Chapter 29: Unadorned
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
The livestream chat exploded.
“Cute Little Battle Rabbit!
“So strong! A fighting bunny!
“Why are there bunnies everywhere lately?
Watching the stream, Yun Yingzhi’s face fell. As he stared at the endless lines of comments, he felt a strange flicker of annoyance.
The commentator said, “Now, let me introduce the basic information of this source weapon. The person who sent this source weapon for appraisal is a military student from Fansa Academy.”
The moment those words—Fansa Academy—were spoken, the weapon seemed instantly gilded in gold. The audience, who hadn’t held much hope for it before, began to change their minds.
Some source weapon crafters just prefer minimalist designs. That doesn’t mean the weapon isn’t powerful.
The commentator continued, “It’s a Level-5 source weapon, crafted by…”She hesitated subtly before going on, “Blazing Divine Rabbit.”
Instantly, two entirely different tones filled the chat. Some burst into laughter, assuming the manufacturer must be very young, while others genuinely found the nickname exciting—exactly the kind of name elementary-school kids would love!
Yun Yingzhi, feeling irritated, immediately turned the comments off. Sure enough, without the blinding chatter, the world suddenly felt peaceful again. His three roommates glanced cautiously at him. Sensing their stares, Yun Yingzhi looked back at them. Out of guilt, the three instantly turned away and focused on the live stream again.
The commentator said, “The owner of this source weapon named it Unadorned.” She paused, then added, “I guess the owner is quite modest, so he commissioned this minimalist design from the source weapon manufacturer known as Blazing Divine Rabbit.”
Watching the stream, Yu Feiwen thought, Not really. He preferred weapons that looked bold and striking. He’d named it Unadorned simply because the weapon’s appearance truly was plain and simple.
The commentator continued, “Other than the name, the owner didn’t provide any additional information. All of the weapon’s abilities will have to be discovered during today’s appraisal. Alright, now let’s introduce the esper soldier who will be appraising Unadorned. This is a Level 5 esper soldier, retired five years ago—Warrior Wang Rong.” As she spoke, the camera switched to a man with a stubbled face, looking about forty years old.
The commentator stepped forward and handed the weapon to Wang Rong. The camera followed him as he entered the first testing chamber. Source weapon appraisals usually had three or four stages, depending on the type of weapon.
First, instrument testing for stability. While not absolute, the machine could effectively measure the stability of the engravings within the weapon. Generally, a stability rate of 80% or higher was considered market-ready. The higher the stability, the lower the chance of malfunction in battle, and the easier it was to maintain. Second, a hands-on test where an esper soldier operated the weapon to measure its stats. Third, a one-on-one combat test. Fourth, for some weapons with group-type abilities, a multi-soldier test could be requested—but that required extra fees and more personnel. Yu Feiwen hadn’t purchased the fourth option when submitting the weapon.
In fact, Yun Yingzhi hadn’t been sleeping well lately—too many things had happened. After completing the weapon, he handed it directly to Yu Feiwen without explaining any of its functions. Yu Feiwen, having no expectations, never even tested it before mailing it to the Source Weapon Association. So he had no idea how many engravings it had, or even what type it was. By sheer coincidence, Yu Feiwen was completely clueless about the weapon’s capabilities.
On screen, Wang Rong placed the source weapon into the testing machine. The machine whirred for about two minutes before the cold electronic voice reported: “Stability coefficient: ninety-three.”
Stability measured the weapon’s internal engraving structure and energy flow. Some weapons even short-circuited during this process—meaning instant disqualification. The more engravings a source weapon had, the more complex and less stable it became. That was why higher-level source weapons were notoriously unstable. For a Level 5 weapon, a 93% stability score wasn’t good or bad—solidly average.
The commentator’s voice sounded again: “A 93% stability rating—among today’s Level 5 weapons, this places it in the middle range.”
Wang Rong retrieved the weapon and moved to the outdoor testing field. Ten meters ahead stood eighteen test dummies in a line. Each dummy was made of special materials capable of measuring attack power from Level 1 to Level 9. Level 10 and above exceeded their tolerance.
At the commentator’s signal, all dummies entered Level-5 testing mode. The dummies would register attacks on a scale from 1 to 100. If the attack exceeded 100, the system would prompt the tester to advance to the next level; beyond Level 10, the dummies could literally explode.
The commentator said, “Now, Warrior Wang Rong, please equip the source weapon and tell us about the engravings in Unadorned.”
