After Yan Changfeng, it was Jiang Qi’s turn for the assessment. As expected, he achieved a perfect score.
Beside them, Ji Nian suddenly let out a long sigh.
“No need to be nervous,” Yan Changfeng said.
Ji Nian’s expression turned peculiar. “I’m not nervous. I’m just… sigh, you’ll understand in a moment.” She left them with a meaningful look, then, with an air of grim determination as if marching to her death, she entered the shooting preparation area.
Yan Changfeng watched her with confusion. A second later, Ji Nian stood with her legs braced in a very standard shooting stance, aimed at the bullseye, and fired three shots in rapid succession.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
[0 rings, 0 rings, 0 rings. Shooting Assessment: 40 points.]
Astonishment flickered across Yan Changfeng’s face. She instinctively looked at the target, which was nearly a quarter the size of the wall.
*How could she miss even that?*
Jiang Qi’s eyes were also wide with disbelief. “That’s just too ridiculous.”
Yan Changfeng nodded. “Without a certain kind of talent, you really couldn’t pull that off.”
Because of Ji Nian, the two of them stood on the same side for the first time.
Ji Nian walked back, dejected. Yan Changfeng wasn’t great at comforting people and said dryly, “It’s fine. Maybe you’re just simply not suited for it.”
“Aghhh!” Ji Nian grabbed her hair in a frenzy. “I trained for a whole month! I’ve never once hit the target! I was clearly aiming right at it!”
Jiang Qi walked over as well and patted her shoulder. “Sigh, my condolences.”
Then he immediately received a slap from Ji Nian.
…
Having failed the shooting assessment, Ji Nian agonized for a moment before heading off to register for the Pharmacist major. After Yan Changfeng added her as a friend on her optical computer, she headed straight toward the Mech Combat Department with her three score sheets in hand.
Jiang Qi walked a short distance away from her. The two had returned to their previous state of tension—or rather, Jiang Qi was the only one gritting his teeth in anger while Yan Changfeng ignored him entirely, walking forward at her own pace.
After picking up a registration form, Jiang Qi immediately took his and hurried away, putting distance between himself and Yan Changfeng.
Yan Changfeng didn’t have time to deal with him. While picking up the form, she had also grabbed a copy of the admissions regulations. Blue Star Academy’s regulations spanned three full pages. She skimmed through them quickly until her gaze halted on the final page: the fee schedule for each major.
Mecha rental fee: 5 million Star Coins per year.
Mecha maintenance fee: 1 million Star Coins per year.
Mecha repair fee…
The various costs added up to a figure far beyond Yan Changfeng’s reach. She glanced at the fees for other majors; every single one was exorbitant. Only the Single Soldier Department was simple and modest, requiring nothing but tuition.
Yan Changfeng silently put down the registration form.
Mechas were fine as a hobby, but to really get things done, she had to be a doer in the Single Soldier Department!
Yan Changfeng hurried over to the line for the Single Soldier Department. The queue of new students here was much shorter than for the other majors. Even if every applicant was accepted, they would still need to wait for students rejected from other majors to be reallocated here just to fill the quota.
“Student, are you here to… eh?”
Under the shocked gazes of the others, Yan Changfeng grabbed a registration form, filled in her information on the spot, and shoved it into the hands of the teacher collecting the forms.
As Yan Changfeng left the Single Soldier Department registration desk, Jiang Qi approached her with a strange look on his face.
“You’re not going to the Mech Combat Department?”
Yan Changfeng waved him off. “Not going.” The Mech Combat Department was a money pit!
“Then why are you going to the Single Soldier Department? Blue Star Academy’s Single Soldier Department ranks last among the five majors every single year. They’re dead last without exception.” Jiang Qi wasn’t sure how he felt right now. He was supposed to dislike Yan Changfeng—after all, she had scammed him twice.
However, Yan Changfeng’s talent was genuinely decent, and he didn’t want to see it go to waste.
“Don’t worry about that; being last is a thing of the past.” Yan Changfeng patted Jiang Qi on the shoulder. “From now on, the Single Soldier Department will be Blue Star Academy’s number one major.”
“Oh, and it will be the most popular major among all the academies.”
Jiang Qi assumed Yan Changfeng was just boasting and brushed her hand off his shoulder. “Then I’ll wait and see if that day ever comes.”
…
After archiving the files for all the new students, Yan Wenzhi rubbed her temples, feeling a sense of relief. She poured herself a cup of coffee, but before she could rest, a communication call came in.
“What is it?”
The person on the other side wore a blue and white school emblem on their chest—the symbol of Blue Star Academy’s Mech Combat Department. He said with a smile, “I heard the Single Soldier Department got a student with a mental power value of 80 this year? It seems the Single Soldier Department is about to rise.”
Coming from anyone else, these words would have been a congratulation, but coming from the Director of the Mech Combat Department, it sounded exactly like a taunt.
Since the two departments shared most of their training resources, they had always been in competition. Given that the Single Soldier Department was consistently the weaker of the two, calling it a taunt was accurate.
“Then I thank Director Qiu for his kind words.” Yan Wenzhi swirled the coffee in her cup. “Just make sure the kids from the Mech Combat Department don’t get crushed by our Single Soldier students this year.”
Director Qiu replied, “Director Yan worries too much.”
The two exchanged a few more snide remarks before hanging up. As soon as the call ended, Yan Wenzhi’s face instantly darkened.
“That bastard!”
…
Before moving into the Blue Star Academy dormitory, Yan Changfeng searched for information about the Ghost Market on the Star Net. Eventually, she found the address for the Blue Star Ghost Market in a post on the “Chit-chat” forum.
Late at night.
