Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 382
But the Iron Bears Detonation Team indeed excelled at the usage of Wolf Fangs. Some of the grenades hit each other in midair and altered each other's direction, and some of them exploded in advance; the resulting blast not only changed the trajectory of the other Wolf Fangs nearby but also improved their speed!
Several Wolf Fangs broke the defense of the members of the Fierce Storm Assault Team and exploded right beside them.
The team members grunted and fell out of the sky with sharp thorns stabbed into their bodies.
Li Yao's eyes almost bulged out. He did not expect that they would be using real grenades during a test!
The Wolf Fangs were indeed powerful. The broken shrapnel penetrated through the spiritual shields and armor of the members of the Fierce Storm Assault Team. Although they were not seriously wounded, they were still bleeding fast because of the broken shells.
Wu Mayan saw Li Yao's surprise and explained matter-of-factly, "This is typical for the daily training of the Furious Bears Tribe. It can be quite dangerous, but how can you expect to fight the ferocious demon beasts if you cannot stand such training?
"Not just the two elite squads, even the everyday training of the common qi-trainers is extremely painful and perilous. Many people give it up because they've had enough of it every day. Some people grit their teeth through it, only to become mentally deranged and to be forced to quit.
"My mom said that you were going to do the qi-trainer's training tomorrow. You must be very careful about it. It's not a joke!"
While they were talking, the two torrents of steel crashed into each other!
The Fierce Storm Assault Team was swift and nimble like a lightning, and the Iron Bears Detonation Team was heavy and strong like rumbling thunder.
The competition between the lightning and the thunder was heated from the moment it began.
Countless Wolf Fangs exploded brutally. Dozens of sonic swords ripped apart the air simultaneously!
Li Yao greatly enjoyed their performance.
Speaking of the combat ability of the Refinement Stage, the qi-trainers on Iron Plateau had apparently achieved the best of it.
If a hundred qi-trainers of Iron Plateau and a hundred Refinement Stage Cultivators from space were engaged in a match, Li Yao would definitely bet on the former!
While observing the summit confrontation of two elite teams, Li Yao contemplated on the modification plans of sonic swords and Wolf Fangs.
He was dwelling in his own world, when Wu Mayan suddenly exclaimed in shock and he discovered that a black object was coming right at his face!
As it turned out, one grenade was bashed away by a member of the Fierce Storm Assault Team and darted precisely at his head!
BOOM!
Before he realized what was going on, the Wolf Fang had exploded. Hundreds of broken pieces formed a hurricane of metals and swept over!
Li Yao's pupils shrank to the size of needle tips. He entered the super perceptive state instantly and increased his brain cell activity to 500%!
In the super perceptive state, time seemed to have been slowed down to one fifth of its original speed, and the air turned extremely thick. Every broken piece almost came to a halt.
Li Yao could clearly see the trajectory of each piece and calculate their new routes when they crashed into each other, before he figured out the best dodging plan at present.
He moved his left leg and planned to slide backwards three meters, only to run into Wu Mayan heavily.
The young man had noticed the incoming Wolf Fang earlier and tried to jump close and drag him away even though it was equally dangerous for him!
This little guy!
Li Yao was somewhat moved and found it hilarious. The perfect route of dodging had been blocked by his young friend!
He gritted his teeth and further increased his brain cell activity. His eyes immediately became bloodshot, several of his cerebral vessels exploded, and he was soaked in sweat!
When the shrapnel reached them, he slightly moved toward the left and grabbed Wu Mayan's sleeve. In the end, both of them fell to the ground!
The two dodging movements happened really fast. In other people's eyes, he was merely shocked and fell to the ground in fear.
But in Li Yao's precise calculation, it was the safest dodging plan available. His shoulder and right arm would be hit by two broken pieces, but Wu Mayan would be unhurt.
However, just as he fell to the ground hurriedly, a white figure dashed close, with a sword in hand that turned into hundreds of phantom-like shadows and blew away all the broken pieces!
