A legendary powerhouse! Ziye’s emotions surged once more.

She couldn't help but ask, “Aren't you going to seek his tutelage?” Xing Rui set down his utensils, removed the glasses fogged by the heat, and looked at her with an aggrieved expression. “It’s not like he’d even take me.

Besides, he is my ultimate goal; I intend to become the man who defeats him!” Seeing his fighting spirit, Ziye couldn't help but smile wryly. Xing Rui polished his glasses and added, “Make sure you test into Kagar then.

If I can’t take him on alone, I’ll need you backing me up.” Her? Ziye felt a sudden wave of dejection.

“I’m afraid that will be very difficult.” In truth, leaving Yin Fu Star had clear advantages. On Yin Fu Star, she would never encounter exceptional talents like Chun Niu or Su Tang.

No matter how skilled Tang Shan was, his knowledge was limited to his own perspective. In the field of mecha, one’s thinking only broadens by engaging with different ideas and accepting diverse concepts; otherwise, one’s mind becomes constrained.

Stepping off Yin Fu Star and into space offered a much wider scope for advancement. If she could enter a good school, engaging with numerous masters on a more professional and expansive platform, and meeting classmates with similar interests, her perspective would certainly be far broader than it was now.

For a moment, she was deeply tempted, yet she didn't know how to reconnect the path that had once been violently severed. Xing Rui clenched his fist, his brow filled with confidence.

“You have to believe in yourself!” Infected by his **spirit, Ziye nodded with a smile. “Mmm, believe in myself.” After finishing the meal and seeing Xing Rui off, Ziye felt somewhat bewildered.

Go to school? At her age, perhaps she was the only one drifting aimlessly outside.

Xing Rui was right; she should go to school. She now realized that her knowledge base in many areas was insufficient.

While she might excel in details, she lacked systematization and comprehensiveness. Attending university might mend these shortcomings.

Furthermore, the resources a school possessed were infinitely greater than anything she could acquire on her own. But how could she get into university when she hadn't even finished intermediate academy?

Ziye walked to the table on the balcony and sat down, poking the little sprout dispiritedly. “Douzi, do you think I can still go to school?” Little Douzi squinted its eyes contentedly and rolled onto the back of her hand, saying as it rolled, “If you don’t have lingering trauma concerning schools.” That single sentence struck Ziye’s Achilles' heel, and her face instantly turned pale.

It was right; she did have trauma related to schools. Two years ago, she was facing graduation at Fei Lü Junior Academy.

Fei Lü Junior Academy was the best junior academy across all star systems ruled by Fia, established specifically to cultivate foundational talent for the Fia noble houses. The Fia houses had a mandate: excellent students must never be allowed to flow outward.

However, Ziye disliked the people there, and she disliked the rule of the Fia noble houses. It was too superficial, too opportunistic, prioritizing sovereignty over human rights.

For outstanding students, they even enforced surveillance to prevent them from communicating with the outside world. Ziye’s dream was to become a weapon forger, and she admired the mechas of the Sonai Group; she wanted to test into the Novi Star System for proximity.

On one hand, she feared the people of Fia discovering her intentions, making every day a tense exercise in fear. Yet, no matter how well she concealed it, her intentions would be revealed during the college application process.

On the day of application submission, Princess Yiliya of the Fia noble houses personally visited the school to promote enrollment in the intermediate academies within the Fia-ruled star systems, specifically recommending Fei Ya Intermediate Academy. Ziye, as a student intending to flee the jurisdiction, became a negative example.

Yiliya publicly "educated" Ziye in front of the entire faculty and student body. The words were impeccably polished, but Ziye had forgotten the specifics; all she remembered was being the target of universal condemnation, treated like a traitor wherever she went.

If that were all, it would have been tolerable. However, Yiliya’s private conversation with her was entirely different: “If you apply to a Fia region institution, the Fia will cover all tuition fees for intermediate and advanced academies.

The prerequisite is that you must work in a Fia region for ten years after graduation. However, you must maintain excellent performance; Fia will not tolerate incompetence!” Ziye was inherently someone who resisted being shackled.

At that time, her consciousness was just budding, and she didn't grasp the implicit meaning of those words. Her temper was also fiercely stubborn, and she refused to yield under any circumstances.

Even now, she absolutely would not submit to another's command, but back then, lacking the skill for subtle maneuvering, she directly refused Yiliya. Yiliya, humiliated, slapped her across the face on the spot.

“You refuse respect when it’s offered!” Ziye remembered that slap vividly even now. It wasn't just the burning sting; it was the humiliation!

She lunged forward, intending to strike back, but was restrained by Yiliya’s bodyguard and violently thrown to the ground, the impact almost making her pass out... Yet, she gritted her teeth and endured, refusing to cry out or let a single tear fall.

But from that moment on, her simple and fulfilling life ceased to exist. Yiliya had crushed all her beautiful aspirations.

For the first time, she realized she was nothing, someone who could be crushed like an ant in others' eyes. Two weeks later, Fei Lü Junior Academy organized a tour to Si Yatu for outstanding students, with Yiliya accompanying them.

