Chapter 92: From out the Boiler Room Came the Champion!
Translator: Ash Editor: Geoffrey
Li Yao was indeed repairing the boiler.
In the entire Star Glory Federation, he was one of the examinees who had completed their
college entrance examination early; it only took him three hours to complete all the
examination questions. And immediately after, he had left the examination chamber without
any delay.
There were still two hours before the college entrance examination was over. In the meantime,
Li Yao chose to wander around. With his hands behind his back, he leisurely strolled around the
campus. Unknowingly, he had arrived at an abandoned bath house behind the school.
When the Limestone District was in its most prosperous period, the Mining Clan High School
once had more than 10,000 students. And in the residential area behind the school, a large
bathhouse was built to provide students convenience in their free time. During holidays, it was
even open to the community.
However, the Limestone District gradually declined with the depletion of the lodes as the
number of Mining Clan High School students became fewer and fewer over time. Hence, as the
number of people who came to take a bath was low, heating a large pool of water for a handful
of people was simply too uneconomical. It was unknown when it began, but the bathhouse has
been closed since.
After being unattended for several decades, the boiler room which was responsible for
providing heat to the bathhouse was laden with rust and covered in spider webs and dust.
Through the broken window, Li Yao casually swept a glance inside the boiler room. His eyes
suddenly lit up as his line of sight transfixed upon a pitch black boiler.
In the boiler room, he discovered a towering boiler which had been manufactured nine or so
decades ago — the "Fire Bear" Boiler. This type of boiler was one of the first civilian magical
equipment that utilized 3-dimensional array architect. The core of the boiler was enclosed in
two layers flame array glyphs, consisting of an upper and a lower layer. These two layer acted
as a cooling system that made it possible to remove any potential excess heat energy in a steady
stream, thereby allowing the temperature to remain extremely stable. Its structure was a
classic.
Previously, Li Yao had seen the schematics of this type of boiler only in a book; he never had the
chance to lay his eyes upon it.
As a magical equipment fanatic, naturally, he would not miss such a great opportunity.
The door to the boiler room simply wasn't locked. Its hinges had all become rusty. Li Yao
exerted his strength to push open the door.
"Crash!"
With a loud crash, the door was forcibly opened, causing the dust in the boiler room to swirl
around in the air as bats and small birds flew out.
Some of the bird poop had even landed on Li Yao's head.
Li Yao simply didn't pay any attention to all of these things. His pair of eyes shone like a rat who
had discovered a sack of rice. Ignoring everything else, he swooped over and hugged the "Fire
Bear" Boiler as he began to research the boiler with rapt attention.
For the entirety of three or so hours, he was completely immersed in the wonderful world of
magical equipment.
Although the Fire Bear Boiler was a magical equipment from almost a century ago, its doublelayer
array structure was astonishingly mysterious. A total of 36 fire array glyphs were
connected through over a hundred very fine crystal wires. It could even be said that just moving
a single wire could affect the entire structure. Completely immersed within it, every design left
an unforgettable memory in Li Yao's mind.
Unconsciously, Li Yao had bent down and crawled his way into the boiler. His face, his hands,
and his entire body was covered in oil. His entire body was dirty and dusty; the only thing left
untainted were his two rows of neat and tidy white teeth. He could not get any more unkempt
than his current state.
His eyes, on the other hand, were getting brighter and brighter. His ten fingers as gentle as a
goose feather lightly whisked the crystal wire, as if he were a world-renowned zitherist lightly
playing the zither and creating a beautiful tune.
Vaguely, he seemed to grasp the essence of the 3-dimensional array structure. In his eyes, the
components of the huge boiler gradually turned translucent; within the depths of his mind, the
large boiler was continuously being disassembled before being reassembled into its working
state.
"So it was like this — this is completely ingenious! The dissipating fire-type spiritual energy is
collected again in order to lower the amount of wasted spiritual energy. This design is truly a
work of art!" Li Yao clucked his tongue in marvel.
"Student Li Yao? Student Li Yao? Li Yao!"
Principal Mao ran with a red flush that extended from his face to his neck. Standing at the
entrance of the boiler room, he leaned on his knees as he gasped for breath for a good while. He
shouted for several times, but it was all in vain as he didn't receive a single response. He was
truly unable to catch Li Yao's attention. He took a look around before picking up a wooden torch
and lightly poked Li Yao’s ass with it.
"Student Li Yao!"
"Wait! Principal Mao, whatever it is, it can wait. I will soon figure it out… so it was like this, so it
was like this… this is too formidable! Why didn't I think of this sooner!? Originally, these three
crystal wires were working in conjunction!"
Li Yao slapped his thigh. Without turning around, he said in excitement, "Principal, can you
wait again? I'm absolutely sure that I can fix this boiler — it will be as good as new!"
Principal Mao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He yelled, "Li Yao! It's getting late. You still
want to repair this boiler? Quickly come out now. You have to give interviews. You are Floating
Spear City's champion of the college entrance examination!"
"Don't yell. The echoes inside the boiler room make my head hurt. Whatever it is, it can wait for
me. Let's talk about it after I repair the boiler. Even the college entrance exam's cham... what? I
am the college entrance exam's champion!?"
