all propped up by the Sacred Lands.”]
[“@Su Fu, don’t panic. With your current strength, just fight them off if they come!”]
[“Exactly. Get a good score and get into a good university, and they won’t dare touch you.”]
[“After all, the university is backed by the Ministry of Education. They only bully commoners and will back down before the Ministry.”]
Su Fu was well practiced in this—she had climbed up by stepping on these noble families all along.
But it was indeed a hidden danger.
The news of her eliminating Odinson had likely spread across the Star Ring.
The Asgard Family’s face was shattered.
They wouldn’t easily forgive the “culprit.”
[“I have another heads-up for you, @Su Fu. This year, cross-star system candidates will surge.”]
[“The Education Department is reforming the Second Star Ring exam, greatly increasing difficulty. It’s said to be extremely hard, and many will fail.”]
[“So many people with intel have already rushed to the Third Star Ring to prepare for the exam.”]
[“Wait, isn’t that a dimensionality reduction attack, taking Third Star Ring spots?”]
[“That’s so shameless! The Second Star Ring’s enrollment is limited, and now they come down to crowd the Third Star Ring.”]
[“Heh, they’re using Second Star Ring’s abundant resources and grabbing Third Star Ring candidates’ spots. All benefits go to them.”][
“True, but these noble families have plenty of tricks to exploit loopholes.”]
Su Fu frowned.
She hadn’t expected this kind of thing even in interstellar society.
If what the group said was true, these people would use any means to cope with reforms.
She would face not only Third Star Ring elites but also Second Star Ring candidates raised in the Sacred Lands from childhood.
The difficulty was maxed out.
[Su Fu: Thanks for the reminders, everyone. I’ll be extra cautious. No matter what, I’ll give my all. Thanks again for your guidance.]
[“Don’t worry, with your ability, you have a real shot at the Second Star Ring.”]
[“Good luck! Show them all!”]
After some more friendly exchanges, Su Fu logged off.
At this point, worrying was useless; she had to find ways to get stronger.
Ahem, first let’s see how much she earned this time—
“Odinson’s bounty was claimed seven times, 10,000 Contribution Points each time, totaling 70,000.”
“Fifteen Mayan Pantheon members, each 10,000, totaling 150,000.”
“Total: 220,000 Contribution Points credited.”
“Just enough to upgrade all three new skills to C-level.”
“Need to find Chinese Civilization ruins for upgrades.”
As for the remaining Contribution Points…
Su Fu calculated, “But upgrading to B-level with Contribution Points isn’t very cost-effective. Plus…”
Su Fu opened the special shop.
Now, finally, she had enough money to buy the resources she eyed last time.
[Golden Wheat Ear of the Harvest Goddess]
[Description: Enhances user’s constitution and vitality, increasing capacity to bear Divine Power]
[8,000 Contribution Points]
“Let’s try three first.”
Soon, three golden wheat ears appeared in Shen Yan Space, emitting a soft glow.
Su Fu held them in her hands, immediately feeling a warm current slowly merge into her body, as if her blood was boiling.
She tried to sense it and indeed felt a significant improvement.
At least her Divine Power circulation was much faster.
Su Fu nodded in satisfaction.
Worth it, very cost-effective.
She bought three more to boost her constitution further.
After absorption, she exhaled deeply and sighed, “Money really is never enough.”
“After the exam, I have to find a way to make a big profit. Now, let’s see what rewards this exam gave.”
She opened her mail and found the usual rewards:
[1. Basic reward: 30,000 Human Contribution Points]
[2. B-rank Exam Paper Free Ticket *1 (self-select, no type restriction)]
[3. Third Star Ring free ship ticket: 1 (valid for 3 days)]
Su Fu reviewed her unused resources—one C-rank and one B-rank Exam Paper Free Ticket.
Before, she would have immediately used them to improve her strength.
But now she had a different idea—experimenting with Conceptual Divine Skills.
Like this time, using Mountain-Crashing Divine Technique against Olympus Sanctuary—though it was a divine mountain, it was easily destroyed by Gonggong’s water-based skill because of the “mountain” concept.
Such concept-based counter skills were insanely powerful.
Water extinguishes fire, fire burns wood… these fundamental mutual relationships were amplified to the extreme at the Divine Skill level.
She thought, ultimately, Conceptual Divine Skills differed from ordinary physical attacks—they targeted the essence of things.
For example, Nuwa’s Mending the Sky—could it not only repair the firmament but theoretically fix any “space rift” concept?
Pangu’s Opening the Sky—could it cleave open any sealed space?
Hou Yi’s Shooting the Sun—was it specifically countering any anomaly with the “light source” concept, no matter its form?
These divine skills went beyond competing for raw Divine Power; they sought connections in the essence of things, achieving seemingly impossible feats through conceptual countering.
