Eld Di’s expression was somewhat gloomy, but he did not lose his temper. Instead, he asked in a low voice, "Who is it?" "So far, we have traced it to Liu Xiao, but he may have already been silenced. There must be someone else behind this." "First, let’s check the inventory to see how many have been illicitly sold." Those with the capability to steal and sell Soul Beads had to be among the academy’s upper echelon. Yet, at the same time, the upper echelon shouldn’t have any reason to do so. What could they gain from illicitly selling Soul Beads? Money? But what was money to someone at the top of the academy? Who among them lacked money? Not to say they were as wealthy as a nation, but an annual income of several million was still easily achievable for them. And that was just net income, not counting benefits and subsidies. For the academy’s upper echelon, everything from clothing, food, housing, and transportation, even to the livelihood and employment of their family members and the education of their children, were all meticulously arranged. It was truly incomprehensible why they would steal and sell Soul Beads; there was no reason, it was utterly baffling. Wang Lan, representing the Tianjian Bureau, Yu Ruoyun, representing the Student Council, and Eld Di himself personally led the group to the finance department to retrieve the keys. They entered the Soul Bead warehouse and then the storage room. "The academy’s inventory should be three hundred thousand Soul Beads," the head of the finance department said nervously, looking at the ledger. "Bin one, full!" Not long after, the Student Council’s quick check results came in one after another. As each full bin was reported, Yu Ruoyun’s expression gradually relaxed. Wang Lan’s brows, however, slowly furrowed. All bins full? Impossible! If the culprit really was Liu Xiao from the finance department, where else besides the academy could he have obtained so many Soul Beads? And the finger found in Liu Xiao’s dormitory seemed to confirm it was indeed Liu Xiao. "Report to the Dean, all bins are full; the three hundred thousand Soul Beads are accounted for." "Great-grandfather, it seems those one hundred thousand Soul Beads didn’t come from the academy. Although the person might be Liu Xiao, he wouldn’t have the authority to withdraw Soul Beads from the academy, especially not such a large quantity." "Hmm, as long as they’re not from the academy..." Eld Di said, nodding calmly. "Wait, let me check again." Wang Lan still couldn’t figure it out. Other than the academy, he really couldn’t think of any place that could source so many Soul Beads at once. Could it be the Pioneer Space in the East Sea? If it were the Pioneer Space, then the one who sold those Soul Beads should be a high-ranking official from one of the Pioneer Spaces, not Liu Xiao. After checking two storage cabinets in a row, he found nothing. Just as Wang Lan was also beginning to believe those Soul Beads had not come from Modu City Star Martial Academy, he opened the third cabinet. In that instant, Wang Lan’s expression changed, and a look of shock appeared on his face. Seeing Wang Lan’s expression, everyone’s hearts rose to their throats again. "Wang Lan, what’s wrong? Did you find something?" "Damn it, these... these aren’t Soul Beads!" Wang Lan exclaimed, grabbing a handful of beads to show them. "These... these damn things are glass marbles!" Everyone was momentarily stunned. Instantly, Yu Ruoyun stepped up to Wang Lan and took a Soul Bead. After just one glance, her face went deathly pale with anger. Because Soul Beads were so valuable, many fakes made of glass circulated on the market. Glass was a peculiar material; when made into Soul Beads, they looked incredibly similar. From the outside, they looked completely identical. However, Soul Beads were fundamentally important to Star Martial Warriors as they contained Star Energy Fluctuations. Thus, whether they were glass marbles or Soul Beads could not be concealed from a Star Martial Warrior; only someone completely ignorant could be fooled. Moreover, even ordinary people couldn’t be easily fooled due to the unique properties of Soul Beads. As long as the Star Power within hadn’t been absorbed, a Soul Bead was indestructible. Even a bomb couldn’t shatter it. But once the Star Power within was absorbed, the Soul Bead would automatically shatter. So, hitting it with a hammer would quickly reveal if it was a real Soul Bead. Earlier, the Student Council had only checked the quantity, so they hadn’t imagined that any of the Soul Beads would be fakes made of glass marbles. If it hadn’t been for Wang Lan’s exceptionally keen sense of Star Energy Fluctuations, they might actually have been completely fooled. Tricking people with glass marbles? Who were they trying to insult? The faces of those who learned the truth immediately turned livid with anger. "Uncovering the truth about the Soul Bead fraud, rewarding 10,000 experience points and 800 skill points." The delayed system notification finally chimed, but Wang Lan was in no mood to celebrate. "Notify all directors and above to meet in Conference Room Eight," Eld Di said in a deep voice, then turned and left the storage room, his hands clasped behind his back. The news of the illicit Soul Bead sales spread quickly; soon, almost all the school leaders had heard about it. One hundred thousand Soul Beads being stolen and sold – this was earth-shattering news. Therefore, in the conference room, everyone’s face was extremely grim. The academy’s Soul Beads were mainly allocated to the Star Martial Warrior teachers. They had forgone opportunities to achieve fame and fortune, and chances to hunt Exotic Beasts for Soul Beads in the Pioneer Spaces, dedicating themselves to teaching at the academy. These Soul Beads were their rightful due. Moreover, Soul Beads were used for both teaching props and rewards. In the world of ordinary people, Gold is hard currency. But in the world of Star Martial Warriors, Soul Beads are money. One hundred thousand Soul Beads was the Modu City Star Martial Academy’s entire annual quota. "Everyone has heard about the incident, right? One hundred thousand Soul Beads have been embezzled! Such a thing has never happened in the history of the Modu City Star Martial Academy... no, in the history of all four top Star Martial Academies," Eld Di said slowly, leaning on his cane, his expression somber. "Dean, whoever managed to illicitly obtain and sell the Soul Beads must be someone of