Forty Millenniums of Cultivation - Chapter 300

Chapter 300: Magical Equipment Exposition

“Don’t look at me like that. What’s wrong with being my girlfriend?”

Li Yao said assertively, “Just think about it. If my girlfriend, or your boyfriend, was someone else, we would have to go on dates, go shopping, go to dinners, etc. How troublesome would that be? Our training time would be greatly diminished.

“Besides, it wouldn’t be convenient for me to come by and fight with you in the middle of a night, would it?

“But everything would be different if we are together. You are an utter maniac in training, and I don’t have much interest in anything other than training, either. If we’re together, we can go on our dates by fighting against each other. Killing two birds with one stone. Isn’t it super efficient?”

“Who says we’re going on dates?”

Ding Lingdang’s cheeks were so flushed that even her ears were red now. She pinched Li Yao’s waist hard.

“If my girlfriend is someone else, you won’t get to pinch me anymore,” Li Yao said, trying not to scream out of pain.

Ding Lingdang’s hand backed off as if it had met an electric shock. Thinking for a while with her lips bitten, she said, “What you said does make a little sense. However, I still feel that something is not right. When other guys are pursuing girls, there are always flowers, gifts and such. They don’t come straight to the point like you!”

Although Ding Lingdang was crazy about martial arts, she was a girl in her twenties after all. When she saw other girls receiving gifts from their boyfriends, she sometimes felt excited, too.

Li Yao smiled. He took out a ruby box from his pocket and handed it over.

“I didn’t prepare any flowers, but I do have a gift. See if you like it!”

Holding her breath, Ding Lingdang opened the box and found a crimson, sparkling ring lying on the velvet.

The ring looked ancient and simple, without any redundant features. But it was apparently made of the best materials. When the box was opened, faint redness was all over the room.

In the middle of the ring, red crystal liquid was flowing slowly like clotting magma.

Ding Lingdang was somewhat dazed. She raised her eyebrows.

“A ring?

“It looks beautiful. But you know that I’m not a fan of jewelry, which will affect my combat ability. It seems so fragile that if I wear it and punch anything, it will break into pieces immediately.”

“Wrong!

“We’ve known each other long enough for me to learn of your habits. How could I offer you a ring as a gift? This is not a ring, but a lethal weapon refined by me which I’ve named ‘Red Lotus Knuckle’.”

Li Yao picked up the ring gently and held it in his palm as he explained, “On the surface, it looks like an ordinary jade ring. But, in fact, it is a piece of ultimate magical equipment with ‘Bloody Shooting Star’, a marrow crystal, as the main material together with four other marrow crystals as ancillary materials. It took me 36 days to refine it. What’s more, I tried the best I can and carved almost 100 attack rune arrays inside the ring.

“Come on, put it on and use your telepathic thoughts to trigger it.”

While he was talking, he slipped the ring into Ding Lingdang’s fourth finger.

Ding Lingdang was dwelling on what Li Yao had just said and was too curious about the effects of the ‘Red Lotus Knuckle’ to stop him.

The Bloody Shooting Star was mild and smooth. Wearing a ring made of it felt very comfortable, as if the ring were part of her flesh.

With a telepathic thought, Ding Lingdang unleashed her spiritual energy. The hundred rune arrays on the Red Lotus Knuckle were lit up one by one with bright red colors, forming a vivid lotus in the color of blood which blossomed and wreathed her fists.

Almost a hundred petals with sharp edges were protruding from the blood lotus.

Fierce fiery spiritual energy was spilling among the petals, which instantly brought up the room temperature by ten degrees.

“Beautiful! Formidable! Ruthless!”

Ding Lingdang was immediately attracted. Her two eyes were full of eagerness.

Li Yao smiled and said, “You are best with fiery spiritual energy. The Bloody Shooting Star is a marrow crystal that belongs to the fire class and contains a lot of pure fiery spiritual energy.

“Wearing the Red Lotus Knuckle is like adding oil to a fire. I estimate that your punch will be at least three times fiercer than before!

“How about it? Is this gift fit for you?”

Ding Lingdang heard none of it, because she had been bewitched by the Red Lotus Knuckle. She rose up suddenly, her right arm burning in flames. The fire snake flowed out of her body again. With the enhancement of the Red Lotus Knuckle, the head of the snake split into three, making it a ferocious triple-headed fire snake.

“The Bloody Shooting Star is a rare Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure of the fire class. I’ve been told that it can greatly enhance the performance of fiery spiritual energy. But I didn’t know it could be so good!”

Thrilled, Ding Lingdang was waving her arms up and down, without knowing where she was anymore.

Body practitioners usually did not carry any weapons. But other than the fundamentalists, the ordinary body practitioners generally did not reject handy and helpful magical equipment.

Ding Lingdang’s father had been a refiner. Due to the accident that happened to her parents, she had hated magical equipment for a long time.

But the knot had been resolved by Li Yao a long time ago.

After putting on the Red Lotus Knuckle, she was as happy as a little girl who just got the clothes that she had been longing for a long time.

Dancing in fire for a long time, she finally withdrew her spiritual energy, not entirely satisfied. She eyed Li Yao in a different way from just now, as if she had thought something through.