Chapter 566: Temple of Techniques |
The white figure stopped; it was a tall woman in silver jet armor. She looked down at Li Yao with a slight smile of mockery.
The woman was almost 1.9 meters tall, but her four limbs were evenly distributed and brought absolutely no feeling of clumsiness. On the contrary, she gave Li Yao the impression that she was as fast as a swallow. It was quite odd.
Her nose was high, and her eyes were deep. Some of her hair was gold, enshrouding her in an exotic vibe.
Yet, she was eyeing Li Yao with despise and contempt, as if she was scorning his cowardice.
Li Yao did not realize the reason until a moment later.
The dodging movement he had performed just now made it look like he was so scared by the Wolf Fang that he had simply fallen to the ground.
Also, he had brought his brain cell activity to the maximum instantly a moment ago. As a result, several of his cerebral vessels had exploded. His face was pale, his hands were shivering, and he was soaked in sweat. It was exactly what a shocked man looked like.
Qi-trainers valued courage and valiance more than anything else. Given his chicken-like appearance, no wonder he was gazed at in such a way.
Li Yao was unhappy. In the haste just now, he had forgotten that he was merely at the peak of the Refinement Stage and exploited his brain too much.
If he were at the high level of the Building Foundation Stage, he could've perfectly repaired a few broken cerebral vessels within several seconds.
But right now, he only had the capability of the peak of the Refinement Stage. He had to extend his spiritual threads into his brain and connect the broken veins neatly and slowly. It could take quite a few minutes for him to fix the veins and disperse the extravasated blood.
During the several minutes, there was no way that he could stand up. He would look as overwhelmed as he was right now.
The tall and strong woman stared at him for a while and then turned to Wu Mayan. The two of them seemed to be quite familiar with each other. The woman smiled and said, "Wu Mayan, I'm told that you ran into two Emperor Sand Scorpions when you went out hunting secretly all by yourself last night. Thankfully, someone saved you. The man put down the two demon beasts with merely half a shank. You talked as if he was the most marvelous expert in the world. I don't think you were referring to him, were you?"
Wu Mayan was a bit lost for words, too. He did not expect that 'Uncle Sand Scorpion', whose face color had remained unchanged when confronting two Emperor Sand Scorpions simultaneously, would fall to the ground in fear just because of a grenade, with a face paler than paper and a pair of hands that were continuously shuddering.
The young man stammered and failed to come up with any response.
The tall woman grinned. Her canine teeth were thick and strong like those from an animal.
Somebody in the Iron Bears Detonation Team noticed the accident, too. A muscular, dark-skinned man strode forward and, seeing that both of them were alright, were greatly relieved. He spoke loudly, "Wu Mayan, young boy, you've come to watch our practice again? Why didn't you keep your distance?"
The muscular man was dazed at Li Yao who was still sitting and sweating on the ground, too, as if he had never been in such a situation where a guy was horrified. He scratched his head and looked at the tall woman in bewilderment.
"Alright. All good here. Let's continue!"
The tall woman lost all interest in Li Yao and gestured for the muscular man to return to the test field.
Wu Mayan was almost crying. He said in a low voice, "Uncle Sand Scorpion, what happened to you? You were like a God of War when you fought the two Emperor Sand Scorpions yesterday. How come you were so intimidated by a small grenade? Have you never touched crystal bombs before?"
Li Yao rolled his eyes in his mind.
Wu Mayan sighed in hopelessness. "Why were you moving just now? If you stayed where you were, I would've knocked you out of the way!
"It's great now. Both of us fell to the ground. How shameful!
"The woman wearing white jet armor is Xiong Zhenzhen, captain of the Fierce Storm Assault Team and an expert at the 79th level of the Refinement Stage! The black iron tower that followed her is Shi Meng. He is the captain of the Iron Bears Detonation Team and an expert at the 81st level of the Refinement Stage!
