Chapter 50: Tournament Preparation

[Mecha Combat Arena]
Major Chen Qian never expected that he would look down upon Zhuang Yun and the three freshmen expelled from other military academies!
Yet, they had broken through all obstacles, defeated all senior students, and secured the qualification for the Winston Tournament!
The headmaster had assigned him to coach them, but he had no idea how to operate the antique mecha they used!
Left with no choice, he could only lecture them on past tournament scenarios and some conventional tactics.
And at that very moment—
"Form the array!" Zhuang Yun waved her peach-wood sword, and the four mecha formed the Four Symbols Array right in the training field.
"Grandmaster! Take this!" The First Senior Brother piloted the modified White Tiger mecha, lunging from mid-air, its rusted mechanical claws bearing cinnabar talismans.
Zhuang Yun’s eyes turned sharp. With a light tap of her foot, the Vermilion Bird mecha flexibly sidestepped.
Right at that moment, she suddenly caught a whiff of caramel in the air—this fool was actually using Lin Yiwen's custom-made "popcorn energy bombs"!
Boom!
A shower of golden rain exploded across the training field. The Second Senior Sister's Azure Dragon mecha launched a surprise attack from within the popcorn cloud, wielding a profound iron wok that whistled fiercely, leaving a trail of overlapping afterimages.
"Stop!" Major Chen Qian finally lost his patience. Wielding his electronic pointer, he charged fiercely into the battle and roared, "Who authorized you to use cookware as weapons?"
"Reporting to the instructor!" The Third Senior Brother poked his head out from the Black Tortoise mecha with an earnest expression. "According to Article 38 of the Interstellar Ancient Weaponry Protection Regulations, cast-iron woks of the 31st Star Century belong to..."
"Shut up! Everyone, frog-leap around the field ten times!"
Major Chen Qian was so angry his face turned crimson, the electronic pointer in his hand fiercely slashing through the air, leaving several scorched marks.
Meanwhile, a series of absurd data points flickered across the holographic screen in front of him: "The Black Tortoise mecha's defense value has exceeded 3,000? What the hell, that's the rating of an interstellar fortress!"
"It's the Tortoise Breathing Technique taught by Grandmaster." The Third Senior Brother poked his head out of the cockpit, still clutching half a candied hawthorn skewer. "She said we have to imagine ourselves as turtles..."
Chen Qian's military boot stomped heavily onto the ground, producing a dull thud. "What I am teaching you now is modern mecha combat..."
Before his voice trailed off, Zhuang Yun flicked her wrist and cast three yellow talismans.
The wings of the Vermilion Bird mecha ignited with cyan flames, sketching a massive Tai Chi diagram across the training field.
The Four Symbols mecha seemed to respond to some mysterious summons, resonating simultaneously.
The Eight Trigrams array that slowly emerged on the ground actually generated a powerful suction force, forcefully pulling the electronic pointer right out of Major Chen Qian's grip, instantly reducing it to a pile of scrap metal.
"Reporting to the instructor." Zhuang Yun saluted with utmost solemnity, without a trace of panic on her face. "According to Article 88 of the Ancient Civilization Heritage Protection Act, attacking cultural relics carries a three-year sentence."
Chen Qian stared blankly at the smoking hilt of the pointer in his hand, only to notice the engraved characters reading "Manufactured in the 423rd Year of the Star Calendar".
A wave of despair washed over him. This damn thing really was an antique from a millennium ago!