Her countenance alarmed Li Yao, who started to feel that Ding Lingdang was going to take over the situation.

“Come to think of it, it’s very true what you just said. Why did I never think of that before?

“I’m never interested in boyfriends because dating and such is too much of a waste of time.

“Nothing will be better than a date of fighting, which will be so much more fun than dinners or shopping.”

Ding Lingdang muttered thoughtfully, “Besides, you were correct that I would be too embarrassed to train with you at midnight if you had another girlfriend. I know better than that. I’m afraid we’d drift apart and forget each other then.”

“I wouldn’t be able to find a second sturdy guy who’s crazy about training such as yourself in another hundred years. No. There’s no way that I let you go so easily.

“Let’s go!”

She strode towards Li Yao, fierce flames beaming in her eyes.

Li Yao suddenly felt that he had got enmeshed in a web of his own schemes. Dazed, Li Yao said, “To where?”

“Billowing Star Sea, of course.”

Ding Lingdang shook her ring finger. “I have decided to accept you as my boyfriend. Now, hurry up. Let’s start our first date!”

…

A month later, in the east of the Star Glory Federation, outside Deep Sea City.

A crystal airship carved with ‘Fist of Fury’, the emblem of the Grand Desolate War Institution, rushed to the city from the north with a long exhaust flame, tearing apart the clouds in its way.

Li Yao was standing on the front deck of the crystal airship, enjoying the view of the spectacular metropolis before him.

Deep Sea City, located on the east seashore, was unquestionably the largest city of the federation. It was more than ten times bigger than Floating Spear City, Li Yao’s hometown.

It was an impressive three-dimensional city. Countless building spread to the undersea like the tentacles of an octopus which occupied a large area near the seashore.

When the night came, the myriad of lights from the undersea buildings made them look like a palace made of diamonds.

Deep Sea City was a legendary city that made the best use of floating mountains, which were so vast that an entire block could reside on one of them.

The countless floating mountains were connected to each other by long, narrow and translucent tubes which were built with the mechanism of communicating vessels. The traffic among the floating mountains was even faster than riding on flying swords.

As the biggest city of the federation, Deep Sea City was headquartered by plentiful Cultivation conglomerates. It was also where Deep Sea University was located, as well as the center of the magical equipment manufacturing industry. Therefore, it was also known as—

The City of Magical Equipment!

In the southwest corner of the City of Magical Equipment stood a colossal nine-level pyramid.

The bottom level had a coverage of more than 1500 acres. Even the top level still had almost 300 acres.

It was the largest convention center of the federation known as ‘Heaven’s Path’.

The Magical Equipment Exposition, a biennial gala of the Star Glory Federation, would be held here!

The Magical Equipment Exposition represented the peak of the Star Glory Federation’s Cultivation technologies. It was also indicative of human civilization’s future in the Heaven’s Origin Sector. Therefore, it was not just a festival for the Cultivators. Many ordinary people would come to the carnival and enjoy themselves, too.

Billions of people often spent a fortune attending the exposition from far away to feel the essence of the Cultivation civilization.

As a magical equipment fan, Li Yao had been craving to join the Magical Equipment Exposition since he was a little boy.

However, he had been struggling all day to survive back then. He could barely pay for the travelling expenses, let alone the ticket.

Today, his dream was coming true!

Holding back her excitement, Yuan Manqiu walked to Li Yao’s back and said calmly, “Li Yao, we’re here.”

This was not the first time that Yuan Manqiu had attended the Magical Equipment Exposition.

However, the Refining Department of the Grand Desolate War Institution had been weak and focused much of its attention on the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit before.

Other than the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, there was no other magical equipment they could show to impress everyone.

Therefore, even when it was participating in the exposition, in most cases it would stay in a corner and keep a low profile.

But today would be different…

Taking a deep breath, Yuan Manqiu recalled the day when she left Deep Sea University proudly.

The memory was as fresh as yesterday. The hot blood at that time was still boiling in her chest right now.

But within the blink of an eye, thirty years had passed.

This time, she had come back dignifiedly and imposingly with the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, after thirty years of blood and sweat, to the City of Magical Equipment.

“Shua!”

The crystal airship slowly moved through a giant virtual light beam, which had a slogan on it that read: ‘Welcome to the 139th Magical Equipment Exposition of the Star Glory Federation, Fellow Daoists!’

Li Yao and Yuan Manqiu looked at each other and noticed the ineffaceable determination in the other’s eyes at the same time.

This time, they were not just participating the Magical Equipment Exposition.

They were also going to raise a riot of amazement in the gala that was the center of the public attention.

…

As a gala for the entire federation and for every human being, the Magical Equipment Exposition was divided into the civil section and the military section.

The exhibitions in the civil section had started three days prior to their arrival and would last for a month, whose target audience were ordinary people.

The exhibitions in the military section would officially kick off three days later, which would be frequented by the military and the Cultivators. It was considered to be a trade fair, too. If one saw a piece of magical equipment to one’s liking, one could place an order and purchase it on the spot. Bulk purchases or negotiations were of course available as well.

