Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Wen Jing wasn't really the type to solve problems with brute force; she was also smart. But her smart brain told her that for most problems, the quickest way was to use muscle.

She grabbed his throat, lifted him, slid forward, and threw him onto his back.

Her movements were extremely precise, without touching any cafeteria tables or carts, so she wouldn't have to pay for damages.

"Crash!"

With a huge crash, the big guy was slammed onto the spaceship's metal floor, completely helpless.

The warship hull was made of advanced alloys—obviously tough and durable—so it wasn't damaged. If a newly awakened who hadn't even been to the Wild Ancient could break it, they should investigate the military logistics department for corruption.

The faces of his buddies still showed shock and anger, but it was already over.

Wen Jing was so fast no one could react in time to stop her, and even if they could, they didn't have the strength.

The common area was quiet for a moment, then erupted into chaos.

The challenger's head was ringing, his face blank.

As an Awakener, his recovery kept him from serious injury, but the mental shock was way bigger than the physical one.

"Y-you—"

Wen Jing pulled back her hand, tilted her head, and said, "Hmm?"

How could she be this strong?!

Even if it wasn't as cutthroat as Academy Star, they had trained from childhood with plenty of private sparring partners. By now, they could tell that Wen Jing was on a whole other level compared to them.

And it wasn't just the tall, burly male student—the Plutocrat Scions who hadn't left the spacecraft were equally shocked.

They knew she was top of the exam, but they also knew her awakened Wild Body potential was only F, so they naturally assumed this year's Academy Star batch was weak—she was just the best of a bad lot.

Now when they looked at the other Academy Star freshmen, their subtle expressions seemed to say "told you so," many felt like they'd been hit by lightning, their minds flashing back—

Academy Star wasn't exactly full of positive energy. How come no one even threw a sarcastic remark at Wen Jing after she fell from the top of the pecking order to the bottom?

Why did those three all back off when they saw Wen Jing during the room grab?

It was because they knew they couldn't beat her now!

The strength of Awakeners is reflected in the different ceilings of their growth. An F-rank potential maxes out at F-rank. To increase combat power, one must train in Combat Skills, Secret Techniques, or find special opportunities in the Wild Ancient.

High-potential Awakeners are different. As long as they survive exploring the Wild Ancient without gene collapse, their future combat power will match their potential level.

But for all Awakeners, with Wild Body compatibility at only 1% and no Ability yet mastered, their combat power is only slightly improved in endurance and toughness compared to before awakening—no qualitative leap.

So no wonder the Academy Star freshmen were so cowardly toward an F-rank.

Wait, then Luos's departure just now... no, impossible. Luos is an A-rank!

He must have just thought it was too much trouble rather than being scared of her. After all, it would be embarrassing if an A-rank couldn't easily deal with an F-rank.

"How dare you, how dare you!!"

The big guy on the ground caught his breath, his face flushing with rage. His companions snapped out of it and hurriedly helped him up.

"Just a greeting," Wen Jing said nonchalantly, standing up straight matter-of-factly. "This is how we greet people in Academy Star."

Could she be any more of a poser?

The nearby Plutocrat Scions were speechless and instinctively looked at the Academy Star freshmen beside them—only to see them all nodding in agreement.

as if saying, "Isn't it only natural for the weak to be humiliated by the strong?"

They knew Academy Star was messed up, but not this messed up.

"Wen Jing, right? This isn't over between us..." The beaten tall guy's face twisted with malice as he glared at Wen Jing.

As a plutocrat scion, even if he acted "friendly" to recruit people, his attitude toward the poor was different from toward his own class.

A nobody with no talent and no background dared to humiliate him like this—he'd make her regret it!

Wen Jing was about to leave when she stopped, squinting.

"Wait, wait—are you gonna tattle to your parents because you lost?"

The tall male's expression froze. At that moment, even though he wasn't looking at anyone, he felt the gazes of all his peers fixated on him. If he admitted it, he'd get booed.

