Chapter 32

Chapter 32

After saying this, Ning Zhu only felt a surge of heat rushing up, burning her face until it was red.

She really was from the Aries system.

Her words were getting more and more chuunibyou!

There were so many outstanding Card Masters among the freshmen. What she had just said was far too arrogant. The more Ning Zhu thought about it, the more embarrassed she felt. But since she had already said it, she wouldn’t take it back. It was just…

Ning Zhu swallowed dryly and whispered to Li Jin: “Senior Li Jin, I only said this to you.”

Li Jin froze slightly.

Ning Zhu leaned closer to him and said seriously: “If I say it to more people, it’ll lose its effect. Please help me keep it a secret!”

She was very close to him.

Her slightly raised face had a faint blush. Even though she was clearly embarrassed, her eyes were bright and clear, not avoiding his gaze at all.

Li Jin suddenly thought back to what happened in the Spirit Rhythm Land…

He had broken through the 【Maze Card】 and returned to the Spirit Rhythm Land, expecting it to be empty, but instead she had been waiting there.

Waiting exactly as promised.

Li Jin instead avoided her gaze slightly and said softly: “No problem.”

Ning Zhu let out a sigh of relief. She was about to say something else when her wristband emitted a soft buzzing sound.

“Shoot!” Ning Zhu checked the time and no longer had time to chat with Li Jin. “Principal Yang told me to take remedial lessons with Director Jiang. We agreed on seven o’clock, and it’s almost the hour—one minute left. I’m going in first! Senior Li Jin, let’s talk again when we have time.”

Li Jin: “Okay.”

Ning Zhu turned off the alarm on her wristband.

She had made full preparations and absolutely did not want to be controlled or pressured by Jiang Binglun in any way.

So she had set multiple alarms—the last one would ring at 6:59 PM, and once it rang, she would go knock on the door.

Luckily she had set the alarm, otherwise she might have ended up chatting a little longer with Li Jin and would have been late.

What would happen if she was late?

Probably nothing serious—just that she would inevitably be frozen to the bone by that “ice cellar.”

“Come in.” Jiang Binglun’s voice came muffled from inside the room.

Ning Zhu carefully pushed the door open, trying her best to walk in without looking around.

This was her first time entering a Libra system teacher’s office.

As expected, unlike Principal Yang or Professor Li Suwen, Jiang Binglun’s office color scheme was a deep blue representing Libra.

Ning Zhu didn’t dare look around, but even in a quick glance, she noticed that the interior was quite different from what she had imagined.

She had thought it would be a clean, neat, minimalist “cold aesthetic” style, but instead what she saw was… dreamlike and surreal.

The dome ceiling was a dazzling starry sky, the floor was so clean it reflected light, and the walls were an elegant moon-white color. There was very little decoration—only two large emblems: one of Spirit Card Academy, and one of the Libra system.

The academy emblem was slightly larger, while the Libra system emblem was slightly smaller.

But because both were in blue tones, they blended into the room surprisingly well, adding a sense of solemnity and grandeur to the dreamy starry ceiling.

Jiang Binglun still had his usual cold expression, but under the atmosphere of the room, he somehow gained a hint of… nobility.

Bai Ze curiously looked around, flying casually back and forth as he commented: “This guy actually has taste.”

Compared to Principal Yang and Li Suwen’s offices, this room was indeed much more aesthetically pleasing.

Not only was it neat and clean, that went without saying.

Even the interior design was highly unified, pleasing to the eye while also adding a subtle sense of restraint.

Ning Zhu silently thought: “I still prefer Aries.”

It might be beautiful—but it felt like sitting on pins and needles.

Jiang Binglun was unlike Yang Huaizhou and Li Suwen; he did not open with “What would you like to drink?”

He stated directly: “The class is forty-five minutes.”

Ning Zhu wished the time could be shorter and shorter, so she responded briskly: “Yes, Professor.”

Ning Zhu had already attended one professional class of the Aries sequence.

That class was different from other courses—it neither used textbooks nor involved any practical exercises. Instead, it was a process close to meditation.

In the Aries sequence class, the professor told everyone to find the most comfortable posture—lying down, sitting, even sprawled out or tilted awkwardly, anything was fine as long as they felt comfortable.

After that, the teacher would release some 【Fire Element Cards】, and the entire room would become extremely scorching. The students needed to sense these fire elements and slowly adapt to their existence.

One of the three core elements of the Aries sequence is fire.

And the first sequence class was to help the little Aries understand “fire.”

Ning Zhu performed very well in the Aries sequence class. After all, she had a full six-pillar chart. She could easily sense the fire elements and saw the classroom as if it were burning.

Her heart tightened, and she could no longer “see” the fire elements.