The ordinary people could watch the exhibitions of the military magical equipment, too. The tickets were not very expensive. But they would need to rent a whole suit of defense magical equipment for their own protection.

After all, the exhibitions of the military magical equipment could be somewhat dangerous.

This year, the Grand Desolate War Institution had rented a good exhibition booth, costing them a small fortune.

The upcoming three days would be mainly used to the decorate the booth.

However, Li Yao didn’t need to bother about that.

Having nothing to do, he wandered around the Magical Equipment Exposition as an ordinary magical equipment fan.

Chapter 301: Twenty Years Later

“Wow! Brother Yao, what’s that? A fat panda with three pairs of wings hovering in the sky?”

“It’s Bei Bei, the official mascot of the Magical Equipment Exposition this year. It is a very smart crystal beast. Inside its tummy there’s a super super awesome crystal chip. If you can’t find your mom again like just now, all you need to do is wave your hands at it, and it will fly to you and help you find your mom!”

“Ah, so many flying swords are flying in the sky! So beautiful! Even more beautiful than the fireworks in the Spring Festival! Huh? The flying swords flew into the clouds and tore them apart!”

“Those are meteorological flying swords that are used for weather adjustment. If a place has been raining for such a long time that a flood is coming, those flying swords will drill into the clouds and break them, so that the sky can be cleared up.”

“Brother Yao, there are so many people here. I don’t think that our entire county has this many people.”

“That’s why you need to hold your mom’s hand tight. Didn’t that auntie stamp a seal on you and your mom’s hands? The seal is a special rune that can trigger a strong attraction force between you and your mom. You won’t be lost again if you and your mom’s hands are pinned together, Little Ying.”

In the massive crowds at the entrance of the exposition, Li Yao said to a little girl no more than ten years old in a smile while he created an invisible spiritual shield which covered the three of them, so that the mother and the daughter wouldn’t be tripped over by the crowds.

The little girl was very thin, with dark skin, big eyes and yellowish hair. She was curious about everything that she saw and was jumping up and down like a naughty monkey.

Her name was Ai Zhiying. She came from the Serene Mountain Province in the south of the federation and lived in a small village deep inside the mountains. She and her mother had come a long way to visit her father who was working in Deep Sea City, and it happened to be the time when the Magical Equipment Exposition was held.

The family had planned to visit the Magical Equipment Exposition together.

However, the father was caught by something urgent and had to ask his wife and daughter to go on ahead.

However, the mother and the daughter had been living in the village for their entire lives. The biggest, liveliest place that they’d ever been to was the county town which had a population of no more than fifty thousand.

When they came to a place as crowded as the Magical Equipment Exposition, they were completely overwhelmed.

With the moving and pushing of other people, the girl and her mother were separated.

Li Yao had just finished his breakfast and was ready to explore the Magical Equipment Exposition joyfully, when he noticed that the little girl was crying in a corner.

Two mascot pandas and several other tourists were trying to help her, but they only made her more upset; she simply shrank back and refused to say anything.

Seeing this, Li Yao hurried up and set a mind-settling rune on the little girl to calm her down. Then, with the help of the staff, he finally found her mother, Zhou Xiulan.

Judging from their plain clothing and somewhat confused faces, Li Yao knew that they’d probably never experienced such hustle and bustle before.

The Magical Equipment Exposition was extremely large with complicated booths and stands that made it look like a labyrinth. Besides, the place was packed and messy. If he were to leave them alone, the two of them would never be able to enjoy the exposition, not to mention that the little girl might get lost again.

Having nothing to do, and to better take care of them, Li Yao decided to accompany them and volunteered to interpret the magical equipment for them.

“Mr. Li, thank you so much. We would’ve had absolutely no idea what to do if it weren’t for you. We never expected that there would be so many people. We were actually planning to go back just now.”

Zhou Xiulan was a simple, sincere village woman. She was so anxious that she didn’t know where to put her hands while she was expressing gratitude to Li Yao.

“You’re most welcome. It would be boring to tour the exposition by myself anyway. With a few companions, we can talk to and look after each other. Isn’t it much better? Also, don’t call me ‘mister’. ‘Little Li’ will be good.”

Li Yao grinned.

“That will be too presumptuous. You are a Cultivator. I’m told that my mad daughter was cooled down by a rune that you casually drew. How can I call you Little Li?” Zhou Xiulan answered hurriedly.

Ai Zhiying was jumping up and down as she merrily said, “Yes, yes. Brother Yao is so awesome. I was so desperate that I felt my head was dizzy and my ears were humming. I couldn’t see, hear, or say anything. But after Brother Yao touched my forehead, it was like a bucket of cold water over my head. I was immediately able to see and hear things again, and I could speak too.”

“That’s alright. Just call me Little Li. It’s more comfortable for me that way. Cultivator or not, you are my senior anyway. Just because I am a Cultivator doesn’t mean I’m older than I’m supposed to be.”

With a big smile, Li Yao said, “Alright. Let’s go and start our adventure. Little Ying, didn’t you say that your dad is a construction worker and used to work in this convention center? Maybe one of the windows here was installed by your dad himself. Hurry up. Let’s explore the battlefield where your dad once fought.”

