Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 534
The computational ability of those Grand Illusionary Soldiers controlled directly by the star brain is too high!
Li Yao frowned deeply.
In terms of spiritual energy capacity, speed, or strength, the Grand Illusionary Soldiers were absolutely no match for the Cultivators in the Core Formation Stage and the Nascent Soul Stage.
However, they always seemed able to predict the movement of the Cultivators and act accordingly. Sometimes, they simply detonated themselves, giving birth to shields of flames and lightning to block the Cultivators. The physical strength and spiritual energy of the Cultivators were running out quickly, and their crystal suits rapidly were being worn down, too.
It's been a thousand years since the Grand Illusionary Group provided the Grand Illusionary Land service to the world of Cultivators!
Over the thousand years, all the Cultivators, including those in the Core Formation Stage and the Nascent Soul Stage, have become used to conducting virtual training and combat via the Grand Illusionary Land.
Therefore, the enormous database of the Grand Illusionary Group has stored a lot of combat data of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, including the features of their tactics, their fighting habits, their maximum speed, their favorite moves and so on. Everything is stored deep inside the star brain!
Which means that the star brain has seen through every tactic, move, and technique of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators here!
With the immense computational ability of the star brain, it must have simulated today's battle in the Grand Illusionary Land thousands of times before it drafted the perfect strategies to cope with us. That's why the Grand Illusionary Soldiers are so difficult to get rid of!
Right then, a desperate scream echoed inside the communication channel.
While multiple Grand Illusionary Soldiers were detonating themselves, one of the Grand Illusionary Soldiers suddenly moved ten times faster. Three blade auras that were more than ten meters long were extended from the vibration saber and hit three Cultivators precisely at the same time like vipers and dragons!
The three Cultivators were all in the Core Formation Stage, but the three auras blew up their spiritual shields, smashed their breastplates, and broke several of their ribs.
The unstoppable spiritual energy even pierced hundreds of holes the size of needle tips in their hearts!
It was Xiao Xuance!
Li Yao's eyes bulged as he tried to lock onto Xiao Xuance.
But his crystal suit was identical to the Grand Illusionary Soldiers in appearance. When he was mixed among thousands of Grand Illusionary Soldiers, with the dazzling explosions, mystic rays, and blurred shadows, it was impossible to locate him.
Are you kidding me? I always think that I am already shameless enough in a battle, but the best expert of the Flying Star Sector is even more shameless than I am!
Li Yao was so angry that he felt his head was smoking. He bellowed in the communication channel, "All the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, leave the Grand Illusionary Soldiers alone. Let's go over and attack the star brain!"
The six dragon heads on the back of the crystal suit opened their bloody mouths. Six dragon balls were dancing rapidly around his body like satellites and formed six dazzling rings of various colors. The rings quickly expanded and instantly cut the ten or so Grand Illusionary Soldiers around him in half. Orange brilliance burst out from the fracture, and the Grand Illusionary Soldiers all exploded before they halted for a moment!
Li Yao took the opportunity to dash toward the star brain!
The control room of the star brain was right behind the wall of the bridge, which was translucent and seemed to be made of jade.
Through the defense rune arrays and the jade wall, the star brain could be clearly seen.
Hiding yourself, huh? Let's see where you are going to hide yourself when I blow up the wall!
Li Yao opened his arms. Thousands of streams of spiritual energy flowed out of his limbs and went upwards along his arms into his palms helically, where they formed two dazzling light balls.
He put his hands together. The two light balls were like two black holes that were both attracting and rejecting each other, and they flew crazily in the shape of the number '8'.
Li Yao roared and pushed forward with all his strength. The two light balls rushed out and expanded into an enormous pillar of light three meters in diameter, which had a rapidly-revolving, black and white drill in front!
The drill shrieked like a raging dragon.
All the Grand Illusionary Soldiers that were standing in the way of the pillar of light were obliterated.
The drill hit the defense rune array in front of the jade wall brutally.
For a moment, the whole bridge shook.
The illumination rune arrays on the ceiling became brighter and brighter until they were dazzling because of the excessive input of spiritual energy. They all exploded after a cracking noise in the end, casting the bridge into a moment of darkness.
Then, the emergency illumination rune arrays came on. However, the lights were blinking and unstable. A moment in the light was followed by a moment of darkness.
In front of Li Yao, the defense rune array collapsed deeply like a giant swirl and did not return to normal until almost twenty seconds later.
However, chaotic electric arcs were still popping up in the seemingly peaceful air, indicating that the defense rune array was still active.
Li Yao breathed heavily, his face pale.
In terms of the intensity of spiritual energy, the previous strike had basically reached his limit. He had thought that he would have been able to blow up the defense rune array.
"Save yourself the trouble!" hundreds of Grand Illusionary Soldiers sneered simultaneously. "It is the main crystal reactor of Heavenly Phantom that provides spiritual energy for the defense rune array. The diameter of this particular crystal reactor is five hundred meters. How much spiritual energy do you think it can generate?
"Even the full-strength strike of a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator would be nothing but a scratch for the defense rune array!"
