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Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC.
Chu Rong: Marshal ML.
Ren Mo: aka Master Ren. A mecha master making full manually-piloted mecha.
Zhuang Yu: A doctor in ML’s army.
Chu Yan: ML’s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college.
Chu Huai: ML’s older brother, he’s in politics.
A1: A household robot in ML’s house
Bearded Teacher (not real name): Qiao Zhiya’s Mecha teacher in VR.
The next day, Chu Rong went to the military headquarters to go through the procedures for taking an early leave. As for Qiao Zhiya, he stayed at home alone and started making potions.
It took a day to make five potions. He experimented with different concentrations, different production methods, and even adding different auxiliary medicinal materials, but the activity left in his magic pool only increased a little. It’s far from reaching the threshold of E-ranked spiritual power that was required for using the Starnet helmet.
When making those potions, he needed magic power. After completely drying him out, he used the magic stones as a replenishment method, but sadly, the magic power contained within the stones weren’t as active compared to the stone grass’. Despite many trials, the result was a resounding failure.
He slumped on the sofa, completely absent-minded for a while, until A1 slid over to remind him that Chu Rong was coming back soon. He came back to his senses, cleaned up the messy coffee table, and went to the kitchen with vigor.
For the next two days, he made various attempts, but all failed miserably.
After finishing the third day of online class, he watched the bearded teacher leave. The system even cold-bloodedly reminded him of the expiring class session, making him extra frustrated. He looked at the locked classroom and left the VR world listlessly.
“Tell me, what’s going on these days?”
Just as he took off his helmet, a familiar voice rang above his head.
He froze for a moment, looked up, and saw that Chu Rong went to bed early for the first time. The older man was leaning on the headboard, clad in his pajamas. He helped Qiao Zhiya in pulling off the helmet, as if he was waiting for him to finish class.
“Why are you unhappy?” Chu Rong put down his photon computer. Then, he played with Qiao Zhiya’s sweaty bangs.
In the past few days, because of the online courses and Chu Rong’s going to the military to go through the vacation procedures, the two have not had a chance to communicate properly. At this time, they finally had the opportunity to lie down and chat together, and the atmosphere immediately warmed up.
Qiao Zhiya’s depressed mood improved a little bit. He put away his helmet, then sat up next to Chu Rong. He told him about the course he was enrolled in, and his various attempts in increasing his spiritual power in the fast few days. In sheer frustration, he said, “If I fail in improving my spiritual power level, I will not be able to process those materials. Without that ability, I won’t be able to skip grades next year
 Most of the mecha manufacturing courses after the third grade are related to spiritual power. When I take the exam, my grades will definitely fail
 “
—and if he failed too many times, he would need to drop out of the school.
The more he thought about it, the more hopeless he felt, and he couldn’t help but sighing bonelessly. Although he could use magic power to process materials, rashly exposing the magic power was completely courting death. He was afraid he would be targeted if he showed off having special powers.
Chu Rong didn’t expect that he was worrying about this recently. Firstly, he felt that he needed to give Qiao Zhiya some boundaries, “You aren’t allowed to make potions continuously in the future. It’s dangerous for your health. And as for your plight, it’s actually not impossible to improve your spiritual power.”
Qiao Zhiya was surprised by Chu Rong’s words. As excitement filled his head, he looked over with an eager expression, “Then, what can I do to improve it?”
“I’ll take you to Zhuang Yu tomorrow,”  Chu Rong patted him on the head. Then, he pressed the youth to lie down on the bed before laying down next to him. Seeing the youth looking comfortably, he hugged Qiao Zhiya across the quilt. “Since the reason for your ability to sign-in the Internet was due to the stone grass, I think that’s a feasible venue to explore. Go to sleep, I’m sure Zhuang Yu would have an idea for you to try tomorrow.”
A hope rose again in his heart, making Qiao Zhiya too excited to fall asleep. He wanted to ask in detail, but Chu Rong directly pulled out a couple of his beloved emerald jades to appease him. Not long after, Qiao Zhiya fell asleep in Chu Rong’s embrace.
