Stellar Train: I Open a Small Shop on the Train-Chapter 183

After the second roller coaster ride, the magical cat completely passed out.

Klee was very worried when she saw this and quickly called Bailu over to check what was going on.

Bailu glanced at the cat and said, "No problem, just a minor issue. It just fainted. Let me give it a quick acupuncture jab."

She took out a silver needle, closed one eye to aim carefully, and precisely stuck it into one of the magical cat's pressure points.

The magical cat instantly sprang up and leapt into the air, fully awake.

Seeing this, Bailu nodded in satisfaction and put the needle away.

Then, the ten little ones continued playing in the amusement park.

Among them, Tiane was the wildest, going from one ride to the next without taking a break.

Over half an hour later, Ye Yun came to check on them. Seeing that Klee and the others were having a great time, he didn't call them back, deciding to let them play a little longer—there was still plenty of time.

Looking around, Ye Yun decided to head to the treehouse to see what Stelle, Hutao, and the others were up to—they hadn't even come for dinner.

Ye Yun climbed the spiral stairs to the treehouse entrance, and just as he arrived, a ruckus could be heard from inside.

He frowned and knocked on the door.

No one answered for a long while, so he knocked again. This time, someone opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, Ye Yun was speechless—this place was full of chaos and madness.

Stelle was blankly climbing onto a bookshelf, mumbling, "I'm a raccoon~ Hehe~ I'm a raccoon~"

Hutao and Amber had tied up Eula, and Hutao was pulling out a stack of talisman papers. "You seductive spirit! Today, I, the Hall Master, will exorcise you!"

Amber cheered from the side, "Get her! Get her!"

Lumine was hugging a floor lamp with a lovestruck expression, "Ehehe~ such long legs~ Ehehe~ slurp slurp, mia~ mia~ so fragrant! And cool to the touch—top quality!"

Kiana stood on a table in her Athena Valkyrie armor. "Wahaha! That's right! I'm the strongest Valkyrie! Honkai beast, take my punch!"

She leapt up and threw a punch at Ye Yun.

Ye Yun caught Kiana's punch with one hand, snapped his fingers, and a chain formed from imaginary energy wrapped Kiana up like a caterpillar.

Kiana squirmed on the ground. "Damn Honkai beast! You sneak attacked me! You're no fun! If you have guts, untie me!"

Seeing that Kiana still wasn't behaving even after being tied up, Ye Yun grabbed an apple from the table and stuffed it in her mouth.

He looked at the others, sighed, and shook his head. Then he gave them all the same "set meal" Kiana just got.

A few seconds later...

Several "caterpillars" lay squirming on the floor in front of Ye Yun, letting out faint whimpers.

Helpless, Ye Yun went to find Bailu. She looked at the empty potion bottles on the table and the leftover bits of King-tier Jianshouqing mushroom in the pot.

"If I had known, I wouldn't have given them the potion.

Eating like this is a no-go! Drinking the potion while eating Jianshouqing...

Sigh~"

Ye Yun patted Bailu's little head.

"Let's treat them first, Balu."

Bailu replied, "There's nothing I can do to treat them. They definitely ate Jianshouqing while drinking potion.

Now the mushroom and potion are already mixed in their stomachs. All we can do is wait for them to digest it.

But don't worry—the potion will protect them. There won't be any physical harm, but they'll experience hallucinations for a while."

Hearing that, Ye Yun no longer paid attention to the group and simply left the treehouse with Bailu.

He figured they'd be fine after some time, once the mushroom and potion were digested.

The next day.

Stelle, Kiana, and the others who had secretly eaten Jianshouqing hotpot were now sitting calmly on the sofa.

Stelle lay on a trash-can-shaped sofa with her legs crossed. "That was really stress-relieving~ Even though the hotpot causes hallucinations, waking up the next day feels amazing~"

Hutao agreed. "Indeed. My insomnia is cured."

