Outside the medical room's floor-to-ceiling window, Luo Tianxing was chatting and laughing with several people who had come to congratulate him.
The usually dignified family head was now beaming, gesturing wildly as he re-enacted the moment the seven Star Power appeared on the arena.
“See that? Just that angle!” He traced a Star Power trajectory in the air, “A standard Luo Family ability—Star Control!”
Su Wan passed by the corridor, carrying an energy drink, and gave a light cough upon hearing him: “Tianxing, rein it in.” But she couldn't hide the smile at the corner of her mouth.
The soft light of healing emanated from her fingertips, gently brushing over her husband’s nape—an old injury there was throbbing, resonating with overly excited Star Power.
Inside the medical room, Lin Xiaoyu giggled from where she was peeking through the observation window: “Uncle Luo looks like a different person today.”
“So noisy…” Luo Qingxue buried her face in her pillow, but her earlobes were transparently red.
She had never seen her father so uncomposed, nor had she expected that brief Star Power awakening to make him so happy.
Su Wan pushed the door open, the tray in her hand holding two specially prepared energy drinks.
The light blue one was handed to Lin Xiaoyu, while the one shimmering with starlight was placed on her daughter’s bedside table.
“Slight muscle tissue tearing, and seventeen burns in the energy channels.” She gently tapped her daughter’s brow, and the healing light seeped in like flowing water, “Next time, don’t directly take a frontal impact from a Metal-type ability.”
Lin Xiaoyu sipped her energy drink, then suddenly widened her eyes: “Wow! This taste…”
“I added arctic blueberries,” Su Wan blinked, “You said you liked them last time.”
As the healing light swept over Lin Xiaoyu’s arm, she suddenly whispered, “Auntie Su… did I really make it into the top hundred?”
“Silly child.” Su Wan ruffled her bangs, “You’ve already created a miracle.” Her fingertips gently brushed below the girl’s collarbone—a faint, star-shaped light spot flashed there and disappeared.
After Su Wan left, Luo Qingxue poked her terminal: “Yun Feng, why does my Star Power feel different from Xiaoyu’s?”
I explained: 【Differences in ability systems. Even if both are Star-type, their focus is different. The Luo Family belongs to the Control faction, while Xiaoyu’s is currently uncertain!】
“Showing off your professional knowledge again!” Luo Qingxue flicked the screen, “Then why can’t I sense it now?”
I stated: The duration was too short, and analysis could not be completed!
“Should I ask my dad to demonstrate it once?”
【Risk is too high, an SS-rank perception would detect the anomaly.】
Lin Xiaoyu suddenly leaned over: “Look!” She excitedly pulled up the schedule, “If Qingxue wins tomorrow, she’ll be in the top ten! She can get into the Federal Elite Academy!”
Luo Qingxue looked at her opponent's profile— “Flame Dancer” Mo Li, an A+ rank Fire-type mutated ability user, who was ranked eighth in last year’s grand competition.
She unconsciously rubbed the Star Power bracelet her parents had just given her: “If it weren't for the sudden awakening today…”
“You’re already amazing!” Lin Xiaoyu suddenly pounced and hugged her, “Two years ago, we were still the ‘Waste Duo’!”
My terminal promptly displayed: 【Growth Comparison Chart, Physical Fitness: +387%, Ability Control: +562%, Tactical Acumen: A+】
“Shut up!” Luo Qingxue flipped the terminal face down on the table, but couldn’t hide the upward curve of her lips.
Outside the window, the starlight was perfect; in the distance, her father’s hearty laughter could be heard, her mother was quietly conversing with the doctor in the corridor, and her best friend was chattering excitedly about tomorrow’s tactics.
At this moment, nothing—neither the Elite Academy nor the Flame Dancer—seemed to matter anymore.
“Tomorrow…” She gazed at the faint starlight shimmering in her palm, “Let’s just consider it a test of our progress.”
Lin Xiaoyu suddenly raised her energy drink: “To our coach, sir!” Then she hastily added, “Even if he’s a pervert!”
“Hey!”
For the tenth round of the grand competition, the protective shield around the central arena had been upgraded to S-rank specifications.
When the electronic screen lit up with “Luo Qingxue VS Mo Li,” the audience erupted into two distinctly different waves of sound—cheers and boos intermingled, but there was no longer the former disdain.
“Flame Dancer! Flame Dancer!” Mo Li’s supporters tapped their flame-shaped light sticks.
And more neutral spectators began to shout: “Luo Qingxue! Show her what you’ve got!”
Mo Li stepped onto the arena amidst flames, each step leaving molten traces on the special alloy.
She wore a crimson battle suit, real flames danced at the tips of her hair, and she looked like an elf just emerged from a furnace.
“Little sister.” She spun a cyan-blue fire lotus on her fingertip, “Surrender now and you can still keep your pretty face.”
