Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 713
Li Yao could never put Ding Lingdang in such jeopardy. Plan A, vetoed!
Plan B, find a random crystal processor and explain his experience to the public on the Spiritual Nexus?
It would be less likely for him to be found out in such a way.
But how should he phrase his experience exactly?
"Fellow netizens, greetings. Let me tell you a secret. In fact, Li Yao, the Ultra-Level Federal Hero, did not die, and he saved the federation on his own yet another time!
"Your guess is correct. Actually, I am the legendary Vulture Li Yao myself. Now, please read my story…"
Li Yao sighed. Fine. His experience in the Blood Demon Sector had truly been too twisting and extraordinary. Who would believe it when it was published on the Spiritual Nexus?
Moreover, even if they bought his words, how could they reach out to him? Should he leave his contact information and his address in the thread, too?
Plan B, vetoed!
Plan C, run back to the square at the center of Green Plateau city right now and shout, "I am Vulture Li Yao. I am still alive! I have shed blood for the federation! I have made contributions to the Heaven's Origin Sector! I demand a meeting with the Iron Commander and the Speaker!"
The real problem was, who would arrive at the location first? The journalists, the psychiatric doctors, or the Secret Sword Agents?
Li Yao had a feeling that the Secret Sword Agents would be fastest.
The most important thing was that he did not who the evil guys among the Secret Sword Agents were.
Chances were that ninety-nine out of a hundred Secret Sword Agents were anonymous heroes loyal to the federation, and only one of them was a Child of the Nether World.
Then, when their flying swords and iron fists hit his face mercilessly, could he just kill them all?
Even if he were in the superlative height of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, it would be practically impossible for him to paralyze hundreds of Cultivators without killing them.
Besides, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit now was brimming with demonic energy. When he was on a rampage, he appeared to be an out-and-out great demon!
If he was engaged in a fierce battle with the Secret Sword Agents, surrounded by intense demonic energy and wearing the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, and he killed a few good guys by accident, he would not be able to explain himself even if he had grown tongues all over his body!
But then, he could just surrender the moment the Secret Sword Agents arrived and say to them solemnly, "I've been wronged. There's a great plot in all this. Listen to my explanation…"
However, would the Children of the Nether World among the Secret Sword Agents give him the chance to explain?
Would Guo Chunfeng, who was most likely Abyss, give him the chance to explain?
Therefore, he could not be captured by the Secret Sword Agents, at least not now.
If he had to be captured, it could only happen right in front of the Speaker, the Iron Commander, the leaders of the major sects, and millions of spectators.
Only by doing so could the Children of the Nether World and Abyss lurking in the Secret Sword Bureau play no tricks on him. His words could be heard by the leadership of the federation.
Plan C, vetoed!
Alright. All the impractical plans were vetoed. He only had one solution now.
Li Yao narrowed his eyes and carefully observed the crystal train not far away leaving for the East Seagull Port soon.
Chapter 1083: Locked in Advance! |
Chi!
The crystal train under the night sky was like a long, black dragon. It had just finished the final maintenance. The anti-gravity rune arrays on the chassis were activated. White steam spurted out of the circulative cooling tubes in hissing sounds.
The crystal train slowly floated. A gap of dozens of centimeters appeared between the chassis and the railway. By doing so, there would be no physical contact between the train and the railway. The friction would be minimized, and the speed would be accelerated to the highest point.
Deep inside Li Yao's brain, the 3D structural design of the crystal train of this particular model quickly popped up. The tiny lines interweaved into a complicated maze.
The Thunder Light III crystal train was a classic model created by the Heavenly Thunder Sect a hundred and thirty-three years ago. It boasted a firm framework, and it was quite easy to maintain. Sturdy and durable, it was one of the most popular crystal trains rushing on the vast land of the federation.
However, it was an obsolete model from more than a hundred years ago after all. As the technology of the crystal trains advanced, the super-high-speed trains were each replacing the last, and the Thunder Light III was gradually eliminated by the major routes because of its many natural flaws.
Right now, the major cities of the federation had all been equipped with a super-high-speed crystal train of the latest models. The Thunder Light III was now only used in the underdeveloped cities, the mines, or the remote factories.
Li Yao's destination was East Seagull Port, a city by the coast. In fact, there was a direct train from North Tranquility City to East Seagull Port.
But it was the super-high-speed crystal train of the latest model, whose highest speed was higher than that of sound. Also, its shell was as smooth as a mirror, without a place he could cling to. The train was also equipped with the automatic alert rune arrays that were highly responsive. Even the tiniest damage on the rune arrays on the chassis would feed an alarm back to the cockpit.
But the Thunder Light III was different. It was relatively slow and easier for Li Yao to clutch to. The alert rune arrays on it were not in tandem but on parallel. There would not be any sign if one or two of them were damaged. Most importantly, there was a small dent right below the locomotive of the Thunder Light III in the shape of a '7', which was designed for a technician to crouch inside.