Lumine chimed in, "Let's make this a regular tradition, shall we? Have a hotpot session now and then to relax."

Silver Wolf, who was playing a console game nearby, added, "There's a saying on the internet: 'With all the stress in today's world, it's good to go a little crazy now and then to relieve it.'"

Ye Yun and Jing Yuan, who were having tea nearby, exchanged a smile.

Stress? What a joke. These people are constantly going crazy—causing mischief here and fun there. How could they have mental stress?

Jing Yuan chuckled, "I've seen that quote online too. I think it makes some sense."

Ye Yun nodded. "It's not wrong. People need to learn to manage their emotions."

Soon, breakfast was ready, and Xiangling called everyone over to eat.

Milim sat at the table, lightly tapping it with her knife and fork. "What's for breakfast today, Xiangling?"

Xiangling placed a big clay pot on the table and opened the lid. "I made soup with Jianshouqing. There are noodles on the side—everyone can help themselves.

Oh, and don't worry about the Jianshouqing. I simmered it for over an hour. It's definitely fully cooked."

Stelle shook her head when she heard that. "Xiangling~ the whole point of eating Jianshouqing is its freshness. Fully cooked kind of kills the vibe."

Ye Yun rolled his eyes. "Oh really? So it's fresh, and then you end up seeing stars again? Just eat already—there's a competition later."

At the mention of the competition, Hutao remembered something.

"Ye Yun, today's match is a battle royale, right?"

Ye Yun nodded. "That's right. Only the last 64 people standing will enter the third elimination round."

Hutao thought for a moment. "In that case, people will definitely form teams, right?"

Ye Yun nodded again. "Of course. That's not against the rules."

Hutao turned to Amber and the others. "Amber, Eula, Firefly—let's team up so we don't get ganged up on."

Amber and the others agreed.

Stelle quietly listened to Hutao and the others discuss teaming up.

"Sigh~ I'm so jealous. You all get to compete. Me? I can only wait to be challenged. Sigh~"

Lumine was speechless at Stelle's humble-brag. "If you keep talking, we won't be friends anymore."

Stelle chuckled, "What did I say? I was just stating a fact~"

That smug tone successfully angered Lumine, Hu Tao, and the others.

Two minutes later...

Stelle stood there with a giant lump on her head, her face full of defiance.

Hmph! You guys are just jealous! Jealous that I'm famous across the universe! Jealous that I have Miris!

***

After finishing their meal, everyone arrived at the venue for the Joyful Little Sprite Battle Tournament.

All 500 contestants entered the battlefield. As the opening speech by Aventurine concluded, the walls separating the four differently themed arenas let out a loud rumble and slowly descended.

Once the walls were fully down, Aventurine waved his hand. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

"Free-for-all! Begin!"

As soon as Aventurine's voice fell, the 500 contestants immediately entered battle mode and released their sprites.

Hutao, Amber, Eula, Firefly, Kiana, and others gathered together, staying alert for nearby opponents.

Just as Hutao predicted, the other contestants had all formed alliances—there were no lone players nearby.

The battlefield suddenly grew quiet; for a moment, no one made the first move.

With only 64 players advancing out of 500, the chances were slim. No team dared to start the fight for fear of being ambushed after weakening themselves.

However, one sprite didn't wait long before launching an attack.

That's right—March 7th's Bubu Flower went straight for the big move.

A Leaf Storm swept through the surroundings, wiping out two small groups of more than ten people each.

On the screen above the battlefield, the number 500 instantly dropped to 478.

The teams near Bubuhua were stunned by its power. Many began to retreat quietly, not wanting to provoke it.

But it was futile—Bubu Flower could chase them down.

As Bubu Flower hunted down small teams, someone finally realized the threat and quickly rallied others to counterattack.

"Stop running! If we don't take down this Bubu Flower, we're all doomed!"

"That's right! Everyone attack together! It has limited stamina—we'll wear it down with a war of attrition!"

