Nine Star Burden

Han Jiangxue had changed.

She became… stronger.

That seemed redundant. Jiang Xiao could clearly feel that her physique had improved qualitatively.

At this point, Jiang Xiao could see Hai Tianqing’s Star Power. He was also a powerhouse of the Galaxy Stage, but he had never been oppressive in front of others. Instead, he behaved like an ordinary boy next door and rarely gave them any pressure.

He made everything seem effortless.

Perhaps, it was due to Hai Tianqing’s character. After all, he was a “reserve player” and a kindhearted man. Or maybe, it was because of his work ethics as a teacher, and he didn’t want to put too much pressure on them. Hence, he decided to take a personable approach.

Compared to him, Jiang Xiao’s other teacher, Second Last, was much more terrifying.

As a Galaxy Stage… No, as an Awakened in the Starfall Stage, Second Last was obviously strong and competent. She never cared about Jiang Xiao’s feelings and always acted according to her will. Regardless of how mischievous he was, he was still afraid of her.

For example, if Jiang Xiao fought Second Last, he would definitely feel hopeless. During such battles, he had no chance of winning at all.

However, if Hai Tianqing went against Jiang Xiao, Jiang Xiao would think that he could give it a try.

Who gave him that much confidence?

Who gave him such an illusion?

The answer was, of course, the gentle and mild-mannered teacher Hai Tianqing.

When Han Jiangxue returned after advancing to the Galaxy Stage, Jiang Xiao felt a massive improvement in her physical fitness.

The difference would bring about emotional trauma to everyone. It was better for Jiang Xiao since he was just a small fry in the early Nebula Stage.

However, when the melee fighter Xia Yan discovered that her speed was incomparable to the Rules Awakened Han Jiangxue, and when the Shield Warrior Li Weiyi also discovered that he was weaker than her, they would be emotionally traumatized.

It was only a matter of time before they discovered it. Jiang Xiao hoped that Hai Tianqing could guide them well so that they could continue to grow and progress healthily.

Jealousy, low self-esteem, eagerness for quick success, dejection, and all sorts of negative emotions might hinder the development of Awakened Students.

There was a qualitative gap between the Nebula Stage and the Galaxy Stage. Just as Hai Tianqing once said, the promotion to the Galaxy Stage would also be the last cooperation between the Star Power and the physical body.

Physical fitness laid a solid foundation for the realm of Star Power, while the Star Power would feedback to physical fitness. Under such circumstances, Han Jiangxue and the other three members of the team were not on the same level anymore.

The Galaxy Stage Han Jiangxue made Jiang Xiao feel the clear difference in stage.

He also recalled the scene that took place when he encountered foreign mercenaries in the snowfield.

He still felt a little scared when he thought about it.

Youth knows no fear? 

The ignorant ones are the bravest!

If Jiang Xiao were given another chance, he might still do the same thing. However, he definitely wouldn’t be that confident. Instead, he might be full of despair and determination.

His mentality would definitely be different.

Perhaps, Second Last doesn’t really just appreciate the fact that I defended her and stayed by her side after saving her from hell during her self-explosion. Maybe, she admires my courage too. 

After all, before this, Second Last had been controlled by the Mud Star Techniques used by the mercenary corps, and Jiang Xiao managed to save her once using his battle tactics and his Star Technique, Decoy. That resulted in her blowing herself up.

“Be gentler, Sister. It hurts.” It was probably the second time Jiang Xiao called Han Jiangxue “Sister.”

Of course, he didn’t address her as “Sister” respectfully. Instead, it was a complaint.

Han Jiangxue hurriedly let go of him and took a step back.

Just now, she made a successful breakthrough, and she was surrounded by Star Power when she made her way back.

A faint smile was on her lips, and it was obvious how elated she was.

Jiang Xiao was just as happy. Under the vast and beautiful galaxy, Goddess Xue walked towards him. Who could stand such a beautiful scene?

Next… she hugged him while overwhelmed by immense joy and excitement.

The celebratory action also brought great pain to Jiang Xiao. He was confused, desperate, and in immense pain, which caused him to snap back to reality.

Jiang Xiao felt like he was almost strangled to death.

Staring at the confused Han Jiangxue, Hai Tianqing hurriedly said, “You’re just not used to the physical changes in your body yet. It’s okay. You have several days to adapt to it. The semi-finals are on May 13th, so you don’t have to worry.”

