The weapon refiner is not doing her job properly

Chapter 215 Let's have a competition!

The meeting lasted for a full three hours, and Hara Watari finally couldn't contain himself any longer.

He looked at Xing Qingping, whose expression remained unchanged, and his hand, which had originally wanted to slam the table in anger, finally landed lightly on the table. Suppressing his emotions, he said, "Old ghost Yan, this won't work, that won't work, nothing will work. Does your Star Alliance even want to talk about cooperation?"

Principal Yan said to his assistant who was taking notes at the meeting, "Let's take a break for now. Make me a cup of that tea."

The assistant quickly got up and made tea for Principal Yan.

Hot water is poured into the cup, the tea leaves unfurl, and the aroma of tea fills the air, refreshing and invigorating. The scent seems to dispel all the distracting thoughts in one's mind.

"Principal Yan, I'd like a cup of this tea too." General Ji suddenly called out, and the assistant hesitated for a moment, looking at Principal Yan.

"Here you go." Principal Yan waved his hand, seemingly unconcerned. "It's a gift from the school; we wouldn't be so stingy."

The price of Qingxin Tea has indeed been driven up to exorbitant levels.

Suninglong single-handedly pushed prices to an astonishing level, taking the path of scalpers and leaving them with nowhere to go.

This skill is, undeniably, a remarkable talent.

General Ji took the teacup, took a sip, and the delicate aroma of the tea lingered on his lips and teeth.

At that moment, he felt a surge of admiration for Tong Zi's foresight.

I remembered the loose tea leaves in my office. I was unaware that a few old comrades had taken most of them without my knowledge.
Knowing how precious it was, he secretly hid it away, brewing only a small amount each time to savor it slowly.

He was also planning to send some novelties to Suninglong this year to build a good relationship, hoping to get more tea next year.

Since General Ji was included, Xing Qingping and Lao Wang naturally couldn't be left out either. Several high-ranking leaders of the Star Alliance received a cup one after another. In the end, even those representatives who held the "Key of Prophecy" each received a cup.

The Star Alliance gathered so many people with the intention of resolving the issue once and for all, to avoid being further restrained by "Old Man Yan." However, after drinking five pots of tea, the tea soup remained clear and bright, but the atmosphere showed no signs of easing.

As the tea gradually dwindled, the assistant brewed a fresh pot of tea, but this time, he simply placed it gently beside Principal Yan.

Those from the Star Alliance won't get a single drop, though they might get some regular tea.

"Your Star Alliance... really knows how to discriminate," Assistant Sun, sitting to Yuan Dusen's right, finally couldn't help but say sarcastically.

“That’s right, the Star Alliance’s favoritism is an ancestral trait.” Yun Fei smiled and took a sip of tea, his tone long and meaningful. Since the “little darling” didn’t like Assistant Sun, naturally no one present would rush to pour her tea.

Yuan Dusen glared at her, and Assistant Sun immediately fell silent, daring not to say another word. Looking at the clear, bright tea in the others' cups, she knew perfectly well that this was definitely top-quality tea from Xiuzhen Garden.

She had always looked down on Su Ninglong, who loved to act cute and often showed off her supernatural abilities, but she could never resist the things that came from the Cultivation Garden, after all, they were highly regarded resources in the upper circles.

But ever since she left Funi, she has never had the chance to taste it again.

If I had known this tea would be sold at such an exorbitant price, I should have bought a pound or two back then.

Yuan Dusen, unwilling to dwell on the topic of tea, turned directly to Principal Yan and asked bluntly, "How exactly do you plan to cooperate?"

Principal Yan smiled but did not answer. Yun Fei, feigning ignorance, asked in return, "What do you mean, how do we cooperate? You haven't explained it clearly from beginning to end."

"Haven't we been discussing the collaboration on the Key of Prophecy for several hours already? All parties are involved, accelerating the project's progress—isn't that clear?"

Yun Fei remained unmoved and calmly replied, "Wasn't our school's Key to Prophecy already taken by your professor? What else is there to cooperate on?"

This sentence left Yuan Dusen speechless. He subconsciously looked at Assistant Sun.

Assistant Sun picked up the conversation, deliberately keeping his tone calm: "I admit that my behavior was indeed a bit impulsive before, and I apologize for that. However, I've been with the Star Alliance for so long and I know your style all too well; you can't possibly only have that one key."

She paused briefly before continuing, "The Key of Prophecy can sense other entities, so I hope you won't deliberately delay the progress because of personal grudges."