Li Yao figured out that the train must be a slow one that utilized the old-fashioned locomotive by calculating the leaving time and the arrival time on the train schedule in North Tranquility City.
After he arrived in Green Plateau City, he confirmed the detailed information of the train through the crystal processors in the restaurant. It was why he came to the unknown city!
Swoosh!
When the several Secret Sword Agents all boarded on the train leaving for the capital city for investigation, Li Yao darted toward the Thunder Light III like an arrow and soon disappeared below the train!
Right below the train, the anti-gravity rune arrays had been activated to the maximum. The intense spiritual waves between the rune arrays and the railway made Li Yao's head dizzy and made it difficult for him to breathe.
He gritted his teeth and moved forward rapidly in the gap between the anti-gravity rune arrays like a lizard. It took him two minutes to crawl below the locomotive!
There was one minute to go before the train left. By then, besides the anti-gravity rune arrays, the power rune arrays and the spiritual shield would be activated, too, and he would certainly be shaken off.
Golden brilliance dispersed out of Li Yao's eyes as he scanned every detail below the locomotive of the Thunder Light III and came up with a modification plan the next second.
As fast as lightning, he cut off the connection between the main power rune arrays and the direction-changing rune arrays without any hesitation. In only three seconds, he reconnected them in a brand-new way. Together with the stabilizing units that he had devised earlier, he built a tiny safe zone for himself without affecting the performance of the train.
The tiny space, along with the original 7-shaped dent on the chassis, was enough for one person to hide in!
Li Yao waited patiently for three seconds to make sure that his movement just now did not trigger the alarm rune arrays or affect the specifications in the cockpit.
Then, he exhaled in great relief. Constricting his muscles, joints, and bones to the minimum, he crouched in the tiny space like a black leopard that was lurking in the bushes.
The strength all over his body was focused on his four fingers and two toes as he clung to the few shallow whorls on the dent.
Li Yao fixated himself to the bottom of the crystal train in a very uncomfortable posture without moving at all.
Wu!
He had just settled in when the crystal train slowly launched after a magnificent blast of its horn.
Power rune arrays emitted circles of light, as if ten suns were rising right in front of his eyes simultaneously. The cooling rune arrays of the old locomotives were never satisfactory. Tremendous light and heat spurted to his face like magma and turned him into a piece of charcoal!
With Li Yao's capability, he could naturally resist it with his spiritual shield.
But if he triggered a tremendous amount of spiritual energy, the power rune arrays on the train would be affected, which would lead to the anomaly in the specifications on the control light beam in the cockpit. The driver and the train conductor would definitely come down to examine. Cultivators, if there were any on board, might notice him, too.
Therefore, he could only narrow his eyes and resisted the heat with a thin suit and his repetitively built-up body!
As the train went faster and faster, the power rune arrays were gradually stabilized. The light and heat finally became less insufferable for him.
But the crazy wind started blowing over and pierced to the bottom of the train like cold sabers!
Under the gust, Li Yao's skin was frozen purple.
He seemed to have turned into a block of lead and melted into the crystal train.
In such a way, Li Yao jumped out of Guo Chunfeng's circle of search and disappeared right below the eyes of the Secret Sword Bureau!
…
In the command center of the Demon Execution Division of the Secret Sword Bureau in the capital city, Mosquito shouted, "Boss, a major discovery!"
Excitement was beaming out of every pore on her body. She was about to dance right before Guo Chunfeng.
As per Guo Chunfeng's command, they had made a list of the passengers who went to North Tranquility City from the capital city in the last couple of days. There were thousands of names on the list.
However, few of them had returned to the capital city after spending only one to two days in North Tranquility City. There were only eighty-seven of them.
The agents analyzed all the whereabouts of the eighty-seven passengers in North Tranquility City, especially their behavior in the exit, through the surveillance picture. Eventually, they locked onto three candidates.
When the three residents of the capital city left the railway station, a mysterious person had contacted them at a close distance.
The mysterious person was very prudent. His face was never shown in the surveillance picture. Also, he had worn another outfit and been walking differently during every encounter.
Had it not been for Guo Chunfeng's instructions, it would have been impossible to find out the guy from the infinite surveillance picture!
"Very good!" Guo Chunfeng heaved a long sigh of relief. He took off the blanket and wiped off the sweat on his forehead. Then he smiled. "Now, we have grasped Li Yao's three newest fake identities. Once he arrives in the capital city, he will certainly make use of one of them!
"Contact the three residents right now and find out their position and their agenda in the next couple of days. It would be best if you can establish three safe areas and ask them to stay there in the next few days!
"Then, inform the Data Analysis Center of the capital city to consider the facial information of the three residences a top priority. Scan them in the range of the whole city every half minute!
"As soon as the surveillance cameras of the capital city discover that one of the three residents appears out of the safe areas or two identical faces are detected at the same time, something will be wrong!"
Guo Chunfeng lay down on the soft chair and looked at the maps of the cities within the capital ring with a cold smile.
So far, he had not figured out Li Yao's infiltration approach yet.
But so what?