Han Jiangxue didn’t reply and simply looked at Jiang Xiao.

Hai Tianqing finally discovered that she was truly at a loss. However, she mostly took pity on him and blamed herself. As an outstanding teacher, Hai Tianqing immediately understood how she felt.

“Don’t worry about him,” Hai Tianqing said with a smile. “You’ve merely hugged him a little too tight. How painful could it have been?”

Jiang Xiao was dumbfounded.

How painful could it have been?

Screw you! 

Do you know how much force she applied? 

What the heck!?! 

What an outrageous thing to say. Who arranged this for me…

“Don’t you know Xiaopi well? He was pretending.” Hai Tianqing turned his head and looked at Jiang Xiao before saying, “Drop the pretense. Be any more mischievous, and I’ll kick you.”

Jiang Xiao stood up straight and grinned while trying to mimic him. He put on a warm smile that was typical of the peerless man.

Hai Tianqing said, “Look how happy he is.”

Jiang Xiao was speechless.

Han Jiangxue raised her eyebrows and scanned Jiang Xiao from head to toe, but she didn’t respond.

She understood Jiang Xiao well, but she didn’t expose him. Instead, she silently accepted their concern.

The team gathered again. Although Han Jiangxue’s breakthrough had caused quite a commotion, others didn’t notice anything because she was obscured and concealed by the dense trees on the empty mountain. Hence, that allowed them to save plenty of trouble.

Xia Yan hugged Han Jiangxue’s arm and chattered non-stop. After hearing that she had broken through, Xia Yan turned into a husky again and rejoiced gleefully. She couldn’t stop grinning, either.

Jiang Xiao felt much more at ease. He could tell that Xia Yan was genuinely happy for her.

Since they were already there, they decided to watch the sunrise too. If nothing went wrong, the accommodation on the top of the mountain should have been fully booked. Since they didn’t make any reservations, they would have to rent a military coat and lie on their sides while sleeping beside the stone.

Xia Yan wanted to use her money to get lodging for them, but Han Jiangxue suggested that they take the opportunity to train their Star Power.

For the Awakened students, absorbing Star Power for a few hours was considered commonplace.

Even if they already had enough Star Power in their bodies, they could continue to absorb more to increase the upper limit of their Star Power reserves. That was a conventional method to increase the level of their Star Power.

Xia Yan no longer clamored about using her money to get a proper place to sleep in. The four of them randomly found a corner on the mountain, sat down, and began to absorb Star Power.

A few hours passed quickly, and they were soon greeted with the beautiful sunrise above the peak of Hua Mountain.

The shining galaxy last night was beautiful, but the breaking dawn of this morning was much more ravishing.

However, that wasn’t the most beautiful.

The most beautiful thing was Han Jiangxue’s alluring… um, no.

The most beautiful thing was the fact that a bunch of representatives from Beijiang Province, relevant municipal departments, the Beijiang Provincial Department of Education, Jiangbin High School, and many others, had all arrived in Chang’an City a day later.

The group of powerful figures not only greeted them and showered them with compliments, but they also brought some… condolences.

Everyone in the team looked embarrassed to receive the leader, but when they received the Star Beads, they grinned pleasantly…

Not everyone could break the historical record that had never been broken for 35 years.

At the end of the day, strength was the foundation of everything.

Perhaps the fact that they had broken the record was the key reason for the leaders’ visits, but Han Jiangxue, who had broken through to the Galaxy Stage, should be one of the reasons too.

Talent was given, but greatness had to be earned.

There were countless talents in the world. Take the current competition, for example. All 800 contestants were gifted…

Um… all 799 contestants were gifted young people with numerous star slots.

The real difficulty lied in maximizing one’s talent to the fullest potential.

Han Jiangxue did it. Everyone seemed to see the bright future of this rising star.

For the sake of her future and the results of Beijiang Province, as well as the political achievements of the leaders, they decided to bring them hefty relief supplies.

That wasn’t all. The itinerary of the team also seemed to have been settled. They had to go for some interviews, say some things, and do some things. It seemed that they had been given a hefty task.

Of course, the leaders were humane enough to schedule all of those things after the national college entrance examination, thus making the team feel much more at ease.

Jiang Xiao didn’t care and decided to worry about it only when the time came.

As for today, he looked at the bunch of shiny Star Beads. He was so elated that he would wake up from his sleep. He couldn’t feel worried at all…