Chapter 48: Going to Watch the Battle
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
The range attack hit all eighteen test mannequins, and every single one gave the exact same feedback. It was obvious that this was no ordinary phenomenon. Even though it was supposed to be a level-six source weapon, the group attack’s response showed a power output equivalent to level eight. A level-six source weapon… unleashing an attack on par with level eight.
Everyone was stunned. The entire testing ground fell silent. Not just the people on-site—even the countless viewers watching the livestream stopped sending comments. At that moment, it felt as if the entire space had frozen.
The announcer and all the esper soldiers at the arena stared at the eighteen test mannequins in complete disbelief. Jia Qingwan’s eyes narrowed slightly as she looked straight ahead. No one knew just how excited she was inside. As a water-type esper soldier, she had always thought of water as gentle and soft—better suited for defense than offense. But…this skill had just made her realize that water could be just as terrifyingly strong.
Her eyelids twitched as she silently switched the test mannequins to level-eight mode. With Jia Qingwan’s adjustment, everyone in the testing ground—and the audience watching the livestream—slowly snapped out of their shock. The comment feed exploded again.
—6666!
—So this is the so-called pure defense-type source weapon? Damn, I really believed it was just that!
—No wonder he’s called the Red Peony—this man’s practically a war machine!
—I don’t even know who Red Peony is, but if I had to guess, he’s the fiercest, most ruthless fighter in Fansa Academy—the one who always charges straight to the front line!
—I’m a student from Fansa Academy’s source weapon engineering department. We were supposed to be taking our final exams right now, but because of this source weapon’s evaluation, the exam got postponed. We’re already trying to track Red Peony down again!
—Is it just me, or did anyone else notice that after the preliminaries, every contestant introduced all the skills in their source weapons—but this attack skill wasn’t listed at all?
—I can already imagine what Red Peony must be thinking right now!
…
On the livestream, Jia Qingwan stepped back, putting some distance between herself and the test mannequins. She was a defensive-type esper soldier. A delicate water-type esper—her awakened talent wasn’t particularly powerful. But the fact that she could be friends with prodigies like Yun Yinghui and the others from Fansa Academy meant she had something special—unmatched stability.
She possessed an unusually large amount of source energy. Her body was like a natural reservoir; even after a heavy drain of source energy, she could rapidly absorb more. She was steadier than anyone else—and her endurance was extraordinary. Now, after the previous test, any normal level-six esper soldier would have already been completely drained. But for her, the energy she’d consumed was only about one-tenth of what her body could hold.
Jia Qingwan thought that Yun Yingzhi’s design for this level-six source weapon was truly ingenious. Its unique nature made it resemble the ocean—it could contain an enormous amount of source energy. The more energy it absorbed, the wider its coverage became. And the wider it spread… the stronger its final skill grew.
The source weapon’s ultimate skill wasn’t instantaneous—it required layers upon layers of defensive water barriers to build up first. She first needed to activate the defensive fortress—then the water screens would appear everywhere.
After that, when she activated the source weapon’s ultimate attack, all the defensive water constructs would rush toward the target point in an instant, and the output value would depend on how much energy had been stored within the fortress. There was no question: the more energy, the greater the power.
Jia Qingwan’s eyes reddened slightly, a wild gleam shining within them. She longed for power. She wanted to become a combat-type esper soldier. It was that same longing that now made her lose control.
From the moment an esper awakened, they were taught one golden rule—never deplete all the source energy in their body. An esper needed energy to fight. If they ran out completely, they would become utterly defenseless. Except in extreme emergencies, this was something to be avoided at all costs. Even in the most dangerous battles, she had never once drained herself dry. But… This time, she did.
For the first time, Jia Qingwan poured every drop of her source energy into the engraving—unleashing it all at once. In an instant, the entire testing ground was swallowed by countless streams of water.
It was late December, and snowflakes began to fall from the sky—some melted into the water barriers, others drifted gently to the ground. The scene looked like a dreamlike fortress made of shimmering light. There was no question that Jia Qingwan stood at the center of it all—the core of that magnificent storm.
A strong gust of wind swept through, blowing the cap off her head. Her long black hair whipped wildly in the wind. Even with a mask covering her face, hiding her mouth and nose, she still looked breathtakingly beautiful in that moment.
