Chapter 13: Huai Boshe Doesn’t Understand
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: PlumSauce
Wei Yuanqing was the only son of the Yaoming Group. With a powerful family background plus his own talent, he practically walked on water through Fansa Academy. Yun Yingzhi’s eyelid twitched, and he suddenly thought…
If he joined this competition, he probably wouldn’t run into Wei Yuanqing, right? He hadn’t cared before, but after hearing that Wei Yuanqing might possess some kind of mind-reading ability, he honestly never wanted to see that man again.
Yun Yingzhi hesitated for a moment, then comforted himself—there was no way they would meet. He might as well register online first. He began filling out the registration form.
The form required his real identity. In this regard, the Yaoming Group acted as an official guarantor, and the system would fully encrypt the personal information of all anonymous participants. Without permission, no one had the right to view the information.
Yun Yingzhi mainly didn’t want Marshal Yun or Madam Yun to find out that he was still studying source-weapon crafting. He didn’t care if anyone else knew, but he didn’t want to anger his father or mother. Thinking that way, he signed up anonymously.
The registration deadline was November 15. The Starshine Competition lasted three full months from start to finish. The preliminaries began on December 1. Because there were so many participants, the elimination rate in the preliminaries was the highest. The preliminaries were divided into multiple batches across 99 arenas, and all contestants would compete over a two-week period.
After the two weeks, the source weapons from the preliminaries would be evaluated. Based on previous years, about 85% of participants would be eliminated. After the preliminaries ended, about three days were allotted for detailed evaluations of the ten best source weapons.
The evaluations would be livestreamed and divided into three stages:
- Written evaluation by source-weapon forgers.
- Combat testing by esper fighters controlling the weapons.
- A duel between two espers, each using one of the weapons.
After all evaluations concluded, both online and in-person auctions would be held to sell the weapons produced during the competition. The qualifiers began on December 21.
After eliminating over 85% of the participants, the organizers could provide an arena large enough to host all the remaining contestants. At the same time, the qualifiers extended from one day to seven, giving participants more time to refine their weapons. The round ended on December 27.
On December 28, evaluations of the top ten weapons from the qualifiers began, and by December 31, the qualifiers officially ended. The semifinals started on January 1 and lasted for half a month. The finals began on January 15 and ended by the end of the month.
The ultimate championship—the one everyone looked forward to—started on February 1. Including the evaluation phase, it lasted a full month.
Yun Yingzhi stared blankly at the lengthy competition schedule. Fansa Academy’s school year began in early September and ended in late December. The January and February matches were fine, but that month-long December schedule…
Students still had to go to school, didn’t they? From what Yun Yingzhi knew, students from the Source Weapon Manufacturing Department—whether at Fansa Academy or in other Source Weapon Manufacturing Departments of the Ten Great Military Academies across different planets—they all made special trips to the Imperial Star to participate.
Many academies even treated the annual Starshine Competition trophy as a symbol of honor. So… did that mean they didn’t have to attend class? Didn’t have to study?
In the past, Yun Yingzhi had never paid much attention to the Starshine Competition and didn’t know much about it. But now, how was he supposed to compete as a student was a serious problem.
After thinking for a bit, he did a search on the starnet, and soon, he understood. The preliminary round was actually quite short—just one day. In other words, students only needed to request one day off to participate. If they passed the preliminaries, they moved on to the qualifiers. The qualifier round lasted seven full days, and all qualifying students could apply for an official leave of absence.
By the time the semifinals began, most schools were already on academic break. In short, students from the Source Weapon Manufacturing Department could request leave legitimately. As for the students from the Combat Department… They would just have to skip class.
Yun Yingzhi felt as though his heart was bleeding. Forget it, forget it—he’d deal with it when the time came. Worst case, he’d just skip class, skip class, and keep skipping class. He pushed aside those annoying thoughts about skipping school and went back to filling out his registration form.
According to the rules, after entering his personal identification information, there was another question: if any major sponsors wanted to contact him, would he be willing to share his contact information? Without a second thought, Yun Yingzhi selected “decline.” There was no way he’d join any faction.
He had a clear understanding of his own future. He didn’t have much personal strength, and his only decent talent was in source-weapon crafting. He thought that someday, he’d secretly establish his own workshop behind Marshal Yun and Madam Yun’s backs, and make source weapons for Yun Yinghui. He’d start by crafting weapons for Yun Yinghui’s army teammates, and as his skills improved, he’d eventually be able to make customized source weapons just for Yun Yinghui.
In the past, Huai Boshe had been part of those plans too. But now, he wanted nothing to do with Huai Boshe.
