"Indeed, it's Jiang Xiao! Haha, it really is you, I knew it." Liu Yang laughed heartily. Such a smile might be called refreshing on someone else's face, but on his, it always felt a bit mischievous.

Jiang Xiao was completely baffled. What was going on?

This young man named Liu Yang had perfectly regular features and looked quite spirited, so why did his temperament change the moment he smiled?

"Big brother, do you know, you're my idol." Liu Yang chuckled, shaking Jiang Xiao's hand vigorously, looking like a fervent fan. "I finally get to see you in person today. Let me tell you, I wanted to strike up a conversation back at the restaurant..."

"Stop, stop, stop." Jiang Xiao felt like a million flies were buzzing around his head and quickly interrupted Liu Yang's chatter. "Why am I your idol?" he asked.

Liu Yang quickly said, "Nine Star Slots! Dude, do you know, you're probably the most talentless, lowest-ceiling, worst-potential moron in all of humanity! You've reached the pinnacle of having no talent!"

Jiang Xiao: ???

Was that even human language?

He'd reached the pinnacle of having no talent?

Was he mocking him in a roundabout way?

Liu Yang had a look of adoration on his face, his eyes filled with fervor. "And yet? Beijiang Provincial League team champion, Beijiang Second Wasteland Reclamation champion + MVP, big brother, your story is so damn inspiring! After seeing your profile a few days ago, I couldn't help but cry half the night in my blanket."

Jiang Xiao: "......"

"Let me tell you, I, Liu Yang, have never admired anyone!" Liu Yang patted his chest, speaking with a thick Tianjin accent. "After seeing your profile and hearing your story, I even wanted to throw away the 20 Star Slots in my Star Chart and conquer the world with the remaining nine!"

Jiang Xiao: ???

This bastard had 29 Star Slots?

Oh! Right, he remembered now!

Jiang Xiao finally remembered the familiar young man. This kid was Liu Yang, the agility-type warrior from Tianjin Nankai High School. Twenty-nine Star Slots, extraordinarily gifted.

Solely in terms of Star Slot count, there was no doubt that this kid was the number one in Tianjin this year!

"I really admire you too much, we have to have a good chat." As Liu Yang spoke, he familiarly put an arm around Jiang Xiao's shoulder, then suddenly changed the subject, looked towards Han Jiangxue, and said, "Say, is that your older sister? Whoa~ She's tall and has long legs, not bad at all!"

Jiang Xiao's face was full of question marks. Did this kid really admire him? Was he here for Han Jiangxue?

"Aiyo! Look at my eyesight, no good! Older sister, I've heard so much about you, I've never seen anyone with more Star Slots than me since I was little." Liu Yang pushed Jiang Xiao aside, extended his hand, and walked towards Han Jiangxue...

*Bang!*

Jiang Xiao kicked out.

He sent the babbling Liu Yang flying eight meters away.

Liu Yang's team teacher and three teammates didn't try to stop him. They just quietly went to the elevator and pressed the button, as if they didn't recognize their own teammate.

"Ouch, damn... Eh? It doesn't hurt?" Liu Yang rubbed his butt and stood up, walking towards Jiang Xiao with a grin. "You know how to hit without hurting, rare, rare~ Beijiang Qingmang, your reputation precedes you."

Jiang Xiao was internally collapsing. "With that mouth of yours, if I hadn't pushed that bodyguard earlier, wouldn't you have been cursing at that kid all day?" he asked.

Liu Yang's face was full of disdain. "That mixed-blood? Heh, I'll curse him every time I see him."

Jiang Xiao: "Mixed-blood?"

Liu Yang snorted. "Yeah, a foreigner."

Jiang Xiao: "Huh?"

Damn, where did you get those words? You got some stuff, brother?

Whether it was Liu Yang's words or his attitude, Jiang Xiao could clearly feel that Liu Yang was very disdainful of that sunglasses boy. They probably had a long-standing feud.

Liu Yang: "That kid's name is Howard*Li. His mom seems to be French. He uses foreign star techniques and acts like a big shot. His family loves him so much, they gave him two bodyguards to swagger around every day. His teammates probably think it's embarrassing, haha."

Speaking of this, Liu Yang saw that his teammates and teacher had already gotten on the elevator and waved repeatedly. "You guys go up first, I'll chat with him for a while."

The middle-aged woman looked at Liu Yang with a serious expression and said, "Liu Yang, we need to go back to the room to rest."

One of the pretty young women, wearing jeans, a floral shirt, and shoulder-length hair, also looked helpless. She looked at Liu Yang and said, "You've been talking all day, aren't you tired?"

Liu Yang scratched his head embarrassedly, chuckled, walked into the elevator, and turned back to say to Jiang Xiao, "See you! Talk later!"

