The Mysterious Senior

"Huadun, where miracles began."

Zhou Yi stepped closer to examine the wall behind the bookshelf. A line of words had been deeply carved into the stone wall.

The lettering had been carved rather casually. It did not look like a school promotional slogan, yet it flowed with effortless grace.

Zhou Yi laid his hand over the words. They had been carved deeply; cutting them so deep into such a hard stone wall could not have been easy.

The indentations of the writing had blended into the same color as the rest of the wall. It looked as though they had been there for a long time.

Who had carved them?

Someone who could enter Huadun's library should have been a student of this school—or perhaps once had been.

Had he created a miracle?

Zhou Yi had never heard of him.

Anyone who could carve words behind a bookshelf had probably read every book in the library.

Zhou Yi grew curious. He had a feeling that Huadun was unlike the D-grade school his parents had described, where everyone was a delinquent and simply graduated without doing much.

Whether it was the exceptionally strong energy perception, the protected Battle Relic, the words carved behind this bookshelf, or even the star ore on D72 Star Block outside Huadun, filled with unknown secrets.

There were also so many comprehensive mech books here, books that even A-grade schools might not casually open to every student.

For the first time, Zhou Yi felt that coming to Huadun might truly have been an incomparably correct decision for him.

It was nothing more than planting willows without intending to, only for them to grow into shade.

The sky grew darker. Zhou Yi reluctantly returned all the books he had just read to their shelves and walked out of the library.

Qi Lan was leaning against a chair and sleeping by the entrance. The old doors let out a dull creak as Zhou Yi pushed them open.

Startled by the sound, Qi Lan opened her eyes and saw Zhou Yi coming out.

"You're only leaving now? You stayed that long?"

There were usually few visitors to the library even during the school term, much less during vacation.

An easy job like managing the library was not something ordinary people could get. Every day consisted of sleeping, daydreaming, and basking in the sun; the workload was practically zero.

"Yes. It got dark, and the library lights are broken, so I couldn't see the words anymore. I'm heading back, Auntie."

Zhou Yi politely said goodbye to Qi Lan.

Seeing how studious and polite the young boy before her was, Qi Lan was so touched that her eyes nearly filled with tears. She had been at Huadun for so many years, and the last time she had seen a student like this was seven years ago.

"No one usually comes here, so I didn't even know the lights were broken. Fine, Auntie will have them fixed tomorrow."

Even for the sake of this one student who came to the library to read, the lights had to be repaired immediately!

"Thank you, Auntie."

"By the way, Auntie, does no one usually come here? I noticed that many books have notes written by the same person."

Zhou Yi had not forgotten the words behind the bookshelf. As for those notes, he had naturally made them up.

There were so many old books in the library. Whether they had notes, or whether the handwriting belonged to one person, was that not entirely up to him to claim?

"Those? They should have been left by your senior, but he graduated many years ago. Tsk, tsk, that brat, scribbling all over books."

"A senior?"

Seeing that the library auntie clearly knew something, Zhou Yi immediately pressed her for more.

"Yes, he was a legendary figure of Huadun, a genius who appeared only once every few centuries. He was also one of the few warriors in the Alliance who cultivated both as a Mech Master and Mech Infantry. He was Huadun's pride."

At the mention of that person, Qi Lan's eyes were full of pride.

"Study those notes carefully. Anything your senior left behind must be good stuff."

"Auntie, what was that senior's name?"

Zhou Yi had long since looked up Huadun's outstanding alumni, yet he had not found anyone so formidable.

"An Yixing."

Even after returning to his dormitory, Zhou Yi was still thinking about that senior. Cultivating both as a Mech Master and Mech Infantry was almost impossible.

First, when enrolling in a mech school, everyone had to make a choice.

Mech Infantry had almost no threshold. As long as one possessed star markings and star power, one could study it; the only difference was the strength of one's ability.

Mech Masters were different. They also needed formidable intelligence and comprehension. If they fell even slightly short, graduating would be difficult.

Therefore, before students chose Mech Master as their field, the school would give them an intelligence test. Only those who met the threshold could enroll.

Even so, during the course of Mech Master training, many students could not keep up and switched to Mech Infantry midway through.

Very few ultimately graduated, and even fewer became outstanding Mech Masters.

It could be said that Mech Masters were an indispensable and precious resource in every mech team.

Yet because they devoted too much energy to studying mechs, Mech Masters were weak in combat skills. That meant that during battle, Mech Infantry not only had to fight the enemy, but also had to devote part of their attention to protecting the Mech Masters.

Someone who cultivated both as a Mech Master and Mech Infantry clearly possessed an immense advantage, with extraordinary combat ability and self-protection capabilities.

It could be said that such a person alone was a complete team.

"This senior must have chosen the Mech Master program. He probably taught himself Mech Infantry."

No wonder. No wonder he had read every book in the library. No wonder he said Huadun was a place where miracles were created.

He himself was the miracle.

Zhou Yi opened his Star Brain and searched for the name An Yixing.

Several pages of results quickly appeared.

An Yixing, twenty-three years old, graduated from Huabang Military Academy, cultivated both as a Mech Master and Mech Infantry, currently served in the Alliance Army, and was the youngest major general.

"Graduated from Huabang Military Academy?"

But had Aunt Lan not said that An Yixing was his senior? How could he have graduated from Huabang?

Then there was only one possibility.

Zhou Yi's mind worked quickly.

Theoretically, the higher the grade of one's star markings, the faster one's star power increased.

The higher one's star power, the higher the grade of mech one could control, the more energy one could use, and the stronger one's combat power would be.

An Yixing's star marking grade was probably not high, but for some unknown reason, his star power had risen especially quickly.

Thus, not long after enrolling at Huadun, he had applied to transfer to the highest-ranking academy.

After all, Huadun's teaching standards, faculty, and opportunities could not compare with Huabang Military Academy.

Though their names differed by only one character, their standards were worlds apart. One was a school on a lowest-grade star block that was nearly being struck off the list, while the other was the Alliance's foremost academy.

Why had someone with low-grade star markings increased his star power so quickly?

Zhou Yi sat in his chair, tapping his fingers against the desk again and again. The taps formed a rhythmic tune that stood out sharply in the quiet room.

This was Zhou Yi's habitual manner whenever he fell into deep thought.