considerable status. At least at the director level or above. And it must be someone from our academy. I suggest we conduct an immediate investigation. There should be records of who went to the warehouse." "The one who took the Soul Beads was likely Liu Xiao from the finance department. However, he didn’t have the authority to open the Soul Bead safe, and it appears Liu Xiao has been silenced. The Tianjian Bureau found a finger in his dormitory, possibly his." "Only a few people have authorization to open the Soul Bead safe. Who’s missing?" Nangong Meng’s icy gaze swept across the room and suddenly paused on the third empty seat to his left. "Why isn’t Vice President Qi here?" "Vice President Qi’s father passed away suddenly the day before yesterday, and he went home for the funeral..." Eld Di frowned. "Make a call and ask him about it." Nangong Meng quickly took out his phone, but after trying to connect for a long time, he finally put it down. "No answer! Could it be him? I’ll personally lead the Student Council to find him." "Let’s pass this lead to the Tianjian Bureau; they’re more professional than we are," Eld Di said coolly after a moment’s hesitation. "No! This is our academy’s own matter and should be resolved by the academy itself. If the Tianjian Bureau gets involved, it’s bound to leak out and have a major impact on the academy’s reputation." "I also agree with Dean Nangong’s proposal. With this incident happening at the academy, our priority must be its reputation. The loss of one hundred thousand Soul Beads is secondary; if the academy’s reputation is damaged, regaining our standing will be a huge challenge," someone chimed in. "Gentlemen! The illicit sale of Soul Beads is a criminal case and should rightly be investigated by the Tianjian Bureau. We are, after all, an academy; we have neither the authority to investigate such cases nor to make arrests. That settles it. We’ll hand it over to the Tianjian Bureau." Eld Di decisively overruled the dissenting opinions. Nangong Meng wanted to say more, but after receiving a stern look from Eld Di, he reluctantly held his tongue. "Now that one hundred thousand Soul Beads have been stolen, our inventory is severely depleted. How do you suggest we resolve this?" "What else can we do but send out those restless students to the five Pioneer Spaces for their internships? By the way, our academy has recently been offered several international aid missions. We were planning to negotiate for better terms... Should we just accept them now?" "Whether for student internships or international aid, it has been customary for the academy not to collect Soul Beads." "So what? It’s not like we’re taking them for free. We can have students exchange them for Academic Credits—say, ten Soul Beads per credit." "That won’t do! Once such a precedent is set, it will lead to endless trouble. Even in these extraordinary times, we cannot open that door. Our academy has many students from Star Martial families; which of their families doesn’t possess Soul Beads? This would be tantamount to using academy resources to purchase Soul Beads from these Star Martial families." "Eld Di, in my opinion, we should open the Nine-layer Pagoda. It was scheduled to open soon anyway. This time, the Nine-layer Pagoda wouldn’t just be for the fourth-year students’ trials; it could be opened to all students in the academy." "That’s not feasible. The Nine-layer Pagoda is even more dangerous than the Pioneer Spaces; many of the Exotic Beasts inside are mutated. Even fourth-year students are barely strong enough. Opening it to all students would be too dangerous." "It’s not as if anyone who wants to can go. The academy can conduct assessments. Individual participation won’t be allowed; students must apply as a team. A team of at least four must have an average strength at the Galaxy Stage." "While fourth-year students have the highest average strength, there are many students from the first to third years whose abilities would be considered top-tier even among the seniors. If we let them enter to collect Soul Beads and then exchange those beads for Academic Credits, it would prevent the loophole of Star Martial families exploiting the system." Nangong Meng’s proposal immediately garnered widespread support. This solution seemed quite good. Meanwhile, as the academy was discussing opening the Nine-layer Pagoda, a breaking news alert suddenly caused an uproar at Modu City Star Martial Academy. "Genius Youth Solves Ancient Conundrum! Star Martial Toxin Vaccine Emerges! Poisonous Beasts No Longer a Threat to Humanity!" "Modu City Star Martial Academy Freshman Deciphers Star Martial Toxins, Develops Vaccine!" "Genetic Coding Formula Successfully Applied in Star Martial Toxin Vaccine! New Chapter Opens in Fight Against Poisonous Beasts!" These news items swept through nearly all media outlets overnight. Mainstream and alternative media alike frantically reported and circulated the story. This was because Sun Li’s paper on the successful development of the Star Martial Toxin Vaccine had undergone rigorous verification in the Angel Kingdom and was confirmed to be completely feasible and effective. When Wang Lan saw this news, his lips curled in disdain. What utter nonsense, he thought. The Angel Kingdom boasted the world’s largest number of Medical Star Martial Warriors. The country produced Medical Star Martial Warriors in abundance and was also home to many Medical Star Martial Techniques. The Angel Kingdom, true to its name. And yet, such a powerhouse in Medical Star Martial Arts had taken half a month just to verify Sun Li’s paper. During that time, Wang Lan and his team had already developed vaccines for hundreds of Star Martial Toxins. We’ve already developed and applied them, and you’re only now completing the verification? Is your confirmation even necessary? Despite Wang Lan’s inner indignation, he knew that verification by the Angel Kingdom was indeed necessary. This update ıs available on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✦𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚✦𝕟𝕖𝕥 Verification by the Angel Kingdom signified that this new technology had received an official seal of approval, classifying it as orthodox and scientifically validated. Many nations had forms of witchcraft. Even after thousands of years of inheritance, because these practices couldn’t obtain official verification and endorsement, they were often labeled as unorthodox, or even heretical and perverse.