novelraw Chapter 50 : League Begins
Chapter 50 : League Begins
Xie You noticed the slowing pace around him and glanced over, his gaze meeting Xiao Er's inquisitive eyes.
The same thought occurred to both of them simultaneously: Well, well, you're pretending too?
Xiao Er withdrew his gaze, mentally agreeing with what the women had said—Xie You was indeed insincere. The person who had appeared so cold just moments ago was now eavesdropping.
Meanwhile, Xie You noticed his slowed pace and thought: Indeed, this person doesn't seem as difficult to get along with as imagined.
How bad could someone who listens to Zhu Jing Fu gossip really be?
Lu Ting, not noticing the two men ahead, continued on her own: "It should be them, Little Spring Brother, and Gu Qinxue. That black and white figure should be their new analyst."
"Sister Qi, do Gu Qinxue and Zhou Chen's core crystals really have issues?"
This same question was asked by Chen Sui, who had been pondering it repeatedly on the way back to the dormitory after the auction ended.
"Your core crystal has issues, right?"
Gu Qinxue paused, her first reaction not to explain but to smile at her: "I told you not to look at the forum, but you went and looked anyway?"
Chen Sui responded righteously: "To understand the opponents. Besides, there were plenty of dismissive comments when I first came to Zhu Jing Fu too."
And now?
Gu Qinxue caught her implied question.
She inwardly agreed.
Indeed, Chen Sui was the type who, once underestimated, would slam your face into the ground.
"The core crystal......" Gu Qinxue said with a hint of a sigh: "Mine isn't the damaged one."
"It's Zhou Chen's."
Chen Sui listened as she began her story from White Day Paradise.
"The forums have already discussed this. You've probably consumed the whole story, right?"
Seeing Chen Sui nod, Gu Qinxue smiled wryly. Though smiling on the surface, her eyes were extremely cold: "White Day Paradise was an uncontrolled energy field then. The Gu family exploited a loophole and sent Zhou Chen and me in."
"He had just awakened and hadn't achieved high resonance with his spiritual body. At that time, I hadn't awakened yet. In the energy field, we encountered an SSS-level energy body from White Day Paradise. Zhou Chen's core crystal shattered, with damage reaching 80%. I did awaken, but the timing was terrible—my core crystal shattered upon formation, causing my level to drop significantly."
"Later, Mr. Larnor performed mental healing on me. Fortunately, after the healing, I underwent a second awakening and recovered my level."
"Zhou Chen wasn't so lucky. The White Day Paradise incident left a permanent mark on his core crystal."
At this point, frost appeared in Gu Qinxue's eyes.
"Since then, every time he uses his spiritual body, he must guard against the possibility of energy outbreak."
This was the pain in Gu Qinxue's heart and one of the shackles from the past she could not forgive.
Chen Sui's expression grew solemn: "What happens with an energy outbreak?"
"Indiscriminate attacks, ending with his core crystal completely shattering, mental threshold collapsing, becoming a waste."
Gu Qinxue's voice grew increasingly quiet.
Chen Sui slowed her pace, placing her hand on Gu Qinxue's back. The girl stopped and embraced her instead.
"So, I must make the Gu family pay the price."
Chen Sui heard her speak these words deliberately, her face buried in Chen Sui's neck.
She squeezed her hand, then released it, gently stroking Gu Qinxue's back.
On the other side, hearing the continuation, Lu Ting suddenly laughed mockingly.
"The Gu family is truly... difficult to judge."
She shook her head. Self-proclaimed descendants of old nobility who had completely forgotten the original purpose of the Star Alliance's establishment. Whether in the distant Star Rings or the Main Star, hardly anyone respected the Gu family's behavior except for remnants of the old nobility. If not for the current precarious political situation in the council and the intersection of various interests, the Gu family would have been liquidated long ago.
He Lanqi nodded in agreement: "Exactly."
"The rumors on StarNet are excessive—'three cripples and one waste'—and people actually believe this. We'll need to be careful in the league competition. I have a feeling Zhu Jing Fu seems to be hiding something, like an ace up their sleeve."
Hearing this, Lu Ting instinctively replied: "Their analyst?"
Up ahead, Xie You, who had been listening to gossip the whole way, finally couldn't resist. He completely stopped walking. Before He Lanqi could respond to Lu Ting, they saw him standing in the shadowy intersection of light and darkness, his gaze emanating through his scattered hair, vaguely showing a strange insistence.
"It's Xie Chunshi."
Lu Ting raised an eyebrow: "Little Spring Brother? We're very familiar with Little Spring Brother. What hidden secrets could he possibly have?"
