Nine Star Burden

Chapter 238: Breakthrough

“Uh-huh? Volcano?” Xia Yan was wearing a sleeveless t-shirt and denim shorts, which was not demure or ladylike at all. Drenched in sweat, she sat on the floor of the training room.

The sweaty clothes clung to her body, and her full bosom rose and fell with her rapid breathing, making Hai Tianqing’s smiley eyes widen a little.

Han Jiangxue coughed gently.

Hai Tianqing touched the back of his head and said, “Yes, yes, vol- volcano.”

“Look, you’re like a country bumpkin who hasn’t seen much of this world!” Jiang Xiao criticized while seated on the ground.

Jiang Xiao wasn’t too loud, but everyone heard him clearly because there were not many people around and they were in a closed training room.

Hai Tianqing turned red and his smile became even more awkward.

Xia Yan widened her eyes, stretched her legs out, and kicked Jiang Xiao’s buttocks. “Have you seen that much of what the world has to offer?”

“Haven’t I seen it all just now?” Jiang Xiao muttered softly as he untied her shoelaces. He wouldn’t let Husky Xia kick him for nothing.

At this moment, Jiang Xiao was also sweating profusely and shivering vigorously after fighting Xia Yan just now!

Strictly speaking, Xia Yan was no longer teaching Jiang Xiao swordsmanship, but Jiang Xiao was the one training Xia Yan.

Jiang Xiao’s solid basic skills and the occasional fancy tricks that he pulled had indeed shocked Xia Yan, but it also benefited her greatly.

Xia Yan tried her best not to use her physical attributes to attack Jiang Xiao, and she no longer used her Star Techniques either. Instead, she began to fight with him seriously.

Although she was stubborn and she refused to admit that she was “seeking advice”, both she and Jiang Xiao knew what was going on.

“You’re rebelling. How dare you untie my shoelaces? Hurry and tie them back.” Xia Yan chided while shaking her boots.

Me?

Tie your shoelaces?

Are you dreaming?

Jiang Xiao climbed up quickly and looked at Hai Tianqing while ignoring Xia Yan. “Teacher, what is the itinerary like?”

Hai Tianqing unrolled the information sheet and said, “Report to Jiacheng the day after tomorrow and check into the hotel together. The official bus will take you to the competition venue.”

“The day after tomorrow? So soon?” Li Weiyi was shocked. Although he had been mentally prepared for the Second Wasteland Reclamation Competition to begin in early March, it was rather late for them to receive the news just two days before the reporting time. They’re really good at keeping it secret, eh?

“Oh, that’s such a pity,” Jiang Xiao said with pursed lips.

“What’s the matter?” Xia Yan asked curiously.

While speaking, she got up, walked towards Jiang Xiao, and put an arm around his neck.

“If the officials had informed earlier, the school might have allowed us to go to the volcano in advance to train. We’ve missed an opportunity to go on a free tour. Eh? Eh?” Jiang Xiao said, suddenly sensing that something was amiss.

He felt Xia Yan strangling him from behind and moving her waist forward, after which she pressed her arm backward and put Jiang Xiao on the ground slowly yet forcefully.

She placed Jiang Xiao on the ground and set her foot down in front of him, insisting that Jiang Xiao ties her shoelaces. She then looked at Hai Tianqing and asked, “Which day are we setting off?”

“We’ll go on that day. It only takes a little more than two hours to get to Jiacheng from here,” Hai Tianqing said while watching Jiang Xiao tie a dead knot with Xia Yan’s shoelaces.

While hugging Xia Yan’s long legs and taking revenge, Jiang Xiao thought to himself in dismay, What creatures are there in the volcanic Dimensional Space?

Lava Ghouls, Lava Ghoul Witches, Lava Ghoul Generals, and Lava Ghoul Warriors.

The Star Techniques belonging to these guys are basically representative Star Techniques of the Beijiang Province.

The Warrior Star Techniques were Scorch and Flame Arc.

The Rules Star Techniques were Burning Flame and Bursting Flames.

The Medical Star Techniques were Bell and Imprint.

If Green Glow and Endurance were the basic Star Techniques of the Beijiang Province, the ones in the volcanoes would be the cornerstones of the Beijiang Province Star Techniques.

Jiang Xiao’s Bell and Imprint may have come from an Awakened’s Star Bead, but they originated from the Lava Ghoul Witch in the volcanoes.

Both were Silver Quality Star Techniques, and ten Lava Ghoul Star Beads would allow Bell and Imprint to be upgraded to Gold Quality!

