Chapter 13: Huai Boshe Doesn’t Understand
Wei Yuanqing was the only son of the Yaoming Group’s family, and by virtue of his prestigious background and innate talent, he practically owned the place at Fense Academy. He was the type of person who could walk down the halls with his head held high, answering to no one.
Yun Yingzhi’s eyelids twitched as a sudden, uneasy thought struck him. Since I’m participating in this competition, is it possible… that I might run into Wei Yuanqing?
In the past, he wouldn’t have cared. But ever since hearing the rumors that Wei Yuanqing might possess an ability akin to mind-reading, he truly, deeply did not want to see that man ever again.
After a moment of hesitation, Yun Yingzhi comforted himself. It’s fine. I’ll just sign up online first. It was highly unlikely they would cross paths just from a registration.
He began filling out the application forms.
The forms required the input of one’s real legal identity. On this point, the Yaoming Group acted as a corporate guarantor; the system provided absolute encryption for anyone choosing to enter anonymously. Unless given explicit permission, no one had the authority to access a contestant’s private information.
Yun Yingzhi’s primary concern was keeping his parents—General Yun and Madame Yun—in the dark. He didn’t want them to know he was still stubbornly persisting in his studies of Source Weapon manufacturing. He didn’t particularly care if others found out, but he was terrified of provoking his father and mother’s anger.
With that in mind, he submitted his application under an alias. The deadline for registration was November 15th.
The Star Brilliance Contest was a marathon, spanning a total of three months. The preliminaries were set to begin on December 1st. Due to the staggering number of participants, the preliminaries—which had the highest elimination rate—were conducted in batches across ninety-nine different venues over the course of two weeks.
After those two weeks, the Source Weapons produced would be appraised. Historically, about 85% of participants were culled during this initial stage. Once the preliminaries ended, approximately three days were dedicated to a detailed appraisal of the ten most outstanding weapons.
The appraisal process was livestreamed and consisted of three rigorous steps:
- A written technical appraisal by the Source Weapon manufacturer.
- A performance test conducted by an Ability Warrior.
- A live combat test between two Ability Warriors using the weapons.
Following the completion of all tests, both online and offline auctions would be held to sell the weapons created during the match.
On December 21st, the qualifiers would begin. With over 85% of the initial crowd eliminated, the organizers could provide venues large enough to accommodate all remaining contestants. The duration for this round was extended from one day to seven, giving manufacturers more time to perfect their creations. This round would conclude on December 27th, with the top ten appraisals and auctions wrapping up by December 31st.
The semi-finals would kick off on January 1st, lasting for half a month. The finals would start on January 15th and run until the end of the month. Finally, the long-awaited grand finale would begin on February 1st, taking an entire month once the appraisal time was factored in.
Yun Yingzhi stared at the lengthy schedule on the registration table, feeling a bit lost. Fense Academy’s school year began in September, and the first semester didn’t end until late December. While the matches in January and February wouldn’t be a problem, the month-long schedule in December presented a serious conflict.
Students have to attend classes, don’t they?
As far as he knew, students from the Source Weapon manufacturing departments of the Empire’s top ten military academies—even those located on other habitable planets—would travel to the Imperial Star specifically for this event. Most academies even treated the annual Star Brilliance trophies as a matter of supreme institutional honor.
So, do they just not go to class?
In the past, Yun Yingzhi hadn’t paid much attention to the contest, so he didn’t quite understand the logistics. Now, as a prospective contestant, the question of how to balance school and the competition was a grave concern. He searched for keywords on the Star Net and soon found his answer.
The preliminary round for any single student was actually very short—only one day. This meant students only needed to request a single day of leave. Once they passed the preliminaries and moved into the qualifiers, which lasted seven days, they could apply for a legitimate academic leave from the academy. By the time the third round—the semi-finals—began, the winter holidays would have already started.
In general, students in the Source Weapon manufacturing department could get reasonable leave approved. As for students in the Combat Department… they usually just had to skip class.
Yun Yingzhi felt a wave of internal exhaustion. Whatever, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. At worst, I’ll just have to skip class, skip class, and skip class some more.
He pushed the annoying thoughts of truancy aside and focused on finishing the form. According to the rules, after filling out personal identification, there was an option: If major sponsors wish to contact you, are you willing to provide your contact information?
Yun Yingzhi didn’t give it a second thought and selected “No.” He had no intention of joining any external faction or organization.
He had a very clear understanding of his own future. He didn’t have much combat strength; his only real talent was in manufacturing Source Weapons. He planned to keep his work a secret from General and Madame Yun while building his own private studio. His daily goal would be to manufacture weapons for his brother, Yun Yinghui. He’d start by making weapons for the members of Yinghui’s corps, and as his skills grew, he would eventually design custom-tailored weapons for his brother.
