Chapter 36: Preliminary round
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Master Tang smiled and said, “I’m Tang Ke, one of the proctors for this competition. Now, I’ll explain the rules for the preliminaries. I think many of you have already noticed that the source material prices this time are significantly lower than in the past. Previously, the Starshine Competition was independently hosted by the Yaoming Group. Starting this year, the Source Weapon Association will also participate, aiming to guide more talented individuals onto this path. The organizers will provide more conveniences—lowering source material prices is one of them.”
Yun Yingzhi blinked his big eyes, feeling happy. This meant the cost of making his source weapons was literally cut in half. Excited!
As he thought this, Master Tang continued explaining the other rules. Yun Yingzhi perked up his ears. Master Tang said, “The competition starts at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 9:00 p.m., with two breaks: 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
“This preliminary round has no topic restrictions. Each participant can make whatever source weapon they are skilled at. If any participant wants to create a source weapon above level eight, they can apply for the necessary materials individually.” After a pause, Master Tang added, “Of course, we cannot provide rare materials. However, we will supply as much of the materials available on the market as possible. Similarly, if level-eight or lower materials are not available in the vending machines, participants can apply separately.”
Master Tang went through a bunch of other rules, and finally added, “As I said earlier, the source material prices here are already at the lowest possible. To prevent malicious wastage, if a participant exceeds a certain loss of materials during production, they will be disqualified. In extreme cases, the organizers will forcibly charge the market price for the materials. To avoid disqualification or other issues, I hope all participants understand their own abilities and refrain from wasting materials.”
Master Tang continued, “If anyone has questions, you may ask me. If not…”
Yun Yingzhi raised his hand. Master Tang was very far from him and couldn’t see him, but the staff working in Yun Yingzhi’s area noticed. Then… The next moment, Yun Yingzhi saw that the projections all around the venue had changed to show himself in his padded outfit.
Looking at his image projected everywhere, Yun Yingzhi froze. “… “
Everyone around him looked at him with confused expressions. Given another chance, he would definitely not have raised his hand in a situation like this.
Master Tang’s voice came through the PA system: “Participant A13167, do you have a question?”
Yun Yingzhi was very nervous. He worried especially that the Fansa Academy students might recognize him. Under normal circumstances, he might have just shaken his head to indicate he had no questions—but right now… All he could see was money, money, money!
Yun Yingzhi instinctively pressed down on his hat and adjusted his mask, realizing that his actions were being livestreamed, making him look extremely embarrassing. The Ten Great Military Academies students around him now looked at him even more strangely. Yun Yingzhi’s cheeks were bright red; he felt shy and awkward.
Master Tang’s voice came again: “Participant A13167, do you have a question?”
Yun Yingzhi cleared his throat and spoke in an intentionally rough voice, “The source materials provided by the organizers are very cheap. During the competition, do the source weapons we create belong to us?”
Master Tang’s smile deepened. “Of course they belong to you.”
Yun Yingzhi blinked. His face, already red, flushed even more. He asked again, “I-if…” He felt embarrassed to speak. Thinking about it, the question was shameless—but… It was all about money. When you’re poor, you can afford to be shameless for money.
Yun Yingzhi thought, if Yun Yinghui watched this livestream, even he would understand. After all, soon he would be the father of two little gold-devouring beasts.
Someone in the crowd whispered, “Look, his hands are turning red.”
“What’s he going to ask? It’s so embarrassing—it looks like he’s about to smoke.”
Master Tang asked, “What’s the question?”
All the exposed skin on Yun Yingzhi turned crimson. He even thought about transforming into his second form to hide somewhere. But even so, driven by his desire for cheap materials, he went ahead with his second question: “If I’m dissatisfied with my first source weapon and make a second, then dissatisfied again, and make several more…”
Master Tang: “…”
Everyone present: “…”
They all looked at Yun Yingzhi with subtle, complex expressions. People wondered: did this participant, A13167, really have a confidence level?
Even though it was just the preliminaries, advancing was extremely difficult. And he wanted to make multiple source weapons in just twelve hours to take advantage of cheap materials? Did this shy, embarrassing participant have absolute confidence in himself—or did he underestimate the difficulty of the competition?
Under everyone’s extremely complicated gaze, Yun Yingzhi shamelessly asked, “If I make ten source weapons, can all the materials be purchased at a discounted price?” His eyes shone with anticipation.