Expressionless, Yun Yingzhi finished filling out the form and submitted it. Not long after, he received an official invitation letter from the Starshine Competition. Inside was his participant serial number which was assigned after his registration was processed. The number was long and complicated—since there were no entry barriers and countless applicants, the sequence codes varied wildly.
Aside from the Yaoming Group, each of the Loos Empire’s inhabited planets hosted similar competitions every year. But none of them could compare to the Starshine Competition in terms of scale or popularity. Everyone knew the reasons, yet the other organizers had never managed to replicate its success.
That was why the Starshine Competition had become so famous throughout the Loos Empire.
Yun Yingzhi checked the details for the preliminary round. Each arena had source-material vending machines. Contestants could simply bring money to buy what they needed. If they didn’t want to use the materials provided by the organizers, they could bring their own. Contestants who wanted to forge special weapons requiring unique materials could submit an application up to five days before the competition.
In the preliminary round, every contestant was required to craft a source weapon of Level 4 or higher—this was the minimum threshold. Tardiness on competition day was absolutely forbidden. Anyone who failed to arrive on time would be considered to have forfeited. Those who forfeited would be banned from competing again for the next three years.
Although the Starshine Competition was open to the entire Empire with no entry restrictions, its rules were strict and its standards for weapon quality were extremely high. Anyone who made it past the preliminaries was considered a capable source-weapon maker. From the preliminaries to the grand finale, there were a total of five rounds. Anyone who reached the fourth round without being eliminated was, without exception, a genius.
Suddenly, Yun Yingzhi thought of something amusing.
The Starshine Competition drew in a massive number of participants—students from source-weapon academies, students from the Source Weapon Manufacturing Departments of the Ten Great Military Academies, members of the Source Weapon Manufacturing Association, and young source-weapon makers trained by major factions. The Ten Great Military Academies were primarily schools for esper fighters.
Interestingly, three years ago, a senior student from the Source Weapon Manufacturing Department of Eiffel Academy—ranked sixth among the Ten Great Academies—had directly won first place in the Starshine Competition. That victory had been a huge slap in the face to all the major factions. The incident had since become a point of pride for Eiffel Academy’s Source Weapon Manufacturing Department.
Yun Yingzhi thought that if he could achieve good results, he could bring pride to Fansa Academy as well.
Wait—no, he was entering anonymously.
That doesn’t seem right either. Even if he was participating anonymously, the organizers would still know his real information. If he did well, his school would still receive a congratulatory message from the Starshine Competition—though his personal identity wouldn’t be publicly revealed. Things like that had happened before.
Yun Yingzhi thought to himself that none of it really mattered anyway. First, he needed to find a way to earn enough money to successfully forge a source weapon for the preliminaries. Second…
Yun Yingzhi’s gaze shifted toward the fourth-year dormitory area. Somewhere over there was a hidden passage—one he hadn’t found yet—that could secretly lead him out of Fansa Academy. He thought that he must find that passage. Then, suddenly, he remembered that both Elvis and Wei Yuanqing lived in that area. His expression froze, and he immediately pulled his gaze back.
Bad luck.
Before he knew it, noon had arrived. Yun Yingzhi went to the cafeteria with his three roommates for lunch. Wherever he went, Yun Yingzhi’s striking appearance always drew people’s attention. Many gazes followed him as he walked.
After getting their food, the four of them found an empty table and sat down to eat quietly. As students of a military academy, they all had excellent table manners—no talking while eating. At least not in public.
Suddenly, Yun Yingzhi’s eyelid twitched. He felt someone stop beside him. Silently, he looked up and over. It was Huai Boshe. The corner of Yun Yingzhi’s brow twitched hard. Huai Boshe was unbelievably thick-skinned. They had argued not long ago, yet here he was, acting like nothing had happened.
Huai Boshe spoke gently. “Yingzhi, I’m leaving at the end of the month.”
Yun Yingzhi already knew. Huai Boshe would be leaving together with Yun Yingyao. He frowned slightly, catching Yu Feiwen and his other two roommates watching them from the corner of his eye—along with several curious glances from other students in the cafeteria. He didn’t want to draw any more attention, so he forced himself to hold back the urge to tell Huai Boshe to get lost. His face remained cold, and he said nothing.
Huai Boshe continued softly, “Yingzhi, I think you’ve misunderstood me. I honestly don’t understand why you’re so angry.”
Yu Feiwen and the others exchanged confused looks. They couldn’t figure out why gentle, soft-tempered Yun Yingzhi would be mad at Huai Boshe. What could Huai Boshe possibly have done to offend him?
As loyal friends, all three roommates automatically assumed that anyone who quarreled with Yun Yingzhi had to be in the wrong. After all, he was so delicate and harmless—his second form was a completely defenseless little white rabbit. How could a little white rabbit ever be at fault?
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