Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 443
Li Yao realized what was going. His lips curled into a smile, and he suddenly halted his smooth attack.
At the same time, Wu Mayan let out an earsplitting bellow. Dazzling brilliance broke out of the Unparalleled Extension and congregated into a torrent of spiritual energy that was more violent than a tsunami, more scorching than magma, and more furious than a tornado, sweeping everything in its way!
"Master, I'm sorry!" Wu Mayan shrieked and punched the chest of the Green Wolf Battlesuit hard. His fist left a deep dent in the breastplate of the Green Wolf Battlesuit. The wonderful feedback indicated that it was not a shadow but a real entity!
I finally hit Master!
Wu Mayan was almost crying in joy.
Now that he had hit the target, Wu Mayan definitely would not let go of such a good opportunity. His following attacks immediately landed on the crystal suit seamlessly!
His master seemed to have been caught off guard by his sudden outbreak and kept retreating without fighting back at all. The Green Wolf Battlesuit was seriously twisted, and it was likely to explode at any point!
Wu Mayan was overjoyed at first. But very soon, he realized it was not good. The Green Wolf Battlesuit about to be blown up was empty. Nobody was inside!
Right then, the crystal processor detected that a new Green Wolf Battlesuit was sprinting close from his right at an amazingly high speed!
Neither of the two Green Wolf Battlesuits were phantoms; they were both real!
That's impossible!
This is—
Air Change!
This time, Wu Mayan was truly bewildered!
Air change was also known to be 'ultimate suit changing skill'. Wu Mayan had learned in one of his classes that it was the most marvelous technique among the combat skills in crystal suits!
The mechanism was quite simple. An Exo could carry two or more crystal suits in their Cosmos Ring, and when one of the crystal suits was seriously damaged to the point of destruction, they would take off the crystal suit immediately and put on another one.
It was easier said than done. For a piece of precise magical equipment such as a crystal suit, it would take three to five seconds to put on or take off for a normal Exo. Changing a crystal suit would take ten seconds altogether.
On a battlefield, nobody would give an enemy ten seconds to change their crystal suit!
Therefore, although the technique granted the Exos with even stronger combat ability, few of them had ever used it in the real battles. It was almost considered to be a lost, marvelous skill!
Wu Mayan never expected that his master could perform an air change!
He did not expect that his master could change his crystal suit so fast!
Wu Mayan remembered clearly that an experienced Exo showed an air change in the class. It took him 3.9 seconds to finish the process without any interference.
Wu Mayan felt that he was about to burst into tears.
But his tears were pressed back by the excruciating pain.
His master seemed to have forgotten that he was his disciple and considered him a mortal enemy. His waist was whipped brutally yet another time.
The long-stored spiritual energy of the Unparalleled Extension had all been released. It was now at the weakest state. The previous attack almost whipped his soul out of his body.
Wu Mayan, who wanted to cry but had no tears, finally recalled his master's remark in the beginning, which he had not understood at that time.
I think you're ready for more crushing defeat and more brutal torment.
Chapter 660: Invincible Man! |
Over the next three seconds, Wu Mayan felt as if he had been swimming in a surging ocean for three years.
In the beginning, he had still been able to wave his hands to resist. But later, he could not even pretend that he was counterattacking. He watched the hundreds of parameters on the light beam, which represented the performance of the Unparalleled Extension, plunging like broken balloons.
The alarms of the crystal processor were like the Unparalleled Extension's screams and moans.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The Unparalleled Extension, which claimed to boast immense defense ability, seemed to have been mauled by a thousand green wolves. Under Li Yao's bombardment, cracks were finally appearing on it!
When the cracks appeared, it was not able to hold the attacks anymore and collapsed into pieces a moment later like a broken dam!
The Unparalleled Extension had been blown up by Li Yao!
Wu Mayan grunted and was blown backwards, falling to the ground on all fours heavily.
But his shock somehow made him forget his pain. Lying on the ground, he gazed at the scene in disbelief. The Unparalleled Extension had been battered like a beetle that had been stepped on!
The Unparalleled Extension has been punched into pieces by Master!
Wu Mayan felt his head was dizzy and could not stand on his feet at all.
Li Yao walked to his slowly and said, "Although the Super Bendable Steel has a special feature that it can absorb, store, and unleash spiritual energy, it also has a deadly drawback, which is that the toughness of the material will be greatly weakened after several instances of absorption and release. It will be as fragile as glass.
"It means that this is a one-off material. When spiritual energy is released on a large scale, the hardness of the material will be lowered by a large extent. After several releases, the material will become completely useless.
"It is also the reason the Super Bendable Steel is only suitable for the Ares Extension but not for normal crystal suits."
Wu Mayan's eyes had lost focus, and he had heard nothing that Li Yao just said. He mumbled to himself, "The Unparalleled Extension has been blown up."
Li Yao crouched, sprinted, and kicked Wu Mayan another hundreds of meters away, leaving a deep ravine on the ground!
