119: Chapter 119 There is another ninth-tier Cupid

In the group chat, the revelry was still ongoing.

Qi Yuan's paper had been forwarded to several elders who hadn't had the chance to read it yet. Praises echoed one after another.

[Han Shuang, the Master of the Ice Prison]: "If this theory can truly be mass-produced, it will be a reshuffling for the entire card-making academic world. Elder Qi has made a great contribution this time."

[Qi Yuan]: "Mass production is still a long way off; let's test the waters with the National Competition first."

[Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen]: "That child Shen Ye has a solid foundation, and with the new theory, a top-three finish is guaranteed. With good luck, he might even win the championship."

[Phantom Sovereign]: "The little ones from the Sanctuary haven't won the championship in the National Competition for a long time; the last time was six years ago. This time, we can finally hold our heads high."

[Qi Yuan]: "Rest assured, everyone. I will certainly ensure Shen Ye brings his best state."

Messages came one after another: congratulations, praise, and anticipation.

Li Qingyue did not speak from beginning to end.

She sat on the windowsill of the Sanctuary lounge, her bare feet dangling in the air. Her long silver-white hair shimmered under the glow of the aurora, and the golden aura overflowing from the universal balance flowed slowly around her fingertips.

On her phone screen was the abstract of Qi Yuan's paper.

She read it from beginning to end, her brows knitting together involuntarily.

Stellar-level energy collapse, bidirectional mana anchoring, and magnification without the need for equivalent exchange—it was indeed a very elegant theory.

However, from her experience, many of the things involved in the theories of this paper were more like the creation of some kind of spiritual entity, and the scale was even larger than the theory Su Bai had utilized when creating Kyubey.

Was it an illusion?

If it wasn't, why did Qi Yuan only have his own disciple enter? This was clearly a theory that could be used to create top-tier Rainbow Cards.

But if it was an illusion... Forget it. Li Qingyue swiped her thumb, and the paper interface on her phone screen vanished instantly.

She wasn't very interested in Qi Yuan's theory, but she was quite dissatisfied with him having his disciple participate in the National Competition. Su Bai was also going to participate, so wasn't this just fighting among their own people?

However, she didn't know what to say, so she just remained silent for now.

Of course, the main reason... was still that Su Bai was only at the second rank. Although he was participating in the National Competition with a second-rank level, in the eyes of others, wouldn't that just be a one-day trip? What was there to expect?

So, it was reasonable for Qi Yuan to have his disciple participate.

As luck would have it, someone in the group mentioned Su Bai.

[Han Shuang, the Master of the Ice Prison]: "Speaking of which, isn't Her Excellency Qingyue's disciple, Su Bai, also participating? How are things going on his end?"

The group was silent for a moment. Phantom Sovereign's message popped up first.

[Phantom Sovereign]: "Su Bai is still young, only second rank. The Magical Girl system is already stunning enough; it's not very realistic to come up with a new system in such a short time."

Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen followed up.

[Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen]: "Hongye is right. That child Su Bai has no problem with talent, but card-making requires accumulation. He just reached the second rank; he doesn't need to put too much pressure on himself. Having Shen Ye represent the Sanctuary this time can also be considered a boost for the Sanctuary's reputation. Qingyue, you don't need to take it too much to heart."

Qi Yuan also sent a message.

[Qi Yuan]: "Qingyue, although this theory of mine bears my name, the core inspiration came from Su Bai's questions on the forum, as well as Researcher Yun Zhi, whom he recommended. Speaking of which, I have to thank your disciple. Although Su Bai didn't participate directly, he indirectly facilitated this. Once Shen Ye places, I don't mind yielding some profits to you, haha."

Li Qingyue stared at that message.

Her finger hovered at the edge of the screen for a long time. Then, she typed one word.

[Time-Space Supreme]: "Unnecessary."

Just one word.

Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen probably sensed something.

[Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen]: "Qingyue, are you okay?"

[Time-Space Supreme]: "Mm."

[Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen]: "Your replies are getting shorter and shorter. Last time it was two words, this time it's one, next time will it just be punctuation marks?"

[Time-Space Supreme]: "."

[Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen]: "..."

[Phantom Sovereign]: "Haha."

[Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen]: "Hongye, what are you laughing at? She sent a period."

[Phantom Sovereign]: "A period is also a reply, which means she's still willing to acknowledge you."

[Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen]: "How is this acknowledging me!"

Li Qingyue flipped her phone over and placed it face down on the windowsill.

Outside the window.

The aurora screen in the direction of Jinghai was slowly turning into daylight mode. She hugged her knees, resting her chin on them, her crimson eyes reflecting the sea of clouds in the distance.

Li Qingyue had been pondering a question.

Logically speaking, Qi Yuan had already sent his disciple to participate in the National Competition, and as Su Bai's master, she should also go to help Su Bai.

But...

Su Bai hadn't come to find her.

Should she help?

She knew Su Bai wasn't the type of character who relied on his master for everything. That kid hadn't asked for help since he only had fifty bucks left in his pocket, but she was still a bit concerned.

It wasn't because she would lose face if she didn't help, but because she wanted to help, yet was too embarrassed to take the initiative to speak.

But Su Bai hadn't mentioned a single word to her.