The professor then reminded her: “Let go of fear. Focus on the fire.”

Ning Zhu tried hard, and only after class did she finally return to her initial state, once again clearly seeing the “burning classroom.”

Having had experience with sensing fire elements, Ning Zhu secretly searched the school forum for introductions to Libra sequence classes, and finally felt somewhat prepared.

She would not embarrass herself in front of Jiang Binglun.

Absolutely no chance for him to make things difficult for her!

Jiang Binglun was still grading papers, not even lifting his head: “Focus. Meditate.”

Ning Zhu was happy that he was ignoring her and replied: “Yes, Professor.”

She faintly felt a hint of coldness—the room should have been filled with ice elements, even though she did not see Jiang Binglun using any 【Ice Element Card】.

Ning Zhu sat on the sofa. She wanted to relax like she did in the Aries sequence classroom, but… forget it. With someone who disliked her in the room, relaxation was difficult.

“Focus!”

Ning Zhu startled slightly, pulled her wandering thoughts back, and said: “Yes, Professor.”

She had experience sensing fire elements, so in theory, she should be able to easily sense ice elements. After all, her six-pillar chart was fully maxed out. This advantage did not directly show in card battles or card creation, but it would be clearly reflected in her resonance with sequence cores.

“What are you thinking about?” Jiang Binglun’s voice grew even colder. “I said, focus!”

Ning Zhu closed her eyes, still restraining her tone, and replied: “Yes, Professor.”

Ning Zhu tried to sense the ice elements…

But the ice elements were nothing like the active fire elements. She struggled for a long time but could not sense anything. In fact… she could no longer even feel the earlier chill. Instead, a restless heat rose in her chest.

Creak.

The sound of a chair shifting was especially abrupt, followed by the rustle of clothing and footsteps.

This time, Ning Zhu finally felt “coldness”—but it did not come from ice elements. It came from Jiang Binglun’s gaze.

“You are wasting my time,” he looked down at her.

Ning Zhu opened her eyes. Even though she was sitting, she raised her head without losing momentum and met his gaze: “Professor, I am trying hard to sense the ice elements.”

“Your Libra triple core is as high as 30%!” Jiang Binglun said sarcastically. “With just a little effort, you should be able to immediately resonate with the ice elements!”

Ning Zhu: “I can’t sense them.”

“Focus!”

“I am focusing!”

“Your mind isn’t even in this room!”

“I…”

Jiang Binglun suddenly raised his hand. In an instant, countless snowflake-like ice elements fell into his palm, rapidly condensing into a block of ice emitting a chilling aura. Then, it transformed into a 【Ice Element Card】 filled with bone-deep coldness.

Jiang Binglun said: “If you can’t even resonate with ice elements, then get back to the Aries system. Don’t touch the Libra sequence.”

Ning Zhu had a good temper—provided the other party respected her. Otherwise…

She stood up and said: “Professor Jiang, I already made my choice when the system divisions were assigned. I chose the Aries sequence! And I’m here because of Principal Yang’s arrangement. I believe he has already told you that I am here to learn the Libra sequence from you.”

Jiang Binglun: “……”

Ning Zhu continued: “I follow Principal Yang’s arrangements. If you don’t want to teach me, then please go tell the principal yourself!”

Jiang Binglun’s cold expression visibly cracked. His chest rose and fell with restrained emotion. His thin face became even more imposing with suppressed anger—but Ning Zhu was not afraid at all. She stood there like a sharp green bamboo, stubbornly pointing toward the sky.

“Good… very good…” Jiang Binglun laughed in anger, but the smile carried no warmth—instead it was chilling. “Since I agreed to the principal, I will teach you the Libra sequence. As for what you learn from it—that is your own business!”

Ning Zhu said: “It already is my own business.”

Jiang Binglun clearly choked again. His expression darkened further, but he said nothing more. He simply turned back to his desk, forcefully opened the students’ assignments, and began grading them, his voice extremely cold: “Focus!”

Ning Zhu also sat back down and closed her eyes, no longer looking at him.

Focus, focus!

Is that the only word he knows?!

Does he even need to teach with just that?!

Ning Zhu was absolutely, completely, one hundred percent certain—she did not suit the Libra system!

Twenty minutes later.

Beads of sweat appeared on Ning Zhu’s forehead.

She still could not sense any ice elements. In fact, she even suspected Jiang Binglun was deliberately making things difficult for her—after retrieving the ice elements, he simply stopped releasing the 【Ice Element Card】.

Was there even ice element in this room?

She couldn’t feel even the slightest chill—only burning anger!

“Time’s up.” Jiang Binglun looked up at her.

Ning Zhu immediately stood up and said to him in a controlled tone: “See you Wednesday night, Professor.”