"Although I am a refiner, and I've dedicated a lot of my time and effort to the Unparalleled Extension, I need to tell you this," Li Yao said solemnly. "There is no invincible magical equipment or techniques.
"There are only invincible people in the sea of stars."
Deep in thought, Wu Mayan put on an extremely serious expression, although his face was as swollen as that of a pig. He gritted his teeth and said, "I understand it now, Master. I will train myself hard. I will become the unparalleled man in the universe even if I do not have the Unparalleled Extension!
"Wait, Master. I already understand the logic. Why are you still coming over? I—I don't need your help to stand up.
"Master, why is your fighting will not reduced at all? I've admitted my failure!
"Don't come close! Stop there, Master! I'll cry for help if you get any closer!
"I have understood the logic, Master. I've understood the logic perfectly. Somebody help me! Aya!"
…
Half an hour later, Wu Mayan was sitting on what could barely be called the Thunderous Fire Battlesuit. He was grimacing like a wife who had been wronged by her newlywed husband, while he smeared balm on his head that was almost as swollen as a ball now.
At that moment, the previously handsome young man was now even more ugly than a demon boar.
"You were too brutal, Master!" Wu Mayan was hissing as he spoke, because several of his teeth were missing, and air was coming out of the holes. "I admitted my failure. Why were you still attacking so ruthlessly?"
Holding his chin next to him, Li Yao gazed at the air. His eyes seemed to have pierced through the void and saw the views of a long, long time ago.
With a vague smile, Li Yao mumbled, "My teacher did exactly the same. He would savage me even if I was already beaten down until I passed out in coma."
"Is that so?" Wu Mayan thought of something and suddenly exclaimed loudly, "Master, your countenance is quite queer when you talk about your past and being miserably tortured by other people. It seems to be an enjoyable memory that you like to dwell on. Since you are clearly missing the good old times when you were savaged, if I may ask, do you have a quirk that I don't know about?"
"Cut the nonsense!" Li Yao glared at him and said, "I've found that you have learned a lot of crap over the past half year."
"Weren't you telling me to visit more places and broaden my horizon? Of course, I got in touch with things that I didn't know!" Wu Mayan grimaced and said with a smile, "But I didn't know that Master is an expert in crystal suit. If I had known it, I would have asked you to run the test in person during the day. There was no need for me to take action at all!"
Li Yao sorted out the data that he just collected and replied, "The Unparalleled Extension in my plan has three versions in total. Right now, only the standard version has been developed, for which you were perfect to run the test. For the next version, I will work together with Master Xue Yuanxin on the 'extreme version' that is specialized for the top experts above the Core Formation Stage. The speed, agility, and usability will all be greatly increased. Of course, the enhancement to their combat ability will be maximized, too!"
Wu Mayan tilted his head and thought for a while. He asked curiously, "Well, the standard version for common Cultivators and the extreme version for the Core Formation Stage Cultivators and Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators make two versions in total. What about the third?"
Li Yao answered casually, "The third version is for my own use. I call it the Sand Scorpion version."
"…Okay."
Wu Mayan scratched his nose after a long sigh.
Over the past half year, he had become the most brilliant rising star in Flying Star University. Everybody said that he was a rarely-seen genius who would only appear once in a hundred years!
He had lived up to their expectation and risen to fame at a lightning-like speed, bringing shock to everybody on a daily basis.
In Flying Star University, in Heavenly Saints Institute, in Heavenly Sword Arena… He reaped everyone's amazement, praise, admiration, jealousy, and even hatred!
But when he returned to his training chamber and was faced with his master, he sensed the abyssal desperation again.
When could the rarely-seen genius be as good as his master?
Li Yao sorted out the data and started cleaning up the ragged crystal suit. He dismantled the wasted iron into the most fundamental components. Some of them were twisted. Li Yao would straighten them with his bare hands, and they were renewed as if they were processed in the most precise facilities.
While cleaning up the mess, Li Yao said, "I pulled some strings to make you the first tester for the Unparalleled Extension. Your performance indeed far exceeded my expectations. But the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting in half a month is a big event of the Flying Star Sector. Public tests that are more difficult will be held again by then.
"I'll return to the Cross Wind Space Zone in the next half month. Just train yourself and distinguish yourself in the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting!"
"Understood. I'm going to sweep the spot and show everyone what the first disciple of the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau looks like!"
Wu Mayan jumped up and accidentally moved his broken bones. He gasped and bent down again. While he grimaced, he said, "But why are you going to the Cross Wind Space Zone?"
"To borrow money," Li Yao replied casually.
Wu Mayan was dazed. "Are you short of money, Master? I'm told that the Glorious Sunlight Group is operating quite well."
"It is. But we spend faster than it earns." Li Yao glanced at Wu Mayan and said, "The balm you are smearing right now is hundreds of times more expensive than gold, and the test we ran just now wasted two Green Wolves, one Thunderous Fire, and one Unparalleled Extension.
"Such a consumption rate is too much even if we have a mountain of gold."
