Legend of the Maestro Chapter 5

From then on, Ye Zhong started to contact with that mystical and enchanting outside world. That place had almost everything, as long as there was a demand, it would have been supplied. Ye Zhong quickly grew fond of this virtual but authentic world. It took him no time to transform from being timid to being in his element.

No one knew what Mu Shang had been doing every day; he disappeared swiftly as soon as Ye Zhong had logged into the virtual network.

Ye Zhong's most favourite location was a huge area called the "Guti Star". Not only did it sell every type of mechas available, but it also had an endless supply of components. However, the most important aspects were the assembly of several mecha fanatics, they came there every day to discuss and socialize. Most of them were mecha engineers, or experienced professionals. The area manager had even built a medium sized mecha database, which delighted Ye Zhong greatly.

Ye Zhong immensely enjoyed the learning atmosphere there. Those people there also adored and cared about a genuine child with an inquisitive mind, who wasn't scared to ask questions. Thanks to the guidance of those brilliant minds, Ye Zhong was aware of how out dated his knowledge was. That made sense actually, since everything he had known was learned from his foster father, a person who had not kept in touch with the outside world for dozens of years. Fortunately, he had a grounded foundation. Only then did he realize why his father's basic logic teaching was absolutely strict.

With a firm knowledge of the foundations, Ye Zhong quickly caught on and absorbed new knowledge like a sponge. Thus, other people valued him even more.

Today, as soon as he got home, Ye Zhong rushed into Mu Shang's cockpit and wore the battle helmet. Although he had cherished this virtual world, he wasn't addicted to it. He fathomed out that it wasn't his real world, and if he was to be engulfed in it, he could have lost his life in this dangerous dump planet. Thus, every time he went out, he put in 120% concentration, never neglecting any details.

Once he was up on the network, Ye Zhong headed straight to the Guti Star area. Before he could catch his breath, Mu Shang's voice echoed in his head "Ye Zi, I need you to go to a location"

That weirded Ye Zhong out. Mu Shang had been gone for the past few days, and he didn't have any ideas of what it did while it had been gone.

Ye Zhong asked "Where?"

"Just follow my lead" Mu Shang replied.

Ye Zhong adhered to Mu Shang's directions, and after a while of walking in different directions, he finally arrived in front of a tall building. He could see people moving about inside, it was a bustling scene.

Ye Zhong was curious "Mu, where are we?"

Mu Shang explained "This is master's consciousness training base. Inside the building is where the teaching of the consciousness basic training occurs. There is space outside to practice. All your techniques were self-learnt, thus, a lot of those techniques aren't sensible. I went past here by chance last time, so I took a look at the learning modules. Although 7.63% of the content was inadequate, training here will benefit your skill improvements greatly. Ye Zhong was still doubtful "Consciousness training? What is consciousness training?"

Mu Shang described, "The full name is the consciousness' training of response capability. It can train your neural systems to memorize certain actions. Obviously, it requires a lot of actual training to perform the basic movements, after then, can your body memorize it. However, with proper consciousness training, it will shorten your training time"

Ye Zhong couldn't comprehend everything, and just nodded, "Yeah, is it so…" Ye Zhong reminded himself that regardless of what that was, it was definitely beneficial as long as Mu Shang had said so.

The master's consciousness training base was set up by the Farr Region masters Association.

Ye Zhong walked into the hall. There were several columns arranged neatly. Every now and then, the column glowed when someone had touched it, and they then vanished. Other times, the column glowed and someone appeared.

Ye Zhong was no longer the naïve boy that didn't know anything from before, now he waltzed in towards the column and tapped it. A translucent screen appeared in mid-air in front of him.

Mu Shang instructed "There are 3 zones in total: Basic Training Zone, General Training Zone, and Battle Zone. It's your first time here so you should go to the Battle Zone and observe."

As soon as Mu Shang finished, the screen transformed. It now showed people waiting in a room, and loads of audiences. Ye Zhong randomly picked one.

"Swift!" he was already in the room, standing in front of a black mecha. Ye Zhong recognised the mecha immediately. It was Black Bird - a common mecha for beginners due to its simple operations and low price point. Its features were surely of novice mechas: only a magnetic sword, a titanium shield, and two alloy daggers, with an infrared gun on its shoulders. Its powers were so insignificant that Ye Zhong didn't even bother with it. However, the real reason was that he didn't know any shooting techniques.

Black Bird's appearance was just as its name had suggested. There were two retractable wings on each side, which stabilized the new learner's flying. Below the wings were two rows of assisting engines, but only with limited power. The two mechanical arms below the Black Bird's abdomen could have used the magnetic sword and the alloy daggers. An infrared gun was on top of its head, and its slender and elongated neck could have maximized the attack range. However a combination of the gun's power and Ye Zhong's shooting ability, this advantage wouldn't have amounted to anything.

This low level, cannot-get-any-more-ordinary mecha gratified him greatly: compared to Wen Ni, this mecha's features were way more advanced.

Ye Zhong dashed into the cockpit. As soon as he saw the opponent's mecha, he couldn't help but feel dismayed.

If his mecha was a good-for-nothing small bird, his opponent's was the king of the bird species: Phoenix. Like an art masterpiece, its contours was elegant, its side hip and tail were bursting with colour, just the way that a real phoenix would have looked like. Its body armour was of such a burning red, as if it could suffocate its viewers. Although it was standing still, it's arrogant and relaxed appearance couldn't have even been compared.

Shadow Phoenix, its name fit its appearance well: quick as a shadow while looking like a phoenix.

Shadow Phoenix - a type II mecha version. His recent time venturing in the Guti Star had finally paid off, he had now memorized all of its parameters. The two mecha's couldn't have been compared to one another. Shadow Phoenix II utilised long range combat, high speed, and an up-to-date shooting system as its best feature. Moreover, a dazzling and beautiful appearance was popular among the girls. But in Ye Zhong's mind, the side wings were completely useless, thus, they were a burden, an attractive outlook could serve as a sign pointing out one's own existence for the enemy to see.

Without much time to judge the whole situation, the starting signal was heard

Chapter end