Chapter 25: Her Lover, the Deceiver Part 2

These potions, though very fake, still contained some base cost. They could treat minor ailments. But the sales pitch was too exaggerated, the price too high. To make a sale, they’d say anything, even promises of bringing the dead back to life.

“Pfft,” a snicker emerged from the watching crowd.

The restrained troublemaker seized the chance to break free and fled. This time, no one went to catch him.

“Disperse, disperse! No spectating!” One security guard immediately helped the captain up, while others shooed away the crowd.

Jia Hua and Zhen Yan also moved with the flow, departing. Before they got too far, they saw the suited man, his face dark with fury, walking towards the Security Captain.

Wuhu, this’ll be fun.

The “Treasure Hunt Holy Land” was huge. This was just a minor incident, hardly worth remembering. The two continued deeper inside.

Jia Hua looked around, while Zhen Yan beside her seemed somewhat distracted.

“What are you thinking about?” Jia Hua asked casually.

“I was thinking—” Zhen Yan’s voice cut off abruptly. She came back to her senses and smiled lightly. “Thinking about why that man suddenly fell, and just happened to crash into the potion table. Quite a farce.”

Jia Hua shrugged upon hearing this. “Probably the eyes of the God above, deliberately dealing with him.”

Zhen Yan laughed. “If that were truly the case, probably half the people on this land right now would have already fallen.”

Jia Hua couldn’t help but laugh too. They continued walking hand in hand, slowly moving farther.

They walked side-by-side along the not-so-bustling paths of the “Treasure Hunt Holy Land.” It was both a workday and midday; most people weren’t out browsing. The “Treasure Hunt Holy Land” only truly came alive at night.

They gradually reached the central area. There stood a building that looked incredibly high-tech. No matter how one looked from the outside, the naked eye couldn’t see any scene inside. The entire building used privacy glass. A surrounding wall separated it completely from the outer stalls, highlighting its prestige.

Most importantly, it had a protective shield around its perimeter, capable of withstanding certain attacks.

A sign hung above the main entrance, reading [Holy Land Auction House.]

On the outer wall beside the entrance, a display screen cycled through images of items currently in day auctions and items that failed to sell. A ring that flashed past on the display caught Zhen Yan’s attention. It was a rare blue diamond, crystal clear, beautifully colored, and exquisitely cut.

In Zhen Yan’s eyes, that blue diamond was perfectly suited for Jia Hua’s fair, slender fingers.

Zhen Yan led Jia Hua towards the auction house, but was stopped at the door by the Doorman.

“Good day, our auction house requires membership to enter. We are temporarily not open to the general public. If your liquid assets exceed five million yuan, we can set up a free membership for you,” the Doorman said with a smile, his words flowing with practiced ease, clearly having been repeated countless times.

Five million?

Zhen Yan fell silent, touching the Imperial Universal Magnetic Card in her pocket. The one million inside, which she had considered so much, wasn’t even enough to enter the auction house’s doors here.

Seeing Zhen Yan’s silence, Jia Hua silently tightened her grip on Zhen Yan’s hand.

Zhen Yan turned and smiled at her, then looked back at the Doorman and asked, “Do you know what price range that ring is in?”

The Doorman followed Zhen Yan’s finger towards the display screen, which now showed a magnificent Blue Diamond Ring.

“Ah, that one. It probably can’t be had for less than ten million. Originally, it was a night auction item, but rumored the price didn’t meet the seller’s expectations, so it was placed as a failed auction clearance,” the Doorman said sincerely.

“Thank you.” Zhen Yan nodded, took Jia Hua’s hand, and left.

Walking along the not-so-spacious road, Jia Hua asked, “You really like that diamond ring?”

Zhen Yan felt a bit annoyed at herself for perhaps being too obvious. She smiled simply. “It’s very beautiful.”

It suits you perfectly.

But it was too expensive. The biggest sum of money Zhen Yan had ever seen in this life was the one million Ji Shuoqing transferred to her. Yet here, any random item cost tens of millions. It was truly beyond her means.