Ziye did not want to go, but Yiliya immediately branded her as "unsociable" in front of everyone, forcing her participation. Back then, Ziye didn't understand what it meant to have two faces; thinking back now, Yiliya’s cold, noble appearance in public, contrasted with her viciousness in private, was like meeting two different people.

During the journey to Si Yatu, she sat quietly by the gas porthole, admiring the nebulae flashing past, unaware that Yiliya had been watching her. Taking advantage of the chaos during a meal in the restaurant, Yiliya had someone seize her from around a corner and drag her outside.

Faced with her fearful expression, Yiliya tilted her head back with a cold smile. “What, are you afraid of me?” Ziye turned her face away and remained silent.

Seeing her indifference infuriated Yiliya further. She tapped lightly on the wrist communicator, opening the light screen interface, which clearly displayed her application—still set for Novi Intermediate Academy, unchanged.

Ziye instantly understood her intent. She hadn't given up.

As expected, Yiliya sneered, “I’ll ask you one last time, are you changing it or not?” Ziye gritted her teeth, forcing a single word between her lips: “No.” Yiliya roared, “Fine, let’s see how hard your neck is!” With that, her finger tapped the screen, and with a tearing effect, the application form was shredded. Ziye stared, eyes wide, unable to utter a word.

Her only ticket to intermediate academy was that application form. Now that the form was gone, she couldn't go to Novi Intermediate Academy, nor could she apply to any Fia school unless she begged Yiliya.

When a person reaches rock bottom, they either suddenly realize nothing matters, or they choose death. Ziye belonged to the former group.

Looking at Yiliya’s furious expression, she suddenly found it ridiculous. A thousand years of cultivation dissolving in a single instant was just that.

With the application destroyed, Yiliya had nothing left to threaten her with; did that mean she was free, free to seek revenge? The instant Ziye had this thought, she lunged forward.

Taking advantage of the bodyguards not being nearby, she struck Yiliya twice, left and right. Revenge was her nature!

Yiliya hadn't expected such defiance; her nose was crooked from the blows. Forgetting all pretense of dignity, she grappled with Ziye.

As a noble house daughter, her strength was no match for Ziye’s, and Ziye, knowing no restraint when fighting, pinned her to the ground and proceeded to **her mercilessly. Yiliya shrieked, “Guards!

Quickly, someone, restrain her!” The bodyguards rushed over, held Ziye back, and helped Yiliya up. Yiliya’s elegant hairstyle was a mess, her perfect makeup ruined, and she fixed Ziye with eyes like a venomous snake.

Ziye, with a guard choking her neck, gasped for breath. Knowing struggling was useless, she stopped, staring back with unyielding dignity.

Yiliya was incandescent with rage. “Bring me the potion!” The guard flinched sharply, then instantly resumed his blank expression.

“Yes, Young Miss!” Someone handed over a glass bottle of liquid. A sinister smile flickered across Yiliya’s face as she opened the cap, signaling the guards to hold Ziye’s head down while she pinched Ziye’s chin and poured the liquid into her mouth.

A sulfuric taste assaulted Ziye’s throat. She found a sudden surge of strength, wrenched free from one guard’s grasp, and lunged toward Yiliya.

Sensing danger, the guard grabbed her by the collar and flung her aside. Yiliya stabilized herself, took a handkerchief from a servant, wiped the spilled potion from her hands, and coldly spat out, “Throw her out!” The bodyguards responded, “Yes,” promptly opened the porthole, and tossed Ziye outside...

Yiliya watched the guards close the porthole, smoothed her disheveled hair, and regained her noble, icy composure before walking toward her private quarters. She didn't care how many students died.

In her eyes, there were only two types of people: those who could be used by her, and the dead. Ziye always considered her survival a miracle.

Whatever drug she was forced to ingest tormented her relentlessly during her first period back on Yin Fu Star. Had it not been for the 'Dead Pervert' (a biologist) and 'Poison' (a toxicologist), she would have kicked the bucket long ago.

Later, Poison told her it was a type of mind-control agent designed to turn people into humanoid machines. Fortunately, she was robust and had only received a defective half-dose, with most of it spilled, so she hadn't absorbed much.

Two years later, recalling the past, the searing pain remained, and the hatred for the Fia noble houses and Yiliya had not faded. She vowed to destroy everything belonging to the Fia noble houses!

Perhaps it wasn't schools she was traumatized by, but the Fia noble houses and Yiliya. The thought of turning people into humanoid machines, into killing machines, sent shivers down her spine.

Seeing her face turn ashen, covered in cold sweat, just like when she first arrived on Yin Fu Star, Little Douzi quickly reached out to poke her. “Master, what’s wrong?” Ziye snapped back to reality, her back soaked.

She pulled out a tissue to wipe her sweat, her throat dry. “I’m taking a shower.” As the water flowed over her body, Ziye ran her fingers through her now softer hair.

The residual medication in her system had mostly been purged, and a powerful notion bloomed: she needed to study, she wanted to go to the Kagar Star System, she wanted to attend the best school! Before she could fight the Fia noble houses, she needed to possess sufficient capability.

A true gentleman’s revenge is never too late, even if it takes ten years! RS