Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 621
I have always felt that Jiang Shaoyang's refining style is quite similar to mine.
Then, if I was going to craft a piece of magical equipment that was meant to confine the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and the demon emperors, what would I do?
Brand new structural designs were popping up inside Li Yao's brain. The bright golden lines seemed to be alive and were extending to infinity, cleaving, curling, connecting, and colliding.
The last third of his computational ability was dedicated to the micro adjustments on Neltharion with his hands.
Neltharion was a training starship from the era of the Star Ocean Imperium with the purpose of raising captains of a warship.
Theoretically speaking, Neltharion could do whatever tactical movements a real multipurpose exploration starship could, even including a barrage of the main guns!
However, since Neltharion was too small, the crystals and 'ammunition' that it could carry were quite limited. The 'main guns' of the model did not boast much damage. One barrage was no better than a normal attack of a Cultivator in the Refinement Stage.
It was better to significantly enhance the power rune arrays of Neltharion and steer it at high-speed speeds in order to pierce through the enemy like a flying sword.
Therefore, back when Li Yao was still in the Flying Star Sector, he had already performed a full modification on Neltharion.
Like with Sparkle, the unhelpful main guns of the model were removed, replaced by a tiny drill of mystic rays. The stealth and scouting abilities of Neltharion had been improved, too.
Since the drill of mystic rays could dig through the toughest mother lodes, it was certainly able to pierce through the head or chest of an enemy!
What Li Yao was trying to do now was modify a secondary cannon below the body of Neltharion into a 'pen of mystic rays' that could continuously shoot mystic rays of a low energy level.
By controlling it remotely, Li Yao would be able to manipulate Neltharion to carve rune arrays from a long distance.
Other than that, ten mini, oriented crystal bombs that were made of marrow crystals were held on the body of Neltharion, which was no larger than a finger. The bombs might not have been powerful enough, but if they were installed at critical locations, they would significantly interfere with the normal functions of a large magical equipment system.
Those were all the weapons on Neltharion.
Shua!
Eleven minutes and nine seconds later, Li Yao finished considering. His hands picked up almost a hundred components as quick as a storm and started assembling them.
His hands did not stop until more than twenty hours later.
When he made up his mind to have an adventure in the Blood Demon Sector by himself in the beginning, he had stuffed all kinds of magical equipment and crystals into his ten Cosmos Rings. He did not expect that they would come in handy in such a place.
He spent three hours modifying Neltharion and five hours making the tools to crack the 'Venomous Scorpion Bone Biting Shackle'.
In the remaining time, other than building the necessary ancillary magical equipment, he was fully dedicated to assembling and modifying the crystal bombs and almost used up all of the materials inside his ten Cosmos Rings.
I really can't wait any longer!
After he put the last crystal bomb back into the Cosmos Ring, Li Yao finally struggled to stretch out his arms for the first time in the past day and night. He opened a bottle of medication drugs with his teeth, took half the drugs orally, and sprayed half of them onto his hands, which were now bleeding profusely. Burning sounds were echoing nonstop.
Sensing the itching as the new flesh grew quickly, Li Yao felt his heart beating fast. His head seemed to be filled with crystal bombs, which were blowing up one after another.
When he thought of the countless soldiers of the Nether World Watch that were about to be blown into the sky, their internal organs blossoming like fireworks, Li Yao could not have felt more excited.
Li Yao slightly frowned. His telepathic thoughts entered deep into his brain, and he gazed at the mental devil. "You are trying to influence me without me knowing again, aren't you?"
The mental devil blinked innocently. "Should I stop?"
"Forget it."
Li Yao licked his lips and wetted his throat that was about to be burnt with his saliva and blood. He let loose part of the restraints on his soul so that the strength of the mental devil could nurture the crimson left eye incessantly. "Today, you don't need to."
…
One hour, twenty-three minutes, and fifty-seven seconds passed.
According to the calendar of the Blood Demon Sector, it was 10:32:33 a.m., March the seventh.
At this moment, Elder Nether Spring was exchanging a secret agreement with Jin Tuyi, the new commander-in-chief of the coalition army of the demon race, in a secret chamber of the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons.
After they exchanged a drop of each other's heart-tip blood and swore a Blood Oath, they both put on a mysterious, meaningful smile.
"With the full support of the Nether Spring Kingdom and the Kingdom of Lion Butchers, the Red Tide Operation has got off to a good start. It won't be long before the Heaven's Origin Sector becomes ours!"
Jin Tuyi could not have sounded more excited.
"Yes. The Heaven's Origin Sector is destined to be ours!"
Elder Nether Spring's eyes passed Jin Tuyi's shoulders and pierced through the thick eyes, staring at the future that was not far away.
At the same moment, deep inside the icy, stormy ocean a hundred thousand kilometers to their north, in the middle of the savaging gales and turbulence, from the south of an inconspicuous lone island buried in snow, Neltharion flew out of the underground world quietly again, heading toward the north.
The captive camp was exactly the same as the day before. The fierce battle yesterday did not leave many wounds on the muscular, monstrous captives. However, the two groups were even more clearly divided right now. Everybody was tormenting the hardest rocks with all their strength in silence. The air was so intense that it could have frozen at any moment.
