Nine Star Burden

“Don’t fight with your classmates at school, keep a low profile,” said Han Jiangxue, seated in the passenger’s seat. For the first time, she was rather talkative, which was to Xia Yan’s joy.

Ever since Xia Yan taught Jiang Xiao a lesson in his room, her mood obviously improved.

Jiang Xiao was seated in the backseat with his elbows pressed against the window frame while looking out at the world outside. After several years, he had to start going to school again.

“Jiangbin High School is not just for us, the Awakened. There are plenty of ordinary students as well. No matter what kind of students there may be, they’re all competitive and jealous. It’s better to keep a low profile.” As soon as Han Jiangxue finished speaking, she did not get any response.

She reached out and adjusted the angle of the rearview mirror on the roof of the car.

“Hey, I can’t see the road conditions at the back,” Xia Yan frantically said.

“Look at the side mirrors then,” Han Jiangxue said coldly. She then looked up and noticed the look of hopelessness on Jiang Xiao’s face in the rearview mirror.

Han Jiangxue asked softly, “Are you tired?”

Jiang Xiao recovered from the shock and frantically answered, “No, I’m just a little distracted.”

“Okay,” Han Jiangxue answered casually and stayed silent afterward.

Jiang Xiao opened his mouth and pondered for a long while before saying, “Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you two that my Blessing Star Technique has already been upgraded to the Silver Quality.”

*Screech*!

The heavy Land Rover Discovery braked all of a sudden.

Xia Yan turned around and looked at Jiang Xiao with glistening eyes. “Really?”

Jiang Xiao looked out the window and sighed softly. “Hah, women.”

Xia Yan remained silent.

...

At about 1700 hours, the car slowly pulled up in front of the school.

As soon as Jiang Xiao alighted from the car, he heard the howling of the ghosts.

Jiang Xiao could hear a few words of the lyrics of the almost-monotonous song and finally realized that it was a song about teamwork.

Jiang Xiao walked towards the entrance curiously and looked inside, only to see a bunch of children dressed in green military uniforms and singing loudly while standing in a neat formation. They were singing and repeating the song in front of the canteen.

The old man at the entrance of the canteen was seated on the chair and fanning himself with one hand while staring at the singing children in awe.

“Go and report,” Han Jiangxue said while patting Jiang Xiao on the shoulder.

“Why don’t... I go report myself.” Jiang Xiao tried to suggest.

Han Jiangxue froze for a moment and gave it some consideration before saying, “Okay, Xia Yan and I will go in first then. You may proceed directly to the fourth floor of Teaching Block A, where you can look for Mr. Gao. He knows you’re coming.”

“Xiaopi, Xiaopi,” said Xia Yan, holding onto Han Jiangxue’s arm. She blew a flying kiss at Jiang Xiao and said, “You’re the best, I’ll be waiting for you in Year Three~”

Jiang Xiao’s face stiffened.

Year Three! Year Three!

Damn it.

What have I done after entering this weird world?

I struggled to survive in the snowfield and now I’m going back to school where I’ll be advancing straight to Year Three?

I should probably be able to catch up by being attentive and thinking about the lessons that I’ve undergone.

But the learning intensity of Year Three is worlds apart from that of Year One. Am I going to start straight with Hell mode?

Why didn’t I get reborn as a Year One student?

Life really is... interesting!

The Awakened also had to sit for university entrance examinations, and all tertiary education institutions had high requirements for academic grades in cultural subjects. The difference was that the Awakened had to sit for special practical combat examinations too.

Of course, if one’s goal was not a superior tertiary education institute but an ordinary university, life wouldn’t be as tiring.

The reason it was called a superior tertiary education institute did make sense because such institutes offered better resources and opportunities than ordinary colleges.

Schools, regions, and various factors played important roles in influencing a child’s future development. 𝒇𝙧𝚎𝐞𝙬𝒆𝑏𝑛𝑜v𝚎𝒍.c𝑜m

If Jiang Xiao didn’t care for his pride, he wouldn’t have to be worried about being unwanted in the future since he was a Medical Awakened.

Is pride important or not?

Okay.

Fate shall decide...

He clarified his identity to the guards at the door and swore that he was not a hooligan who tailed the two girls into the school. The school authorities were kind enough not to let Jiang Xiao be stuck at the door and the guard allowed him to enter too.

Teaching Block A was rather easy to find since there were only two blocks in Jiangbin High School. The Year One and Two students were allocated to the block near the entrance, which was the so-called Teaching Block A.

The Year Three students were allocated in Teaching Block B which was further away. One would have to cross the playground, the dormitory building, and travel a long distance before they could see the obscure Teaching Block B amongst the forest deep in the mountains.

Jiang Xiao went all the way to the fourth floor and found Mr. Gao in the office.

Mr. Gao was a middle-aged man of about 40 years old and stood at 1.73m. He wasn’t tall and had tan skin. He wore a pair of frameless glasses, which made him seem rather cultured.

