□□ Academy Forum
There is no doubt that this card is special.
When she channeled her spiritual energy into the card, she sensed a vast, chaotic space within it, indistinct and fragmented, from which she had no idea how to utilize it.
Ning Xi had a gut feeling that this was no ordinary spatial card. However, she dared not continue to input her mental energy to explore it, since although the card was relatively easy to understand, her mental energy injection had actually caused damage.
She thought she should wait until she finished reading the research paper and doing her research before deciding on her next research plan.
Now, she's going shopping with her roommate.
Ning Xi had no source of income whatsoever; most of the money she earned from selling materials had already been spent on preparing for the exam. Her only income during this period was the 500 star coins that Luo Qing'an transferred to her as promised.
While planning to find a part-time job after school starts, she followed Zhang Min to another commercial street.
Unlike the places Yu Xiangyin took her to, this street was narrow, bustling, and full of life. Zhang Min squatted by the roadside as if it were a normal place, haggling with the shopkeeper.
Ning Xi asked, "Are you a local?"
“A local? I’m not. My hometown is on the 18th planet of the Shang Dynasty, which is quite far from the 33rd planet of the Can Dynasty,” Zhang Min said. “However, the two planets have something in common: they are both areas where domain descent events are frequent.”
This is what is known as "edge star".
Ning Xi only understood much later that the so-called edge star refers to a planet located at the edge of the "domain" and reality, where disasters frequently occur and alien beasts may appear at any time, rather than a planet at the physical boundary of a star sector.
"However, the 33rd Division mainly relies on the Mingxin Academy and the 13th Army to crush the domain, while in my hometown, it's mainly the Card Guild that's putting in the effort. By the way, would you like a mosquito net?"
Ning Xi nodded repeatedly.
Mingxin Academy did not give students much time to rest. The academy officially started classes early the next morning.
The college has a heavy credit load, but students have considerable freedom in course selection. Apart from required courses, students can try out other courses first and then choose based on their individual circumstances. In previous years, there have even been instances of courses being rescheduled mid-semester.
Apart from the students from the Royal Card Department who arrived at school early, all other students only started selecting courses today.
Yu Xiangyin informed her about the course selection. As a freshman who arrived at school two months early, Yu had already decided on her courses for the semester. Now that the pre-semester training had ended and the courses had not yet started, she was quite relaxed.
Ning Xi asked curiously, "Isn't it unfair to students from other departments to let the card masters choose their courses earlier, since there are only so many general courses?"
“I don’t want to choose courses early either, but we started school early.” Even though she couldn’t see the other person’s face, she could hear the helplessness in Yu Xiangyin’s voice. “Besides, our first-year practical courses are packed very slowly, so there’s no time to choose general education courses.”
“However, Ning Xi, it’s not quite right to say that there are ‘so many’ general education courses,” Yu Xiangyin said. “Mingxin Academy has a complete range of departments and a considerable number of general education courses. Every year, a significant number of courses cannot be offered because there are too few students.”
"For example?" Ning Xi pricked up her ears.
"For example? I understand, you want a general education course selection guide, right? Just go to the college forum, it's there. Wait a minute, I'll send you the link."
While waiting for Yu Xiangyin to send the link, Ning Xi completed the official volunteer rating form, gave Yu Xiangyin a high score, and wrote a warm letter of praise.
He hopes the school can give him more credits for volunteering.
The college forum can only be accessed via the intranet. Registration requires a student ID, but users can remain anonymous during use.
After registering an account, Ning Xi entered the forum.
A trending post immediately appeared before her eyes.
[Breaking News] How long do you think this year's top-ranked card maker can hold on?
Poster: I watched the live stream. The top card-making player's skill level was actually just so-so. They mainly got first place because of their high combat power, but they might not fare well in subsequent courses. There are also many collateral disciples from aristocratic families in the card-making department, and their resources are far greater than those of a commoner.
1L
Come on, you're already predicting their failure before they've even enrolled. Our Mingxin High School has produced plenty of ordinary geniuses.
2L
"Commoner genius"? Does it refer to those "theoretical geniuses" who have absolutely nothing to do with card making, or "practical geniuses" who open a repair shop right after graduation? To make high-level cards, you still need to come from a prestigious family.
3L
According to the person upstairs, the strongest card-making system in the Hanhai Star Region should be at the Shangjing Academy, since all the aristocratic families flock there.
4L
Well, ordinary people don't necessarily enjoy studying theory, since it's not as lucrative as crafting cards. On the contrary, scions of aristocratic families, who have no worries about food and clothing, are more likely to focus their attention on academics.
5L
More worrying than this is the card-making department as a whole next year. Have you all seen their required course instructors? It's practically an all-star lineup.
6L
I hadn't even noticed until you told me that the teacher for the card-making practice class is Director Song.
7L
Oh no, Song the Great Philanthropist is about to unleash his power again.
