When it comes to adding fuel to the fire, it’s best when it’s from your own side!
Li Yang wasn’t mistaken— the Star Law system wasn’t a unified whole, and certainly not a one-man show of Shen Binghua.
The Shen family and the Ying family were both part of the Star Law system, with intertwined marriages and constant competition for the limited resources that existed.
Take the Tree Tower, for instance.
Even though the Ying family had provided a large amount of maintenance materials over the years, the Ying family disciples had always been fewer than those from the Shen family, as Shen Binghua was the one who brought the Tree Tower back.
Now that Li Yang had caused a stir, the Ying family had benefited.
They didn’t care whose system the Tree Tower belonged to.
These grandmasters wouldn’t start a conflict over a seventh-tier treasure. After all, this truly belonged to the Natural system.
Now that someone had gained the inheritance, it was only natural for them to reclaim their treasure.
The Natural system might have declined, but they still couldn’t let people’s spirits be crushed.
Old Lady Ying was clear in her heart— did she really think Si Kui had a good temper?
She was guarding a nine-tier Lotus Heart!
Once absorbed, it could instantly advance to the ninth-tier supreme!
There was bound to be a reckoning.
As soon as Ying Qi’s post was published, Shen Binghua slammed her desk in anger.
However, no amount of rage could change the established facts.
She lost.
Lost to an 18-year-old child.
At that moment, an elderly voice sounded in Shen Binghua’s spiritual world:
“Binghua, it’s time to return the Tree Tower to the Agricultural Science Department.”
The Vice-Principal had spoken.
Shen Binghua knew the situation was beyond recovery.
She lowered her eyes and responded respectfully, “The student understands.”
The forum was still in chaos.
Such a huge scandal within the Star Law system— everyone was watching.
Li Yang, however, no longer paid attention.
The return of the Tree Tower had become a certainty, and she had many other things to do!
Had the Star Core been identified?
Had her star skills been improved?
And if she didn’t spend some more lifespan, where would she store her 600 years tomorrow?
But what worried her most was the advancement to second-tier!
Li Yang returned to her courtyard at the foot of the mountain and began examining the blue Star Core in her east wing room.
What kind of star skill would it have?
Her mind was consumed with thoughts of an invincible Solar Shield.
The Binding of the Willow God would also be great, but with Li Yang’s personality, she would prioritize defense first and offense second.
It didn’t matter if she couldn’t kill her opponent.
What was important was that she couldn’t be killed.
“Defense… defense…”
Li Yang silently prayed, “Even if it’s not the invincible Solar Shield, I’ll settle for a smaller invincible shield!”
Li Yang searched through a lot of information about Star Cores in the school app and learned that the star skills of a Star Core would not be limited by the body it came from.
For example, although the Star Plant that dropped this Star Core had only three star skills, the Star Core it dropped could have different star skills.
There were some general rules, like Star Plants tending to be wood, earth, and light-based, while Star Beasts were more fire, water, and metal-based.
This was a rough classification, and many star skills were mixed between different elements, while others didn’t fit into any category at all.
Li Yang took a deep breath and began the identification process.
“Consumes one year of lifespan.”
[You have no identification talent, after identifying the blue Star Core for a year, there is no progress. The identification result is: Failure.]
Li Yang was used to this.
Now that she had more lifespan, she casually said: “Ten years.”
The system still gave her the same response.
Li Yang realized something was off.
Could it be that she had to start with lower-tier Star Cores?
Just like how she needed some refining experience to purify pills, maybe she should begin with something easier.
Li Yang still had three green Star Cores left.
She murmured, “I should’ve kept a white one.”
At her current level, starting with white was the best choice.
But she was too lazy to buy one from the trading post and decided to go all-in.
Tomorrow she would have 600 years of life, so why waste the limited lifespan?
“Consumes ten years.”
[Identification result: Success.]
You spent ten years identifying a Star Core that no one would pick up even if thrown by the side of the road, triggering the ‘Fool’s Blessing’ effect.
Li Yang: “………..Fine, fine, wait until I have a higher realm, I’ll definitely beat this system up!”
The Star Core had slightly changed. Although it was still green, it no longer appeared fixed, with water-like ripples undulating on its surface.
This identified Star Core, if she used her mental power to sense it, she could see its attributes.
Star Skill Name: Earth Spike.
Star Skill Description: Consumes Star Radiance to release Earth Spikes.
The description was rather simple.
Li Yang wasn’t interested in this Earth Spike.
