The silver-haired, heterochromatic-eyed loli pretending to be the ‘director’ was, of course, none other than Shangguan Ru’s elder sister—Shangguan Meng.
The older sister was a petite and adorable loli. The younger sister, a tall and seductive mature beauty. The contrast in both their roles and appearances couldn’t be starker.
“Alright, alright~ I was just worried our great educator might miss something important~” Shangguan Meng ended the call and leaned on the edge of the chair with both hands, swinging her fair little legs as she smiled brightly at her younger sister.
Despite their massive difference in appearance, their voices were quite similar, which was why the staff member from the Education Bureau who had called didn’t notice any difference.
Great Educator—only her sister called her that. Everyone else in the family practically treated her like a lunatic.
Back to the topic. Shangguan Ru asked, “Sis, what did the call say?”
“Nothing much. Just that Lan City No.1 High School produced two SSS-grade Talents and one SS-grade Talent. They’ll arrive soon for the resource allocation certification.”
“Oh?” Shangguan Ru’s eyes lit up. Two SSS-grade Talents? Was her luck finally turning?
After all, this wasn’t the Capital. Most of the students’ parents were just ordinary people. Getting even one SS-grade Talent was already rare. Yet now there were two SSS-grade ones?
If she remembered correctly, the highest Talent ever seen in Lan City before this was only S-grade.
“I wonder if any of them have a physical-type Talent…” Shangguan Ru grew excited.
Seeing this, Shangguan Meng smiled, “What, still clinging to that theory of yours?”
Shangguan Ru said seriously, “It’s not a theory. It’s a fact! Qi, like Source Energy, is a special form of energy. If we can master it through standardized training, it could drastically boost our combat strength…”
Here we go again.
Shangguan Meng cupped her chin with her hands, the lollipop in her mouth puffing slightly as she watched her sister ramble with a grin. “No worries, I believe in you.”
Shangguan Ru was touched. She lunged forward and gave Shangguan Meng a big hug. “Sis, you’re the best…”
Shangguan Meng replied slowly, “Even though I believe in you, you also need to know your limits. Your last training method almost drove those poor kids to the brink of collapse, and none of them even managed to cultivate the so-called ‘Qi.’”
“Weren’t their Talents strong too? But they looked at you like they were seeing the Grim Reaper…”
Shangguan Ru huffed, “That’s because they lacked willpower. Their stress thresholds weren’t even breached and they already gave up… If I had an SSS-grade physical-type Talent to work with, I’d definitely be able to reproduce Qi!”
Shangguan Meng didn’t comment further, but as she felt the “heavy pressure” against her chest, a sly glint flashed through her enchanting eyes.
Her small hands silently reached toward those lofty peaks—
“Ah!” Shangguan Ru yelped and bounced away as if shocked, wrapping her arms around her chest. Her beautiful face turned bright red as she glared at Shangguan Meng, gritting her teeth, “Sis!”
Shangguan Meng gave a sweet giggle and waved her small hand, “Oops, that was an accident~”
“Hmph!” Shangguan Ru was just about to explode when—
A knock came from outside the office. “Director, the students from No.1 High School have arrived.” The source of this chapter is g.com.
Shangguan Ru had no choice but to let it go. She shot a fierce glare at Shangguan Meng, “From here on, it’s official business. We’ll talk about personal matters later.”
She turned to leave, only for Shangguan Meng to hop off the chair and follow her.
Shangguan Ru frowned, “?”
Shangguan Meng grinned, “Relax~ I won’t cause trouble. I’m just curious about those two SSS-grade Talents.”
Hearing that, Shangguan Ru instantly put on a wary expression, “Sis, you’re not planning to steal them from me, are you?”
Shangguan Meng tilted her head and showed an innocent face, “How could I?”
…
Inside the lounge, Xu Anyan’s expression was calm.
The Great Xia Education Bureau of Lan City…
Most of her memories of Blue Star were already blurry. But there were two people she remembered clearly—so much so that even after stepping into the starry skies, she recalled them several times with regret.
And this place was where she had first met them.
They were sisters. The younger one, Shangguan Ru. The elder one, Shangguan Meng.
Shangguan Ru was a peerless genius who transcended her era.
For Blue Star—just a regular planet on the outer edge of the Nine Star Alliance—being able to gradually adapt to the universe’s Source Energy cultivation system was already remarkable. Yet Shangguan Ru, with her vision and talent far ahead of her time, became the first person on Blue Star to make contact with the existence known as Battle Qi.
Battle Qi!
A power completely different from Source Energy!
It was a unique force born from extreme physical pressure and indomitable will.
In the vast universe, countless prodigies existed, but only a few could truly master Battle Qi. Once cultivated to its peak, one could tear through the universe and suppress the stars with a single move!
In her past life, Xu Anyan had cultivated Nine-Pattern Battle Qi and was invincible among her peers.
But even that wasn’t the limit of Battle Qi.
In this life… she intended to go beyond Nine Patterns and attain an even higher level!
As for Shangguan Meng—even someone as proud as Xu Anyan had to admit—she was a true monster.
On Blue Star, after the Awakening Stage, the official cultivation stages were divided into Tiers 1 to 9. Each tier was further divided into lower, middle, upper, and the legendary extreme ranks.
Tiers 1 to 3 were called the Exploration Stage.
Here, cultivators refined their bodies, modifying their structure to better absorb and contain Source Energy.
Tiers 4 to 6 formed the Fusion Stage.
At this stage, one fused Source Energy into every cell of their body, transforming their life essence and becoming a true powerhouse.
Tiers 7 to 9 were called the Limit Stage.
Every step in this stage was about breaking one’s own limits.
According to Great Xia Empire tradition, cultivators at the Limit Stage were awarded titles.
Tier 7: Marquis!
Tier 8: King!
Tier 9… Supreme!
Shangguan Meng, at upper 7th tier, was one of the Four Pillars of the Great Xia Extermination Bureau. With her talent, she was honored as… the Nether Marquis!
Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, in her past life, after reaching Tier 8 and becoming a King, Shangguan Meng had a falling-out with her family—the prestigious Shangguan Clan, one of Great Xia Empire’s top families.
She then disappeared without a trace for a while.
By the time Xu Anyan heard news of her again, it was a death notice issued by the Shangguan Clan.
“If the opportunity arises… maybe I can take these sisters away from Blue Star and into the stars.”
“With their talent and potential, they could definitely become great assets to me…”
…
Across from her, Su Yuan glanced at Xu Anyan and noticed she was lost in thought again.
Sigh. What was this girl always thinking about?
Her personality was so cold, she barely interacted with anyone and was always lost in her own world. Anyone who didn’t know better might think she had some form of autism.
Just then—
Step step step—
Footsteps echoed, catching Su Yuan’s attention.
He turned and saw that striking ice-blue hair—it was Shangguan Ru.