All six fake identities had been discovered. Even if Li Yao could sneak in without alarming anyone, he would still be committing suicide!
…
It was raining in East Seagull Port.
There were two days to go before the hundred-day memorial ceremony.
Li Yao was 1,220 kilometers away from the capital city.
This was not a large port, best known for the bizarre seafood and the small islands with enjoyable sceneries. In April and May every year, when the Gold Dragon Sturgeons laid eggs, many tourists would come to the golden beach and the board-like islands for vacation and enjoy the delicious eggs of the Gold Dragon Sturgeons.
It was already early autumn. The wind was rather strong on the ocean, and there were few tourists. The only thing that could be seen were the few fishing boats near the coastline.
The houses of many fishermen, and sometimes even their wasted boats, had been transformed into diners. Although the environment was a little shabby, the food there was definitely new and fresh. The seafood there was unavailable in many luxury hotels in the major cities inland.
Li Yao was enjoying the fat scallops, oysters, and sea snails whose name he did not know on a stranded boat.
Leaning against the gunwale comfortably, he sucked his fingers that were stained with the sauce and chatted with the hostess casually.
"Bamboo shrimps the size of a palm? We don't have 'em here! They've all been purchased by the White Sea Sect! See? The biggest boat over there belongs to the White Sea Sect. They are a partner to several big hotels in the capital city. Every morning, the freshest seafood will be frozen the moment they are fished up and shipped to the capital city by air immediately! The seafood picked up five o'clock in the morning will be served on the table in the major hotels in the capital city at noon!"
Li Yao was almost out of breath having the delicious meal of seafood. The hostess was overjoyed by his extravagance, too, and could not wait to pass on all the information about the White Sea Sect to him.
Li Yao waved his arm and said that his portable crystal processor had been ruined by the water when he was on the ocean. He asked if he could borrow the crystal processor in the hostess' house.
Naturally, the hostess agreed instantly.
Li Yao checked all the information about the White Sea Sect again with the crystal processor in the fisherman's house, including the magical equipment involved in their seafood quick-freezing technology.
The next fishing trip would be following morning. He had a long night to prepare for the magical equipment to be used in the capital city.
"I wonder, do you have magical equipment stores that provide services for spectral Cultivators here, hostess?" Li Yao asked in a smile.
Chapter 1084: Quick-Frozen Man! |
East Seagull Port was a small city. There were few residents existing in the form of ghosts. Naturally, there was not a special service station for the spectral Cultivators.
However, the owner of the biggest magical equipment store in the local area happened to be a spectral Cultivator.
After talking with the owner, Li Yao learned that the guy used to be a mechanic on a large fishing boat that had run into a super tsunami during one of the fishing jobs. The boat had turned upside down, and everybody had drowned.
But at the moment of his death, he had been hit by lightning. For some reason, although his physical body sank into the ocean, his remaining soul had condensed and drifted on the ocean for a couple of days before the rescue team found him.
After he was turned into a spectral Cultivator, he did not want to go to the ocean again for fear of the wind and tide. So, he simply ran a magical equipment store with his compensation.
Since the boss was a spectral Cultivator, and some of the ghost tourists happened to fall into the water, resulting to the damage to their artificial bodies, when they were visiting East Seagull Port, his magical equipment store was like a service station. There were quite a few spare units for artificial bodies in the warehouse. He even had a secondhand artificial body that was almost completely intact, which was meant for the temporary use of spectral Cultivators in need.
Li Yao was very satisfied with the artificial body that was almost two meters tall. He bought it as well as tremendous units and components by the way.
"Li Yao!"
When he was paying for his purchase, he suddenly heard somebody shouting his name.
Li Yao's pupils constricted violently, but he soon relaxed.
He did not sense any Secret Sword Agent, but he did sense that several young kids were playing around at the door of the magical equipment store.
As it turned out, the seemingly hideous boss was actually a kind man. He often assembled toys with scrap components for the kids.
So, the magical equipment store became the playhouse for all the kids in the small port.
A chubby, speckled boy with curly hair was wearing quite a few cardboard boxes on his body, which he apparently pretended to be a crystal suit. He played with his companion with a wooden flying sword. "Come on, you filthy demon beast. I am Li Yao. I am not scared of you!"
His companion was shooting at him with a toy gun, with snot coming out his nose. "You are not Li Yao. Li Yao is dead already. You are a demon beast. A big and fat one!"
The chubby boy blushed. "I—I am not dead. The federation is in danger. I am back again to beat the skeleton-like demon beast that is you! Prepare to die!"
The few kids rolled on the ground and soon turned into muddy monkeys. They were shouting together.
"I am Li Yao!"
"I am Li Yao!"
"You are not. I am Li Yao!"
Leaning against the door, Li Yao looked at them in a daze, his lips curling.
His mood was suddenly better now.
After returning to the Heaven's Origin Sector, he had constantly been feeling gloomy.
He had gone through life and death in the Blood Demon Sector and been hunted by dozens of demon emperors before he finally destroyed the Eye of Blood Demon!