Wang Rong attached the bracelet-shaped weapon to his wrist. His spiritual energy connected to it, and his source power flowed into the weapon. At that moment, his pupils widened—pure astonishment flashing in his eyes.
The chat filled with question marks. Wang Rong had worked at the Source Weapon Association for three years. Everyone was curious—he was usually so calm. What could surprise him like that?
The commentator’s voice carried through the speakers. “Warrior Wang Rong, you seem surprised. Is this source weapon special?”
Wang Rong hesitated, then nodded. “The crafting method for this weapon is extremely complex. Just in terms of skills, it contains seven main abilities.”
The chat instantly exploded with messages of shock. Normally, for stability’s sake, most weapons contained no more than three engravings. Seven was almost unheard of—not only because of the difficulty, but because it usually wrecked stability.
Suddenly, everyone remembered the earlier result: 93% stability. That meant all seven engravings were perfectly balanced—no risk of malfunction. Moments ago, they had dismissed 93% as average, but now, realizing it had seven engravings, they were stunned. To reach that level of stability with such complexity—this source weapon crafter was a genius.
Meanwhile, Yun Yingzhi had already turned the chat off earlier, so he completely missed the flood of astonished and admiring comments. So far, the only people he’d interacted with were his teacher, Master Alvin—a former grandmaster—and Alvin’s peers. Even those who weren’t grandmasters were still masters.
Under such company, Yun Yingzhi knew he was talented, but he saw himself as merely “decently good.” Alvin had always told him that his greatest strength wasn’t stability, but creativity—his knack for making unconventional source weapons.
Yu Feiwen and his roommates were stunned. After hearing Wang Rong’s explanation, all three turned to stare at Yun Yingzhi. Feeling their gazes, Yun Yingzhi reluctantly pulled his eyes away from the projection and looked at them. “What?” he asked.
Yu Feiwen said, “Se—seven engravings?”
Ji Xiaobo stammered, “Nin—ninety-three percent stability?”
Jing Haomiao exclaimed, “That’s incredible!”
Yun Yingzhi just smiled and turned back to the projection. “Oh, come on. That’s pretty standard, isn’t it?”
The three of them twitched at the corners of their eyes. Standard? “Standard” usually meant one to three engravings—any more, and stability plummeted. Their attention snapped back to the screen, though, when a new message in the chat caught their eyes:
“Wait, think about what Wang Rong said—seven main skills! That means… are there other skills too?
The chat erupted again. On-screen, Wang Rong closed his eyes, as if feeling out the weapon’s energy. Neither he nor the commentator spoke for several long moments. Growing impatient, viewers spammed the chat, begging him to explain. There were so many comments that they covered the entire projection. The flood of comments forced many viewers to lower transparency—or turn them off completely.
Finally, Wang Rong spoke. “This source weapon’s design is incredibly intricate,” Wang Rong said. “In fact, there are similar models—originally developed in the workshop of Grandmaster Alvin.”
Although Alvin could no longer forge weapons beyond Level 10, his title remained intact. He was still one of the Eight Grandmasters of the Loos Empire.
“As many of you know, about seven years ago, Grandmaster Alvin’s mysterious apprentice—Stellar—created a source weapon that changed everything. Since then, most Level-9 and higher weapons have followed that same manufacturing method.”
As Wang Rong spoke, the chat filled with people spamming Stellar’s name. Meanwhile, Yun Yingzhi—who had long since muted the chat—remained blissfully unaware of it all.
Seven years earlier, after Yun Yingzhi had created his first extremely complex source weapon with a passive skill, Alvin had asked him whether he truly didn’t want the world to know his name. Yun Yingzhi had thought of General Yun Shang and Madam Yun, who had always rejected the concept of source weapons. After a brief hesitation, he shook his head and said firmly that he didn’t. He hadn’t wanted to anger his parents in any way.
Alvin had gently stroked Yun Yingzhi’s hair, just as he always did, and praised him. He had said, “Then, let your teacher present this source weapon to the Empire under the name of my mysterious disciple, all right?”
Yun Yingzhi nodded obediently. He had never fought for anything; such matters didn’t matter much to him. The only thing he had ever truly wanted to fight for was his family’s love. Alvin had said softly, “My little treasure Zhi-Zhi.”
Back in his slightly rebellious teenage years, Yun Yingzhi had found that kind of nickname a little embarrassing, but he had still loved hearing it. He hadn’t even wanted to pretend to protest that he was grown up and didn’t want to be called “treasure Zhi-Zhi” anymore.
