Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 187
This was not the first time that Yuan Qi had introduced an 'expert' to him, who was entrusted by Yuan Qi to modify his super shuttles. Expert or not, the fees they charged were all shockingly high.
But of course, Mr. Sun wouldn't say it out, because just like the 'experts', he was also counting on Yuan Qi's money to feed his own family.
Anyway, Yuan Qi was a well-off encryption hacker. The expenses were nothing in his eyes.
In Mr. Sun's eyes, the top principle of the Cultivation world was that friendliness was the harbinger of wealth. It was best to flatter one another and make money together. Why should he tell the truth and scare the big client away?
Therefore, the moment Li Yao entered his door, Mr. Sun had started adulating him.
According to the five minutes of speech that he gave, Li Yao had become the best super shuttle modifier in the entire Star Glory Federation.
"The 'ALKAID' is all yours now. She is my most beloved super shuttle. I've had to keep her here for maintenance because of a minor accident the other day. That's why I had to use a substitute for the race today."
Yuan Qi smiled, "It's quite time-consuming to crack a double encryption. I expect that there will be another day and night before it is done. I need to keep an eye on the process. In the meantime, I hope you can give ALKAID a new life."
Yuan Qi left the workshop. Mr. Sun and a few mechanics came close and grinned.
"I don't think we've met before, have we?"
Li Yao nodded his head. He said, "I don't participate in super shuttle races. I'm just an amateur, modifying shuttles for fun, that's all."
Mr. Sun and his mechanics looked at each other in amazement. 'Impressive! An amateur has earned Yuan Qi's trust. He must know what he is doing.
'Watch and learn how he does the job!'
Mr. Sun gestured to the mechanics with his eyes.
Yuan Qi was not a newbie who knew nothing about super shuttles. Yet, he was not an expert of it, either. Such snobs were the easiest to trick. But it required true knowledge to fool them too.
Mr. Sun and his lot was wondering how Li Yao was respected as 'master' by Yuan Qi.
Li Yao was indifferent to their reactions. He buried himself in his own world.
Pondering for a moment, he inserted the jade slips that Yuan Qi offered to the mini crystal processor.
"Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!"
More than ten feeds of Yuan Qi's races were opened simultaneously. He concentrated his attention on them and started studying.
Three hours later, he was still studying.
Li Yao was frozen solid. Even his eyelids seemed to have been glued. The three hundred or so video clips had been played for seven times, yet they were replayed in slow motion for another time.
One mechanic couldn't help but ask, "Is he asleep?"
Everybody was impatient after long-time watching. Many of them were yawning. Even Mr. Sun was feeling drowsy.
An hour later, Li Yao rose up and woke Mr. Sun who was taking a nap.
"Where's the ALKAID? I need to see the shuttle."
Inside the garage, in the deep darkness were seven parked shuttles, including a few armed shuttles that worth tens of millions.
Yet their brightness was all eclipsed by the super shuttle in the middle that was black and red.
The super shuttle had been designed with an aggressive style. Its sharp edges brought the feeling of a black dagger in blood that was ready to pierce through the heavens and tear the stars apart.
Closing his eyes, Li Yao could picture the super shuttle storming in a beast tide crumbling everything in its way with nothing but the shocking speed.
No wonder it was named 'ALKAID'. It seemed to be capable of slashing an entire army from head to toe without any interruption.
The hatch of the shuttle slid open. Li Yao sat inside and stretched his spiritual threads to every corner of the super shuttle. He felt that the super shuttle and him had melded into one which shared the same blood and soul.
"Lup dub! Lup dub! Lup dub! Lup dub!"
The hatch was closed. The whole world disappeared in silence. The only thing that could be heard was his own heartbeat that was faster and faster.
"Lup dub! Lup dub! Lup dub! Lup dub! Lup dub! Lup dub! Lup dub!"
How long had it been since he last felt his heart beating so fast?
