Chapter 4: Is Zhizhi Absolute Trash?
Yun Yingzhi was the second son of the Yun General’s Manor.
Both General Yun and Madame Yun were among the top powerhouses of the Empire. Above Yun Yingzhi was an older brother, Yun Yinghui, twenty-eight years old, who possessed a one-in-a-billion “Super 3S-grade” talent and held the rank of Colonel. Yun Yingzhi’s younger sister, Yun Yingyao, was eighteen this year, possessing 3S-grade talent; she had been brilliant and polymathic since childhood.
By contrast, the most ordinary member of the Yun family was Yun Yingzhi.
Looking back through the lineages of General Yun and Madame Yun, neither possessed rabbit genes. It seemed Yun Yingzhi’s genes had undergone a mutation, causing him to differentiate into a little white rabbit. Because of this, Madame Yun had once suspected that Yun Yingzhi had been swapped at birth.
In the interstellar era, the probability of a baby being swapped was infinitesimal, yet she still took Yun Yingzhi for testing. The facts proved that Yun Yingzhi was indeed the biological child of General Yun and Madame Yun.
When Yun Yingzhi was five years old, he accidentally overheard Madame Yun saying that he was the shame of the General’s Manor. General Yun and Madame Yun wanted children who were the cream of the crop, not a little white rabbit like Yun Yingzhi.
From that moment on, a sense of inferiority became a shadow he couldn’t shake.
Physical assessment, ability assessment, mental power assessment, Second Form assessment…
Yun Yingzhi’s physical constitution was C-grade, his ability test showed he was unawakened, his mental power was C-grade, and his Second Form was E-grade. These levels were almost impossibly low, but that was the reality. From the moment the talent tests were finished, Madame Yun completely gave up on Yun Yingzhi.
General Yun and Madame Yun had come together for the sake of mutual interest; all they wanted were the most outstanding children. Among the three siblings, General Yun only cared about Yun Yinghui, while Madame Yun doted on her daughter, Yun Yingyao.
In comparison, Yun Yingzhi appeared very pitiful.
However, as if to compensate for the love his parents couldn’t give, the eldest brother, Yun Yinghui, was exceptionally fond of Yun Yingzhi. His doting once drove the young Yun Yingyao into fits of wild jealousy, leading to an explosive, crying tantrum. It was also during that incident that Yun Yingzhi and Huai Boshe had their first argument.
The cause was Yun Yinghui’s favoritism toward Yun Yingzhi.
Yun Yingyao was crying and screaming. Huai Boshe, not understanding the root of the matter, sided with her. Yun Yingzhi was also very angry back then. He knew his Second Form was even weaker than his human form, so he didn’t even dare to transform; he simply lunged at Huai Boshe in his human shape. Two six-year-old children scuffled together—or more accurately, Yun Yingzhi was unilaterally crushed by Huai Boshe.
At the time, Yun Yingzhi was so angry that tears pitter-pattered down. He felt inferior because of his incompetence, and he was furious that Yun Yingyao, who already had all of their mother’s love, was still unsatisfied and wanted to steal his brother away too.
Huai Boshe tried to force Yun Yingzhi to apologize to Yun Yingyao.
The servants of the Yun family tried to stop them but didn’t dare get too close. There were three children involved, and they couldn’t afford to offend any of them. Seeing the wounds on Yun Yingzhi’s body increasing, the butler contacted General Yun and Madame Yun, but it came to nothing; they had no intention of interfering in children’s squabbles.
In desperation, the butler contacted Yun Yinghui.
Yun Yinghui, who was then a student in the High School Division of Fense Academy and only fifteen years old, heard the news and immediately took leave to return to the General’s Manor. He first rescued Yun Yingzhi from Huai Boshe’s pinning, then gave Huai Boshe a sound thrashing and forced Yun Yingyao to apologize to Yun Yingzhi.
Yun Yingzhi, who had been crushed by Huai Boshe the whole time, buried his head in Yun Yinghui’s arms and sobbed uncontrollably.