“Let’s go!”

Ai Zhiying was not a shy girl. She had been famous for her naughtiness back in her village. She was just overwhelmed by the large crowds that were beyond her imagination. Now that Li Yao was there to back her up, her restless nature had returned. She opened her arms and uttered “Swoosh! Swoosh!” as if she were riding a nonexistent flying sword.

Talking and laughing, the three of them walked into the first gallery with the crowds.

Every Magical Equipment Exposition had a theme. The theme of this year was ‘Twenty Years Later’.

The exhibitions in the first gallery were mostly the state-of-the-art magical equipment related to the everyday life of ordinary people.

“Wow. Beautiful clothes!”

In front of the colorful and splendid stand, Ai Zhiying started at a brilliantly shining dress with her cheeks puffed and shouted in excitement.

Li Yao raised his head and noticed that it was the Heavenly Apparel Guild’s stand.

The Heavenly Apparel Guild’s main business was robes, costumes, uniforms, and battle clothing. The school uniform of the Grand Desolate War Institution had been outsourced to the Heavenly Apparel Guild.

Other than the battle clothing for soldiers, the Heavenly Apparel Guild had been trying to expand its market in civil clothing.

“Shua!”

Rolling her eyeballs, Ai Zhiying lifted her finger, planning to touch the dress while no one was watching her, when the brilliance on the dress suddenly vanished. The long dress turned into a silver-grey clothing that covered the model tightly, then it turned into a red-and-yellow sportswear after flashing in redness.

“I didn’t touch it! It changed by itself!”

Ai Zhiying thought that she was to blame for the ruined clothes. She pulled back her hands hurriedly.

Li Yao read the introduction and smiled.

“Don’t be scared, Little Ying. The garment is a piece of magical equipment refined by the Heavenly Apparel Guild whose name is ‘Capricious Costume’. It is made of luminescent materials mixed with the traditional silk. It is a piece of clothing as well as a walking light beam.

“Its prototype is the silver-grey clothing that you saw just now. However, you can set it into different themes which you can download from the Nexus. Short skirt, long skirt, sportswear, business wear. Red, blue, yellow. It can be changed to whatever you want.”

“Wow!”

Ai Zhiying’s eyes were shinning. She bit her fingernails as she said, “Whatever I want? Does it mean that if I buy it, it’s like I’ve bought a hundred pieces of clothing?”

“More than that!”

Li Yao said in a smile, “The clothes can also detect your mood and adjust itself accordingly. For example, by customizing several settings, when you are in high spirits, the front of the clothes will display a shining sun, and your friends will know that they can come and play with you happily when they see that. If you come across anything sad, a crescent moon will be displayed in the front of the clothes, and your friends will know that it’s time to comfort you.”

“Impressive!”

Ai Zhiying was amazed. She swallowed and said, “I’m going to buy one!”

“Not now.”

Li Yao said, “The theme of the Magical Equipment Exposition is ‘Twenty Years Later’. Most of the magical equipment exhibited here is still experimental. It will take another ten to twenty years before such magical equipment can be manufactured and made available for ordinary people.

“Take the ‘Capricious Costume’ for example. It requires a lot of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to be refined, which means its cost will be unbelievably high. Also, its lifespan is not very long. Therefore, it is only equipped by the special forces of the military. Ordinary people have no access to it right now.”

“Twenty years later!”

Ai Zhiying blinked her eyes. “That sounds like a long, long distance away. But it’s fine. Such a nice costume must be very expensive. My dad has been working in construction sites. It is a very exhausting job. I wouldn’t bear to let him buy such an expensive item anyway. In twenty years’ time, I’ll be independent. I’ll save money and buy it by myself and I’ll buy three pieces. One for myself, one of my dad, and one for my mom.”

Thinking for a while, she added, “No. I shall buy four pieces. Brother Yao should get one, too.”

Li Yao couldn’t help but laugh. He led the mother and the daughter on.

The stands here were all exhibitions of clothing magical equipment. Li Yao introduced them one by one, “The silver-glittering costume which seemed to be made of flowing resin is called ‘Mustard Costume’. It is actually constituted by billions of pieces of magical equipment as tiny as mustard seeds. It is mainly used in battlefields as ‘mustard suits’. However, take a look. Its provider ‘Twinkling Star Home’ is trying to promote the Mustard Costume to the civil market. They will first refine all kinds of work clothes that will be able to endure high temperature, high pressure, and intense impacts.

“Firefighters, aquanauts, miners… Many people will find such work clothes very useful.

“For example, if the firefighters wear Mustard Costumes with frost rune arrays carved inside as work clothes, they will no longer be afraid of fire and it will be easier for them to rescue those who are trapped.

“Another example. Your dad works in construction sites. Sometimes he will need to work high above the ground. With the Mustard Costume as work clothes, the special enhancement rune array inside the clothes can increase your dad’s strength a lot. He’ll find it easier to do his normal work. Daily bruises can be avoided, too.”

Ai Zhiying was listening carefully. Her eyes were shining. She bit her mouth and nodded her head.

