Pillar of Yita

It utilized Fang Hong’s limited computational attributes to its fullest, trying to adjust the Clockwork Fairy’s flight posture. Fang Hong could only watch as the intelligence section of the status page indicated his computational ability dramatically falling… 39...22...13, eventually dropping to a single digit.

A warning popped up in the upper left of his vision:

’Warning: Computational resources insufficient. Flexible Construct A (Clockwork Fairy Model II), flight posture about to lose control.’

But Fang Hong had already completed what he needed to do.

His middle finger, ring finger, and pinky finger sequentially lifted upward, resembling outstretched wings, allowing another Clockwork Fairy to steadily take flight from his hand.

Then he immediately switched the control object, handling the descending Clockwork Fairy to pull it up, pulling it back just before it touched the ground at the last moment, all the while mentally commanding, ”System, take over the second Clockwork Fairy—”

The first Clockwork Fairy sketched an arc close to the ground, abruptly rising, crossing paths with its downward-falling counterpart—

And repeatedly performed this process.

The two golden trajectories intertwined like undulating waves mid-air, leaving the audience entranced. They were unaware of the situation Fang Hong was facing, they instinctively thought his dual controls were unstable and even saw the Clockwork Fairies wobble perilously.

Yet, they maintained a regular frequency of ascent and descent, never faltering, each desperate ascent at the final moment thrilling the onlookers.

At first, people thought Fang Hong was hiding his skill—a history of deception suggested as much, but after a while, someone noticed the bright sweat on Fang Hong’s neck.

”What’s going on?”

”Could it be that he can’t handle dual control?” people murmured in confusion.

There were even booing sounds.

The fat Immortal Worm had been closely watching Fang Hong’s operations. He undoubtedly regarded Fang Hong and the number six contestant as major threats in the upcoming competition, but upon witnessing this scene, his sparse eyebrows lifted, his fleshy face loosening.

”Haha,” he began arrogantly, laughing loudly, ”So this guy can only handle single control, what kind of Combat Artisan can he be with such computational ability? He probably can’t even manage a simple construct like a Walker, right?”

”Bullshit!” Hudi, standing nearby and hearing the fat man spout nonsense, couldn’t help but roar furiously.

”Ah, isn’t this our shabby Combat Artisan Mr.?” sneered the Immortal Worm mockingly, ”Can’t you see for yourself? This is the first time I’ve seen someone worse at dual control than you, tsk tsk tsk.”

The two seemed fairly well-known around here, and the crowd laughed along with the fat man’s words.

Hudi clenched his fists tightly, body trembling with rage.

In the laughing crowd, only Mazak did not laugh; Zhang Tianmiu didn’t either, his assistant nowhere in sight by then. The towering man then turned around and asked again, ”Is it him?”

This time Zhang Tianmiu shook his head, somewhat puzzled why Mazak was always concerned about this young man—he had only looked at Fang Hong once and then paid no more attention.

They didn’t know Fang Hong’s level, but he did—

A level 3 Combat Artisan performing dual control to this extent was already commendable, but for someone accustomed to witnessing geniuses, he saw it as nothing special. And with a ’target’ setting the bar high, he had no energy to spare for a ’just decent’ Combat Artisan.

He left it to the Grand Guilds, to see if they have the discernment.

Only Mazak’s silent gaze remained fixed on Fang Hong, responding in a steady and firm voice, ”That’s good.”

”That’s good?” Zhang Tianmiu blinked, then turned.

Mazak shook his head, speaking softly, ”You don’t need to intervene in this matter.” After saying that, he stepped back, placing his right hand on a bony pendant on his chest.

A solemn, steady voice seemed to emanate from beneath his chest, ”A long harsh winter is coming, we pledge here—”

A deep roar swept over the top of the hall, as if a massive shadow was passing over.

But everyone was oblivious.

On the field, the control tracks buzzed under the covers, Fang Hong’s attention was completely engaged, unable to afford the slightest negligence, unaware if anyone else had ever faced a similar situation— but right now, this was definitely the most stringent challenge since he entered this world.

Sweat poured like rain, the two flexible tracks constantly changing positions, always controlling the flight trajectories of the two Clockwork Fairies.

It might not be spectacular, nor beautiful, but it was the ultimate contest of computation and judgment. Each variation gave Fang Hong merely a fraction of a second to decide.

No mistakes were permitted.

And just then,

He thought he heard an illusion, a scream from deep within his soul, the mark on his hand suddenly burning hot, even emitting light. Fang Hong grunted, and one of the Clockwork Fairies in the tube suddenly spiraled out of control, hurdling forward—

It was about to hit the tube wall.

Unable to care about anything else, Fang Hong shouted in his mind, ”Miss Tata!”

A blue light burst into his vision, and the words appeared one by one:

’Dragon Knight System, activating—’.

The Immortal Worm continued judging alongside others, a look of delight on his face, ”He’s running out of time, whoops—now he messed up; things just got interesting, looks like your friend and you are both at the same level, shabby craftsman.”

Hudi simply didn’t bother looking at the man, focusing nervously on Fang Hong.

Nearby, the color blue startled into a cry and involuntarily covered her mouth with her hands.