Chapter 113: The Official Start of the Semester

Upon arriving, Chu Cheng felt like a hamster entering a grain warehouse—overwhelmed by the dazzling array of choices. It took him nearly four hours to painstakingly complete his shopping.

Fifteen minutes later, all the goods were instantly teleported into his hands by the power of the Chaos Realm.

He acquired a total of six skills, all advanced and related to physical combat.

The prices for advanced skills ranged between 20 to 50 gold, with some rare gems costing even more. Chu Cheng purchased only top-tier skills, spending a total of 195 gold, leaving him with just 92 gold remaining.

Yet this expenditure was undoubtedly worthwhile. Six advanced skills, all upgraded through his golden finger ability to top-tier status, would greatly enhance his strength.

Unfortunately, top-tier skills typically cost at least 150 gold, so balancing the levels was a challenge to see how far each could be upgraded.

The skills he obtained were as follows:

**Berserk Charge Lv.1 (Top-tier):** Fixate on a target within vision and enter a charging state. Increases movement speed by 500 points and knocks aside all enemies with lower strength along the path. Deals physical damage equal to twice his strength to those enemies, and inflicts five times his strength in physical damage to the charging target, stunning them for 2 seconds. Cooldown: 2 minutes.
*Note: This skill can be dispelled; priority level: authoritative.*

**Phase Sprint Lv.1 (Top-tier):** Enter a phased state, increasing movement speed by 200 and evasion by 50%. Collision size reduces to zero. Lasts 15 seconds. Cooldown: 3 minutes.
*Note: This skill can be dispelled; priority level: authoritative.*

**Nether Strike Lv.1 (Top-tier):** Enter the ether plane and instantly appear beside any target within 200 meters to launch an attack, dealing 300% of his maximum attack power as a devastating blow. Cooldown: 5 minutes.
*Note: This skill cannot be dispelled; priority level: authoritative.*

**Divine Power Critical Lv.1 (Top-tier):** Charge for one second, then deal 200% of maximum attack physical damage to all enemies within a 5-meter fan-shaped area in front, knocking them back. Cooldown: 1 minute.

**Fiery Battle Soul Lv.1 (Top-tier):** Passive skill. Each time an attack hits a target, increases movement speed by 10 points and attack speed by 10%, lasting 20 seconds.
*Note: Fiery Battle Soul can stack up to 20 layers; each time the player takes damage, the duration refreshes.
Note: Changing attack targets halves the number of stacked Fiery Battle Soul layers.
Note: Effect can be dispelled; priority level: authoritative.*

**Titan’s Might (Top-tier):** Passive skill allowing the simultaneous equipping of two-handed weapons.
*Note: This skill cannot be upgraded.*

“Perfect!” Chu Cheng exclaimed. “Attack, defense, damage reduction, penetration, escape, burst, and speed — all covered, plus the hero skill.”

He planned to learn the skills first without spending skill points to upgrade them. Even top-tier skills couldn’t be maxed out immediately; he would wait until he had a skill at level 5 before upgrading further.

Next, it was just a matter of waiting for the new semester to begin.

Closing the interface, Chu Cheng stretched and relaxed his muscles. After resting a while, he headed out once more for the training grounds.

Time passed, and one early morning half a month later, Chu Cheng received a message from the chief assistant tutor, Lu Dongrui:

“Tomorrow is the official start of the semester. Gather at 7 a.m. at the central plaza of the Floating City.”

“Understood!” Chu Cheng replied calmly.

After leisurely finishing his morning routine, he opened the trading platform to make some purchases.

He bought three bottles of strong healing potions and one bottle of supreme healing potion.

The strong healing potion instantly restored 2,000 health points and then recovered 100 health points per second over the next 10 seconds, totaling 3,000 health points. It had a 2-minute cooldown and cost 3 gold per bottle.

The supreme healing potion restored 5,000 health points instantly and then 300 health points per second for 10 seconds, totaling 8,000 health points. It also had a 2-minute cooldown and cost 10 gold per bottle.

His current total health was already 5,000, so he needed higher-grade potions, which were naturally more expensive.

He also purchased a level 2 escape scroll for 5 gold, which after a 3-second cast allowed escape from intermediate dungeons.

And a level 3 escape scroll for 20 gold, which after a 3-second cast allowed escape from advanced dungeons.

Once reaching a certain level of power, disposable items like these, once insignificant, became increasingly vital and consumed in greater quantities.

The next day passed swiftly. Chu Cheng left early, summoned a magic carpet, and flew toward the central plaza of the Floating City.

Sitting cross-legged atop the luxurious flying carpet, he saw most of the villas in the residential area lit up, with some already taking off on flying carpets or other flying devices.

The new semester wasn’t just for freshmen; returning students also had to gather.

The flying carpet approached the towering Mage Tower at the city’s center. From afar, Chu Cheng could already see dozens of young boys and girls congregating in small groups, chatting quietly.

His carpet descended, attracting a dozen glances. Besides Senior Sister Fang Xi on the other side who greeted him, others merely glanced his way before looking away.

Among the few chatting with Fang Xi was a handsome young man dressed in luxurious mage robes. He scrutinized Chu Cheng and asked, “Is that a freshman this year? Do you know him?”

Fang Xi replied calmly, “I took on a task during the holidays to receive new students. He’s one I brought in.”

The young man nodded and remained silent.

As time passed, more and more people gathered. By nearly 7 a.m., over a hundred had assembled in the plaza.

At the appointed time, clear chimes suddenly rang out, and the doors of the Mage Tower swung open. The senior students rose and entered the tower.

“Follow them. Once inside, you’ll be teleported directly to the third-floor auditorium,” Fang Xi messaged.

“Thanks!” Chu Cheng responded and followed the crowd in single file.

Inside the tower, the upperclassmen transformed into beams of light and teleported away. Utilizing his student privileges, Chu Cheng communicated with the tower’s spirit and was transported to the third floor.

The auditorium was vast — a stage at the front with tiered, fan-shaped seating below, divided into left, center, and right sections. The central section bore a large sign reading “Freshmen.”

Freshmen sat in the middle, while upperclassmen occupied the sides. This special arrangement was only at the first opening ceremony; next year, these freshmen would be upperclassmen themselves.

Chu Cheng strode confidently to the center and found a seat.

Once everyone was seated, he glanced around and counted 23 freshmen including himself.

The tutors hadn’t arrived yet, but many upperclassmen on the sides watched the newcomers with interest, whispering among themselves.

Chu Cheng wasn’t shy. He boldly scanned the senior students left and right, committing their faces to memory to avoid awkward encounters later.

When his gaze swept to the left, it suddenly paused, and a flash of admiration lit his eyes.

There, sitting in that direction, was a senior sister of stunning beauty and extraordinary presence.

Though Fang Xi was quite pretty, this senior sister surpassed her in looks, though their figures were on par.

Considering this was the opening ceremony, Chu Cheng dared not stare too long; his gaze lingered only five or six seconds before shifting away.

After a full circuit, with tutors still absent, he took out his student handbook to pass the time.

After an uncertain interval, the surrounding chatter abruptly ceased. He lifted his head to see Tutor Yun Dingge and his five assistants mysteriously appear on the front stage.

A few soft chimes echoed within the hall as Chief Assistant Lu Dongrui stood and solemnly addressed the assembly:

“The bell of the new academic year has rung. Like us back then, you come with dreams, hopes, and passion, full of confidence as you enter Starfall Tower. The path of learning is fraught with thorns, battered by wind and rain, and filled with…”

The speech followed the classic, well-rehearsed opening address, a fixed ritual.

The chief assistant tutor spoke eloquently for over ten minutes before concluding.