"I'm so screwed. They've both witnessed my disgraceful action just now. How can I apply for the two elite teams in the future?"
Li Yao showed no expression, as he was focusing on the mending of his cerebral vessels.
He was never a man who cared about how other people viewed him. Despise from the two experts and Wu Mayan's complaints hardly bothered him.
But he was thinking about the formidability of the jet armors and the shield armors.
Such two kind of armors should be the prototypes of crystal suits. Other than the lack of crystal processors to help the wearer during a fight, they are even more sophisticated than many traditional crystal suits in the usage and enhancement of spiritual gas. They are definitely the best equipment to maximize the combat ability of a Refinement Stage Cultivator!
The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is not available at present after all. Maybe I should craft a set of such armor for my temporary use?
Li Yao sat cross-legged on the ground, his hands holding his chin, while he was meditated and completely ignored the grumbling young man next to him.
…
After the test, Li Yao returned to the hospital with several sonic swords and a few Wolf Fangs of various models.
Sha Yulan had prepared a quiet ward for him so that he could do his research without being disturbed.
The light in the ward was on for an entire night.
Next day in the morning, Wu Mayan came to find him again. They went to the central area of Furious Bears City, where the temple of the qi-trainers' techniques was located, on another True Qi train.
What a splendid building! Li Yao craned his neck.
The temple was a black, majestic building, hundreds of meters high. Thousands of years of wind and rain had cast countless giant boa-like cracks on the surface of the temple, which only managed to remain standing with the help of the rebars and iron chains.
In front of the temple was a large square, in which lot of lifts made of gears and hinges that led into the ground were installed.
Judging from the sign before the temple, there were still a large number of buildings underground.
Outside the temple, a bronze statue almost twenty meters tall was standing silently. It was a strong man in beast hide fighting a large mantis-type demon beast barehandedly.
Although a great many details of the statue were lost, one could still doubtlessly sense a strong feeling of bravery and determination from it.
A rusted sign was embedded on the pedestal of the statue. It seemed to have been burnt and was riddled with holes, but a line of words could still be distinguished.
'Training Camp No. 341 of the Flying Star Coalition Government'
According to Wu Mayan, the temple had once been a camp of the coalition government of the six major sects where the new soldiers were trained before the apocalypse. Many advanced training facilities had been installed previously.
The general training of qi-trainers could be done anywhere. However, the enlightenment in the beginning and quick improvement could only be achieved in the special chambers of the temple.
Before they entered the temple, they could already hear miserable screams from the depths of the building and see many tall, brawny man staggering feebly out of the building and leaving in depression and shame.
Wu Mayan said in a low voice, "Since the apocalypse is about to take place, many ordinary people have come to the temple to have another test to determine whether or not they have the potential to be a qi-trainer. However, most of them can't even pass the first test because of the suffering and have to give up!
"The six tribes of Iron Plateau worship the strong and deride the weak. If anybody cries because they are bitten by a demon beast during a hunting trip, other people will definitely laugh and mock them.
"But it's a tradition that none who cannot bear the training of qi-trainers and quit are to be regarded as cowards or ridiculed!
"The reason is that such training is significantly more painful than the biting of a demon beast. It's only natural that normal people cannot bear it!
"Uncle Sand Scorpion, don't be too hard on yourself if you find it difficult to persist. It's nothing to be ashamed of, alright?"
Li Yao did not give any response. He walked upwards along the broad steps made of black stones together Wu Mayan.
A giant board was hanging above of the temple's entrance on which three aggressive and bloody words were written.
'ALL FOR SURVIVAL!'
Thin black smoke filled the temple, making it troublesome to see what was going on clearly.
Li Yao could vaguely tell that hundreds of children less than ten years old were sitting in metal buckets on the left side of the temple with only their heads exposed to the air.
The metal buckets seemed to have been filled with special medical liquid. Tormented by the secret medicine, all the children were in great pain. Some of them were even sobbing.