Luo Qingxue didn’t reply, merely removed her Star Power bracelet and handed it to the referee, as this S-rank device was forbidden in competition.
The moment the bracelet left her, streams of intertwined ice and fire suddenly erupted around her.
“Match start!”
Mo Li launched the first attack, transforming into a streaking fire and charging forward.
Luo Qingxue had just conjured an Ice Shield when the flame strangely curved, hitting her from the side and sending her flying.
Before she could land, seven fire lotuses had already sealed off all escape angles.
The Flame Dancer, though not as proficient in control as an S-rank Flame Heart, was still very strong; S-rank abilities rarely awakened directly, more often evolving!
“Boom!”
From the smoke of the explosion, Luo Qingxue stumbled out in disarray.
The battle suit on her left shoulder was burned through, revealing reddened skin.
But the next second, ice crystals covered the injury—this was “Ice Skin,” an improved secret technique from the Baili Family that I had analyzed, which could effectively suppress minor injuries like bleeding and burns.
“You’ve got some moves.” Mo Li blew out the lingering flames on her fingertip, “How about this one?”
She suddenly leaped into mid-air, her legs together as she dove like a diver.
Ten meters from the ground, she suddenly “poofed” into hundreds of firebirds, swarming down from all directions!
“Stardust Array!”
Luo Qingxue clasped her hands together, and seven miniature Star Power formed a defensive array in front of her.
The firebirds crashed into the Star Power array, exploding in a dazzling display of fireworks, but with each wave repelled, the Star Power dimmed a little.
When the fifth wave of impact arrived, the first Star Power finally shattered.
“Crack—”
A chain reaction began, and the remaining Star Power disintegrated one after another.
Luo Qingxue was thrown to the edge of the arena by the explosive force, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.
Lin Xiaoyu in the audience gripped the railing tightly, while Luo Tianxing in the VIP box had a grim expression.
“Is that all you’ve got?” Mo Li reformed into human shape amidst the flames, a sinister black flame lotus cupped in her palm, “My ‘Dance of Extinction’ hasn’t even…”
She suddenly fell silent, because Luo Qingxue smiled.
That blood-stained smile made Mo Li instinctively step back half a pace.
Luo Qingxue wiped away the blood from her mouth, and her hands began to form complex seals—Ice-type with her left hand, Fire-type with her right, two completely different energy trajectories intertwined in the air.
“Dual-Type Resonance · Modified!”
Ice and fire spiraled upwards, actually forming a miniature storm in the center of the arena.
Mo Li’s hastily thrown black flame lotus was sucked into it, torn to shreds like a piece of paper in a washing machine.
But even more astonishingly, Star Power flickered faintly within the storm—though not as complete as yesterday, it was enough to disrupt the flame’s trajectory.
“Beautiful!” someone in the referee’s box exclaimed.
Utilizing this brief chaos, Luo Qingxue charged forward to an extremely close distance.
Her right hand blazed with an orange-red fire, while her left hand condensed the Baili Family’s secret “Cold Heart Blade.”
When Mo Li hastily put up a flame shield, Luo Qingxue suddenly changed her move—palms together, ice and fire fused!
“Bang!”
The explosion from the energy clash sent both of them flying.
Mo Li twisted gracefully in the air, her fire wings spreading like a phoenix; Luo Qingxue, however, fell heavily at the edge of the arena, her protective suit scorched in multiple places.
“Luo Qingxue, get up!” A wave of encouragement erupted from the audience.
Luo Qingxue tremblingly pushed herself up, only to find that Mo Li had not pursued her.
The Flame Dancer hovered in mid-air, a rare look of solemnity on her face: “That move you just used… was it self-created?”
Luo Qingxue panted and nodded.
“What a pity.” Mo Li suddenly spread her arms, transforming into a pure energy fire giant, “This next move, I originally saved for S-rank opponents.”
The moment the giant fiery palm slammed down, Luo Qingxue desperately constructed her final defense—a flowing barrier of dual Ice and Fire-types formed in front of her, the opposing abilities combined very cleverly.
When the giant palm touched the barrier, a strange scene occurred: the flames were momentarily diverted, flowing around it like a stream encountering a boulder.
“This is… Ability Guidance?!” The dean in the VIP box suddenly stood up, “This Miss Luo already knows this technique?”
But this exquisite technique only lasted for three seconds.
With a clear shout from Mo Li, the fire giant suddenly contracted into a drill shape, finally breaking through the defense.
Luo Qingxue was hit in the chest by the aftershock, flying out of the arena boundary.
“Winner, Mo Li!”
When the medical team rushed up, Mo Li was already by Luo Qingxue’s side.
She reached out and pulled up her tenacious opponent, her voice only audible to them both: “Give you one more year, and I won’t be able to beat you!”
