Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1003
Heiye Lan's jade chips helped Li Yao to fill the most critical missing part.
Fascinated, Li Yao was completely devoted to the new knowledge, devouring the maintenance manuals of crystal suits, Colossi, and starships from the Imperium of True Human Beings crazily.
…
Two months had passed since the Star Pick Plan was activated.
After the full examination and testing in the first month, the twelve experts had each chosen a Colossus to their liking. They began the quick training of the crystal suits and the Colossus under the guidance of Meng Chixin, Wu Suiyun, and Heiye Lan.
They were smart, quick-witted Cultivators above the high level of the Nascent Soul Stage after all. Naturally, the progress of their learning was very fast.
Also, the preliminary usage of the Colossus was not so hard to grasp.
When Li Yao piloted the Colossus for the first time, he had already been able to launch an ultimate skill and execute a member of the Pangu Clan.
It was true that he had fortunately had the assistance of 'Little Black' at the time. But right now, the Cultivators had more time to learn than he did. Naturally, they were getting the hang of the Colossi very quickly.
As the 'technical director', Li Yao had the full knowledge on the performance features of every Colossus and the combat style of every expert. He had also finished deploying all the 'backdoors' during times of maintenance and modification.
The backdoors that he had installed on the Colossi and the crystal suits that Heiye Lan had brought to the Ancient Sages Sector could mainly be classified into three categories.
The first category of 'backdoors' was used to determine the location.
As long as they were activated remotely through special telepathic thoughts, the specific location of the target would be displayed on his receptor.
The second category of 'backdoors' could also be activated remotely. Once activated, they would generate weird space waves, making the device unable to be absorbed into a Cosmos Ring.
The effect was basically the same as the barriers that Long Yangjun had imposed on the Thousand Stars Tray.
The Ancient Sages Sector was an enclosed world. Many secret treasures had been passed on from the primeval era, including tremendous Cosmos Rings.
The storage space of the Cosmos Rings in this Sector was much larger than that of the Cosmos Rings the federation gathered from the edge of the universe.
During the Dragon Spring Meeting, Yan Liren had once unleashed an enormous sword dozens of meters long from one of his Cosmos Rings.
Since the Cosmos Ring could accommodate such a giant blade, it was definitely capable of accommodating a Colossus no more than thirty meters tall.
If searching in the entire Ancient Sages Sector, more than ten Cosmos Rings of such a level could be found.
It would be too dangerous if twelve dangerous rogues were wandering around carrying a Colossus with them.
Therefore, Li Yao specifically added the 'safety'. Once activated, they would reduce the inconspicuousness of the Colossi to zero.
The third kind of 'backdoor' was certainly barriers to cut the mainframe crystal processor and the engine reactors of the Colossi and paralyze them.
Li Yao had used up all his wisdom on the backdoors. Even if the experts from the Black Wind Fleet arrived, they would still have to vomit blood if they wanted to crack the 'backdoors' that he had installed!
Chapter 1546: Path of Ascension! |
However, unless it was absolutely necessary, Li Yao did not intend to resort to such methods. They were only the ultimate 'safety'.
Ba Xiaoyu and Master Bitter Cicada were both good people. Li Yao did not want to end on bad terms with them at all.
Even Han Baling, Qi Zhongdao, Qi Changsheng, Wan Mingzhu, and the rest of them also had their own merits. They were not entirely selfish and unpardonable people.
Li Yao sincerely hoped that they could perceive something that they had never seen or thought in the Star Glory Federation so that their beliefs could have a breakthrough!
Three months had passed since the Star Picking Plan began.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Deep inside the Land of Eternal Night, right above the Nuwa warship, in the middle of the turbulent snowstorm, two Colossi were having a fierce fight like two primeval giants!
The first Colossus was around twenty meters tall, with a silver white, translucent shell that seemed to have been completely melted into the wind and snow. Sharp blades protruded out of the shoulders, elbows, knees, and other joints on the body, highlighting the unmistakable style of 'aggressiveness'.
What was even more attractive was the double-handed giant sword in its hands that was almost as tall as the Colossus. Stripes as complicated as spider webs had been carved on the surface of the giant sword, as if it could evolve into a different form at any time and cut a mountain in half!
It was a Colossus that Li Yao had carefully selected for Sword Maniac Yan Liren.
As one of the strongest points of attack in the team, the Colossus had been strengthened with the units of quite a few Colossi that Li Yao had dismantled. It was the Colossus that fully carried out the essence of 'attack'.
Yan Liren had named the Colossus 'Big Sword'!
Its opponent, on the other hand, was a round, fat Colossus, with a disproportionate upper half and lower half, like an enormous tumbler or a Buddha that was sitting on the lotus seat cross-legged. Eight giant, bright gold balls were dancing around the Colossi while releasing gentle and thick brilliance, forming an unbreakable spiritual shield that was taking the blow of the sword attacks.
It was Master Bitter Cicada's Colossus, Earthly Buddha, which had the highest defense ability of all the Colossi. When the spiritual shield of the Colossus was fully stretched out, it could even cover hundreds of square meters and protect everybody within range!