She had rehearsed these words in her mind many times, so they flowed smoothly. "We've come with the utmost sincerity; we can provide all the equipment and supplies needed to lead the team..."

She went on and on, her words essentially conveying that the Star Alliance wouldn't monopolize the results, so they should also be grateful and actively cooperate.

However, Yunfei didn't care at all whether she apologized or not.

“What you keep emphasizing is that whoever has the most Keys of Prophecy should be in charge, and I disagree. You also keep claiming that the Star Alliance understands the Keys of Prophecy better, so they should be in charge, and I disagree again. You are trying every means to find reasons to be in charge, but have you ever thought about one thing: we are not satisfied with being led by you.”

"Principal Yan, is that what you think too?" Yuan Dusen believed that Principal Yan was an upright person and should not agree with Yun Fei's statement.

Principal Yan: "Yes."

Everyone present smiled knowingly; Principal Yan, that old man, was still as mischievous as ever.

Du Sen's face darkened, and his voice turned cold: "The Key to Prophecy was dug out with our own hard-earned money, and all the parties present here were contacted by our Star Glory Alliance. We were the ones who pushed forward all the preliminary work. What makes you dissatisfied?"

"Your strength is insufficient, and right now... you're begging us." Yun Fei blurted out, his tone as casual as stating a fact, yet inexplicably making people want to attack.

But no one could refute it.

Indeed, while the Star Alliance is not making fast progress in its research on the Key of Prophecy, it is proceeding cautiously and step by step.

The ones who really couldn't wait were the Star Alliance.

"Our Star Alliance has two five-star hunters, more than ten four-star hunters, and over two hundred three-star hunters! Our overall strength is on par with your Star Alliance."

If Su Ninglong were present, she would probably find this competition method strangely familiar, because in her previous life, sects always liked to use numbers to intimidate each other.

The two five-star hunters are roughly equivalent in strength to two Nascent Soul stage cultivators.

Four-star hunters are roughly at the Core Formation to Nascent Soul stage, while three-star hunters are equivalent to the mid-to-late Foundation Establishment to Core Formation level.

As for one- and two-star hunters, they are not qualified to be included in the "combat power system".

"In that case, how about we have a competition?" Yun Fei asked directly. Yuan Dusen was speechless for a moment.

Assistant Sun chimed in sarcastically, "The Star Alliance was established much earlier than us, with a deep foundation and countless experts. How can our Star Radiance Alliance compare?"

Yun Fei: "Didn't you just say that our two organizations are evenly matched in strength?"

Assistant Sun blushed, wanting to retort, but couldn't find the words to say.

She felt like her left brain was fighting against her right brain, and she herself thought it was incredibly foolish.

Yun Fei stroked his chin, feigning thought, and said, "Then let's compare the younger generation?"

Qian Rujin immediately stood up to object: "I'm afraid that won't work. Our two schools have different teaching philosophies. You focus on elite training, while we emphasize teamwork. If it's just an individual competition, we have almost no chance of winning."

Yun Fei chuckled speechlessly: "So you're going to compete against us in team competitions, which you're good at?"

Having said all that, Qian Rujin couldn't definitively say that her side was particularly adept at teamwork.

After all, it's not uncommon for one person to take on a whole group at once among the Star Alliance hunters.

He calmed down a bit and said solemnly, "We have all come this far with the guidance of experienced hunters. We should not treat the lives of the younger generation of hunters as a joke."

The meeting room fell silent for a moment.

Just then, Xing Qingping slowly put down his teacup and finally spoke: "Yuan Dusen, you genuinely want to promote cooperation, don't you?"

“Yes,” Yuan Dusen turned to Xing Qingping, his tone sincere, “We hope to speed things up. The Key of Prophecy is related to the mysteries of the Mystic Spirits, and we can’t delay any longer. Any hunter who frequently goes out on missions should have a feeling that the Mystic Spirits are accelerating their invasion, and we can’t let them take over our homeland.”

Xing Qingping nodded, then turned to Principal Yan and asked, "So, your side is not accepting the leadership of the Star Glory Alliance, is that right?"

“That’s right.” Principal Yan said calmly, “We don’t want the hunters we’ve worked so hard to train to become stepping stones for others.” He then pointed out that the hunter mortality rate in the Star Alliance has been significantly higher than that in the Star Alliance in recent years, which is the most unacceptable point.

Therefore, the Star Alliance was unwilling to let the Star Alliance use the Key of Prophecy as a pretext to send Star Alliance hunters into battle.

Without having a competition, the Star Alliance refused to submit to the leadership of the Star Glory Alliance.