“It will be great if the Mustard Costume as work clothes can be refined sooner. My dad hurt his finger several days ago. I would rather buy a Mustard Costume for my dad than getting a Capricious Costume for myself.”

Li Yao smiled.

“Rest assured. The uncles and aunties in the Twinkling Star Home are working on it. Maybe in the next few years, the Mustard Costumes will be popularized!

“Check this one out. This piece of clothing is named ‘Health Costume’. Not only can it examine your health, it can also trigger weak electricity to stimulate the activity of your muscles, veins, and organs to build up your health. It is best to be used as school uniform and sportswear for teenagers to help with the growth of their bodies. If you wear it, you will be tall and beautiful in the future.

“This is an Anti-collision Lifesaving Costume designed to be worn when taking crystal trains or crystal airships. In the case of an accident, it will expand into a giant balloon and lock you inside, so that nothing will happen to you.

“As for this one…”

Chapter 302: Better Life

The clothing magical equipment refined by the major sects dazzled Ai Zhiying. She watched and played for more than an hour before she moved on hesitatingly.

However, she was soon attracted by the special smells coming from the front.

Many cultivation sects were displaying magical equipment for food and cooking there. Some of them were even making food on the spot for the tourists to taste for free.

“This piece of magical equipment is called ‘Dehydrating Crisper’. When you put the food that you just cook inside it, 99.9% of the water in the food will be extracted instantly. Then the food will shrink in size and be sealed inside. The food can be preserved for as long as an entire year. When you want to eat the food, just open it and pour some hot water onto it, the food inside will be refreshed and taste exactly as it did when it was first cooked.

“That’s a pair of ‘Bone-cracking Chopsticks’. It is specially designed for the old and the children who like eating fish but cannot get rid of the fish bones. With the mechanism of high frequency oscillation, the fish bones will be shattered into dust the moment they pick up part of the fish with the chopsticks. Not only will the fish bones no longer be a risk to their throats, the nutrition in the fish bones is good for their body, too.

“This plate looks normal. But look, it has the ability of automatic analysis. Once food is put on the plate, it will automatically detect the ingredients of the food and their respective calories. It is a great piece of health-maintaining tableware for people who are losing weight, diabetes patients, and other victims of chronical diseases.”

Li Yao pointed to the pieces of magical equipment and introduced them to the mother and the daughter one by one.

But Ai Zhiying was unable to reply, because her mouth was filled by a large delicious meatball which a female Cultivator had just slipped inside.

Li Yao smiled.

“Little Ying, the meatball that you’re eating right now was made one year ago by the chef of the ‘Moon-picking Hotel’, a renowned restaurant of Sunny Harvest City thousands of kilometers away, and it has just had hot water poured on to be refreshed. How about it? Does it taste like it was just cooked?”

Ai Zhiying was enjoying the delicious food and there was no time for her to speak. She had to nod her head quickly with her eyes wide open to show approval. After a long while, she finally swallowed all the meatball. Then she smacked her lips and observed, “The meatball is so wonderful. If the Dehydrating Crisper can be mass-produced, everyone will be able to eat hot food wherever they go to. My mom and I can make a delicious meal at home for my dad and send it to him even though we’re thousands of kilometers away!”

Li Yao nodded his head.

“Yes. Shipping is a lot easier nowadays. I know a guy who uses flying swords to ship things for other people. In the future, you and your mom can make a table of hometown dishes, put them in a Dehydrating Crisper, and send a message via the spiritual crane messenger. A flying sword will come to your home quickly and bring the dishes to your dad within the next day. Your dad will be so happy to eat the food cooked by you!”

‘Clothing, food, residence, and transportation’ was the theme of this gallery. It took them almost four hours to just finish the clothing part and the food part.

Fortunately, the little girl’s mouth was really sweet. By greeting the Cultivators at the stands with ‘uncles and aunties’, she enjoyed a lot of cuisine cooked by their magical equipment for free, and therefore was not very hungry.

Then, the little girl was amazed by all kinds of smart-home magical equipment that she saw.

One of them was named ‘Scouring Fatty’. It was round and plump, like a large cluster of translucent jelly.

Under the control of the crystal chip, it could automatically roll over and over at home and suck up the dirty things on the ground and the walls.

Since it was half-liquid, it could change itself into different shapes. The corners between walls, the space below the bed, and unreachable area between two pieces of furniture were no problem for it at all.

When it had swallowed enough dirty items, it would search for a dustbin and disgorge all of the waste.

It could even connect itself to a water faucet and drink a lot of clean water to sanitize itself.

There was another piece of magical equipment named ‘Showering Fatty’. It was basically the same as the Scouring Fatty, except that it was for showers.

During a shower, it would roll over on the body of the shower-taker, clean up their pores, and massage them. It was truly comfortable!

There was also ‘Random Window’, a piece of magical equipment designed for the residents who lived in the underground world.

When it was hanged on a wall, it would be like a real window. People would be able to see beautiful sceneries that could be customized through the window.

The most distinguished characteristic about the Random Window was that the scenes were real-time videos shot from other places in the Heaven’s Origin Sector, which meant that they were 100% authentic and very fickle.

