After Tang Wen finished the drawing, he put away his brush and gave Ziye a slight smile. "Do you know how to adjust it now?"

Ziye’s eyes were shimmering with unshed tears as she clutched the light screen tightly. "That’s incredible! You truly are a master. Little Sprout won’t have to worry about my engine anymore!"

Tang Wen felt a mixture of surprise and genuine happiness. It was the first time Ziye had offered him such direct praise, and it warmed him through and through, like having consumed hundreds of Ginseng Fruits.

To think it was so easy to make her happy—it was both expected and utterly surprising.

Ziye stood up, still holding the screen, and bowed low. "Thank you, Teacher, thank you. I'll go run the tests now." With that, she bolted toward the assembly line.

Seeing her go, Li Chunyu immediately followed in her footsteps.

Little Sprout looked up at Tang Wen, then down at Ziye, and decisively flapped its wings to hover right above Ziye's head as she flew.

Tang Wen leaned back in his chair, watching their retreating figures with an unruffled calm, a faint smile playing on his lips. He turned and noticed Bran watching him with a deeply thoughtful expression, causing his earlobes to flush. He snapped testily, "What are you looking at?"

Bran quietly lowered his head to sip his tea, the suppressed amusement reflecting faintly in the amber liquid.

—Is this what they mean by, 'Every master has met his match'?

Tang Wen elegantly finished his cup of tea and stood up. "Her data parameters should be close to finalized. Let's go take a look."

Bran silently grumbled to himself, Do you think everyone in the world is as brilliant as you are?

Bran’s internal critique was, unfortunately, accurate.

At that moment, Ziye and Li Chunyu were still at the very beginning of the engine fabrication line, struggling to calibrate the initial data—it was nowhere near as fast as Tang Wen had anticipated.

Tang Wen inherently disliked laying everything out clearly. He often provided only a sketch or a couple of formulas, leaving Ziye to puzzle out the rest on her own.

Ziye was accustomed to this method. She had paid close attention to every spot Tang Wen had indicated with his pen, studying every line of the draft clearly. She understood it all, which allowed her to begin data calibration immediately.

Li Chunyu was not as familiar with Tang Wen’s cryptic style, and his thought process hadn't shifted yet. After copying Tang Wen’s sketch, he stared at the schematic for a long time and remained completely baffled.

Ziye, skilled at multitasking, explained the necessary commands as she entered them. By the time the input was complete, the explanation was finished. Li Chunyu was quick-witted; as soon as Ziye finished speaking, he grasped the concepts and immediately began cross-checking Ziye's data to prevent errors.

Tang Wen strolled leisurely to Ziye's side, leaning in slightly to observe her work. Suddenly, he pointed to one specific data point. "This multiplication is short by 0.032. The derived data is also incorrect. The final engine load should reach 960. Recalculate."

Li Chunyu had just finished his own calculation, yielding the same result as Tang Wen. He walked over to look at the data Ziye had input, then glanced at Tang Wen, who stood with his hands casually in his pockets, using no instruments at all. He was suddenly stunned speechless. "Teacher, how did you calculate that?"

Tang Wen replied flatly, "Mental arithmetic."

Li Chunyu’s eyes nearly shot out like bullets.

Some people are simply born to inspire envy, jealousy, and resentment in others—Tang Wen was one of them.

Though Li Chunyu didn't possess the self-awareness of a young genius, he knew his mental math skills were decent. Yet, in front of Tang Wen, he suddenly felt like a pile of worthless junk.

He was utterly humbled.

Tang Wen was powerful to an infuriating degree!

Li Chunyu had unexpectedly found his life's aspiration and role model: the beautiful teacher standing before him with a gentle smile—Tang Wen!

Ziye found the figures Tang Wen cited, modifying them as she went. "Senior Brother Chunyu, just ignore him. He’s practically inhuman; his brain rivals a Quantum Core."

Previously, Ziye felt that while Tang Wen’s personality was prickly, his mind was like the towering library in his home—so high she couldn't see the top, perhaps containing a tiny clerk diligently organizing all those volumes. She knew she could never match that.

Now, she suddenly felt that Tang Wen's mind wasn't a library; it was a Quantum Core. As formidable as Little Sprout’s.

In short, he was god-like.

Therefore, she understood Li Chunyu’s feelings completely!

When people encounter someone far stronger than themselves, their mindset can easily skew. If not adjusted promptly, it can negatively impact their lives, work, and even their future paths. That’s why as soon as Tang Wen spoke, Ziye immediately tried to comfort him.

Li Chunyu’s eyes shone as he stared at Tang Wen, then suddenly lunged forward, nearly dropping to his knees to grab his leg. "Teacher, please take me as your student."

Tang Wen paused, looking troubled. "I already have Ziye."

Li Chunyu pleaded, "Teacher, please take one more—just me, please?"

Hearing this, Ziye froze, turning to look first at Tang Wen, then at Li Chunyu, unsure of what to say.

Tang Wen suddenly asked, "Ziye, what do you think?"

Ziye: Isn't he deliberately making this difficult for me? She thought carefully. "If you don't mind..."

