Hearing this, the nurse’s face paled in shock. She quickly covered Yan Changfeng’s mouth and warned, “Do you want to die?”
Yan Changfeng looked utterly bewildered.
The nurse explained, “Those who obtain Divine Favor skills must be absolutely loyal to the gods. Attempting to acquire two Divine Favor skills is nothing short of blasphemy!”
Was it really that serious?
Yan Changfeng thought of her Divine Favor Skill Card Pool. It was impossible for it to contain the skills of only one deity. Wouldn’t she be saddled with the title of “blasphemer” sooner or later?
She suddenly felt a sense of helplessness, as if she were being framed in advance.
Yan Changfeng remarked, “The gods shouldn’t be that petty, right?”
The nurse truly admired Yan Changfeng’s loose tongue. “In any case, the gods would never favor half-hearted believers! Didn’t you see General Xia Sheng earlier? I heard that back when he was at Blue Star Academy, he participated in the All-Star Military School Joint Examination and was accidentally caught in a conflict between the Insectoids and the Aliens. Lord Tarias, the God of Protection, was moved by his faith and descended a divine gift, protecting the hundreds of military students caught in the fray.”
Yan Changfeng asked, “He’s that powerful?”
The nurse snapped, “Of course! He’s a god!”
The nurse no longer wanted to communicate with someone like Yan Changfeng, who was a potential blasphemer. She stood up to go gossip with her colleagues, but Yan Changfeng pulled her back.
“Nurse sister, is there anywhere on Blue Star where I can learn to pilot mechas?”
Yan Changfeng had been thinking for a long time. Her year-long life of picking up trash had been a bit too comfortable. Recently, life-threatening events had been happening one after another. Putting aside the Insectoids she might encounter later, the wanted poster on Trash Planet 5271 was already quite a bit of trouble for her.
She needed to become stronger faster.
The nurse stroked her chin. “Learn mechas? Then you should go to school. It just so happens that Blue Star Academy is recruiting right now. General Xia Sheng graduated from Blue Star Academy, you know.”
The image of those two silver-grey mechas flashed through Yan Changfeng’s mind.
…
During her two days in the hospital, Yan Changfeng didn’t stay idle. She used her optical computer to search for information on Blue Star Academy.
Blue Star Academy was the only higher-level academy on Blue Star, but it didn’t rank very high in the entire Alliance of Stars. Its most brilliant year in the past few decades was Xia Sheng’s year. He had led Blue Star Academy all the way to third place in the Alliance Military Academy Assessment, winning them a slot in the All-Star Military School Joint Examination.
Because the school wasn’t very famous, that was all the information Yan Changfeng could find. Regarding military academies, most of what popped up on the Star Net were the Alliance’s five great military schools, the Tarris Empire’s Holy Land Military Academy, and the Federation’s Federal First Military Academy.
The latter two schools were quite famous, constantly competing for the title of the number one military academy in the interstellar space. As for the Alliance’s five great military schools, they were rarely mentioned individually. This was mainly because while they were top-tier within the Alliance, they weren’t quite enough to compete on an interstellar level.
Since she was currently in the Alliance of Stars, Yan Changfeng felt a bit of local pride and couldn’t bear to read the harsh criticisms of the five great military schools in the comment sections.
On the day Yan Changfeng was discharged, the compensation from the Interstellar Navigation Company arrived. She looked down at her account.
2 million Star Coins have been deposited.
Yan Changfeng immediately put the previous injuries and hardships behind her.
She never expected that one day she would be so happy to receive compensation.
After finding the address for Blue Star Academy on the map, Yan Changfeng planned to rent a house nearby. However, she didn’t expect that because of the recruitment season, rent prices in the area had skyrocketed, doubling compared to adjacent districts.
Seeing the exorbitant price of 1,000 Star Coins per night, Yan Changfeng’s stingy nature flared up.
She rented a room for 300 Star Coins a night a few hover stations away from the academy. The room wasn’t exactly dilapidated; the bedding and bathroom were quite clean. It just meant an extra star hour on the hover car, which she could tolerate.