After he reached the superlative height of the Building Foundation Stage, Li Yao's demand on resources soared together with his capability.
Crazy training relied on determination as well as incessant Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures!
Li Yao's and Wu Mayan's training costs were ten times more than that of Cultivators of their level. Such hard work would melt their muscles and bones or even kill them if they did not absorb enough spiritual energy.
Over the past half year, Li Yao and Wu Mayan had consumed more resources than many Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators did.
In terms of personal wealth, Li Yao was as rich as many Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators with the support of Iron Plateau.
The wealthy and powerful Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were often faced with the same problem. They were not alone and had hundreds if not thousands of disciples and descendants.
The resources that the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators got could not be wholly dedicated to their own training. They had to consider their posterity and their connection network.
For example, if a prodigy gifted in training emerged in their family, the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators would definitely spare some of the resources for them and spend part of their time and energy in guiding the younger generation. Only by doing so could they maintain the normal functioning of their family or sect.
If a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator was selfish and devoured all the resources available without offering any to their child or grandchild, it would only be a matter of time before they lost all support and became alone.
By then, they would be able to collect enough resources by themself. It would be a lose-lose situation.
The redistribution among the family was one of the disadvantages of the big households.
But it was different for Li Yao. The Glorious Sunlight Group had risen like a volcano eruption and accumulated tremendous wealth, but he had no descendants and only one disciple.
Therefore, he had no concerns and poured all the resources available into himself and Wu Mayan. It was also one of the biggest reasons for their significant improvement over the previous half year.
Even so, after spending a fortune for half a year, Li Yao felt that he was getting skint. A few new projects had just been initiated in the Glorious Sunlight Group, and the capital chain was quite tense.
As it happened, the Cross Wind Union Back had extended its hand to him. Some of their proposals were worth negotiating.
Also, since the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was currently being modified in Sparkle, which was also docked in the Cross Wind Space Zone, Li Yao intended to bring it back by the way.
After cleaning up everything, Li Yao planned to leave the world fragment, but he suddenly remembered something and turned around. "Right. You don't like Xie Anan?"
Wu Mayan immediately sniffed. "Master, you are not recruiting the silly woman as your disciple, are you?"
Li Yao found it odd. "Xie Anan does not look like a hateful girl. How did she piss you off? You have disliked her since the beginning. Why are you so cold toward her when you've met so many times? It never occurred to me that you are so obstinate."
Wu Mayan blushed and murmured, "When the silly woman and I met for the first time and I introduced myself, she exclaimed and said, 'You're the kid who beat up a teacher of the Combat Department!'
"Damn. Who's 'the kid'? I'm forty centimeters higher than the silly woman!"
Chapter 661: Arriving in Cross Wind |
Four days later, a 'humpback-level' carrier gradually appeared in the boundless sea of stars and sailed slowly to the central area of the Cross Wind Space Zone.
Such long-distance carriers often shortened the time of sailing by performing multiple space jumps.
Most of the time during the journey, the passengers stayed in tiny deep sleep capsules with their bodies soaked in special protective liquids. Their consciousness would stay within the Grand Illusionary Land for entertainment.
In such a way, the ordinary people, whose bodies were relatively weak, could also withstand the tearing force during space jumps.
Right now, the long journey had almost come to an end. Most of the passengers had left their sleep capsules and entered the open area to warm up their bodies.
Sitting in a corner of the dining room, Li Yao placed seven mechanical watches of different brands and structures on the table before him. He tapped his fingers on the table.
Suddenly, he flipped his hands, and invisible spiritual energy flooded toward the seven mechanical watches like tides.
CRACK! CRACK!
After a series of tiny cracking sounds, the seven watches were dismantled into the most fundamental components. The clutch wheel, the tourbillon, the decompression lever… More than 8,400 components were mixed together in midair under the guidance of Li Yao's fingers in a variety of different shapes, at one moment a lozenge, the next a cube.
Shua!
A deep blue color suddenly flashed. All the components were parted from each other and reassembled into seven watches.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
Six watches were running precisely without the slightest fault. But the second hand of the last watch was shivering and only moved forward every two seconds or so.
My technique of remote manipulation is not good enough yet. I can only dismantle and assemble six watches simultaneously at best right now.
It will be something if I can control nine watches and ten thousand components at my will.
By then, ordinary crystal suits will not be able to withstand my touch however smooth and seamless they seem.
Li Yao half closed his eyes and extended his spiritual threads into the seven watches, while he sensed the tiniest changes in the components and located the source of the malfunction of the last watch.
He suddenly felt something and opened his eyes, only to discover that a plump girl was staring at him in bewilderment with two glasses of soybean milk, two boiled eggs, and a plate of steamed buns.
It was possible that the little girl had seen his performance just now.
Since he was about to reach his destination, Li Yao was in a quite good mood. He smiled at the little girl and waved his hands.
The little girl hesitated. Seeing that the dining room was full of people, she finally could not hold her curiosity and summoned her courage to go to the stranger and said, "Big brother, was that a magic trick?"