Realizing Zhen Yan wanted that diamond ring, Jia Hua turned her head back to glance at the auction house entrance again as they walked away.

Time flew by as they browsed. They had no choice but to leave the “Treasure Hunt Holy Land,” or else they’d be late and penalized with a 100,000-meter run.

The two hurried toward the exit. But just before leaving through the main gate, Jia Hua pulled Zhen Yan back to the very first fake gem stall they had seen.

“Wha-what do you want?” Seeing them, the stall owner stammered.

But Jia Hua just smiled at him, casually picked up a blue gem and a small box from his stall, and left behind one hundred yuan in cash.

Then she led Zhen Yan away from the “Treasure Hunt Holy Land,” leaving the stall owner staring blankly at the one hundred yuan on his table, then grinning foolishly.

“Hehehe, didn’t expect to make twelve yuan profit…”

That single fake gem cost him eighty yuan, the box eight yuan. He made twelve yuan.

On the way back to school, Zhen Yan asked in confusion, “You knew it was fake, so why spend a hundred yuan to buy it?”

Jia Hua smiled, placed it on her palm, and held it out to Zhen Yan. “Is it pretty?”

The fake Sapphire under the light glittered brilliantly, indeed looking beautiful.

But no matter how beautiful something is, if it’s fake…

Just as Zhen Yan wanted to say something more, she heard Jia Hua say, “Pretty is enough. I just want the beautiful appearance. Real or not, doesn’t matter.”

Looking at Jia Hua’s curved, smiling eyes, Zhen Yan’s heart fluttered. She pressed her lips together and silently reached out, placing her hand over Jia Hua’s hand holding the gem. Their palms slowly clasped together.

The Driver shook his head and safely delivered them to the Imperial Fourth Military Academy gate.

The two rushed back to their dormitory, changed into their uniforms, and dashed to the class location. They appeared at the Mental Power Control Room just as the class bell rang.

Seeing them, He Tong said flatly, “One more minute late, and you’d be getting physical exercise.”

The two smiled but said nothing, quickly moving to the very back of the formation.

Originally, Class A had thirty people. Ten per row made exactly three rows. Now with two more, they had to form a fourth row.

There, they even saw Ji Shuoqing. She was standing at the very front of the first row. Upon seeing Zhen Yan, she lowered her head.

He Tong called out in front of the formation. “Today’s lesson is Mental Power Control class. In front of you are ten Mental Isolation Chambers. All thirty-two of you, except for Qin Hua, will enter for training. Groups of ten, making four groups. Zhen Yan forms a group alone.”

“Remember, everyone must stay behind the red line and strictly follow the requirement board’s instructions to complete the training. Time limit: ten minutes. Your scores will be recorded upon exit.”

Why didn’t Qin Hua have to train?

The cadets could only wonder silently, not daring to ask. After all, Qin Hua associated with Zhen Yan. Even though Qin Hua’s rank was dead last in Class A, she had a friend ranked first.

Now, everyone wanted to get on Zhen Yan’s good side, so naturally, they wouldn’t look for trouble with her friend.

The ten people in the first group looked exceptionally nervous. Even Ji Shuoqing, who usually wasn’t nervous, had become so after Zhen Yan’s appearance.

At He Tong’s command, “Enter!” the ten entered the Mental Isolation Chambers. Each chamber was surrounded by protective glass made of special, extremely costly materials capable of isolating Mental Power. The chambers were rectangular—very long but very narrow. Each cadet stood behind a red line. Papers of varying sizes appeared in front of them at different distances for them to strike using Mental Power.

The paper size gradually shrank, distances increased. Then two papers appeared, then three… The requirement board randomly specified which specific paper to strike accurately, without hitting the others.

This was both a training for Mental Power control strength and precision.

There were ten stages total, with a maximum of 10 points. Higher scores indicated better Mental Power control and stronger Mental Power. Under He Tong’s requirement, 5 points was the passing threshold.

Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye, but for cadets with poor Mental Power control, it felt like seconds crawling by painfully.

When the first group exited, everyone’s face was pale, their legs weak.

Come on, ten minutes of continuous Mental Power use was deadly exhausting!