Once in her room, Yan Changfeng opened the system’s card-drawing interface. She now had a huge sum of 2.25 million Star Coins and could afford to be extravagant.
So, she directly exchanged one million Star Coins for one million energy points and unlocked the Divine Favor Skill Card Pool.
Yan Changfeng’s body felt light. She was no longer in a cramped room; it felt as if she were standing in the middle of the starry sky. Brilliant beams of light turned into countless stars, outlining familiar star maps, which then transformed into meteors of various colors falling at her feet.
This time, the card-drawing interface was no longer a plain cursor pattern, but a flowing sea of stars.
Excited, Yan Changfeng couldn’t restrain her urge to draw. She didn’t even notice that a single pull from the Divine Favor pool cost 100,000 Star Coins and went straight for the ten-pull icon.
Ten brilliant meteors streaked across her head and then rapidly plunged into the sea of stars.
And then…
There was no “and then.”
Her ten-pull was gone, her one million Star Coins were gone, and most importantly, she hadn’t drawn a single thing!
Even the Normal Skill Card Pool gave you nutrient solution if you didn’t win! How could the Divine Favor Skill Card Pool have absolutely nothing?
Of course, it wasn’t exactly “nothing.” After her ten-pull sank into the sea of stars, a line of text appeared above.
[The gods have felt your prayer.]
[They are very happy (*^▽^*)]
Happy my foot! She was so angry her lung disease was about to relapse!
No matter how she looked at it, Yan Changfeng felt those last two lines were mocking her. She truly felt the weight of that saying on the Star Net: If you don’t have luck, don’t touch the gacha.
“097! Speak! I know you’re awake.”
“Host, is there something you need?”
097 seemed unable to understand her current mood. Its emotionless mechanical voice sounded. Although it was a question, its calm and steady tone made Yan Changfeng cool down instantly.
There was no point in getting angry at a string of data.
“The Divine Favor Skill Card Pool has a bug. I didn’t draw anything.”
097 paused for a second.
“According to the system’s scan, there are no bugs in the card pool.”
That meant Yan Changfeng really hadn’t drawn anything, not even a bottle of nutrient solution.
“097, why doesn’t the Divine Favor Skill Card Pool even have nutrient solution? Did my ten-pull just draw air?”
“This card pool only contains Divine Favor skills. Note: The gods do not like other things existing in the same space as their blessings.”
Yan Changfeng: …
“I don’t care. The card pool didn’t state this rule in advance. This is fraud. Give me back my one million Star Coins.”
“Host, please do not make unreasonable demands.”
“This is your problem. I want to file a complaint!”
“…”
Under Yan Changfeng’s relentless badgering, 097 finally agreed to compensate her with a ten-pull.
It really was worth losing face for. Yan Changfeng wore a relieved smile. “Don’t worry, if I don’t draw a skill this time, I won’t say another word.”
Yan Changfeng clasped her hands. She, who had never believed in gods, began to pray.
Oh, God of Luck, if you exist… you know I’ve always been your believer. Please grant me the luck to draw a skill in this ten-pull!
This was the rhetoric Yan Changfeng had learned from the Star Net. She muttered it in her heart and then closed her eyes to click the ten-pull.
She felt her heart beating a bit fast, similar to when she was running for her life.
After a moment, Yan Changfeng opened her eyes.
A single card emitting a pale green light floated quietly in front of her. The image on the card was a woman cradling a sprouting branch, with a line of small text below.
God of Life, Natalia.
As if possessed, Yan Changfeng reached out to touch the card. Green branches instantly climbed up her wrist, and small pink flowers bloomed on the twigs. The faint scent of flowers and greenery filled her nose, and vines tentatively wrapped around her waist.
Yan Changfeng relaxed her body, letting the vines push her forward. The entire room filled with vitality and was instantly surrounded by green vegetation.
