The next day, Xie Shi’an went to the Disciplinary Department to have a senior clear his deduction record.
The senior logged into the system, entered Xie Shi’an’s profile in the backend, and asked, “Junior, did you check in at the botanical garden before? There’s no work record for you in the system.”
Xie Shi’an logged into his own information portal, showed the light screen to the senior, and said, “I went twice, and I checked in both times.”
“Sorry about that. The botanical garden’s system probably failed to upload it to the school network. You might have to trouble yourself to go to the botanical garden once more and re-upload the record.” The senior then taught Xie Shi’an how to upload the record manually.
Xie Shi’an agreed and made another trip to the botanical garden, finding the check-in panel at the workstation to input his profile data.
Aside from checking in, he also needed to re-walk his designated work route.
Xie Shi’an opened the work logging mode on his wristband system. After entering the grounds, he walked a full circle through the grove, and upon coming back out near the gilded wood, he ran into the snow wolf once more.
The snow wolf was lazily sprawled out on the lawn, soaking up the sun with its eyes closed as if fast asleep—looking thoroughly at ease.
When Xie Shi’an approached, the snow wolf’s ears twitched upward. It slowly opened its eyes, cast its dark-green beast pupils toward him, and silently observed.
Xie Shi’an walked a circle around the gilded wood, then tapped his finger on his system light screen to mark out his volunteer zone.
Suddenly, Xie Shi’an felt something fluffy brush against his leg.
The snow wolf was nudging Xie Shi’an’s leg with its head, lifting its muzzle from time to time as if urging him on.
Xie Shi’an rubbed the fluffy head and said, “I didn’t bring any bones today.”
The snow wolf tilted its head slightly, though it was unclear whether it understood.
Xie Shi’an turned around, preparing to leave, when a warm breeze swept in from ahead, brushing past his face and rustling the leaves overhead.
Suddenly, he felt a soft touch on top of his head—something had fallen onto his hair. Reaching up to grab it, Xie Shi’an discovered it was a silvery-white leaf.
The shelf life of a gilded wood leaf was extremely short. Holding the leaf, Xie Shi’an hurried back to the workstation.
The snow wolf followed right behind him all the way to the doorway. Because its body was too large to fit inside, it simply plunked itself down right outside the entrance and stayed put.
The workstation was equipped with professional preservation tools. Xie Shi’an retrieved a set of tools from the cabinet and carefully sealed the silvery-white leaf inside for protection.
A newly fallen newborn leaf was quite soft. Once placed into the toolkit, the leaf would slowly harden and strengthen until it transformed into a sturdy, gemstone-like state.
The hardening process of a gilded wood leaf took a full day. Xie Shi’an closed his toolkit and pulled a few bone snacks out of the storage room.
The snow wolf had been quietly crouching outside the door waiting. The moment Xie Shi’an emerged, it stood right up, staring eagerly at the snacks in his hands.
Xie Shi’an fed the bones to the snow wolf, taking the opportunity to reach out and knead its fluffy ears.
Even though the snow wolf had been fiercely guarded when they first met, as long as he fed it snacks, it would become incredibly close and affectionate.
No wonder so many people at the academy wanted to adopt it.
The Assessment Day
Three days later, the day of the practical combat assessment arrived.
The assembly time arranged by the school was in the afternoon. All the first-year freshers woke up early to inspect their gear and equipment.
The assessment required changing into combat uniforms. Xie Shi’an put on his gear—the white outer jacket of the combat uniform featured a single black stripe on the sleeve, signifying his first-year status.
When Xie Shi’an stepped out, he found his classmates gathered together in the living room.
“You can’t bring this gun; it exceeds the safety rating.”
“Check your backpacks again. Did everyone pack their energy biscuits? Make sure you’ve got some first-aid ointments, too.”
A group of people clustered together while Xia Zuo helped check backpacks. Seeing Xie Shi’an emerge, Xia Zuo asked, “Shi’an, is your gear ready?”
“All set.” Xie Shi’an tossed his utility waist pouch onto the table. It was packed with miscellaneous daily necessities, along with a few daggers and small knives.
Ji Xun leaned over to take a look and asked, “You didn’t bring any props or tactical tools?”
“I brought some,” Xie Shi’an said, pulling a dagger from his pack. “I checked the map, and there are supply stations scattered around that have plenty of supplies anyway.”
Xie Shi’an hadn’t packed much; he only brought a compact waist pouch, which made movement much more agile.
Frowning, Ji Xun said, “But supply stations have limited items. If you go too late, there won’t be anything left.”
Nearby, Xia Zuo pulled a close-combat short blade intended for self-defense out of his own pack and handed it to Xie Shi’an. “Here, take mine for now. I’m focusing on mental power, so I don’t need to carry too many physical tools.”
Ranged-combat students excelled in mental power, making close-combat tools like short blades largely useless for Xia Zuo.
Xia Zuo folded the short blade down so it barely managed to squeeze into Xie Shi’an’s waist pouch, then instructed, “Your name is at the very bottom of the roster. After you drop, you can come look for us first so we can all group up and hit our hundred points together.”
The assessment drops were staggered, sequenced according to regular practical combat grades, meaning students with higher academic rankings dropped first.
Since Xie Shi’an had never attended a single practical combat class, his grade naturally sat at the very bottom, placing him last on the list.
Pulling out a map, Xia Zuo circled a supply station location on it and told Xie Shi’an, “We’ll rendezvous here and move out together so it’s easier to rack up points.”
At noon, everyone gathered at the port.
