After opening the System Panel.
Yun Ruoxi first looked at the Popularity Value section and couldn’t help but nod slowly.
In Episode 10, she was practically half the main character, all the plotlines revolved around her, and she had quite a few impressive scenes.
So, earning 430,000 in Popularity Value was only to be expected.
Now, she had a total of 1,230,000 Popularity Value, more than enough to exchange for the abilities she needed.
She even had a sizable surplus left.
Plus, with this episode and about another episode and a half remaining, she could continue to accumulate more Popularity Value.
Not bad at all!
Yun Ruoxi glanced at the other sections.
Her Stellar Energy Index had risen from 169 to 175.
An increase of six points in one go was quite significant.
But the rest of her physical attributes hadn’t changed much, which showed she was nearing her physiological limits.
Even if she advanced to Level 2 or Level 3 in the future, the maximum values of these attributes would probably remain about the same.
Unless she had some sort of fortuitous encounter, or used a special Star Technique to break through the physiological shackles of these attributes.
Of course, Yun Ruoxi didn’t need to go to all that trouble—she could simply choose to exchange Popularity Value for the corresponding Combat Skill breakthroughs.
And that was exactly what she planned to do now.
She might appear strong right now, invincible among the trainees in the battle camp.
But the sea of stars was vast and boundless; in some unknown corner, there would surely be Stellar wielders of her level who were even stronger.
For example, S-ranked perfect Awakened ones, tutored by famous teachers, studying the best Star Techniques, receiving one-on-one development of their abilities.
Existences like those—even Yun Ruoxi herself knew she wouldn’t be able to compete with them.
Unless…
She maxed out all her attributes to S rank—let the numbers speak for themselves!
When Stellar wielders breakthrough, the base layer of their physical attributes affects the strength of the enhancement after the breakthrough.
To put it simply.
If your Strength is already S rank before the breakthrough, the boost you gain afterward will definitely be a whole rank higher than if you were just A rank.
It may seem like just a one-rank difference.
But if you go from Level 2 to Level 3, then Level 3 to Level 4, and keep stacking it up like that?
That would become a chasm impossible to cross.
Even among those at the same level and Stellar Energy Index, sheer differences in physical attributes can decide the victor.
So, even when many Stellar wielders have the chance to breakthrough, they’ll often hold back for a while, letting their physical attributes rise as much as possible, pushing right up against their physiological limits.
And since everyone has a physiological shackle, it’s impossible for anyone to have all physical attributes at S rank—there is no perfect being.
So, given the chance, Yun Ruoxi was determined to become the strongest Stellar wielder among her peers!
She opened her Wish List and selected three Combat Skills to purchase, her Popularity Value depleting rapidly like flowing water.
[Deducting 450,000 Popularity Value]
[Skills loaded: Level 1 Physical Breakthrough (Strength), Level 1 Physical Breakthrough (Agility), Level 1 Physical Breakthrough (Constitution)]
And as the three Combat Skills finished loading, Yun Ruoxi seemed to hear the crisp sound of chains snapping by her ears, then felt something inside her vanish, making her whole body suddenly feel light.
It was as if she’d always been wearing a dozen layers of clothing, making her bulky and heavy, but now—no more, no less—she was finally free.
Yun Ruoxi looked at her Attribute Bar on the System Panel; her Strength, Agility, and Constitution had all broken through.
Strength and Agility were now C+, while Constitution had reached A rank.
“Although it cost 450,000 in Popularity Value, it was truly worth every point.”
The corners of Yun Ruoxi’s lips curled up slightly as she temporarily closed the System Panel.
There was still a long time until dawn.
She decided to relax before the Final Performance, and browsed the Different-Dimension Network.
After all, she probably wouldn’t have this much free time again.
She opened Bilibili, and was surprised to see the first video on the homepage was related to 《Starfall》—
It was the latest news reposted domestically from a Twitter user known for extremely accurate leaks.
“《Starfall》Theater Edition confirmed for production.”
“Theater Edition?” Yun Ruoxi’s eyes flickered slightly. She still remembered the big promise the Popularity System had dangled before her.
Only if she placed among the top in the quarterly Episode Popularity Settlement could she get a sequel, and even star in the Theater Edition.
Now it looked like, barring any surprises, she was sure to be part of the Theater Edition.
But she didn’t know what form this Theater Edition would take.
Would it be like One Piece—an adventure in a parallel world not part of the Main Storyline?
Or like Demon Slayer—serving as a supplement to the plot?
Considering the plot of 《Starfall》Season 1, Yun Ruoxi personally felt it was probably the latter.
If that was the case, maybe in the Theater Edition she could flesh out her background even more.
Yun Ruoxi thought about all sorts of things related to the Theater Edition.
It wasn’t until the video had replayed twenty times that she chuckled softly to herself. The Theater Edition wasn’t even officially announced yet—who knew when it would air, so why was she worrying so much about it now?
She’d come to relax, yet ended up acting like she was working again.
Yun Ruoxi closed the video and continued scrolling through Bilibili.
In the middle of the night, she even secretly browsed through her own notebook. After satisfying herself, she exited the System Space and went to sleep.
***
The next morning, she climbed out of bed.
When she looked up again, her expression was completely different from the lively, buoyant happiness she’d shown in the System Space.
Now, she looked especially somber and cold.
There was an icy indifference and sorrow in her gaze.
It was like December’s winter rain—just looking at her made people shiver.
She didn’t know when Dr. Forefinger would start monitoring her, so from today until everything was over, she would keep up her act, to prevent anything from going off script.
At 8 a.m., everyone gathered in the tavern’s main hall.
After a simple vegetarian breakfast, they left the tavern and set out for the last red marker location.
On the way to the root passage, for some reason, Zi Jiu felt Yun Ruoxi was not only distracted but in a terrible mood, completely different from how she’d been on the road before.
“Could it be she’s worried about Aili?”
Zi Jiu couldn’t help but wonder.
But what’s done is done. Even if Aili had really been eliminated, there was nothing anyone could do to change it now.
They were already on a road of no return.
Whether the future was bright or dark was unknown; all they could do was keep moving forward.
Two Amber Crystals were pushed into the pitch-black tunnel.
As they hurtled through, the camera flew out from the passage and cut to Lin Zhen.
But this time, he had already returned to Randall’s home.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, he dragged his weary body back to his room.
Sitting on the bed, he let out a sigh.
This journey to the surface had been neither smooth nor satisfying.
While passing through the tunnel connecting the surface and the underground world, he carefully sensed the metal elements on the surface layer.
He found nothing.
When he returned to the landing site, the landing pod had vanished, seemingly already returned to base.