Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 348
"No. We are ordinary people, except that our strength may be a bit larger than the rest!
"For your and the other timid scumbags' information, I, Huangpu Xiaoya, will never abandon my identity as an ordinary person, and I would like to fight for that until my last drop of blood is shed!"
Li Yao finally raised his head and glanced at her. He said casually, "You will die."
Huangpu Xiaoya's hair was messy, her face flushed. She suddenly burst into laughter like a crazy witch. She bellowed with her head held high and her face full of pride, "I may die, but Cultivators are destined to live forever! This is the 'immortality' that we pursue, which is totally different from you people without hearts!"
Li Yao sniffed. He stopped listening and resumed his study.
Today, the question at hand was 'seven-star dilemma'. It was a question about which distribution of seven crystal bombs could bring up their damage to maximum when they were circuited.
If he could find out the optimal solution, the damage of the serial explosion would not be just seven times the damage of a single crystal bomb, but more than thirty times it!
Chapter 513: Master Li Yao, We Are Here for You! |
It was seven o'clock in the evening. Li Yao was learning how to assemble crystal bombs in a special training room.
As he got along well with Huangpu Shiyi, he took the opportunity and asked to do real practice.
Huangpu Shiyi agreed to the request after some consideration.
However, all the experiments had to be conducted in this special training room.
The training room had been enclosed by the most advanced defense rune arrays and reflection rune arrays. It was safe from any bombs.
Even though the bombs were powerful enough to damage the cabin, part of the energy they released would be reflected by the wall and kill everyone inside the cabin first.
Therefore, it was impossible for Li Yao to escape by blowing his way out of the starship!
Besides, Li Yao had no doubt that his every action was being observed by the invisible expert hiding in the darkness. As soon as there appeared to be anything wrong with him, the stalker would immediately make his move!
The remarkable stealth ability of the expert suggested that he might be a top assassin in Black Spider Tower who was best at sneaking, hiding, and assassination. Li Yao was not confident that he could defeat such an opponent shortly in a head-on battle.
Moreover, Li Yao did not intend to leave just now. He was earnestly studying crystal bombs at present.
In front of Li Yao was a crystal chip the size of a fingernail. A small pile of luminating powder was on it.
Li Yao opened his hands. Spiritual threads extended out of his fingertips, which lifted almost a hundred thin, shining metal slices and stabbed them into the powder according to a certain pattern. He then covered another crystal chip on it and carefully sealed them together.
The simple movement took him more than twenty minutes. Li Yao's face was solemn and coated in sweat.
Judging from the appearance, it was just a commonly-seen double-chip group that could be applied to crystal suits, shuttles, or even melee magical equipment. But after Li Yao's modification, it was in fact a powerful bomb that, when triggered by Li Yao's telepathic thought, could cast dozens of square meters nearby into flames of fury!
After several days of hard training and communication with the rarely-seen expert Huangpu Shiyi, Li Yao finally made major breakthroughs in crystal bomb refining!
The path he chose was different from Huangpu Shiyi's.
Although Huangpu Shiyi was one of the most brilliant geniuses in refining, his hands had been terribly wounded after all, which prevented him from doing practical operations. Also, he was backed by an enormous organization and had countless subordinates to carry out his commands. Therefore, he was more fond of serial, large-scale explosions.
In comparison, Li Yao was by himself most of the time, and he preferred to travel in the sea of stars alone. Besides, his hands were as nimble as phantoms thanks to the training with the Purple Ring Sword Ants. He had also received the heritage of Ou Yezi and was especially good at carving tiny rune arrays. Therefore, his bombs were smaller and less conspicuous. They might not be very powerful, but they could be easily put into practice in a battle by a single person. He could deploy the bombs and cover them up without anybody knowing anything.
Li Yao blew at his palm. He rubbed his dry hands and pondered the difference of ideologies between Huangpu Shiyi and himself.
Right then, the starship suddenly trembled violently, followed by many intermittent quakes. Slight noises could be heard through the wall, too.
