CSMCDB - Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Lin Jinyu returned to the Flowing Cloud Sect, seemingly to learn some other combat techniques. Afterwards, she holed herself up in the academy’s combat techniques pavilion, studying techniques and cultivation methods suitable for a Star Master.

Many people came to Star Academy and desperately tried to get into the best classes, partly because the higher a student’s class, the more numerous and higher-quality the combat techniques the academy would make available to them. For S-Class, for instance, they could preview almost every combat technique in the academy’s pavilion.

Wen Yuncheng… Wen Yuncheng, on the other hand, had never set foot in there. After all, she couldn’t learn them.

While Lin Jinyu continued to work hard on strengthening herself, Wen Yuncheng was met with a friendly sparring match against Senior Yao.

Wen Yuncheng didn’t know whether it was better to win or to lose. If she lost, her training would be doubled. If she won, she would have to challenge Zhao Qiuyu in a month. After seeing Zhao Qiuyu effortlessly knock down five third-layer Star Warriors with a single swing of her hammer and then casually drag all five of them away, Wen Yuncheng had a new impression of this petite and cute senior.

It was as if a tied rope and a small knife were presented to her at the same time, and Yan Ling was smilingly asking her: “Do you want to hang yourself, or do you want to slit your throat?”

-She just wanted to live!

Unfortunately, her wish couldn’t be transmitted into Yan Ling’s mind. Wen Yuncheng could only do her best to warm up and prepare to give it her all.

Yao Mu was dressed in a white combat uniform, looking like an energetic young man. He leaped onto the dueling ring with ease and tapped his forearm, revealing the mechanical armguard Wen Yuncheng had made.

Only then did Wen Yuncheng remember the material of Yao Mu’s mechanical armguard-damn. Didn’t this just increase the game’s difficulty?!

“Student Wen, watch out!”

Seeing Yao Mu suddenly close in, Wen Yuncheng raised her hand and detonated a Self-Destructor. She then threw a flame exploder at her original spot and, while Yao Mu was engulfed in flames, quickly released a Pursuer to create some distance.

Yao Mu swung his mechanical armguard, slicing through the flames with Star Power, and leaped up with a powerful push of his feet. Wen Yuncheng raised her hand and threw a stun grenade upwards, the explosion instantly causing Yao Mu to fall from the sky. She used three G-14 grenades in one go, throwing them all at him. They blew apart his combat uniform, revealing the soft armor he wore underneath. The explosion scorched the dark skin on his arm. Spurred by the pain, Yao Mu shook his head hard to clear it.

“You’re actually wearing armor?!”

“Heh, it’s new equipment I got recently. I figured I’d test it out during our match.” Yao Mu patted his body and closed in on Wen Yuncheng again as he spoke. “Seems like it works pretty well~”

Wen Yuncheng raised her hand cannon and fired several shots at Yao Mu. Her aim had improved significantly by now, but the moment Yao Mu saw her move, he was on guard. He either dodged back and forth continuously or simply let the Star Power blasts hit the soft armor on his chest. In short, he didn’t take any major damage.

Seeing Yao Mu about to get close, Wen Yuncheng retracted her hand cannon, sidestepped to dodge his punch, and immediately followed up with a topspin kick that struck Yao Mu’s body hard. Yao Mu took a small step back, slapped his body, and a wave of Star Power washed over him. That white, jade-like luster appeared on his skin again-

Wen Yuncheng: I thought I was the most shameless one, but I see now that Yao Mu is even more shameless.

Ignoring the pain, Wen Yuncheng desperately dove to the right, hitting the dueling ring and rolling away, barely avoiding the fate of being knocked off the stage. Seeing Yao Mu push off the ground and charge toward her, Wen Yuncheng ran around the ring while continuously attacking with her hand cannon. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang… The Star Power bullets exploded one after another, but they couldn’t stop Yao Mu’s advance.

As the jade-ified guy was about to close in on her again, Wen Yuncheng gritted her teeth and suddenly stopped dodging, meeting Yao Mu’s attack head-on. She narrowly dodged a spike thrust and immediately countered with a piercing kick. Then she lunged forward, tackling Yao Mu to the ground and aiming a spike at his neck-wait, she actually pinned Yao Mu?

Wen Yuncheng froze, only then realizing that Yao Mu had a pained expression and seemed to be in a stunned state.

“…Alright, that’s enough,” Yan Ling said.

Just then, Yao Mu also came to his senses. He looked at the spike at his neck and Wen Yuncheng on top of him, a confused expression on his face. That last attack shouldn’t have hit a vital point, so why had he suddenly… gotten dizzy? Yao Mu didn’t quite understand and could only attribute it to his own condition. A loss was a loss, and he didn’t say anything more. Seeing Wen Yuncheng get up and offer to pull him up, he took her hand and used the leverage to stand. “Little Student, you’ve improved a lot recently.”

Wen Yuncheng could only respond with a dry laugh.

With the mini-boss Yao Mu temporarily dealt with, Wen Yuncheng now faced the major goal Yan Ling had set for her: Zhao Qiuyu. And so, her daily training continued.

After learning that Wen Yuncheng was going to challenge Zhao Qiuyu, Cheng Jiangliu made a point of not seeking her out about crafting equipment. Instead, he simply treated her to a meal, wished her good luck, and offered a few words of advice:

“First things first, losing is one thing, but you can’t mess up Qiuyu’s hair with your explosions.”

“You also can’t blow up her clothes, and don’t you dare take advantage of her.”