After the person in his arms was completely asleep, Chu Rong opened his eyes. He looked down at the sleeping youth for a while, closed his eyes and kissed his forehead lightly. With a slight frown, he pulled him even closer.
With the Bald Chicken in his mind, Chu Rong fell into a peaceful sleep.
Seeing Qiao Zhiya again, Zhuang Yu was very excited. She wanted to give him a bear hug, but was stopped by her own boss with “freezing eye-laser” and “threat of painful death”.
‘This stingy tsundere
’
Zhuang Yu withdrew her hand unwillingly. Seeing Qiao Zhiya poking his head out from behind Chu Rong and smiling at her, she finally felt a little more comforted. With new machinery on her side, she pointed at it and said, “First thing first, I will need to check for Qiao’s physicals before solving his problems.”
Qiao Zhiya immediately came out and lay down in the instrument obediently. He was already familiar with this routine.
The test result was quickly spat out by the instrument. Zhuang Yu picked it up to have a look, handed the result to Chu Rong, and said, “It’s still the same, Qiao’s strength is still undetectable. This spiritual power spike here is definitely from the stone grass.”
Chu Rong, who had already expected this, nodded and understood.  “How is the research on stone grass going?” “
“There has been some progress,” Zhuang Yu replied, giving Qiao Zhiya some spark of hope. He looked at her with such reverie, making her smile. “But I need to give Qiao a medicine first.”
Qiao Zhiya sat obediently on the chair. Zhuang Yu used a strange pocket-sized instrument to place a few spots on the back of his head. After the strange instrument was fitted, he was given a strange-looking helmet to put on.
“Remember to tell me how you feel later. If you feel uncomfortable, wave your hand immediately, and I will stop the medicine application.” Zhuang Yu explained, then adjusted the data of the instrument. She took out a medicine liquid that was so opaque that it was almost black, and poured it into the helmet’s grooves. Then, she pressed start.
The slight humming sound of the instrument was heard, and some light green smoke suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. Qiao Zhiya was puzzled at first, and then he recognized them with surprise in his eyes — this smoke was actually made of stone grass, and the purity was very high.
‘Could it be that Zhuang Yu-jie has researched another way to use the stone grass?’
Before he had time to think about it, the smoke was inhaled into his body. It actually stirred up the wood-elemental magic power inside his magic power pool, causing it to become slightly restless. It felt like nimble hands playing with his hair – light tugs and pets.
He immediately became excited. He remembered why the stone grass allowed him to fool the Starnet helmet, and used it as a motivation. He fused the vaporized stone grass into his own magic pool, then absorbed it.
He wasn’t fully aware of how long the process took. But he could feel his magic power pool gradually heating up. At some point, the heat felt quite unbearable – it might be caused by too much inhalation. There was even a feeling of fullness deep in the brain, warning him to stop the absorption immediately.
Suddenly there was a beep. The smoke disappeared, and his helmet was taken off.
“The value will no longer increase, and it may be dangerous to continue,” Zhuang Yu said. She used the instrument on the back of his head to read the value displayed on it. She seemed pleased, judging by her smile. Then, she turned to Qiao Zhiya and said, “If you want to become stronger, you can’t be greedy. Moderation in the key. Alright then, please lie down on this instrument. I need another check on your physicals.”
The feverish feeling on his body still persisted. Digesting what Zhuang Yu said to him, Qiao Zhiya was happy that it really meant that his spiritual power could be increased. He hurriedly laid down on the testing instrument, anticipation filling every crevice in his heart.
“Congratulations, you have a D-grade spiritual strength!”
Zhuang Yu handed the new result to Chu Rong. While the Marshal was reading it in detail, she walked to the instrument and helped Qiao Zhiya up. She took her chance in squeezing his face, making her bloom into a big smile. “Qiaoqiao has become stronger! You have a D-grade spiritual strength!”
‘It’s really possible?’
He couldn’t help hugging Zhuang Yu gratefully. “Thank you!”
