Stellar Train: I Open a Small Shop on the Train-Chapter 172

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, two days had passed.

All participants were now heading toward the Hype Mini Planet.

This time, over 30,000 people had signed up—mainly due to the limit on Stellar Jade; otherwise, the number might have reached the trillions.

Over the past few days, only these 30,000 participants managed to buy their own sprite essences.

Ye Yun had made a huge profit this time, earning nearly 40 million star coins. After giving 8 million to Jade, Topaz, and Aventurine, the rest was all his.

And what he had to pay was merely one god-level essence, worth just 1 million star coins.

Topaz, Jade, and Aventurine had been insanely busy during this period, but they enjoyed it and even wished they were busier.

The preliminary rounds would last three days. Each player had to compete in three matches per day, and only those who won all three could advance.

One round per day, for a total of three rounds. The top 1,000 would proceed to the knockout stage.

The knockout matches would be in a 1v1 format to determine the final champion.

On the Hype Mini Planet—

Welt was with his sprite's juvenile form, Jonas, a small black hole about a meter tall.

Yes, Jonas was a black hole. Welt was overjoyed when he drew this one.

A black-hole-shaped sprite? That was truly amazing.

Next to Jonas, Bubu Flower carried March 7th's former camera—the exact one she wore in the original story.

The one Stelle currently had was bought later from Ye Yun.

Welt looked at Bubu Flower. freёnovelkiss.com

"Bubu Flower, let's go. Let's finish our three matches for today.

Go, Bubu Flower."

Bubu Flower clenched her tiny fists, her face full of determination.

"Bubu!"

Welt smiled faintly and led Jonas and Bubu Flower off to find today's opponents.

With the Grand Theater of Hype as the center, the 10-kilometer area around it was the designated zone for the preliminary matches.

Each participant received a battle recorder issued by the organizers, and the results were determined by it.

The moment someone lost a match, the recorder would emit a red light to indicate elimination.

As Welt walked out of the Grand Theater with Bubu Flower, they ran into a group of three—two women and one man.

The man was dressed flamboyantly, looking every bit like a nobleman.

"Hey, I haven't seen those two sprites in the guidebook before."

Welt glanced at the man.

"Sprites hatched from high-level essences don't appear in the guidebook."

The man nodded with an "I see" expression.

"I get it now. Interesting—coincidentally, my sprite is also from a high-level essence.

Wanna battle? I just need one more win today."

Upon hearing this, Bubu Flower stepped forward and struck a fighting pose.

"Bubu!"

The man looked more intrigued.

"Not bad, full of fighting spirit.

Come out, Moby! Let's claim our victory in style!"

The man threw out a capsule, and a sprite made entirely of rock with tiny feet appeared.

Welt scanned it with the sprite guidebook.

[Sprite: Moby

Level: Lv.3

Type: Ground

Description: A rare ground-type sprite.]

After reading Moby's info, Welt had already lost interest in the fight.

How could Moby be a match for Bubu Flower?

Not to mention the elemental disadvantage—just by level alone, the gap was huge.

One was a starting sprite, the other a fully evolved one. What chance did Moby have?

The nobleman waved grandly.

"Go, Moby! Use Tackle!"

Moby charged straight at Bubu Flower.

The nobleman, seeing that Bubu Flower didn't dodge, was ready to celebrate victory.

Moby slammed hard into Bubu Flower.

The nobleman pumped his fist.

"Nice! Moby, direct hit!"

But the next second, the nobleman's raised hand froze mid-air, his expression blank.

He saw—

Moby collided with Bubu Flower, got pushed in a bit, then bounced back.

Bubu Flower rubbed her tummy where she was hit and casually summoned a vine, hooking Moby upside down as she looked at the nobleman.

"Bubu?"

The nobleman stood speechless.

What?! My invincible Moby couldn't even break through her defense?

Did I get a defective sprite? But no, I won my first two matches easily...

Welt spoke.

"My friend, Bubu Flower is asking if you surrender."

The nobleman snapped out of it. Though reluctant, he had to accept the reality—they weren't on the same level at all.

"I surrender. Friend, how did you raise your sprite? She's so strong."

Welt shook his head.