Li Yao chuckled. As a refiner, he knew full well that Xiao Xuance was merely bluffing.
Although the crystal reactor of a crystal warship was huge, it was mainly used to provide impetus to push the vehicle forward instead of boosting the performance in combat. Therefore, the combustion mode of crystals was slow and stable. It could not be compared to the crystal reactor of a crystal suit or the internal organs and the brain of a Cultivator, where their spiritual energy was stored.
Besides, since it was the 'main' crystal reactor, naturally, it was responsible for most of the spiritual energy output of Heavenly Phantom. It would be a miracle if 10% of the spiritual energy that the crystal reactor generated was allocated to the defense rune array!
Now that Xiao Xuance was wasting his precious computational ability talking to him in the fierce battle, it was evident that he was attacking the man's critical weakness!
The other experts in the Nascent Soul Stage were all smart and possessed a high computational ability, too. They quickly realized what was going on and changed their tactics. Instead of annihilating the Grand Illusionary Soldiers, they all flew to the star brain and attacked the defense rune array between the control room of the star brain and the brain, even at the risk of being hit by the Grand Illusionary Soldiers!
For a moment, saber and sword auras dominated the place, the fireballs were flying everywhere, and the storms of spiritual energy did not die down for a long time!
Strong as the Grand Illusionary Soldiers might have been, they were not enough to stop the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators who were getting serious. Under the full-strength strikes of the six Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, the defense rune array turned into billions of stars and spluttered out after rippling for a while, vanishing into thin air!
"The defense rune array has been broken!"
Now, the only thing that stood between the Cultivators and the star brain was a jade wall!
Although Xiao Xuance showed up again and killed six Cultivators in the Core Formation Stage, the Cultivators were on a rampage, too. All the Cultivators in the Core Formation Stage surrounded the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators so that the latter could barrage the defense rune array of the star brain without worries, while they stalled Xiao Xuance and his Grand Illusionary Soldiers at the cost of their own lives!
Even though Xiao Xuance was the best expert of the Flying Star Sector, he was not able to kill every Core Formation Stage Cultivator instantly, especially when the Core Formation Stage Cultivators were determined to die!
BOOM! BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Led by Luo Xingzi, the six Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators all launched their most powerful attacks. Mystic rays, flying swords, sabers, and ball of lightning hit the jade wall consecutively!
The jade wall broke!
Cracks resembling the spider web quickly covered the entire jade wall, making the star brain behind the wall look even more twisted and hideous!
Hiu!
Seeing that the next bombardment of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators would completely blow up the jade wall, Xiao Xuance finally lost his cool. A plain-looking Grand Illusionary Soldier appeared in between the jade wall and the six Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators at such a high speed that it was almost an instant movement.
BOOM!
The camouflage that made him look like a Grand Illusionary Soldier broke apart suddenly, revealing a golden, blinking crystal suit.
The most eye-catching part of the crystal suit was the highly-risen helmet. It made Xiao Xuance's head disproportionally long, as if he were wearing a majestic crown. Four different faces were carved on the four facets of the 'crow'. Indifferent, infuriated, ecstatic, and sorrowful!
The breastplate of the crystal suit was painted with a large face, too, half of which was hideous and malicious while the other half was friendly and benevolent. It seemed to be a combination of the deities in the heavens and the devils in the deepest level of hell!
It was Xiao Xuance's own crystal suit—Heavenly Lord!
When the Heavenly Lord Battlesuit showed up, the half-kind-half-hideous face on the breastplate started twisting. Everybody heard laughter and cries at the same time.
Including Li Yao, all the Cultivators were grasped by part-fear and part-reverence.
Mental attack!
Xiao Xuance's crystal suit boasts very strong mental attack techniques, too. It is hundreds of times more advanced than Fengyu Zhong's Hundred Faces Battlesuit!
Li Yao was greatly alarmed, knowing that the best expert of the Flying Star Sector was finally showing his real strength!
Hoooo!
Xiao Xuance did not roar, but the spiritual energy that surged out roared earthshakingly like a giant beast in space. Bright golden balls appeared in the air, spinning and emitting deafening sounds.
They were the bombs of spiritual energy that Xiao Xuance had formed with his own spiritual energy!
"Six Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, and Bai Xinghe who is barely one… Six and a half altogether. You think that's enough to defeat me?
"Too naïve!"
When all the bombs of spiritual energy rushed toward the Cultivators, Xiao Xuance turned into seven streaks of golden brightness and fought the seven Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators simultaneously!
The best expert of the Flying Star Sector was truly shameless when he chose to be, but when he decided to fight the hard way, he could not have been more domineering!
Chapter 801: Suppressing the Nascent Souls! |
One versus seven, and yet he was taking the initiative to attack. While the bombs of spiritual energy were detonated, leading to an ocean of flames, the streak of golden brightness that was Xiao Xuance turned into seven different images. He had shaped his spiritual energy into different forms according to the characteristics of the seven experts!
Li Yao suddenly felt tremendous pressure. He felt that a golden needle was stabbing into every pore on his body!
