Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 328
As Li Yao walked to and vanished in the teleportation array, she craned her head higher and higher, with curiosity inside his eyes.
Xie Anan decided that, other than focusing on Senior Brother Mo in the Skyhill Sword Seminar, she could spare, like, 5% of her time to observe this mysterious Li Yao.
It was possible that he could march into the final competition!
…
Five days later, inside Dual Ring Hall…
Dual Ring Hall was a professional sect that focused on the refinement and maintenance of starships.
It was headquartered inside the Thousand Sails Space Zone on a star fortress like two rings.
Looked at from afar, the star fortress was like two giant wheels that were dozens of kilometers in diameter. They were connected by the spokes and span slowly.
In the middle of the two rings was a dock where almost ten ragged starships were parked.
Countless refiners in maintenance suits were entering and exiting the starships as busy as bees. Thousands of artificial arms also extended out of the two rings and conducted the maintenance work amid dazzling sparks.
It was the place where Gold Horn was being fully maintained and modified.
On a platform that protruded out of the living zone, there was a cabin whose walls were made of Leaf Water Crystals, which were the purest high-intensity materials in the Flying Star Sector as invisible as air. Together with the adjusted gravity, one would feel that they were standing in the middle of the universe when they were inside the cabin.
Looking to the outside from there, one would easily notice that the twisted shell of Gold Horn had been dismantled. The enormous artificial arms were consolidating the keel and the framework of the starship.
Very soon, power rune arrays and crystal railguns with higher performances would be installed. By then, Gold Horn would be back to life again.
"It was not a bad deal after all!"
Li Yao and Lei Dalu stood on the protruding platform and appreciated the rebirth of Gold Horn.
Lei Dalu grinned. "Although Gold Horn was shattered, we've earned our fame in the world of Cultivators. The reporters a few days ago were like hungry dogs! There was absolutely no way to get rid of them.
"It's all good now. We've received a huge amount of patronage and new loans from the banks. Gold Horn has been fully upgraded, with its combat ability doubled. Nice!"
Li Yao smiled. "Captain, there are conditions for the sponsorship. Not only do we have to use designated magical equipment during our modification, we also have to paint their advertisement on the shell of the starship. I've seen the demos of the advertisements. To be honest, they are a little bit too fancy."
"What's wrong with that!" Lei Dalu replied, apparently not taking it seriously, "The commercials are proper magical equipment. Flying swords, crystal suits, and such. None of them are philters. They can paint whatever they want. Then again, if they really want to paint commercials about aphrodisiacs, we are always open to negotiations as long as the price is high enough!"
"I bet we are."
Li Yao smiled. Then it was awkward silence.
He had come to say goodbye to Lei Dalu.
His days in the Great Horn Exo Society were over. The Great Horn Exo Society would stay here for another half month and embark on new quests after Gold Horn was reborn.
Their previous adventure had brought them unimaginable popularity as well as new contracts. This time, the reward was no longer a bag of rice, but boxes of jingling high-purity crystals.
As for Li Yao, he would rent a personal training chamber near the Skyhill Domain and do last-minute preparations in order to distinguish himself in the Skyhill Sword Seminar. All so he could enter Heavenly Saints City and meet the highest Cultivators of the Flying Star Sector.
"Don't idle around here. Go now. Skyhill Sword Seminar is not a regular match. Make best use of your time in training and get a prize! Everyone in the Great Horn Exo Society will watch the live stream if they are not on duty. You must make it at least to the top hundred!"
Lei Dalu patted his shoulder hard.
Li Yao had mixed feelings.
Although he hadn't been with them for very long, he had gone through life and death with them. He could tell that everyone inside the Great Horn Exo Society, including Lei Dalu, Xiong Tao, Zhao Nuo, and the young fellows in the Tiger Killer Camp, really considered him to be a comrade and one of their own.
Sometimes, he was even thinking that, if the Heaven's Origin Sector weren't waiting for him, he would definitely go with the passionate men of the Great Horn Exo Society. Roaming in the sea of stars, drinking the hardest liquor, slashing the fastest saber, slaying the deadliest space pirates… Such a life would indeed be fulfilling!