"Bubu Flower isn't mine. She belongs to a companion of mine who couldn't make it today, so I brought her along."

The nobleman responded,

"I see. Well, tough luck for me. Goodbye."

Bubu Flower released Moby. Moby returned to the nobleman, who picked him up.

"Let's go, Moby. Back to training! We'll be back next year!"

Moby responded.

"Mo~ Mo~!"

After they left, Welt continued to challenge a few more participants with Bubu Flower and Jonas.

It was a breeze—both won all three of today's battles.

Welt didn't head back just yet. He planned to wander around to scout potential opponents.

As he walked—

He encountered Stelle and Firefly.

Stelle was commanding Mika against a Clefairy.

"Mika! Use Light Beam!"

Mika leapt high, the gem on its forehead firing a white beam.

"Mi!! Ka!!"

The beam struck Clefairy, sending it flying and knocking it out.

Stelle's battle recorder lit up green.

Stelle put her hands on her hips triumphantly.

"Wahaha! As expected of my Galaxy Fire Hero's sprite—awesome! Mika, return!"

Mika bounced happily back to her side.

Welt walked over.

"Stelle, Firefly."

The two looked over.

"Uncle Welt? You're finally here! How'd your three matches go?"

Welt nodded.

"Jonas and Bubu Flower both won. What about you?"

Stelle raised her chin proudly.

"Of course we won~ Mika and Fire Monkey have gotten way stronger~

Huh? Bubu Flower? She's here too?"

She looked down and saw Bubu Flower at Welt's feet.

Welt explained what had happened.

Both Stelle and Firefly looked at Bubu Flower with sympathy after hearing the story.

Stelle walked up to her.

"Bubu Flower, let's do our best. See you in the finals!"

Bubu Flower smiled and nodded.

"Bubu!"

Stelle glanced around.

"Uncle Welt, wanna head back together?"

Welt shook his head.

"I want to look around more, get a feel for the competition."

Stelle nodded.

"Alright then, take your time. We'll head back first."

***

Walter continued strolling with Bubu Flower and Jonas, while Stelle and Firefly returned to the train.

Onboard the train, the group that had secured three victories for the day were now resting.

Jing Yuan picked up his teacup and took a light sip.

"After my match today, I wandered around a bit. One young man's Spirit left a deep impression on me.

Here, take a look. I recorded it with my sprite guidebook at the time."

Jing Yuan took out his sprite guidebook and displayed the information of a particular Spirit to the others.

"Spirit: Thunder Mouse

Level: 20

Type: Electric

Description: The final evolution of Bibi Mouse, possessing the power to control lightning."

Zhongli examined it carefully.

"This Thunder Mouse will likely achieve a very high ranking. Its level alone already surpasses 99% of the other contestants."

Fu Xuan was intrigued.

"I'm quite curious—how did his Thunder Mouse level up so quickly?

I've looked into Bibi Mouse before. Its potential isn't considered high; it's just a rather ordinary Spirit."

Jiaoqiu thought for a moment.

"I can think of two possibilities.

First, it was continuously made to battle—Spirit gain experience through combat and level up that way.

Everyone here knows this.

Second, this Thunder Mouse is an exception, a naturally gifted individual among the Bibi Mouse species."

Huaiyan stroked his beard and chuckled.

"If it's the first case, that could be worth emulating—rapidly leveling a Spirit through intense, frequent battles.

But doing so would definitely lead to an unstable foundation."

Jing Yuan said,

"Then it's best we don't try that method. Don't we all hope our Spirit can become truly powerful?

Alright, let's stop talking about this. Have some tea."

Amphoreus – Hero's Bath

Tribbie, Trianne, and Trinnon were playing by the bath with their little Spirit.

All three had cleverly chosen Spirit of the same species—Sproutling.

Tribbie had a shiny Sproutling, while Trianne and Tribbie had regular ones.

"Come on, Green Bean! Come play!" Trianne called loudly to her Sproutling.

The Sproutling named Green Bean leapt into the water and splashed toward her.

"Yaa~ yaa~"

Trinnon's shiny Sproutling was named Yellow Bean. She was wiping water off Yellow Bean with a towel.

