Shen Xiao stepped out of his dormitory after tidying himself up.
He inhaled the fresh evening air, yet his mind remained fixed on the system panel floating before his eyes.
In this harsh world of cultivation, he held fast to one simple philosophy, the past life was a time to work oneself to death, the current life is for enjoying comfort, and the next life... well, that's a problem for later.
He glanced at his system inventory, which was now filled with stacks of shimmering Spirit Stones.
Although he possessed the ability to absorb that energy right now to strengthen his spiritual foundation, Shen Xiao chose to be relaxed about it.
He felt his current strength was more than enough to handle anything within the academy.
"There's no need to rush," he muttered to himself.
"I trust this system. If there are proficiency EXP packs, then an automatic cultivation technique is bound to appear eventually. Saving tickets is far more crucial than wasting hours meditating manually."
[Fate Tickets: 12.12]
[Lottery Wheel: Blue Quality]
The number 12 looked so tiny and pitiful compared to the hundreds of tickets he had possessed just an hour ago.
There was a strange sense of tightness in his chest seeing his wealth plummet so sharply, but Shen Xiao comforted himself with thoughts of the consecutive draw bonuses.
If the 10th, 100th, and 400th draws had already granted extraordinary rewards, imagine what he would get on the 1000th draw?
Perhaps a god-tier technique that could make him invincible overnight.
In the past, to collect tickets, he had to perform thousands of tiny good deeds, ranging from helping elderly women cross the street to cleaning city gutters, until he was nearly bald from stress and exhaustion.
But now, everything had changed since Lu Qingyue arrived.
"In just one lunch session, she gave me 400 tickets. Getting 1,000 tickets is no longer an impossibility!" Shen Xiao smirked thinly.
To him, Lu Qingyue was not just a teammate, she was a catalyst for the future.
Anyone who dared to disturb his "precious asset," Shen Xiao swore he would not let them see tomorrow's sun.
After a brief rest, Shen Xiao began walking toward the academy's main training area.
Even though Lu Qingyue had insisted on facing the team exam independently to prove her self-worth, Shen Xiao still couldn't be at peace.
He knew how rigid and bureaucratic the Supernatural Club was in granting outside mission permits.
This exam was actually a safety procedure.
Senior members of the club would engage in sparring to assess whether the applicant was strong enough not to die a foolish death when facing monsters outside the city walls.
Considering Qingyue's physical condition was only just beginning to recover and her arm was still not whole, Shen Xiao worried the examiners would act discriminately.
If they won't grant any leeway, I'll be forced to speak with my fists, Shen Xiao thought coldly.
At this Supernatural Ability University, the unwritten rule established by the dean was, strength is the supreme law.
Whoever has the biggest fist has the loudest voice.
If Shen Xiao had to thrash a few arrogant seniors to clear the path for Qingyue, he wouldn't hesitate.
Especially with a lightning element proficiency that had reached 100%, Shen Xiao felt his level was already far beyond the average student, perhaps even approaching the level of the dean at Rank 5.
As he made his way through the campus corridors, several students who recognized him gave respectful greetings.
"Hello, Senior Shen! Just heading to the arena?"
Ding!
[Received Favorability from Sun Zhibin. Fate Ticket +0.01]
"Shen Xiao, invite me on a mission sometime, okay!"
Ding!
[Received Favorability from Wang Yu. Fate Ticket +0.02]
Shen Xiao only replied with a lazy nod.
This was the reason he had been so poor for the past six months.
A person's talent strictly determined the value of the tickets they could produce.
Students with low talent, such as Rank-E to Rank-C, would only provide "pocket change" in the range of 0.01 to 0.1 tickets.
He had even tried live streaming in hopes that the quantity of viewers would cover for the lack of quality, but his system refused to grant tickets from remote interactions.
Talent determined everything. Statistically, he had kept notes.
Rank-E Talent: 0.01 - 0.05 tickets. Rank-D Talent: 0.01 - 0.1 tickets. Rank-C Talent: 0.01 - 0.5 tickets. Rank-B Talent: 0.01 - 1.0 tickets.
As for Lu Qingyue?
That girl gave 100 tickets in a single interaction.
It was living proof that her potential lay beyond the reach of ordinary human logic.
"Hey, Senior Shen! Are you also heading to the training arena?" A student named Zhang Mu suddenly appeared from a crossroad while straightening his rather shabby-looking jacket.
"Yes," Shen Xiao replied briefly without stopping his pace.
"Whoa, perfect timing! You must also be curious to see 'Dog Gu' torturing the new student, right?" Zhang Mu asked with a tone of enthusiasm mixed with horror.
Shen Xiao stopped his steps for a moment, his brows furrowing. "Dog Gu? Who is that? Explain in more detail."
"Ah, I forgot Senior Shen rarely socializes on campus because you're busy with missions. That's Hao Xian, the vice chairman of the Supernatural Club. His nickname is 'Dog Hao' because he's incredibly crude, stubborn, and truly lacks any sense of humanity when testing new students. Those of us with mediocre scores are always beaten black and blue under his hands during promotion exams."
Zhang Mu let out a long sigh.
"I just heard news in the year's group chat. There's a female student undergoing a mission assessment this afternoon. It's supposed to be just a basic ability test that ends with some advice. But this girl is incredibly unlucky. She's not just meeting an examiner from the core management, but the examiner is Dog Gu himself!"
Shen Xiao's heart suddenly hammered in his chest.
A bad premonition crawled up his back like an uncontrollable surge of electricity.
"That Hao Xian is already Rank-2, but he isn't holding back one bit against a female student whose strength hasn't even reached Rank-1. He isn't just attacking to test her, he's attacking brutally! It's no longer an exam, it counts as assault. I just saw a video clip of it in the group; the student is already covered in blood, yet Hao Xian keeps forcing her to stand," Zhang Mu continued, his face full of suppressed anger.
The air around Shen Xiao suddenly turned freezing cold.
The atmosphere in the corridor became instantly heavy, making Zhang Mu suddenly breathless and tremble for no apparent reason.
Small sparks of blue lightning began to appear at the tips of Shen Xiao's tightly clenched fingers.
"Tell me..." Shen Xiao's voice was low, yet it held a threat that could make anyone shudder.
"What is her name....?"