Viewers in the livestream stared at her without blinking. The scene was so overwhelming that many forgot to breathe. As it turned out, the more beautiful something was, the more dangerous it could be. The dreamlike fortress was proof of that—and so was Jia Qingwan herself.
The automated filming drones captured everything without missing a single detail—including the fierce, beautiful light in her eyes. It all happened in an instant. Her gaze was sharp as a blade. Under her control, the water fortress surged and roared like a living sea—the scene too grand to describe, like a tsunami crashing down.
Within those roaring waves, the eighteen test mannequins were completely swallowed. It was an ocean of pure, boundless energy.
All the nearby camera drones were instantly destroyed; only those positioned far away could still record the full scene. But because of that, the angle was distant. Viewers in the livestream manually zoomed in, focusing on the battlefield until they could clearly see what had happened.
All eighteen test mannequins had gone silent—because none of them could function anymore. Within that area of attack, every single one of them had been obliterated. The test mannequins were made of special material, capable of withstanding up to level-nine attacks. Anything beyond that would break them. Which meant Jia Qingwan’s power in that moment had reached level nine.
Once again, the entire arena fell into complete silence. The skill lasted only a moment, but it had drained every bit of Jia Qingwan’s strength. Her body swayed slightly as she rubbed her aching temples, struggling to stay upright.
She had spent far, far too much. She had heard before that if one burned through every drop of source energy in their body all at once, the backlash could leave them feeling miserable for hours. It turned out to be true—she really did feel awful. Her stomach churned, and she felt a wave of nausea rise up—but even that couldn’t dampen the joy bubbling in her chest.
The sunlight, half-hidden behind clouds, seemed especially bright to her eyes. The whole world felt full of hope. She was now only one small step away from becoming the Empire’s strongest attack-type esper soldier—no, not even that. Just one step away from becoming a true combat-machine source weapon user.
Jia Qingwan turned toward the announcer and said, “I think the test can’t continue any further.”
The announcer: “…”
The livestream viewers: “…”
At that moment, everyone—those on-site and those watching through the stream—had the exact same thought. Of course it can’t continue. All eighteen test mannequins were destroyed. How could they go on?
The announcer hesitated, then replied nervously, “Y-yes… you’re right.” Her voice trembled slightly.
Jia Qingwan glanced at the bracelet-style device on her wrist. She looked reluctant but still took it off and handed it back to the announcer. With polite calm, she said, “Then I hope the next source weapon to be tested performs just as well.”
The announcer: “…”
The livestream viewers: “…”
Right—how were they supposed to test anything else when all the mannequins were already destroyed?
At that point, no one had realized that all the source weapons being evaluated today were defense-type models, meaning they didn’t actually require mannequins for testing. Everyone was too stunned to think that far.
The announcer accepted the source weapon from Jia Qingwan with a dazed expression. Jia Qingwan walked off, her long hair flowing behind her, her clothes half-soaked. The cold shimmer of light across her figure left a striking impression on everyone present.
The arena remained utterly silent. Only when the announcer received a comms notification did she finally snap out of her shock. A team of uniformed staff members rushed into the testing field, swiftly cleaning up the wreckage. Meanwhile, new lines of comments began flooding the stream once again.
—That “pure defense-type” source weapon had insane attack power!
—Bro, the quotation marks around “pure defense-type” are doing a lot of work there.
—I thought the level-four attack-type source weapon the Red Peony guy made was already unbelievable, but this so-called defense-type one just blew my whole family’s minds!
—I’ve got to say, the source weapon was incredible, but that girl testing it was just as amazing. I’m a level-seven esper soldier, and I can tell she used nearly ten times my usual source output for her final skill. Without her, that source weapon never could’ve shown its true potential.
—That’s one violent young lady.
—No wonder she was invited by that battle-obsessed Red Peony guy. Guess she’s just as violent as he is!
—I take back everything I ever said about water-type espers being weak. To every defensive or combat water esper out there—I’m sorry. You’re terrifying.
—I just imagined it—if I were in the arena with a teammate like her, the enemy would be trapped in a water cage forever! I need a teammate like that!
—I imagined the opposite. If I had to fight against someone like her, I’d probably die of rage before the match even ended! Please, for the love of all things, let her be on my team!
The viewers flooding the StarNet decided that chatting in the stream wasn’t enough—they started posting across platforms.