[Maintenance Laboratory]
Lin Yiwen knelt inside the chest cavity of the Vermilion Bird mecha, his fingertips trembling as he traced the talisman on its heart.
The "Yin-Yang Harmonization Secret Classic" he had read last night in his parents' experimental laboratory swirled in his mind, and drops of cinnabar mixed with cold sweat fell upon the energy core.
"Brother Lin?" Zhuang Yun's voice suddenly echoed from behind.
"Crack!" Lin Yiwen's hand shook, and the talisman brush swept across the interior wall of the mecha, leaving a crooked heart shape.
In an instant, the entire laboratory seemed enchanted, suddenly filling with a layer of pink mist.
The eye lamps of the Vermilion Bird mecha also turned into peach-heart shapes, blinking rhythmically, looking exceedingly bizarre.
"Is this... a Love Gu Array?" Zhuang Yun raised an eyebrow, gazing at the frantically flashing instrument panel. "Are you trying to breed the mecha?"
"No! This is... a novel spiritual power coupling device!"
Flustered, Lin Yiwen hurriedly hid the *Secret Classic*, attempting to cover up his embarrassment. "It requires synchronized operation by two people..."
Before he could finish speaking, the safety belt automatically wound itself into a love-knot, and the control screen popped up with "Dual Cultivation Mode Initializing".
The tips of Lin Yiwen's ears burned crimson as he frantically pushed the Vermilion Bird mecha toward the modification cabin. "The newly added talisman-run transmission system... might be a bit sensitive."
A cinnabar mark, left behind from pulling an all-nighter drawing talismans the previous night, still lingered on the side of his neck, looking exceptionally striking under the lights.
Zhuang Yun reached out, intending to help him wipe it away...
Suddenly, a "whoosh" came from outside the window, as several challenge letters from senior students flew in: "Tomorrow at noon, mecha arena..."
"Not interested." Zhuang Yun didn't even bother to glance at them. She casually folded the challenge letters into paper airplanes and tossed them away. "This Taoist master still has to teach her disciples how to make beggar's chicken."

[Black Market VIP Private Room]
Shangguan Mo piloted the Silver Fox mecha, sketching dazzling stellar tracks across the void.
However, every time he attempted to break through the seventh turning point, the mecha would inevitably stutter.
The old man in the watermelon helmet emitted a mechanical laugh. "The 'Big Dipper Star-Stepping Footwork' cannot be calculated by the electronic brains you use."
"Please enlighten me, Master." Upon hearing this, Shangguan Mo immediately bowed respectfully, his attitude deferential while a purple gleam flashed in the pupils hidden beneath his mask.
"The elixir field and Qi ocean correspond to the mecha's core cabin." Piloting the Lingkong mecha, Zhuang Yun held a barbecue skewer and drew a complex meridian map on the wall.
The Lingkong mecha suddenly burst forth, its rusted mechanical arm pointing at his chest: "A mecha is not an iron coffin! It must have a warrior's heart beating right here!"
Shangguan Mo, wearing the silver fox mask, stared intently at the holographic recorder, his eyes filled with shock—the modified "Zhou Tian Circulation Method" she had imparted perfectly resolved the fatal flaw of his mecha's energy overload.
The Silver Fox mecha instinctively executed the Passa secret cross-strangling technique. However, with a slight dodge, Zhuang Yun effortlessly paraded the move using a technique reminiscent of cafeteria aunties fighting for discounted vegetables.
When the Lingkong mecha demonstrated "Cloud-Ladder Ascending", his pupils contracted sharply, and he marveled inwardly: How remarkably similar was this mid-air trajectory to the intelligence data he had previously gathered on Zhuang Yun!
Could it be that Zhuang Yun also had a connection with this watermelon-wearing elder?
Well, since Zhuang Yun used an antique mecha, there were naturally commonalities. Shangguan Mo secretly resolved to learn more from his master before the Winston Tournament!
"All right, that's enough for today!"
...
Moonlight filtered through the dilapidated eaves as Zhuang Yun burned incense.
Wangcai suddenly bristled, its beak clamping onto a holographic disc pilfered from Lin Yiwen's workshop.
The projection displayed a simulated map of the Winston Tournament arena—the God-Slaying Array composed of eighty-eight star-marrow pillars was identical to the formation recorded in the Yunyin Taoist Temple's ancient texts regarding the night of their destruction.
"So that's how it is..." Zhuang Yun's fingertips brushed against the scorch marks on the Vermilion Bird mecha. "This time, it's my turn to set up the array."
She bit her fingertip and drew talismans in the void. The blood-formed incantation turned out to be of the exact same origin as the cultivation method Shangguan Mo had learned in the black market.
Wangcai suddenly transformed into human form, its white hair entangling the Vermilion Bird mecha. "Are you sure you want to awaken your past-life memories?"
From deep within the ruins came the resonant hum of mecha, as the Four Symbols battle suits automatically formed their array.
What Zhuang Yun did not see was that Lin Yiwen was hiding inside the Vermilion Bird mecha, welding the Lin family crest directly into the energy core.