LIGHT NOVEL Chapter 224 - Youthful Spirit
On her way back to the Imperial Capital Star from the Third Corps, Mai Dongzi received many messages—nine out of ten of them were requests for her assistance.
Mai Dongzi was quite willing to help those people. After all, it not only provided an additional source of income but also allowed her to quickly improve their cultivation levels.
However, less than four days after her return to the Imperial Capital Star, the school term would begin. Most of her time would then be spent at Imperial Capital University, where such activities would not be allowed. In the end, Mai Dongzi agreed to invitations from only six individuals.
To save time, this time she would no longer visit them in person; instead, she asked them to come to her small villa.
Of course, she emphasized one critical condition: their parents had to personally accompany them—both parents, no exceptions.
As a member of the Phantom Squad, Mai Dongzi’s return to the Imperial Capital Star was quickly noticed by Yu Lan and Chen Xinhe. They immediately arrived at Mai Dongzi’s villa with their parents, where she finally learned more about their situation.
Yu Lan didn’t avoid taking cultivation potential-enhancing elixirs early because she didn’t want to—but simply because she didn’t have access to them.
Her family was only a third-rate household and not based in the capital star. While they were better off than many, the family was deeply patriarchal.
Although Yu Lan’s 2A cultivation potential was considered outstanding within the family, her treatment was worse than that of males with A-level potential.
Fortunately, her parents, having only one daughter, were dedicated to her education and willing to save up money to buy her a cultivation potential-enhancing elixir.
In a family like the Yu Clan, it was not easy for members like Yu Lan’s parents to come up with one million credits. It wasn’t until a few days ago that they finally managed to save enough to purchase the elixir.
Chen Xinhe’s parents were in a similar situation. As collateral relatives in the Chen family, they had neither high cultivation levels nor significant income. Their relatively good living conditions were due to the family dividends they received.
Chen Xinhe’s A-level cultivation potential granted her some privileges as a direct descendant, but she wasn’t particularly valued. With many descendants in the Chen family and plenty of individuals with 3A-level potential or higher, Chen Xinhe didn’t stand out much.
Her parents, having only one daughter, were very willing to spend on her, but their savings were limited. Coming up with one million credits quickly was a challenge. Additionally, they were reluctant to let her take any risks, which delayed the matter.
It wasn’t until they heard that everyone Mai Dongzi assisted had a 100% success rate that they were finally convinced. With additional encouragement from Deputy Chen, the future heir of the Chen family, who privately sponsored an advanced cultivation potential-enhancing elixir for Chen Xinhe, they made their decision.
That evening, both girls left Mai Dongzi’s villa, successfully advancing to level five cultivators.
With this, all members of the Phantom Squad had reached level five.
What Mai Dongzi didn’t expect was that, on the third evening after her return, Ren Guang and Mira also came to her villa and even stayed the night before leaving the next day.
Ren Guang had participated in a special training camp hosted by the Blue-Black Empire during the long break. This camp was organized to enhance the empire’s elite youth and was only open to those with S-level cultivation potential.
“The instructor was a level eight cultivator and extremely strict with us. Every day, we were pushed to our physical limits. We spent more time lying in the treatment pod than in bed,” Ren Guang recounted.
Although he described the training camp as grueling, his animated expression and rare display of youthful energy showed how much he had enjoyed it.
The special training camp had only been initiated last year. During that time, Mai Dongzi had just been reincarnated and was busy striving in survival livestream games.
Erica, who returned to the Xi family with S-level cultivation potential, took Ren Guang’s place as the top talent among the younger generation of the family and was also selected for the special training camp.
After Mai Dongzi returned to the Xi family, she gave Ren Guang a new type of energy elixir, which gave him the confidence to use a cultivation potential-enhancing elixir.
With his potential also upgraded to S-level, Ren Guang was selected for the special training camp this year.
Ren Guang never spoke to Mai Dongzi about the mental struggle he went through last year when he was overshadowed by Erica.
Even without him saying it, Mai Dongzi could imagine. At the time, Negri was still the patriarch, and most members of the Xi family prioritized practical benefits above all else. It was easy to guess that Ren Guang must have faced significant challenges and frustrations.
It was no wonder that at the start of the long vacation, after earning a spot in the special training camp, Ren Guang’s entire demeanor changed—he seemed revitalized.
Mai Dongzi had initially sought the opinion of General Su and considered taking Ren Guang with her to the Third Corps. However, seeing his new sense of determination, she changed her mind.
Looking back, it turned out to be the right decision. The special training camp was highly beneficial. Ren Guang’s cultivation advanced to the mid-sixth level, and it seemed likely he would reach the seventh level within a year.
Meanwhile, it seemed that Mira’s latent spiritual abilities had been awakened, shifting her attitude toward cultivation from passive to proactive. She had entirely abandoned her previous laid-back demeanor.
Although her cultivation level hadn’t advanced much over the past three months, her aura had grown significantly stronger, and her combat ability had undoubtedly improved.
A new semester had begun, and Mai Dongzi and her peers were now second-year students.
Unlike the previous year, when she was escorted by Guard Su, this year Mai Dongzi had two “protectors” by her side—Mai Zixuan and Zhuang Huaiya.
In recent days, Zhuang Huaiya had become a frequent visitor to Mai Dongzi’s villa, having been granted unrestricted access.
With Mai Zixuan intentionally befriending him, and learning that he was also a cousin of Mai Dongzi and a first-year student at Imperial Capital University, Zhuang Huaiya reciprocated the goodwill for her sake. In less than two days, the two got along like brothers.
Interestingly, the two of them bore a striking resemblance to each other, so much so that others naturally assumed they were siblings.
To simplify matters, Mai Dongzi introduced Mai Zixuan as her cousin to those outside the Phantom Squad. Most people assumed he was another cousin from her maternal uncle’s side, sparing her from explaining his exact family connection.
After the semester began, no one was surprised that Mai Dongzi had reached the late sixth level of cultivation as a martial artist. What shocked everyone was that all members of the Phantom Squad had advanced to fifth-level cultivators over the vacation.
This caused quite a stir in the Command Department, as it was well known that students admitted to the Command Department typically had cultivation potential ranging from 2A to A. The gap in cultivation levels between students was usually not significant.
In the past, even in the elite class of the Command Department, it was typical for students to begin reaching the fifth level only in their second year. The Phantom Squad had broken this norm entirely.
Zhuang Huaiya’s transformation was particularly noteworthy. With just 3A cultivation potential, his training speed was no less impressive than that of S-level cultivators, leading many to speculate that Mai Dongzi had some unique method to accelerate cultivation progress.
Since everyone in the Phantom Squad, aside from Mai Dongzi, were second-year elite class students in the Command Department, they had become quite familiar with her. Several students even directly approached Mai Dongzi, hoping she could assist them in advancing their cultivation levels.