The dashboard was filled with spiritual energy. By telepathic thoughts, one control rune array after another was lit up.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
The anti-gravity rune arrays of ALKAID started working. It floated from the body of the shuttle, shivering with heavy breath, like an excited fierce beast who was ready to lunge at its prey after a life-long wait.
"Let me see how good this ALKAID is… or how good I am!"
Deep inside his brain lurked countless memories of racing games. He was born into this world with these memories, which were much more profound than Ou Yezi's.
Car racing was almost his instinct.
Three months of crystal suit training had endowed him with a lot of driving skills—driving a crystal suit was quite similar to driving a super shuttle, if not hundreds of times more difficult.
If he could handle a crystal suit, he could certainly handle a super shuttle.
The seemingly complicated dashboard of the super shuttle was as clear as a drop-down menu in Li Yao's eyes.
With a telepathic though, ALKAID rushed out like a laser!
…
Next day in the morning, Yuan Qi, who had been busy all night, returned to the workshop.
Although his eyes were full of blood streak, he was really excited.
However, to his confusion, Mr. Sun and his mechanics looked awful in the workshop.
Seeing their terrified faces, one might have thought a majestic, prehistoric animal had ensconced itself in the room behind them.
[ol][li data-annotation-id="1e659ea1-7978-7a99-65ec-56673f53bbcc"]A star in the constellation of Ursa Major, formally known as Eta Ursae Majoris. See more details on Wikipedia.[/ol]
Chapter 272: A Track Worth Over a Hundred Million |
Yuan Qi's focus was strongly attracted by some kind of strange things floating in the air just as he entered the workshop.
Under the illumination of lights, floating golden threads whose diameter did not exceed one-tenth of a hair in the air glimmered.
Occasionally, one could also see some extremely thin and almost transparent golden foil fluttering, transforming the workshop into a dream-like ocean.
"This is..."
The golden threads and the golden foils seemed to have been possessed by some demonic spirit as they danced around Yuan Qi.
Yuan Qi could not help but stretch out his hand, but the golden threads and the golden foils were too light and too soft just like a gentle breeze, just like flowing water, quietly slipping away from the gap between his fingers, leaving only a faint velvety sensation on the fingers behind.
Prior to this, Yuan Qi never knew that touching a metal could ever cause such a wonderful feeling.
And parked quietly on the modifying bridge was ALKAID...
Yuan Qi could not stop blinking as his lips parted, but he didn't know what to say.
If Li Yao had modified the ALKAID to the point that it was completely unrecognizable, added some seventeen or eighteen wing stabilizers, some glittering propulsion kits, and even replaced all the anti-gravity array glyphs, Yuan Qi would not have been confused...
As it was what all the previous experts whom he had invited before had done.
However, the ALKAID modified by Li Yao was almost the same as before; at first glance, no could say it had been modified at all.
But subtle differences that could only be sensed but not conveyed be found with rapt concentration and calm observation.
The ALKAID became sharper and fiercer, even filled with an irresistible momentum and a sharp killing intent that could destroy the world and blast the stars under the shimmering lights.
After pondering for a while, Yuan Qi was finally able to describe his own mood.
It was like what he had seen in the past was a copied painting by a student, and what he saw today was the one that had been personally painted by the grandmaster himself. Although each and every stroke was almost the same, the final combination was completely different; one was the heaven and the other was the earth!
It was like, what he saw in the past was a demon beast that was in a cage and had a binding spell cast upon it.
And at this moment, he seemed to have come face to face with that very same demon beast on a narrow desolate mountain ridge, whereas this demon beast now could release its aura hidden deep within its bone marrow unscrupulously.
Essence! Energy! Spirit!
At this moment, the ALKAID possessed the essence, energy, and spirit; it had a soul!
"Grandmaster Fang, what exactly is this..."
Yuan Qi's heart was in a turmoil; he kept gawking for a long while like he was intoxicated, only then did he notice Li Yao who was meditating in the darkness; Li Yao was completely still like a Buddha. Yuan Qi could not help but ask in a low voice.
