Yang Yingfan entered the Interstellar Gate for the second time, his movements practiced and assured. The dazzling light and shadows in the narrow passage no longer inspired awe in him, and this journey was swift, taking only about twenty minutes to complete.

Stepping out of the Interstellar Gate on the other side, a blast of icy air greeted him. He had arrived in a world of snow and ice. Fine snowflakes drifted down from the sky, coating the plaza in a mantle of white. Beyond the city limits, he could see undulating glaciers stretching into the distance, seemingly vast enough to span ten thousand li, possessing an imposing grandeur.

In the center of the plaza stood a large consultation platform, shaped like a crystal sphere one meter in diameter—a feature absent from the Interstellar Gate plaza on Hongyun Star, offering a subtle indication of the disparity between the two planets.

Yang Ying approached the consultation platform. The sapphire embedded in his forehead emitted a blue beam of light, communicating with the crystal sphere for several seconds before downloading the city map and introductory information.

Yongxue City, the name of this city, was fitting; snow fell here almost perpetually. Within the last fifty standard years, the number of days without snow could be counted on one's fingers.

Though snow was the city’s theme, surprisingly, the temperature was not frigid. On Binghe Star, where the annual average temperature hovered below freezing, Yongxue City was a miraculous anomaly. For most of the year, its temperature fluctuated around the freezing point, dipping lower only in winter, perhaps reaching a minimum of minus twenty degrees Celsius. However, in Atlantis, a nation boasting such extreme technological advancement, this level of cold was negligible.

Yongxue City was a place steeped in poetry; many Imperial artists had lived here. The snowscapes within the city were Binghe Star’s specialty, famous almost throughout the entire Empire, this peculiar climatic phenomenon being a masterpiece of nature’s artistry.

And Yang Ying’s destination, the Binghe Central Academy, was situated right in Yongxue City.

Speaking of this academy, it was the pride of Binghe Star, established over twenty-three thousand years ago, dating back to the era when the Empire first unified the galaxy. The talent it had nurtured was immeasurable; one former student had even ascended to the level of a Fourth-Tier existence.

The Academy had evolved into the most preeminent institution of higher learning in this stellar cluster, a veritable peak of academia, ranking highly within the Empire for both scientific research and education.

Of course, this prominence brought a corresponding challenge: the pace of study and research within the Academy was so rapid that the minds of most ordinary people could not adapt. Those capable of entering for advanced studies were, barring the absolute geniuses among the ordinary populace, fundamentally Awakening ones.

Yang Ying left the plaza and hailed an autonomous taxi at a nearby stand, traveling to the western suburbs of the city. Before disembarking, he used his optical computer to send a blue light signal to pay the fare—incredibly convenient.

Yang Ying did not head directly to the Binghe Central Academy. Instead, he checked into a hotel not far from the school grounds, as the data he downloaded indicated that the Academy's enrollment process would only commence in seven days, leaving him ample time to prepare for the entrance examination.

In the Empire, primary and secondary education had long since transitioned away from physical classrooms and into the virtual realm. The accumulation of knowledge was achieved simply through memory transmission equipment. An Imperial citizen only needed to receive a transmission for a particular course and pass the corresponding examination in the virtual world to receive the certification.

However, as previously mentioned, memory transmission was not infallible. Due to the limited capacity of ordinary human brains, they could not accept excessive amounts of knowledge. Every commoner had to meticulously calculate before receiving a transmission, much like choosing university majors, specializing in one or a few specific fields.

Imperial education had advanced to the point where it could gauge an individual’s cognitive capacity and transmit only the commensurate volume of knowledge. If family members requested knowledge exceeding that capacity, the educational software would reject the application.

Yang Ying was pleased to discover that among the stack of genuine software provided by the counter robot, there were educational programs included.

He secured a room at the hotel and instructed the service robot not to disturb him, regardless of what transpired.

Reaching his room, Yang Ying locked the door, lay down on a reclining chair, and gently touched the sapphire on his forehead. A faint azure light flashed, and he activated the educational software.

Suddenly, about a dozen multi-colored orbs shot out before him, each bearing a label such as 'Level One Mathematics,' 'Level One Literature,' 'Level One Art,' 'Level One Natural Science,' and so on.

Yang Ying casually tapped the Level One Mathematics orb. The orb designated for it instantly exploded, transforming into a streak of polychromatic light that surged into his forehead. All the knowledge associated with Level One Mathematics flooded his mind.

Yang Ying observed that this was merely elementary-level arithmetic—addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. He ignored it and tapped Level One Literature, finding introductory courses on character recognition. Level One Art offered basic introductions to artistic forms and a brief overview of Imperial Art History.

