Lyu Jin Yan…
A crisp sound of something hard falling to the ground.
A faintly glowing blue star core fell to the ground, along with several light green and white star cores.
Star cores could be roughly identified by their color.
White was the most common, green was relatively good, and blue… represented rarity.
Someone screamed, “Oh my god, a rare star core really dropped!”
“Not just a rare star core, but many excellent-level star cores have dropped… My god, there are so many star cores this time, three times more than usual!”
This shattered their understanding. For the past ten… no, the past twenty years, every time the Tree Tower had been entered, the data had been recorded…
Firstly, the probability of a rare star core appearing on the first floor was very low—just one in ten times was already considered good.
Of course, even with such a low probability, the children of the Star Magic families flocked to it.
For those below third grade, having a rare star technique could greatly smooth their promotion path.
They could also buy pre-identified star cores, but the rare star techniques they attuned to themselves would grow more significantly.
Even if it only improved by 30%, it was crucial for those noble family members who yearned to be invincible in the same rank.
Secondly, the star core output on the first floor of the Tree Tower had always been stable.
With 20 star plants, they could generally produce four or five star cores.
This already surpassed the yield of the Star Realm by two to three times.
But this time, eight star cores dropped!
One rare-level, three excellent-level, and four ordinary-level.
Not only had the quantity increased, but a rare star core had also dropped…
This harvest alone, in terms of quality, was worth more than the entire year’s worth of previous drops!
At this moment, everyone’s minds echoed with Li Yang’s words—because this is the correct way to use the Tree Tower.
Was she telling the truth?!
Why?
The Star Magic students on-site all had the same strange thought:
Li Yang really knew the Tree Tower, but then a bigger question arose.
Without a doubt, the most shocked was Chu Runxi.
His mind was in chaos, almost unable to think calmly.
A flood of words surged up, but he couldn’t organize them into sentences.
He could only helplessly mutter, “Impossible… how could this be… why…”
Li Yang answered him, “Because, this is the Agronomy Department’s Tree Tower.”
Her plain voice fell, shaking the entire first floor of the Tree Tower.
The ten-person team felt as though they had been struck by lightning.
Li Yang bent down and picked up the star core from the ground. She glanced at the rare star core and immediately received the system prompt:
[Detected unknown star core, would you like to consume lifespan for identification?]
Li Yang’s lips twitched. “You really can do everything, can’t you, System?”
She wasn’t in a hurry to identify it but instead picked up the other cores as well.
The Star Magic students regained their senses.
The first to speak was Ying Qi. She said, “Li Yang, I admit you’re quite strong, but you can’t just make stuff up!”
Li Yang looked at Ying Qi and said: “Whether I’m making things up or not, you can go back and ask your elders.”
Li Yang suddenly smiled and asked her, “Ying Qi, if I’m not talking nonsense, doesn’t that mean you’ve slandered me?”
Ying Qi was clearly quick-tempered and immediately replied, “Impossible! The Tree Tower is a landmark of the Star Magic Department! It was personally set up by the dean in the Star Magic Department, how could it belong to the Agricultural Department?”
Li Yang continued to question her, “If you have slandered me, shouldn’t you apologize?”
Ying Qi: Shen Shangchi stepped forward with a smile and said, “There might be some misunderstanding here, Li Yang, don’t worry, we’ll look into it properly after we get back.”
Saying this, he looked at the star nucleus in Li Yang’s hand and said, “This is the loot from our team, according to the rules…”
Before he could finish, Li Yang picked out four white ordinary star nuclei from the lot and handed them to Shen Shangchi, saying, “These are yours.”
Shen Shangchi’s smile faltered.
He stood there, not moving, and naturally didn’t take the four white star nuclei.
Chu Runxi exploded, saying, “What do you mean by this, Li Yang!”
Li Yang replied, “Oh, didn’t your teacher explain it clearly to you? One of the conditions for you inviting me to the Tree Tower was…”
“What invitation! Who invited you! You clearly used your connections to force your way in…”
“If I hadn’t correctly activated the Tree Tower, would we have collected so many star nuclei this time?”
Chu Runxi fell silent.
The expressions of the others also shifted unpredictably.
Li Yang continued, “One of the conditions is that the loot should be evenly divided according to departments.”
Ying Qi, being straightforward, immediately spoke up, “But you haven’t divided it evenly!”
Shen Shangchi felt a headache coming on.
He realized this was a premeditated trap, and he didn’t want to get involved.
Sure, the rare star nucleus was tempting, but Li Yang wasn’t simple either.
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Before getting to the bottom of things, he didn’t want to offend her… or the powerful figures behind her.
Li Yang said, “There are eight in total, I’ve given you four, this is called an even split.”
Chu Runxi said, “Why should we listen to you? You just brought out the star nuclei, otherwise…”
Li Yang silently activated her Hidden Shadow and smiled lightly, saying, “So this is the Star Magic Department? The older generation monopolizes treasures, the younger generation uses their numbers to bully the few. Oh, wait… Are you, Senior Chu, planning to kill and steal?”
Her voice drifted, and no one could see her position.