The light of Silver Quality Bell can bounce six times. How many times can that of the Gold Quality Bell bounce?

Will the treatment effects for Gold Quality Bell be better?

Will it bounce faster?

Will it be easier to control?

What’s the Gold Quality Imprint like? It may be a Star Technique that has marking effects, but there should be some changes after the upgrading, shouldn’t there?

Lava Ghouls were also relatively rare creatures. If the school could provide them with an opportunity to go on a sponsored trip, Jiang Xiao would have a greater chance of upgrading the quality of his Star Techniques.

Hence, Jiang Xiao found it to be a pity.

Hai Tianqing continued, “You guys will be seeing plenty of familiar faces. The students who took part in the provincial league are basically the elite and outstanding ones from various cities and provinces. They should be joining the Second Wasteland Reclamation Competition this time.”

“Also…” Hai Tianqing looked at Xia Yan smilingly and continued, “You must control your emotions. If nothing goes wrong, Gao Junwei will also participate in the competition, and the Second Wasteland Reclamation Competition prohibits students from fighting. Those who flout the rules will be disqualified. I have to brief Xing Lang and the others in a while too.”

“Hmph.” Xia Yan humphed in disdain and remained silent.

Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue looked at each other silently and remained silent.

It seemed that Hai Tianqing was not too well-informed, because he still didn’t know that Gao Junwei had already died.

They had no idea how Second Last handled Gao Junwei and his mother’s corpses, nor did they know who was standing in for Gao Junwei in Jiangbin High School No. 3.

“As the name suggests, the Second Wasteland Reclamation Competition requires you guys to investigate a Dimensional Space.” Hai Tianqing instructed, still briefing them about the rules. However, they were already familiar with the rules of the competition.

Notably, the competition would only last for three days, and it was an actual competition.

According to the rules, the participating teams must draw a topographic map of the Dimensional Space within the time limit of three days. The distribution of monster populations would also have to be annotated on the map.

A larger and more detailed map would be awarded higher scores.

To Jiang Xiao’s dismay, they would have to refrain from altering the distribution of monsters as far as possible. In other words, they should refrain from killing creatures of other dimensions.

What did Wasteland Reclamation mean?

It meant that they should obtain more basic information in a new Dimensional Space sooner and more comprehensively, without changing any factors as much as possible.

Of course, in the process of exploring the terrain and collecting information, it would be impossible to avoid confrontations and fights with monsters. They could only do their best to minimize the changes and impact on the distribution of monster populations.

The participants would be wearing camera equipment, and any changes made by the students to the Dimensional Spaces would be seen by the referee. They would also eventually become a factor in determining the scores.

Hence, Jiang Xiao’s plan to earn some money was foiled.

Back then, during the competition in the Arsenal, they were granted free entry to the venue and were allowed to sell the Star Beads that they had brought back.

Jiang Xiao planned to talk to his team members and tell them to kill the Lava Ghoul Witches and seize the Star Beads if they were to really encounter any.

Han Jiangxue and Xia Yan would both support him, so there wouldn’t be a problem.

“Ah!” Jiang Xiao was just deep in thought when he heard Xia Yan’s angry voice, after which she raised her right leg abruptly.

Jiang Xiao subconsciously held onto her thigh without letting go…

Under normal circumstances, her boot would definitely fall off, given how much force she was using and how Jiang Xiao was hugging it. However, Jiang Xiao tied a dead knot with her shoelaces.

“Jiang! Xiao! Pi!” Xia Yan stomped her feet in exasperation and hollered. “You rascal, what are you doing!?!”

Jiang Xiao hugged her thigh and swung it in midair. “I’m~ tying~ your~ shoelaces~”

“Do you tie dead knots on all your shoelaces? And a straight row of them?” Xia Yan retorted.

“I’m not tying your shoelaces, but your life. Ahhhh,” Jiang Xiao said while grabbing her shoelaces.

Xia Yan kicked him hard and yelled, “Ah!!”

I’ll kick you and make you fly eight meters away!

Hai Tianqing looked at their bantering and felt rather relaxed because he knew that their team would definitely be at the top if nothing went wrong during the provincial league.

The National High School League was the most important.

That was the real test for the elite and godlike team.

Countless people in Beijiang were looking forward to seeing their results and how much they could improve the ranking of Beijiang Province.

In the past, the people of Beijiang only had the guts to think about a “breakthrough”, but this year, there seemed to be a team that was going to achieve it!