“Also, Qiuyu is really strong. Don’t be a fool and fight her in close combat. I’m afraid you’ll die an even more miserable death.”

Wen Yuncheng: “…” She really wanted to ask, But by saying that, aren’t you just daring me to fight her up close? And on top of that, he was afraid she would die miserably.

…As if she wouldn’t die a miserable death if she didn’t fight up close.

Zhao Qiuyu’s pair of great hammers had left a deep impression on Wen Yuncheng. She was convinced that one swing would turn her into meat paste. It was a feeling she didn’t dare to test out, so she could only sigh to herself.

During this time, Lin Jinyu had learned quite a few new combat techniques. Perhaps it was because of that fortuitous sword technique encounter, or perhaps it was the spirit fruit Lin Jinyu said she ate there, but her Star Power was now tinged with an icy aura. Her attacks always carried additional ice damage. Because of this, Sect Master Lin had specially selected a cultivation method for her to enhance the effects of the ice.

Lin Jinyu also became more and more proficient with moves like condensing swords, wielding swords, and guiding swords. Whether she used her Star Power-materialized swords for offense or restraint, they were an excellent tool. The number of longswords she could materialize also increased from five to eight, which represented her finer control and application of Star Power.

A week later, Wen Yuncheng finally reached Level 30, achieving the rank of first-layer Star Master.

G-2 Rolling Thunder: Create three Rolling Thunders that can perform light-attribute electrostatic magic attacks and light-attribute radio wave magic attacks. (Can be directly modified from G-1 Coronas.) When a Rolling Thunder has been active for one minute, it will be fully charged. At this time, it can be reactivated to fire a radio wave attack at enemies in front. Duration: 10 minutes. Cooldown: 3 minutes.

Launching Slide: Slide and charge forward to attack an enemy, launching them into the air. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Assemble - Mechanical Apostle (Limit: 1/2/3): Use materials to assemble a Mechanical Apostle completely loyal to you. Current Level: 0. Limit: 0. (Max 3).

Passive - Mechanical Modification (I): Reduces the cooldown of all mechanical skills at Level 30 and below by fifty percent and increases their damage by twenty percent.

Three active skills and one passive. It also unlocked two blueprints: the Mechanical Wings blueprint and the C-02 Enemy-Annihilator blueprint. It cost six hundred points.

Host: Wen Yuncheng
Race: Human
Age: 16
Class: Mechanical Master
Level: 30
Experience: 55/17000
Points: 708

Wen Yuncheng studied the skills and found the Mechanical Apostle one a bit confusing. When she tried to use it, she was told she lacked the materials. And when she tried to upgrade it, she was prompted that her level was insufficient.

It was an upgradable skill. The maximum level was three, which could unlock three Mechanical Apostles…

[Haven’t you always been looking forward to having your own robot?] 1947 said. [Well, here it is. Use some good materials, don’t be so stingy.]

“But… this one requires materials and Star Power, so why isn’t it a blueprint-type skill? Can I use it in the dueling ring?”

[Once you’ve created it, you can just use the skill to summon it in the future. Although its body is made from materials you provide, to others, it will appear to be composed entirely of your Star Power. Unlike the G-Series, a Mechanical Apostle can disappear, die, and be destroyed. Although you will always possess this apostle, if this one dies and you create another, the new one will not have the memories and abilities of the previous one.]

“Will it continuously learn and improve? An intelligent robot?”

[You could say that. It will be loyal only to you.]

Wen Yuncheng’s heart pounded. Her very own robot? A Mechanical Apostle… She glanced at the Star Stone card in her ring. It was just money! She would give it the best, even if it bankrupted her! Abyssal Crystal! She would use Abyssal Crystal! It could auto-repair.

If it could auto-repair, the robot wouldn’t die so easily, right?

Abyssal Crystal ore sold for two thousand seven hundred Star Stones per kilogram, but because it was so rare, Wen Yuncheng had bought it at the auction house for three thousand Star Stones per kilogram. She didn’t know how much she would need, but 1947 said the Mechanical Apostle was about the size of an adult, so she bought one hundred kilograms directly, rounding the cost to a neat three hundred thousand. If there was any left over… she could use it to make the Mechanical Wings and the C-02.

Returning to her dorm, she took out the Abyssal Crystal and spread it on the floor. Wen Yuncheng placed her hand on the pile of ore and used the Assemble - Mechanical Apostle skill.

A soft blue light emerged from Wen Yuncheng’s hand, enveloping the entire pile of Abyssal Crystal. Wen Yuncheng watched as the ore before her was stretched and molded by the blue light… There were no instruments, as if an invisible hand were at work. First, all the Abyssal Crystal was fused together into a pillar, then it was continuously refined, separating out each component and every single gear.

Before, she had always treated assembly as a task, but now, just by extending her hand, she watched as a one-point-seven-meter-tall robot gradually took shape before her under the influence of the blue orb of light. The visual impact was incredibly satisfying. …Everything was perfectly fluid.

It was a humanoid robot. Wen Yuncheng looked at its hands, which also had five fingers. The assembly marks were clearly visible between the knuckles. Because Abyssal Crystal was a translucent jade-green, Wen Yuncheng’s first apostle looked as clear and sparkling as a jade-green crystal.

Wen Yuncheng purchased an energy core, then pressed it against the Mechanical Apostle’s chest. She watched as the core, which emitted a faint blue light, gradually merged into the body and disappeared. Her hand rested on the cool Abyssal Crystal shell as her mana was rapidly consumed.

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