Li Yao, on the other hand, was busy collecting and analyzing their battle data, trying to adjust the connection and the distribution of the Colossi's units so that they would better fit their users' characteristics.
Behind the 'battlefield of Colossi', flying boats were running in and out nonstop, shipping the units and critical facilities dismantled from the Nuwa warship to the south.
A few of the twelve Colossi were temporarily working as 'porters'. With the assistance of the iron giants, even the furious tempests seemed to have been completely conquered. The deepest part of the Land of Eternal Night had turned into a heated workshop.
While Li Yao was completely dedicated to the research of the Colossi, the other top experts were not idling by, either. The Star Picking Plan was being pushed forward quickly.
Meng Chixin, Han Baling, Qi Zhongdao, Qi Changsheng, Wan Mingzhu, Emperor Phoenix… Those people controlled the most powerful forces in the Ancient Sages Sector. When their joined their hands, the energy that they could unleash was shocking.
They chose a large refining workshop on the border between the Cloud Qin and the Great Qian Dynasty, which had originally been established to craft flying boats. Then, the workshop was modified into a secret base to maintain Weary Tooth, the 'Bloody Blade'-level assault warship from the Imperium of True Human Beings.
Tremendous units and facilities on the Nuwa warship had been shipped over for the enhancement and improvement of the assault warship.
Naturally, the project was too eye- and ear-catching to fool the high-level Cultivators from the six major sects who had gone to the 'Divine Palace' and explored together with the twelve top experts.
However, the two Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators and ten super Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators represented the strongest forces and the highest personal combat ability and Cultivation in the Ancient Sages Sector. Since they had united and were suppressing the other Cultivators together, what could the other Cultivators do except obey their orders dutifully?
Besides, Long Yangjun knew exactly what was on those people's minds. She made an enticing promise to them.
"There is only a limited number of Cloud Qin Gold Statues in the Ancient Sages Sector. Naturally, they can't be given to you. If you challenge us and demand them right now, you will gain absolutely nothing. I believe all the elders and leaders here understand it perfectly, right?
"But it doesn't matter. We have learned shocking news about the 'deities' realm' from Deity Raincloud, and we are about to explore the channel between the Ancient Sages Sector and the deities' realm!
"As long as the channel is successfully established, not only will we receive tremendous magical equipment from the deities' realm, such as divine armor and Cloud Qin Gold Statues, the difficulty of ascending to the deities' realm will also be significantly reduced. Every one of you will have the opportunity to enter the deities' realm!
"Our trip won't take long. In three to five years at most, we will certainly return with a large batch of ultimate treasures from the deities. Chances are that we will bring more people to visit the deities' realm then. After all, we are all compatriots living in the same world!
"However, as for exactly who will be given the ultimate treasures of the deities, and who will be granted access to the channel to the deities' realm, it will depend on your attitude and behavior while we are away!"
Her statement successfully bluffed everybody.
Besides, Long Yangjun was not entirely lying. Whether they cooperated with the federation or the Imperium, their future partner was not something that the six major sects or the disorganized community of Cultivators could resist.
If any of them dared to stir trouble in the Ancient Sages Sector when they were away, they would certainly lay their vengeance upon the traitors ruthlessly after they returned from the deities' realm!
Also, Han Baling, Qi Changsheng, Long Yangjun, and the rest of them had a batch of loyal subordinates in the first place.
Since those people did not rebel under the intimidation of Deity Raincloud, they had even less reason to rebel now that their leaders had controlled twelve Colossi and the future was nothing but promising.
With their loyal subordinates stabilizing the situation, and the prospect of the deities' realm alluring everyone, it was impossible for the Ancient Sages Sector to fall into chaos in the next couple of years.
Four months had passed since the Star Picking Plan was initiated.
In a valley on the border of Cloud Qin and the Great Qian Dynasty, inside a secret dock, the maintenance of Weary Tooth was proceeding quite well.
The assault warship of the Imperium shared a lot of similarities with Flourishing Sun, the warship piloted by Su Changfa, Kou Ruhuo, and Tang Qianhe, who were the first batch of Immortal Cultivators that the Star Glory Federation had gotten in touch with. The warships boasted equally advanced automatic maintenance and expansion abilities.
As long as they collected enough resources, they would be able to produce tremendous mining spider puppets, maintenance spider puppets, combat spider puppets, and so on and run simple self-maintenance.
Heiye Lan's progress was very slow in the beginning partly because she could not find most of the rare metals and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, and partly because it would be a major fuss if mining, refining, and maintenance were conducted at the same time. The experts of the Ancient Sages Sector would definitely sense the spiritual waves after they spread out hundreds of kilometers.
That was why she had put the maintenance plan on hold in the beginning.
Right now, both problems were no more.