Luo Qingxue coughed up a mouthful of blood foam: “Thank you… for the guidance.”
The applause from the audience was long and sustained.
People cheered for the victor, but more applause was for the girl who created a miracle—from F-rank to A-rank combat power, from the “Waste Young Lady” to a rising star capable of battling top contestants for ten minutes.
“Qingxue!” Lin Xiaoyu cried, rushing to the stretcher, “You scared me to death…”
Luo Qingxue’s injuries were more serious this time, so she immediately applied to go home for treatment, as the Luo Family’s medical room was much better than Tianhui Academy’s.
As soon as the medical room’s automatic door closed, Luo Qingxue sprang up from the bed, pulling two boxes of ice cream from the bedside table: “Xiaoyu! Strawberry or vanilla?”
“Hey! Auntie Su said you need to rest…” Lin Xiaoyu protested, but her hand honestly took the strawberry flavor, “Does your wound really not hurt anymore?”
“Just a minor injury~” Luo Qingxue licked her ice cream spoon, while her other hand deftly pulled up the live stream of the competition, “Quick, look! Mo Li is on!”
In the holographic projection, the Flame Dancer was fiercely battling a lightning-manipulating contestant.
Mo Li’s flames transformed into hundreds of fire butterflies, gracefully weaving through the lightning storm, breathtakingly beautiful.
“Wow!” Lin Xiaoyu’s eyes sparkled, “She didn’t even use that move when she fought you yesterday!”
“Nonsense, that’s an A+ rank,” Luo Qingxue poked Mo Li’s figure on the screen, “But…” She suddenly lifted her chin proudly, “Give me one more year, and I’ll definitely defeat her!”
The terminal promptly displayed the data I had compiled: 【Mo Li Tactical Analysis, New Move: Spirit Fire Butterfly, can flexibly weave through ability attack gaps, countermeasure: Ice Curtain】
“See!” Luo Qingxue shoved the analysis diagram in front of Lin Xiaoyu, “Yun Feng says if we encounter her again…”
“Yes, yes, your Yun Feng is the best~” Lin Xiaoyu suddenly pounced to tickle her, “You lost and you’re still so smug!”
“Hey! My wound! My wound!” Luo Qingxue laughed and dodged, the two almost rolling off the bed onto the floor.
Amidst their playful scuffle, a deafening cheer suddenly erupted from the live broadcast—Mo Li narrowly defeated her opponent by half a move.
“She made it to the semifinals!” Lin Xiaoyu exclaimed.
Luo Qingxue, however, stared at the slow-motion replay: “This Mo Li is really strong!”
The subsequent matches made the two of them completely lose track of time.
When the Space-type ability user suddenly vanished from the arena and instantly reappeared behind their opponent, they both gasped simultaneously; the scene where a Sound-type contestant shattered the entire protective shield with infrasound made Lin Xiaoyu repeatedly bang on the bedside table.
“That one! Look at that one!” Lin Xiaoyu suddenly tugged at Luo Qingxue’s sleeve, “An S-rank Earth Walker!”
The boy in the projection merely stomped his foot, and the entire arena transformed into a quicksand vortex.
His opponent—an A-rank plant manipulator—was swallowed up to their chest before they even had a chance to react.
“That’s too unfair!” Luo Qingxue squeezed her ice cream box with a crunch, “How do you even fight that?”
As the grand competition concluded, Mo Li lost in the semifinals, ultimately ranking fourth.
The third place was a Sound-type ability user, second place was a Space-type ability user, and first was the S-rank Earth Walker, whose offense and defense were terrifyingly powerful, able to withstand attacks from the second and third place, yet those two couldn't withstand a single blow from him; the gap was too large.
The scene switched to Mo Li’s post-match interview.
The Flame Dancer wiped her sweat and said: “Most respected opponent? Luo Qingxue, probably!” She smiled at the camera, “Maybe in two years, I’ll have to call her senior.”
“Oh wow~” Lin Xiaoyu nudged her friend with her elbow, “You got praised by an A+ rank!”
Luo Qingxue buried her flushed face in her pillow: “Who, who cares…”
Outside the window, the setting sun dyed the academy spires golden.
The grand competition’s final rankings began to scroll across the screen, their names prominently listed: Luo Qingxue, 11th place; Lin Xiaoyu, 89th place.
“Qingxue.” Lin Xiaoyu suddenly whispered, “We really did it.”
The girl on the bed looked up, her eyes reflecting the faint light of the screen.
Two years ago, that “Waste Young Lady” who cowered in the testing corner was now eating ice cream and discussing S-rank contestant tactics with her best friend—of course, this was because they trusted me.
“Mm.” She reached out and hooked Lin Xiaoyu’s pinky finger, “This is just the beginning.”