While he was pondering, he suddenly felt that somebody touched his clothes. Lei Dalu had put something into his pocket and smiled. "Cultivation is costly. Nothing inside the Thousand Sails Space Zone is cheap. There is two hundred grand inside the card. Take it and consider it the salary for your job here. If it is not enough, just talk to me via the Spiritual Nexus at any time!
"Don't be polite. This is a convention of our Society that has been well carried out since it was established."
"Convention?" Li Yao was confused.
Lei Dalu looked at the sea of stars outside the window and said casually, "You might not know why the victims of space pirates gathered and created the Great Horn Exo Society.
"Seeking revenge against the space pirates is just one of our purposes. Revenge can be achieved anywhere. We could've joined a stronger Exo Society, or a Cultivation sect, or even become a solo bounty hunter in the sea of stars.
"No. Our original purpose was to provide a shelter for the orphans who lost their home and family under the scourge of space pirates so that they could have a brighter future. That's all.
"Therefore, we accepted all kinds of contracts. The money we earned has been used to take care of the orphans. The 'Tiger Killer Camp' was established so that the orphans could have a place to train themselves to learn the skills of space survival and even to avenge their own family in person!
"After the orphans gradually grew up, we encouraged them to take part in the matches and the entrance tests of Cultivation sects. We tried to send them out to a vaster world and set them on a more promising path.
"Over the past ten years, we've brought up a lot of prodigies and sent them all out. Right now, they are scattered in the sea of stars living a whole new life in various universities, colleges, and Cultivation sects.
"To be honest, it is not slaying the space pirates that I'm happiest about after all these years.
"What I'm happiest about is that an orphan who might've embraced darkness after the assault of space pirates and the loss of their family has shifted to a brighter world with the help of Great Horn.
"Your case is a bit different, but since it is a convention of the Society, don't refuse it.
"Of course, if one day you earn your fame and fortune and become the well-respected master of refining, I certainly won't say no to your millions or even billions of donations to Great Horn. You won't get one coin back! Haha!
Lei Dalu's words greatly touched Li Yao.
He had been curious for a long time. In the Great Horn Exo Society, Lei Dalu was a Core Formation Stage Cultivator, Xiong Tao and Bai Kaixin both boasted amazing capability, and Ye Lingdie, the chief gunner in charge of all remote magical equipment, was a terrifying expert gunfighter.
With such impressive leadership, plus so many well-trained experienced Exos, how come the Great Horn Exo Society was still a second-rate group after so many years and only had a medium size starship?
As it turned out, Great Horn had devoted most of its resources to the education and training of the orphans and sent all of them for further development after they grew up!
Li Yao felt warm. He touched the gold bull horn emblem on his chest and looked at Lei Dalu in the eyes. "Captain, although I will be away from Great Horn, I will never forget the days I spent with our brothers on Gold Horn. I will gladly accept your generosity and cut the thank-you crap. There is only one thing that I want to say. No matter when and where, if Great Horn is in need of anything, I will definitely do my best!"
"I'm leaving!
"Just watch the live stream on the Spiritual Nexus in a month and a half. I will be participating in the match as 'Li Yao of Great Horn', and I'm going to crush everything standing in my way!"
Chapter 483: Bai Kaixin's Secret |
Five minutes after Li Yao left, Bai Kaixin walked up to Lei Dalu without a sound, his face even gloomier. A dam seemed to be about to collapse in the middle of his eyebrow.
"It has just been confirmed that Fengyu Zhong has gone mad. He announced astronomical bounties on Spider Den and wants each and every member of the Great Horn Exo Society killed. According to his original words, even a flea on our starship should not be left alive! Also, whoever finds the true murderer of his son, dead or alive, will be rewarded with a starship!
"Right now, the entire Spider Den is seething. Countless space pirates, assassins, thieves, and spies consider us their targets!"