Thankfully, Xiao Xuance had mistaken him for Bai Xinghe and launched a mental attack toward him. Therefore, he was able to defend himself without unleashing his real capability.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Their battle sabers collided brutally a thousand times within a moment, as if thousands of golden threads were drawing something in midair. Thousands of deep dents appeared on the edges of the sabers. After thousands of clashes, both of the sabers crumbled heavily!
Although the sabers were broken, they maintained their original form, bound by the surging spiritual energy of the two parties engaged in the battle. They were even more untamable and daunting while they mauled each other like two dragons that were trying to swallow one another.
Their spiritual energy continued flooding out into a dazzling blast that decimated all the metal scraps into powder. The powder was then condensed into silver pearls because of the high temperature and the high pressure, which then darted out quickly, piercing through dozens of Grand Illusionary Soldiers and multiple Cultivators!
In the meantime, a mental attack that was much sharper than the edge of the saber slashed into Li Yao's brain.
Although Li Yao's soul was extremely solid, he intended to mislead Xiao Xuance for a while longer. Therefore, he screamed and flew backwards, crashing into a bunch of Grand Illusionary Soldiers.
On the back of the crystal suit, Black Wing was eager to act. If Xiao Xuance followed, Black Wing would immediately trigger two enormous wings and help him bring his speed to the maximum so that he could launch the most furious counterattack with his saber.
Yet, Xiao Xuance did not go after him any further. The seven streaks of golden brightness retreated and condensed into a blinking, intimidating man again.
However, his crystal suit was now on the verge of collapse because of the brief but bloody battles.
The crystal suits of the six Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were not any better. They were also riddled with shocking gashes and would crumble suddenly if somebody touched them lightly.
"Xiao Xuance, you are too arrogant!" Luo Xingzi struggled to laugh. "We are all in the Nascent Soul Stage. Even if you are the best exert of the Flying Star Sector, you cannot defeat all seven of us at the same time!
"You are doomed to failure in this battle!"
Xiao Xuance sneered and continued summoning his spiritual energy. The golden flames around him were burning more and more furiously, until in the end, he seemed to have completely melded into the fire of spiritual energy.
His crystal suit, muscles, bones, and internal organs seemed to have turned into translucent crystals, except for the baby-like entity in the depths of his body that was glittering clearly!
That was the Nascent Soul!
By passing through the Refinement Stage, the Building Foundation Stage, and the Core Formation Stage, the spiritual energy had shifted from a gas to a liquid and then to a solid. In terms of effectiveness, it had arrived at the peak now.
In the training that followed, the Cultivators had to combine the spiritual energy in nature with their own will and consciousness. They would polish the purest, truest, and most original ego and toss it into the spiritual energy in order to produce a self in the state of pure energy.
The self of pure energy was the 'true self'. The purpose of Cultivation was to build up the 'true self'!
Right now, Xiao Xuance was releasing his innermost strength. His determination that had been accumulated for hundreds of years would be let out within a moment. It was obvious that he was going to fight everybody head-on!
BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM!
The six Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators all released their strongest spiritual waves too, and their bodies were crystalized into translucent appearances, too.
A strong will that was different but equally resolute appeared in the center of their bodies in the form of babies!
"Xiao Xuance, we are from the same sect. I know exactly how many techniques you have!"
Luo Xingzi had almost gone mad. He and Xiao Xuance had both come from the Feathered Snakes Brotherhood. After Xiao Xuance's rebellion, the Feathered Snakes Brotherhood would definitely suffer heavy losses, if it could survive the disaster at all.
It was too painful to think about for Luo Xingzi, who was an elder of the Feathered Snakes Brotherhood!
Therefore, he had made up his mind!
"You are the best in the Flying Star Sector. I'm no match for you. But today, I'm going to stall you for one minute even at the cost of my own life!
"Fellow Cultivators, leave Xiao Xuance to me. You break through the jade wall and destroy the star brain right now!"
Luo Xingzi burst into laughter. His strongest will turned into a cluster of whiteness, which consumed his body from the inside!
When the whiteness expanded to the limits, a shadow more than three meters tall surrounded by endless stars suddenly jumped out!
An Ares Extension!
Normally speaking, the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators hardly resorted to one-off magical equipment such as an Ares Extension at the beginning of a battle.
Because the speed, strength, and intensity of spiritual energy of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were too high, if they equipped an Ares Extension too early, it was likely that the Ares Extension would quickly become scrap metal.
When a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator put on an Ares Extension, it was often a sign that they were ready to do their best!
Xiao Xuance sneered and raised his right hand. Nine spiritual shields that looked like transparent glass immediately appeared in front of him.
Luo Xingzi, who was rushing close, slowed down as he passed through every spiritual shield.
Xiao Xuance took the opportunity to retrieve an Ares Extension from his Cosmos Ring and fixed it on his body.
His Ares Extension was unique. It was like the purest gem. When it was on the crystal suit, it seemed to be nonexistent except for the glimmering spiritual stripes.
But because of the diffraction, refraction, and reflection of the gem, the blinking crystal suit looked even more magnificent.