Bullshit, he wasn't like that!

His face turned bright red as he blurted out, "No way!"

"Good," Wen Jing nodded in approval. "That'd be embarrassing otherwise."

It is embarrassing... Wait, he was supposed to be threatening her!

The tall male suddenly realized—he was a descendant of a plutocrat! Not using his family's power meant he basically nerfed his own advantage.

But he'd already said it in front of everyone. If he turned around and used his family's power against her, he'd lose major face.

Thinking further, he realized another layer—Now that he'd said that, if anything happened to Wen Jing later, people would think he did it even if he didn't.

Damn it, he shouldn't have answered. He had fallen into her trap... No wonder she was the top of Academy Star, so sneaky!

While he was brooding, Wen Jing had already started walking.

Wherever she walked, the crowd parted for her.

She had only taken a few steps when the big guy's voice suddenly rang out from behind, now strangely determined.

"I'm D-rank! You're just an F, acting all high and mighty on your pre-awakening strength."

"Yeah, I can't beat you now, but soon I'll leave you in the dust!"

"It won't take long... Six months! The freshman league in six months!"

Yes, six months. With a two-rank potential gap, in six months he'd definitely leave her far behind.

He grew more confident as he spoke, his back straightening, his earlier dejection gone. He looked at that aloof, slender back and shouted:

"Wen Jing, at the league... I, [Name], will settle this with you!"

As the crowd parted, Wen Jing paused briefly but did not stop.

A random extra actually pulled off a ‘X-year vow’ like a main character—could this kid actually be that terrifying?

Unfortunately, steeped in the traditions of Educational Star, her brain automatically blocked out the names of challengers whose combat power was too low to even register.

The freshman league, she made a mental note—maybe his name would show up then.

*

After this incident, the aloof Emperor of Educational Star unofficially crowned herself on the ship, and for the rest of the voyage, no one even dared to provoke Wen Jing again.

Losing a fight would be a huge loss of face, while winning wouldn’t earn much face—and besides, they really couldn’t beat her.

As for that certain someone, he acted like a hot-blooded protagonist, heading to the training area every single day.

This sparked a butterfly effect: the Educational Star freshmen, who were used to grinding, saw this and felt ants in their pants—unable to savor the precious post-exam holiday—and joined in as well, keeping the training grounds packed 24/7.

The ship’s training facilities were military-grade, offering not only basic exercises but also strong magnetic interference and anti-gravity training environments unavailable on the Educational Star; these were so popular that those not strong enough couldn't snag a spot.

Of course, wherever Wen Jing went, she always had a spot.

After another late-night training session, she stepped out of the anti-gravity chamber and let her gaze sweep across the floor-to-ceiling mirror beside her.

In the mirror stood a young woman in a tank top and training pants, with a long waist and long legs. Beneath the short top, her abs were faintly visible without effort. Her cheeks were a little flushed, and sweat trickled down her jawline.

In her previous life, watching videos of similar physiques, she could only imagine how good it would feel—now, in this life, she knew exactly how good it felt.

After admiring her killer body to her satisfaction, she couldn’t help but look around proudly—

Only to see that at midnight, the training ground was still packed with sweating youths, and all the envious stares were locked on a few bulging, pointy-headed muscleheads.

Anyone who doesn't appreciate lean muscle has no taste!

Wen Jing stormed off, pausing briefly at the central rest area.

The public screen showed that they had less than two days until their first stop: Zherang Star.

Zherang Academy—what kind of place was it? Lost in thought, she suddenly shivered, sensing a strange, indescribable feeling.

Wen Jing frowned, quickly scanning her surroundings, but found nothing unusual.

Was it just her imagination?

Just as she was about to head back to her room, a sudden siren started blaring through the entire freshman cabin, and red warning lights flashed.

“All freshmen, report to Bay One immediately! Immediately!”