Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest-Chapter 1204: Star Sea (9)

The official forum of Long Sea Third Middle School has exploded!

The academy’s most famous prodigy, Chen Yuxuan, actually lost to a third-year student, Lu Yuan, in the martial arts arena.

And he was defeated with a single throat-cutting strike!

Since many people recorded videos of the match and uploaded them to the forum, the brutal process of Chen Yuxuan’s defeat was quickly analyzed frame by frame.

Yet the more people watched, the more confused they became, unable to comprehend how Chen Yuxuan, known for his swordsmanship, ended up losing this duel.

It felt as though the prodigy was cursed, allowing his opponent to seize the opening for a counterattack effortlessly.

Some judged that Chen Yuxuan was simply too overconfident, committing a fatal mistake.

Others believed that Lu Yuan had been hiding his true power all along, surprising everyone with his genuine strength that rivaled Chen Yuxuan’s.

There were even accusations of cheating, with calls for the academy to conduct an investigation and impose severe punishment on Lu Yuan.

"My dear Yuxuan could never lose! The other guy must have used despicable methods!"

This was the defiant rant of a Chen Yuxuan fangirl on the forum.

Perhaps due to pressure from certain sources, the academy refrained from commenting on the matter, only issuing a vague statement that it doesn’t interfere in students’ normal competitive exchanges.

As for the investigation—there definitely wouldn’t be one. Doing so would make them the laughingstock!

Regardless, Chen Yuxuan’s image and popularity took a nosedive.

The prodigy didn’t appear on campus all the way till the day before the Advanced Martial Examination.

Meanwhile, Wang Chen, the victor and another focus of public opinion, ironically received far less attention.

Many couldn’t believe he truly had the strength to defeat Chen Yuxuan, attaching labels like "dishonorable victory," "just lucky," and "blind cat stumbling upon a dead rat" to his win.

Even the academy seemed skeptical, and with the Advanced Martial Examination looming, they sent just one teacher to check in on Wang Chen, asking whether he was facing any personal difficulties.

They also encouraged him to perform well in the Advanced Martial Examination.

It was a rather diplomatic approach.

Wang Chen, however, took an interest and asked the teacher, "If I make it into one of the Empire’s Seven Great institutions, what rewards would the academy provide?"

The teacher was dumbfounded: "Well..."

He truly didn’t know.

After all, Long Sea Third Middle School hadn’t had a single student admitted to the Seven Great for five years straight. Chen Yuxuan had been treated like a cherished treasure, with enormous resources poured into nurturing him.

There were certainly rewards for any student who achieved that level.

But historically, those who made it into the Seven Great were either from wealthy or influential families, groomed with a fortune in resources, and had hardly cared for these rewards!

Wang Chen, on the other hand, was merely an orphan of war—without power, privilege, or background, even his tuition came from the Empire’s basic welfare grant.

The teacher thought it was only natural for him to inquire, so he directly asked the principal.

The reply came swiftly: "If you can make it into one of the Empire’s Seven Great, the academy will reward you with 500,000 Star Currency. This applies to all students equally!"

Five hundred thousand Star Currency!

Wang Chen was very satisfied.

Star Currency is the commonly circulated currency of the Holy Light Empire, renowned for its remarkable stability and purchasing power.

At Long Sea Third Middle School, Wang Chen only needed 500 Star Currency per month for food expenses to eat very well. A basic model of the latest personal terminal only costs three to four thousand Star Currency.

With 500,000 Star Currency, one could even buy a low-tier unarmed mecha!

Sincerely, Wang Chen said, "Teacher, I’ll do my best!"

Motivated by that lofty sum!

Even more pleasing to Wang Chen was that, shortly after the teacher left, he received a transfer from Zhang Zhaocheng.

Exactly 28,609.50 Star Currency, not a single cent missing!

Zhang Zhaocheng clearly wouldn’t dare breach their contract—he couldn’t afford the consequences.

Later, Wang Chen heard that Zhang Zhaocheng didn’t even participate in the Advanced Martial Examination and directly transferred to another school, leaving Long Sea Third Middle School.

He reportedly didn’t even say goodbye to Mu Yu, abandoning her outright.

Afterwards, Mu Yu tried to rekindle her relationship with Wang Chen once she received her graduation certificate. The outcome was predictable.

She vanished from Wang Chen’s life without leaving a trace.

The childhood sweetheart of his former self no longer stirred any feelings in Wang Chen. She was swiftly expelled from the realm of useful memory.

On July 5th, Holy Light Calendar year 617, Wang Chen boarded a Sky Transportation Ship along with other third-year students of Long Sea Third Middle School.

The thousands-of-tons Sky Transportation Ship quickly rose from the ground, charging straight for the firmament, leaving the atmosphere after just a short while.

Through the porthole, Wang Chen gazed down at a blue planet strikingly similar to Earth.

It was breathtaking.

After a few more minutes of flight, the ship docked at a colossal space station within the planet’s orbital path.

Calling it a space station was an understatement—it resembled a massive Space Fortress.

Serving as both a spaceport for Azure Star residents traveling to other planets and a defense mechanism for the administrative star, it also housed a unit of the Imperial Space Fleet.

The former Wang Chen had been an Azure Star resident, but he had never visited the space station. Thus, this journey was undoubtedly novel to him, further deepening his understanding of the Empire’s strength.

Led by academy teachers, Wang Chen and over a thousand third-years toured several facilities in the space station before embarking on a large-scale Space Transport Ship.

This Space Transport Ship was not only far larger in tonnage but also significantly faster than the smaller Sky Transportation Ships.

It wasn’t just transporting students from Long Sea Third Middle School; at least a third of all students on Azure Star participating in the Advanced Martial Examination were aboard this ship.

Three hours later, the transport ship arrived at the Azure Gate.

The Azure Gate is an Empire-designated Star Gate, silently suspended in the desolate expanse of space, radiating light that dispels the surrounding darkness and becomes the most striking existence within millions of kilometers.

Star Gates are among the most miraculous constructs in the universe.

Nobody knows whether they were formed naturally or created by some super civilization. Despite lifetimes of research by countless Empire scientists, understanding of Star Gates has barely scratched the surface.

Nonetheless, the Star Gates scattered throughout the Ancient Star systems are undoubtedly the cornerstone of the Holy Light Empire’s dominance over a sizable portion of the galaxy and dozens of star clusters. Without these cosmic wormholes capable of transcending space, the world we know today would not exist!

Though Star Gates possess an indestructible nature, the Azure Star Gate is still surrounded by genuine Space Fortresses and Defense Fleets.

The Star Gates scattered throughout the Ancient Star systems are undoubtedly the cornerstone of the Holy Light Empire’s dominance over a sizable portion of the galaxy and dozens of star clusters. Without these cosmic wormholes capable of transcending space, the world we know today would not exist!