With the support of the twelve experts, all the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and rare ingredients of the Ancient Sages Sector were open to the project. The maintenance did not need to be hidden from anyone. Moreover, a lot of refining experts from the forces under the twelve experts or summoned from the six major sects had come to help. Together with the functional units and facilities dismantled from the Nuwa warship as enhancements, despite the hideous appearance on the surface due to the layers of patches, the performance parameters of Weary Tooth were soaring quickly. It was estimated that in less than one month, the warship would regain the ability to journey through space and even make four-dimensional jumps!
Five months had passed since the Star Picking Plan began.
The studies on the star map of the primeval era and the setting of the sailing routes had witnessed groundbreaking developments, too.
What was recorded on the star map inside the Nuwa warship was the status of the universe hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Hundreds of thousands of years was perhaps an entire life for a civilization from its rise to its decline, but on the universal level, it was just the blink of an eye. The relative location and status of the stars in the universe would not have changed much.
Heiye Lan, as the daughter of the commander of the Black Wind Fleet, was certainly able to read and comprehend a star map. Although the new star map after her deductions and calculations was not enough to navigate the warship to jump to the orbit of the Heaven's Origin Planet, which the precise coordinates under Li Yao's control could, the possible destination was not far away from the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector.
Arriving near the Star Glory Federation with a super long-distance space jump, measuring the latest situation in the space zones nearby, and then jumping for a second time more precisely after adjusting the navigation parameters accordingly—that was their plan.
After Li Yao and Long Yangjun secretly discussed it with each other, they agreed that they should not directly jump to the central area of the federation. An unexpected encounter would do neither party any good.
Eventually, Long Yangjun proposed that the destination of their first space jump should be set to be the place named 'Shimmering Light Space Zone' on the star map.
The place had a certain distance from the Heaven's Origin Sector, the Blood Demon Sector, and the Flying Star Sector. They would probably not be discovered by the federation immediately after they jumped over.
Although there had been no habitable planets in the place hundreds of thousands of years ago, some resource planets marked on the star map could still provide supplies for Weary Tooth after the long-distance jump.
They could take a rest in the 'buffer area' for a while before they decided what to do next.
Long Yangjun 'studied' the arts of starship piloting after Heiye Lan for a few months, and she 'showed great talent' in learning. In the 'observation committee' made of the twelve of them, she would work as the navigator on the starship.
The landing point that she had proposed was quite safe. It was soon approved by everyone.
Six months had passed since the Star Picking Plan started.
Everything was good to go.
Weary Tooth, after being repaired, was standing deep insider the valley like a cluster of dark red crystals. Although it had yet to be activated, it was still releasing an intimidating and aggressive air.
The five hundred square kilometers around the warship was set as a forbidden area. Except for the most loyal subordinates who had passed multiple tests, nobody was allowed to trespass, or they would immediately be executed!
The first trip to the deities' realm for the locals of the Ancient Sages Sector to break out of the dark nebula would begin in two hours!
Chapter 1547: Triple Identities! |
"This is rather… sharp!"
In the past half a year, the twelve experts of the Ancient Sages Sector had witnessed the warship being repaired and strengthened from a pile of garbage by the maintenance spider puppets that the warship brought with itself and the refiners of the Ancient Sages Sector.
However, when they stood in front of Weary Tooth, which was utterly refreshed and all set to go, they could still sense the coldness from the deadly weapon crafted in a modern civilization that was entirely different from the products of their era and seemed to be able to rip everything in its way apart. They could not help feeling astounded at its formidability.
Many of them were mumbling uncontrollably.
The warship deserved its name as a 'Bloody Blade'-level assault warship. It truly looked like a red dagger made of countless crimson crystals or a man-eating shark that was swimming at the bottom of a red ocean. Even if it was merely standing in the depths of the valley without a sound, it still gave the feeling that it would open its bloody mouth at any moment.
Thankfully, Li Yao and Heiye Lan had commanded the maintenance spider puppets to plug countless disordered, redundant remnants of magical equipment onto the shell of Weary Tooth. It was partly meant to offset the blast of meteoroids in space and the bombardment of the hostile fire, and partly to cover its inherent aura of intimidation from the Imperium.
Although the camouflage was far from enough to fool everyone's eyes, the remote scanning from hundreds of thousands of kilometers away beyond the visible range might not necessarily be able to unveil the real identity of the warship.
It also befitted the false identity that Long Yangjun had fabricated for them.
Long Yangjun had made up three false identities for the highly dangerous team of observers.
On the outermost level, they were from the 'Burning Stone Sector', a world suppressed by the Imperium of True Human Beings more than five hundred years ago.
It was a Sector that had once existed for real and one that had been too stubborn to surrender to the Imperium.
The Cultivators of the Burning Stone Sector had challenged the Imperium and, without any suspense, been cruelly suppressed. After the goriest bloody battles, the whole of the Burning Stone Sector had ended up in an ocean of fire.
Before encountering the Imperium of True Human Beings, the Burning Stone Sector had already developed rather advanced space cruising abilities.
After the lost battles, many warriors of resistance had boarded their starships and fled into the universe. They had turned into small resistance armies and guerilla troops, continuing to harass the Imperium.
