Time rushed by, like a girl's monthly cycle, and the morning’s combat training slowly wound down.

Luo Yu collapsed onto the ground, breathing hard in heavy bursts, her chest heaving like it grew a size.

The Training Dummy slid silently to her side and played a voice line: “Emperor, your athletic performance among all mages in the Demon Realm ranks fourth from last…”

“No need to flatter me.” Luo Yu waved a hand, wearing a confident look. “You know my strength. One win is all it takes to prove it.”

“Oh.” The Training Dummy nodded slowly.

“Hey, robot.” Luo Yu called out, grabbed its shoulder, yanked it down, and lay flat on the grass with it.

“Mm?” The Dummy looked at her, puzzled.

Luo Yu tapped its forehead again. Her eyes shimmered, her tone full of expectation. “Tell me. After I beat that Champion and my name shakes the Demon Realm, what should I plan for my life?”

“Can’t compute.” The Dummy shook its head. “Apologies, Emperor. I can’t determine any chance of you defeating the Champion.”

“You suck.” Luo Yu smiled, flashing a tiger tooth. “You’ve followed me almost a year. Still this dumb? You can’t even see my strength?”

“Mm…”

“Then say this. Saving the masses, making a name—super glorious, super fulfilling, something the world remembers, right?”

She gave her head a shake and switched topics as she asked.

“I don’t know.” The Dummy kept shaking its head. “I’m just a semi-sapient being mixed from wood and clay by the Demonic God. I don’t even have a full racial nature. I can’t feel higher-intellect values or honor and shame.”

“Knew you couldn’t compute it. But—”

Luo Yu made a loud promise. “One day, when I conquer all things and become the one god of this world, I’ll upgrade you into a Gundam.”

“Mm…”

“I’ve realized lots of things go wrong because my name isn’t big enough.”

Worked up, Luo Yu wriggled up and kept talking. “If I’d gotten famous early like that human Champion, those pretty girls wouldn’t have rejected me, right?”

“After I beat the Champion, I won’t need to dance those otaku routines in brothels to please those bloated nobles.”

“Once I beat the Champion, love, lewd parties, feasts of land and sea—so many things will sort themselves out. For sure.”

“Mm…”

“Ahem.” Luo Yu shifted from lying to sitting. Seeing the Dummy spacing out, her mood dipped. “Did you get any of that?”

“Mm… mm…” The Dummy’s thoughts jammed. It just couldn’t imagine Luo Yu having all that.

“Such an idiot.” Luo Yu stood and frowned. “You’re at least semi-sapient. How can you be this dense?”

She powered the Dummy down, tossed it into a haystack to hide it, then stepped out of her private training grounds.

She kept walking. On the academy’s grand plaza, she saw many girls lining up toward a very, very old Elder Elf.

“So this is the magic pop quiz Xiao Shuang mentioned.” Luo Yu found a bench and sat. She rubbed her lower belly and admired the pretty girls’ figures.

The Elder Elf stood by the central pillar, a crystal ball shining in his hands as he tested each girl’s mana.

Luo Yu saw the deep wrinkles on his face and the clumsy, painfully slow movements. She couldn’t help frowning.

“This old fossil looks half in the grave. Can he even do it? If not, switch him out. A geezer this age loitering in a girls’ academy, eating free and ogling.”

Her gripe was loud, but few noticed. Luo Yu’s gaze was dragged to the girls’ pale thighs. After a long while, she pulled her eyes back, stared at her own belly, then closed her eyes and let out a soft, girlish groan.

Two mages passed by and spotted Luo Yu on the bench doing who-knows-what. They hurried over.

A boy and a girl. The boy looked sixteen or seventeen, the girl fifteen or sixteen. Both plain-looking.

The girl mage saw Luo Yu’s face and looked shocked. “Damn, isn’t that Luo Yu?”

“Damn.” Luo Yu heard her name and her face tightened. “Who the hell is calling me without the honorific—Emperor?”

She turned and saw two familiar figures. Her face went dark.

“Xiong Sanpang, Xiong Simei. Why are these two lumps here?”

Luo Yu had known them for a long time. She knew they were siblings. Back in the slums, they were glued together every day, almost like they’d merge, and they pestered her nonstop.

“Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu, it’s me!” The boy mage rushed up, holding a fresh bouquet of roses. He put on a hometown warmth. “Remember your Brother Xiong? The three of us used to be together every day when we were kids…”

Luo Yu stepped back. “Who the hell are you?”

“Xiong Sanpang.” The boy hunched slightly, trying to be a gentleman, and offered the roses. “When you were little, Miss Mei even joked about marrying you to me. Honestly, we match…”

He turned to his sister to lecture her. “Sis, your temper’s the problem. With a beauty, be gentle and considerate, like your big bro—”

“Oh. Don’t know you.”

Luo Yu snatched the thorned roses, flicked them to the ground, and crushed them underfoot. “Beat it.”

The boy mage: “Uh…”

“Hey, Luo Yu.” The girl mage’s face twisted. Just seeing Luo Yu put her in a foul mood. “Didn’t expect to meet you at the Central Girls’ Academy. So, Luo Yu, how did a Lower Demon like you get in? Sell your looks? Figures. That’s about all you’ve got…”

“You’re a Lower Demon too.” Luo Yu turned her head away the moment she saw the girl and stepped back. “Scram, idiot. I’m here to watch pretty girls, not waste time with you.”

“And you, Xiong Sanpang.” Luo Yu watched the boy mage, wary. “Seriously? It’s a girls’ academy. How’d you slip in? Cut your junk off?”

The boy mage’s brow tightened. “I—”

“Hmph, you don’t even know, do you, Luo Yu.” The girl mage cut her brother off and forced the chat. “Listen up. This year the academy’s expanding admissions. They’re even recruiting low-tier bloodline mage girls from outside. I took first on the exam.”

“Oh, so they even let trash like you in. That explain this guy?” Luo Yu looked at the boy again and frowned. “You really cut it off? Went full trans?”

The boy mage broke into a sweat. “Just… let me explain—”

“Luo Yu, don’t think sneaking into a higher academy makes you hot stuff.” The girl mage said, “My magic talent is genius-tier. Even the elven elder was shocked by my mana reserves. You’re just a pretty vase. No chance—”

“Mother—damn it.” The boy mage snapped and clapped a hand over his sister’s mouth. “Xiong Simei, can you shut up? I was trying to flirt here. You’ve been yapping like a dog, and I can’t get a word in.”