Su Xi abruptly sat up, grabbed the blanket in his hand, and threw it over the newcomer’s head, pinning them down. Seeing no suitable weapon nearby, he could only summon the sphere from his Consciousness Sea and, taking advantage of the other’s distraction, smashed it toward their head.
“Ow, wait…” the other person cried out in pain, seemingly trying to stop him.
“Wait for your sister!” Su Xi didn’t stop, hitting even harder.
“No… listen to me, I just wanted to…”
“You want nothing!”
“Look clearly, it’s me!”
“You’re exactly who I’m hitting!”
For a moment, the entire dorm was filled with the thudding sounds of blows, mixed with a few muffled groans.
Until, an hour later…
Su Xi looked at the person in front of him, whose face had swollen into a pig’s head, and couldn’t help but hand over a towel. “Wipe it off, your nosebleed is about to drip on the floor.”
The other person didn’t stand on ceremony, taking the towel to wipe their nose, but the movement tugged at the injuries on their face, causing them to grimace in pain.
“So you’re saying… you climbed through the window in the middle of the night just to ask for my help?”
“Yes!”
“Is the front door too hot to step on?” Who asks for help like this?
They stiffened slightly, sniffed, and replied, “I just didn’t want anyone to notice. If I came through the normal way, the academy would have a record. Who knew that as soon as I tried to wake you up, you’d start beating me up? Ouch”
So it’s my fault?
“What do you want from me?”
They glanced around, as if confirming no one else was there, before speaking. “I heard that the Transcendent ability you awakened can help others awaken too?”
“How do you know?” Su Xi frowned.
“I checked your student records,” they said directly. “Besides, it’s not exactly a secret. Once you reach the second level of Transcendent, this information becomes public. I just wanted to confirm—can you only help people from your own planet awaken, or can you help anyone?”
“I’m not sure about that either. I’d have to try to know.” Aside from his Blue Star companions, Su Xi had never entered anyone else’s Consciousness Sea.
“I need you to help someone awaken. Is that possible?” They straightened up, asking with a hint of nervousness. “Don’t worry, if you’re willing to help, I’m willing to pay thirty thousand Star Credits.”
Su Xi’s eyes instantly lit up. Thinking of his empty account, he was immediately tempted.
“Ahem, I can give it a try, but I can’t guarantee it’ll succeed.”
“Naturally,” they nodded.
“Which class in the outer academy is the person you mentioned from?”
“They…” Their expression shifted, looking somewhat troubled. “They’re not from our academy.”
“Huh?” Su Xi was taken aback. “Don’t tell me they’re not even a God-Blessed.”
“Of course they are!” the other person said urgently. “They passed the God-Blessed test. It’s just that, for some reasons, they’re not at the academy right now.”
“…” Then how can I help?
“Don’t worry, in four months, it’ll be the Day of Divine Grace, and the academy will have a month-long break,” they quickly explained. “At that time, you just need to come back to ‘Qiping Star’ with me.”
“Qiping Star?” So I’d have to travel for this?
“Yes, that’s my home planet,” they nodded, then added, “Don’t worry, Qiping Star is a first-level peaceful planet. The public order is very good, so you don’t have to worry about me tricking you.”
“…” Su Xi hesitated.
“As long as you’re willing to help me with this, you can come to me for anything in the academy from now on.”
“…”
“I heard you still owe the academy for dormitory repair fees, right? I can help you settle that.”
“…”
“If you have any other requests, you can mention them too.” Seeing her remain silent for so long, he grew a bit impatient and said, “Just consider it as me owing you a favor.”
Su Xi thought for a moment before finally speaking up, “Going to Qiping Star with you isn’t impossible, but…”
“But what?”
“You’ll have to pay more!”
“…”
In the end, the two settled on a price of eighty thousand Star Credits. This amount was carefully calculated by Su Xi—she had been worrying about not having enough money to buy a ticket to the Dengqing Star Sector, and now this person had kindly delivered it to her doorstep. Eighty thousand Star Credits would be enough for a round trip.
A month’s vacation time was just enough as well. Even if she couldn’t find Yuan Chen, at least she could familiarize herself with the route.
The other party didn’t hesitate either, immediately transferring thirty thousand Star Credits as a deposit. His straightforward manner made Su Xi wonder if she had asked for too little.
“Then it’s settled. I’ll come find you again in four months.” With that, he turned and started climbing toward the window.
“Um… I can actually turn off the whole-house intelligence.” Su Xi, having just landed a big order, couldn’t help but remind her client, “You can use the front door.”
“No!” The client firmly refused, insisting on maintaining his own style. “You know my identity is special. I can’t take risks. Climbing through the window is safer.”
“Special?” Su Xi was taken aback. “What’s so special about it?”
“Of course… Wait!” The person about to climb over the window paused, as if remembering something, and turned back to look at her in shock. “Don’t tell me you didn’t recognize me at all?”
“…” Should she have recognized him?
“Me!” He pointed at himself, looking utterly incredulous. “Take a good, careful look. Do you really not know who I am? I even made a point of greeting you during the day.”
Su Xi’s lips twitched. Plenty of people had greeted her during the day—who exactly are you?
She scrutinized his bruised and swollen face, which did look somewhat familiar, especially that head of golden hair…
A figure flashed through her mind, and suddenly it clicked.
“Oh… you’re the one who passed by during the day, the one who…”
“Remembered now?” He thought it was impossible for anyone in the academy not to recognize him.
“The pretentious senior!”
His face instantly darkened. “My name is Zhao Heng! Zhao Heng!” Who’s pretentious? You’re the pretentious one, your whole family is pretentious. He was just outstanding.
“Ah, right, right, right. Senior, hello, senior, goodbye!” You’re the client, you call the shots.
“…” Suddenly, he felt a twinge of regret about the deal.
After that day, Su Xi rarely saw Zhao Heng again. It seemed as though he was deliberately distancing himself from her. Even when they crossed paths on the road, he would pretend not to know her and walk right by. The only contact she had with him was through daily messages on her Intellect-Brain.
—132 days until the Day of Divine Grace!
—131 days until the Day of Divine Grace!
—130 days!
129… 128…
Like a timekeeper, he reminded her punctually every day, so active that it hardly seemed like the same person.
Still, he kept his word. The dormitory damage repair bill had disappeared from her and her friends’ accounts, meaning it had been settled. She didn’t dwell on it further, focusing instead on attending classes on time.
“Huh? Yaya, isn’t this class supposed to be in the simulation room? Why are you back?” Su Xi waved at the classmate walking toward her—it was Tan Yaya, the girl who had reminded her about the broken chair the other day.
“Ugh, don’t even mention it,” Yaya said with an angry expression. “The simulation room has been taken over by those brutes from the Transcendence Department. They said they need it for combat practice and won’t let us in. Now the third-year seniors are fighting with them.”