Li Yao saw Han Tuhu and Suo Chaolong, the two leaders of the captives, after only a quick look. The two of them were glaring at each other across the 'boundary' right in the middle like two roosters and cursing in the most profane language. Even the frigid wind was not enough to shut their mouths. They were also spitting noisily on the ground nonstop.
Li Yao had thought to reach out to Han Tuhu in advanced so that he could be prepared, but he eventually dismissed the idea after much deliberation.
He did not know Han Tuhu very well. However, judging from his reactions the other day, he was certainly a bit radical and fractious after being modified into such a horrific appearance through the harsh experiments. It would be terrible if he showed any openings when he was not in a good mood.
Li Yao had no doubt that countless pairs of eyes were gazing at the prisoners in places that he could not see.
But Suo Chaolong's demon captives are in quite an awkward position for me.
If possible, Li Yao had hoped to bring away part of the demon captives, too. The reason was simple. Since Suo Chaolong was the commander of the 'Blood Lion Squad', an elite troop of the coalition army of the demon race, he was certainly a noble of the Kingdom of Lion Butchers. He was walking evidence to prove Elder Nether Spring's scheme.
However, Suo Chaolong was apparently very hostile against human beings. As a silver-blood demon, he was not particularly fond of the black-blood demons and the chaotic-blood demons who also caused the crushing defeat of the 'Battle of Dawn'. He was like an unpredictable time bomb. Li Yao was not sure what was on his mind at all.
I can only play it by ear now!
Steering Neltharion, Li Yao dived into the cold ocean.
The previous day, he had examined the internal structure of the captive camp. Since it was large enough for tens of thousands of captives and guards to live in, the ventilation and drainage facilities were necessary for them to survive in the underground environment.
Li Yao tried compromising the ventilation facilities, but the few tubes that he located were all guarded by highly-sensitive rune arrays. So, he had to make plans with the drainage facilities.
Chapter 937: Do It! |
The tens of thousands of captives that were locked inside the camp would certainly produce a huge amount of bodily waste on a daily basis, most of which was directly discharged to the icy ocean through a canal below the surface of the ocean.
Every drainage canal was more than half a meter in diameter and easy for an adult to crawl in. Therefore, Elder Nether Spring had deployed dense crystal wires on the exit of the drainage canals with defense rune arrays that could send powerful electric arcs and freezing coldness over to the web.
If Li Yao damaged the crystal wires, the guards above would certainly sense it.
The holes between the crystal wires were too small. Li Yao was not confident that he could sneak through them in Neltharion without alarming anyone.
However, it was not a problem for him.
He steered Neltharion deeper into the water, until he was seven hundred meters below the surface of the ocean. He waited patiently in a trench for a moment and discovered an eel that was more than half a foot long and almost transparent.
Such eyeless bright blue demon beasts whose heads and tails were barely distinguishable were known as 'Ghost Head Ice Eels'. It was one of the few demon beasts that could live in the icy ocean of the North Pole.
Such a frigid place was not actually very suitable for their survival, but Li Yao estimated that the drainage and garbage that the 'Nether World' discharged had certain nutrition, which attracted the Ghost Head Ice Eels to swim here in no fear of the coldness and the turbulence.
Generally speaking, the Ghost Head Ice Eels liked to live between three hundred meters below the surface of an ocean and eight hundred meters, where there was no sunlight.
But when they were hungry, they would also risk moving up to a hundred meters below the surface of an ocean in search of food.
The exits of the drainage canals that contained a lot of garbage were certainly among their favorite places.
It was not unusual for the Ghost Head Ice Eels to crawl into the exits, only to touch the crystal wires by accident and be executed by the electric arcs and the frost.
During his investigation yesterday, Li Yao had found half a bone of a Ghost Head Ice Eel in one of the exits of the drainage canals. He had pondered carefully and finally figured out the reason.
Swoosh!
When the Ghost Head Ice Eel in front of him opened its mouth, devouring the underground sand before it and sucking the nutrition, Neltharion turned into a streak of brightness and stabbed into its mouth!
The Ghost Head Ice Eel jerked hard, but it had been slain by Neltharion instantly.
Neltharion crawled into the mouth of the Ghost Head Ice Eel and swam toward one of the drainage canals with the demon beast as the best camouflage.
When he drew close to the crystal wires, Li Yao did not dodge at all; he simply crashed into them as if there was nothing in front of him!
Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!
Deep blue electric arcs immediately burst out of the crystal wires, shocking the Ghost Head Ice Eel, whose transparent appearance was now dead gray, and turning it rigid.
But Neltharion had taken the opportunity to crawl out of the Ghost Head Ice Eel's mouth and pass through the crystal wires successfully!
According to my analysis, the great array made of a hundred and eight bronze pillars should be a variation of 'Devil Taming Thunderous Array'. If that is the case, the circuit of the spiritual energy of the array should be a reversed heptagon.
The ancient Cultivators forty thousand years ago did not know spiritual stripes as thoroughly as modern people do. When they established such a great array, they must've left a few very thick tubes so that the immense spiritual energy could flow inside without being hindered.
