The Gugu Bird landed on a simple plateau. Wen Yuncheng climbed down, her feet sinking into the soft turf. She gazed at the distant town with its flickering lights and the boundless sea of stars in the sky, feeling a sudden wave of emotion.

The Starry Sky Continent was different from Earth. On Earth, a bright moon often meant fewer visible stars. Here, however, the stars symbolized the continent’s living powerhouses, so even with a full moon tonight, the stars still shone brilliantly.

Wen Yuncheng was suddenly overcome with a strange sense of emotion. Back in the Wen family, after she had been labeled a waste, she had admired a night sky just like this almost every day. Back then, she had even comforted herself with the thought: It’s fine that I can’t cultivate. If I could… I would never be able to relax and simply appreciate the night like this.

However, in the time since—or rather, in the past two years—Wen Yuncheng had rarely had the time to pay attention to such things.

While Wen Yuncheng was lost in her thoughts, Lin Jinyu took out a communication stone. It turned transparent, and though Lin Jinyu didn’t speak, the stone then turned blue again.

Three seconds later, fweee—swoosh—BOOM!

Dazzling fireworks bloomed in the starry sky. With a continuous chorus of whistling sounds, the sky above the grassy plateau was completely covered by the display.

Startled, Wen Yuncheng took a step back. She couldn’t help but turn to look at Lin Jinyu. In the light of the countless exploding fireworks, a multicolored glow cast an incredibly soft light upon her face.

“I thought you might like this,” Lin Jinyu said, taking a sandalwood box from her storage ring and handing it to Wen Yuncheng.

She opened it to find a fist-sized figurine of a Guardian. Of course, it only had the appearance of one; it couldn’t move and was purely an ornament.

Wen Yuncheng gently touched its Star Power sword. The carving looked unpracticed, and some spots hadn’t been polished properly. The material… was crystal stone, the same type of crystal as the fire crystal at the academy’s entrance, just containing a different element. “I love it…”

Whether it was this place, the fireworks, or the crystal Guardian, Wen Yuncheng was deeply moved. She knew Lin Jinyu was very busy and had rushed over tonight, yet… she had still found the time to prepare all of this. Lin Jinyu had probably never learned to carve before. Wen Yuncheng couldn’t imagine how long she must have practiced in private, or how many times she must have tried, just to create this finished piece.

Little Ice Mountain… Wen Yuncheng placed the figurine back in its box, put it away in her storage ring, and then pulled Lin Jinyu into a hug.

Even if this was just friendship, if it could always be like this, Wen Yuncheng thought, it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“I really love this gift. Thank you.”

They sat shoulder-to-shoulder on the grass, watching the night sky.

They stayed until the early hours of the morning, when Lin Jinyu raised a hand to summon the Gugu Bird, and they returned to the academy together.

“See you in the finals of the Youth Tournament.” The Gugu Bird stopped below Wen Yuncheng’s dormitory, and Lin Jinyu spoke.

“Alright, see you in the finals,” Wen Yuncheng promised earnestly, waving as she watched Lin Jinyu depart.

Back in her bed, Wen Yuncheng was still in a daze, unable to snap out of it. 1947 quietly observed its cub until she rolled over and muttered to herself, “It felt like midnight magic that disappears at dawn.”

[…It was real.]

“…Little Ice Mountain, that was so unfair.” When their eyes had met amidst the fireworks, Wen Yuncheng had almost confessed. The atmosphere, the scenery, the… Little Ice Mountain—it was all too captivating. Damn it. Normally, she wouldn’t lose her composure like this, even if her feelings weren’t returned. But when Lin Jinyu acted this way toward her… Wen Yuncheng just couldn’t resist.

[Lin Jinyu’s birthday is only a month away,] 1947 reminded her, watching its cub act as if she were drunk.

“Ah, right, only one month left.” Wen Yuncheng scratched her head in frustration. She had no idea what to get her. In previous years, she had always just given her a cake. This year… Lin Jinyu had put in so much effort. Shouldn’t she prepare a surprise too? But she truly didn’t know what would surprise Lin Jinyu.

She was a Mechanical Master, but her knowledge of mechanics was limited to assembling things from blueprints. The parts she had on hand were also few. Wen Yuncheng pondered. Actually, the Pursuer… is pretty cute when it’s not self-destructing. Could I make… a decorative one, whose only job is to look cute?

For the next period, Wen Yuncheng truly experienced what it meant to be worked to the bone. She was at the Dueling Arena by day and designing and assembling the gift by night. For decorative flair, she bought all sorts of multicolored crystals, planning to install a power core in her creation. Of course, figuring out how to connect everything and ensuring the parts were compatible was a headache left for her “dad,” 1947.

Mechanical Arm, Guardian, Enemy-Annihilator, Turret, Star Hand Cannon… Wen Yuncheng crafted a set of every part she knew how to make out of crystal, then tried mixing and matching them in her assembly. There were no blueprints; it was all improvisation. If a part didn’t fit, she would swap it for another. She drew a rough sketch and tried to build according to that template every day.

Time flew, and January finally arrived. Wen Yuncheng hadn’t finished the gift, but it was starting to take shape. However, the second round of the tournament had also begun. Wen Yuncheng went through the motions of drawing a number and found she was 2457. Her match was estimated to be in about five days.

If nothing else, there were truly a lot of young people in the Empire. Wen Yuncheng figured the Youth Tournament would probably last until May.