Zhuang Yu was so satisfied with being hugged, she patted his head again. With a wide smile, she said, “Learn and work hard! But remember, this method can only be used temporarily. Just now, Ijust tried to extract, compress, and purify the activity in the stone grass, so that you can absorb it as much as possible. However, If you want to continue to study for a long time with a stable spiritual power, this method cannot be used. You still have to find a way to use your own power to simulate spiritual power. “
“I understand!” Qiao Zhiya nodded earnestly, still very grateful despite the temporary nature of this method.
He would continue to work hard to find a way to have a permanent upgrade of his spiritual power. But before that, Zhuang Yu and Chu Rong gave him the opportunity to continue learning.
Thinking of this, he looked up at Chu Rong, who was standing not far away. Qiao Zhiya saw that the Marshal was frowning and staring at the instrument that had just pierced the back of his head. He froze for a moment, then squinted and smiled.
He will study very, very hard.
After the attempt was successful, Zhuang Yu handed over the remaining two finished stone grass purification concoctions to Qiao Zhiya. She told him to wait until his spiritual power was downgraded before using them. She reminded him not to over-absorb them, otherwise side effects might occur.
Qiao Zhiya nodded. He could guess the cost of these two small potions. The thought that had always existed in his heart came up again.
After that, they went to Chu Rong’s home again. It’s been quite a while since the start of their vacations, and Chu Rong’s vacation days were actually close to being over. Basically, he’s still on leave until the voting results for this year’s year-end celebration theme come out.
“Move to the main house?”
As evening came, Qiao Zhiya was about to log on to the Internet to contact the bearded teacher. But he was carried into the room by Chu Rong, and asked him to pack up and prepare to move to the main house.
“Yeah,” Chu Rong pinched his ears, first put his doll in front of him to signal him to put it away, then put away the photon computer, e-book, and other things in neat boxes. “Xiao Yan is back. It’s time for your vacation training to be put on the agenda.”
“Vacation training?” Qiao Zhiya was stunned, thinking of those miserable vacations mentioned by Chu Yan, his heart tightened. He stammered out a response, “I, do I have to practice too? You, you promised me that you would let me make up lessons on the Internet during the holidays.”
Chu Rong paused after packing up. He straightened up and looked at the youth’s dumbfounded look. He huffed and sneered, “Don’t worry, I will keep my word. You only need to practice for two hours in the morning every day, so it won’t delay your study.”
‘It turned out that I only practiced for two hours
’ Qiao Zhiya breathed a sigh of relief, and with a smile on his face, he asked, “What about Xiao Yan? Is it also two hours?”
As Qiao Zhiya just thought of how Chu Yan’s account on how sadistic and scary the White-Haired Monster should be exaggerated, Chu Rong said–
“Him?” Chu Rong’s expression quickly turned cold, and he squinted slightly. He sneered and said, “He’s going to be admitted to the military academy next year, of course he has to practice all day.”
Qiao Zhiya was forced to shut down his initial thoughts. He backed away silently, lowered his head, and decided to make more delicious comforting foods for Chu Yan after the training started. He also lit some candles for Chu Yan in his heart.
Chu Yan, who had been playing wildly outside for several days, was caught by his eldest brother and sent to the main house as soon as he returned home. Then his second brother who just arrived took over and dragged him directly to the training hall. He wanted to cry, but he had no tears left. “Dage, help me!! Erge is going crazy!! AH—!!!!”
Chu Huai, who had slept in the study for a few days, pretended not to hear his youngest brother’s cries. He boarded his hover car, and hurried home to coax his wife. He wanted to sleep next to her, he missed her terribly.
“Come on, Xiao Yan–!” Qiao Zhiya encouraged him from a distance. Then, like the good friend he was, he left him alone to suffer. He instead laid down on the couch in the training hall, put on the Starnet helmet, and logged into the Internet to contact the bearded teacher.
