CHAPTER 163: CHAPTER 163: XIE SISI’S BIRTHDAY

"But I have to say, Wang Lan..." Mingyue Wucheng suddenly mused, "haven’t you noticed that the reason you could easily defeat Xu Xiangwen is that his Star Martial Skills were completely countered by yours?"

"Yes, that’s true!" Wang Lan would not argue with that point; Xu Xiangwen was indeed powerful if not for being countered. Especially since any Mage Star Martial Warrior who got within five meters of Xu Xiangwen would generally be overwhelmed by him.

His speed was too fast; one could only see a shadow. In the next instant, who knew from where he would launch an attack?

"Then haven’t you thought that you are also very easy to counter?" This question instantly turned Wang Lan’s face serious.

How could Wang Lan not know that his Star Martial Skills could be countered? Not to mention other factors, facing Water Attribute Star Martial Warriors meant his Flame Sword was basically useless. Not just Water Attribute, Earth Attribute and Thunder Attribute also had a certain restraining power against him.

During the Star Martial Supremacy Tournament, Wang Lan fought against Water, Earth, and even Thunder Attribute warriors. In the end, Wang Lan emerged victorious! But back then, Wang Lan was at the Star Shine Stage, and so were his opponents. The victory hinged on his solid Basic Skills.

None of his opponents possessed powerful Star Martial Skills, and C-grade and D-grade Star Martial Skills had already reached their peak performance at that level of power. With Star Martial Skills of a lesser grade than Wang Lan’s and no overwhelming Star Power level, that was what allowed Wang Lan to pass through the rounds victoriously.

But in the upcoming provincial tournament, Wang Lan’s opponents would be the top graduates from all over Jiang Province. The majority would be at the Star Cloud Stage, and it was possible that these proud talents started with B-grade Star Martial Skills. A-grade or even secret techniques might be as common as cabbages.

Not to mention anything else, just control-type Star Martial Skills alone could completely restrain Wang Lan.

"It looks like you’ve realized this problem too. I can only give you a heads-up; how to solve the issue of being restrained is up to you."

"Wucheng! Xinyu has told me more than once that you are the true number one expert in our class. It’s been half a year, and I still have no idea how strong you really are. Why don’t you let me experience the fear of being restrained?"

"Oh? Fight seriously with me for once?"

"Yes."

"No holding back?"

"Yes!"

"Alright then!" Mingyue Wucheng stretched lazily and twisted his neck.

The others quickly dispersed, leaving a small circle at the center for Wang Lan and Mingyue Wucheng.

"Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Mingyue Wucheng, a direct descendant of the Mingyue Family. Our family’s ancestral Illusion Technique is unparalleled in the world; Illusion Technique has a restraining effect on all Star Martial Warriors. My attributes are Water, Earth, and Fire. Be careful; say when you’re ready to start."

"Start!"

The moment Wang Lan’s words fell, the world before his eyes suddenly changed. On the vast land, a bright moon hung in the sky.

"Illusion Technique!" Instantly, Wang Lan activated his Flame Sword Star Martial Skill.

Before he could even mobilize his Star Power, the world before him shattered, and Mingyue Wucheng appeared in front of him. At this moment, Wang Lan was already encased in a pillar of water.

The water pillar, like a column of poured concrete, engulfed Wang Lan, preventing him from even moving a finger, let alone perform the Star Cloud Sword Dance. As for the Flame Sword, that was even more out of the question. Not even smoke could rise before being extinguished by the water.

Mingyue Wucheng’s hand rested on the water pillar. As long as he didn’t stop using his Star Martial Skill, Wang Lan could only be drowned alive.

Mingyue Wucheng gently lifted his hand, and the water pillar collapsed with a crash.

After freeing himself, Wang Lan gasped for air, his eyes filled with fear. When he was trapped within the water pillar, he had thought of every possible solution, but... none were viable. That sense of despair and helplessness made him very uncomfortable.