Xing Qingping whispered a few words to General Ji and Old Wang beside him.

General Ji expressed his approval: "I think a competition is feasible."

Old Wang waved his hand and said, "I'm just here to bear witness, I have no objections."

Then Xing Qingping addressed the entire audience and loudly proposed: "Since that's the case, there are several areas contaminated by the Mystic Spirits that have remained unresolved for many years. Let the Star Alliance and the Star Radiance Alliance each send a team to enter and ultimately eliminate the Mystic Spirits and remove the contamination, and then decide who will become the leader of this cooperative project."

“That won’t do!” Yuan Dusen immediately retorted. “If the Star Alliance sends all its five-star hunters, wouldn’t we be giving the project away to them for nothing? That arrangement is completely unfair to us.”

"Tsk, now you're talking about fairness? It's as if we would actually send out all five-star hunters for such a trivial project."

Many people at the conference table covered their mouths and chuckled again. Yun Fei's words were too "wild" and unconventional, yet strangely, they were pleasant to listen to. How was that possible?

Qian Rujin was not angry. He understood Yun Fei's personality. This man was stubborn at heart and valued efficiency. The fact that he was sitting here calmly to discuss things today was entirely because of Principal Yan and the witnesses.

"How about this," Qian Rujin pondered for a moment and proposed a new plan, "we'll determine the participants based on their average age, how about that?"

"This is the first time I've heard of age being a factor in determining ability," Yun Fei said sarcastically. "Your Star Alliance really comes up with a lot of creative ideas."

Principal Yan gave Yun Fei a timely look, signaling him to tone it down.

Yun Fei shrugged, leaned back in his chair, and adopted a relaxed posture, as if he was "tired of acting." Several hours of meetings had indeed taken a toll on his mental energy.

He was hungry and tired, and even missed Xingyuan's cooking. He thought to himself: When will Su Ninglong treat us to a proper meal?
"Average age?" Xing Qingping seemed to find the suggestion interesting and asked, "You mean the participating teams are calculated based on their average age? Tell me more."

Seeing that things seemed to be turning around, Hara Watari finally breathed a sigh of relief and took over the conversation, explaining, "Yes, for example, we can set the average age to 25. As long as the average age of the teams does not exceed this number, they can form teams to participate in the competition."

The Star Alliance knows perfectly well that most of their hunters under the age of 25 are still studying in the Inner Academy and have not yet graduated, so their experience in venturing into contaminated areas is very limited.

While the Star Alliance has many hunters who graduate at the age of twenty, their individual strength is insufficient to penetrate the contaminated zone without teamwork.

General Ji asked, "And then? So, which specific contaminated area do you plan to enter for the competition?"

"Wait a minute." Yun Fei suddenly leaned forward, pressing his hand on the table. "Since we've followed their rules, shouldn't we be the ones to choose the competition venue? You guys don't just want to practice in the simulator, do you?"

He tapped the table rhythmically with his fingertips, "tap, tap, tap..." each sound like a tap on the heart.

Qian Rujin's eyelids twitched slightly, and an ominous premonition quietly spread. Originally, she just didn't want to refuse forcefully, but unexpectedly, she gave Yun Fei room to maneuver.

“There are a few notoriously difficult areas in the contaminated zone that no one has been able to touch. If we’re going to have a competition, let’s pick these places, and don’t accuse us of bullying you. But we only accept contaminated zones of four stars or higher.”

These words silenced the entire Star Alliance.

Assistant Sun: "You..."

“What?” Yun Fei remained unyielding. “We accepted your suggestion that the average age should not exceed twenty-five; now that I’m asking for a contaminated area of ​​four stars or higher, isn’t that just right? For them, this is a rare opportunity to ‘shine and contribute.’”

Qian Rujin unconsciously clenched her fists.

A four-star contaminated zone—this is clearly pushing all the hotheads to their deaths.
"This is absolutely unacceptable! This isn't a competition; you're sending all the hunters who enter the contaminated zone to their deaths! We originally only planned to stay in the two-star contaminated zone..."

"I advise you to give up on 'planning' now," Yun Fei interrupted him, his tone sarcastic. "A two-star contaminated zone? We could easily wipe it out with anyone we send. What kind of strength can you test with that kind of difficulty?"

"But our goal has always been the relics of the 'Darkest Hour' and the key to prophecy, not a life-or-death battle!"

“But you need to understand that all places involving the Darkest Hour ruins and the Key of Prophecy,” Yun Fei’s voice turned cold, “are places where it’s a life-or-death struggle, where you have to fight to the death.”