Star Jade

"One of the stronger Earth Contract holders? From Wuling City?" Xing Ye pondered rapidly, files on numerous martial arts prodigies flashing through his mind. As the supervisor overseeing "martial artist signings and rookie martial artist development," one of his core duties was to compete with rival martial consortiums across Wuling City for talented martial prodigies. Students who awakened an Upper-Rank Star Aspect in secondary school, or those who tested into New Moon Martial University, the Top Ten Key Martial Universities, or the Thirty First-Class Martial Universities on the College Entrance Exam, were all targets of this fierce contest. The only difference lay in the scale of resources tilted toward them. Huguang Martial University students? Most were not worth Star Radiance Group signing early. Earth Contract students, however, were an exception... The path of martial arts was long, and the College Entrance Exam was merely an assessment of one's first three years of cultivation. In the history of the Blue Moon civilization, countless martial geniuses only blossomed after entering university, which was why programs like the Junior-College-to-Undergraduate Upgrade and graduate examinations existed... Huguang Martial University's Earth Contract students, whether judged by strength or potential, were already on par with the elite students of the Thirty First-Class Martial Universities. These students were also targets worth contending for. "Old Wang, are you pulling my leg?" Xing Ye frowned. "Right now in Wuling City, there are fewer than ten Huguang Martial University Earth Contract students in total, and all of them have already signed with various consortiums." "Haha." "The person I want to introduce hasn't signed an Earth Contract with Huguang Martial University yet," Wang Xundao chuckled. "But it won't be long. I'll send you his file." "Oh? A newly emerged one?" Xing Ye's eyes lit up. "Hurry up and send it over." Quickly, Wang Xundao transmitted Fang Yu's basic dossier, along with the information Wang Mo had gathered over the past few days and the deductions made by Wang Mo and Gu Qing. "Fang Yu... Quite impressive technique talent. Tsk, not bad." Xing Ye skimmed through it quickly, growing more intrigued the more he read. When his eyes reached the family background section, a flicker of surprise crossed his face, and he could not help but blurt out, "Fang Long and Fang Siyue's older brother?" "That's right," Wang Xundao said with a smile. "Those two shouldn't be unfamiliar to you." Xing Ye nodded. He was naturally familiar. Among this year's incoming tenth-graders, only a handful of Upper-Rank Star Aspect prodigies had signed contracts through his hands... Fang Long and Fang Siyue were twins, so how could he possibly forget them? Back then, he had personally granted an audience to the brother and sister. Yet at that time, he had no idea they had such a formidable elder brother. "What a family." "Fascinating." Xing Ye smiled. "Old Wang, if the deductions in this dossier are true and this Fang Yu really has awakened a Star Aspect, then his potential might be even higher than his younger siblings'." "Oh? Why? Fang Long and Fang Siyue both have Upper-Rank Star Aspects." Wang Xundao wore a look of curiosity. "A Star Aspect is only one aspect of talent," Xing Ye explained. "As you know, among the Upper-Rank Star Aspect students over the years, many had mediocre technique talent and ultimately stalled out at Level 39... falling far short of the group's expectations." "I've heard of that," Wang Xundao nodded. "What the consortium desires most are prodigies who excel in both Star Aspect and technique," Xing Ye chuckled. "The next tier down would be martial prodigies with exceptional technique and above-average Star Aspects." "Mm." "A slightly weaker Star Aspect doesn't stop someone from becoming an Earth Martial Artist or a Sky-Patrolling Martial Artist," Wang Xundao seemed to realize. "But if their technique talent is too poor, they won't even reach Earth Martial Artist." "Haha, exactly. That's the gist of it," Xing Ye said with a laugh. Wang Xundao put on an enlightened expression. Did he not understand these principles himself? Of course he did. But letting Xing Ye do the explaining to satisfy his desire to instruct was a sophisticated conversational tactic. "Alright." "Old Wang, I'll have someone verify this as soon as possible," Xing Ye said. "Whether we manage to sign him ahead of the other consortiums or not, thank you in advance." "Haha, what's with the 'thank you' between brothers?" ... Wilderness Zone, the outer perimeter of the North Cliff Mountains. It was nearly nine in the morning. Beneath a secluded cliffside, the members of the Scarlet Flame Squad were resting. Bai Chen and Xiong Meng stood around Xia Yao, having just finished bandaging her wounds. "How is she?" Fang Yu, who had already changed into a spare combat suit and rinsed off at a nearby pool, walked over with concern. Though Xia Yao had not died on the spot like Gu Ming, her injuries were severe. A shocking claw mark ran across her face, and wind wolves had bitten both her arm and thigh, leaving several tears in her tough combat suit. "Can't kill me," Xia Yao said with a faint smile, though her face was noticeably pale. "She's hanging in there," Bai Chen said, looking at Fang Yu and lowering his voice. "None of Xia Yao's injuries are fatal. For the two bite wounds, the combat suit absorbed most of the force, so there wasn't massive blood loss. We just bandaged her and gave her medicine, which helped a lot." "It's just that several bones are fractured, leaving her essentially unable to move. She has to go back to base for treatment," Bai Chen added. "The medical bay at the base can restore her quickly." Fang Yu nodded slightly. The space base's medical capabilities far exceeded those on Blue Star. As long as a person did not die on the spot, they could generally be saved... Fractures and broken bones might take twenty to thirty days to heal on Blue Star, often leaving behind complications. In contrast, the space base's medical bay allowed martial artists to recover much faster with virtually no lingering aftereffects. Even so, Xia Yao certainly could not continue this combat expedition. And there was the wound on her face. Fang Yu was not sure whether the base's medical bay could erase the scar completely... Any woman cared about her appearance. Fang Yu swept his gaze across the rest of his teammates. Each bore wounds of varying severity, stoking the fury within him even higher. *Xia Tao,* Fang Yu thought coldly, a murderous edge creeping into his mind. *Again and again. Stealing treasures was one thing, but you nearly got our entire squad wiped out.