Not to put too fine a point on it, this league competition gathered scions of prominent families and disciples of masters, most of whom had grown up together and knew each other's backgrounds extremely well.
Xie You's lips curved coldly as he raised his chin, revealing his somewhat gloomy face: "Is that so? Have you seen his spiritual body form? Do you know------"
"How he broke through from the God-Abandoned Domain?"
"Xie Chunshi is someone who slew an SSS-level energy body and crawled out from the Red Embroidery Sea."
"So, don't underestimate him."
Xie You said finally.
Then he turned and quickly left.
Lu Ting looked at his inexplicably departing figure, turning to He Lanqi somewhat speechlessly: "I wasn't underestimating him. Among our generation, who doesn't know how formidable Little Spring Brother is? He's always been the one dominating, okay?"
He Lanqi vaguely understood Xie You's strange attitude toward Xie Chunshi. She patted Lu Ting: "Ignore him. He's Xie Chunshi's obsessive fan, incredibly awkward."
Specifically manifesting as: only he could call Xie Chunshi useless, but if others said it, or if Xie Chunshi truly was useless, he would go berserk.
The day after the auction transaction was completed, Chen Sui received after-sales work facilitated by the Star Ring Banquet.
The buyer who purchased her blueprint wanted to prioritize acquiring the energy crystal through the Star Ring Banquet. After Chen Sui agreed to the transaction, she arranged the shipping procedure.
The other party seemed to have something else to ask, so Chen Sui deliberately waited a few minutes in the private chat.
After a while, she saw their message.
[KillKillKill: Hello, I'd like to know, are you an analyst? Have you joined an Analyst Association?]
[Grass Has Grown: Obviously, I am]
[KillKillKill: Great! We are from the Second Star Ring Analyst Association and sincerely invite you to join our association. With just a 300 fee, you can get a set of He Lanyi's autographs]
[KillKillKill: After joining, Master He Lanyi will personally help you modify your summoned body design form, improving aesthetics to help you fetch a higher price in your next auction!]
When the Analyst Association extended their olive branch, Chen Sui instinctively thought of the previous Maintenance Engineer Association. She clicked to check the other party's account.
No certification.
He Lanyi?
Not her style.
And finally, they thought her aesthetics were problematic.
Chen Sui's fingers curled slightly as she sincerely asked:
[Grass Has Grown: Is there something wrong with my summoned body's aesthetics? Hello, I really want to ask, don't you think it's cute?]
More advanced than alien species, cuter than energy bodies.
What's the problem?
The person on the other side was dumbfounded.
Inside the Analyst Association, the staff member communicating with Chen Sui input and stopped several times, finally unable to resist saying to a colleague: "She actually thinks this summoned body is cute?"
"Could she really be a genius?"
The colleague replied with a face-palm, "If this blueprint didn't have such an ugly form, with the energy crystal, the auction price might have reached a million. To be frank, after seeing this holographic model, I had nightmares all night."
The staff member responded to Chen Sui while agreeing: "Me too! This blueprint is toxic. No, this analyst is toxic. She's actually trying to convince me that this summoned body is cute."
"Ah, don't get sidetracked! Hurry and recruit her. Analysts who can make values this perfect are rare now. Aesthetics can be improved later, but this skill isn't something everyone has."
[KillKillKill: Yes, it's a bit, a bit cute. So, are you interested in joining our association?]
Chen Sui thought for a second, then politely declined:
[Grass Has Grown: I'm sorry, I prefer joining local associations, it's more convenient]
[KillKillKill: We're offering Master He Lanyi's autograph! Please reconsider, dear]
[Grass Has Grown: Sorry, my idol is Song Xingzhang]
Song Xingzhang was He Lanyi's nemesis. The two masters from the same era in the analyst world had developed two completely different analyst schools of thought.
Chen Sui didn't actually have much impression of Song Xingzhang, but because she had studied from Vina's holographic online courses, she could receive Song Xingzhang's ideas. She said this only to cut short the persuasion from the other side.
[Grass Has Grown: Energy crystal shipped, contact me for any further issues]
The staff member completely broke down in tears before the Light Brain: "She said her idol is Song Xingzhang. I'm crying! How is our Master He Lanyi not worthy?"
"What? An aggressive-flow analyst? That's certainly brave."
The staff member wiped their face: "I see she's young. At that age, kids are easily seduced by the appearance of aggression, thinking it's cool and passionate. Once they get to the battlefield, they'll realize their self-perceived attacks are not even tickles to energy bodies. Ah, what a pity."
On the other side, Chen Sui, who had just exited the interface, received a message from an officially certified account.
[Fourth Star Ring Analyst Association: Hello, would you be interested in joining the Analyst Association?]