This undoubtedly made Jiang Binglun’s expression even worse.

He knew she was doing it on purpose.

Deliberately provoking him.

After saying this, Ning Zhu walked out of the classroom without looking back.

With a snap, Jiang Binglun snapped the pen in his hand in half.

The same arrogance.

The same insolence.

They both possessed heaven-gifted talent, and at the same time, were destined to look down on others.

Even though Ning Zhu had prepared herself mentally, she still left this class with a stomach full of anger.

She didn’t understand why she couldn’t sense the ice elements at all, and truly suspected…

“Did Jiang Binglun really use the 【Ice Element Card】?” she asked Bai Ze.

Bai Ze hadn’t paid much attention: “The desk was blocking it.”

Ning Zhu asked again: “Can you see the ice elements in the room?”

Bai Ze yawned: “I can only see spiritual energy. I can’t see scattered elements.”

Ning Zhu had no choice left.

Rationally, she knew Jiang Binglun had definitely released the 【Ice Element Card】.

Because he was “Judgment”—these two characters were not only the title of the second rank of the Libra sequence, but also the core principle of his current cultivation.

Jiang Binglun would not violate his principle over something so trivial.

Because it would cause serious damage to his cultivation.

“Why can’t I sense it?” Ning Zhu herself couldn’t figure it out.

She could so easily sense fire elements, yet she couldn’t feel ice elements no matter what.

Wasn’t her six-pillar chart supposed to be fully maxed out?

Ning Zhu let out a long sigh and could only go back and continue doing her work.

Sequence classes had a drawback.

Without a teacher’s guidance, it was very difficult to cultivate on one’s own.

For example, this first step—if the teacher didn’t release element cards, it was extremely difficult for students to sense them on their own.

At seven o’clock on Wednesday, Ning Zhu still could not sense the ice elements.

The atmosphere between the two of them, however, had dropped to freezing point.

Another Monday came, and Ning Zhu still could not sense the ice elements.

If Jiang Binglun’s gaze could kill, Ning Zhu would already be dead.

Ning Zhu truly was not deliberately trying to provoke him. Since she had decided to cultivate the Libra sequence, she would not be careless or slack off.

But…

She still could not sense it no matter what.

Another Wednesday night—Ning Zhu was truly developing psychological trauma toward this tutoring session.

She started struggling with it from the afternoon, to the point that she was dazed during chemistry class. When the teacher called on her to answer a question, it was only thanks to Lin Ting reminding her that she managed to respond.

Over the past half month, Ning Zhu had been extremely busy.

Although the Freshman Cup was in December and the internal selection was in late October, the preparation time was actually very short.

They had only these two months to produce all required cards—learning while making them was truly not easy.

They also had to master combat techniques, become proficient in using 【Warrior Cards】, as well as various fire-type 【Spell Cards】… all of this required massive amounts of practice.

Especially 【Spell Cards】—not only did they require maximum efficiency in spiritual energy usage, but also accuracy training. It was like learning to use firearms; without accuracy, you were just wasting shots!

Even 【Equipment Cards】 had to be trained. Ning Zhu already had high proficiency with 【Armor Cards】, which was an advantage, but she still needed to adapt to a weapon—and that involved physical combat skills as well.

In short…

Ning Zhu wished a day had 48 hours, and each hour had 120 minutes, so she could perfectly complete the “training plan” tailored for her by Li Liyang.

There was no helping it—Ning Zhu had fallen far behind.

If she wanted to qualify, she would have to compete against many preparatory-class students. And those students… although they officially enrolled at sixteen, had already begun enlightenment training at six or seven, growing up immersed in it for nearly ten years.

The gap was so huge that many Pure Human-origin students were discouraged before even trying.

But Ning Zhu couldn’t retreat. She could only go all out.

Under such high pressure, she found Monday and Wednesday night tutoring sessions increasingly unbearable.

It was always the same…

“Focus.” “Meditate.” “What are you even thinking about?” “Do you even want to learn or not?”

Ning Zhu finally snapped.

She opened her eyes and said: “I can’t sense it!”

Jiang Binglun: “You simply don’t want to sense it!”

Ning Zhu shot up from her seat and said: “Why do you always think the problem is me?! After teaching me for so long, all you ever say is ‘focus’ and ‘meditate’—is that it?! I am already doing it! I just can’t do it! Why would you rather doubt that I don’t want to learn than consider whether there is something wrong with your teaching method?!”

“Because you just don’t want to learn!”

“Then do you even want to teach me?!”

After a brief silence, Ning Zhu felt exhausted. She said: “Professor Jiang, let’s go find Principal Yang together. If you don’t want to teach, and I don’t want to learn, why are we torturing each other?”