Inside the boiler, Li Yao let out a wolfish howl and jumped in excitement.
"Boom!"
But soon after, the entire boiler room started shaking as the dust accumulated upon the beams
of the room fell and covered the whole boiler room.
Li Yao had forgotten that he was still inside the boiler. His head violently collided with the steel
plates as a bulge soon appeared on the boiler as well as on his head.
Li Yao did not care about the pain. Holding his head, he crawled out of the boiler and took two
deep breaths as he collected himself. He grabbed Principal Mao's shoulder and started shaking
him. "Principal, am I really Floating Spear City's champion of the college entrance exam?"
Champion, not a single student had appeared within the top thousand. How could Principal
Mao remain calm? How could he be calm and collected?
If not for his old and frail body, he too would not be able to contain himself and would
somersault a few times like Li Yao!
Upon hearing Principal Mao’s words, Li Yao took a long, deep breath as he forcefully rubbed his
cheeks and muttered to himself, "Calm down, calm down. It's just Floating Spear City's
champion of the college entrance exam. I will become a Master Refiner in the future. My name
will move the Federation and shake the entire Heaven Origin Sector. How can I lose my bearing
just from such a small scene? That’s too embarrassing..."
As he spoke these words, a calm smile emerged on Li Yao's face. His pitch black face was
accompanied by shining white teeth, just like a fool.
Noticing that Li Yao was a little complacent, Principal Mao reminded him, "Student Li Yao, I
heard some reporters speak and it appears that they seem to be very interested in the
relationship between you and the Crimson Nimbus Second Senior High School. When you talk
to them, you need to be careful of what you say. Try not to offend others. After all, we do not
have any deep-rooted hatred. It would not be very good to completely shed all pretenses of
cordiality, do you understand?"
"Oh?"
Upon hearing the words “Crimson Nimbus Second Senior High School”, Li Yao was surprised for
a moment. The smile on his face disappeared as two strange glints flashed through his eyes. In
large strides, he left the boiler room.
Like a bunch of uncontrollable, wild dogs, a large group of reporters vied with each other as
they rushed over to the boiler room.
"Student Li Yao! Student Li Yao! Please give us an interview!"
Li Yao immediately collected himself as he quickly drew a draft in his mind. After a second, he
proudly raised his head and went ahead to welcome the reporters.
He gave a cough to clear his throat. Just as he wanted to speak, the large group of reporters
walked right past him as if they hadn't seen him. Like a river met with a reef, they automatically
separated to either of his sides and went around him.
"Student Li Yao, where are you? Please come out to give me an interview!"
A slightly embarrassed Li Yao raised his right hand. "I'm here!"
"Where? We don't see you, Student Li Yao!"
The large group of reporters surrounded Li Yao. A few dozen of them doubtfully gazed at Li Yao
as they measured Li Yao from head to toe. Not one of them paid attention to him.
The reporters couldn't be blamed for being as blind as a bat. In fact, Li Yao's current appearance
was far from the most anticipated "College Entrance Examination Champion".
He looked as if he had been digging for coal for three straight days and nights. His hair was a
mess, and he also had a bulge at the center of his head. The bird poop that had fallen on his
shoulder was starkly visible. Only god knows when his clothes had snagged onto some rusted
part of the boiler, causing it to tear a large hole on his clothes. Apparently, he could not become
even more unkempt than he already was and could not look any more miserable.
For almost half a minute, the reporters looked at each other before their line of sight gradually
gathered on Li Yao. With some hesitation, a female reporter took out a handkerchief from her
purse and handed it over to Li Yao. "Are... are you Student Li Yao?"
Li Yao expressed his gratitude and took the handkerchief as he forcefully wiped his face for a
few seconds. After having wiped his face, his appearance looked slightly better, yet remnants of
dirt and oil were still smeared all over his face; his facial features were barely recognizable.
Li Yao was a celebrity in Floating Spear City and many reporters had seen him at the hospital
when he was in the coma. The monicker "Fleeting Fiend Star" had come out from one of the
journalist's hand.
Immediately, someone shouted, "Yes, that’s Li Yao!"
Upon hearing that, the eyes of all the reporters began shining. Once again, they scrambled to
surround him as they thrust their crystal mics that were like eight feet long snake spears
toward Li Yao one by one. The female reporter who had given him the handkerchief was in the
forefront and got the advantage. Wrapping her arms around Li Yao's shoulder, she placed a
crystal mic between them.
"Student Li Yao, your performance in this year's college entrance examination can be described
as completely shocking. It was as if you had been possessed by some devil or god. You have
made a complete reversal, shocking the hell out of everyone! Everyone is very curious about
you. However, what we are most concerned about is — why did you drop out of Crimson Nimbus
Second Senior High School and come to this no-name school? As you know, Crimson Nimbus
Second Senior High School is a famous school within Floating Spear City. Every year, its overall
strength is in the top three, while Mining Clan High School has been at the bottom of the list for
the past few decades. If I may, can you tell us if there’s some underlying reason for all of this!"
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