“Well, well, well, isn’t this my adorable junior sister?”
As their relationship grew more familiar, Li Qinyue shed her initial reserved demeanor.
“Are you wearing the clothes I bought you properly?”
She scrutinized the outfit Huang Xiu wore.
“Oh, this isn’t what I bought you. Could it be that Junior Sister Xiu can now buy her own clothes?”
‘What a high-level psychological attack! But I’m no longer the Huang Xiu who used to blush at the slightest provocation!’
Huang Xiu took a deep breath to compose herself, then replied, “My mother bought these for me.”
This was the fifth lesson in her fifteen-day hellish summer training.
Its name: Shopping for women’s clothing!
According to her mother’s instructions, she was to cultivate herself into a qualified young woman for her Awakening Period, capable of shopping alone with excellent fashion sense and aesthetic judgment.
“Oh, so your mother bought them.”
Li Qinyue waved her hand dismissively, a hint of disappointment on her face. “Alright, no more chatting. Hand over your ID card and admission notices!”
Huang Xiu retrieved both the black and red admission notices from her backpack, along with her ID card, and passed them over.
However, Li Qinyue only took the black one, not even glancing at the ID card.
She unfolded the black notice, aligning the school emblem inside with the flat surface of the spherical machine before pressing it down.
Buzz!
The spherical machine vibrated slightly.
Starting from where the emblem touched the sphere, white patterns flowed in a complete circle around its surface.
Huang Xiu watched the sphere’s transformation intently when Senior Sister Li Qinyue suddenly spoke again. “Give me your hand.”
She obediently extended her right hand.
The golden bracelet on her wrist jingled with the movement.
“My, my, Junior Sister Xiu is even wearing a bracelet now?” Li Qinyue teased, her eyes narrowing playfully.
“This is my family’s…”
Huang Xiu’s words were cut short by a sudden, sharp sting in her right hand.
“Ow!”
She instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but Li Qinyue held her pale wrist firmly.
She looked up to see the woman behind the desk holding a small blue lancet, similar to those used for blood glucose tests.
“Don’t move,” Li Qinyue said softly.
She gently clasped Huang Xiu’s small hand, turning it over.
Red, agate-like blood dripped by gravity onto a small jade card lying on the table.
The moment they made contact, ripples like water spread across the card’s surface.
A faint red light ignited within the card, only to swiftly dim.
“There!” She picked up a cotton swab and pressed it against the wound on Huang Xiu’s hand. “Hold this yourself!”
Huang Xiu nodded, her eyes welling with a faint mist of tears from the sudden, intense pain.
Though she often inflicted cuts upon herself to use her ability, which had increased her pain tolerance, there was a vast difference between a prepared cut and an unexpected stab.
Li Qinyue placed the jade card on the surface of the spherical machine, tapped it, and then handed it over.
“Take this back and stick it to the back of your campus card.”
With that, she waved her hand, signaling for Huang Xiu to leave.
Huang Xiu tucked the jade card into her pocket, and as she walked out, she re-stuffed the admission notices into her backpack.
It seemed the truly important items for registration were not the ID card, but the admission notices and one’s own blood.
‘So, these two things must be proof of my identity?’ she mused, making a wild guess.
Stepping out of the building, she rejoined the end of the registration line.
Huang Xiu had originally been at the very end of the queue, and once her turn was complete, it effectively marked the end of registration.
The new students were now arranged in two rows, led by volunteer senior students toward their dormitories to rest.
‘This is so strange!’
‘Even if this university is special, there’s no need to lead us around like we’re prisoners being transported!’
This method of escort struck Huang Xiu as particularly odd.
Huang Xiu followed the procession through the campus for nearly twenty minutes, yet there was no sign of the dormitories.
Fortunately, everyone was an Awakened individual, so despite carrying numerous bags, no one displayed any signs of fatigue.
The excitement of nearing their dorms left them no time to feel weary.
“Almost there!” Zhuang Han, the burly leader at the front, who seemed to hold some official position, suddenly announced.
This statement wasn’t intended for the new students.
Before they could even respond, the volunteer senior students surrounding the group all nodded in unison.
“Understood!”
Most of the senior students maintained stern expressions, yet Huang Xiu could discern a flicker of eager excitement in their eyes.
‘Something is about to happen!’
Huang Xiu realized this inwardly. She glanced around, noticing that many other new students had also picked up on the anomaly.
After all, this was a place that gathered Awakened geniuses from across the nation.
Few among them were truly foolish.
Even those with powerful talents but lacking wisdom were akin to children wielding guns; passing the re-examination would have been exceedingly difficult for them.
Despite knowing that Tiandu University was safe and unlikely to encounter accidents, Huang Xiu secretly heightened her vigilance.
A minute passed, then two… The procession continued its forward march.
The friction of luggage wheels against the ground, interwoven with the soft shuffle of footsteps, was clearly audible.
The sun had completely set.
The moon hung high in the sky, casting a pristine veil of white moonlight over the ground, creating a hazy, ethereal atmosphere.
Buildings lined the roadside, one after another, showcasing a multitude of architectural styles.
It was as if this place was a miniature city, a confluence of global architectural aesthetics.
As they passed a Western-style mansion, the streetlights flickered erratically, as if suffering from a loose connection.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!
The orange-yellow light wavered like a candle flame caught in a breeze.
‘No way!’ Huang Xiu suddenly realized something profound.
She looked up in shock, noting the excited expressions on the faces of the volunteer senior students.
The world seemed to recede, all ambient noise fading away. The cicadas of summer were nowhere to be heard.
The crisp chirping of birds vanished entirely.
Her body began to feel invigorated, and a sudden surge of waves erupted across the silver-white ocean of Void Energy within her!
The rotation speed of her ability core subtly increased by two points.
Huang Xin closed her eyes slightly, perceiving the pervasive presence of Void Energy in the breeze that blew from an unknown direction.
The Void Energy here was abnormally active! The concentration of Void Energy in the air here far surpassed that of the Present World!
This place—was a Touchpoint!
A Touchpoint actually existed within Tiandu University!
“They’re here!” Zhuang Han suddenly exclaimed. By now, nearly all the new students had detected the anomaly.
The Void Energy concentration here was abnormal!
While not everyone had experienced entering a Touchpoint before, they knew that places rich in Void Energy were never benign.
‘So… they’re here? Who’s here?’
‘Are Void Realm monsters here?’
‘Why would there be Void Realm monsters at Tiandu University?’
‘Is this a test? Or an accident?’
Their young minds were filled with questions, and they nervously looked around, shaking their heads.
But in the distance, there was only a profound darkness; nothing could be seen.
At that moment, Chi Xue, standing beside Huang Xin, closed her eyes and employed the technique she had learned during the re-examination—Void Energy Perception.
Her action prompted many surrounding new students to follow suit, and they, too, closed their eyes.
Even Zhang Xiao, who had been at the bottom of the ranks, closed his eyes.
Void Energy Perception was not a particularly complex technique; any Awakened individual could master it after a period of training.
However, remembering to use Void Energy Perception in a timely manner was a testament to one’s combat readiness and talent.
“These new students aren’t bad,” Zhuang Han remarked, the corners of his mouth curving slightly.
Yet, he quickly noticed something.
Not everyone had closed their eyes; one new student still stood with arms crossed.