Li Yao was dazed for a moment. He pinned his ear to the cabin wall and analyzed the situation outside.
He could tell that the starship was enduring an intense attack. One of the power rune arrays had exploded. Shrieking noises could be heard next, as if somebody was tearing the starship's shell by brute force.
CRACK!
Three barriers had been imposed to the cabin door. The broadcast rune array on a corner of the ceiling suddenly emanated Fei Ming's somewhat nervous voice. "Master Li Yao, don't worry. We are under the attack of Cultivators. Black Stone and White Dew are leading the guardians to resist the intruders. For your own safety, please stay in your refining room!"
Li Yao raised his eyebrow and did not respond. He returned to his operation platform as if nothing had happened and continued assembling the next piece of magical equipment.
The only difference was that the speed was upgraded to a much higher level and almost broke the sonic barrier again.
Explosions and shouting were louder and louder. The lights inside the cabin were flashing. For half a minute, even the balance system of the starship was malfunctioning, and the ground slanted to the left side slightly.
But none of that affected Li Yao. He kept practicing meticulously and assembled almost five crystal bombs in a row.
But of course, since Huangpu Shiyi hadn't given him enough materials, the power of the crystal bombs was not very impressive.
Half an hour later, yelling and screaming suddenly occurred outside of the cabin door. After an earsplitting explosion, more than half of the cabin was filled in smoke. A shocking giant hole appeared on the cabin door, through which an Exo in a lead grey crystal suit that was covered in cracks and blood crept in.
There was a sigil of a bear head on the chest of the Exo's crystal suit. The bear, whose mouth was full of tusks, was biting a blood-stained battle saber.
It was the emblem of Furious Bears Union, one of the six major sects of Heavenly Saints City!
"Master Li Yao!"
The severely-injured Exo jumped to Li Yao and said anxiously, "We are from the Furious Bear Exo Society, the armed forces directly under the command of Furious Bear Union! My name is Hu Guohao. We are here to save you and Huangpu Xiaoya. Let's go!"
Dazzling brilliance suddenly blinked in Li Yao's eyes. He said with the utmost surprise, "You've discovered that Huangpu Xiaoya and I went missing so fast? Did you find the alarm magical equipment that I hid in my room? Was it not damaged by the explosions?"
Hu Guohao was dazed for a moment, but he quickly nodded. "The magical equipment was indeed impaired by the explosions. But the experts of the six major sects fixed it up and learned that you were captured! Let's talk more about that later. We are in an urgent situation. Our men cannot hold on for long. Let's go now!"
Li Yao's eyes flickered, and he said hesitantly, "It's a pity that I cannot make up my mind to leave at present. Let me think for a while."
Hu Guohao was stomping the ground in anxiety. "The situation is too urgent for you to consider anything now. You have to go!"
Li Yao's eyes suddenly turned cold. He shouted, "I hate threats more than anything else. What can you do if I don't want to go?"
Hu Guohao yelled and cursed, his crystal suit shaking violently. He pointed at Li Yao's nose. "Master Huangpu was right. You have indeed defected. You are a filthy, craven traitor!"
Li Yao scorned, "Everybody fights for what is best for themselves. I've never said that I would be loyal to Cultivators. What's this talk of defection all about?"
Hu Guohao was more than infuriated. "It's everyone's duty to eliminate the traitors at the first chance. Now that you've chosen the devil's path, just go to hell!"
He waved his right hand. Three sharp flash talons appeared at the front end of his arm; he bellowed and swept at Li Yao brutally!
With the enhancement of his crystal suit, the strike was indeed earthshaking!
Li Yao's Eight Arm Suit had been partly lost the first day he got on board. Besides, he would need another several seconds to summon what remained of it. The time was not enough at all.
Li Yao waved his two hands and threw the five crystal bombs on the platform at Hu Guohao, as he suddenly bent and hid himself below the platform.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Hu Guohao was immediately covered in clusters of orange brightness!
It was a shame that the crystal bombs were not powerful enough. Protected by his crystal suit, Hu Guohao suffered absolutely no damage from them except a moment of dizziness after he took a few steps back.