"That was the Water Torture Skill; it can’t really be classified as an offensive Star Martial Skill. This Star Martial Skill was initially developed for interrogating prisoners. As long as you could force my palm away from the water pillar, you would be free. If you were an Earth Attribute Star Martial Warrior, you could control your Star Martial Skills to attack me by standing on the ground. You could also use the Earth Movement Skill to escape underground. If you were a Thunder Attribute warrior, you could electrolyze water to extract oxygen, so you wouldn’t be smothered. You could also launch a lightning strike to attack me. If you were a Wind Attribute warrior, you could stir the water pillar and break my control. If you were a Water Attribute warrior, that would be even more perfect, as you could easily pass through the water pillar and escape. The reason I chose this skill against you is that it’s just a basic E-grade Water Attribute Star Martial Skill, but it can still restrain you. Once you are caught, you have no way out."

This was quite an extreme case, perfectly tailored to counter an extreme case like Wang Lan.

No wonder after reaching the Galaxy Stage, a single-attribute Star Martial Warrior’s first priority in training is to develop a second attribute. The likelihood of being countered for single-attribute warriors is just too high. There is far less worry for dual and multi-attribute warriors.

Leaving the school in a somewhat gloomy mood, Wang Lan saw Jiang Xinyu start to speak several times, stopping each time, until finally, Gong Feiyu patted Wang Lan on the shoulder with a nonchalant expression. "Don’t feel too down, Wang Lan. Most Star Martial Warriors are single-attribute. Look at us: only Xinyu has Wind, Water, and Ice attributes; Xu has Yang Attribute; I have Earth Attribute; and Sisi has Water Attribute. Wouldn’t I be in trouble if I met someone with the Thunder Attribute?"

"I’m not thinking about that..." Wang Lan lifted his head, a smile on his face. "By the way, Sisi, what were you doing with Mr. Liu when he took you away? You were gone for half an hour, right?"

"Hmm, Mr. Liu taught me a Star Martial Skill, a C-grade Water Bomb Steel Cannon."

"Is he considering taking you on as an apprentice?" Jiang Xinyu asked in surprise.

"No..." Xie Sisi shook her head. "He said he saw my talent and thought it would be a pity if I didn’t know any Star Martial Skills. He hopes I can learn it before graduation so I can get into a better school."

Liu Jie had no obligation to teach students Star Martial Skills; in high school, the main focus was to lay a solid foundation. This included theoretical courses, essential knowledge Star Martial Warriors must master, combat training, and similar subjects. Star Martial Skills are generally considered advanced skills taught at university. For most students, just getting into a recognizable Star Martial Academy through the college entrance examination was a victory. Clearly, Liu Jie had higher expectations for Xie Sisi, and this Star Martial Skill was quite timely assistance.

"Then you’d better work hard."

"Hmm! Right, want to come and cultivate together tomorrow?"

"That... I might have something to do tomorrow. How about the day after?"

"Understood!"

"Got it!"

"That..." Xie Sisi suddenly hesitated as she called out to the others. "The day after tomorrow... I was wondering if I could treat you guys to a meal? Would that be okay?"

"Why?" Wang Lan asked, puzzled.

"No particular reason. Just to thank you for taking care of me these past days, and also, aren’t you my friends? I’ve learned a new Star Martial Skill, so let’s celebrate!"

"Is that so? Well, okay..." Xu Xiangwen reluctantly agreed. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but he was thinking about Xie Sisi’s less-than-ideal circumstances, and since they were all Star Martial Warriors, dining out would be quite expensive.

To the four of them, such an expense was trivial, but to Xie Sisi, it was significant. Probably, several years of her pocket money wouldn’t cover a single meal.

Every time the five of them dined together, it was always the four of them scrambling to pay the bill. This time, since Xie Sisi had issued the invitation, they couldn’t offer to pay even if they wanted to.