Master Tang twitched at the corner of his mouth, thinking Yun Yingzhi was indeed an unusual source weapon maker.
After a brief silence, Master Tang smiled and said, “Of course.” He added, “During the competition, every source weapon you create belongs to you. But remember, don’t waste too many materials, or you’ll lose your qualification.”
Yun Yingzhi’s body seemed to bubble with joy. He nodded happily.
Master Tang asked, “So, does anyone have any other questions?”
Yun Yingzhi raised his hand again. Under everyone’s gaze, Yun Yingzhi continued, “There’s a one-hour break at noon and another in the evening. Can we skip these breaks, eat something at our workstation, and continue working?”
Under the new rules, Yun Yingzhi didn’t think of this as a competition at all. To him, every single second during the event was money. As a foodie, he figured that under these circumstances, he could eat while making source weapons, diligently ‘scalping’ materials. If necessary, he could even go hungry for a whole day.
With the thought of “practically free” materials, what he originally planned for this preliminary round—a level-four source weapon—seemed too small. It was easy and cheap, required little thinking, but now… Higher-level source weapons meant more potential profit.
Among Yun Yinghui’s teammates, many were skilled with level-five, six, and seven source weapons. Yun Yingzhi couldn’t churn out tons of level-seven or eight weapons quickly, but level-five or six was no problem.
No more level-fours. He was going to make a whole bunch of level-five and six weapons for his brother, ensuring every ordinary soldier in his brother’s team had the strongest possible source weapon, so each of them could perform above their normal ability thanks to their equipment!
Yun Yingzhi didn’t realize that at this moment, he looked extremely excited—happiness practically radiated from him in little glowing bubbles.
Master Tang replied, “Source weapon makers need to maintain a proper state while working. The breaks at noon and in the evening are mandatory; you may not remain in the work area during these times.”
Yun Yingzhi felt a wave of disappointment. Two hours… he thought, if luck was on his side, he might be able to finish a complete source weapon in that time. Engraving it would be difficult, and the wastage might be high, but…
Thinking of source material prices even cheaper than Alvin’s Studio, Yun Yingzhi suddenly felt that for money, he could do anything. Freebies, forever!
Afterward, a few other participants asked questions.
As it approached nine o’clock, Master Tang asked, “Does anyone have any remaining questions?”
After a brief pause, no one spoke.
At exactly nine o’clock, Master Tang said, “Then, let’s begin. The competition starts now!”
The moment Master Tang announced the start, Yun Yingzhi immediately dashed to the nearest source material vending machine. The participants around him froze, all eyes turning toward him. Then they watched in shock as Yun Yingzhi used his personal terminal to make a purchase—he bought all the level-five and six source weapon materials from that vending machine. One by one, the machine was emptied.
Everyone present: “…”
No. This was the preliminaries. Normally, making a level-four source weapon would be sufficient. What was this participant planning with so many level-five and six materials? They looked at him, stunned. According to the rules, wastage would lead to disqualification, and any price difference would have to be paid. Even though he bought so many materials, if he couldn’t turn them into weapons, he would have to return them to the organizers. If anyone could really ‘scalp’ this much, the Source Weapon Association and the Yaoming Group would go bankrupt.
Under everyone’s speechless gaze, Yun Yingzhi carried all the materials to his workstation. His focus was entirely on material ‘scalping.’ He kept glancing at the items he bought, completely ignoring the stares of others. While moving materials, he thought: what kind of source weapon should he make?
He realized his human-form strength wasn’t enough—nowhere near his second form. If he weren’t worried about transforming in public and being recognized, he would have happily shifted into his second form to move the materials effortlessly to his workstation.
Just as Yun Yingzhi thought this, a student from Zangfeng Academy remarked, “He’s so strong. Carrying all those materials back and forth, yet it looks so easy.”
Yun Yingzhi, “… ” That comment made the design of his source weapon suddenly pause in his mind. He looked at the Zangfeng student with a complicated expression. After all, this was a student from one of the Ten Great Military Academies, yet they said something like this.
Thinking about it, it made sense—the student was from the Source Weapon Department. Unlike the Combat Department, some students there were physically weak, unable to carry even light loads. Truly weak.