For the residents that lived in the underground world, it could be a good comfort.

After visiting smart-home magical equipment, the three of them went to enjoy the transportation magical equipment.

The dozens of stands here were dominated by shuttles.

Most shuttles being exhibited had achieved self-navigation. There was also a kind of foldable personal shuttle, which, with a snap, could fold itself into the size of a briefcase. With the assistance of the anti-gravity rune array, even the weakest woman and little kid could carry them easily.

Once it was manufactured and promoted, the difficulty in finding a parking space in a metropolis could be solved immediately.

All of the state-of-the-art magical equipment in regards of clothing, food, smart-home, and transportation painted a dramatic and charming picture of the twenty-years-later life for the three of them.

The exit of the gallery was surrounded by more than ten giant 3D light beams which were playing the lifestyles of ordinary people twenty years later in the vision of Cultivators.

In twenty years’ time, with a mind-settling rune, one would have a nice sleep on the inflatable king-size bed which could adjust itself according to the body size of the sleeper. In the morning, before one opened one’s eyes, with a telepathic thought, the Showering Fatty would fill itself with water, climb up the bed, and clean the sleeper from inside to outside.

When one was ready to get off the bed, the slippers with reactive rune arrays would automatically come to the bed, saving the trouble of looking for slippers below the bed with the eyes that were still fogged from sleep.

After using the bathroom, one would pick out from the Dehydrating Crisper the breakfast that had been bulk purchased. With a little hot water, there would be a roomful of mouth-watering aromas. Bread, milk, biscuits… all were as fresh as those that were just made.

The temperature-controlling tableware would maintain the food at the most suitable degree, neither too hot, nor too cold.

After having breakfast and putting on the Capricious Costume, which had been set to the most fashionable theme according to the Nexus, one would go to the helipad over the roof through the short-distance teleportation array at home. Then, one would take out the shuttle from the garage nearby that had been minimized. With a snap, the shuttle would quickly expand and send its master to factories, schools, offices by self-navigation.

This was just one video clip.

There were a lot of other video clips showing scenes of ordinary people working, studying, entertaining with the help of all kinds of advanced magical equipment.

Every video clip was concluded by the same sentence that read: ‘Better Cultivation, Better Life.’

The declaration made Li Yao feel somewhat proud.

“Wow!”

Ai Zhiying’s eyes were focused on the videos. She exclaimed, “Twenty years from now, we’ll be living like celestials!”

“Indeed!”

Li Yao smiled. “As long as students like you study carefully, workers like your mom and dad work hard, Cultivators like me cultivate wholeheartedly, then with all our collective effort, all human beings, be they Cultivators or ordinary people, will all live a celestial-like life.”

Leaving the gallery of ‘Clothing, Food, Residence and Transportation’, they arrived at the next gallery whose name was ‘Future City’.

It mainly depicted all kinds of bizarre cities that were to be built twenty or even more years later with the help of different magical equipment.

Li Yao thought that the theme was too abstract and wouldn’t be as attractive as the previous galleries to the little girl.

However, Ai Zhiying was not the least bored. She watched the exhibitions curiously.

She told Li Yao, “My family lives in a village deep inside the mountains. Not only is the traffic very difficult, sometimes the earthquakes will violently shake the houses in my hometown. So, I’m studying what the city twenty years from now looks like, and I’m going to build my hometown that way.”

Together with Li Yao, she saw many future cities that were constructed by magical equipment.

One of the future cities was built inside a mountain which had been emptied by a giant excavating magical equipment. But looking inside, it was a perfectly normal city, with hills, waters, singing birds and blossoming flowers. No one would be able to tell that there was anything wrong with it.

There was another future city that looked like a lot of water bubbles tangling together. They were sometimes floating on the sea and sometimes diving down into the undersea.

The undersea cities that the federation had right now were mere extensions of seashore cities, which could only be built on the continental shelf that was not far from the main land.

Once such bubbles were successfully refined, a city in the sea would really be possible. Humans would be able to march into the abysmal seas and conquer all the oceans of the Heaven’s Origin Sector.

There was another future city that looked like Lego but billions of times larger. All the buildings were square and attached to thick metal cylinders.

According to the cultivation sect of the stand, it was called ‘Combinatorial City’. All the buildings were created according to certain criteria in factories and could be assembled together very quickly upon order.

Once needed, a city that could accommodate 100,000 people could be built within several days. If movement was needed, the city could be dismantled and transported to somewhere else where it could be restored exactly the same as it had been. Even the house number would remain unchanged.

Another cultivation sect had been seriously considering the possibility of launching the floating mountains beyond the aerosphere.

According to the ‘Space Flight Guild’, it was planning to launch a hundred floating mountains to the near-earth orbit outside of the aerosphere where they would be connected to each other by high-tensile traffic tubes. This way, an unprecedented metropolitan circle would be created.

With the development of the metropolitan circle, billions of people would be able to live in space, and the overpopulation problem that had been bothering the human race could be resolved once and for all.

The little girl was truly astonished by the motley exhibition of future cities.

Her mother was also eyeing Li Yao with admiration and bewilderment, her eyes bulging wide.

