When Ning Chuchu saw Chen Nan kneeling before Ning Xuan, a tempest raged in her heart. She had returned this time precisely for Ning Xuan. Wu Di's and Wang Chen's families had provided her with the highest-grade spiritual power enhancement medicine, but her spiritual power had only risen to 670 before stalling, as if blocked by some kind of barrier. Deep down, she had a vague sense that this barrier was likely Ning Xuan.
The first time she'd had this feeling was on the eve of awakening her spiritual power. That night, she had drunk a great deal of Ning Xuan's blood and, in the end, awakened her spiritual power.
Afterward, she would get this feeling on the eve of every Level promotion. Only by drinking large amounts of Ning Xuan's blood could she break through the barrier and complete the promotion.
Over all these years, she had tried drinking other people's blood, but it was useless. Only Ning Xuan's blood was what she needed.
Chen Nan stood beside Ning Xuan, towering a full head over her. Ning Xuan's current body was 1.7 meters tall, and by the looks of it, Chen Nan had to be about 1.9 meters.
"Sister Xuan, your Spiritual Power Level is low! If you have any conscience, don't ruin Major General Chen's bright future!" Ning Chuchu yelled.
The moment Ning Chuchu finished speaking, Chen Nan's figure flashed. With a loud BANG, he sent Wu Di, who had just returned, flying again with a kick.
He then swept his gaze over the surroundings. "Don't you all have classes to attend?"
Under Chen Nan's sweeping gaze, the crowd of onlookers scattered at once.
"Ms. Ning Chuchu, you should just worry about your own Contractors. There's no need to trouble yourself over someone else's future," Chen Nan said, looking at her calmly.
"You—Hmph! So be it! Some people just won't listen to reason! Just you wait for your spiritual power to run rampant and turn you into a cripple!" Seeing she couldn't gain an advantage today, Ning Chuchu stormed off in a huff. Wu Di, running back from afar, quickly chased after her.
"Thank you for helping me today. I'll repay this favor when I get the chance." Having said her piece, Ning Xuan turned to leave.
"Lord Contract Master," Chen Nan said quickly, "I've already purchased all the items you browsed for more than ten seconds last night and had them sent to our home. The housekeeping robot will sign for them automatically. All my belongings have also been packed and shipped over. And you are free to use all the Star Coins in my Star Network account."
Ning Xuan looked at him, somewhat shocked. Although Federation law stipulated that all of a Contractor's assets must be shared with their Contractor, in reality, Contractors would only give a fixed living allowance to their Contractor. They would never actually grant their Contractor full access to their accounts.
"This afternoon, I'll pick you up to go home together," Chen Nan said, smiling at her.
"According to Federation law, if you had continued to conceal your information for another ten years, the Master Brain would have automatically dissolved our contract. Why the sudden change of heart?" Ning Xuan asked, confused.
"It's time for class, Contractor. I will explain in detail when we go home this afternoon, is that alright?" Chen Nan lowered his head slightly, his brilliant golden hair glinting under the sun.
"Coach Chen!" At the entrance of the Fighting Department's academic building, the dean of studies was calling for Chen Nan.
"Contractor, if you run into any danger, send me a communication immediately. I'll be by your side in an instant!" Chen Nan tapped the Light Computer on his wrist, bowed to Ning Xuan, and then turned to leave.
Just as Chen Nan left, Hu Tao popped out from somewhere. "Xuanyuan, come on, let's go! We need to get to class too. If we're late, Teacher Qu is going to chew us out!"
Hu Tao grabbed Ning Xuan and dragged her along at a full sprint. They soon arrived in front of a relatively short and somewhat dilapidated academic building. As Ning Xuan entered the classroom, she became the center of attention. People stared at her, whispering among themselves without any pretense of subtlety.
"Did Ning Xuan really awaken?"
"Didn't they say you can't awaken after you turn fifteen?"
"What are you talking about? Some people say you can't awaken after twelve. There's always a chance!"
"Is Major General Chen really her Contractor?"
"Is it true that Major General Chen is a new officer in the Fighting Department?"
"Do you guys think Major General Chen came here for Ning Xuan?"
"Quiet, everyone, quiet! Class is starting. Don't bring up matters unrelated to your studies. This period, we have Ingredient Processing. The teaching assistant robots will be distributing the ingredients to you all shortly. If you can process your ingredients correctly, you can take half of them as a reward," said Teacher Qu Jingyuan, a capable-looking man with short hair, as he pushed the glasses up on his nose.
"Ugh, just my luck! This ingredient is so hard to process!" a nearby student who had just received their ingredient wailed, muttering under their breath.
Ning Xuan looked at the ingredient placed before her. It had a tough, dark-brown skin, pliable like an animal's hide, and was a full half-meter in diameter, shaped like a round head of cauliflower. She had seen this ingredient on her Light Computer last night; it was called a Blue Flower White. Its skin was poisonous, and had to be removed completely to get to the edible white flesh inside.
She glanced to the side. Hu Tao had already put on the provided gloves, taken a knife from the long tray, and begun to process her ingredient. She cut in from the top, carefully peeling away the skin layer by layer. The skin was hard and incredibly tough, so all the students progressed very slowly. By the end of the period, Hu Tao had only managed to peel two whole Blue Flower Whites. She would get to keep one, a fact that made her extremely excited. After all, a single processed Blue Flower White could sell for 500 Star Coins!
Ning Xuan looked at the four fist-sized white objects arranged in front of her. The Blue Flower White looked quite large, but its edible portion was pitifully small.
"Ning Xuan, you managed to process four Blue Flower Whites?! That's incredible! Now that your spiritual power has awakened, is your manual dexterity also stronger than before?" Hu Tao asked, staring in astonishment at Ning Xuan's desk. In the past, Ning Xuan couldn't even finish one in an entire period, which was why Ingredient Processing had been one of her most hated classes.
"Ning Xuan, since you've awakened your spiritual power, can you choose other courses now?" another student nearby piped up. "Didn't you want to join the music department? You kept getting rejected because you didn't have spiritual power, but you can probably sign up now, right? With your looks, if you complete the music courses, you could definitely become a singer on the Star Network and do livestreams. You'd never have to worry about earning Star Coins again!"
Just then, Teacher Qu, who was collecting the processed ingredients, happened to walk over to their area. "Since you've awakened your spiritual power, it's the perfect opportunity to properly finish the courses in our department first. Culinary skills are a very important part of daily life. If you do well, you could open a restaurant and never have to worry about earning Star Coins. Student Ning, you mustn't give up halfway. It's important to see things through to the end."
Seeing Ning Xuan's vastly improved ingredient processing speed, Teacher Qu looked at her with immense satisfaction. 'How could I possibly be willing to let such an outstanding student go?'