It was 8:30 AM, half an hour before the final assessment.
The morning sunlight streamed through the tempered glass into the heavily guarded training ground.
In the corridor, Tiandao Siming and Caroline walked side-by-side into the training ground.
He licked the last bit of cream from the corner of his mouth, savoring the irresistible taste.
Beside him, Caroline watched his childish behavior with a slightly disgusted and resentful look.
"Tiandao, are you a hamster? You ate so much, you even ate my strawberry cake!"
"What hamster? I call this strategic reserves~"
Tiandao pushed up his sunglasses, the lenses reflecting a sly arc of light: "Besides, Caroline, today is the final assessment. Those guys are already bad-tempered, and now they're like powder kegs, ready to explode at any moment. What if a fight breaks out later?"
Before he finished speaking, a timid figure suddenly ran out from a corner of the training ground.
"Tiandao-ge, Caroline-jie."
Chen Kong greeted them cautiously, his voice trembling like a startled rabbit
He was short and thin, and his training uniform was not only a size too big, but the cuffs were also worn and faded.
Clearly, he hadn't had a good time at the base.
However, Tiandao didn't neglect him because of this.
"Yo, Kong-kun~"
He put his arm around his shoulder, smiled, and ruffled Chen Kong's messy hair, asking with concern, "How are you? Have you had breakfast?"
"I-I've eaten."
"What did you eat?"
"Just a regular nutritional meal."
Chen Kong's voice sounded very unsure of himself.
In fact, he hadn't even had a regular nutritional meal; it had been taken by other students.
Tiandao, unaware of this, gasped dramatically upon hearing his answer.
"What?! You actually ate that kind of pig swill on such a crucial day as the final assessment?"
Tiandao shook his head in anguish. "No wonder you haven't been able to activate your star core, Kong."
Chen Kong blinked in confusion. "Eh? What I eat for breakfast has anything to do with my star core?"
"Of course it does!"
Tiandao pointed to himself seriously. "As the number one genius of the Embers, my brain consumes the equivalent of three adults' worth of sugar every day. Don't believe me? Look..."
Tiandao suddenly leaned closer, his azure eyes behind his sunglasses flashing with a dangerous arc, as if stars were flowing within them.
Although the two only exchanged a simple glance, Chen Kong instantly felt an immense pressure emanating from Tiandao.
It was as if the person looking at him wasn't a peer who was only half a month older than him,
but a ferocious, powerful star beast that could easily tear him apart at any moment.
Seeing Chen Kong, the 'protagonist,' so frightened by just a glance...
Tiandao immediately laughed and said, "See, Kong, this is the result of your nutritious meals."
"Why am I so strong? It's because I eat double portions of sweets every day!"
"If you also eat double portions of sweets every day like me, you might awaken your star core immediately."
"R-really?" Chen Kong's eyes immediately lit up.
"Idiot, he's lying to you."
Before Chen Kong could think about whether this was true or false, a clear, cold female voice came from in front of the three of them.
Chen Kong's older sister, Chen Xing, had appeared in front of them at some point, carrying the blood-red longsword 'Blood Flame' on her back, which gleamed eerily in the morning light.
Tiandao and Caroline didn't react much when they saw her.
Chen Kong, who was being held by Tiandao's shoulder, looked like a mouse seeing a cat, his expression visibly timid.
"S-sister."
Chen Kong shrank into a ball, not even having the courage to look directly at her.
Chen Xing didn't care at all.
Because she was already used to her useless, good-for-nothing younger brother.
She didn't even glance at Chen Kong, her crimson star eyes fixed on Tian Dao.
"Tian Dao, trying to fool people again with your flawed sweets theory?"
"How can you call it fooling people~"
Tian Dao chuckled, spreading his hands. "Science proves that sugar not only promotes brain function, but also..."
"Shut up!" Xing coldly interrupted. "Do you think everyone is a hardcore sweets lover like you?"
These words caused the entire training ground to fall silent.
The surrounding students instinctively took a few steps back, clearly knowing what was about to happen.
After all, the last person who dared to speak to Tian Dao like that spent a full month in the infirmary.
Since then, apart from Caroline, Tian Dao's closest confidante,
no one else dared to speak to him like that a....(To be continued)....