She took Li Yao for one of the Cultivators that were going to build a city beyond the aerosphere, people she thought to be omnipotent gods.

Chapter 303: Sea of Stars

When they left the Future City Gallery, it was already nightfall.

Outside of the gallery was large artificial turf. There were streams flowing and bird singing not very far away.

Countless tourists were sitting on the turf and enjoying their picnics. Mortal life and crystal beasts formed a delightful contrast, peaceful and comforting.

Ai Zhiying was not satisfied yet. But her mother was a little tired.

Thankfully, there was a rest stop nearby where several Cultivators were providing sprays that could assuage fatigue.

After spraying her back and her legs, Zhou Xiulan felt that her strength was back.

Then, the three of them visited a few other galleries quickly.

In the Life and Health Gallery, they saw artificial flesh that was refined out of crystal gel.

Once it was covered on a metal puppet, not only could the life-span of the puppets be prolonged, the outlook and texture of the real skin could be simulated, too.

If it was used to make artificial limbs, the appearance of the artificial limbs could be greatly improved and so would the quality of life of the disabled and spectral Cultivators.

In the New Energy Gallery, they saw submarine mining equipment that could work 10,000 meters below the sea level. They also witnessed an advanced technology which could transform the energy contained in coal and oil into spiritual energy.

In the Robotization Gallery, they saw hundreds of fully automated machines that could walk through the entire process from sowing to harvest by themselves, thus freeing human beings from the tedious peasant work.

In the end, they reached the Universe Gallery.

The moment they stepped inside, they felt like that they had entered a sea of stars. The entire cosmos was spinning around them, full of mysteries and vastness.

In the boundless Universe Gallery, Ai Zhiying, who had been vivacious all the way, shut her mouth and walked behind Li Yao quietly.

The first thing to be seen was a piece of obscure, unattractive magical equipment flying alone in the universe.

The surface of the magical equipment was full of bumps and hollows, which indicated that it had been hit multiple times.

“This is a ‘flying star telescope’ which was launched by ‘Seven Stars Alliance’, a top 10 sect of the federation, 299 years ago. In its three hundred years of voyage in the cosmos, it has sent everything it saw back, which provides precious data for the study of universe.”

Li Yao was very solemn. He said in a low voice, “During the past three hundred years, the federal government, as well as many Cultivation sects, has sent almost a hundred flying star telescopes with more advanced technologies to explore the more distant universe.

“However, the very first flying star telescope has been retained and controlled by a Nascent Soul Stage expert of the Seven Stars Alliance as a symbol of the expedition to the universe of the humans of the Heaven’s Origin Sector.”

“Awesome.”

Ai Zhiying asked, “What are we looking for with so many flying star telescopes?”

“New worlds.”

Li Yao replied, “The Heaven’s Origin Sector only has limited resources, which will run dry as our civilization develops. So, we must find new worlds as alternatives.

“If we meet a world fragment, we can collect the resources inside.

“If we meet an intact world, we will consider building a stable, inter-world wormhole for large-scale migration.

“Anyway, our destiny is the end of cosmos, and we will not be bound by such a small place as Heaven’s Origin Sector.”

“I understand it now. It’s the same reason why my dad left our hometown to work in the big city. I didn’t know what was good about the big city and cried to persuade my dad not to go. But now that I’ve seen it with my own eyes, I finally know that the big city is a really lively place with so many delicious foods and so many beautiful and interesting things. So, I have decided that I will go to the big city just like my dad in the future.

“The Heaven’s Origin Sector is a small village, too. Other worlds in the cosmos are big cities like Deep Sea City. We the people of the Heaven’s Origin Sector can’t stay in our village forever. The cosmos is too great a place to be missed out,” Ai Zhiying said.

“Correct.” Li Yao nodded his head. “That’s why the Star Glory Federation is working hard on the aeronautical and astronautical technology and trying to find safe passage between worlds.

“See? This is a crystal starship model named ‘Serenity’, which is built by the ‘Thousand Sails Guild’ with the technologies found in the Star Ocean Imperium relics.

“The real Serenity starship boasts a complete ecosystem and a self-circulation system. It can accommodate 100,000 people on board and carry a large amount of materials for the construction of stable wormholes.

“This is a crystal starship even larger than ‘Serenity’, whose name is ‘Prestige’. A million people can live inside it for hundreds of years. But it is still experimental and not successfully refined yet.

“This is ‘Quick Ghost’, the latest model of automated flying star telescope. It is fifty times faster than the first-generation flying star telescopes. It can detect abnormal spiritual waves that are often the sign of a new world.

“Maybe in the foreseeable future, we can refine hundreds of crystal starships and light the fire of our civilization in other worlds!”

Ai Zhiying was excited by Li Yao’s words. She muttered, “Me too. If Deep Sea City is already so interesting, I bet there will be much more fun in other worlds!”

When they left the Universe Gallery, it was already 10 p.m.

Since it was impossible to finish visiting the Magical Equipment Exposition within a day, the ticket covered the hotel fees. Li Yao escorted the mother and the daughter to the hotel on the third floor of the convention center. Then they said goodbye to each other, however reluctantly.

