Translated by: pokka

  Editor: Reckeva

  From the outside, the Ethereal Pavilion looked just huge, but never had he imagined that the decoration within would be so luxurious!

  Everywhere that met the eye was glittering with jade and gold, and the walls and pillars had fine carvings that at first glance were obviously done by great masters. Moreover, all the counters were crafted from Goldvein Zhennan wood. The top of the hall had no dead angles, and under the illumination of Origin Stone ceiling lamps, there wasn’t a single place in the hall that wasn’t sparkling.

  Moreover, it wasn’t just the building that caused one to exclaim in admiration, even the workers in the Ethereal Pavilion were dressed luxuriously. Unlike other small stores, they didn’t hire students of the academy here, and every single worker had been trained by the Ethereal Pavilion itself, causing their dressing, movements, tone, expressions, and everything else to seem as if they were cloned.

  There were at least a few hundred students moving about in the hall on the first floor, but it didn’t seem crowded at all, vividly displaying the vastness of the Ethereal Pavilion.

  After all, land was like gold in Starnet Academy, and even a tiny store was sufficient to cause Fang Ye’s clan, the Brightmoon Merchant Group, to exhaust a great deal of resources.

  So, the wealth of the Ethereal Pavilion wasn’t just talk.

  “It’s really shocking right? I felt the same way when I came here for the first time as well. Sometimes, if you don’t come out to see the world, you would really not know how wonderful this world is.” Xue Ying’s voice sounded out by Bai Xiaofei’s side, drawing back Bai Xiaofei’s wandering soul.

  “This Ethereal Pavilion belongs to the academy?” Bai Xiaofei gulped down a mouthful of saliva, and his voice carried a trace of yearning. But he could only feel yearning for now because besides how Bai Xiaofei felt despair and powerless towards it all, his current financial strength was incapable of doing anything. Even if there were a thousand more Blossom Rankings to help him bring in wealth, it would be utterly useless.

  “The academy wishes it was theirs as well. But the academy really doesn’t have that strength, nor does it have that much spare money to be used on this.” Xue Ying paused for a moment before she continued. “The Ethereal Pavilion has chain stores all over the north of the continent. Supposedly, the Ethereal Pavilion in Starnet Academy is considered to be small in scale, and in terms of the Ethereal Pavilion as a whole, what you’re seeing is only a single hair on the back of an ox.

  “But this is normal. After all, standing behind the Ethereal Pavilion is the Ethereal Empire, and it’s a formidable empire renowned across the continent for its technique in crafting puppets. If they weren’t rich, then I really don’t know who would be rich.”


  As soon as she finished speaking, Bai Xiaofei couldn’t help being stunned.

  He knew of the Ethereal Empire because he had, after all, taken classes on the history of the continent for almost a month. So no matter how much he slacked off during class, it wouldn’t be to the point of not knowing this empire.

  The Infinite Mountain Range separated Starnet Continent into a northern and southern part, and there was only the Violethorn Empire, Ethereal Empire, Cloudveil Empire, and Moonlight Empire among the kingdoms that could be called empires in the north. Moreover, each of them had their own distinguishing characteristics.

  Moonlight was renowned in treatment, Violethorn possessed supreme strength, Cloudveil was the richest in ores, and the Ethereal was a kingdom of puppet crafting. Basically 80% of all the outstanding Puppetsmiths in the continent were in the Ethereal Kingdom.

  “Let’s go. Stop being shocked, we still have to get all of your abilities in puppet control tested because you never know if some of you might not be able to control a second puppet.” Xue Ying interrupted Bai Xiaofei’s shock and led the group towards a corner of the hall.

  But, even though it was said to be a corner, it was actually an area that was swarming with people.

  “Teacher Xue Ying! You brought students to get tested as well?!” All of them had just walked over to the testing area when a pleasantly surprised voice of a man instantly sounded, and then Bai Xiaofei and the others saw a man in glasses who had a gentle expression.