They were all locals from the Hanhai Star Region, and Ning Xi could tell that the "Great Philanthropist Song" here wasn't praising Song Shichun's kindness. After a moment's thought, she left her first forum post.
Why should I be afraid of Director Song? I think she's a very kind person.
Someone quickly replied: [Are you a freshman? You haven't experienced Song Dashanren's (Song the Philanthropist's) death standards.]
[Song: These are up, down, left, and right; this is the attack button; this is the heal button. Okay, you've learned the basic controls; you can go and challenge the final boss now!]
[Director Song is usually a very nice person, but her courses are very difficult and the assessments are very strict. Newcomers should be careful, don't skip classes, and remember everything she says.]
[Wow, there are actually people who think Song, the philanthropist, is a good person. The previous year's card-making department students who were expelled by her definitely don't think so.]
Okay, that's enough, or the post will be gone.
This comment came rather late, as the post was quickly deleted. Ning Xi, still wanting more, read several more posts about the card-making system and finally understood the situation.
“So you’re saying that our year’s required course teaching team is an all-star lineup,” Zhang Min tried to analyze. “Professor Hai for the card pattern course, Associate Professor Hao for the pattern matrix course, Director Song for the practical course… they are all top-notch. So, our year’s courses will be quite difficult.”
"Therefore, we freshmen should try to take as few elective courses as possible and focus all our energy on the required courses. Even then, we might not be able to pass... Wait, are they trying to trick us into taking fewer general education courses so they can have a place?"
"Probably not," Ning Xi checked the course selection rules. "Upper-year students have priority in selecting general education courses, so they won't compete with us for them."
The two exchanged a glance, both having a bad feeling.
This premonition was quickly confirmed.
"We've covered the principles, applications, and case studies of these four card patterns, as well as the card pattern exchange rules. That concludes our theoretical lesson for today." On the podium, Song Shichun smiled at them. "Next up is the practical session. The practical content for this lesson is: using these four card patterns and the card pattern exchange rules, along with the free materials provided by the academy, to create a card below the E-rank level that controls its rank through the exchange rules."
Luo Qing'an raised her hand: "Teacher, can I bring my own materials?"
"Of course... don't even think about it!" Song Shichun strolled over to him, a half-smile on his face. "Card rank control is an important part of this semester. Unless you master the low-level cards, don't even think about learning high-level cards."
Luo Qing'an nodded obediently.
The theory session took one hour and twenty minutes, and the practical session lasted four and a half hours (including a fifteen-minute break). Ning Xi estimated that there should still be enough time.
Most of the students in the classroom thought so. You could tell just by looking at their actions—they were leisurely, unhurried, and even had the time to chat with their classmates.
Ning Xi didn't look at anyone else; the first problem she encountered was reconciling Camus.
The ink materials used in these cards are extremely complex, with as many as four different base inks and a staggering seven auxiliary materials. There are only two main ingredients, but…
She rubbed her temples and decided to put those thoughts aside for the time being.
With a wide variety of materials, she found it difficult to control the energy reactions between them. Even when she compressed her mental energy output to the extreme, the energy within the materials was still quickly activated and reacted with other materials. And the compressed mental energy output simply couldn't control the energy in time to prevent an explosion.
Ning Xi spent the entire morning looking disheveled and grimy.
She still hadn't been able to mix the ink by the end of class, while many students had already moved on to the next step.
Combining the card patterns wasn't as easy as everyone thought. The student behind her kept muttering, "Why is it still not working? Didn't I already check it?" As for the students who had completed the first two steps, they were stuck on the third step.
For example, Luo Qing'an.
When the bell rang, his entire right hand was trembling slightly. While drawing the card patterns, the different effects of the patterns interfered with each other, causing his mental energy to directly backfire on his hand. If Song Shichun hadn't assured him it was alright, he would already be in the infirmary by now.
"Teacher," Luo Qing'an asked, "where is the card-making practice room provided by the academy?"
"The fourth floor and the seventh floor." Song Shichun wasn't surprised by his question. "The fourth floor is cheaper, and the seventh floor is more expensive. If you have custom needs, you can go to the student center."
"Thank you, teacher." Luo Qing'an nodded and walked towards the student center.
"Don't you think we should practice more?" Zhang Min familiarly took Ning Xi's arm. "Shall we go take a look on the fourth floor?"
"The college's benefits are quite good; they even provide students with an inexpensive card-making practice room." Ning Xi nodded repeatedly. After trying out all the materials and card-making equipment in the practice classroom, her own card-making pen seemed far too meager.
"I heard that even the most ordinary card-making room has equipment worth hundreds of thousands of star coins."
Upon reaching the fourth floor, Zhang Min entered the student ID and attempted to rent the card-making room.
【Hello, student with ID ending in 2234. Would you like to rent the card-making room for one hour for 500 Star Coins?】
500 Star Coins?
Ning Xi and Zhang Min exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
Is this what you call cheap?
Goodbye!
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