Chapter One Hundred and One: Toward the Tower of Stars

After spending two days at school and receiving the True Realm Stone, Chu Cheng made another trip home. News of his acceptance into the top-tier academy had already spread back, and unsurprisingly, the clan threw a grand banquet to celebrate. Though he truly had no interest in such events, the sight of the clan leader's 100-gold prize was enough to keep a smile on his face.

His father and stepmother were, of course, present as well, their smiles rather strained. When night came, his father wanted to have a talk with him, seemingly hoping to mend their relationship.

Talk was fine, but the relationship didn't need mending.

Regretting it only now—too late.

After three days with the clan, Chu Cheng took his 100 gold and returned to school. Worth mentioning, the 50-gold interest-free loan he owed the clan was now forgiven, waived entirely—effectively meaning the clan had given him a total of 150 gold in scholarship funds.

Back at school, Chu Cheng's first order of business was to repay the 20-gold loan he'd borrowed from Cloud Terrace City First Bank ahead of schedule, totaling 21 gold and 50 silver.

With that settled, he now had 287 gold in cash on hand.

He didn't stay at school long. A week later, he contacted Senior Fang Xi to arrange their departure.

There were two ways to reach the main campus of Star Cluster Tower. One was to take a magic airship and slowly fly there—fast as it was, the journey required over a month of continuous flight. The other was to teleport through the Chaos Realm Gate at the city hall to the public transit domain, then through that domain's portal to TS City, and from there via the academy-exclusive transit domain reserved for the school to reach Star Cluster Tower.

Senior Fang Xi had given advance notice, so when Chu Cheng arrived at Cloud Terrace City Hall's Chaos Realm Gate, he took the special passage directly into the public domain.

Within the main world of human civilization, long-distance travel was remarkably convenient. By exploiting the omnipresent nature of the Chaos Domain, one could enter a fixed public zone from point A, then teleport directly from that public zone to point B—swift enough to cover tens of thousands of kilometers in just an hour.

In theory, one could teleport directly from Cloud Terrace City all the way to distant Star Cluster Tower. But Cloud Terrace was only a small city, and its city hall's public domain had no direct route to Star Cluster Tower—only TS City, the provincial capital, had one.

Passing through corridors that felt like subway platforms, climbing stairs, and stepping through the realm gate, he emerged in TS City.

The moment he came out, he spotted Senior Fang Xi standing by the platform with a sign, waiting. She caught sight of him in the same instant and waved.

"Over here!"

Chu Cheng walked over, and Fang Xi gestured for him to follow, leading the way as she spoke. "Do you want to grab something to eat?"

"No need, I'm quite full right now."

"Alright then, let's head to the teleportation gate."

"Are you coming along too, Senior?"

"Yeah, my work here is done, so I have to go back."

"That fast?"

"Mm. This year TS City only recruited three new students. The other two are being looked after by other colleagues—I'm only responsible for bringing you over."

Chu Cheng couldn't help but remark, "Wow, one-on-one service!"

His gaze involuntarily drifted to the senior's back. She was clearly a Descender as well—tall and slender with perfectly curved lines, her hips and legs especially full and shapely, paired with a delicate face.

Tsk tsk!

Whether the senior hadn't noticed or was simply used to such looks, she kept walking and talking. "There's still over a month and a half before the new semester starts. Getting there now isn't too early—you can settle on a mentor in advance. Since you were specially recruited, you're entitled to choose a Legendary professor as your mentor. Do you know anyone?"

Chu Cheng immediately averted his gaze and shook his head. "No. Do you have any recommendations, Senior?"

Fang Xi flipped her hand, producing a crystal tablet and passing it to him. "It has profiles of all current mentors at the Tower above Legendary rank—their areas of expertise, personal temperaments, and information on their existing students. Take a look."

"Thanks, Senior."

Chu Cheng took the tablet, opened it, and studied it carefully.

After browsing for a while, he suddenly asked, "Didn't they say I'd be assigned a Legendary mentor? I see there are ones above Legendary on here too. Can I choose those?"

"You can."

Fang Xi explained seriously, "Our Star Cluster Tower has more than just those Legendary mentors—there are quite a few above Legendary, even God-tier powerhouses. The school's special recruitment promises you a guaranteed Legendary mentor, but if you've got the ability to catch the eye of one of the higher-tier mentors, then of course you can choose them."

"Oh!" Chu Cheng understood. The school's promise was a safety net, but if he had the skill to make some God-tier mentor take notice, that was his own achievement.

"Though don't get your hopes up too much. Mentors above Legendary are all busy pushing toward the next level and generally don't take on new students."

"Mm," he replied. "I'm just looking."

He hadn't really thought much about it. Having a mentor above Legendary was certainly better in theory, but if the mentor was too occupied with breaking through to bother with him, then there was no point in formal apprenticeship.

Neither spoke after that. He buried himself in reviewing the mentor profiles, trying to pick one.

After winding through various stops, they soon reached Star Cluster Tower's exclusive transit domain. After a round of checks, they entered—it was a base connected to portals from over a dozen provincial capitals. From this base, they traveled to another base nearby, passed through the teleportation gate, and emerged at Star Cluster Tower.

On a vast platform stood an enormous luminous gate, streams of light surging into the sky. The dome above was an inverted, transparent bowl of light, and beyond it stretched a sky full of stars, like night.

Several uniformed staff members stood beside the gate. Fang Xi stepped forward and exchanged a few words with them, then took a badge and handed it to him. "This is a temporary pass, valid for one month. I'll take you to register first—once you get your student ID, you won't need this anymore."

"Sorry for the trouble, Senior."

"It's my job."

Beyond the platform lay a massive plaza surrounded by classical-style buildings. Further out stood mage towers enshrouded in surging, spectacular magical radiance, streams of light piercing into the heavens.

"Our school isn't in the main world—it's in the void beyond the main world's boundaries. The only way out is through the teleportation gate."

Fang Xi led him down from the platform. At its edge was a machine; she operated a light screen a few times, and soon a circular metal block popped out. She touched it lightly with her finger a few times, then tossed it to the ground. The block's edges unfolded layer by layer, quickly forming a metal disk about two meters in diameter that hovered a foot above the ground.

Fang Xi stepped onto it and waved him over. "Get on."

He stepped on, and intricate light patterns illuminated the disk's surface. It rose slowly, carrying them drifting in a certain direction.

As they flew up into the heights, his gaze swept over the varied buildings, and Chu Cheng suddenly realized this place was a city suspended in the void.

More precisely, it was a floating city adrift in the emptiness.

And it wasn't the only one.

But the distance was too great—he could only faintly make out silhouettes beyond the floating city's boundaries.

The disk carried them straight toward a destination, descending at a mage tower on the edge of the floating city.

"This is the new student registration office!"