Chapter 31: Xu Lizhi

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Mecha manufacturing complete!

This also proved that Xu Yuan had reached level two in mecha manufacturing.

Xu Yuan then approached the third workstation for mecha repair.

At level two, mecha repair required repairing and recasting damaged portions of core arrays.

That's right—it involved some blacksmithing skills.

Of course, this was only necessary at lower levels.

The four secondary professions overlapped in their foundational skills at lower levels, but as they advanced to mid and higher tiers, each profession developed its own specialized domain.

By level five in mecha repair, practitioners began dealing with sentience—similar to the qualitative leap that occurred in battle armor crafting.

Battle armor wasn't static.

Even a single-word battle armor master, who remained at the same tier, would gradually upgrade the core arrays within their armor. Since the rare metals used to craft the armor couldn't be easily replaced, "upgrading" referred to optimizing the core arrays themselves.

This was the job of a mecha repair technician.

By combining the feedback of the battle armor master, they optimized the arrays to better suit the user, essentially acting as an after-sales service provider.

In front of Xu Yuan now was a scrapped mecha part with a damaged core array.

He placed it in the forge, heating it until the metal softened. He then began hammering, flattening the damaged surface before re-engraving the array.

During mecha repair, only part of the core array was repaired, and reconnecting it seamlessly with the undamaged sections was a significant challenge.

Because of this, mecha repairers had to study various core arrays and learn theories about fine-tuning them from the very beginning.

Clearly, this knowledge also aided in advancing to level three in mecha manufacturing.

These were Xu Yuan's insights. The more he learned, the more he discovered the interconnectedness of various professions.

Repair completed.

Xu Yuan moved to the final forging station.

Taking out a piece of sunken silver, he began heating it. As it neared melting point, a forging hammer appeared in his hand, and with a crisp clang, he delivered a decisive blow.

Bang, bang, bang!

The rhythmic sound of forging filled the room.

As Xu Yuan proceeded with the fifth trial, a crowd had gathered in the room.

They were the examinees from the next two batches.

However, at this moment, they weren't rushing to pick their spots to begin their own assessments.

From start to finish—from mecha design to manufacturing, repair, and finally forging—Xu Yuan had left them utterly dumbfounded.

How could someone be so versatile?

Granted, all his skills were at level two.

But Xu Yuan's age…

Even those prodigies who had already reached level three in their secondary professions couldn't console themselves with thoughts like, "It's only level two; I'm already at level three."

With the final hammer strike, the metal achieved hundred-refinement.

"Full marks." After a long silence, Cai Yue'er gave her evaluation.

Though only at level two, Xu Yuan was just seven years old, and he had reached level two in all four secondary professions, completing each task flawlessly.

"Junior brother, you're incredible!" Wang Hao led Xu Yuan to the next assessment location, still overwhelmed by the memory of Xu Yuan consecutively completing the four secondary profession trials.

"Senior, what's the next trial?"

"The next trial? It tests your appetite."

Xu Yuan's lips twitched.

He vaguely remembered this trial but couldn't recall the specific details or which trial it corresponded to, so he asked Wang Hao.

Entering the room for the sixth trial.

Two people were already undergoing the assessment.

In front of them were massive trays piled high with steamed buns.

Nearby, stacks of buns rose like small mountains.

"There, go ahead and eat from that tray," Wang Hao reminded him. "You have thirty minutes. Eating fifteen buns is passing, earning six points. For every additional five buns, you earn one more point. You cannot use soul power while eating."

To achieve full marks meant eating thirty-five buns.

Ridiculous.

Thirty minutes meant less than a minute per bun.

Xu Yuan sighed and walked up to the mountain of buns.

It seemed his streak of perfect scores would end here.

Approaching the side, he noticed the two currently being assessed.

They sat on the ground. At first glance, their youthful appearances were unremarkable, but upon closer inspection, they were strikingly young—a boy and a girl. The boy was a chubby little fellow, while the girl wore a stubborn expression with pride in her eyes.

Xu Yuan's heart stirred.

Could these be Baozi and Jian? {T/N: Bun and Sword lmao}

Watching the chubby boy devouring buns at an impressive pace, Xu Yuan confirmed his suspicions.

Turning back, he asked Wang Hao, "Senior, can someone else eat for me?"

Before Wang Hao could respond, the girl frowned and glanced at Xu Yuan.

The chubby boy had already eaten forty buns and was now helping her eat.

Wang Hao looked at the boy and girl, then nodded.

"Yes, but you only have thirty minutes."

Xu Lizhi, still munching on a bun, glanced curiously at Xu Yuan with his small eyes, as if silently asking, 'Brother, do we know each other?'

"Little brother, I see you've got this under control. Help me eat a few buns, and afterward, I'll teach you a secret technique. This technique doesn't have many benefits—just that it allows you to eat more and digest faster."

Xu Lizhi's small eyes widened.

Muttering something unintelligible, he nodded.

Ye Xinglan frowned, glaring at Xu Yuan.

She felt Xu Yuan was deceiving Xu Lizhi.

But she had no proof.

Besides, her mouth was full of buns, so she couldn't speak.

Soon, thirty-five buns disappeared from both Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi's trays.

Only ten minutes had passed.

"Little fatty, you only have five minutes left. If you want to help him eat, you can only do so for five minutes," the examiner said, glancing at Xu Lizhi.

Xu Lizhi nodded, sitting in front of Xu Yuan and continuing to stuff buns into his mouth.

Ten minutes passed. Xu Yuan had eaten fifteen buns himself, but the further he went, the harder it became. At first, he ate two buns per minute, but as time went on, his pace slowed. By now, he could barely manage one bun per minute. There was nothing he could do about it.

His digestive capacity was limited.

Though he had self-developed a rudimentary technique to aid digestion for his bloodline cultivation, the problem now was that he couldn't use soul power.

Thus, he had no choice but to exchange the promise of a secret technique for points.

Calling it a "secret technique" might be an overstatement—it was something Xu Yuan had tailored for himself. To him, it was barely a prototype of a secret technique, while for others, it was merely a method to enhance digestion slightly.

Xu Lizhi was quite helpful, managing to eat seven buns for Xu Yuan in five minutes.

Afterward, Xu Yuan finally endured a full trial, lasting the entire thirty minutes.

In the end, despite his best efforts, Xu Yuan managed to eat twenty-eight buns.

Once Xu Lizhi saw that Xu Yuan had passed the trial and earned full marks, he grinned and said, "So, what about that secret technique you mentioned?"

For Xu Lizhi, whose greatest frustration was seeing delicious food in front of him but being too full to eat, this situation had occurred more than once.

Thus, he was genuinely curious about Xu Yuan's so-called technique that allowed one to eat more.

Xu Yuan chuckled, crossed his legs, and began circulating his soul power.

Now that the trial was over, he could use soul power.

His stomach was already stretched to its limit, and now he needed to activate his own technique.

"Little fatty, watch closely!"

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