Taking advantage of his enemy's brief halt, Li Yao leapt out of the platform and rushed toward the cabin door as fast as he could.
Hu Guohao was back to himself very shortly. He shouted, "Traitor, where are you going?"
Colorful exhaust flames burst out of the power rune arrays on the back of his crystal suit. He accelerated to the maximum speed and kicked Li Yao in his back brutally.
Li Yao screamed and, vomiting blood, was kicked into a corner like a kite whose string had been cut off.
Hu Guohao seized the opportunity to move forward. The electric currents on his flash claw were brought to the limits. Dazzling electric arcs were spluttering on it as he aimed the claw at Li Yao's chest and stabbed it!
Li Yao's face was pale. His hands dangled down helplessly. There was the deepest fear in his eyes, as if he could do nothing except wait to be killed.
Two things happened simultaneously in the next half a second!
At first, a black shadow dashed into the broken cabin door and launched a flying sword at Hu Guohao. The flying sword hit Hu Guohao's flash claw precisely and deviated it from its trajectory!
Then, Li Yao, with the strength from nobody knew where, suddenly jerked to the left, only to unfortunately barge in the path of the flying sword.
The flying sword wreathed in crimson flames pierced into his left abdomen and left a terrifying wound there that almost reached his heart!
Li Yao's face was twisted by the pain. He had lost the strength to scream and collapsed to the ground.
The black shadow came to a halt. It was a pure black crystal suit.
The owner of the black crystal suit seemed to be as shocked as Hu Guohao. They were dazed for more than half a second before they began fighting.
However, neither of them seemed to be interested in the battle. After several seconds of fighting, Hu Guohao turned around and ran away, roaring, "Traitor, justice will come soon!"
The black shadow didn't pursue Hu Guohao. He jumped at Li Yao and shouted, "Master Li Yao!"
In a surveillance room not far away, Huangpu Shiyi and Su Jiuzhen both rose up and cried, "Not good! Hurry! Send him to the med bay! Give him the best treatment and the best medicine!
"He is the best disciple candidate that I have finally come across after so many years! Now that he has passed the test, his loyalty is unquestionable now. He cannot die just like that. He cannot!"
Seeing that Li Yao's abdomen had been torn open and he was cramping with blood flooding out, Huangpu Shiyi felt that his heart was aching.
It was not Li Yao himself that he felt sorry for. The greatest pity was that there were many tricks and techniques of refining inside Li Yao's brain that had yet to be dug out. It would be wasteful if he died just like that!
Cold sweat appeared on Su Jiuzhen's forehead, too, as he gnashed his teeth. "Who knew that he would jump up?
"But it's actually not bad. If his performance is only as good as this at the life-and-death moment, it is evident enough that he is really planning to join the Temple of Immortals, and his combat ability is truly at the beginning level of the Building Foundation Stage!"
Chapter 514: Malicious Li Yao |
Su Jiuzhen cast his eyes to a light beam nearby, which displayed the picture of a shallow cabin.
Inside the picture, Hu Guohao, who had been 'rescuing' Li Yao a moment ago, was standing beside another two Exos wearing crystal suits of the same model. Several other workers were next to them.
"Duan Hu, Duan Xiong, Duan Bao, take off your crystal suits and send them for examination. The standard crystal suits of the Furious Bears Union are not easy to find. We won't get replacements if they are damaged. Take a rest after that. You've completed your mission. Job well done.
"Duan Hu, don't let what happened just now bother you. It was because of an ill-considered plan. If something happens to Li Yao, I will take full responsibility for that. Your performance of the task was flawless."
His words moved Duan Hu, who had pretended to be 'Hu Guohao' a moment ago. The guy shook in excitement and bowed. "Understood, Master Su!"
"Shua!"
The other two Immortal Cultivators had already taken off their crystal suits and handed them over to the workers nearby.
Right then, Duan Hu triggered his telepathic thoughts, too. Gold lines surged out of the crystal suit and gradually dissected it.