“Are you Jiang Xiaopi? That Medical kid?” Mr. Gao Aimin, the headmaster, scanned Jiang Xiaopi from head to toe in disbelief.

It seemed to be a common habit amongst teachers.

They would look at all students with a look of suspicion.

They would be apprehensive of the things students say.

Jiang Xiao was determined to do well in his exams and change the teacher’s impression and attitude towards him.

As for giving gifts, Jiang Xiao did not have enough resources nor source of income. After Han Jiangxue stopped him from treating patients outside the hospital, he could only earn a hundred yuan or two from selling the corpses of White Ghouls. Making big bucks seemed to be a thing of the future.

Besides, he would be with Han Jiangxue whenever he was out on a mission, so the money given by the officials for the sale of the corpses would, of course, be handed over to her.

Although Jiang Xiao did not make money, he could spend it...

“Yes,” Jiang Xiao said obediently.

“Did the visit to the snowfield delay your reporting time to the military training?” the headmaster Gao Aimin asked while seated on the chair and tapping his hand on the desk. He looked like he was in doubt about the entire world.

Train and get some experience?

You just don’t want to go for military training, do you?

Kids nowadays are really full of lies, he thought.

After all, Han Jiangxue applied for leave for Jiang Xiao directly from the principal while Mr. Gao had simply received the news from his superiors.

“Yes,” Jiang Xiao answered, continuing to behave obediently.

“Show me your Star Map,” Mr. Gao requested.

Jiang Xiao spurred his Star Power and a beautiful Star Map appeared on his body.

His Star Power was still in the Stardust Stage, so the nine star slots were connected with stardust.

The first three slots were embellished with three Silver Star Beads that emitted a faint glow.

Gao Aimin was puzzled, then his face lit up, though it was unknown if he was shocked or regretful.

Only nine star slots?

Is he an incompetent... Medical Awakened who’s one in a hundred?

Impressive.

In the end, Jiang Xiao used three Skill Points on the White Ghoul Witch’s Star Technique. At this moment, the Star Techniques, Blessing and Decoy, had both been upgraded to Silver Quality.

If nothing went wrong, Jiang Xiao’s Blessing Star Technique would remain in the Silver Quality period for a long time in the future, and if they were to really be any White Ghoul Witch Star Beads in the future, he would still be able to absorb them normally, rather than fear that the abrupt upgrade of the quality would cause trouble.

Besides, Jiang Xiao could upgrade the total amount of Star Power using his hard work during this period. However, he could not upgrade his Star Technique using Star Power.

Jiang Xiao got admitted to the institute with Star Techniques at the very least. Gao Aimin asked, “What kind of Star Techniques do you have?”

Gao Aimin had already assumed which Star Techniques Jiang Xiao had. He thought, What else could they be?

They’re undoubtedly just some Silver Star Techniques that can be bought from the market.

However, Jiang Xiao’s words gave Gao Aimin a great shock.

Jiang Xiao answered, “Blessing, Green Glow, and Bell.”

Gao Aimin asked in bewilderment, “Blessing and Green Glow are both Brass Quality. How did you get three Silver Quality Star Techniques?”

Jiang Xiao answered with the words that he had already rehearsed beforehand, “My parents left them behind for me.”

Gao Aimin’s face turned kinder and he asked, “Your surname is Jiang, who are your parents?”

You’re so damn real, eh?

“They went missing on a mission three years ago,” Jiang Xiao answered without mentioning his parents’ names.

“Who brought you to the snowfield for training then?” Gao Aimin continued to probe.

“Han Jiangxue.” After some thought, Jiang Xiao added, “My elder sister.”

“You’re Han Jiangxue’s brother. Are you from the Han Family of Wasteland Reclaimers? Did you take your mother’s last name?” asked Gao Aimin, who finally looked a little happier. However, he sighed and continued sympathetically, “Unfortunately, you only have nine star slots.”

Gao Aimin was instantly puzzled and thought, Damn it, aren’t you a low-qualified kid who has low potential and only nine star slots? How lucky must you be to have acquired three Silver Quality Star Techniques?

The bewildered Gao Aimin’s gaze slowly became more and more intense, and he had already come to a conclusion about Jiang Xiao.

This kid may have low qualifications but he’s lucky.

He’s clearly a kid who’s not driven and cannot grow.

However, his growth did not matter to Gao Aimin because Jiang Xiao would have already graduated from High School by then.

Jiang Xiao seemed to be very domineering!

Gao Aimin could not be bothered about his low growth potential and his future.

He thought, Jiang Xiao’s three Star Techniques are good enough for now. We’ll find him a good teacher who can impart him some combat skills. Our Year One cohort is definitely going to stand a chance in the inter-school competition in Jiangbin City!

Jiang Xiao looked at Gao Aimin’s intense and enthusiastic gaze, overwhelmed with discomfort.

What happened to the sacred and pure haven in school that Han Jiangxue promised?

This old fogy is really terrifying.