At that time, Yun Yingzhi had thought, What if Alvin really stops calling me that? What would I do then?
He answered quietly. “Treasure Zhi-Zhi, to me—and to the Empire as well—you are the brightest star among the countless galaxies. Let this source weapon be known by the name of a star, all right?”
Blushing from the praise, Yun Yingzhi had covered his mouth with both hands, his eyes curving into smiles, and had responded sweetly, “Mm!”
After that, every source weapon Yun Yingzhi had ever created had been released under the name of “Stellar.”
On the projection screen, Wang Rong was saying, “Of course, this doesn’t mean that lower-level source weapons don’t deserve such complex engravings. It’s mainly because they’re extremely difficult to create—only a very small number of source weapon manufacturers can manage it. Right now, this source weapon in my hand carries seven main engravings and… three passive ones.”
As Wang Rong continued his explanation, more and more viewers flooded into the live broadcast room. Even though ten o’clock at night wasn’t considered a prime time slot, the stream’s traffic had already reached its peak.
Wang Rong went on, “Among the seven active skills, I can roughly tell what kind they are. As for the passive skills and their activation conditions, I’ll need notes from the source weapon’s creator to be sure.” He paused, then added, “It’s not that they can’t be discovered through field testing, but that method might not let everyone understand the true value of this piece. As a source weapon soldier, I deeply love this weapon,” Wang Rong said, his eyes fixed on the host. “Can we contact its creator?”
The host replied, “Please hold on. I’ll get in touch now.”
Yu Feiwen looked completely bewildered. Ji Xiaobo and Jing Haomiao were stunned. It was just too shocking. As if realizing something, all three turned to look at Yun Yingzhi in unison, astonishment in their eyes. Just when had Yun Yingzhi met such an incredible source weapon manufacturer?
Feeling their gazes, Yun Yingzhi looked back, his mind already drifting to the engravings he had added when he had built Yu Feiwen’s weapon. His thoughts had been scattered lately, filled with countless patterns and sigils. His memory was a bit fuzzy. He minimized the live broadcast window and opened the design blueprint interface.
Right then, Yu Feiwen received a communication request from the Source Weapon Association. From the other end of the live broadcast came the host’s voice.
“Hello.”
Yu Feiwen felt nervous. He was nervous partly because he realized he was about to own an extraordinarily special source weapon, and partly because this was all happening live on air. Why exactly was the association contacting him again?
At that moment, Yu Feiwen could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears. “Hello,” he replied.
The host said, “Here’s the situation. You may be watching our live identification program right now. The source weapon you submitted, Unadorned, is currently being analyzed.”
“I—I know that!” Yu Feiwen stammered, his voice trembling from nerves.
The host continued, “Could you please describe the effects of the seven active skills and the activation conditions for the three passive ones?”
Yu Feiwen had no idea himself. He instinctively glanced at Yun Yingzhi.
From the broadcast, Wang Rong’s voice came through again. “Also, does this weapon have any requirements for the esper soldier who uses it? For example, attribute compatibility?”
The host repeated Wang Rong’s question.
By then, Yun Yingzhi had already opened the full schematic. He replied, “One of the passive skills needs to be paired with one of the active skills—the Breath Capture skill—to activate. It’s generally suited for team combat.” After a pause, he added, “I mean, no—what I mean is, the source weapon manufacturer I know once thought that in army battles, some espers are too strong. Especially with area-of-effect attacks, there’s always the risk of accidentally injuring allies. Even though efforts are made to avoid it, in real combat it still happens, making soldiers hesitant to fight freely. So he thought, What if all offensive skills could automatically avoid friendly targets? In his engraving, this source weapon can capture a soldier’s aura signature. Once the aura is marked, any offensive skill cast within that area will automatically avoid those with a marked signature.”
Yu Feiwen blinked rapidly. His thoughts were going in a completely different direction. Because Yun Yinghui was a soldier, every source weapon Yun Yingzhi designed was primarily tailored for military use.
Given the same effect, Yu Feiwen thought of something else entirely. “So basically, if we’re taking our end-of-term exam and it’s a 20-versus-20 group battle, I can use any skill I want and it won’t hurt my teammates, right?”
Yun Yingzhi nodded. “In theory, yes.”
On the other end of the line, the host’s heart was pounding. She had worked at the Source Weapon Association for years, and this was the first time she had ever heard of an engraving with such a function. As she repeated the two skills out loud, the comment feed exploded once again.