Within minutes, the Starshine Competition’s level-six water-type full-defense source weapon topped every major trending list and headline. But the title was… oddly phrased.
Headline: “Starshine Competition’s Super Strong ‘Pure Defense-Type’ Source Weapon.”
Some people began questioning the entry. According to the preliminary round’s requirements, it was supposed to be a purely defensive source weapon—but the A13167 “powerhouse” contestant clearly hadn’t followed the rules. Yet anyone who tried to criticize A13167’s work was instantly drowned out by waves of fans defending it.
Their arguments were solid: even setting aside the weapon’s hidden attack skill, its defensive abilities alone outclassed nearly every other source weapon by miles. They challenged the critics—“Go ahead, name one weapon from the prelims with stronger defense than this one!”
Others argued back, saying, “Yeah, but we’ve never seen a source weapon whose attack power surpassed its defense before.”
To which the defenders replied, “Using offense to reinforce defense—crushing everything through sheer power—that’s the ultimate form of defense!”
Then… someone raised the real question. Why had the weapon’s creator deliberately hidden that attack skill?
Supporters of contestant A13167 suddenly found themselves speechless. How could they answer? Were they supposed to admit that too many people had called him a battle maniac, and he’d hidden the skill just to stop hearing it? No way. They couldn’t say that. Still, that didn’t stop them from dodging the question entirely and returning to their main point—this source weapon’s defensive abilities were unbeatable!
Inside the Imperial Palace, Emperor Jarren and the Imperial Consort were watching the livestream together, with their two Little Buns nestled beside them. At first, the little kit had been restless and fidgety, but once the evaluation began, he suddenly became perfectly quiet. He clung to the Imperial Consort’s finger, watching the battle on the projection screen with rapt attention.
Up until that point, neither Emperor Jarren nor the Imperial Consort thought anything of it. But when Jia Qingwan unleashed the source weapon’s most powerful attack, both of them froze for a moment in stunned silence.
The Imperial Consort couldn’t help but sigh softly. “So she really is a powerhouse, huh?”
Then… they noticed how excited the little kit had become. The tiny creature suddenly leapt from the Imperial Consort’s hand toward the projection, full of energy. The Imperial Consort quickly conjured a bridge of petals beneath him, allowing the little kit to bound freely.
He landed in front of the glowing screen, bouncing up and down in delight. His soft little voice chirped, “Da!” The end note lifted playfully, full of bright, rippling joy.
The Imperial Consort’s eyelid twitched. Then, a thought struck him. Earlier, at the start of the evaluation, when the usually restless little kit had gone suddenly quiet—that had been right when Jia Qingwan first appeared. To be honest, the little kit hadn’t shown any interest in her at first. But now… he was clearly fascinated by her.
The Imperial Consort’s mind drifted to Yun Yingzhi. He looked back at the screen, where the comments were still scrolling fast—most of them talking about the mysterious source weapon creator.
—“Only a true battle maniac could make such a ‘pure defense-type’ source weapon.”
The Imperial Consort frowned slightly. Could this little kit… actually be a violent little kit? He turned to Emperor Jarren. Emperor Jarren asked, “What is it?” The Imperial Consort pointed subtly toward the little kit and whispered, “Jiaojiao shouldn’t be watching this.”
“Hm?”
The little kit’s ears twitched. He was sharp—he’d heard his name. He spun around, blinking up at the Imperial Consort with wide, glossy black eyes and asked curiously, “Da-da?”
The Imperial Consort hesitated, then beckoned him over. The little kit looked from the Imperial Consort to the projection of Jia Qingwan… then silently turned his head away. He pretended not to see the beckoning hand, his big eyes sparkling as he continued to stare fixedly at the light screen.
Now Emperor Jarren finally understood what the Imperial Consort meant. To keep the little one from growing up with dangerous “battle mania” tendencies—just like his father—the Imperial Consort, though reluctant, turned off the projection. When the light faded, the little kit’s small body wobbled, as if he might collapse from heartbreak.
Both Emperor Jarren and the Imperial Consort felt an ache in their chests. The little kit, no longer cold and stoic like before, climbed along the petal bridge toward the Imperial Consort and, within seconds, had wrapped both tiny paws and feet around his chest.