Tang Wen slowly shook his head. "That is not what I asked you."

Ziye was confused. "Then what did you ask?"

Tang Wen smiled faintly. "Do you think I am suitable to be anyone's teacher?"

Ziye: "This..."

He truly wasn't very good at teaching, but how could she refuse him now? Undermining him would mean undermining Li Chunyu! She thought Li Chunyu was an excellent student—gentle in nature and sharp-witted. But did she have the right to decide for him?

Tang Wen laughed and patted Li Chunyu's shoulder. "Ziye is not my student; she is my junior martial sister. We share the same teacher. The only advantage I have over her is spending more time near our master."

—That is true, after all. They both belong to the Tangshan lineage.

Li Chunyu stared blankly. "You... and Ziye are martial brother and sister?"

Tang Wen nodded gently. "That’s right. I am still learning myself and truly lack the capacity to mentor a student. However, if you have any questions, we can certainly discuss them mutually. Your advisor, Professor Alpha Cillai, is a very professional teacher, and he will guide you excellently."

Hearing the matter settled to this extent, Li Chunyu knew it was impossible. He said, heartbroken, "I understand, thank you, Teacher."

Ziye worriedly looked at Li Chunyu, afraid he might take it hard, but his reaction surpassed her expectations.

Li Chunyu hadn't held high hopes to begin with; he had simply held this request in his heart for a long time, and finally had the chance to voice it. Hearing the answer directly, though painful, brought a sense of release the moment the resolution was given. Instead of retreating in embarrassment, he lightly punched her arm. "So you're his junior sister! You kept that from me for so long!"

Ziye finally breathed a sigh of relief and brightened her smile. "Let’s hurry up and run the tests."

With Tang Wen lending his expertise, Ziye and Li Chunyu made rapid progress. Bran was also helpful, though he invariably stood steadfastly by Tang Wen’s side, ignoring everything else, which allowed Ziye to openly disregard him.

With Tang Wen present, everything went smoothly.

Previously, Ziye and Li Chunyu had to narrow down data ranges through trial and error, often needing eight or ten attempts to finalize the parameters. Tang Wen, however, could immediately pinpoint the core issue and achieve a precise, one-shot solution that Ziye found exhilaratingly satisfying!

By the end of the day, they had corrected the two missing components and re-tuned the data. Since the Twins hadn't returned with materials, the pair sensibly wrapped up work and joined Tang Wen for dinner again.

After the meal, Bran professionally escorted Li Chunyu back to his apartment first, and then took Ziye to hers. Tang Wen sat beside Ziye the entire trip. Upon landing at Ziye’s apartment platform, she hopped off the airship and waved to Tang Wen. He suddenly seemed to recall something and beckoned her closer.

Ziye approached, not understanding, and Tang Wen pinched her cheek with satisfaction. "No destruction, no construction."

Ziye blinked in confusion as Bran started the airship, tossing out one last comment: "Remember to go to class tomorrow." Then they ascended.

"No destruction, no construction?" Ziye pondered the four words. "What does that mean?"

Just then, something thin extended near her neck. She snapped her head around to see Little Sprout grinning so widely its mouth nearly split open. "Ziye, you little dummy, you can’t even understand those four words."

Ziye pinched it crossly. "Then tell me what they mean!"

Little Sprout shook its head pompously. "It obviously refers to the problems with your mechs! Your Night Crow and Crow mechs imitate Tangshan’s designs at almost ninety percent similarity. The Monarch and Queen types are slightly better, but still seventy percent his shadow."

Ziye murmured, "No destruction, no construction... If I don't break free from the constraints of Tangshan's design, I can never achieve my own true work?"

After a moment, she heard no reply from Little Sprout.

She looked over and saw it bobbing playfully toward her apartment entrance.

Little Sprout—I’m back!

Ziye bet that was exactly what it was thinking.

Back in the apartment, she slumped onto the sofa, silently contemplating the four words Tang Wen had spoken.

Little Sprout was right. Her imitation of Tangshan was too heavy-handed. In the future, she needed to cast aside what belonged to Tangshan and truly dig into her own work? Which designer didn't start by learning through imitation?

Ziye felt her apprenticeship through imitation had reached its end; she needed a breakthrough point. She had tried to push the boundaries with this competition mech, and so had Li Chunyu.

But perhaps neither of them had reached the ideal yet.

Ziye pulled out the blueprints, intending to continue studying, but Little Sprout and Dou Zai rushed over, clinging to her legs, rolling over her body until she couldn't concentrate.

"Stop messing around! I still have work to do!"

Little Sprout chuckled mischievously. "Forget all the data now. Go look at it again in a few days."

Ziye frustratingly picked them up and placed them aside, then pulled up the Monarch-type mech to review it again.

Perhaps because some time had passed and her thoughts had settled, or perhaps because of the influence of Tang Wen’s four words, she examined the mech from top to bottom and suddenly realized Little Sprout was completely correct.

This mech was seventy percent imitation of Tangshan’s design.

She was truly shallow, possessing nothing of her own!

-(To be continued...)