[Fourth Star Ring Analyst Association: After joining, you can reduce the Star Ring Banquet's commission from 70% to 80%. Below are the membership benefits. You only need to undertake the Star Alliance's official analyst tasks to receive a regular monthly salary. Additionally, we're now offering a set of autographs from a designated honorary member of the Analyst Association]
Chen Sui, seeing the other party skillfully send out agreement contents and various benefits, couldn't help but think.
Are these people all working together?
Just sent one away, and another comes.
In the Fourth Star Ring Maintenance Engineer Association.
Kain watched his assistant being pulled over by several analysts, surrounded by questions: "Is this reply okay? Do you think she'll accept?"
"She's really only 19 years old? A student from our Yuguang Star?"
The assistant, annoyed by the noise in his ears, gestured for them to calm down: "Don't worry, I've contacted this young student before. You just need to put the benefits front and center. She's very cautious and will reply after thinking it through herself."
The Analyst Association representative marveled: "Goodness, today's students are truly remarkable—thriving in the maintenance engineer industry and swimming like a fish in the analyst industry. It's like being spoon-fed by the heavens."
"Which of her products caught your eye?"
The assistant asked.
The other side replied: "Don't even mention it. It was that analysis instrument. One of our analysts bought it and upon using it, realized something was off. The purification was too good. During the supplementary editing process, it completely avoided damaging other values and even provided bonuses. We thought it was a special case, but when we checked the feedback section, they were all like that."
"Our leader said talent like this must be recruited into the Fourth Star Ring! She'll definitely have a bright future."
The assistant nodded in deep agreement: "Exactly, exactly. Our leader said the same thing."
"Just thinking that she might become a master in the maintenance field in the future, and people will mention our association when they speak of her, makes me so happy."
The analyst glanced at him, suddenly becoming vigilant: "Don't think like that. She clearly is meant for deeper study in the analyst field. People only have so much energy—how would she have time to work on mecha maintenance?"
The assistant's expression froze. Before he could speak, Kain jumped up first: "I see! You with your bushy eyebrows and big eyes, I knew you weren't up to any good. So you're here to poach?"
"Why not? I haven't even said she'd focus on mecha maintenance in the future, with no time for energy crystals. Energy crystals are so dangerous—who in their right mind would choose that?"
Halfway through their conversation, the two sides suddenly engaged in a verbal battle.
On the other side, Chen Sui, having clearly checked the agreement and seeing it was an official invitation from the Fourth Star Ring, agreed without hesitation.
But there was no response from the other side.
She waited a while, then simply exited and listed new mecha parts.
When they saw the online store update, the argument in the Maintenance Engineer Association stopped.
Kain felt slightly victorious: "See, she's listing mecha components. She definitely leans toward being a maintenance engineer."
The Analyst Association refused to concede: "Nonsense, she agreed to our agreement. She definitely intends to be an analyst."
Chen Sui agreed with neither and was unaware of these disputes. After completing her update, she continued preparing her mecha.
Late June.
The atmosphere throughout the Star Alliance began to stir as the Star Alliance's annual event was about to unfold.
StarNet headlines changed repeatedly.
From analyses of various academies to energy field predictions to Star Alliance League Competition review seats.
All kinds of information were complex and diverse.
StarNet surfers couldn't escape this topic.
Chen Sui's custom personalized mecha was completed along with the school team's weapons and mecha modifications.
Zhu Jing Fu's preparation plan was completed at the last minute.
Analyst mission accomplished.
At the same time, the entire Star Alliance received notification from the Competition Committee.
[To Military School Students]
[The 537th Star Alliance Military School League Competition]
[The first elimination match is about to begin]
All participating teams transitioned to the Seventh Star Ring's preparation space station.
Chen Sui didn't even have time to test her mecha before boarding the transition flight with the school team.
The last day of June.
Countless people gathered on the road from the entrance of Zhu Jing Fu to the Flashing Golden Sea.
Star Academy Seven students, students from other academies, Yuguang Star residents, Seventh Star Ring residents, tourists from distant Star Rings, Border Army......
Some traveled light-years, transitioning here just to see the participating teams off.
In Zhu Jing Fu, the farewell broadcast for the participating teams repeated continuously:
"We wish you all, in this league competition------"
"Revive Zhu Jing Fu's century of glory!"
"Return safely!"
In the rolling waves of the Flashing Golden Sea, inside the transition flight that could repel thunder fire shells.
They could still hear the hopeful voices from the port, from the distant Star Rings, from the borders, from other planets, from different academies, from countless people.
"May we be victorious."
All participants thought in unison as they looked through the transparent windows of the transition ship.
The Flashing Golden Sea continued to surge.
The light atop Zhu Jing Fu remained unextinguished.