Vol-3: 098. Returning to School

098. Returning to School

However, Li Aozi severely underestimated his influence.

The scholarship association members had practically turned Li Aozi into a myth. As soon as he entered the group chat, he was showered with congratulations and warm welcomes. With such enthusiastic invitations, Li Aozi decided to join them for a gathering, indulging in a feast at a countryside restaurant.

"Look! This is the boss of our scholarship association!"

Li Aozi's old friend Cardife introduced him to others in an exaggerated manner:

"Although Brother Leoz has a common name, he's a once-in-a-millennium genius from Blue Chrysanthemum Village! With him here, we all benefit. This time, our exam scores were exceptionally good!"

Cardife continued to boast endlessly, calling Li Aozi "a role model for our generation," "the pride of civilization," "the light of tomorrow," and even "a national hero."

"You're overpraising me. I'm not that remarkable," Li Aozi said modestly, feeling a bit guilty. "I'm really not that great; it was the examiners who recognized me, and most importantly, everyone helped me lighten my load, allowing me to perform without any reservations. I couldn't have done it without each member of the scholarship association."

"Exactly! It's all thanks to the scholarship association!"

Miti chimed in with a smile:

"Now, every scholarship association member says to people, 'You think your kid is impressive? Well, do you know Leoz? He handed in his exam in five minutes and got admitted as a special recruit by Crystal Tower's Directly Affiliated Magic University. He and I are in the same study group.'"

To Li Aozi's surprise, none of the scholarship association members showed any jealousy towards his achievements.

On one hand, as part of an interstellar civilization, the average quality of Crystal Tower's citizens was relatively high. Unlike back on Azure Star, where people would deceive and even assassinate each other for a graduate school spot;

On the other hand, the scholarship association members had all benefited from Li Aozi's presence.

In truth, Li Aozi's success was a powerful confidence boost for the entire scholarship association. The shared experience of studying and living together gave others the mindset that if Leoz could do it, then they weren't far behind.

This boosted everyone's confidence, and out of the first group of 27 members, all passed their exams, with a 30% university acceptance rate!

Several of them even performed exceptionally well, including a girl named Bettina Sidi, who got accepted to Trivira University at the same level as Li Aozi.

Li Aozi was not surprised by this result. Anyone who had taken the magic aptitude exam would understand how much impact determination had on the results. The sheer number of questions and the length of the test were enough to eliminate 90% of people on psychological grounds alone.

The group learning and mutual support model of the scholarship association helped relieve the psychological burden of battling the exam alone. Overcoming that pressure naturally led to better performance.

This straightforward and effective promotional approach led to the scholarship association gaining 120 new members in just one week. Many retakers who joined also felt the positive impact.

While the scholarship association didn't necessarily improve their knowledge base, the support services and mutual care reduced their stress significantly, allowing them to perform to their full potential.

You might say this doesn't increase knowledge? Silly child, exams are only about scores.

No matter why their scores improved, Miti and the others only publicized that "our scores went up"—and that was enough.

Hearing Miti and Cardife say these things, Li Aozi was torn between amusement and exasperation.

He wasn't planning on turning the association into an economic organization or charging fees, so when Miti asked about the next steps, Li Aozi remained vague, letting them decide amongst themselves.

However, to Li Aozi, the scholarship association had also become a rather good intelligence network. With magic apprentices from different majors and cities, it was easy for him to gather information.

Of course, he took the opportunity to clarify a bit of a "rumor."

"Everyone's mistaken. I wasn't admitted to the Crystal Tower's Directly Affiliated Magic University."

Oh?

Under everyone's puzzled gaze, Li Aozi explained:

"I got a direct entry to White Candle Interstellar University."

Hiss—

Everyone stood in awe.

As the saying goes: the sky is high, and the emperor is far, but the village chief is right here.

To the scholarship association members, who were all locals, they didn't quite understand what Crystal Tower's Directly Affiliated University meant, but they had great respect for White Candle Star's top university.

Li Aozi's explanation only deepened the respect the scholarship association members already had for him. Especially for the new members, they now looked at Li Aozi as if he were the principal himself—full of reverence.

The gathering was a lot of fun. Li Aozi hadn't enjoyed himself so thoroughly in a long time. Compared to the people of Azure Star, the Tanasian Humans, being a magical species, were more inclined towards lively and passionate singing and dancing, with fewer rigid rules. Some even cried at the gathering, overwhelmed that their hard work had finally paid off.

Li Aozi realized that human happiness is quite simple: it's about getting rewards for one's labor, nothing more.

Maybe after spending so much time in the complex and harsh environments of Azure Star and Star Abyss, Li Aozi found himself reflecting on these simple and pure joys.

If Nomi and Qiu Ran were still alive, they probably would have sought out this kind of life too.

After the festivities, Li Aozi had a brief chat with Cardife and Miti about future development before taking the magic rail back to the university.

As a student of a prestigious university, Li Aozi enjoyed free perks. The sightseeing and attractions along the way were free, providing his battle-worn spirit with some much-needed solace and rejuvenation.

Unfortunately, Li Aozi knew that such a peaceful life was not destined to last.

On the way back to school, Li Aozi continued remote-managing Faithkeep Village, enhancing its development through player productivity and guiding more Red Arrows to convert into [Mutants] via the white obelisk.