So, the place that I'm going to need… is here!
A shining 3D structure of a rune array popped up inside Li Yao's head. Piloting Neltharion, he zigzagged inside the drainage canal, taking various turns, before he finally stopped in a seemingly unattractive corner.
If his calculations were correct, this was the closest point to the pivot of the barriers in straight line!
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
The mini drill of mystic rays was immediately activated as it dug into the cold rocks deeply.
Li Yao absolutely trusted his calculations and drilled forward in the darkness very patiently. Twenty-seven minutes later, the pressure on the drill of mystic rays suddenly reduced, and a long, narrow tube appeared in front of him, in which highly-compressed spiritual energy of the lightning class was running.
I've made it!
This is indeed the circulation tube of spiritual energy for the great array!
Li Yao could not have been more excited. He activated the anti-thunderstorm spiritual shield on Neltharion and went against the current inside the circulation tube.
After he dodged quite a few electric arcs, a few neatly distributed holes showed up in front of him. Neltharion leapt out agilely through one of them.
He found himself in a vast underground space. A magnificent array was carved on the ground, which seemed to have confined thousands of bundles of lightnings in the place.
Above the great array, a hundred and eight bronze plates were floating in midair. Dense rune arrays could be found on them, too.
The bronze plates were connected to each other via electric arcs. There were so many complicated electric arcs that dozens of spider webs seemed to be overlapping. One could not help but feel dizzy when one observed them.
But Li Yao could not have enjoyed himself more.
It is indeed a certain variation of the 'Devil Taming Thunderous Array'. It has gone through micro adjustments and enhancement based on the freezing air and the disordered magnetic field of the North Pole, which makes it even more powerful than the original version!
The person who first established the great array was too extravagant. He has used a hundred and eight pieces of 'Burning Star Purple Bronze' as the cores of the array. Well, well, well. I went through quite a lot of trouble to find just one small piece of Burning Star Purple Bronze in order to improve the electroconductivity of my saber!
However—
The great array seems to have been further modified?
Right. It must've been done by Elder Nether Spring. The hundreds of rune arrays employed in the Devil Taming Thunderous Array have been lost since a long time ago. Normal people would not be able to understand them, much less make use of them.
Therefore, with the technology of the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven's Origin Sector, Elder Nether Spring performed 'modernization' on the Devil Taming Thunderous Array.
This is quite… a mess and a great waste of the treasure!
Li Yao sniffed and did not think highly of Elder Nether Spring's modifications.
I'll show you what the job should be done!
Li Yao knew that a lot of furious spiritual energy of the lightning class would leak out in the pivot of the Devil Taming Thunderous Array and congregate into flashing electric arcs. Not only was the environment unsuitable for living creatures, even the surveillance devices, such as crystal cameras or the biochemical eyes, would be jammed or destroyed easily within half a day after they were installed.
Therefore, he was bold enough to accelerate Neltharion while he scanned every detail of the great array.
The great array is made of thousands of minor rune arrays, but its core holds the few critical rune arrays that will affect the whole immediately when they are modified.
What I am going to do is slightly change the flow of spiritual energy inside the few rune arrays and put them into conflict so that the spiritual energy will overload and destroy the 'Devil Taming Thunderous Array'!
Neltharion was like a sleazy rat spreading a fatal plague. With Li Yao's crazy calculation, the mini bombs made of marrow crystals were deployed in the critical parts of the great array.
After he planted five bombs, he also came up with a modification plan in his mind.
The 'pen of mystic rays' shot out an ivory ray of light that jumped agilely on the core runes of the great array. Li Yao wrote quite fast. Very soon, a hundred spiritual stripes the width of a hair were added to the great array, constituting circuits of spiritual energy that were full of evilness.
Chi! Chi!
The lightnings were hitting Neltharion's spiritual shield nonstop.
Work complete!
Li Yao blew a whistle softly and returned the same way he had come.
With a telepathic thought, the bombs of marrow crystals would be triggered, and the Devil Taming Thunderous Array would likely be paralyzed!
However, it would be better if he took action when the great array was fully functioning, in which case the odds of success would be much higher.
Li Yao figured that it was time for him to greet Han Tuhu now.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
When Neltharion returned to the drainage canal, however, Li Yao heard hasty buzzes deep inside the captive camp. Something serious seemed to be happening.
Are you kidding me?
After Neltharion crept out of the icy ocean and flew to the sky again, Li Yao was truly dumbfounded by what he saw.
The human and demon captives were fighting again.
This time, the battle was even more fierce than yesterday. The two parties were like sworn enemies. They were all mangling each other hard, scratching with their claws and biting with their teeth. Some of them were stabbing their enemy's eyes, while their enemy was kicking their groin. It was hard to tell which of them were humans and which ones were demons!
This is not good!
Li Yao was more than anxious. Judging from the fierce battle between the two groups of captives, they would not attack the guards even if he destroyed the Devil Taming Thunderous Array!
Han Tuhu and Suo Chaolong, the two leaders, were fighting with all their fury now. Their every attack would cause a minor earthquake inside the captive camp. Footprints that looked like craters covered the ground because of their sprinting!
