First Attempt

Zhou Yi had long since memorized Hao Wuduan's complete self-study manual on star weaves cover to cover.

Now that she had a new mech before her, it was only natural that she began trying it out.

Except...

Zhou Yi examined her brand-new mech. As a beginner, she simply could not bear to experiment on her precious new baby.

As her gaze gradually settled on the new mech's energy unit, Zhou Yi quickly came up with an idea.

Carrying her tools, she climbed onto the mech in a few quick moves and opened the energy unit. From inside, Zhou Yi took out a crystal stone the size of two fists.

After jumping back down from the mech, Zhou Yi stared fixedly at the translucent crystal stone.

"So this is a High-Grade Crystal Stone? It really is different from ordinary crystal stones."

High-Grade Crystal Stones were one hundred percent transparent, incomparably pure, and gave off a faint fluorescent glow.

Compared to the explosive energy of Crystal Marrow, the energy within a High-Grade Crystal Stone was not as abundant, but holding it in one's hand brought a warm, comforting sensation.

"What good stuff! I wonder when the little crystal stones kept with the Crystal Marrow will level up to this point."

Having experienced the allure of a High-Grade Crystal Stone, Zhou Yi understood even more clearly just how precious that Crystal Marrow was.

What Zhou Yi wanted to do now was clear: remove this Energy Crystal Core and install it in one of the other intact mechs in the warehouse, then conduct experiments on the battered mechs.

Once her technique matured and her success rate improved, she would try it on the new mech.

As for which mech to install the Energy Crystal Core in, Zhou Yi had already decided.

Most of the warehouse on the third floor of the library was filled with scrap metal. Only five mechs remained intact.

That scrap metal was not much use, at most providing Zhou Yi with materials to make a few small tools.

As for those five mechs, not only did they lack Energy Crystal Cores, they were also in rather severe disrepair.

Zhou Yi had previously dismantled and reassembled those five intact mechs, eventually using their best parts to put together a medium-sized mech.

Since many of the materials on its surface were red, Zhou Yi named the mech she had assembled from spare parts Little Red.

"Little Red, your chance has come."

Holding the High-Grade Crystal Stone, Zhou Yi installed it inside Little Red's energy unit.

To save time and effort, Zhou Yi had already learned to leap around on mechs. Fortunately, with the boost from the Star Gathering Art, she was as light as a swallow. Otherwise, facing such a massive machine, even knocking it over would have been extremely difficult.

In theory, a mech's star weave could be inscribed anywhere on its body.

However, having a star weave inscribed was the highest honor for both a mech and its owner, so people generally liked to hire Star Weavers to inscribe them in conspicuous places.

But Zhou Yi did not like this kind of attention-drawing approach.

What if she had only just made a few useless star weaves and someone already marked her as a thorn in their side?

Not worth it. Not worth it at all.

Before she had enough ability to protect herself, Zhou Yi had absolutely no intention of revealing her identity as a Star Weaver.

Mech Warrior, Mech Master, reserve Star Weaver.

Who would have thought that Zhou Yi, studying on a D-Class Star Block, actually possessed three identities, each more impressive than the last?

After careful consideration, Zhou Yi removed the cover plate of Little Red's energy unit and temporarily took out the Energy Crystal Stone again.

She planned to attach the star weave inside the energy unit box where the crystal stone was placed.

Unless someone pried out her Energy Crystal Stone, they would never know that this mech had a star weave.

The patterns of mech star weaves were different from those of human star weaves. They did not manifest as symbols like the sun, moon, and stars, but were far more complex and intricate.

The method for judging the strength of a star weave was also very simple. The larger the star weave, the more and longer its lines, and the greater its energy.

As for how large a star weave one could inscribe, it depended not only on a Star Weaver's comprehension, but also on their star power.

After all, inscribing a star weave on a mech required no materials or tools whatsoever. A Star Weaver merely had to firmly memorize the star weave pattern they wished to inscribe, then use their own star power to carve it onto the mech in one continuous stroke.

Only by completing the entire star weave pattern in one breath with star power could the star weave truly take effect on the mech.

If there was even the slightest pause during the process, or if their star power could not hold out, it would fail.

If the star weave inscription failed and a half-finished star weave remained on the mech, not only would it fail to improve the mech's combat power in any way, it would also increase the mech's instability and cause its combat strength to decline.

Thus, the better the mech, the more cautious people were about inscribing star weaves, and the more carefully they chose their Star Weaver.

Not only did they require the Star Weaver to be skilled, they also had to have no grudges against them.

Otherwise, the mech they had poured a lifetime of effort into could be ruined in an instant.

This was also why those at the top of the pyramid would not easily offend Star Weavers.

Zhou Yi stood braced against the edge of the Energy Bay, placed her hand against its inner wall, and found a suitable position.

For her first star weave, Zhou Yi chose a first-tier defensive star weave.

The stronger a star weave's attack power, the more complex and difficult its pattern was.

Defensive star weaves were comparatively somewhat simpler.

And first-tier star weaves were the lowest-level and easiest of all.

For simple first-tier star patterns, as long as they were recorded in the books, Zhou Yi had long since committed them to memory.

She closed her eyes and followed the method described in the book, guiding the star power in her sea of consciousness slowly toward the arm touching the Energy Bay.

The star power within Zhou Yi's body obediently lined up and advanced in an orderly fashion.

Golden points of light poured from Zhou Yi's palm, carving the first golden line onto the Energy Bay.

The line continued to flow as a complex pattern gradually took shape.

Yet before even half the pattern had been completed, Zhou Yi's eyes remained shut as her brows furrowed.

What she hadn't expected was that carving a star pattern required so much star power. Even this simplest first-tier star pattern had already drained most of the star power in her sea of consciousness.

And at this moment, less than half of the star pattern on the Energy Bay had been carved.

Although Zhou Yi had kept her eyes closed, the pattern she was carving glowed within her consciousness. She could sense where every trace of her star power was going; every stroke of those carved lines had consumed a great deal of her star power.

She knew clearly that with the star power she had left, she would not be able to finish this simplest star pattern.

She had to stop now and accept the fact that her first attempt at Star Weaving had failed.

Only at this moment did Zhou Yi truly understand what Star Weavers actually did.

It was nothing more than replacement.

They replaced their own star power with a star pattern and added it to a mech. No wonder every Star Weaver had to possess growth-type star patterns and frighteningly high reserves of star power. There was a reason for all of it.

I've been a bit busy lately, so I hurried to finish this and post it.

If I have time tomorrow, I'll properly revise it along with the earlier parts.

Thank you all for your support~