9: Chapter 9 Excuse me, can I ask for directions?

With a thought from Ning Yuan, a sleek, streamlined shuttle shimmering with a dark golden luster was summoned from his dimensional bracelet.

"Lightwing," that was its resounding name within the Federation's upper-class circles.

This private shuttle could not only zip through a planet's atmosphere at high speeds but was also capable of interstellar travel and even short-distance space jumps—a true luxury item.

Sitting in the comfortable cockpit, Ning Yuan recalled the history of this planet.

"Ten thousand years ago, the Ancestral Star was suddenly shrouded in a mysterious blood mist. Since then, the beasts on the planet underwent violent mutations, becoming exceptionally powerful. Humanity, under the pressure of life and death, continuously excavated ancient ruins and obtained cultivation methods, soaring to success from then on."

"To this day, the Human Race ranks fourth among the Ten Thousand Races of the Starry Sky, standing as a hegemon within the sea of stars."

Watching the clouds flash past the porthole, a strange thought bubbled up in his mind.

"Speaking of which, the early civilization of this Ancestral Star is actually somewhat similar to the Blue Star I was on before I transmigrated."

"Could it be... that I have arrived in the distant future?"

He had pondered this thought more than once before.

But with too few clues, he ultimately couldn't figure out the reason.

"A.I., set destination: Great Xia Martial Academy."

The shuttle immediately entered autopilot mode.

Ning Yuan relaxed and looked down at the vast land through the porthole.

The original Ancestral Star wasn't that large, capable of accommodating ten billion humans at most.

But after the rise of the Human Race, the Federation employed great masters of divine arts to completely remodel it, expanding the planet's surface area by more than a hundredfold.

Nowadays, over two hundred billion humans live on this planet. Of course, some powerful monsters that mutated during the Blood Mist Era still remain.

"Great Xia Martial Academy, as the benchmark institution of the Ancestral Star, covers an incredibly vast area, roughly equivalent to the territory of a major nation in my past life."

"It's said that many descendants of the powerful and wealthy in the Milky Way Galaxy like to send their children here to gain some prestige."

Although its comprehensive strength couldn't compare to the supreme institutions of the Xuanhuang Star Domain, the Great Xia Martial Academy still held high prestige throughout the entire Human Race territory.

Amidst his thoughts, the shuttle's speed reached its limit.

Occasionally passing over magnificent cities below, he could see skyscrapers piercing the clouds, as well as civilian mechas and fighter jets weaving between buildings.

But without exception, all these aircraft would take the initiative to yield upon sensing the signal of the "Lightwing" shuttle.

It was no joke; this thing belonged to the rich or the noble, not someone they could afford to offend.

Soon, the iconic silhouette of the Great Xia Martial Academy appeared on the horizon.

What came into view was a faint silver light curtain, like an inverted giant bowl, shrouding the entire academy within it, its boundaries nowhere in sight.

"Foreign aircraft, please land immediately for inspection."

The shuttle's A.I. automatically interfaced with the academy's defense system.

The enrollment credentials Ning Jianghe had prepared in advance were scanned and uploaded.

"Identity confirmed. 198th Session Freshman, Ning Yuan. Please proceed to the Academic Affairs Office as soon as possible to complete enrollment procedures."

The light curtain shrouding the sky opened a gap silently.

The shuttle entered the academy grounds smoothly, and Ning Yuan stowed it away with a wave of his hand.

Cradling the Heaven Swallowing Beast, Wang Zai, he stepped onto an unmanned fighter jet that had come to receive him.

"Woof woof!"

Coming to such a place for the first time, Wang Zai curiously craned its neck, looking around everywhere.

Ning Yuan chuckled and scolded it.

"You country bumpkin!"

In reality, Wang Zai had seen plenty of grand spectacles.

In terms of sheer magnificence, Thunder God Mountain was countless times better than this place.

Right now, it was purely for the sake of novelty.

The unmanned fighter jet was extremely fast, instantly breaking the sound barrier as it traversed the vast campus.

The scenery outside the window flashed by.

Massive mecha testing grounds, bustling martial arenas, breeding bases housing various monsters, high-tech virtual competitive centers, as well as gravity rooms, lightning simulation fields, and various other high-end cultivation facilities...

"Not bad, it has all the resources it should have," Ning Yuan nodded.

He didn't actually care much for these things, but having them was better than not.

At least it would save a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Suddenly.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked toward a plaza ahead where a large crowd was gathering.

...

In the center of the plaza, two groups of people were in a standoff.

To be precise, it couldn't really be called two groups.

On one side were three human youths wearing the standard Great Xia Martial Academy uniforms. Their faces shared some similarities, clearly making them brothers. At this moment, the three brothers' faces were flushed red with anger, yet their eyes held a hint of intimidation.