She had seen it used by a Star Plant in battle before. The release speed was slow, and with higher physical strength, it was easy to dodge.
Li Yang spent another twenty years identifying the other two green Star Cores.
One of them, “Light Blade,” was actually worth learning.
The other was similarly useless like the Earth Spike.
Li Yang currently only had four Star Pores, and each Star Skill took up one pore. So, she could only learn four.
The advantage was that she could forget skills at any time.
If she learned better ones, she could replace weaker ones.
After finishing the green Star Cores, Li Yang turned to the blue Star Core.
The system was still uncooperative, but after she persisted for 50 years, it finally changed its tone:
“You have gained some identification experience, but this Star Core still exceeds your feeble abilities. Identification result: Failure.”
Li Yang muttered angrily:
“You think I have too much lifespan and are just inflating the price, huh?!”
The system remained silent, just continuing to demand more life.
After sacrificing another hundred years, Li Yang started to feel the pain, but the system finally gave in:
[Although you have no identification talent, your incredible patience has allowed you to succeed after sacrificing a hundred times more effort than an ordinary person.]
Li Yang calmed her breathing and focused on the blue Star Core.
Using her mental power to sense it, she saw the description of the Star Core.
Star Skill Name: Face Matters, Tree Bark Matters.
Star Skill Description: Defensive Star Skill.
Consumes Star Radiance to form a protective shield like tree bark. It is lightweight, low-key, and has good flexibility, making it a must-have for home travel or shady business.
Note: If you don’t care about your face, you’ll be invincible.
Li Yang: “What kind of unorthodox star skill is this!”
Si Kui’s voice echoed: “Did you identify it?”
Li Yang:
Si Kui appeared in the east wing room and said: “Let me take a look.”
Li Yang explained: “Teacher, I didn’t name this…”
Si Kui glanced at her and said: “For a Star Skill that hasn’t been named yet, it should at least be golden. A blue one like this should’ve…”
She paused, clearly having noticed the name of the skill.
Li Yang seriously said: “This star skill isn’t great, it probably doesn’t match with me well, I think…”
Si Kui tapped the blue Star Core and then Li Yang’s heart, connecting two Star Radiance lines, which aligned perfectly.
Si Kui said: “The match rate is at least 80%.”
Si Kui’s eyes held a smile:
“Understand it well. Although it’s a low-tier skill, you are still in the first-tier. You can only master blue skills for now.”
Li Yang had no choice but to listen to her teacher.
She could only try to comprehend the skill.
Si Kui looked at the other two green Star Cores and said:
“Since you can forget skills so easily… then you might as well learn these two as well. One is Light Blade, and the other is Wood Shield.”
Li Yang was quite surprised and asked:
“Teacher, I already have… um, Tree Bark. Do I really need Wood Shield?”
Si Kui said: “Earth Spike isn’t very useful, just for show. Wood Shield may not be much either, but it can help block…” She paused, clearly also reluctant to say “Tree Bark.”
Li Yang understood:
“I get it now. During a fight, I can first use Wood Shield, making my opponent think it’s my only defense. Once they break the shield and let their guard down, I can use Tree Bark to block their attack and then strike back with Light Blade!”
The power of the Light Blade increased with distance.
Si Kui nodded: “It’s a somewhat decent combo. Once you get better star skills, you can replace them all.”
These star skills, including Shadow Cloak and Tree Bark, were not good enough to impress Si Kui.
But Li Yang could only make do with them at the first-tier.
She couldn’t learn better skills yet.
Li Yang spent a long time refining and improving her skills.
Light Blade and Wood Shield reached up to the 2nd tier.
Shadow Cloak and Tree Bark could reach the 3rd tier, but leveling them up to that level was too costly.
If it wasn’t for Li Yang’s lifespan limit, she wouldn’t have pushed so hard.
The good news was, with these two 3rd-tier skills, Li Yang felt confident she could protect herself against second-tier opponents, and even third-tier ones.
By dawn, Li Yang looked at the remaining 200 years of lifespan and couldn’t help but murmur:
“Who would actually spend a thousand years at the first-tier? That’s a real oddity.”
Deep in the mountain cave, a nine-tier Lotus Heart trembled slightly.
A thousand years… first-tier…
It was touched.
Si Kui suddenly opened her eyes and strode toward the cave, a tremendous pressure falling from above.
The nine-tier Lotus Heart, sealed in an ice crystal coffin, remained unmoved.
“Was it just an illusion?”
Si Kui stared at it for a long time, but sensed nothing more.