There was resentfulness on Wu Mayan's face, too, as he remarked, "This is the process to broaden the veins and bones of the children and to lay foundations for their training later. Only by strengthening their organs from the age three to five can they bear the pain of the expansion of their veins later and store the superfluous spiritual gas without exploding!
"I assume that you must've never been cleansed with such secret medicines. If not, the training of spiritual gas will be even more insufferable for you! Let me repeat myself. Don't be too hard on yourself. Just give up if you can't withstand it, otherwise you might be killed!"
Xiong Wuji had already informed the deacons of the temple in advance. Therefore, Wu Mayan directly led him to an advanced training chamber on the third floor below the ground.
It was said that the training chamber was designed for experts above the 40th level of the Refinement Stage.
The chamber seemed no different than the training chambers Li Yao had seen in the outside world. Barbells, iron sticks, and punching targets were in every corner of the chamber.
All the training equipment was made of black iron and seriously oxidized, filling the air with an intense smell of rust.
Li Yao had only just walked into the chamber when was he deeply attracted to the dozens of large colorful pictures hanging on the wall. They were the pictures of the veins and nerves inside the human body, but different from those Li Yao had seen in the outside world, there were hundreds of brand new veins as thin as hairs in the middle of the Twelve Essential Veins and Eight Subsidiary Veins!
It was not very clear in the general picture, but one could clearly see that the tiny veins were all over the body like capillary vessels!
Chapter 567: A Thousand Bridge Veins! |
Fu Dong, the manager of the training chamber, was a brawny man over 2.2 meters tall. His two arms had been torn away by demon beasts, and shocking scars could be seen on his chest. He used two giant artificial arms on his bare shoulders and controlled the metal hands with his spiritual threads. When the artificial arms were extended fully, they could be well over two meters long.
Wu Mayan explained to Li Yao in a low voice that Manager Fu Dong was the toughest mentor in the temple and that he knew the guy's teaching too well. The manager was truly a cruel and merciless man.
"This training chamber of mine is reserved for the real tough men. Boss Xiong told me last night that you are an out-and-out one. That's why I decided to keep the training chamber for you today."
Fu Dong waved his iron arms and picked up multiple training tools, which seemed more suitable for interrogation, while he eyed Li Yao coldly and said, "If you are not a hard man, just give up right now. There are a lot of other training champers in the floors above. Let's not waste each other's time!"
While talking, he tossed a pile of metal shackles Li Yao.
"The veins of a human can be divided into the Twelve Essential Veins and Eight Subsidiary Veins. For ordinary fighters, they mainly focus their attention on training the Twelve Essential Veins. When someone enters the Refinement Stage, they start training their Eight Subsidiary Veins."
Fu Dong's right arm was lengthened by the spurting spiritual gas. He pointed at the pictures of veins on the wall and explained, "The Twelve Essential Veins and Eight Subsidiary Veins constitute a circulation where the spiritual gas will loop and trigger the potential in one's cells.
"However, in the middle of the Twelve Essential Veins and Eight Subsidiary Veins, there are a lot of capillary vessels as thin as a hair!
"Cultivators discovered the capillary vessels long ago. But before the apocalypse, no one had attached much importance to the training of capillary vessels, because such training could prove excruciating, and the capillary vessels only had a limited capacity as they could not be expanded too much. It was more rational to consider how to build the foundation and form the core than to devote much time and energy to the training of capillary vessels!
"However, since the apocalypse, we qi-trainers have focused on the utilization of spiritual gas!
"Although each capillary vessel is as insignificant as a hair and can only store a tiny amount of spiritual gas, the total amount when all the capillary vessels are made use of is never to be underestimated. The Twelve Essential Veins and Eight Subsidiary Veins combined are only twenty veins, but there are thousands of capillary vessels inside your body. If the width and hardness of all the capillary vessels are increased by ten times, how much more spiritual gas will you be able to store inside your body?