Madame Yun, who previously hadn’t cared about the children’s fighting, returned home immediately upon hearing about Yun Yingyao’s plight. She scolded both Yun Yinghui and Yun Yingzhi, though her scolding was mainly directed at the latter. Not long after, General Yun was also alerted. He returned to the Yun house in the midst of his busy schedule and scolded all three children, with the brunt of it again falling on Yun Yingzhi.
That period was a very difficult childhood for Yun Yingzhi, who yearned for his parents’ love. Because of these biased parents, Yun Yingzhi grew up to cherish every person around him.
As they grew up, Yun Yingzhi reconciled with Huai Boshe and developed a normal sibling relationship with Yun Yingyao. However, that childhood argument had left a deep psychological scar on the young Yun Yingzhi.
He wanted to become strong. He wanted it desperately.
At that time, he was only six years old and couldn’t even read. With the help of the AI assistant on his personal terminal, he frantically searched the star net for ways to make an E-grade Second Form stronger.
There was no way.
A so-called E-grade Second Form, without the awakening of an ability, possessed the combat power of a common household pet. The only difference was that as long as a Second Form was awakened, one could manipulate energy.
This energy, which ordinary people could not sense, could only be perceived by awakened ability users. It was known as “Source Energy.”
It drifted through the air and could be naturally absorbed by the body. Depending on one’s physical constitution, the amount of Source Energy one could absorb varied. Ability warriors who had awakened specific powers could release them through “Source,” while those who hadn’t awakened abilities could release it through “Source Weapons.”
Because of this portion of ability users who failed to awaken specific powers, Source Weapons came into existence. In the beginning, only people like Yun Yingzhi who lacked abilities used them. Later on, the types of Source Weapons became varied and numerous; some allowed users to travel by land, water, or air, while others increased defense or attack power. The use of Source Weapons became increasingly widespread.
Yun Yingzhi, who didn’t even know all his characters yet, wanted to make himself stronger—even if only by a little bit. At the age of six, driven by a thirst for power, he began to study Source Weapons based on information he found on the star net. He believed this was the shortcut on his leveling-up path.
In his youthful naivety, he thought he was a little genius and happily shared his ideas with Yun Yinghui, who was nine years older than him. Yun Yinghui hugged Yun Yingzhi, kissed his cheek, and told him his idea wasn’t wrong.
To become a Source Weapon Manufacturer, the minimum threshold was that one’s mental power level had to reach C-grade. Among all of Yun Yingzhi’s talents, his mental power was the only one that actually hit C-grade.
Under Yun Yinghui’s recommendation, Yun Yingzhi found a teacher named Alvin.
Master Alvin was one of only eight Source Weapon Grandmasters in the Empire. He had once worked in the military’s Source Weapon Manufacturing Camp, but later his mental power was injured, and he could no longer create weapons above Level 10—he couldn’t even make Level 10 weapons anymore. After retiring, he lived in seclusion on the Imperial Planet. He rarely accepted private commissions, only creating weapons of Level 9 or below when he felt inspired to send to the military.
Yun Yinghui took Yun Yingzhi to the studio named after Alvin and told a middle-aged man with a full beard that Yun Yingzhi was very interested in manufacturing and hoped he could mentor him. At first, Master Alvin was unwilling to take him on, but he seemed to have a deep, private friendship with Yun Yinghui, so he didn’t refuse.
During that time, every minute spent at home felt suffocating to Yun Yingzhi. He didn’t want to see Huai Boshe, he didn’t want to see Yun Yingyao, and he certainly didn’t want to stay in that cold house. On school days after class and every morning on holidays, he would ask the chauffeur to take him to Alvin’s studio.
Alvin allowed Yun Yingzhi to use all the materials in the studio. Of course, all the materials the young Yun Yingzhi used had to be reimbursed by Yun Yinghui. The young Yun Yingzhi had no idea how much of his brother’s money he was wasting during that time, leaving Yun Yinghui quite strapped for cash.
Back then, Yun Yingzhi tried to manufacture Source Weapons entirely by trial and error. He couldn’t get anything right, but to make himself stronger and to gain Madame Yun’s approval, he worked incredibly hard. From time to time, he would sing to encourage himself—not afraid of hardship or exhaustion, he was like a little donkey for the production team.
