Yukong felt as if her heart had stopped.

These two Trailblazers… had actually taken her daughter out in a Starskiff? And judging from the looks of it… they were training her?

Yukong took a deep breath to calm herself down. The most important thing right now was to personally call Qingni back and have a proper talk with her.

Still, Yukong could already guess what Qingni would say.

As the daughter of her closest friend, her talent and thinking were far too similar to her own. But the moment she thought of that person, an inexplicable pain welled up in her chest.

Past sorrows circled her heart and made it hard to breathe.

While Yukong's emotions were in turmoil, on the other side Qingni was steadily becoming a qualified pilot under Pei Guang's training.

She didn't have the kind of player ability where, even if there was just one drop of HP left and only a seat remaining, she could keep going.

But thanks to Pei Guang's training, having gained the ability to collect fragments from trash cans, she could now repair a Starskiff with a hammer and wrench anytime, anywhere.

The trash can fragments she collected were also given to her by Pei Guang. And through constant practice, Qingni was gradually adapting to the player's rhythm and had learned her own special piloting techniques.

Seeing that Qingni had more or less mastered the basics of piloting, Pei Guang decided to move the training to the next stage.

"Now that you can pilot a Starskiff and repair it proficiently, your next step is the final phase of special training!"

Pei Guang's words left Qingni a little puzzled.

"Huh? I can already fly a Starskiff well, avoid and counterattack during battles, and even repair it mid-fight. Is there still more I need to learn?"

She was a bit doubtful, but compared to when she had first met Pei Guang and thought he was unreliable, now she was only slightly uncertain.

It couldn't be helped: anyone who met Pei Guang started by questioning him, and then ended up believing him.

His abilities might be incomprehensible, and much of what he said sounded like fantasy, but after experiencing the benefits firsthand, trusting him became the obvious choice.

Especially in a world with Aeons, whose great power was known to all, though most people only knew a few of them in detail.

This kind of power looked exactly like it belonged to the Aeon of Elation!

Since Pei Guang called himself a "player," thinking of him as an Elation Emanator didn't seem strange.

Aha was very pleased with this notion, but unfortunately, while Aha wanted Pei Guang to become an Elation Emanator, Pei Guang wasn't interested in that role!

Not only was he uninterested, there was even a Trailblazer competing with Aha for him: a real blow to Aha's pride.

Pei Guang nodded. "Of course there's more! You need to understand, an archer who can't fight in close combat is not a good archer. As a pilot, you must be able to destroy enemies while driving your vehicle, repair it when it's damaged, and if you don't have a vehicle, you should still be able to take down the enemy! As it happens, I have a skill that lets me teach other skills. Come here, let me give you a buff."

Qingni: "Huh?"

Back when he had helped that little girl with the "Heaven's Deficiency" trait, Pei Guang had gained a skill that allowed him to pass one of his own abilities to any NPC. He could also set various restrictions to ensure it wouldn't cause trouble for himself.

Now, before finishing the training, Pei Guang intended to pass a skill to Qingni: none other than his Savory Truefire.

For Qingni, this skill was extremely practical.

Against the Abominations of Abundance, the Xianzhou Alliance needed every advantage. If it were against the Antimatter Legion, the skill would be useless—in fact, because of her limited stamina, Qingni wouldn't even be able to bring out its full strength.

Even Pei Guang himself could only use it for extended periods or in "Musou mode" by consuming vast amounts of items. Qingni had no such consumables, so she might burn one or two enemies and then be completely exhausted.

However! Against the Abominations of Abundance, this skill was a miracle.

From past experiments, Pei Guang knew his Savory Truefire always produced recovery items when roasting them: minor ones restored 1% to all attributes, while better ones could give much more, and rare units like Phantylia could drop full-attribute restorations.

With this skill, even if her Starskiff went down in the middle of a swarm of Abominations of Abundance, Qingni could roast them for drops, eat to restore herself, and fight her way back out.

Just as Pei Guang said, for a pilot, flying and repairing were the basics.

Even when grounded, you had to be useful.

After learning Savory Truefire, Qingni stared at the flame forming at her fingertips, her eyes wide.

