Nine Star Burden

“Hey, I heard that Gao Junwei and his brother who’s in Year One are going to be transferred together tomorrow.”

“Hehe, they asked for it. No one else in the class cares about him apart from his underlings who bow and greet him every day.”

“But then again, Han Jiangxue’s younger brother is really impressive. Why do I feel like he’s better than us even though he’s only in Year One?”

“Have you forgotten who his parents are?”

“Okay, cut it out. Don’t you guys know how well Han Jiangxue usually treats us? Yet, you’re still gossiping about her behind her back.”

“How did she treat us well? It’s been two years and she has never said anything.”

“Is there something wrong with your brain? She saved your entire team in the snowfield last year.”

“Brother, you remembered wrongly. She didn’t save my team, she saved Su Rou’s team. Su Rou and I are not from the same team.”

“…”

“Don’t talk about her parents. I’m sure you know what her family is like.”

As Han Jiangxue and Xia Yan entered the classroom, the gossiping immediately stopped.

At the same time, in the Teaching Block of the Year One and Year Two students, Mr. Gao Aimin handed Jiang Xiao over to a middle-aged female teacher bitterly. He then watched reluctantly as the extraordinary Year One student left to go to Year Three.

The structure of the management of Jiangbin High School was relatively detailed. Gao Aimin was in charge of the Year One Awakened. He did not expect that he would lose the right to even despise Jiang Xiao, whom he initially looked down on, because Jiang Xiao had already advanced in level.

The middle-aged woman was about 1.65m tall and her hair was neatly combed back into a bun. She was dressed in a black ladies’ suit and looked rather mature and capable.

On the way from the Teaching Block of the Year One students to that of the Year Three students, the middle-aged female teacher conducted a thorough check on Jiang Xiao.

Jiang Xiao really felt that check was the correct word to use because that female teacher seemed to be scrutinizing Jiang Xiao like he was a criminal and she was the police.

It was said that she was the form teacher of Year Three Class 1. Her name was Ye Lanxiang.

This name sounds really fragrant! (“Xiang” means fragrant in Mandarin)

However, she was mainly in charge of Chemistry lessons and was not an Awakened herself.

Due to the special physiques of the Awakened and the special nationwide approach taken for the Awakened students, the students would have two form teachers, one of which would be a teacher, while the other would be more of a “Coach”.

One would be in charge of the administrative duties while the other would be in charge of training the students.

One would teach theoretical content from books and the other would be in charge of putting them through training.

The content of the exams for the Awakened was rather heavy, consisting of theoretical knowledge assessments, individual assessments, and team assessments.

The individual assessment was not dangerous and was merely a test of one’s Star Power level—a factor that colleges would consider when deciding to accept a student.

The true danger was in the team assessment segment.

The team assessment was a full-on combat battle that was divided into several grades. The candidates would be allowed to decide between facing the examiner or creatures of other dimensions.

The safest option would obviously be to face the human examiner since he or she would not actually kill the candidate.

However, the cons of doing so would be a lower grade obtained.

If one was confident enough to choose to face creatures of other dimensions, the examiner would also provide creatures of other dimensions of different hazard levels, as well as venues that were of different danger levels.

There would be huge disparities between the final grades of the students depending on the opponent they chose to face.

The examiner would comprehensively evaluate the candidate’s role in the team according to the different opponents and the team’s performance, after which he or she would give a score.

For team assessment, one would have to form a team of four or three other members, regardless of how talented they may be. Only then would they qualify for taking the exam.

China did not seem to promote individual heroism.

Even if one were to be an extreme individualist, they would have to form a team before showcasing his abilities during the team assessment.

Of course, they wouldn’t have to worry about the problem of manpower shortage because the school would conduct staff control and resource allocation to protect the rights and interests of students as much as possible.

In fact, when the Year One students first get enrolled, they would be assigned to a team that they would stick with for the remaining three years. The teachers of Year One students shouldered more responsibilities that were no easier than that of Year Three teachers.

After all, the teachers of the Year One students would have to consider multiple factors, put together limited resources, and do their best to group students together so that the four members of each team would be able to build strong chemistry with each other.

The teachers would finalize the list of students before the end of the first semester of Year One.

Unless a major accident occurred, the lineup would basically remain until the college entrance examination.

All of that was for the final exam.

No matter how reckless and powerful one may be, they would still have to work well with their teammates before the college entrance examination even if they looked down on them if they wanted to further their studies in college.

Even if it was just pretense, they would have to pretend to be in harmony with their teammates.

In addition, it was really not enough to just pretend. One must continuously emphasize and highlight their value and role in the team as much as possible. What mattered was how they could add value to the team.

There was a reason why it was called a team assessment.

The so-called final exam was a threshold that the students would have to pass in order to have an easier life in college.

However, due to the heritage of the education system and the mindset instilled in students over the years, the honor gained during the team competitions was far more important than individual glory, even in college.

Those were relatively far away from Jiang Xiao. At this moment, the wooden door to the classroom was nearer to him.

Year Three Class 1.

Impressive.

He actually managed to make it into the elite class with just nine star slots.

How did that make any sense?

The point was, Jiang Xiao did not work hard for himself, but instead, did it for the sake of helping the three School Tyrants to make it further in their endeavors.

Regardless of the future, the fact that Jiang Xiao could make it to Year Three now was considered a success.

As soon as he entered the classroom, a pair of eyes met his, making him feel a little bit uncomfortable.

It was not the seniors who made him feel uncomfortable. After all, Jiang Xiao had also been through major events and the entire school had watched him before. They ought to be surprised and amazed.

Besides, the so-called seniors were all six or seven years younger to Jiang Xiao.

The problem was…

This Awakened class was different from that of the ones Jiang Xiao used to be in.

When Jiang Xiao was in high school, there would be two people in one desk.

However, there were very few students in the Class of Awakened which consisted of only 24 students in total. There were 24 single tables in the spacious class, and it was completely quiet.

When Jiang Xiao was in school, there would be about fifty or sixty people in a single class, which was rather lively and noisy. Some students were almost sitting on the rostrum.

This classroom seems a little too quiet, doesn’t it? 

There were no longer any table mates.

Not a single one.

He could never borrow an eraser from his table mate or be annoyed by any long hair beside him.

Besides, Jiang Xiao was still living alone in a dormitory which could fit six people. The bed in the dormitory was a bunk bed, with the bottom layer being a study desk.

He could forget about having a buddy to share the bed with because the ceiling was the only thing above him.

There wouldn’t be any buddies to offer him a spare cigarette, either. Jiang Xiao was the only one in the dormitory, with no one to talk to.

Jiang Xiao lamented in his heart. The wonderful experience that he dreamed of having would never happen.

However, he had no buddies even though the classroom would be spacious.

Also, the teacher especially left two thick piles of books on Jiang Xiao’s table.

Okay, at least some things are still the same.

Jiang Xiao began to sympathize with himself.