Different viewers had different ideas, but many shared Yun Yingzhi’s thoughts. If this skill were applied in interstellar warfare, it would absolutely be one of the ultimate group-battle abilities. The next question was—was the skill stable? Or would it crash and burn?
Amid the flood of questions scrolling through the comments, Yun Yingzhi continued and revealed the second passive skill. “The second passive skill,” Yun Yingzhi said, “is Rapid Evasion.”
Yu Feiwen asked, “A dodge skill?”
Yun Yingzhi nodded. “It has an activation condition. Feiwen, your esper attributes are wind and thunder, both related to speed. Even though you’re already fast, I still added this passive skill as a precaution. According to the source weapon’s configuration, the weapon absorbs source energy. The engraving’s reservoir can lock a portion of that energy at the user’s discretion. When it detects a defined high-energy impact, the second passive skill activates, triggering a short burst of extreme-speed movement—almost like teleportation.”
Yu Feiwen repeated the description with a blank look on his face, completely dumbfounded. From the projection, everyone heard the host take a sharp breath.
At the moment, the setup allowed the host to hear Yun Yingzhi’s voice through Yu Feiwen’s communication link, while Yun Yingzhi and the others could hear the host through the livestream. However, the audience could only hear the host—they couldn’t hear either Yu Feiwen or Yun Yingzhi.
When the host relayed Yun Yingzhi’s words, the barrage of comments filled the entire screen once again. Some even wrote that if every soldier on the battlefield had such a source weapon, their survival rate would skyrocket. Just imagine—if every esper soldier possessed such a passive skill, they’d all be able to dodge with perfect precision.
Yu Feiwen asked, “The trigger condition for the first passive skill is the Capture skill, right?”
Yun Yingzhi nodded.
“And the trigger condition for the second passive skill is the preset damage threshold, correct?”
Another nod. “Correct.”
“And the third passive skill?”
“…”
“What is it?” Yu Feiwen pressed.
Yun Yingzhi looked a bit guilty.
Yu Feiwen immediately grew anxious. “What’s wrong?”
After a short pause, Yun Yingzhi glanced at the engravings on the blueprint and said, “Well… the third passive skill is also a survival-type skill.”
“Huh?” Yu Feiwen blinked. “A survival skill?”
Yun Yingzhi felt that, when he had designed the source weapon, he hadn’t actually considered that Yu Feiwen didn’t really need that kind of skill. He had just casually engraved it in, and now that he was explaining it out loud, it sounded increasingly unreasonable. After all, they were just cadets, not front-line soldiers. Their lives weren’t in any real danger right now. Yet out of the three passive skills, two of them were survival-based.
Powerful, sure—but, honestly? Useless.
Under Yu Feiwen’s urging, Yun Yingzhi went on, “This one is… cough… designed independently by that source weapon manufacturer I know. When it senses a catastrophic threat, the wind accelerates, the thunder reflects, and eight mirror-thunder copies appear. Then, depending on how much energy remains in the thunder reservoir, the user is moved accordingly.”
Yu Feiwen just stared, dazed.
After a short pause, Yun Yingzhi’s voice dropped lower, sounding even more uncertain. “The third passive skill is a true passive—it’s built into the weapon itself. It doesn’t require any other skill pairing, no hard activation condition. It activates entirely on its own sense. And…”
Yu Feiwen locked eyes with Yun Yingzhi. Both their pupils trembled.
“Once it activates,” Yun Yingzhi continued, “the user can only set a general direction. They can’t stop the high-speed movement until there’s no more sense of pursuit—or until the energy reservoir is completely depleted.”
It was, in truth, an incomplete and unstable passive skill. The three of them stared at Yun Yingzhi, faces filled with pure shock. Yu Feiwen’s eyelid twitched as he looked toward the host on the projection screen. Even the host, who had heard Yun Yingzhi’s explanation through the communication link, looked completely dumbfounded.
Feeling embarrassed, Yun Yingzhi said, “Feiwen, I’m sorry. The source weapon manufacturer I know must not have realized you didn’t need those kinds of skills. How about this—I’ll ask him to make you a new one.”
Thinking back, he realized he had been out of sorts that entire day. He’d been focused solely on making the weapon, but he barely remembered what exactly he had made.
Yu Feiwen snapped out of his shock immediately—and threw his arms around Yun Yingzhi’s leg. Yun Yingzhi froze and looked down at him.
With a trembling voice, Yu Feiwen said, “No! I don’t think we should change it! This one’s perfect! It’s amazing! It suits me perfectly!”
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