Lei Dalu scratched his messy beard and said slowly, "It's quite understandable. His only son has been killed. If Fengyu Zhong doesn't respond properly, how is he ever going to hang around with other people on Spider Den?
"However, the relationship between the Exo Societies and the space pirates has never been good. The top Exo Societies have all been attacked by space pirates before. Their fame was earned not by showing off, but by fighting in blood!
"Fengyu Zhong wants vengeance, so be it. The most important thing about us Cultivators is the size of our fists and the sharpness of our swords!
"We both know the reason we received so many donations, commercials, and loans and why the experts of the Dual Ring Sect have been working day and night to strengthen Gold Horn. The Great Horn Exo Society's situation is clear to everybody. That's why they've been supporting us so that the combat ability of Gold Horn can be doubled within half a month.
"Fengyu Zhong is a stray dog himself. I don't know how many experts are waiting to chop off his head. This time, he has set us as his target. But in my opinion, he is a mantis at best, which is being chased after by the sparrows!
"Anyway, don't be so nervous. We can't stay in the Thousand Sails Space Zone forever just because somebody is hunting us. If we unfortunately run into Fengyu Zhong, we'll simply fight him; if we unfortunately fail, we'll simply run away; if we are unfortunately captured, we'll simply die!"
Bai Kaixin's lips curled rigidly as he put on an ugly smile. "Everything seems to be extraordinarily simple in your mouth."
Lei Dalu plucked one of his whiskers and flicked it away softly. "I'm not a fan of deliberation; I prefer the simplest solutions to everything.
"However, don't bring the Tiger Killer Camp on our next mission. Send them to the Dual Poles Domain. Quite a few Cultivation sects are headquartered there. Space pirates will never carry out large-scale operations in that area. As for the excuse… Just find a training camp and ask them to train there for a couple of months. They can build up their bodies and wait until everything goes tranquil again."
Bai Kaixin nodded. "Alright. I'll see to it."
But he didn't leave. His eyes were rolling, suggesting that there was something else that he wanted to talk about.
Lei Dalu raised his eyebrow. "Anything else?"
Bai Kaixin was silent for a long time, before he opened his mouth again. "Why didn't you ask him just now?"
"Ask him what?"
"You know it."
"I forgot to."
"You forgot to?"
Bai Kaixin gnashed his teeth, his long white eyebrows shaking. "Do you not think there is something seriously wrong with Li Yao's story? Lived in a far-flung town, trained with a strange master alone, and grasped such terrifying refining skills?
"Moreover, his Cultivation level is too high! Uncle Xiong, Bai Ze, and I had a meeting after the incident. Back when we were in the Dim Flame Belt, to repair the spiritual shield generator so that we could run away from the True Fusion, the guy must've been in the Building Foundation Stage, however incredibly lucky he was!
"I can believe that someone's spiritual root was awakened through fortuitous incidents and turned them into a Refinement Stage Cultivator. But advancing into the Building Foundation Stage without any tutelage? It's simply impossible!
"Okay, let's just say whatever the guy told us is true. But how do you explain what happened next?
"You offered him an Eight Arm Suit and assessed his sync rate to be 37%. Very soon, in the virtual matching platform in the World of Crystal Suits, a mysterious expert named 'Vulture' with a sync rate below 40% appeared out of nowhere and defeated many top experts in a row. The very first crystal suit that 'Vulture' wore was Eight Arm!"
Lei Dalu said, "So?"
Alertness filled Bai Kaixin's eyes, as he remarked, "So, don't you think that Li Yao might be the terrifying expert who really took Fengyu Ming down?"
"So?" Lei Dalu repeated.
"What else do you want?" Bai Kaixin turned anxious. "If he could sneak into Ghost Jail quietly, elicit the most important information from Fengyu Ming before slaying him, steal the enormous database from Ghost Jail's mainframe crystal processor effortlessly, and blow off half of the starship along the way—he would definitely be the craziest devil in the world!
"But such a devil has stayed on Gold Horn for quite a few months. Who is he exactly? What is his purpose? What changes will his existence bring to the Great Horn Exo Society? Shouldn't we figure all that out?