Yun Yingzhi thought: in the Military Academy’s Combat Department, he was considered the weakest. He’d always felt self-conscious about being weak, but suddenly realized that if some of these Source Weapon students were in his Combat Department, they’d be the weakest students. Yun Yingzhi shook his head, putting aside the regret that Source Weapon students wouldn’t enter Combat classes, and continued moving materials.
Then another student said, “I’m already strong, but I feel he’s even stronger.” After a pause, the student added, “I’ve compared my strength with Combat Department students. I’m supposed to be stronger than them.”
Yun Yingzhi, “… ” He couldn’t help but glance at the Zangfeng Academy student in uniform and thought, Classmate, you might have some misconceptions about Combat Department students. He looked away and continued hauling his expensive materials.
Soon, Yun Yingzhi moved all the source materials to his workstation. Looking at the dazzling array of materials, he immediately got to work. He had a plan: produce batches of level-five and six source weapons. Mandatory engravings included his optimized Space-Limited Esper, which could effectively sever the connection between zerg and the Hive King.
Other engravings were passive: damage prevention for allies and escape engravings. These three were essential. After that, he would add attack-specific engravings depending on the situation—single-target or area-of-effect.
So, everyone watched as Yun Yingzhi, alone, began handling the source materials as if on a production line. The other participants were stunned. A small commotion arose. Those near Yun Yingzhi had no thought of making their own weapons. With ten hours left (excluding the mandatory breaks), there was enough time to make a weapon that could pass the preliminaries.
They watched Yun Yingzhi’s ‘assembly-line’ method for processing the source materials.
Someone whispered, “Won’t that waste a lot of materials?”
“I think it will.”
Until now, no one had any confidence in Yun Yingzhi. The crowd around him grew, and even those further away came closer out of curiosity, forming a circle to observe.
Soon, Master Tang in the distance noticed the commotion and walked over. Some participants near him silently made room for him. Thanks to their respectful behavior, Master Tang could observe Yun Yingzhi up close as he handled the materials.
Master Tang already had a deep impression of Yun Yingzhi. Partly because his outfit appealed to him—most young people didn’t take care of themselves these days—and partly because the questions Yun Yingzhi asked earlier had been subtle and clever.
Now, watching Yun Yingzhi handle the materials… Master Tang twitched and scanned the scene. Surrounded by various source materials, Yun Yingzhi’s method was highly skilled, each step precise. Even if he couldn’t produce high-level weapons, he could clearly make the most of the materials.
So the question arose: why was this participant so diligently trying to ‘scalp’ materials? Moreover, Master Tang noticed that, perhaps in order to grab more ‘freebies,’ Yun Yingzhi seemed to be handling the materials faster and faster. But the most impressive thing was that, even at this speed, Yun Yingzhi made zero mistakes in the process.
In this regard, he was extremely skilled. Truly remarkable. Master Tang’s attention was completely fixed on Yun Yingzhi. Being a source weapon master himself, the little black devil live-streaming drones naturally shifted their focus to him.
Source weapon competitions were broadcast live. Even though it was just the preliminaries, many people were watching through the Starshine Competition live streams. They discussed the participants they favored, and repeatedly mentioned the students from the Ten Great Military Academies.
When Master Tang turned his gaze to Yun Yingzhi, the live cameras covering that area immediately zoomed in for a close-up. A stream of live comments flashed across the screen:
“I remember this style! That three-piece outfit is so unique; my grandparents love this style!”
“That’s the one who asked Master Tang if the materials are discounted during the competition.”
“He wants to scalp the materials.”
“King of freebies!”
…
Meanwhile, at the front lines, a military base, Yun Yinghui had just finished handing off part of his work and was enjoying a brief break. Suddenly, he heard someone mention that today was December 1, the start of the Starshine Competition. Ninety-nine preliminary rounds were scheduled for the first day, and almost all the Ten Great Military Academies students had been placed in the first arena.
Hearing this, Yun Yinghui remembered that Yun Yingzhi had said he would also participate in this round. Out of concern for his younger brother, Yun Yinghui opened his personal terminal during the break, hoping to catch a live feed of Yun Yingzhi.
The first thing he saw on the broadcast was a man wearing a black-and-red peony… A man whose age was impossible to tell. The outfit was bulky, hiding his figure, and the hat and mask concealed his facial features.