When Yuan Qi said "Grandmaster Fang", his voice was completely different from yesterday, like it had "essence, energy, and spirit"; Yuan Qi was now truly treating Li Yao as a super expert, a grandmaster level figure.
SHHH
In the darkness, Li Yao's eyes glittered with a bright gleam as he put his finger upon his lips.
All of a sudden, not only Yuan Qi dared not utter a word, even Boss Sun and the maintenance crew dared not breathe loudly.
After having meditating for a moment, Li Yao suddenly stood up and walked up to the ALKAID in large strides.
The very first thing he did was lightly caressed the left side of ALKAID, which was followed by a cold light in between his fingers as an extremely thin white blade appeared.
This blade was only the size of a fingernail; it was forged from a tailbone fragment of the Mutant Lion Dragon. It was extremely hard yet somewhat flexible too, it also had a bit of vitality to it as well and could be one with its user. Nothing was better than this blade to finely engrave the magical equipment components.
Without the slightest bit of hesitation whatsoever, a sharp white aura frantically appeared like a lightning bolt shot out from the ends of his fingers as he scraped the ALKAID's body at an extreme speed before a golden thread thinner than a hair was pulled out immediately.
Yuan Qi sucked in a lump of cold air.
Only now did he come to realize that the golden threads and golden foils fluttering in the air were Li Yao's pure handiwork from polishing the ALKAID's body.
No wonder the ALKAID didn't seem to have changed but it suddenly possessed essence, energy, and spirit. Moreover...
After Li Yao's scraping when just this extremely fine golden thread was pulled out, it seemed as if a painted dragon had come to life by putting in the pupils of its eyes. All of a sudden, the ALKAID had come to life, turning into a ferocious beast that opened its bloody mouth as it pounced towards Yuan Qi fiercely.
AHHHH
Yuan Qi could not help but take a half-step back.
However, when he focused his eyes, only then did he discovered that the ALKAID was staying honestly where it was. But an anxious aura was emanating from it.
Giving the impression that it was an anxious, wild horse that desired to storm and break the enemy positions on a battlefield; waiting for him to conquer and ride it.
With a snap of Li Yao's fingers, the lightning transformed into a white bone blade, and with another snap, the bone blade disappeared.
Lightly blowing on the ALKAID and half squinting his eyes, Li Yao perceived every slight change in the air flowing over the surface of the shuttle.
Li Yao contentedly nodded after ten seconds before he spoke, "Is there some problem with your heart?"
"Ah?" Yuan Qi was caught by surprise for a moment before he replied, shaking his head, "No."
"Then go, fly it!" said Li Yao, patting Yuan Qi's shoulder with a grin.
...
Aurora Autos was in an uproar!
This deafening and blood-seething morning was destined to belong to Yuan Qi and ALKAID!
In Serpent City's amateur super shuttle racing community, Yuan Qi was also considered as a first-class expert. He also had a group of friends who were similarly enthusiastic about super shuttle racing like him.
After Yuan Qi got his brand-new ALKAID, he couldn't hold himself and called all his rider friends at night to the Aurora Autos. After which-----
They were slaughtered, butchered, massacred one after another!
"What in the bloody strengthening agent did Yuan Qi eat that he became so fierce overnight!?"
"That's insane, Gao Yan was once again forced to hit the wall!"
"Wow, he actually completed the lap in 3'49''31. He has broken his own best record by 12 seconds, 12 freaking seconds!"
One after another, the first-class experts of the amateur super shuttle racing community fell completely like dominos facing Yuan Qi who was so brave that it seemed he was possessed by some god or devil before they could even scream.
A contest between amateurs was greatly affected by the state of one's mind. As Yuan Qi became more and more excited, he became more relaxed; his body seemed to have turned into drops of water as they completely fused with the ALKAID. He displayed difficult maneuvers that he thought were impossible generally so easily like passing clouds and flowing water, garnering everyone's exclamations again and again.
"Impossible, he performed four sidewinder rolls in one deep breath!"