The Imperial Consort looked down and met the little kit’s shining eyes. And what made the Imperial Consort even more exasperated was— He suddenly realized… he’d completely forgotten about the little egg.
Little Egg was just an egg. Aside from hopping, all he could really do was roll in circles. While Little Kit could usually guess what others were thinking through their eyes, trying to figure out what Little Egg had on his mind was nearly impossible. At this point, the only one who could probably read Little Egg’s thoughts was Little Kit.
Now, Little Kit was hanging softly against the Imperial Consort, acting all cuddly and spoiled. At the same time, Little Egg—who had been as still and quiet as a real egg through the entire identification process—began to roll and roll, until he too rolled up against the Imperial Consort.
Little Kit pressed his cheek against the Imperial Consort, and Little Egg tapped his shell against him. It was obvious that, just like Little Kit, Little Egg might also be a little fighter-jet egg.
Under the Imperial Consort’s speechless gaze, Little Kit blinked his big round eyes. “Da?”
The Imperial Consort took a deep breath. He told himself he needed to have a heart of stone. Little Kit crawled up, and with his soft, flexible little body, somehow managed to cling right onto the Imperial Consort’s face—turning himself into a sticky-face bunny pancake. Meanwhile, Little Egg refused to be outdone and rolled up to the Imperial Consort’s neck.
The Imperial Consort felt that his lifetime of dignity had been utterly destroyed by these two Little Buns.
Little Kit rubbed his cheek against the Imperial Consort again. “Da!” His little voice was full of eager expectation.
The Imperial Consort held both Little Buns in his hands, looked at Emperor Jarren, and said, “Your Majesty, perhaps… we should let them watch?”
Emperor Jarren’s eyelid twitched. “But…”
Little Kit looked up at Emperor Jarren. “Da.”
Emperor Jarren fell silent. “….”
Then Little Egg launched himself toward Emperor Jarren. Emperor Jarren caught him just in time. He looked from Little Kit to Little Egg, paused for a moment, then said, “They’re so young, they can’t understand anything anyway. It doesn’t matter.”
In other words, since they couldn’t make sense of it, there was no harm in letting them watch. The Imperial Consort reopened the video projection. Instantly, the two spoiled little spirits turned quiet as chickens again.
On screen, Jia Qingwan lowered her defensive barrier for the second time, and then… the most astonishing scene appeared. Little Kit’s eyes went wide. “(⊙o⊙)! Da-ow-da-da-da-da!”
He clapped his little paws together, bouncing in place with Little Egg, both of them looking ridiculously happy. The two Little Buns had no idea what they were seeing, but Emperor Jarren and the Imperial Consort certainly did. They understood just how extraordinary the source weapon Yun Yingzhi had created really was. The two men exchanged a glance. Emperor Jarren said, “What a powerhouse.”
The Imperial Consort paused, then looked at the two lively, bouncing Little Buns and sincerely added, “Two little battle cubs made for a powerhouse.”
Little Kit tilted his head. “Da?” He looked at the two men in confusion, while Little Egg released little bursts of cheerful sparkles and spun around several times in place.
By ten-thirty, the exam had continued straight through to noon. When it finally ended, Yun Yingzhi looked drained and sluggish, completely out of sorts. He felt he hadn’t done well this time and might have to retake it.
The other students in the same testing hall looked just as lifeless. Until…a student in their chat group said, “The appraisal for contestant A13167’s purely defensive source weapon should be over by now. Let’s go check the results.”
Yun Yingzhi’s ears twitched. He thought about it for a moment. It was just a purely defensive source weapon—what result could possibly be worth seeing? Still brooding over his grades, he had no interest in the appraisal results. He figured he’d definitely make it past the preliminaries anyway.
Then another student said, “That Red Peony guy—so damn cool, a total powerhouse!”
Yun Yingzhi’s eyelid twitched hard. In an instant, he was wide awake. He sat up straight, alert, with a faint sense of foreboding creeping up on him.
“Did you hear? The source-weapon manufacturing students even had their exams delayed so they could watch the live broadcast!”
“Whoa!”
“But they said it was totally worth it!”
Yun Yingzhi’s hands trembled slightly. Since Yun Yinghui and the others already knew he was contestant A13167, the last thing he wanted was for them to slap a “violent bunny” label on him. He wasn’t! He didn’t! Yun Yingzhi took a deep breath to calm himself, then opened his personal terminal, intending to search for information.
