Chapter 310: I Advanced in a Dream
After returning from the Lost Land, the teachers didn’t say much. They first took the group to the infirmary for examinations—those who needed treatment were treated—then granted them two days off. After two days, they would reconvene in the classroom to review the gains and shortcomings from this expedition.
After receiving treatment, Xu Zhi went straight home. When she saw that her room hadn’t mysteriously gained any extra “blood food,” she let out a small sigh of relief—then promptly collapsed onto her bed and slept for a full thirty hours.
In her dream, she felt as though she had returned to her weakest state—frail, confined to a wheelchair, helpless. It seemed to be winter; everything around her was cold. Then suddenly, the sun came out, shining down on her. A faint warmth spread from her skin to her limbs, dispelling the damp chill within her body.
Winter sunlight was always the most comforting—like soaking in warmth itself. Xu Zhi felt so comfortable she didn’t want to open her eyes.
Only when her limbs grew as warm as the sunlight did that pleasant sensation gradually faded, and she awoke from deep sleep.
When she saw that thirty hours had passed, her first reaction was surprise.
It had been a very, very long time—so long that ever since becoming extraordinary, she had never experienced such deep sleep again. Not unconsciousness. Just pure sleep.
Her second reaction was noticing that her body seemed completely restored.
Not only that—
“How am I at Longevity Stage One?”
Absurd. She had just taken a nap—how had [Lamp] jumped an entire level straight into the Longevity realm?!
Was that even reasonable?
If she told anyone she had advanced a whole level in Longevity just by sleeping, they’d probably say she still hadn’t woken up.
With the level increase, her physical body seemed stronger. The mental power she had previously overdrawn—something she estimated would take at least half a month to recover—was now unusually full after one night’s sleep.
In fact, it seemed even greater than before.
“…Did I swallow some miracle elixir in my dream?”
After thinking it over, the only strange thing about the trip to the Lost Land had been that peculiar temptation during the return journey—one that seemed aimed solely at her.
“But what does that have to do with leveling up?”
It couldn’t be that she had successfully resisted the temptation and been rewarded with +1 level, right?
“…Forget it.”
She couldn’t think of a reasonable explanation anyway. No point wasting time.
Her wristband flickered—unread messages. Xu Zhi tapped it open. There were quite a few.
Most were from the league team group chat. Aside from Qiu Hou, who had been more seriously injured, everyone else had already recovered. Shu Yushan had long since exchanged their hunting spoils for points and distributed them based on contribution.
Xu Zhi glanced at her share.
After just one trip to the Lost Land, she had received 24,000 points?
Xu Zhi: Isn’t my share a bit too much…?
The message had barely been sent before Shu Yushan replied.
Shu Yushan: Your share is indeed higher, Junior, but everyone agreed it’s what you deserve. Calculated properly, you contributed the most, so you take the biggest portion.
Xu Zhi: But I didn’t participate much in direct combat.
Most of the time, she had simply assisted and commanded from the sidelines.
Shu Yushan: Mental energy and tactical planning count as contribution too. Direct combat isn’t the only way to support a team.
Su Ran: He’s right. Just accept it, Junior.
Xu Zhi: Alright, thank you, seniors.
She wasn’t asking because she planned to return the points—she just felt like putting on a show.
After the Lost Land trip, Xu Zhi had begun to appreciate the convenience of storage equipment.
She really wanted one.
But 24,000 points definitely wasn’t enough.
An idea struck her. She opened her chat with the principal—and started taking out a “loan.”
She was a valued genius of the Radiance Institute. How could they invest so little in her?
Would it really be too much to let her borrow a spatial-circuit ring a bit longer?
Her wording wasn’t subtle at all. She directly messaged the principal asking whether she could borrow the ring for a while longer. The principal seemed easygoing, asking how long she wanted to borrow it.
Xu Zhi, however, was not polite.
[Until I have enough points to buy one myself!]
The reply took a while to arrive. Xu Zhi suspected the principal might have been somewhat speechless.
[Such an exception isn’t impossible for Student Xu. But there must be a reason.]
From that line, Xu Zhi could tell he didn’t mind giving her the ring—but likely wanted something in exchange.
[What reason?]
She didn’t bother thinking it through. She asked directly.
[For example, you could hang your name within the Radiance Institute in advance. After graduation, you may consider directly entering the Institute’s inner core.]
So—they wanted to bind her.
Xu Zhi’s feelings toward the Radiance Institute were neutral. No particular attachment, but no bad impression either. For now, it was simply convenient—access to information and resources.
Once her strength fully recovered, she would inevitably pursue her own goals. Which faction she belonged to was meaningless to her. In the end, nothing in this world could bind her. Once she regained her power, she could leave whenever she wished.
As for potential pursuit after “betrayal”?
Did she really care about that?
The only person she had a slight bond with—Qi Yanxin—couldn’t stop her from advancing toward her objectives. At most, she might pay a bit more attention. But if forced to choose between Qi Yanxin and her own goal, it wouldn’t even count as a choice.
As for loyalty—that was something she simply didn’t possess.
Right now, selling the Radiance Institute a gesture of goodwill brought far more benefit than clinging to some abstract “freedom.”
[Agreed.]
Xu Zhi replied.
[In that case, I’ll make the decision to gift this ring to you. Consider it an early welcome into the Radiance Institute’s core forces.]
Wow. Quite generous.
So good at recruiting people?
If she had truly been a less-than-twenty-year-old [Lamp] with genuine amnesia, she might even have felt moved—maybe developed some sense of belonging toward the Radiance Institute.
Unfortunately—
She was Xu Zhi.
Having successfully freeloaded a spatial ring, Xu Zhi’s favorability toward the Radiance Institute ticked up by one point. Transaction complete.
Afterward, she opened the forum to check whether any major news had occurred during her absence.
Most discussions centered on the upcoming league and the Minjiang heretical cult case.
The league preliminaries would officially begin the day after tomorrow. That meant the grand festival of this world was about to start. Not only extraordinary academy students, but ordinary people and powerful extraordinary graduates alike would follow the league’s progress closely. The massive industry chain built around it wouldn’t allow its popularity to decline.
As for the Minjiang heretical cult case, it carried a strong scent of conspiracy. Several ambiguous reports suggested that Minjiang had participated in extremely dangerous cult research, attempting to revive a heretical organization that had long since dissipated.
City governments around the world had begun educating their citizens about the existence of [Cup]. Once people learned that such an “evil” attribute existed in the world, Minjiang—the first city to discover [Cup]—became the target of public criticism.
