The group stage was nearing its end, and the match between Starsea Military Academy and Distant Mountain Military Academy was fast approaching.
Having lost two consecutive matches, Distant Mountain’s initially high morale had plummeted, as even a victory against Starsea wouldn’t secure their advancement.
In contrast, Starsea initially underestimated had now become the dark horse that everyone was talking about.
The public was amazed by Starsea’s performance, evident from the gambling threads flooding major forums.
During Starsea vs. Gikot, the odds for Starsea’s victory were extremely high, indicating very few bet on them.
By Starsea vs. St. Clythus, Starsea still had higher odds, but the situation had improved.
For the final group stage match, Starsea’s odds were lower than their opponents for the first time, with nearly 70% of bets favoring their victory.
Despite this, the Starsea team didn’t slack off, treating every match as a valuable training opportunity.
Richard made further adjustments to the lineup, keeping Yun Xingze in the solo competition; a clear sign of his approval of the young man’s performance.
It wasn’t just Richard; many team members were curious about Yun Xingze’s rapid progress and sought his advice.
Though busy, Yun Xingze always found time to help them with combat techniques and mech modifications.
Under his guidance, every member of Starsea’s team showed breakthroughs except Chi Yu.
Because Yun Xingze never acknowledged Chi Yu.
This infuriated Chi Yu, but unlike usual, he restrained his temper.
He was certain Yun Xingze would soon be his.
Amidst roaring anticipation, the match between Starsea and Distant Mountain began.
Most spectators were here for Starsea, whose rising fame had earned them a surge of fans. Many even waving banners in support.
Their reception now rivaled, if not surpassed, that of Noah and Vanyun.
Yun Xingze’s psychic power had climbed past 90% of A-rank, his overall strength breaking into A+, making him the fastest-rising competitor in NCLM.
On StarNet, the live broadcast of this match far outperformed all others.
The commentators grew increasingly excited, praising Starsea nonstop: “Starsea’s momentum is incredible today. Ke Lei secures the first victory flawlessly!”
“Wow, Starsea’s first team match was perfectly coordinated! Caleb might be new, but his skills and composure are outstanding!”
“And the decider is Yun Xingze again. Richard clearly has immense faith in him. This Omega is the legend of the season, undefeated since the campus qualifiers.”
“Yun Xingze descends like a divine panther and clinches the match! Though two rounds remain, we can already congratulate Starsea on advancing from the group stage!”
With everything in their favor, Starsea swept all three matches, securing four points outright.
As Yun Xingze claimed victory, the audience’s cheers and applause threatened to shake the arena apart.
Though regulations required completing the remaining matches, Starsea’s campus forums were already flooded with posts celebrating their advancement in every section.
Before long, the name of Starsea Military Academy began trending across various platforms on the Star Network.
Far Mountain Military Academy hadn’t expected to lose so badly, and their coach’s expression turned extremely grim.
However, when Far Mountain’s team members recalled how two other top schools had also been defeated by Starsea, they suddenly felt less upset.
Perhaps because Far Mountain had lost their fighting spirit, Starsea smoothly secured victories in the next two matches as well.
The final round of the group stage concluded perfectly.
Naturally, while Starsea Military Academy’s outstanding performance delighted some, it inevitably worried others.
This included the tournament’s two seeded teams, Noah Military Academy and Vanyun Military Academy.
These two institutions had been vying for the top spot in recent years, and neither wanted to see a dark horse rise unexpectedly.
Thus, after Starsea’s victory, the coaches of Noah and Vanyun immediately initiated a remote conference to discuss countermeasures.
“Though we’re old rivals,” the Noah coach said with a smirk, “since another strong contender has emerged, we should join forces. What do you think?”
The Vanyun coach nodded slowly. “I was thinking the same. Let’s share information during the upcoming matches.”
Unbeknownst to Starsea’s team members, these two crafty coaches had already set their sights on them.
To celebrate advancing from the group stage, Starsea’s principal sent Richard a private transfer, instructing him to treat the team to a lavish meal.
While everyone basked in the joy of victory, only Yun Xingze and Luo Wenchuan wore faint smiles that didn’t reach their eyes.
The group stage’s end meant both would have to return to the Imperial Capital Star to fulfill their respective obligations.
Over the next two days, Yun Xingze specifically requested leave from Richard and accelerated his research on neural connectors at the Mecha Research Institute.
The institute’s researchers currently faced a dilemma.
Though they’d successfully developed the first-generation psionic amplifier with Yun Xingze’s help, its amplification coefficient remained disappointingly low.
Despite Jin Xuan’s team experimenting with various materials, the highest coefficient achieved was 1.53; a seemingly insurmountable bottleneck.
To break through, Jin Xuan dragged Yun Xingze through multiple exhausting test sessions.
Fortunately, Yun Xingze’s exceptional mental regulation abilities allowed him to endure what would have overwhelmed others.
In contrast, Yun Xingze’s personal experiments progressed remarkably smoothly.
After constructing a model of his new neural connector on his light computer, he decided to build a physical prototype.
Enlisting You Jin’s help to gather seemingly ordinary materials, Yun Xingze welded and assembled them into a black-box style neural connector.
The black-box design ensured the technology remained opaque to outsiders, only Yun Xingze understood its workings.
This was his personal precaution. In his past life as a mecha engineer, someone had stolen his technology and claimed it as their own. Though Yun Xingze later humiliated the thief with superior innovations, the incident taught him to safeguard his work through black-box implementations.
