After finishing his research, Gu Zhen confirmed that he likely had Star Disease.
He truly hadn't expected that a so-called "genius disease" would afflict someone like him, a supposed waste, and especially so close to three months after his awakening.
Could it be that he had committed too many sins in his past life, and now he was facing retribution in this one?
This made Gu Zhen entertain the idea of deleting his "character"
After struggling so hard for so long and finally seeing a glimmer of hope, something like this had to happen—it was truly messing with his mindset.
But after venting his frustrations, life had to go on.
Deleting his "character" was, of course, not an option, and he didn't even know if he'd get a chance to start a new "save file"
From the information he had just read about Star Disease, Gu Zhen learned that the disease typically erupts significantly after three years.
Within the first three years of awakening the disease, there wouldn't be any major symptoms.
It would only flare up frequently after that period, so Gu Zhen didn't need to worry too much in the short term.
As for what to do after three years, he hadn't even solved his current problems yet—how could he have the energy to think about issues three years down the line?
Gu Zhen got out of bed and cleaned himself up, suddenly noticing that his star power realm had improved significantly, reaching the peak of Realm 1, Level 5, and even touching the threshold of Realm 1, Level 6.
This was likely a benefit brought by the Star Disease.
The star power corrosion occurred because his body couldn't handle the massive influx of star power, but that same overwhelming star power had also boosted his star power realm—a benefit that wasn't exactly a benefit.
With the unexpected onset of Star Disease, Gu Zhen lost all desire to sleep.
He decisively chose to spend the rest of the night cultivating.
As for the recommendation that those with Star Disease stop cultivating and avoid radioactive star power sources—he couldn't possibly follow that advice.
Without strength, how could he resolve the issue of Star Disease?
He refused to stop cultivating just to drag out his life by a year or two, only to die pathetically in the end.
Over the next few days, Gu Zhen spent most of his time cultivating and practicing star skills.
He wasn't in a rush to break through the Realm 1, Level 5 threshold.
Li Qin, that creep, was definitely watching him and must have noticed his star power realm.
Jumping two levels in such a short time would surely arouse suspicion.
If Li Qin decided to make a move because of this, it wouldn't be good.
Instead of focusing on breaking through his star realm, Gu Zhen prioritized merging Iron Fist and Qi Palm to create a powerful killing move.
Once achieved, even someone with a Realm 2 physique would fall if he landed a sneak attack on their vital points.
Compared to elemental star skills, physical star skills were more about refined skill. Once mastered, they could be improved through continuous practice.
This was also why physical star skills were so rare—they were all variations of similar skills, producing different effects.
More powerful star skills required a strong physique to execute; without a sufficient physical realm, they simply couldn't be used.
This was why physical star warriors were so scarce, with very few becoming truly powerful.
Elemental star skills, on the other hand, tested a star warriors mastery of star power, its properties, and the elements affinity. They could be released externally or internally, offering a wide variety of skills and effects.
There was another significant difference between physical and elemental star skills: physical skills consumed far less star power.
As long as the skills was fully mastered, even a Realm 1 star warrior could use some simpler B-grade physical star skills.
Elemental star skills, however, typically consumed more star power, the higher the grade.
A Realm 1 star warrior would absolutely be unable to use a B-grade elemental skills.
Unfortunately, Gu Zhen superpower had nothing to do with the elemental system. Otherwise, with the anime and novels he had seen in his past life, he could have come up with some incredible moves.
A week passed quickly. Due to the Star Disease and the constant surveillance of Li Qin, that scheming old fox, Gu Zhen skipped all his classes.
He also requested leave from his teacher, Xie Yanwen, stating that he wanted to focus entirely on breaking through to Realm 1, Level 7, aiming to be recruited early during the academy admissions in two months.
Xie Yanwen didn't object and promptly approved his request.
Why would she stop a young person with a clear goal who was striving for it?
In the following days, Gu Zhen devoted himself to merging Iron Fist and Qi Palm. With this skills, he wouldn't fear most Realm 2 opponents.
However, if he encountered someone like Li Qin, a Realm 3, he'd still be outmatched.
During this time, Gu Zhen star power realm also reached Realm 1, Level 6. Though the progress was a bit fast, it was still within a controllable range.
Gu Zhen estimated that if he absorbed all his remaining star beast cores, his star realm could improve by about a third of a level. Relying on hard cultivation and star power potions for the rest would be a stretch.
So, he planned to head to the forest outside the city again after some time to see if he could get another haul.
Unfortunately, because of his previous failed mission, his Hunter Alliance reputation had taken a major hit.
His credibility score had dropped significantly, and he had been banned from accepting team missions.
If he failed two more times, he'd be expelled from the Hunter Alliance and permanently banned from becoming a hunter.
To restore his credibility, he'd need to complete solo missions repeatedly, which was unacceptable to Gu Zhen.
In truth, failing a mission wouldn't normally deduct so many points. It was because Gu Zhen had taken the mission and then shown no response, letting it fail due to expiration without offering any explanation, that he lost so much credibility.
Fortunately, he was just a team member. If it had been Huang Wuguang or the others, their credibility would likely have been completely wiped out.
He continued searching the mission list, looking for any information he could use, but naturally found nothing.
Since he couldn't find anything, Gu Zhen didn't force it and started thinking of other solutions.
If he couldn't do it himself, he'd buy what he needed. Though it was expensive, based on Gu Zhen estimates, the money he'd earned from selling star skills recently should be enough to buy the star beast cores he needed to make up for the shortfall.
With a plan in place, Gu Zhen began to execute it.
Time passed slowly, and a month flew by in the blink of an eye.
Gu Zhen strength steadily improved, and reaching Realm 1, Level 7 before the end-of-term competition was now a certainty.
Right then, the academy issued an official announcement—the Grand Combat Competition was coming.
Overall, the Grand Combat Competition wasn't much different from the weekly tests, except that the scope had expanded from individual classes to the entire grade. The use of external tools like star artifacts was still prohibited.
It would be a massive free-for-all among the first-year students from all classes.
The top ten would receive very generous rewards, with the first-place winner earning a Realm 2 spirit-type material and a Realm 2 physical-type material—prizes that made countless students envious.
Additionally, at the end of the event, representatives from various advanced star warrior academies would come to observe. If a student met their standards, they might even be recruited early.
Though most students felt indifferent about this—such opportunities seemed like distant dreams to them—a small group was ecstatic. They were determined to seize this chance.