Chu Yan was shocked. He looked at Qiao Zhiya who was lying comfortably on the sofa and playing; and then at his second brother who was in front of him with the face of Hades, and finally started yowling, “We both ran away from home, why is my punishment so severe?! This is injustice!! Unfair!! I don’t accept it! I want to play on the Internet too!! I don’t want to train!”
Chu Rong sneered, violently suppressed Chu Yan’s whining and crying, and threw him in front of the warm-up equipment. He coldly scolded him, “Let’s count all the training sessions you missed thanks to your running away. Do you know how many hours you have to pay? This time, I’ll give you 30 minutes to warm up. If you haven’t finished warming up by that time, then all the training for the next three days will be replaced by mecha battles with weapons.”
‘Mecha battle with weapons? Isn’t my mecha going to be scrapped?’
Chu Yan’s back felt cold, and he didn’t dare to howl anymore. He rushed to the training room to warm up.
Meanwhile, in the VR World, it was still early, so the bearded teacher hadn’t appeared yet.
Qiao Zhiya first left a message to the bearded teacher, then rented a laboratory by himself, and tried to use the newly obtained D-level spiritual power to experience the feeling of combing materials with spiritual power.
Using spiritual power to comb through materials was much slower and rougher than using his magic power. Qiao Zhiya guessed that this difference was because his current level of spiritual power was too low. He remembered than in the real world, there’s a reason why learning mecha manufacturing had the baseline of C-grade spiritual power.
Because he was studying, Qiao Zhiya immediately suppressed his wandering thoughts. He buried his head in the virtual material and tried to get familiar with it, hoping that the bearded teacher would not dislike him because of his D-level spiritual power. He hoped his teacher would still continue teaching him.
After this round of familiarization, it was time for dinner, and yet the bearded teacher still did not go online. He logged off, had dinner with Chu Rong and Chu Yan, comforted the devastated Chu Yan, and promised to make another weapon for him. After being bribed with a brand new model weapon, Chu Yan looked more energized than before. With a more relieved chest, Qiao Zhiya went back to his room to wash up, and then logged in to the Internet again at eight o’clock.
The bearded teacher was finally here this time. Qiao Zhiya hurried into the classroom, and was about to speak when the bearded teacher stopped him.
“Course resumes tomorrow. Let’s go to watch the competition today,” The bearded teacher was still gentle, but the slightly joyful eyes still revealed his good mood at this time.
Qiao Zhiya stopped talking, and was a little embarrassed by him. He asked with a shy smile, “What competition are we watching?”
“Mecha manufacturing competition. Today is the final round, and my student was one of the finalists,”  The bearded man sounded a little proud. As he said that, he turned off the classroom directly while giving him an address to the new room, “Come in first.” Then, he disappeared in a flutter of pixels.
Qiao Zhiya hurriedly entered the room number and clicked to enter. After hearing the system’s fee deduction prompt, he was stunned. He chose to pay, and then the screen around him flashed, teleporting him away into the finalist’s room, which was packed full with spectators.
A nearby auntie was screaming in excitement, “Ahhhh, come on, Xiao Luo Li! Don’t care about the rankings! It’s great you have made it this far! You are the best!”
Next to her, a young lady dressed in a literary style also shouted hoarsely, waving the banner in her hand.
Not to be outdone, another auntie followed suit and shouted, “Come on, come on! Xiao Luoli flies bravely, and your fans will always be with you!”
“Bang bang bang,” A bunch of system fireworks were launched by the excited aunts and sisters, and fluttering ribbons floated all over the place.
‘This vaguely familiar feeling
’ Qiao Zhiya moved his body stiffly, looked at the young player who was sitting quietly in the field whose expression was indifferent and cold. ‘Ah
 it was this contestant again, the one I watched last time. But beyond that
’
Seeing Luo Li, who was still calmly sitting down as he waited for the final to start, Qiao Zhiya suddenly turned his head and looked straight towards this side. He squinted and smiled after seeing his bearded teacher.
“Ahhh!” The aunts and sisters went crazy in an instant.
Then Qiao Zhiya realized something—
Both his teacher and Luo Li’s eyes were the same exact shade of red.