When completed, the connector’s bizarre appearance made You Jin dismiss it entirely.
He thought this square-shaped object, apart from the connecting part resembling a neural connector, didn’t look like a proper neural interface at all.
So, Eugene didn’t pay much attention to Yun Xingze’s subsequent experiments and went to assist in Jin Xuan’s lab instead.
After Eugene left, Yun Xingze’s neural interface experiment proceeded smoothly. Once connected, the measured amplification factor reached 2.61.
He had originally planned to test a coefficient of 2.1, but the result exceeded expectations with even greater amplification capability.
This also proved, in a way, that Yun Xingze hadn’t forgotten any of the knowledge from his past life.
After completing the experiment, Yun Xingze casually tossed the black-box connector into a cabinet and went to ask Jin Xuan for leave.
“Leave?” Jin Xuan was slightly surprised. “Are you returning to the Imperial Star in the next few days?”
Yun Xingze nodded. “There are some family matters I need to handle.”
“Alright, go ahead,” Jin Xuan agreed immediately. “Actually, I’ve been putting you through a lot these past few days, making you run so many experiments. Take the next few days to rest properly.”
Yun Xingze added, “Sure. If you need anything, just give me a call.”
With that, Yun Xingze left the lab.
After Yun Xingze was gone, Ming Xiao sighed in disappointment. “Our experiments seem to be going nowhere. When will we ever break past the 1.5 threshold? Professor Jin Xuan, you shouldn’t have let Yun Xingze leave. We need to hurry with our research.”
“Let him rest for a few days first,” Jin Xuan replied with a sigh. “Our technical approach has issues. No matter how many experiments we make him run, the data won’t change.”
Someone nearby frowned and said, “Could it be that Yun Xingze’s spiritual power isn’t high enough, affecting the amplification coefficient?”
Jin Xuan paused briefly before responding, “That’s unlikely. I never considered that possibility.”
After days of failed experiments, frustration had set in. Every time they saw Yun Xingze’s spiritual power only amplifying by 1.5 times, some couldn’t help but wonder if the problem lay with him.
“But there’s nothing we can do. No one else can help us with the experiments,” another person remarked. “Hopefully, his spiritual power reaches S-rank soon; maybe that’ll make a difference.”
Jin Xuan stared thoughtfully at the blueprints on her light screen.
She had a feeling that if they could just break through one key point, the spiritual power amplification coefficient would improve.
But what was that point?
Just then, a janitor who had been working at the research institute for a long time came in to clean. “Everyone, take a break. I’ll clean up the trash.”
This janitor often helped clean Yun Xingze’s lab as well.
The research institute didn’t entrust this task to robots because the labs were filled with valuable data. If a robot malfunctioned or was hacked, the consequences would be disastrous.
As the janitor was cleaning, a few scraps of paper accidentally fell out of his cart.
Jin Xuan politely bent down to pick them up and handed them back. “Thank you for your hard work.”
The janitor, who appreciated courteous professors like Jin Xuan, smiled apologetically. “Sorry about that.”
Just as the janitor took the scraps of paper, Jin Xuan’s eyes suddenly widened.
Her gaze lingered on the scrap paper, where the design of a junction point in the connecting bonds employed a form she had never seen before. One that could significantly enhance the efficiency of psychic energy transmission.
Even more astonishing was that this junction point simultaneously served as the intersection for two bonds.
“If psychic energies could meet at this intersection and utilize the potential energy difference created by the angle of the junction to gain tremendous energy upon merging. ”
Jin Xuan instinctively began analyzing the contents of the scrap paper, her voice drawing everyone’s attention.
“That would amplify the psychic energy once before it even enters the amplifier, without affecting the activation efficiency!” Eugene’s eyes lit up as he immediately grasped the benefits of this design.
Then, Eugene looked at Jin Xuan with admiration. “Professor Jin, this design you’ve proposed could significantly boost the psychic amplification coefficient! How did I not think of this?!”
Ming Xiao and the others also broke into delighted expressions.
“Professor Jin, you’re incredible!”
“My god, this design is so bold, but after thinking about it. It’s completely feasible!”
“Professor Jin, let’s test this immediately.”
Jin Xuan stared blankly at the group.
She had merely deduced this method based on the design sketches and some handwritten notes on the paper. Only after hearing their reactions did she belatedly realize.
This was a stroke of genius!
“No, this wasn’t my idea.” Jin Xuan explained in a daze to the excited crowd. “This, this was written on these papers.”
The group’s eyes widened instantly.
Was there another psychic research expert in this lab besides Jin Xuan?
Before Jin Xuan could finish speaking, the janitor reached over and took the scrap paper from her hands. “Professor Jin, you must be mistaken. These are just discarded drafts. ”
“Dis… discarded drafts?!” Ming Xiao’s eyes bulged like copper bells. “Then where’s the final version?!”
Jin Xuan also grew agitated, clutching the papers as she asked the janitor:
“Could you tell me who created these designs? I mean, who drew these discarded drafts?!”
At that moment, Eugene’s gaze fell on the papers.
Something about the material seemed familiar…
The janitor waved a hand dismissively. “It was that military academy student, Yun Xingze. I even asked him if these should be thrown away, and he said…”
Under the group’s stunned stares, the janitor continued:
“He was just scribbling to help remember old knowledge. As for the contents… they’re too outdated to be of any use.”