Opposite them were several youths who looked similar to humans, but their pupils were vertical slits, their skin was brownish-yellow, and the backs of their hands were covered in fine scales.

With arms crossed, they stood in relaxed postures, looking down at the three brothers with mocking, playful gazes.

"Well? Have you decided how you're going to compensate me for this cup of precious earth nectar?"

The leading scaled youth, Shi Tian, spoke with an indifferent tone.

As he spoke, he casually tossed the straw cup in his hand onto the ground, and the remaining milky-white liquid inside spilled out completely.

The surrounding crowd buzzed with discussion.

"It's those exchange students from the Stone Python Clan!"

"They're so damn rich. A luxury blood-and-qi treasure like earth nectar, and they just throw it away like that."

"Having provoked those guys, the three Li brothers are probably going to suffer a lot today."

"Sigh, I heard those three brothers worked so hard to get in from a remote region of the Ancestral Star. It was supposed to bring honor to their ancestors, but who would've thought..."

"Just mere foreign races, yet they dare to be so arrogant on our human territory?"

"You don't know the half of it, do you? These foreign exchange students in the academy have very high status. They all come from the major powerful races in the starry sky..."

Some indignant people whispered, but under the cold sweep of the Stone Python youth's gaze, they immediately fell silent, not daring to say more.

Strength was also part of the capital for their arrogance.

Li Hu, who was surrounded in the middle, gritted his teeth and said, "I... I'll compensate you."

Even though it was clearly the other party who had intentionally bumped into him just now.

But with the situation against him, he could only choose to swallow this bitter pill in silence.

Shi Tian let out a sneer.

"Compensate? Just with you lowly humans? What do you have to compensate with? I'm telling you, the value of this one cup of earth nectar is more than enough to buy ten of your Li families!"

The three brothers' faces instantly turned pale, their eyes filled with disbelief.

The more impulsive Li Lang couldn't help but retort, "Just now it was clearly you..."

Shi Tian interrupted him with a chuckle.

"How about this? I, Shi Tian, am after all a member of the Great Xia Martial Academy; I won't be so unreasonable."

He extended his foot, stepping on the puddle of liquid on the ground and grinding it back and forth.

"You, lick it clean. Then, I'll be the bigger person and let this matter go."

This was blatant humiliation!

The several Stone Python youths behind him immediately burst into laughter, the mockery in their eyes deepening.

The surrounding human students were all filled with righteous indignation, their fists clenched tight.

But not a single person present dared to stand up.

Those in this plaza were basically commoner humans without backgrounds; they simply didn't dare to provoke the Stone Python exchange students.

The expressions of the three Li brothers were ugly to the extreme, their eyes as bloodshot as could be.

The youngest, Li Bao, growled in a low voice, "If you've got the guts, have a fight with us!"

"Whoever wins gets the final say!"

Shi Tian laughed even more heartily.

"Oh? Are you sure?"

His gaze became dangerous and indifferent.

In his spare time, finding a few lowly humans to amuse himself with was quite a good pastime.

While he couldn't kill them, the academy wouldn't do anything to him even if he beat them into cripples.

Li Hu's expression changed, and he hurriedly held back his impulsive brother.

If they really started a fight, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"I... I'll lick it."

The youth's eyes were blood-red as he finally closed them in humiliation, his voice as low as a sleep-talker's.

He was just about to slowly crouch down.

Suddenly.

A black shadow descended from the sky without any warning!

Bang!

That Corgi-shaped Heaven Swallowing Beast smashed into Shi Tian's face like a small cannonball with pinpoint accuracy, knocking him flat on the ground. His face made intimate contact with the earth, forming a human-shaped pit of modest size.

Everyone was stunned.

What was the situation?

The Heaven Swallowing Beast, having been used as a projectile, was also a bit dazed.

What just happened? Why was it suddenly thrown down by its master?

It instinctively shivered, lifted a hind leg, and a stream of warm liquid uncontrollably splashed onto the back of Shi Tian's head...

After finishing its business, it let out two happy "woofs" and ran toward the figure that had just appeared nearby.

Everyone followed the Corgi's running direction.

There they saw a youth dressed in white, exceptionally handsome, who had appeared in the field at some unknown point.

Everyone's first reaction was: Damn, he's handsome!

Some girls' eyes even started to sparkle with little stars.

However, this white-clad youth completely ignored the Stone Python youth lying on the ground, whose status was unknown; he didn't even spare him a glance.

He gave a kind smile to Li Hu, who was still in a state of shock.

"Hello, classmate. Excuse me, I'm asking for directions."

"May I ask how to get to Dean Jiang Baihe's office building?"