Chu Runxi went mad, shouting, “Let’s block the exits and not let her…”
“Enough,” Shen Shangchi stopped Chu Runxi and said, “What does Senior want to do? This isn’t a life-and-death battle. If you hurt a fellow student, you’ll be punished and expelled.”
Chu Runxi jolted, his heated mind finally cooled down.
Ying Qi suddenly turned to Shen Shangchi and asked, “What exactly is the Tree Tower…?”
Shen Shangchi shook his head and softly “shh”-ed.
Their actions made the other students in the group nervous.
…No, no, this isn’t possible…
How could the Tree Tower, the landmark of the Star Magic Department, belong to the little-known Agricultural Department?
Once the seed of doubt was planted, everything started to feel off.
Why is the Tree Tower called the Tree Tower?
It really has a “agricultural” feel to it.
Why did the star plants chase after Li Yang without stopping?
Why did she know the layout of the Tree Tower so well, even though she had never entered the first floor before?
Why did the first floor of the Tree Tower, which normally produces 4-5 ordinary star nuclei, this time produce eight, with one rare star nucleus?
Oh my god, the more they thought about it, the more terrifying it became, and they didn’t dare to breathe loudly.
After calming down, Chu Runxi also broke into a cold sweat and his palms were clammy.
No wonder the teachers repeatedly emphasized… not to let Li Yang take action.
Wasn’t it to ensure she got nothing, but…?
It’s over, Chu Runxi felt like he was done for!
Li Yang was the first to exit the Tree Tower.
More students gathered around the perimeter of the Tree Tower, clearly hearing about Li Yang’s relationship and entrance into the tower, and the news had spread throughout the Star Magic Department.
As soon as Li Yang walked out, everyone turned their complicated gazes toward her.
There were jealous ones, the dissatisfied ones, and those who were speculating darkly…
Only Fang Chuyun was genuinely worried about Li Yang.
She walked up to her and asked, “How is it? Are you hurt?”
“It was close, there were 20 first-grade star plants.”
Li Yang gently said, “I’m fine.”
Fang Chuyun looked her up and down, and after confirming there was no abnormality, she let out a sigh of relief and asked, “How was it? Did you get the star nucleus you wanted?”
Li Yang opened her palm, showing the four star nuclei to Fang Chuyun, and said, “It’s okay, I got a rare star nucleus, but I haven’t identified it yet, so I’m not sure if it’s suitable for me.”
Fang Chuyun: “!”
Her eyes nearly popped out.
Nearby, there were gasps of astonishment, with someone saying, “Oh my god, a rare star nucleus dropped!”
“These guys are incredibly lucky! Out of the four star nuclei they got, one is rare, three are excellent… Did they really just go to the first floor? Maybe they went to the second or third floor!”
At this moment, the rest of the ten-person team started to exit one by one.
Compared to Li Yang, who looked relaxed, even Shen Shangchi and Ying Qi had noticeably changed expressions.
Chu Runxi’s condition was the worst.
His hair was messy, his clothes were torn, and his pale face was filled with fear and despair, completely different from his previously clean and bright demeanor.
The surrounding students were startled, sensing something was off.
Ying Qi walked toward Li Yang, and Shen Shangchi, who had grown up with her, sensed something was wrong but couldn’t stop her…
Ying Qi said to Li Yang, “I will look into this thoroughly, and if the Tree Tower really belongs to the Agricultural Department, I will apologize to you!”
Li Yang: “…”
This girl is so straightforward, she even said it before I could figure out how to approach it.
This effect is much better than me saying it myself.
In an instant, the area around the Tree Tower fell completely silent.
The students who had gathered to watch the spectacle were stunned by the shocking news.
What?
The Tree Tower belongs to who?
Many people wondered if they had heard it wrong.
Li Yang didn’t miss this opportunity. She spoke clearly, enough to reach everyone:
“I only found out after joining the Agricultural Department. My teacher is peaceful, reserved, and doesn’t care about worldly matters. She has been in seclusion at the Agricultural Department for years. Only when I joined the Agricultural Department did she notice that I didn’t even have a decent star skill and remembered the Tree Tower… That’s when I learned that this landmark of the Star Magic Department was actually a treasure created by the predecessors of the Agricultural Department, to help their successors train.”
Every word was powerful, echoing through the crowd.
It was enough to keep the students of the Star Magic Department awake all night.
Among the crowd, there were not only students from the Star Magic Department, but also from the Spirit System and Alchemy Department.
They were all near Moonlight Square and had heard the wind and came to watch.
The fact that an outsider entered the Tree Tower had made them envious.
If they could just use their connections, they would also want to try.
Unexpectedly, this “connection holder” turned out to be the original owner.
The Tree Tower of the Star Magic Department actually belongs to the Agricultural Department?!
“Oh my god!”
A disheveled boy from the Alchemy Department exclaimed, “This gossip is crazy!”
A girl from the Divine System, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, joined in and said in a seductive tone, “They always say the Star Magic Department is dignified and proper, but it turns out they’re just ‘standing’ on someone else’s treasure and ‘keeping quiet’ about it.”
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