The scores of all ten cadets instantly appeared on the display screen at the side, clear at a glance.

Aside from Ji Shuoqing, who achieved 7 points, everyone else scored 3 or 4.

Seeing the results, He Tong shook her head. “All of you are A-Rank Alphas. You have such great talent, but you need to show the strength to bear it! Besides Ji Shuoqing, everyone failed!”

“Second group, enter.”

The first group sat down to rest in the rest area. The third group stood outside the ten isolation chambers, nervous, watching the cadets inside. Zhen Yan was queued in the fourth group alone, currently standing behind the third group.

Jia Hua, meanwhile, had approached He Tong to talk.

“Teacher, are you free? I have some questions for you,” Jia Hua said.

He Tong’s gaze shifted from the projection screen to Jia Hua. “Ask away.”

Jia Hua: “Must a person take back their Mental Power? Can it be deposited in some object and not retrieved?”

He Tong: “It’s a projection of you, a part of your body. Naturally, it must be reclaimed.”

Jia Hua: “Absolutely?”

He Tong suddenly hesitated. “The books say there were once S-Rank Mental Power Users who could deposit a sliver of their Mental Power into an object and then sever their connection to it. But whether it’s true or false, I don’t know.”

Jia Hua nodded. “Teacher, if I used B-Rank Mental Power to attack A-Rank Mental Power, what would happen?”

Jia Hua’s words were ambiguous. He Tong rolled her eyes. “Did you sleep through your twelve years of compulsory education? There’s a suppression phenomenon between Mental Power Levels! Not just between B-Rank and A-Rank, even within the same rank, suppression occurs between stronger and weaker users.”

“Just like this morning’s match where Zhen Yan suppressed Ji Shuoqing. Under Zhen Yan’s Mental Power suppression, Ji Shuoqing had no possibility of resistance.”

Having learned what she wanted to know, Jia Hua nodded. “Oh, understood. Thank you, Teacher.”

Without waiting for He Tong to dismiss her, she turned and walked back to her rest chair, even smiling at Zhen Yan, who looked back at her.

Watching Jia Hua’s departing back, He Tong bit her lower lip. …Endure, must endure. At least she said thank you. That’s already pretty good.

In the second and third groups, there were indeed four cadets who achieved the 5-point threshold, but none reached 6 points.

This was common for them. Ji Shuoqing had always monopolized the top spot. Besides her 7 points, no one in the entire year scored 6 points in Mental Power Control class.

Previously, everyone just accepted it. But now, someone potentially even stronger than Ji Shuoqing had arrived!

Previously, with no one contesting Ji Shuoqing’s top spot, everyone defaulted to her holding the first position. But now, with a challenger for that title, everyone’s enthusiasm was instantly ignited.

Watching Zhen Yan enter the isolation chamber alone, the rest area buzzed.

“What score do you think she’ll get? I bet 7 points!”

“Tsk tsk, seeing how she thoroughly beat Shuoqing this morning, I know she’s much stronger. I bet 8 points!”

“But I heard she just came of age recently and hasn’t trained yet. I think her first score will be around 5…”

“…”

“Hey! Have you all said enough! What’s all this noise during class time! Think this is a marketplace?!!” Du Han, the closest to Ji Shuoqing, couldn’t take it anymore. She shot to her feet, yelling.

“Xiao Han, it’s fine. Sit down.” Ji Shuoqing beside her pulled her back into her seat and held her, silent, staring towards Zhen Yan standing inside the isolation chamber.

Her gaze was complex. This was the most crushing defeat of her life—defeated effortlessly by another, utterly and completely.

In the morning’s match, directly clashing with Zhen Yan’s Mental Power, she clearly understood how the word “suppression” worked.

No will to resist, only the urge to submit.

Ji Shuoqing lowered her eyes and fell silent.

Was this the gap in talent? Why!

He Tong once again voluntarily took a seat beside Jia Hua.

He Tong asked, “What stage do you think she’ll pass? What score?”

Jia Hua laughed lightly. “Would you believe me if I said?”

He Tong said, “Say it first.”

Jia Hua replied, “10 points.”