"When we escaped the Dim Flame Belt narrowly, I told you most of my suspicions, but it seems to me that you haven't done any investigation yet!"
Lei Dalu thought carefully for a while and nodded his head. "I do recall you said such things. But you know that there were too many things to do, and I was preoccupied. I had no time to deal with trivial matters like this. I forgot it!"
"Trivial? A monster of unknown background who could sabotage a starship on his own stayed on Gold Horn for quite a few months, and you think it was trivial?" Bai Kaixin was almost jumping.
"When we were recruiting new crew members, we had only one condition: they must grit their teeth through the surging tides and meteoroid showers and make it to the Thousand Sails Space Zone with us.
"Li Yao has done everything we demanded.
"During the couple of months while he was on board, he has completed every mission assigned to him perfectly. When we were passing through the Dim Flame Belt, all of us would've kicked the bucket without him.
"Now that you've carefully studied what happened inside the generator cabin, you should know that, even for a refiner at the Building Foundation Stage, it was still a perilous task in which he risked his life."
Lei Dalu's eyes suddenly turned extremely clear. He said, calmly but firmly, "We have fought side by side through life and death against the True Fusion and the space swirl, so Li Yao is my brother in my eyes and a real member of the Great Horn Exo Society.
"As for where he came from, who he is exactly, how many skills he is good at, whether he likes rice or buns, whether he likes guys or girls—it's none of my damn business.
"Every traveler in the sea of stars who struggled for a living has stories. If they want to tell us, they already will have; if they haven't, it means that they don't want to tell their story, cannot say it, and if they do, someone's feelings will be hurt.
"I'm a simple and lazy man. I never bothered to ask about Li Yao's past, just like I never bothered to ask why you have the spiritual tattoos of Spider Den on your body."
Bai Kaixin's fury was about to burst out when Lei Dalu's final words suddenly stifled his emotions. His long white eyebrows were entirely frozen.
Rigid for a long time, he collapsed as if an invisible armor around him was just shattered. His dry lips trembled as he said softly, "When did you find out?"
"I forgot."
"I'm not a space pirate."
"I believe you. The tattoo is rather fuzzy and twisted. It should've been made when you were very young, if not when you were just born."
"I had to."
"That's why I never asked to you confess anything. Hey hey hey, don't look like me with such heartbroken eyes, will you? Or is it that you've been wanting to tell us deep down in your heart but were too ashamed to speak? You want me to push you hard so that you can let your tears all out? You are not such an emotional guy, are you?"
Bai Kaixin glared at him and then smiled embarrassedly. "Why today?"
Lei Dalu's clear eyes only lasted briefly. His usual hippie expression returned as he said, "I didn't want to bring it up. I felt that it would be quite awkward to. However, your skills in acting are simply too bad. You were practically wearing a 'I-have-a-big-secret-in-my-heart-but-I-cannot-tell-it-to-you-otherwise-we-may-not-be-friends-anymore-please-do-not-ask-me-I-am-having-a-hard-time-holding-it-back-I-might-say-it-out-loud-if-you-really-ask-me' face every day. To be honest, every time I see your constipation-like countenance, I am always tempted to punch your nose and see if I can make the face even bitterer."
Bai Kaixin took a long, long breath. His face went peaceful again, but the gloom inside his eyes seemed to become much thinner. He nodded. "I understand. We will pursue the truth about Li Yao's background no further and be prepared for Storm Prison's reprisal instead."
"That's right!"
Lei Dalu plucked another whisker and rolled it over between his fingertips. Then he shot it out at the crystal glass, triggering an earsplitting noise. He declared, "Let them come. My fists have been hungered for a long time!"
…
Half a month later, in the Skyhill Domain…
This was a beautiful and splendid world fragment. The rare materials underground leaked into the water system over thousands of years. When they were brought out to the surface of the earth, they dyed the rivers and brooks bright silver. Among the hills, the silver streams were connected into a network; the stunning scenery was known as the 'Broken Silvers'. It was truly magnificent.