But he didn’t even need to search—news about his supposedly “purely defensive” source weapon was already flooding every platform. The level-four offensive source weapon he’d made before had already drawn plenty of attention, but this time, the level-six “defensive” one he’d painstakingly built had gone straight to the top of every trending list.
While his classmates were exclaiming, “What a battle master!”, he was staring at lines of text that completely destroyed his carefully crafted image. He felt like his entire world was collapsing. Clearly, what he thought could never happen… had happened.
Oh, it definitely had. He happened to see one line in particular: “Contestant A13167’s supposedly ‘pure defensive’ source weapon revealed to contain hidden combat functions—an intentional concealment!”
Yun Yingzhi’s beautiful lips pressed into a thin line. His face fell. These people were too cruel. Then his personal terminal chimed—Jia Qingwan was calling. Yun Yingzhi stood, told his three roommates Yu Feiwen and the others he was stepping out, and left the exam hall. He went to the quiet stairwell and accepted the call.
The moment the video connected, Jia Qingwan said, “I’m sorry.”
Yun Yingzhi froze, unsure how to respond.
Jia Qingwan continued, “Yingzhi, I don’t know why, but you did deliberately hide the final attack function in that source weapon.” Before he could reply, she added, “I shouldn’t have shown it without your permission.”
Yun Yingzhi thought about it. Honestly, as long as his secret identity wasn’t exposed, this wasn’t really a big deal. He was always patient with girls. “No, Qingwan-jie, it’s not a big deal,” he said gently. As long as my cover isn’t blown, it won’t be a big deal.
Jia Qingwan asked softly, “Yingzhi, can you tell me why you didn’t want to reveal the strongest skill in that source weapon?” Even now, she still couldn’t understand it.
In her mind, a good source weapon had to be demonstrated in full. Only then could it honor both its creator and the weapon itself. Yun Yingzhi had clearly hidden it on purpose. She didn’t believe it was merely because of the competition’s requirements. Yun Yingzhi’s cheeks flushed a bright red, and for a long while, he couldn’t answer.
Jia Qingwan frowned slightly. “Yingzhi, did I cause you trouble? Is there a way I can make it up to you?”
Yun Yingzhi shook his head hesitantly. “Really, it’s nothing.”
“Hm?” she prompted.
He paused for a moment, then decided to speak honestly. “Qingwan-jie, you know how so many people on the Starnet have the wrong idea about me—they think I might be…” He gave her a look that said you know what I mean, and continued, “But I’m really not that kind of person. I thought if I showed that final skill, it would just make those misunderstandings worse. So I didn’t say anything.”
Jia Qingwan fell silent. If she hadn’t known the reason, that would’ve been one thing—but now that she did, her expression turned rather complicated. She thought back to the source weapons produced by Alvin’s Studio under Stellar, then to the one Yun Yingzhi had given to Yun Yinghui, and finally to the so-called “purely defensive” source weapon from earlier today…
It dawned on her that maybe Yun Yingzhi had a very deep misunderstanding of himself. And when she thought about it more, she suddenly couldn’t understand why Yun Yinghui also believed Yun Yingzhi was so fragile. Actually—a big question mark practically popped into Jia Qingwan’s mind.
Wait, it wasn’t just Yun Yinghui. Even he, and nearly every student at Fansa Academy, all seemed to think the same thing. She realized, with some shock, that before she’d known Yun Yingzhi was contestant A13167, she too had shared that exact impression. At that realization, Jia Qingwan suddenly grew very curious. Over all these years, how on earth had Yun Yingzhi managed to maintain such a delicate, fragile persona without it collapsing?
Her brain filled with a whole row of question marks. Then she remembered—the Fansa Academy Combat Department’s practical exam was coming up soon.
“Yingzhi,” she said, “during your practical combat exam, would it be all right if I came to watch?”
“Ah?” Yun Yingzhi’s expression froze, startled.
Jia Qingwan smiled faintly. “Maybe we could come with Yinghui?”
Yun Yingzhi’s already-red face grew even redder. He looked away in embarrassment. “You really shouldn’t come.”
“Why not?” she asked.
He hesitated for a moment, then said in a mortified voice, “I think I’d just embarrass you.”
Jia Qingwan stared at him in silence.
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