In an instant, over a hundred contestants swarmed toward Bubuhua.

Hutao and the others were about to rush in to help—Bubu Flower belonged to March 7th, one of their own, so of course they had to assist.

But they were stopped by Welt.

"Don't worry. Bubu Flower can handle it."

Just as he said that, the flower on Bubu Flower's head shook, releasing a cloud of pollen laced with seeds.

A sharp-eyed contestant recognized the move.

"Crap! Retreat! That's Leech Seed—it drains other sprites' stamina to heal itself!"

Too late. The nearby sprites were all seeded.

Seeing this, the attackers launched one final offensive, bombarding Bubu Flower with all their might.

Bubu Flower plunged its hands into the ground, and countless vines erupted, binding the enemy sprites.

This was another one of Bubu Flower's skills—Mega Drain, which directly saps stamina from any bound targets.

Even as the attacks landed, Bubu Flower's regeneration outpaced the damage it took.

Soon, all nearby sprites collapsed from exhaustion. The judges, seeing this, ruled those contestants defeated.

What happened next was obvious. With their sprites down, the contestants had no hope—Bubu Flower would just clean up.

Better to eliminate them now and save time than let them struggle pointlessly.

Himeko nodded to Akxia. Akxia understood and leaped onto a large boulder.

Raising one front paw, Akxia slammed it down. Instantly, frost spread out rapidly from beneath its feet.

In just ten seconds, the entire desert battlefield transformed into an icy glacier.

This was Akxia's move: Frozen Wasteland—a large-area damaging skill that also altered the local climate.

Every sprite in the desert was affected. The weaker ones were immediately knocked back into their sprite capsules.

When a sprite completely loses the ability to battle, it turns into a ball of light and returns to its capsule.

The capsules contain a space where sprites can live and recover from injuries.

As for the survivors, most were afflicted with a status called "Frostbite."

In this state, a sprite's speed is reduced by 30%.

Then, Akxia raised its head and howled. An icy storm formed and swept across the battlefield.

A few minutes later, Akxia dissipated the storm. Except for Himeko, all other contestants' sprites had been knocked out.

The audience, both in the arena and watching the live stream, was stunned.

"What is that sprite? It's so strong!"

"This is broken! How did I not notice this one earlier?"

"I know it—it's called Akxia. It's just been low-key so far. All its previous opponents were one-shot."

"That Bubu Flower was already crazy, and now there's Akxia. How is anyone else supposed to compete?"

Just then, an exclamation drew attention to another battlefield.

In the rainforest arena—

Welt's sprite, Yunus, flew into the air and began to glow.

A terrifying portal appeared in the sky. As it opened, a dark energy surged across the battlefield.

Aside from Hutao's team, all other sprites were instantly wiped out, just like in the desert.

Seeing this, contestants in the remaining two arenas realized they couldn't wait any longer—they had to eliminate the competition now.

This round's rule was that the last 64 standing would advance, meaning as long as you defeated others and made it into the top 64, you were safe.

None of the remaining contestants wanted to be eliminated now. They'd come too far. It was time to fight for a spot in the front ranks.

The exposure from this tournament was immense. Some of the lesser-known players who had performed well in the desert had already received offers from major galactic forces.

The Sprite Battle Tournament had become universally recognized as a way to change one's fate through hard work.

As long as you had a sprite, you could enter.

And if you raised your sprite with care, you'd be rewarded.

Even if you didn't become famous, you'd still gain a loyal and powerful partner—wasn't that worth it?

On the two remaining arenas, over 200 contestants battled fiercely, and soon, the final 64 contestants were decided.

Among the regulars at Ye Yun's shop, the surprising part was that Yanqing, Fu Xuan, Honkai Star Rail's Bronya, Natasha, Gepard, and even Asta were all eliminated.

Most shocking was Asta—she had invested heavily in training her sprite for this tournament.

Her sprite was a water-type named Blue.

It had already evolved into its final form: Bluekeke.