[Myriad Living Beings]
[Active skill. Generates a Myriad Living Beings Domain. Within the domain’s coverage, all negative effects are cleared. Healing effects are increased by 100%, and injury recovery speed is increased by 100%. Note: Can be applied to multiple people within the domain simultaneously. Duration depends on mental power and domain range. Cooldown time: 10 days.]
Was this a group buff?
Although she didn’t get a direct healing skill, the function of “clearing all negative effects” undoubtedly qualified as a miracle.
However, since the duration depended on mental power and domain range, Yan Changfeng wasn’t sure how large a domain her current mental power could sustain or for how long.
Having drawn a new skill, Yan Changfeng closed the card pool with satisfaction. But when she turned to see the room covered in greenery, her smile vanished instantly.
It took her nearly a star hour to clear out all the greenery in the room. She tried to “sell” these plants to the system as trash.
[Does not meet the criteria for ‘trash.’ Cannot be recycled.]
Yan Changfeng could only find the hotel cleaner responsible for garbage collection and stuffed enough greenery to fill two trash bins into his cart. Then, under his shocked gaze, she slammed the door shut.
…
Early the next morning, Yan Changfeng took a hover car to the gates of Blue Star Academy.
The admission age for Blue Star Academy was fifteen to eighteen, covering a wide range. Being the only higher-level academy in the nearby star domain, the line already stretched an entire street away on the very first day.
Although there were many people in line, the admission standards remained unchanged: a talent test, and those with a mental power value below 50 would not be admitted.
This standard alone could block over 80% of the applicants.
Mental power value represented a person’s potential for improvement. Generally speaking, those with a value below 50 would never be able to reach B-class mental power in their lifetime. Whether joining the military or pursuing a profession related to military academy majors, most required at least B-class mental power.
Yan Changfeng walked to the very end of the line. She looked up at the line that seemed to have no end, then glanced at the grandpas and grandmas who had come to spectate.
Military school recruitment was a major event. Many grandpas and grandmas had given up their square dancing, bringing small stools, small fans, and even sun umbrellas to chat and watch the excitement.
Yan Changfeng looked at the sun overhead. It wasn’t very hot yet, but given the number of people in line, she estimated it might not even be her turn by the afternoon. Wouldn’t she have to sunbathe all day?
Yan Changfeng immediately turned to the nearby grandpas and grandmas. She spent 100 Star Coins to buy their stools and fans. She didn’t just buy one set; she bought out almost every stool, fan, and sun umbrella from the spectating grandpas and grandmas nearby.
She sighed.
If you want to make money, you must seize every opportunity.
At first, some of the people in line didn’t understand Yan Changfeng’s behavior. Why buy so much stuff? But as the temperature rose and the air grew scorching, they began to pant from the heat. When they saw Yan Changfeng sitting on her small stool under a sun umbrella, gulping down cold mineral water, everyone looked on with envy.
Someone remembered Yan Changfeng’s hoarding behavior from earlier and immediately understood. But since she had already bought out all the spectators’ supplies, they could only brace themselves and ask.
“Classmate, don’t you have extra stools and sun umbrellas? Can you sell me a set? I’ll pay extra.”
Yan Changfeng pulled a set out of her pocket space. “Stools are 100 Star Coins each, fans are 100 each, and sun umbrellas are 300. As for mineral water, I don’t have much in stock, so it’s 500 Star Coins a bottle.”
Those who came to apply for the military academy, aside from a few poor souls like her, usually had some family wealth. That was why Yan Changfeng dared to ask for such an exorbitant price.
Sure enough, several people came to buy the stool set from Yan Changfeng without even blinking, scanning their Star Coins and leaving with a set. Even those who hesitated for a moment eventually paid up.
Soon, all the stools and fans in Yan Changfeng’s hands were sold out. She did a rough calculation; she had made a net profit of 20,000 Star Coins.
“Hmph.”
A cold snort reached Yan Changfeng’s ears.
She followed the sound and saw a red-haired unruly youth who looked about fifteen years old rolling his eyes at her. “Taking advantage of a crisis.”
Yan Changfeng: ?
Where did this little brat come from? Acting all cool and pretentious.