What the Abyss Humanitarian Organization failed to do, Li Aozi not only accomplished effortlessly but also improved and popularized.

The Red Arrow Empire hadn't yet noticed that hundreds of [Mutants] had appeared among the hundreds of thousands in Elga City. Given time, [Mutants] would become the city's most common extraordinary profession.

The Omega Energy awakened through the white obelisk that Li Aozi set was [Gravity], a prerequisite for advancing to [Echoer]. Moreover, its level of harm was relatively low. Controlling gravity required extensive practice, which automatically filtered out many people.

If he were to directly awaken the residents with Omega Energies like [Natural Ignition]—that would be great: "Strengthen the Red Arrows, set something on fire every day."

[Gravity] was also quite suitable for productive labor. For elderly residents, having reduced mobility and weakened immune systems, prosthetic implants could lead to rejection reactions and be life-threatening.

[Gravity], in the civilian sector, could be used for mining, heavy lifting, rescue, flight, and working at heights. With it, there's practically no risk of falling. As long as the elderly didn't suffer falls, they generally wouldn't have major health problems. This alone was a major draw.

Using it in combat and mobility as Li Aozi did—even professional players barely managed such feats. Most people would count themselves lucky if they could master the gravitational slingshot effect to throw stones.

A longer study period was intentional on Li Aozi's part. It promoted cohesion among path followers, establishing a mentor-apprentice structure, which is the most fundamental form of order and etiquette. Teaching people to obtain and use [Gravity] could become a business in Elga City.

Everything is about money. Li Aozi watched the donations accumulating in the offering pool and nodded in satisfaction.

Once N4 from Abyss Heavy Industries settles in Elga City, the [Mutant] path will undergo a transformation.

This time, Li Aozi was planning something big.

The Abyss Professor had gone down the wrong path, limited by the era, but Li Aozi had no such limitations. With the path architecture in his hands, he would push the [Domination] path into the mainstream.

If the professor were still alive, Li Aozi felt he should say, "Watch carefully—Omega Energy can bring Yasashii and Smiru's Chikara to humanity!"

Setting aside the fact that the local population of Elga City was too small, Li Aozi still believed that the future held great promise.

As for the open-beta players, Li Aozi wasn't planning on letting them go either. The path structures in Elga City would attract a group of people, and once these White Candle Star players achieved something, Li Aozi could justifiably reveal the truth of the paths and have them spread the message.

By then, the players from Azure Star would realize: there's actually a way to ascend to godhood on Azure Star, and now they must save their homeland.

These professional players were Li Aozi's focus for training, but ordinary players represented the larger market, and Li Aozi couldn't give up on them. Though their individual purchasing power was low, and the experience they provided was minimal, collectively, just renting out Omega Energy could generate substantial revenue.

For now, however, Li Aozi could only remotely assign tasks, relying on Abyss Heavy Industries' N4 and Elga City's path followers to find ways to rent Omega Energy to players. Fortunately, the Omega Energy potion formulas had already spread. Within six months at most, Li Aozi expected to reap the tangible benefits of increased [Mutant] numbers.

In unseen corners, Li Aozi's influence was steadily expanding.

......

June 1st marked the beginning of the new semester at White Candle Interstellar University. Unlike Azure Star, magic schools only had spring breaks—one to two months off each year. Apart from National Day and Progress Day, there was just one day off each month.

This was tied to the unique workshop system of magical civilizations. Mages themselves were the most fundamental labor force and producers, and even students were no exception.

Magic university wasn't entirely an academic pursuit; nearly every student had to complete 1,000 hours of workshop labor to qualify for graduation.

However, White Candle Interstellar University, where Li Aozi studied, was different. The workshop ratio was quite low, and the curriculum was more academically inclined, with fewer practical classes.

"Be an ordinary person and truly experience university life."

Although Li Aozi had moved into a single dorm early, he still joined the crowd entering from the main gate to fulfill Qiu Ran's last wish. He deliberately took photos left and right, pretending it was his first time here, really savoring the experience.

The members of the Education Committee responsible for monitoring from afar nodded approvingly when they saw this scene. It seemed that Leoz understood what was expected of him. Living a relaxed and natural campus life kept everyone satisfied.

The monitors, seeing Li Aozi acting like a typical newcomer with nothing unusual, also felt bored and left their post to report back.

Unaware of the monitors, Li Aozi grew tired of standing in the queue with the crowd and wandered off.

The campus, honestly, was quite large. Uphill and downhill, with mountains, forests, and swamps everywhere. After a while, even Li Aozi felt a bit tired, so he found a random spot to sit and watch the ducks splashing and fighting in the central lake.

"Hey, are you a freshman?"

Suddenly, Li Aozi heard a female voice calling out to him.

He turned his head and saw a Tanasian Human girl with a purple ponytail. Seeing Li Aozi turn, her eyes lit up, "Whoa, a beauty!"

Li Aozi stayed silent for a moment, but the girl instantly flashed over to him as if teleporting, handing him a small card:

"Hey, handsome, I think you've got talent. Join our club! We have tons of activities to ensure you meet your annual practice requirements!"

"Which club is this..."

Li Aozi looked down and saw three large characters on the card:

Alchemy Society.