"Great! No problem. Sisi, just come to my place then. I’ll book the restaurant, and you can pay," Jiang Xinyu said with a laugh, hugging Xie Sisi.

"Is that a promise? No one stands anyone up!" Xie Sisi said with a joyful laugh.

At the school gate, Wang Lan said goodbye to them and once again dived into the system.

Because of the issue with attribute suppression today, Wang Lan was considering whether he could learn a second attribute. Even though it was said that one must wait until the Galaxy Stage to cultivate a second attribute, he had mastered the Phoenix Form at the outset of the Galaxy Stage and knew the basic compound Star Martial Skills of the Galaxy Stage. So why couldn’t he learn a second attribute? Later, he stared at the Attribute Task page, finding the bare flame symbol unpleasant to look at. At this moment, he suddenly recalled a detail he had overlooked before: the Attribute page hadn’t appeared from the beginning. When the system was initially activated, there was no Attribute section in the interface. It was only after learning the Phoenix Form that the Attribute was revealed. What did his mother’s hologram say again? That he should wait until he reached the Galaxy Stage, and after cultivating the Fire Attribute, then learn this Star Martial Skill specially designed for him? Then the system prompt appeared, allowing forceful loading. Did the Fire Attribute appear then? Could it be... his attribute wasn’t originally Fire? Was it because he cultivated the Phoenix Form that the Fire Attribute then surfaced?

In the realm of common sense, this was unbelievable, and an average Star Martial Warrior wouldn’t make such a wild guess. But was Wang Lan average?

He wasn’t the type to delude himself with such conjectures. He recalled an incident from the beginning of the last semester when Mingyue Wucheng had been teaching him about the variances in attribute properties.

At the time, Wang Lan had found it strange that he had skipped a step yet still successfully changed the attribute’s property. Back then, he had simply thought that one shouldn’t trust books entirely, as this particular step might not apply to everyone. But thinking back now, if there were such a fundamental oversight, how could it have gone undetected and uncorrected for decades? It appeared the textbook wasn’t at fault; he was. If this guess was correct, then he might have struck it big. Could he be the legendary possessor of all attributes? He would go to the Star Martial Hall tomorrow to find out.

「Early the next day」

Wang Lan got up and, when the time was about right, took the subway to the Star Martial Hall.

Arriving at the Star Martial Skill Trading House of the Star Martial Hall, Wang Lan first used a tablet to look up some Star Martial Skills.

Just as he had suspected, the Star Martial Skills at the Star Martial Hall were uniformly C and D-grade. B-grade ones were few, let alone those A-grade or higher. However, there was a wide variety of Star Martial Skills.

DING-DONG—

Suddenly, a message popped up on his phone from Jiang Xinyu.

"Tomorrow is Xie Sisi’s birthday. I checked her ID number."

Seeing this message, Wang Lan instantly understood. No wonder Xie Sisi had suddenly offered to treat them to dinner! It definitely wasn’t just about celebrating learning a new Star Martial Skill... Wait a second, a Star Martial Skill? For Xie Sisi’s birthday, a gift was definitely essential. And Xie Sisi was a proud person, unwilling to accept their kindness. Like last time at the training ground, she had insisted on giving him the 500,000 that he hadn’t really wanted to take. In the end, when pressed, she had said something like, "If you really consider me a friend, don’t pity me." From this, it was clear that Xie Sisi, though gentle, was firm inside and stuck to her principles. This also made it difficult for Wang Lan and the others to help her, as they feared she might misunderstand. But tomorrow was her birthday. Choosing a Star Martial Skill as a birthday gift should be alright, right? The Star Martial Skill didn’t need to be too expensive; she definitely wouldn’t accept it if it was. But it had to be practical...

Wang Lan flipped to the Water Attribute section and quickly scrolled down.

"Water Shadow Substitute, C-grade, creates a water shadow substitute to block attacks? Seems not bad."