What was this? Had she just been given the power of an Emanator? A Trailblazers' Emanator? Was she now a Trailblazer herself?

While Qingni's mind was running wild, Pei Guang ignored her thoughts.

Seeing her able to wield his flame, he nodded with satisfaction.

"Very good! Take your time studying this fire. Before you use it, I can tell you a few of its properties. It won't harm allies, ordinary enemies take about ten minutes to roast, its damage counts as magic damage, and roasting Abundant creations with it produces attribute-boosting items. As for how to use it in battle… that's up to you."

"I've taught you everything I can! With this, I'm sure you can become a true pilot."

Hearing Pei Guang's praise, Qingni smiled. "Really, thank you… I think this time I can finally earn my mother's recognition and become a pilot…"

She knew exactly what official pilot training involved, and without exaggeration, what Pei Guang had put her through was far harsher.

Qingni's acknowledgment made Pei Guang nod in satisfaction. Then he grinned and eagerly asked, "Since that's the case, my mission is complete, right? Reward~ reward!!!"

Stelle: "That's right! Since you think the mission's complete, then… reward!!!"

Stelle was getting excited too, eager to see what kind of reward would come next.

Qingni: "Yes, yes! But the gift I prepared for you is a bit too big, so I didn't bring it with me. Please come with me. I'm not sure if you'll be satisfied with the reward I prepared… I just heard from someone that you like these kinds of things…"

Qingni took out her phone and showed Pei Guang and Stelle a photo of a treasure chest.

Because the chest was so big, Qingni had left it at home. She wasn't certain whether she could become a pilot, but given how much effort Pei Guang and Stelle had put into helping her, she definitely wasn't going to shortchange them.

The gift she prepared was something she had carefully decided on after asking around and confirming it with several people.

When she asked the relevant folks, their answer was: "Trailblazers love treasure chests. Just get a chest, fill it with your favorite and most precious things, and give it as a reward. Trailblazers aren't short on material goods: what they want is sincerity~"

And so, Qingni had prepared a huge chest!

Inside were all sorts of snacks, drinks, her favorite books, and the allowance she had saved up. The chest was enormous, over a meter tall and more than two meters long, filled with items she had painstakingly collected.

She still wasn't sure whether Pei Guang would like these things, but it was definitely the best reward she could prepare.

Feeling uncertain about whether he would truly be happy with the reward, Qingni nervously watched Pei Guang and Stelle's expressions.

After seeing the chest in the photo, the two of them grew serious and studied it carefully.

Pei Guang: "A treasure chest! Is this really a treasure chest this time? I'm not seeing things, right?"

Stelle pinched Pei Guang: "It doesn't hurt, so this must be a dream. I told you, in a normal mission, there's no way someone would give us a chest."

Pei Guang turned to her: "Is there a chance that you just pinched me?"

Stelle: "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

After bantering for a bit, they both fell silent.

Then, after a long pause, they turned to Qingni with excitement in their eyes.

Pei Guang: "I like it! I like it a lot! Where's the chest? Quick! Give me the chest!"

Stelle: "Exactly! I can't even imagine what amazing loot might be inside! Ah Guang, do you think this chest will drop something rare?"

Pei Guang: "No idea. But judging from the quality, it's just like the chests we got back at the Space Station. And since this isn't the tutorial, I think it can definitely give loot, even if it's not rare, a side quest like this could still give some fun toys."

Stelle: "Then what are we waiting for? Take us to get the chest! Though… for such a simple mission to give such a huge chest, Ah Guang, do you think there's a catch?"

Pei Guang looked at her: "You talk too much! If your jinx really works this time, tonight I'm hanging you up and giving you a good spanking!"

Stelle, a little coy: "Really? Do you prefer to do that with me wearing something or not?"

Pei Guang: "?"

Stelle crossed her arms proudly: "Hmph! Ah Guang, you backed down."

Pei Guang: "This isn't the time to be arguing about that. To avoid your curse from coming true, let's just go get the chest right away! Once we have it, no matter what's inside, it'll keep us from dragging this out. Qingni, since you think the mission's complete, how about we take the reward now?"

Qingni nodded: "No problem!"

She was about to lead Pei Guang and Stelle to get the reward.