"My god, he actually accelerated doing a nose dive and only pulled up when he was just three meters away from the ground. For this maneuver, there is a very strict requirement for both driver and the super shuttle. This maneuver can only be performed by a professional player!"
Everyone, including the Aurora Autos' staff, was scared to the point where their scalp tingled watching the insane performance of Yuan Qi.
Such an abnormal performance could not be explained by just having in a wonderful state of mind. Finally, many recalled Yuan Qi say that his ALKAID had been modified by a super expert.
At the beginning, no one paid heed to it.
Although they noticed that the ALKAID was somewhat different than the normal with their amateur level insight, they still could not say where it was different. It was just a normal super shuttle that was simply a bit 'shabby' compared to the modified super shuttles they rode that had been undergone all kinds of modification, to the point where they were completely unrecognizable.
Only now, when this shabby ALKAID had completely routed their strengthened super shuttles, did they recalled that Yuan Qi had mentioned "Grandmaster Fang" a while ago.
"Did Yuan Qi really become lucky and meet a master super shuttle modifier?"
While the numerous super shuttle fans were greatly puzzled in the Aurora Autos, Li Yao sat quietly in the metal bird nest.
Half-squinting his eyes, he listened to the deafening roars like he was listening to the music as he pondered about the future plans.
Modifying super shuttles was just a hobby.
His main focus was still crafting the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, as well as building the fiend star refining workshop.
Of course, he still had to do some "in-depth investigation" on the problem of the demon beast detector with the Zephyr Guild's Shark Qiu Guanyu before everything.
All this required a generous start-up capital support.
Looking closely at the value of heaven and earth treasures as well as the decrypting cost of Yuan Qi, Li Yao was deeply aware of how much money cultivation burned.
No wonder a vast majority of the cultivators were stuck in the Refinement Stage for their entire lifetimes. Indeed, they earned more, but their spending was also quite a lot!
"Is there a way to earn a lot quickly?" Li Yao lightly scratched his chin as he started pondering.
If he wanted to get rich, he needed to take the risk. The fastest way to make money in the Serpent City was gambling for sure.
There was a total of seven super-large casinos in the Serpent City, especially dedicated to the cultivators. Tens of billions moved up and down in minutes and seconds!
However, Li Yao knew his limitations.
Although he had sinister insight and his hands were extremely fast due to training them with the "Thousand Fingers Supple Bone Exercise" derived from ancient stealing technique day and night which could naturally be employed in gambling...
However, at the end of the day, he was just an insignificant Refinement Stage cultivator.
The big casinos in Serpent City were overseen by Building Foundation Stage cultivators or even Core Formation Stage powerhouses. A half-baked gambler like him gambled, he would only be seeking death quicker.
"What if I help Yuan Qi's friends modified their super shuttles and earn a bit of money?"
Just as this notion flashed his mind, it was summarily rejected.
He knew very well that the cost of modifying the super shuttles and the cost of decrypting of Yuan Qi was actually incomparable.
It was only because Yuan Qi was crazy about shuttles that he put forward such conditions.
In the market, modifying an amateur level super shuttle was, at most, a few million or so.
Furthermore, modifying a shuttle was extremely taxing.
Last night, he did not make any major modifications to the internal structure of the ALKAID and mainly did some optimization to the body, and yet he was feeling faintly drawn.
It was seriously exhausting; he could do no more than a few modifications in a week.
It was a really slow way of making money.
He did not have a lot of time to waste in Serpent City. Everything needed to be finished in three days.
While Li Yao was having a headache, Yuan Qi, like a monkey mounting the clouds and riding the mists, came over shaking his arms.
Followed his footsteps were many people who were staring at Li Yao with a hungry look in their eyes.
"Satisfied?"
Li Yao stood up.
"Grandmaster Fang, wait! Help me once more, I need to challenge the Hell Storm Racetrack!" shouted Yuan Qi, which made everyone suck a cold lump of air as a look of astonishment as well as excitement appeared on their faces.