Ahead of them, silver-white starships were docked along the platform, where disciplinary department seniors were conducting security checks.
Looking over, Xie Shi’an noticed the uniform worn by the disciplinary seniors today was a bit different: instead of the dark-red formal attire, they wore solid-black combat uniforms, signifying their roles as referees.
Boarding the starship, the automated broadcast echoed continuously through the cabin:
“The location for this practical combat assessment is Planet Karonis, Zone 3, Sector 5, rainforest environment.”
“Assessment requirement: accumulate one hundred points to pass. The leaderboard will update in real-time.”
“Carrying prohibited items is strictly forbidden. All offensive props must comply with safety tier standards.”
The mechanical electronic voice repeated the rules over and over. Xie Shi’an sat in his seat and opened the assessment rulebook once again.
Outside the window lay a serene expanse. The starship pierced through thick layers of clouds, entering the vast starry void, with silvery star-trails visible in the distance.
Planet Karonis was not far away. Before long, the starship arrived at the destination, preparing for deployment and drops.
Since Xie Shi’an was last on the roster, he had to wait for all the second-years to drop first, followed by the rest of the first-year students.
“Group 9, Batch 15, please proceed to your respective airlock gates and prepare.”
Xie Shi’an stood up. As he reached the airlock, he ran into two disciplinary department seniors—both familiar faces.
“Darling, we meet again.” A pleasant male voice rang out.
“Senior Els.” Xie Shi’an walked forward and extended his hand toward him.
Els smiled gently, clasped Xie Shi’an’s wrist, secured a silver band around it, and said, “Darling, your battery is at one hundred percent right now. Remember to find a supply base before the battery runs out.”
For this assessment, every student was bound to a battery wristband. Everyone’s initial power level was one hundred, which tracked the wearer’s movement trajectory in real-time.
The more movement and activity, the faster the power drained. Once the battery hit zero, the wearer was automatically eliminated.
Therefore, students had to carefully plan every single block of power usage or reach a supply station to recharge before their battery ran out.
Els added, “In dangerous situations, you can activate the wristband’s protective shield, but keep in mind that doing so triggers instant elimination.”
The school had cleared out the arena in advance; the fierce beasts currently inside were strictly of low-to-medium difficulty, and the shield was more than enough to withstand their attacks.
The moment a shield was activated, referees would immediately descend based on GPS coordinates and escort the eliminated student out of the exam zone.
Inspecting the wristband on his arm, Xie Shi’an grew curious and asked, “Senior Els, do we still need to keep our shirt buttons fastened according to the school rules while we’re in the exam zone?”
“Darling, the school rules aren’t that heartless. Don’t worry,” Senior Els laughed.
Standing right next to Els, a male student with long black hair was holding a light screen, quietly recording data without uttering a single word, possessing an almost nonexistent presence.
Els checked Xie Shi’an’s utility pouch once more to ensure everything was in order before heading back into the main cabin.
Only Xie Shi’an and the long-haired male student in the black referee uniform remained at the airlock exit.
The countdown for the starship airlock gate began. As he waited, Xie Shi’an looked through the side window and saw that the sky outside had turned gloomy, kicking up wind and rain.
The climate on Planet Karonis changed far too quickly; one second it was sunny, and the next it would turn into a torrential downpour.
Gazing at the gloomy sky outside the window, Xie Shi’an suddenly spoke up: “Senior Si Xiu.”
“Mhm?” The long-haired senior raised his head.
“A few days ago when I went to the botanical garden, I ran into the snow wolf and fed it bone snacks,” Xie Shi’an turned his head to look at him. “But after it ate a couple, when I tried to feed it again later, it refused to eat, and it wouldn’t let me leave either.”
He had only visited the botanical garden three times and wasn’t particularly familiar with the snow wolf. The first time Butler Owen was present, the second time Senior Si Xiu was there, and only the third time was he completely alone with the snow wolf, leaving him somewhat puzzled by its behavior.
The snow wolf wouldn’t let him leave, yet kept staring at the bones, refusing to eat them when offered.
Xie Shi’an asked, “Senior, when you went to the botanical garden before and ran into the snow wolf, did it do that too?”
Xie Shi’an’s description was somewhat chaotic, but Si Xiu understood anyway and explained, “Those were bone-shaped energy bars. If you feed it too many at once, it needs time to digest.”
“Ah, I see…” Xie Shi’an nodded.
Si Xiu added, “Generally, you should only feed it two energy bars. If it keeps asking you for more, you can just refuse.”
Xie Shi’an sighed. “But it kept rubbing against my leg, it’s really hard to say no.”
The broadcast countdown ended, and the starship airlock gate swung open. A fierce gale instantly rushed into the channel with a roaring howl, revealing an endless, dense rainforest stretching out below.
Xie Shi’an took a step forward, then remembered something else, hurriedly turning back to call out: “Senior Si Xiu!”
Outside, the storm raged unabated. Xie Shi’an’s voice was swept away by the wind, accompanied by faint rumbles of thunder in the distance.
Wind and rain blended together, making the air heavy and humid. Xie Shi’an pulled something out of his waist pouch, shoved it straight into Si Xiu’s arms, and wanted to say something more, but it took too much effort against the wind, so he settled for two brief words: “For you.”
With that, Xie Shi’an leaped straight out of the airlock exit.
Inside the starship, Si Xiu still stood at the airlock entrance as the wind whipped his long black hair behind him.
Clutched in his hand was a single, silvery-white new gilded wood leaf.