"Yellow Bean, we've got to keep working hard tomorrow—let's try to win a few more battles, alright?"

Yellow Bean flexed its leafy arms to show off its imaginary muscles.

"Yaa!"

Trianne's Sproutling was named Red Bean, the quietest of the trio. She and Trianne were sitting by the bath, feet gently swaying in the water.

Aglaea was feeling frustrated—she had been eliminated on the very first day.

Her Spirit was a small water-type turtle named Bell.

Unfortunately, not long after arriving at the competition venue, she ran into a contestant with a grass-type Spirit, a Cacnea.

The opponent challenged her to a battle.

According to the rules, unless you had already won three matches for the day, you were required to accept all battle invitations.

Mydei rubbed the small Yiyou sitting on her shoulder.

"These Spirit battles are pretty fun. Plus, I met a lot of new friends today."

Phainon agreed.

"Yeah! These Spirit battles are super fun. I'm already really looking forward to tomorrow's matches."

Aglaea glanced at them.

"Everyone, get some rest early. We still have things to do tomorrow.

Don't forget—we still need to retrieve the Ember of the Dispute Titan."

Phainon and Mydei both nodded in understanding.

In Ye Yun's Room

He was currently communicating with the system.

**[Congratulations, Host! You have completed the task: Revenue reached 10 million star coins! Reward: Peak Emanator-level strength!

New task issued: Earn 30 million in revenue!

Congratulations, Host! You have completed the task: Revenue reached 30 million! Reward: One Enhancement Machines!]**

Ye Yun was overjoyed at the system's string of announcements.

He hadn't expected to finish two tasks at once.

Enhancement Machine? If he was right, that thing came from some game, didn't it?

Ye Yun went to his shop and took out the enhancement machine to inspect it.

Yup—exactly what he thought. It was that very machine from a certain dungeon-themed game.

His activity caught Stelle's attention. She walked over holding a cup of iced Cola.

Stelle reached out and touched the enhancement machine.

"What is this thing?" she asked, knocking on its outer casing.

Ye Yun explained,

"This is an enhancement machine. It can enhance any item—no matter what it is.

But you need enhancement stones to use it. I sell them in my store—1,000 star coins each."

Stelle was intrigued. She took out Judgment of Shamash.

"Can this thing be enhanced too?"

Ye Yun nodded.

"Yup. No matter what it is, it can be enhanced.

But the higher the quality, the more enhancement stones are required."

Stelle asked,

"How many enhancement stones does it take for my Judgment of Shamash?"

Ye Yun pointed at the machine.

"Just place it on there. The screen beside the input slot will show you the required number."

Stelle placed her weapon on the machine, and the number quickly appeared.

100 stones.

Stelle frowned at the number.

100 stones? That's 100,000 star coins! So expensive?

Still... not unthinkable, especially since she'd just made a lot of money in Amphoreus.

In the end, she pulled out 100,000 star coins and bought 100 enhancement stones.

As she dropped the stones into the machine, it activated. Two giant hammers appeared out of thin air and slammed toward Judgment of Shamash.

Stelle instinctively reached out, afraid the hammers would destroy her weapon.

Thankfully, Ye Yun stopped her.

"It's fine."

After a few strikes, the hammers dissolved into light particles, followed by an electronic announcement:

[Enhancement successful!

Judgment of Shamash +1

Fire Attribute Attack +10%

Sharpness +10%]

Stelle picked up her weapon and tested it out.

"Holy Beans! Awesome—it really did increase by 10%!

Firefly! Come check this out—this thing's amazing!"

Hearing her, Firefly ran over.

Before Ye Yun could even explain, Stelle excitedly introduced the machine to Firefly.

After listening, Firefly decided to try enhancing her transformation device.

She spent 100,000 star coins, and the enhancement succeeded.

[Enhancement successful!

Sam Transformation Device +1

Fire Attribute Attack +10%

Overall Sam Armor performance +10%]

The loud clanging soon attracted the others, who all gathered around.

After learning what the enhancement machine could do, nearly everyone gave it a try.

Silver Wolf stepped forward with flair.

"Outta the way! Let the unbeatable Lady Silver Wolf see what this thing's all about!"

She placed her weapon onto the enhancement machine...