Perhaps this was her key to handling noble family scions with abundant Divine Power.
Those noble kids had the best training from childhood, with far greater Divine Power reserves.
In a pure power fight, she would definitely be at a disadvantage.
They had already maxed out their Divine Skill levels.
But when it came to understanding Divine Skills, especially Conceptual Divine Skills, they might not have the edge.
Another point was that these counters weren’t just aimed at examinees—they could target the environment as well.
The environment was an important part of the exam paper.
For example, this exam’s Giant King’s Court and Olympus Sanctuary—she had directly used the environmental advantage to crush her opponent.
And within the vast Chinese Pantheon, the gods were countless:
Mountain gods counter mountains, water gods control rivers and seas, fire gods wield flames, earth gods dominate the land…
There were also wind gods, thunder gods, gate gods, well gods, stove gods… whatever god you wanted, there was one.
If she could master the corresponding divine skills for different environments, it would be like having home advantage in every exam.
She dared not imagine controlling the entire exam environment—it would be amazing.
Like this time, without Gonggong’s Mountain-Crashing Divine Technique, relying on her personal Divine Power alone to fight the entire Olympus Sanctuary anomaly would have been impossible.
Therefore, she wanted to exchange all her free exam tickets for the lowest-grade D-rank papers to farm various targeted skill experiments.
No hesitation—she immediately asked, “Shen Yan, can you exchange my B/C-rank exam tickets for equivalent value D-rank tickets?”
Shen Yan answered promptly: [Yes.]
[Possible, but at the current exchange rate, you can only receive 5 D-rank exam tickets. Are you sure?]
[Friendly reminder: 98.7% of examinees choose higher difficulty papers to receive main deity gifts and improve core skills.]
[In comparison, farming multiple low-level skills through lower-level papers has lower cost-effectiveness.]
Su Fu smiled slightly: “It’s okay, I’m sure I want to exchange.”
[Okay, transaction confirmed. Five D-rank exam tickets have been credited to your account. Wish you a pleasant exam.]
If others knew what Su Fu was doing, they’d probably think she was crazy—turning down good high-level exam papers to get a bunch of “useless” low-level ones.
By Divine Power conversion, it was a huge loss.
But Su Fu was clear—she wanted the most comprehensive environmental adaptability.
No other divine pantheon had as many gods with various responsibilities as the Chinese Pantheon; it was truly vast like an ocean.
Core skills were important, but now she wanted to take a shortcut by relying on flexible tactics.
Even if some Divine Skills were low-level, in specific environments their power might far exceed high-level skills.
As for Divine Power needed to upgrade core Divine Skills?
She could obtain that through other means.
Like exploring ruins, following Michelle’s path or Eternal Cardinal’s channels.
Ahem, or earning extra in the exam by exchanging Contribution Points.
But getting new skills more steadily and safely required academy dungeons, and these basic D-rank tickets were perfect.
Just as she finished the exchange, the Audience Ladder made of starlight hanging in midair suddenly emitted a faint glow.
The glow was initially like a barely visible firefly but quickly brightened, lighting up step by step from the bottom up.
Su Fu looked up sharply, her heart suddenly pounding.
“Wait, this is… is a Chinese deity responding to me?”
The Audience Ladder’s light grew stronger, like a brilliantly lit Milky Way.
At that moment, Shen Yan AI’s voice simultaneously echoed: [Chinese Divine Summoner Su Fu, your deity has responded. Please ascend the Audience Ladder.]
“Divine power… has responded…”
Su Fu was overwhelmed with emotion.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
Straightening her clothes, she solemnly stepped toward the celestial ladder.
The moment she stepped onto the first rung, a subtle sensation arose.
The ladder wasn’t solid—it felt like stepping onto a gentle beam of sunlight.
She looked up; the ladder stretched upward, piercing the sky, seemingly endless.
As she moved to the second rung—
In an instant, a powerful force surged from beneath her feet.
The ladder seemed lifted by an invisible hand, ascending rapidly.
The sensation was strange—her body felt as light as a feather.
She traveled through the Star Sea, as if crossing infinite space.
Countless stars spun and flickered around her, then quickly fell behind.
She kept ascending, not knowing where the end was.
Only the ladder beneath her feet anchored her.
Until—
A dazzling light flashed, as if she had passed through an invisible barrier.
The world instantly reshaped.
When the light faded, she found herself standing on solid ground instead of the ephemeral starlight steps.
‘Solid ground?’
Su Fu slowly raised her head and gazed skyward—
Above the firmament, a giant divine figure had descended.
Its upper half was human-shaped, but the lower half seemed merged with heaven and earth, vague and indistinct.
Su Fu recognized at once—it was the Creator Goddess, Nuwa!
At this moment, she gazed at Su Fu with a gentle smile.
Just as Su Fu had imagined countless times.
“Nuwa Niangniang!”
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