Alvin’s mental power had only recently been damaged, and his personality was volatile. At first, he was very cold, but he would occasionally give Yun Yingzhi a pointer or two. This life continued for about a year, by which time the relationship between Yun Yingzhi and Alvin had become very good.
A year later, Alvin created a Crescent Blade. Yun Yingzhi was extremely excited, bustling about by Alvin’s side to help him.
Alvin picked Yun Yingzhi up and said, “Yingzhi, I was once a Source Weapon Grandmaster.”
Yun Yingzhi didn’t actually know what a “Grandmaster” was, but that didn’t stop him from praising Alvin: “Wow, Master Alvin is so amazing!”
Alvin said, “Before, including me, there were only eight Source Weapon Grandmasters in the entire Empire.”
Yun Yingzhi thought about it. He still didn’t quite get it, but he continued his praise: “As expected of Master Alvin! Master is super strong!”
Alvin knew what he was thinking from the expressive look on his face. He pinched his nose and said, “To create weapons above Level 10, one must have powerful mental power. It requires 3S-grade. My mental power has been damaged, so I have no way to create weapons beyond Level 10 anymore.”
Little Yun Yingzhi blinked and suddenly fell into deep thought. He looked at Alvin, then at himself, then back at Alvin. He understood the meaning of those words. To make powerful weapons, one needed powerful mental power. Without it, one couldn’t create them.
Yun Yingzhi counted on his fingers. The gap between 3S-grade and C-grade… seemed quite large?
Yun Yingzhi went quiet for a moment, then tentatively asked, “Then… Master Alvin, what is your mental power level now?”
A painful expression appeared on Alvin’s face. He said, “…A-grade.” His eyes grew dim. “I am already a piece of trash.”
Little Yun Yingzhi was dazed and bewildered. He looked at Alvin, then at himself, and climbed down from Alvin’s lap.
Alvin snapped out of his dejection and looked at the child. The boy tilted his head up at Alvin, his exquisite face full of confusion. He held up a finger and said, “A-grade… A-grade is stronger than C-grade!”
Alvin replied, “Of course.” That was common sense.
Yun Yingzhi’s small body wobbled as if he had suffered a devastating blow. Alvin frowned slightly and supported the child, fearing this weak, beautiful boy might accidentally hurt himself.
Yun Yingzhi looked at him with the exact same expression of deep pain Alvin had worn moments ago. His voice was full of sorrow: “Master Alvin said A-grade mental power users are trash… then… then C-grade mental power users…”
As he spoke, his body went limp like a noodle, and he sank down to his knees. Alvin watched Yun Yingzhi, feeling momentarily speechless. This child, despite his young age, seemed to carry such immense grief.
“C-grade mental power users… in my opinion, they aren’t suited to be Source Weapon Manufacturers. They have no talent. That level of talent isn’t even worth calling ‘trash’; I can only say they have zero talent.” This had always been the inherent belief of the genius, Alvin.
Little Yun Yingzhi looked at Alvin with a look of pure horror. Alvin found his expression quite baffling. Yun Yingzhi’s mouth turned down at the corners. He couldn’t bear this grievance; tears pitter-pattered down. Not only did he lack combat talent, but was even using Source Weapons to get stronger going to be impossible?
He pointed at himself and said, “Zhizhi… is Zhizhi absolute trash!?” His tears flowed even harder.
Alvin shook his head. “No, Zhizhi is very impressive. How could Zhizhi be trash? Zhizhi has very strong talent in this field.”
“B-but QAQ… but Zhizhi only has C-grade mental power!” Yun Yingzhi’s mental state collapsed, and he sobbed as he spoke.
Hearing this, Alvin’s expression became very subtle. His eyes scanned the studio, seeing the various types of source materials that had been ravaged by those little hands. It wasn’t like this was the first day he had met Yun Yingzhi; he had mentored him many times over the past year.
Leaving aside whether the little guy had the talent to manufacture Source Weapons, there was one thing he was absolutely certain of. Simply from the boy’s absolute ability to destroy materials, it was clear that despite his age, his mental power level had definitely reached 2S-grade—it might even be 3S-grade.
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