These were all foundational materials. Without pause, he tapped all ten initial orbs. As one orb vanished, a new one immediately appeared—for instance, after tapping Level One Mathematics, Level Two Mathematics materialized; after tapping Level One Natural Science, Level One Physics and Level One Chemistry appeared; after tapping Level One Arts, Level One Painting and Level One Sculpture emerged.

Yang Ying continued tapping. The orbs did not decrease but instead showed a tendency to multiply, which didn't surprise him; knowledge always bred more knowledge.

He saw no need to test his knowledge absorption rate, as it was manifestly infinite. Ordinary absorption capabilities were constrained by the brain structure; Awakening ones could dismantle these limitations. Even a Level One novice could significantly enhance their cognitive ability and brain capacity, characterized initially by a vast improvement in memory.

Level Two allowed for further brain development, and upon reaching the limit of Level Two, brain region development approached one hundred percent, unlocking total potential. At this stage, one could achieve perfect recall.

By Level Three, the spirit transcended the brain's constraints; the concept of brain capacity became meaningless. This stage allowed for memory regression; even memories from infancy, long absent from the brain's active storage, could be retrieved. Furthermore, any amount of knowledge transmitted from the outside could be absorbed without hesitation.

Therefore, if Yang Ying were to test his absorption ability, the answer would undoubtedly be infinite, so he refrained from the test.

Yang Ying tapped through Level Two Math, Level Three Math, all the way to Level Seven Math, beyond which there were no further options. Each subsequent level contained exponentially more knowledge. Yang Ying spent half the night absorbing the entirety of the Level Seven Mathematics curriculum, though he felt the time invested was somewhat wasted, as the Trandian race already possessed related knowledge far exceeding the level of this Level Seven mathematics.

However, Yang Ying was aware that deeper levels existed within the Empire—Level Eight, Nine, and even Ten Mathematics—but such profound knowledge was guarded by the advanced institutions and not casually distributed to the public.

After mastering all the mathematics courses, Yang Ying logged into the virtual world and applied to take the math exams.

The virtual world accessed via the optical computer was connected across the entire Empire. One could visit friends, engage in leisure activities, or indulge in less virtuous pursuits. Given the extreme fidelity of the virtual world, living there felt indistinguishable from real life; it was rumored that many in the Empire could no longer discern the difference between reality and the virtual.

Yang Ying roamed the virtual space for a while. The towering skyscrapers, streetlights, and scenery appeared utterly real. Yang Ying felt that this world lacked only the tangible presence of the physical world that defied the sixth sense; all other five senses would be thoroughly deceived by the verisimilitude of the sights.

After his circuit, Yang Ying stopped before a universal door, called out, "To the Examination Hall," and the door opened to reveal the Exam Hall.

The Exam Hall functioned like a dungeon instance; upon entry, a testing room and an examiner would automatically generate. The examiner's intellect was rudimentary but sufficient to administer an examination.

Seeing Yang Ying enter, the examiner said, "Greetings, student Igor. I am your examiner. You are testing for... let me see, Level One Mathematics. Please be seated." The examiner produced an examination paper and handed it to Yang Ying. The name Igor was the alias for Yang Ying's current false identity.

Yang Ying said nothing further, took the paper, and began answering. The Level One Mathematics questions could be solved by an Earth-bound primary school student, provided they could decipher Atlantean mathematical notation. Yang Ying’s pen flew across the page, completing the paper in ten seconds.

After submitting the paper, the examiner nodded with studied seriousness: "Excellent. Congratulations, completely correct!"

Yang Ying felt a mixture of amusement and exasperation. This examiner was, after all, just a program; every action was pre-scripted. And it was only Level One Math—was this level of formality necessary?

"I wish to proceed to the Level Two Mathematics examination," Yang Ying stated.

Thus, Yang Ying spent the rest of the night in the Exam Hall, conquering every level, slaying his way from one to seven, and ultimately earning the Level Seven Mathematics certificate.

Exiting the virtual world, the sky was just beginning to lighten. Yang Ying paused, then re-entered the virtual realm, using the universal door to access the virtual campus of the Binghe Central Academy.

This location was not an instance; the virtual Binghe Central Academy was nearly identical to the physical one, with students milling about near the entrance, chatting and laughing.

Yang Ying walked straight to the campus consultation desk, a relatively spacious room housing over twenty robots actively answering queries from visitors.

Perhaps due to the impending enrollment period, the line of inquirers was endless. They were first greeted by these intelligent robots; only if the robots could not resolve the issue would the matter be escalated to a living person.

Yang Ying engaged in a brief conversation and noted that these virtual intelligent robots possessed a slightly higher level of sentience than the examiners in the Exam Hall.

Yang Ying's purpose here was not complex; he merely wished to inquire about registration requirements. The robots were clearly prepared for this and handed him a pamphlet detailing the registration process.