Yan Changfeng stood at the entrance of an old street. The streetlights here were malfunctioning; over a dozen of them had gone out. To provide light, a row of lanterns in various colors had been hung up. This was the Ghost Market address marked in the post. According to the forum, the Ghost Market only opened late at night, and the entrance was at the corner where the red and white lanterns hung.
Yan Changfeng rounded the corner and walked for about five minutes before the lights ahead brightened. The sound of a bustling crowd reached her ears, sounding like a mass celebration.
She looked toward the noise and saw a crowd of people wearing various masks gathered together. They seemed to be surrounding a screen; some were cheering while others looked miserable, and a few were even cursing loudly.
“Newcomer?” someone called out from behind her.
Yan Changfeng replied, “Yes.”
The speaker stood at the entrance behind a small stall covered in all sorts of masks. He beckoned Yan Changfeng over. “If a newcomer doesn’t want to cause trouble, you’d better pick a mask before anyone notices you.”
Yan Changfeng stepped forward and picked a mask that looked like black cloth wrapped around a face. She looked like a common criminal.
The shopkeeper’s brow twitched. After a moment of surprise, he asked, “You’re sure you want this one?”
“Yes.”
“50,000 Star Coins.”
Yan Changfeng’s hand shook as she held the mask. “Is there anything cheaper?”
“The one in your hand is the cheapest.”
Calling it a mask was an understatement; it was more like an entry ticket to the Ghost Market. Yan Changfeng silently cursed the scam in her heart but gritted her teeth and paid the Star Coins.
The shopkeeper smiled happily. “The Ghost Market has everything. No one ever leaves empty-handed. Also, don’t forget to give yourself a codename.”
Yan Changfeng looked at the 300,000 Star Coins remaining in her account. A single entry ticket cost 50,000; she didn’t even want to imagine the prices inside. He said no one leaves empty-handed, but she felt like she was going to be the exception today.
“Excuse me, is the Forging Master here?” Yan Changfeng felt she couldn’t let her money go to waste; she had to get at least some information.
Startled by the title, the shopkeeper paused for a moment before pointing in a direction. “Go inside, left turn, right turn, right turn, straight ahead, then left turn.”
Yan Changfeng hadn’t expected much, but she was surprised the shopkeeper actually gave her directions. She thanked him and followed the route, quickly finding a cold weapon shop. The shop’s sign was a very obvious hammer, looking much like an ordinary blacksmith’s shop.
The door wasn’t closed, so Yan Changfeng pushed it open and walked inside. The decor made her feel for a moment like she was back on the Trash Planet. While there was no foul smell, the style—reminiscent of a disorganized garbage dump—was certainly unique.
There was only one middle-aged man in the shop, sitting on a work chair and tinkering with a spear on the table.
“Buying something?”
Yan Changfeng said, “I’m looking for the Forging Master.”
The shop owner stopped what he was doing and turned to look Yan Changfeng over. “I am the Forging Master.”
Yan Changfeng frowned. Her gaze swept over the swords hanging on the wall. Each one was vastly different—not just in the materials used, but in weight, hilt length, blade sharpness, and flexibility.
Every single one was exquisite and perfectly finished. One could see the craftsman’s skill was superb, but there was still a certain gap between these and the one held by “I Am The Sword Dao Genius.”
After a long silence, the shop owner put down his tools and looked back. “What, my swords aren’t good enough for you? Think I don’t live up to the title of Forging Master in your head?”
“No.” Yan Changfeng shook her head. “The swords are very good.” The materials used for the swords on the wall were top-tier.
The shop owner’s tone softened slightly. “If you’re looking for a Forging Master, I’m the only one here.”
Yan Changfeng said, “I’m not looking anymore. I want to commission a weapon.”
“How much can you pay?”
Yan Changfeng held up three fingers.
“30 million Star Coins? That’s about right.”
Yan Changfeng shook her head.
“3 million Star Coins?” The shop owner frowned. “I don’t have anything at that price point right now. I’d have to order the materials, and it would probably take a week to forge.”
Yan Changfeng said, “300,000.”
The shop owner gave her a look that said, “Are you kidding me?” and pointed toward the exit. “The door is that way.”
Yan Changfeng thick-skinnedly continued, “Boss, can I buy forging materials for under 300,000 here? I don’t need much, just enough to make a dagger.”
Yan Changfeng had come to terms with the reality of her poverty. The sword could wait; she estimated the Star Coins she had on her could at most forge a barely usable dagger. As long as the quality wasn’t worse than the one she had picked up at the landfill, it would do.
The shop owner said, “I have materials, but my forging fee alone is more than 300,000.”
Yan Changfeng shook her head. “I only want the materials. I can do the forging myself.”
The shop owner looked at her suspiciously, remaining silent for a long time as if weighing the truth of her words. After a while, he finally spoke. “The materials will arrive in three days. 250,000 for the materials, 50,000 for the delivery fee.”
“The delivery fee is that expensive?”
The shop owner was honest. “Don’t I need to make a profit?”
Yan Changfeng said, “You’re making a bit too much profit.”
“No one complains about having too many Star Coins.”
The two haggled for half a star hour until the shop owner couldn’t take it anymore. “280,000 Star Coins. Any less and I’m not doing it.”
Yan Changfeng muttered “Old and Cunning/Sly” under her breath, then smiled. “Actually, I can accept 300,000, but I’ll need you to let me use your forging furnace and forging tools.”
“Fine.” The shop owner finally realized what Yan Changfeng was up to. “At your age, can you even lift a hammer?”
“That’s not something you need to worry about, Boss.”
Once the agreement was settled, the shop owner printed out a Ghost Market exclusive contract. Both parties signed using their codenames, so there was no concern about revealing their true identities.
After Yan Changfeng wrote her name, she handed the other copy to the shop owner.
“Little Sly and Slippery?”
His mouth twitched. That name really suited her.