"...Stupid disciple, sigh, he really gives his master a headache. A mere second rank, how could he possibly beat others?"

Li Qingyue thought about it and wondered if she was a bit bored? But that was also true; after all, she was already at the ninth rank. The things that should have been researched had long been thoroughly researched, and those that hadn't couldn't be solved in a short time, so now that she had suddenly taken on a disciple, she inevitably became a bit concerned.

She picked up her phone again. She flipped to the [Disciple] chat box. She typed a line— "What have you been doing lately?"

She deleted it.

She typed again— "Do you need help?"

She deleted it.

She typed again— "I heard you are making a new card."

She deleted it.

So annoying!

She stuffed the phone back into her sleeve, jumped down from the windowsill, and her bare feet stepped onto the cold marble floor.

"Forget it." Li Qingyue muttered to herself in the empty lounge. "He probably has his own plans."

She walked a few steps and then stopped.

A very faint arc appeared on her porcelain doll-like face.

Worry was one thing.

But she was truly curious.

What on earth was this kid up to?

...

In the direction of the Imperial Capital.

In Qi Yuan's laboratory, they had already started moving materials out. Shen Ye was holding a thick stack of printed papers, his footsteps as heavy as if he were going to his own funeral.

In the underground card-making room of the Purple Mountain mansion, Su Bai was squatting in front of the eleventh piece of shattered material debris, completely unaware that the ninth-rank group chat of the Sanctuary had just experienced a silent storm surrounding him.

He held the silver-blue test tube up to the light, the flow-sensing membrane circulating quietly at the nanometer level.

"Done! Holy crap, after overcoming this technology, it's really different. It's pretty awesome."

Su Bai could no longer care about his image.

After this layer was completed, a small step for the Stand was completely finished! Compared to the first-rank Kyubey, the second-rank Stand's ability would be more powerful in terms of combat performance. It wasn't that the Magical Girl was inferior to the Stand User; it was purely a material issue.

But if one had to talk about strength or weakness, the Stand actually had a very buggy aspect.

That is, unlike Kyubey's causality harvester, the Stand was truly an existence born for combat.

Kyubey jumped down from the shelf. Its tail brushed against his earlobe.

[Su Bai. Your heart rate just spiked for a moment.]

"Normal, excitement!"

[Isn't it because Venerable Qi Yuan has already announced in the group that he will send a disciple to participate?]

Su Bai turned his head.

"...What group?"

Kyubey tilted its head. In its red glass eyes reflected the [Ninth Rank] group chat notification blinking on the phone screen — of course, Kyubey didn't have permission to enter.

But just now, from the causality fluctuations on Li Qingyue's side, it had captured a trace of weak emotional tremors.

[It's probably about Qi Yuan using some of your theories and some of Researcher Yun Zhi's theories to publish a draft of a paper, and deciding to let his disciple go to participate in the National Competition.]

Su Bai was silent for a beat.

"...How do you know everything?"

[I am Kyubey.]

"Fine... wait, isn't this a ninth-rank group? You can even infiltrate a ninth-rank group?" Su Bai asked suspiciously: "You wouldn't happen to be the Kyubey from the Madoka world, right?"

[Not quite. It's just that because Li Qingyue once used your theory to create an identical magical girl card, she has a ninth-rank Kyubey there. But there is no difference between one Kyubey and another; what it knows, I also know.]

Su Bai: ?

Huh?

A ninth-rank Kyubey?

Only then did he suddenly remember that the cards he made were always Incubators, and when Li Qingyue made cards, she also used his process, so it was no problem that it was a ninth-rank Kyubey... Holy crap, thinking of this, Su Bai couldn't help but look at Kyubey with new respect: "Then what's the use of a ninth-rank Kyubey?"

[It's useless. Kyubey's only function is to contract Magical Girls. Currently, the core hub for contracting Magical Girls is with you, so the ninth-rank Kyubey's function is the same as mine.]

"Then that's fine."

[Aren't you worried about Qi Yuan's disciple?]

He put the test tube back on the rack and said casually: "That doesn't matter. The theories I explained to Researcher Yun Zhi were just the tip of the iceberg. The real Stand Card is an existence completely different from this world; how could it be easily copied by others?"

Thinking of this, Su Bai couldn't help but smirk.

His core actually lay in the ability bestowed by the system, Concept Construction! Being able to transform real things into concepts, that was the core.

Of course, theory was also important. Su Bai had actually only offered some insights; Qi Yuan hadn't touched the true core at all, or rather, Qi Yuan hadn't asked at all.

But in reality, even if he had asked, it would have been useless. Because... Su Bai's theories could actually also be transformed into concepts!

Concepts transformed from theories, then combined with concept theory + concept creation, could finally form a finished card. It could be said that even if Su Bai put the core in front of Qi Yuan, he wouldn't be able to understand it!

"Oh right, Qi Yuan has a disciple participating, I, as a disciple, should probably contact my teacher too."

Su Bai thought of something and flipped to Li Qingyue's chat box.

[Master, the new card is almost ready, I'll show it to you then.]

Send.

After about three seconds.

[Li Qingyue]: "Mm."

[Su Bai]: "Just one word? Master, this isn't your usual style."

[Li Qingyue]: "Make your card."

[Su Bai]: "Alrighty."