At that moment, even Yun Yinghui, who knew Yun Yingzhi intimately, couldn’t identify him. Yun Yinghui thought: participants in the first arena were usually young students from the academies. This young man’s style was… unusual.
He scanned the feed, trying to locate his brother. Suddenly, his personal terminal pinged—a message from a friend. Yesterday, Yun Yingzhi had asked Yun Yinghui to introduce a few skilled esper soldiers to test the source weapons he would make in the competition. Yun Yinghui had immediately contacted some friends.
Over the years, Yun Yinghui had known that Yun Yingzhi had been learning source weapon crafting under Alvin’s guidance. But how skilled Yun Yingzhi has become… Yun Yinghui had no idea. Mostly, Yun Yingzhi occasionally expressed guilt to Yun Yinghui, frustrated that he hadn’t been able to make source weapons suitable for him.
Yun Yinghui didn’t want to hurt Yun Yingzhi’s feelings, so he rarely asked. Occasionally, he would check with Master Alvin about Yun Yingzhi’s progress, and Alvin always praised him generously, saying Yun Yingzhi was hardworking. Combining both accounts, Yun Yinghui thought Yun Yingzhi’s talent in source weapon crafting was… adequate.
Just adequate—not exceptional, but not terrible either. By coincidence, Yun Yinghui had no idea that Yun Yingzhi was actually Alvin’s mysterious Stellar. Alvin’s disciple, Stellar, had been too secretive. Stellar’s fame had begun seven years ago, when Yun Yingzhi was only twelve, so Yun Yinghui never suspected his brother could be the mysterious prodigy. Not to mention, because of Yun Yingzhi’s young age, most people wouldn’t even think along those lines.
Yun Yinghui thought: now that Yun Yingzhi had decided to participate, he would support him to the end, no matter the outcome. Especially since Yun Yingzhi had recently become a father of two, his emotions must be unstable—he would indulge him even more in such moments.
On the other end, Yun Yinghui’s friend said he was willing to help. The friend asked which of Yun Yinghui’s family members was participating and what his participant number was. Naturally, the friend knew Yun Yinghui had a younger brother, but had never imagined Yun Yingzhi would compete. He assumed the participant might be a cousin or even an adopted brother.
Yun Yinghui replied that he didn’t know yet, then turned his gaze back to the live broadcast. He tried again to spot Yun Yingzhi among the participants but still couldn’t. However, among the students wearing academy uniforms, the participant with number A13167, wearing a black-and-red peony padded suit, stood out the most.
Thanks to Master Tang, this participant was receiving extra camera coverage. After watching the broadcast briefly, the break ended. Yun Yinghui closed his personal terminal and resumed his work.
Soon it was lunchtime. Yun Yinghui entered the cafeteria with a few officers. Food was eaten quietly. After the meal, they enjoyed one of the most relaxed times of the day, chatting in small groups.
Yun Yinghui sent a private message to Yun Yingzhi: Which arena are you in? What’s your participant number?
At that moment, he overheard some soldiers talking:
“I watched the Starshine Competition preliminaries today.”
“That A13167… I can’t stop laughing. Everyone else is thinking about making the strongest source weapons, but A13167 is all about scamming the organizers for free materials, haha!”
“Right? Truly the king of freebies!”
Yun Yinghui immediately knew they were talking about the participant in the black-and-red peony three-piece suit. Just then, Yun Yinghui’s personal terminal pinged again. The distinctive alert tone told him it was a reply from Yun Yingzhi. Opening it, he saw:
Yun Yingzhi: In the first arena, A13167.
Yun Yingzhi: Hee hee hee.
Yun Yingzhi: Brother, wait till I give you a surprise!
Yun Yinghui’s eyelid twitched as he overheard another soldier say, “Did you see Master Tang’s expression? It’s like he’s never seen someone scalp materials like that before. He looked at A13167 and his face completely cracked!”
“Right, right! Master Tang just kept staring at A13167 in shock, that expression—haha! It’s hilarious. But who is A13167? Must still be a student, right?”
Yun Yinghui thought, Oh. That’s his precious little brother. At the same time, Yun Yinghui received several private messages from friends. Without exception, they all asked the same question: what was the participant number of the contestant who might need their help testing source weapons?
Yun Yinghui paused for a moment. Considering that they might soon be helping Yun Yingzhi test his weapons, he silently replied:
Yun Yinghui: A13167.
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