In the past, Huai Boshe had also been part of that future plan. Now, Huai Boshe was gone.
Expressionless, Yun Yingzhi continued filling out the registration and hit submit. Not long after, he received an official digital invitation from the Star Brilliance Contest organizers.
The invitation contained a serial number assigned to him after his submission. It was quite long; since there were no entry barriers, the sheer number of participants resulted in a wide variety of serial numbers.
Other habitable planets in the Los Empire held similar competitions every year, but none had ever succeeded in gathering such a massive number of participants as the Star Brilliance Contest. Many people knew the reason why, but other organizers found it nearly impossible to replicate. This was exactly why the contest was so famous throughout the Los Empire.
Yun Yingzhi looked up the regulations for the preliminaries. The venues would have raw material vending machines; contestants only needed to bring money to purchase what they needed. If they didn’t want the materials provided by the organizers, they could bring their own. For those who wanted to create specialized weapons requiring rare materials, they could apply to the organizers five days before the start of the competition.
For the Star Brilliance preliminaries, contestants were required to manufacture a Source Weapon of at least Level 4. This was the absolute minimum. No tardiness was allowed on the day of the competition; failing to arrive at the designated time was considered an automatic forfeiture. Those who forfeited were barred from competing again for three years.
While the contest was open to the entire Empire with no barriers to entry, the rules were strict and the requirements for quality were exceptionally high. Anyone who managed to survive the preliminaries was a reasonably skilled manufacturer. Out of the five total rounds, anyone who could fight their way into the fourth round was, without exception, a genius.
Suddenly, Yun Yingzhi thought of something rather interesting.
Three years ago, a fourth-year student from the Source Weapon Manufacturing Department at Eiffel Academy—ranked sixth among the top ten military academies—had won first place in the Star Brilliance Contest. At the time, that student had delivered a resounding slap to the faces of many major powers. To this day, the students of Eiffel Academy’s manufacturing department remained incredibly proud of that achievement.
Yun Yingzhi thought that if he could achieve a good result, he could make Fense Academy proud as well. Wait, no, I’m competing anonymously.
Actually, even then, it wasn’t quite right. Although he was anonymous to the public, the organizers knew his identity. If he won a high rank, his academy would still receive an official congratulation from the contest committee, even if his specific identity wasn’t revealed to the masses. Similar things had happened frequently in the past.
Yun Yingzhi decided that none of that was important. What mattered was being fully prepared for next month’s competition. First, he had to find a way to earn enough money to buy the materials for the preliminaries. Second…
He shifted his gaze toward the senior dormitory area. There was a hidden passage somewhere in that sector that could lead him secretly out of Fense Academy. He had to find that path.
Suddenly, he remembered that Elvis and Wei Yuanqing both lived in that area. His expression faltered, and he immediately looked away. How unlucky.
In the blink of an eye, it was noon.
Yun Yingzhi and his three roommates went to the cafeteria for lunch. No matter where he went, Yun Yingzhi’s exquisite appearance made him the center of attention. Many people’s gazes frequently drifted toward him.
The four of them arrived at the cafeteria and stood in line. After getting their food, they found an empty table and began to eat in silence. Military students were trained to follow strict dining etiquette; they rarely spoke while eating, at least in public.
Suddenly, Yun Yingzhi’s eyelid twitched. He sensed someone stopping beside him. He looked up silently and saw the person standing there.
It was Huai Boshe.
Yun Yingzhi’s brow furrowed. Huai Boshe really was incredibly thick-skinned. They had just had a major falling out, yet the man actually had the nerve to track him down.
Huai Boshe spoke in a gentle voice, “Yingzhi, I’m leaving at the end of this month.”
Yun Yingzhi: “…”
He already knew that Huai Boshe would be leaving with Yun Yingyao. He noticed his roommates looking over, along with several other students in the cafeteria. He didn’t want to draw more attention to their group, so he suppressed the urge to tell Huai Boshe to “get lost.” He kept his face cold and didn’t respond.
Huai Boshe said, “Yingzhi, I think you have some misunderstandings about me. I truly don’t understand why you’re so angry.”
Yu Feiwen and the others looked at each other, feeling quite curious. Why would the usually soft-tempered and good-natured Yun Yingzhi be so furious with Huai Boshe? What exactly had Huai Boshe done to wrong him?
The three roommates naturally sided with their own. In their minds, if there was a conflict involving Yun Yingzhi, the fault must lie with the other person. After all, he was so fragile and helpless, and his Second Form was just a tiny white rabbit with zero combat capability.
What could a little white rabbit possibly do wrong?
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