  Huang Tianhua, a head teacher of a new student class just like Xue Ying. He was an Energy Stream puppet master who had been pursuing Xue Ying endlessly for an entire month.

  Unfortunately, Xue Ying had no interest in him.

  But even though she had no interest in him, she still had to observe basic courtesy.

  “Good morning, Teacher Huang. I’m sorry, but our Big Sister Xue’s throat isn’t well lately, so it’s inconvenient for her to talk with you.” Before Xue Ying, whose face was covered in refusal, could speak, Bai Xiaofei took a step forward and fervently stopped Huang Tianhua. Bai Xiaofei knew very clearly what Huang Tianhua had come for, so he naturally wouldn’t allow Huang Tianhua to get close.

  Bai Xiaofei’s reaction caused Xue Ying to feel very good, and a trace of a smile appeared imperceptibly at the corners of her mouth.

  “Xiaofei, I heard you caused a great commotion lately. Sure enough, heroes start from a young age. I can’t compare to you when I was your age.” As he smiled sheepishly, Huang Tianhua, who’d been stopped by Bai Xiaofei, was rather polite to him, and the students behind Huang Tianhua were extremely excited upon noticing Bai Xiaofei.

  “Boss Bai! Boss Fang!” Four new students Bai Xiaofei didn’t know instantly ran over before greeting them excitedly. To the new students, he and Fang Ye had already become legendary existences, and it was simply like a type of honor to be able to talk to Bai Xiaofei and Fang Ye.

  “Did both of you come to choose puppets as well!? Our members are at the front; we’ll ask them to give you their spots!” The new students spoke excitedly while the nearby Huang Tianhua’s face turned dark.

  Not only does Xue Ying disregard me, what’s the meaning of these little kid’s actions? Could it be that this kid is even more important than your head teacher? Huang Tianhua gritted his teeth and blamed Bai Xiaofei for this too.

  “There’s no need, there’s no need. We’ll just line up slowly.” Bai Xiaofei hurriedly waved his hand. Bai Xiaofei was speaking sincerely this time. In truth, he had established the New Student Mutual Aid Community at that time entirely for the sake of earning money. At the very most, it would also be for the sake of gaining popularity for himself. But he never expected that the popularity he gathered would be a little too much……

  Simply speaking, Bai Xiaofei wasn’t the slightest bit prepared to be the boss of so many people……

  “That won’t do! How could we make our boss line up!?” the student in the lead said before immediately running over to the front with his fellow classmates. He roared, “Boss Bai has come to test himself! Are there any brothers in the front who will give their spot to Boss Bai?”


  Bai Xiaofei didn’t even have the chance to stop him before the student’s voice had spread out and caused everyone to instinctively turn around and look over.

  After that, at least a third of the people in the long line began surrounding him.

  “What the f*ck! It’s really Boss Bai!”


  “Boss Fang is here as well!”


  “I’ve finally seen them in the flesh!”


  “Boss, give me a signature!!!”


  “Boss, please take me under your wing!!!”
……

  Various sounds of excitement resounded, causing the test area that wasn’t so quiet to instantly become like a market.

  “All of you f*cking quiet down!!! Do you think this is your home!!?” A deep voice resounded, instantly suppressing everyone’s voices and making the originally clamorous test area perfectly silent.

  Subsequently, a third-year student with a physique similar to an Earth Dire Bear walked over. On his chest, the symbol of the Gods Amongst Men displayed his identity.

  “New student, I’ve heard about you. You’re Bai Xiaofei, right? Let me give you a piece of advice, don’t be too arrogant because those pieces of trash you encountered earlier can’t represent everyone in the higher years. Do you understand what I mean?” the senior said in a cold voice. His face, which originally looked strict, looked even more awe inspiring now.

  Furthermore, his arrival caused the hearts of everyone to tremble.

  57th on the Combat Ranking, Rock Soul, Xiong Cheng!