At present, none of the six workers and three Exos inside the cabin were protected by crystal suits. Their alarm was at the lowest point…
Duan Hu's crystal suit was about to be taken off, when a piece of magical equipment no larger than a finger suddenly blinked in weird greenness on an inconspicuous spot below two tubes of the crystal reactor!
Huangpu Shiyi was suddenly greatly alarmed, as if thousands of needles were pricking his heart. He quivered and jumped up, while he screamed desperately, "Put on your crystal suit! Now!"
"What?"
Inside the picture, the workers were somewhat slow in reacting. But the faces of the three well-trained Exos all blanched, knowing that there must be a good reason for Huangpu Shiyi's anxiety. They summoned their crystal suits immediately!
However, it would still take the fastest of them 1.1 seconds to finish the implementation of the whole crystal suit.
After the greenness blinked for 0.3 seconds, a narrow line of flames burst out of the magical equipment and penetrated through the crystal reactor of Duan Hu's crystal suit!
The magical equipment was not powerful per se, but it was irritating and unsteady. It unleashed all the spiritual energy inside the crystal reactor and triggered a serial explosion!
BOOM! BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
In the Heaven's Origin Sector, the explosion of a super-compressed crystal reactor had once ruined the entire Refining Department of the Grand Desolate War Institution.
Although the biggest reason for the accident was that the warehouse full of crystals was ignited by the explosion, the power of a crystal reactor's explosion was definitely not something to underestimate.
Inside a starship, the explosion of a crystal reactor was more than enough to destroy several cabins!
For a moment, the starship seemed to have hit an invisible iceberg in the sea of stars. The ground was shaking, black smoke was popping up, and flames were dancing everywhere. In the center of the fire, countless Immortal Cultivators were screaming and crying!
The light beam immediately fell into darkness.
Huangpu Shiyi and Su Jiuzhen were both dumbfounded. They looked at each other in bewilderment for more than one minute. Their faces were even paler than those of a zombie, and they didn't know what to say at all.
…
Half an hour later, standing outside the med bay, Huangpu Shiyi and Su Jiuzhen stared at Li Yao gloomily.
They could see that Li Yao was soaked in bright green medication drugs comfortably as if he were taking a hot bath. The guy couldn't be more contented.
"The damage is very serious. Four were killed, including all the Duan triplets. Seven were too badly injured to fight again in the future. Five were crippled, with severe shock to their internal organs and brain. Their capability will be greatly compromised even if they recover from the wounds. Six of them were relatively better, but it will still take them at least two weeks before their combat ability is fully recovered.
"As for the damage to the starship, you should know it better than me as a refiner. I won't waste my time talking about that.
"This… This is truly—"
Su Jiuzhen seemed hoarier than usual. His white hair was all standing up, revealing his bare skin on the top of his head.
Huangpu Shiyi's face was grave, too.
However, he was the refiner on the starship. Most of the people killed or injured were under the command of Su Jiuzhen and not directly affiliated to him. Therefore, he was not as irked as him.
Thinking for a moment, he asked, "How are Li Yao's wounds?"
Holding back his anger, Su Jiuzhen replied, "The guy is indeed unbelievably lucky. The wound he suffered from the sword seemed to be shocking enough, but it actually never reached any of his internal organs. His flesh was torn open, and one of his ribs was broken. That's all. He will be fully recovered after staying inside the med bay for half a day!"
Huangpu Shiyi was surprised. He asked, "Is there any possibility that he feigned his wound to win our trust?"
Su Jiuzhen shook his head. "I've considered such a possibility. But based on what has happened, I would say that it's very unlikely.
"Although his wounds are not serious, they are indeed close to his main organs. If he hit the sword on purpose, he would have to boast precise control over his every muscle, his every artery, and even the small-scale movements of his internal organs.
"Otherwise, the flying sword would have penetrated into his heart if he had been unlucky. He might've survived if the med team got there in time, but an artificial heart would cause a great loss to his capability. The price would've been too great to pay!