Rushing to meet her deadline, she finally finished Lin Jinyu’s gift the day before her second-round match. She had used water, fire, wood, and lightning crystals, giving it four different colors. She placed a power core inside, and 1947 helped her set up a small mechanism: as long as any energy (Star Power) was infused into the robot, the core would sense it and light up. The robot’s arms and legs were rectangular. When the core was activated, it could walk on its own, but it had no other complex functions.

Wen Yuncheng could use her passive Mechanical Affinity skill to control the little robot’s movements, but Lin Jinyu lacked that ability. Once she gave it to Lin Jinyu, it would probably just serve as a decorative lamp. With the energy crystal inside, if it was only used to emit light, it would likely last for a year or two without any problems.

With that major task off her mind, Wen Yuncheng went to her second-round match the next day, only to discover that her opponent was an old acquaintance—Lin Jue.

Back then, she had been too young to even consider Lin Jue a love rival. Lin Jue, on the other hand, had never been able to swallow his pride. He had made bold threats, vowing to challenge Wen Yuncheng and take her spot in A-Class. And yet, when Wen Yuncheng was in A-Class, he had never managed to win. By the time Wen Yuncheng moved up to S-Class… he had only just made it into A-Class. The gap between them had only widened, and Wen Yuncheng hadn’t seen him in a very long time.

When they met on the stage, both were stunned for a moment. Wen Yuncheng, however, quickly recovered, raising an eyebrow and cracking her knuckles, ready to teach her “former” love rival a lesson. Lin Jue simply revealed a bitter smile.

Wen Yuncheng, a second-layer Star Master, was facing Lin Jue, a third-layer Star Warrior.

The moment the referee announced the start of the match, Lin Jue shouted his surrender. He couldn’t defeat Wen Yuncheng back then, and now… she was strong enough to dominate the geniuses in the Academy Exchange Tournament. Lin Jue had no desire to get thrashed by her and make a complete fool of himself.

The referee shot Lin Jue a surprised glance but said nothing, simply declaring Wen Yuncheng the winner. The tournament pairings were random, but it was rare to see someone concede so decisively.

And just like that, without doing a thing, Wen Yuncheng walked off the stage and coasted into the third round.

“The extras these days are so unprofessional, giving up without even a fight,” Wen Yuncheng couldn’t help but remark, complaining to 1947. “I didn’t even get a chance to show off.”

[…] 1947 was speechless. According to the script… Lin Jue should have lost his mind with rage upon seeing Wen Yuncheng and rushed forward to offer his face for a slapping. But its script had been defunct for a long time, and now there was this strange plot involving a covetous other plane mixed in. 1947 had learned to just go with the flow and not force things.

This old dad no longer had any wishes for face-slapping. It just hoped Wen Yuncheng would hurry up and get stronger so she could finally win the beauty’s heart.

As Wen Yuncheng was walking back to the rest area to leave the Dueling Arena, a guard approached her and requested that she make a trip to the imperial family’s viewing room.

Wen Yuncheng guessed it was probably the First Princess. She had accepted the princess’s token and even used her name back in the Xuanhuang Tomb. Now that the woman herself had come calling, it wouldn’t be right to refuse. Wen Yuncheng made her way toward the viewing room.

The imperial viewing rooms were all private boxes, each marked with a number. The guard led Wen Yuncheng to one of the doors and then stood motionlessly beside it.

Wen Yuncheng understood that it wasn’t the guard’s place to open the door. She pushed it open herself and went inside. Sure enough, the First Princess was seated gracefully at a table, sipping tea and eating pastries. Her attention wasn’t focused on the twenty arenas below; even with the special broadcast crystal in the room, she wasn’t watching intently.

“I didn’t expect you to reach the second layer of Star Master so quickly,” the First Princess remarked with a sigh. In truth, many people in the Imperial Capital were keeping an eye on Wen Yuncheng. They just hadn’t made any moves. Why? Yan Ling was part of the reason, but not the main one. The primary issue was Wen Yuncheng’s Star Power Mutation; they didn’t know if she was a worthy investment.

“It was just a stroke of luck,” Wen Yuncheng said with a modest smile, obediently taking a seat at the First Princess’s gesture.

“Wei Kun won’t be bothering you for a while. The Emperor, my father, has warned him.” The First Princess picked up a pastry and took a small bite, her eyes narrowing with a smile. “Of course, as for the future… that will depend on your performance in the Youth Tournament.”

“Reaching the final rounds shouldn’t be a problem for you. So… are you confident you can make it into the top one hundred?”

“Your Highness, why not have higher expectations for me?” Wen Yuncheng tilted her head with a smile. “You should be asking: are you confident you can take first place?”

The First Princess froze, her gaze shifting to Wen Yuncheng’s smiling face. She placed the pastry back on its delicate plate, sat up straight, and asked seriously, “First place. Are you confident?”

“No,” Wen Yuncheng answered honestly. “But I think I can give it a try.”

“…” The First Princess couldn’t help but laugh. Compared to the reserved and nervous girl she had met last time, this young woman seemed much more confident, even daring to speak to her like this. “Then give it a try. If you do take first, I’m sure many people will take notice and try to recruit you.”

“However, I imagine that if you do take first place, no noble in the Imperial Capital, not even a member of the imperial family, could extend a more sincere olive branch than I. Don’t you agree?” The First Princess leaned back against the sofa, looking relaxed and self-assured.

Wen Yuncheng simply smiled without speaking. Such things could only be discussed after she had the results to back them up. Otherwise, it was all just talk.