Although the paper was too soaked for her to read anything, the visible traces were still familiar, as if she had seen them somewhere before.
"Bring it back and dry it. See if you can restore the handwriting. There should be useful clues…"
Pondering for a moment, she covered the paper with a handkerchief and gave the guard instructions.
"Find him whatever it takes!"
The whole royal palace was busy all night long.
The king had ordered to search for a man in a black cloak who was about 1.85 meters tall.
His look was unclear, but it was easy to determine his height if they considered the height of the wall, its distance from the tree, and the angle.
Countless soldiers searched everywhere in the heavy storm.
However, the man in black seemed to have been vaporized and was nowhere to be found.
In the royal palace…
"Are you sure that lightning can illuminate the stars in your body?"
Xiao Jin looked at his vulnerable daughter anxiously.
She was his most beloved child. He wouldn't hesitate to give away ten years from his life if that would help her recover.
"The chances are more than fifty percent!"
Xiao Yurou nodded and said, "Father, you know my condition. My body is congenitally blocked, and I will die if the stars aren't illuminated by the time I'm eighteen. The man in black has shed new light for us when he illuminated his stars by using lightning. Spiritual energy cannot circulate in my body, but electricity can! I did the calculations three years ago!"
Xiao Jin nodded.
His daughter was curious about everything. Three years before, a house in the royal palace was hit by lightning and caught fire. She ran calculations and placed an iron rod above the building. No accidents of that nature happened again in the following three years.
Back then, she had calculated that humans were conductive.
However, it never occurred to her that electricity could illuminate the stars!
"So, I might be able to change the current situation as long as I know how he did it…" Xiao Yurou clenched her fists.
She hadn't swum in the ocean of knowledge nearly enough, and she didn't intend to die.
She was only a seventeen-year-old girl after all.
"However, this art is too innovative… Even if we can find him, there will be nothing we can do if he doesn't confess!"
Xiao Jin frowned.
Stars had been illuminated with spiritual energy for tens of thousands of years. Illuminating stars with lightning was a revolution. Why would the person reveal the secret?
Xiao Yurou didn't reply.
She understood the logic well.
She had informed the guard that the incident was not to be leaked. The soldiers deployed were searching for him without knowing why.
"I think we should be prepared for the worst!" Pondering for a moment, Xiao Jin said, "Since there's a thunderstorm today, why don't we try and see if we can figure out the method by ourselves?"
"Alright!" Xiao Yurou nodded and said, "Please find some geniuses who haven't illuminated the Seven Stars yet!"
It was always best to prepare a backup plan!
Xiao Jin nodded and gave instructions.
Soon, seventeen young men were summoned to the royal palace. They were all geniuses of the major families.
"Let's begin!"
Xiao Yurou had calculated the amount of electricity in the lightning, the possible damage, and how to self-rescue at the critical moment while they were on their way.
She gave them the results of her calculations and allowed them to study for a while. Then, she asked the guard to fetch a pole and a dozen hangers.
"There had to be a reason why the man in black used those!"
"Who wants to try first?"
"Allow me!"
A pretty boy walked out.
He was Fu Chuanji, a famous young genius in Green Abyss.
He had shown astonishing talent by illuminating five stars when he was only fifteen.
He picked up the pole and strode into the storm.
Crack!
Blackened by the strike, Fu Chuanji fell and his body jittered.
A guard rushed close and pulled him back into the room. Xiao Yurou frowned and asked him, "What did you feel?"
Feeling dizzy, Fu Chuanji said, "I felt… I was hit by lightning…"
"…"
Xiao Yurou said gloomily, "I'm asking if you could control the power of the lightning to illuminate the stars!"
"There was no time for me to react…" Fu Chuanji was rather embarrassed.
He passed out when the lightning hit him. How could he have controlled its power.
"Next…"
"That's unnecessary. I think I can still hold on…" Fu Chuanji gritted his teeth.
Every young man adored the princess.
How could he disappoint her?
Crack!
He fell and had muscle spasms again. This time, not only had he been charred black but he was also foaming.
He had only illuminated five stars anyway, and his resistance was far weaker than Cui Xiao's.
"What about it?" asked Xiao Yurou.
"I think… I can try again…" Fu Chuanji struggled to say, with foam flowing out of his mouth.
"Next…" said Xiao Yurou while waving her hand, knowing that he couldn't figure it out.
Another genius walked into the thunderstorm.
Crack!
Crack!
All the seventeen young men were lying on the floor half an hour later, their hair standing on end, their faces blackened, and their clothes ripped apart.