Jiang Xiao and the others curiously sized up this team, all of whose faces were familiar. Information about these talented young people surfaced in their minds.

However, at the moment the elevator doors closed, that pretty young woman winked at Jiang Xiao.

Yes, her movement was very sudden. At the instant the elevator doors were about to close, she suddenly smiled and winked her left eye at Jiang Xiao.

Jiang Xiao knew her name: Cai Yao.

She was the chief healer from Tianjin Nankai High School. The data showed that she was in the Nebula Late Stage. Of her eight Star Techniques, at least three overlapped with Jiang Xiao's: Grievance, Reverse Flow Light, and Voice of Silence.

One region nurtures one type of person.

China is vast and abundant, and each region has its own representative Star Techniques.

Shadow Caves are unique products of the Tianjin area and Yan Zhao Province.

Fallen Shadow Witches are Gold-ranked creatures that live within the Shadow Caves.

There was no doubt that these young talents from Nankai High School, representing Tianjin in the competition, were incredibly strong.

The medical-type Cai Yao, relying on her own potential, leveraging family connections and financial power, and taking advantage of the region's benefits, had obtained the Gold-Grade *Voice of Silence* even in the Nebula Late Stage.

Professionals, after all, were rivals, and it was normal to pay attention to each other.

So,

Watching his pretty little rival leave in the elevator, Jiang Xiao felt a little empty.

Um...

Beside him, Xia Yan put a hand on Jiang Xiao's face, blocking his sight and forcibly pushing him into the elevator.

Hai Tianqing pressed the 23rd floor, looked back, and just happened to see Xia Yan vigorously messing up Jiang Xiao's head, muttering, "Was that young lady outside really pretty? Huh?"

"Wait, thank you, please wait a moment." A woman's voice came over, followed by the increasingly louder sound of high heels.

Hai Tianqing very gentlemanly pressed the open door button. A smartly dressed middle-aged woman walked in, carrying a bag and wearing sunglasses, looking like a modern urban woman.

Xia Yan didn't care if there were outsiders present and continued to mess with Jiang Xiao's hair. Han Jiangxue didn't stop her, perhaps she was also a little unhappy with Jiang Xiao's gaze earlier?

"Pfft..." The middle-aged woman couldn't help but laugh at the scene, then took off her sunglasses and said with a smile, "Are you students here to participate in the National High School League?"

"Huh?" The group looked at each other, but didn't answer.

Hai Tianqing asked, "Which floor are you going to?"

The middle-aged woman pretended to look at the elevator floor panel and said calmly, "I'm also going to the 23rd floor... Oh, I remember now, you're the dark horse Beijiang representative team, originally there was no news for a year, but suddenly you became popular because of Han Jiangxue. This girl is really beautiful."

The group didn't respond. On one hand, this person was a stranger, and on the other hand, they had experienced some media bombardment.

This woman was right. In the past semester, no one had paid attention to them. These kids lived very easily and freely.

But since the National League started, the eyes of the world had been focused on it. Han Jiangxue was the first to be noticed, and then the entire team came into view.

It wasn't a big deal that the team was noticed, but Jiang Xiao was exposed to the world.

From that moment on, this team was targeted by those with ulterior motives.

Why?

Because Jiang Xiao was too mysterious.

Had you ever seen a high school student who had never revealed his Star Chart?

You hadn't seen one before, but now, you had.

He came from Beijiang.

His name was very dreamy, like a Golden Retriever, called Xiao Pi.

Although Jiang Xiao wasn't surrounded and intercepted by zealous fans and the media like a big star, there were always some media outlets that wanted to dig out some interesting information from him to report.

"As far as I know, your Beijiang Province representative team is very strong this year, with a great chance of breaking history, you have to work hard." The middle-aged woman said with a smile, very approachable. "Hey, do you Beijiang people all have Qingmang and Endurance?"

The middle-aged woman waited for a reply, but no one responded.

For a moment, the elevator became quiet.

"Are you..." As the elevator rose higher, the woman's speech noticeably sped up.

"Ding-dong!"

The 23rd floor. The elevator opened and two staff members were standing there, directly holding the modern urban woman.

"Let me go, let me go, what are you doing?" The middle-aged woman lost her elegance, constantly struggling and shouting.

One of the staff members looked at Hai Tianqing apologetically and said, "Sorry, this is a paparazzi. The front desk wasn't careful and she sneaked in again."

"Let me go, don't touch me! This is a crime, the public has the right to know! Jiang Xiao, do you have Endurance or not? Are you really in the Nebula stage? Do you really only have eight Star Techniques?" The woman struggled frantically and was directly dragged back into the elevator by the staff. She shouted, "Let me go! The public has the right to know! The public has the right to know!"