* Had they merely been caught in the crossfire by chance, Fang Yu would not have been so enraged. Everyone wanted to survive. Yet the other party had caused the catastrophe, only to turn tail and flee when things went south. If Fang Yu had not comprehended the Entering the Minute secret technique, everyone else in his squad would be dead. "Fang Yu, earlier we were in such a rush gathering the spoils that we didn't get a chance to ask: how did you defeat the wolf king?" Bai Chen could not resist asking. Qin Yang, Xiong Meng, and even Xia Yao resting on the ground turned their eyes toward Fang Yu. "An Entering the Minute secret technique," Fang Yu answered bluntly. "I knew it!" Xiong Meng's eyes widened, and he let out an amazed sigh. "It really was a legendary secret technique! Brother Fang, you're an absolute monster. Reaching saber Entering the Minute was crazy enough, but you actually mastered a secret technique too? I'm starting to doubt you came from the Junior-College-to-Undergraduate Upgrade. Did you get kicked out of some key university and transfer here just to mess with us?" "Haha." "Seriously fierce." Qin Yang and Xia Yao both smiled. "If you think about it, it makes sense," Bai Chen remarked. "Fang Yu had already achieved saber Entering the Minute at Level 20, which proves his technique talent is absurdly high." "Once he awakened a Star Aspect, his Life Level surged and his spiritual force grew considerably, granting him vastly greater control over his body. His technique naturally leveled up as a result... The higher your Life Level, the easier it is to advance your technique." The others nodded in agreement. "It's still insane," Xiong Meng sighed. "According to our university instructors, our time in college is short, and achieving Great Accomplishment of Entering the Minute is already tough... Becoming an Advanced Martial Artist with saber Entering the Minute before turning thirty is considered quite good." "And mastering a secret technique before forty counts as a success." Thirty, forty... compared to Fang Yu, who was only twenty-one. The chasm in talent was painfully obvious. "I wonder if even the fifth-year Earth Academy students at our school have mastered an Entering the Minute secret technique," Xia Yao wondered aloud. "There definitely are, and some are even stronger," Bai Chen chuckled. "Don't forget fifth-year student Yan Tianheng. Back when he was in his fourth year, that monster fought his way into the finals of the Blue Moon Intercollegiate Tournament! I heard from a fifth-year that Yan Tianheng's technique reached the Inner Vista realm long ago." "Inner Vista? Holy crap!" "Oh, right! I forgot about him." "The guy who took home a hundred million Star Coins?" "That much money..." Clearly, everyone knew of Yan Tianheng and could not help marveling. For people like Xia Yao and Xiong Meng, who had yet to achieve Great Accomplishment of Entering the Minute in their physical technique, Inner Vista was far too remote! Fang Yu listened quietly from the side. A few days earlier during their meal together, Wang Mo had mentioned Yan Tianheng... He was widely acknowledged as the strongest student currently at Huguang Martial University. Rumor had it he was already Level 39 with extraordinary technique, possessing strength on par with many of the university's instructors. Even when stacked against students from New Moon Martial University, he did not fall short in the slightest. He was a rare martial arts genius for Huguang Martial University, and his future transition into an Earth Martial Artist was practically set in stone. "Oh, by the way." "Fang Yu, take this." Bai Chen turned his palm over, offering a palm-sized piece of emerald-green jade. It radiated a hazy luminescence, resembling an exquisite emerald gemstone. Fang Yu reached out and took it. The instant it touched his hand, Fang Yu felt all forty-six star acupoints throughout his body tremble faintly, as though cheering and leaping with joy—like fierce beasts catching the scent of blood. "Star Jade?" Fang Yu's pupils contracted. "Seems to be," Bai Chen nodded. "Star Jade?" Xia Yao's eyes lit up. "I was wondering earlier, but I didn't dare believe it—could a Trainee Base actually produce a treasure like this?" Qin Yang chuckled. "Risking our lives was worth it after all. A Level 30 fiery-eyed black wolf and such a huge chunk of Star Jade... We struck it rich!" Fang Yu could not help drawing a deep breath. Treasures like Crimson Star Grass and Dragonform Grass contained vast amounts of star force and were astonishingly valuable, capable of being refined into special medicines to aid martial cultivation. Star Jade was a similar treasure. It was a special mineral containing an immense concentration of star force—many times greater than Crimson Star Grass or Dragonform Grass. Its uses were far broader, and its value vastly superior. "I'd only ever seen Star Jade in the school's Treasure Display Room before," Bai Chen said with a smile. "That piece had a market price of four million Star Coins... and it wasn't as large or as radiant as ours." "I reckon this piece of ours is worth at least eight million Star Coins."