Their experience was the same. They passed out so quickly that they couldn't even tell where they were, much less the location of the stars.
"It doesn't work this way…"
Xiao Yurou shook her head and tore the results of her calculation into shreds.
She had personally seen the man illuminating stars with lightning. How did he manage it?
Who was he exactly?
Why did he not foam?
…
Shen Zhe returned to his dormitory.
He sat cross-legged on the bed. The six stars in his body slowly spun, unleashing the magnificent power of the stars to course through his veins.
He found and illuminated four stars thanks to the four chances to use the pencil in his head, and the way to locate the stars that his classmate had given him.
He was still short of one chance to illuminate the last star.
However, he ended with grave wounds after the illumination. He quickly changed back into himself when he entered the city and returned to the school.
It took three bottles of herb liquid and four hours to finally recover.
His veins were thicker and more tensile after they were healed. It seemed that he wouldn't be too badly hurt if he were hit by lightning again.
He was significantly stronger than before with the power of the stars circulating in his body.
If he were to meet the Silver Lion again, he would be able to knock it out with one punch.
He wasn't a Martial Artist, but he was no weaker than a mid-phase level-one Martial Artist!
He looked out the window.
A night had passed again.
"I've run out of pencils again…"
Changing his looks with absolute value and finding the locations of the four stars with the "=", all of that had used up the pencils he had accumulated with great trouble.
He was bankrupt again.
Where could he do good and positive things?
Zhao Chen had already contributed to two pencils. It was inappropriate to always count on him. However, Shen Zhe was not familiar with others…
"I should go to class first…"
Unable to figure out a solution, Shen Zhe went to the classroom.
Everybody was talking about the contest.
He saw that his new classmate was still calculating. Her eyes were also red, indicating that she didn't sleep much.
The equations on her paper were still too complicated for him to understand.
"The contest will be held tomorrow. You'll have a one-day holiday today. You're free to form teams of no more than five people. Submit your names to the teachers' office before dark, or it will be considered as an automatic forfeit!" announced Ms. Bai Yu.
…
Rest and self-adjustment were certainly necessary for such a great contest.
"Jiu'er, have you found a team yet? Do you want to join mine?"
Wang Qing approached the new classmate with a smile, "I've teamed up with my two good buddies. Both of them are very strong!"
Stopping her brush, Xiao Yurou smiled politely. "Are you sure?"
"Rest assured. We're very close. I'll just tell them that you're in…" said Wang Qing confidently.
"I haven't illuminated a single star yet. I'm just… an ordinary person who has never cultivated!" said Xiao Yurou.
"Huh…" Wang Qing was stunned.
He had thought that the new classmate was a super genius because she was busy calculating all the time.
"Do you still want me?" asked Xiao Yurou.
"Well… I don't think so." Wang Qing smiled awkwardly.
A weak teammate would affect not only himself but also his other teammates. He certainly didn't want that.
Frustration flashed on Xiao Yurou's face when she was refused, but then she shook her head and continued her work.
Another pair of young men approached her, but just as Wang Qing reacted, they declined her after hearing about her lack of strength.
Although she did not complain, Xiao Yurou felt even lonelier.
She had been by herself since childhood, without any friends or sisters.
She craved for company when she was alone for too long. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone to school at the end of her life.
However, she knew that she was just an ordinary person. Why would anyone invite her in a contest that was related to their ranking?
No team would want a person that would hamstring them…
Soon, everybody in the class learned that their new classmate was even weaker than Shen Zhe. They all stepped away.
Xiao Yurou sighed in disappointment.
Quite a few of them had approached her the previous day, swearing that they would do anything for her, but they all backed off when their interest was involved.
That was… humanity.
She was at a loss. While she was brooding over it, Shen Zhe looked at her and asked, "Have you really not illuminated a single star yet?"
"No!" Xiao Yurou said angrily, "Didn't you hear them?"
"I thought you were fooling them…"
Shen Zhe looked at her pitifully.
What an unlucky girl!
He thought she was a genius, but she also turned out to be weak!
His former self was the last place of the school but had still illuminated two stars. It must've been hard for this girl not to be expelled when she had yet to illuminate one!
Ms. Bai claimed that she had transferred from another school, but Shen Zhe speculated that she had been kicked out.
Poor thing…
"Why don't you join my team?"
Shen Zhe felt particularly generous after meeting someone who was as poor as him.
"Join your team? Are you inviting me?"
Briefly dazed, Xiao Yurou suddenly clenched her fists.