Tomorrow, the military magical equipment exhibitions would start. Li Yao would be too occupied to accompany the lovely little girl anymore.

Besides, her father had sent a message through spiritual crane messenger, saying that he would ask for leave and come to reunite with his wife and his daughter tomorrow. It was a relief for Li Yao.

Li Yao offered Ai Zhiying three tickets for the military magical equipment exhibitions as a gift.

Since the Grand Desolate War Institution was one of the exhibitors, every staff of the school had received quite a few complimentary tickets. Having no one else to give them to, Li Yao decided that he might as well give them to the little girl, who apparently was very interested in magical equipment.

“I’ll definitely show up!”

Ai Zhiying was overjoyed. She waved her little fists and said, “Besides, I’ve set you as my role model and I’ll be a Cultivator one day!”

Li Yao was dazed for a moment. He asked in a smile, “Why?”

Ai Zhiying stood straight and answered briskly, “Because Cultivators are so awesome! With the marvelous magical equipment that they refine, everybody will be able to live a celestial-like life. So, I’m going to be a Cultivator one day, so that my mom and dad, my uncles and aunts at home, and everyone else in our village will live a peaceful and happy life.

“Maybe one day, I can refine a giant crystal starship, and bring everyone in our village to travel deep into the cosmos. The grandpas and grandmas that have never been out of our village in their entire life will be able to see what the other end of the universe looks like!”

“Good for you, Little Ying!”

Pondering for a moment, Li Yao took out a grey, small stone which had a hole in one end. He had slipped a red string into the hole and made it into a pendant.

It seemed uninteresting, but the stone was actually made of the powder of three marrow stones.

When a marrow stone was being polished, it was unavoidable that some powder would drop off. Li Yao made best use of the leftover and refined them into more than ten pendants together with some other Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.

They were of little use to Cultivators. But for the growing adolescents, the pendants could build up their body heath and accelerate their brain development, which was similar to the effect of strengthening drugs.

Li Yao was planning to send the pendants to the Principal Mao of the Floating Spear City’s Mining Clan High School for the students whose families were too poor to buy strengthening drugs.

Now that fate had arranged Ai Zhiying and him to meet, he might as well give her one first.

But he could only help her that far. It still depended on herself whether or not her spiritual root could be awakened so that she could be a Cultivator.

The pendant had been covered up by Li Yao with the ancient techniques of the Hundred Smelting Clan. Whoever examined the pendant would only feel that it was just a normal stone. Therefore, there would be no danger of robbery.

Li Yao hang the marrow crystal pendant on the little girl’s neck. They exchanged their contact information. Then Li Yao returned to the residence of the delegates of the Grand Desolate War Institution.

“What’s wrong? You look quite thoughtful. What did you get today?”

Yuan Manqiu saw him and greeted him in a smile.

“A lot. I never realized until today that civil magical equipment could be so amazing. It is a life-changer for the ordinary people, who can live such a happy life that was unimaginable in the old days. Just like what the slogan says, ‘Better Cultivation, Better Life’!”

Scratching his hair, Li Yao remarked, “I thought that I was a strong refiner who could refine all kinds of powerful military magical equipment, and I sometimes despised the refiners who worked on the civil magical equipment because I thought they were boring. But the trip today has taught me a good lesson. For the ordinary people, the civil magical equipment has indeed improved the quality of their life and is much more important for them.”

“It’s great that you can appreciate the significance of the civil magical equipment. However, there is no need to go too far.”

Yuan Manqiu added, “There is no paradise in or beyond the Heaven’s Origin Sector. Every place is full of blood and slaughter.

“Today, you saw the happy and peaceful life of the ordinary people made possible by the civil magical equipment.

“However, without countless Cultivators and soldiers guarding our civilization with military magical equipment, how long would the peace and happiness last?

“Right now, the Blood Demon Sector is coveting us maliciously. Each beast tide is fiercer than the previous one. The more military magical equipment we refine, the better protected the life of the ordinary people will be!

“Besides, the boundary between military magical equipment and civil magical equipment is really blurred. Much civil magical equipment has been transformed from military magical equipment.

“The Demon Beast Detector that you refined was a piece of military magical equipment in the beginning. But it has been modified into a civil one which has possibly saved many lives already.

“Inheriting the past, defending the present, and creating the future are the three duties of us Cultivators. They are equally important. Cultivators who can fulfill one of the duties will be enough to be worthy of their names.

“If you are good at refining military magical equipment, then just try your best to defend what you saw just now!”

“I got it.”

Li Yao was enlightened by what Yuan Manqiu had just said. He felt relieved again.

“Alright, just take it easy. Tomorrow is the first day of the military magical equipment exhibitions. Whether or not the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit can kick off a good start will be revealed after tonight.”

Yuan Manqiu stressed, “Recently, not only have the beast tides been arriving more frequently, the local demon beasts of the Heaven’s Origin Sector have also been seething with bloodlust. The mines and settlements of many Cultivation sects in the depths of the Grand Desolate Plateau are being threatened.

“Therefore, many sects are planning to purchase crystal suits for better defense.

“If we can secure a few orders from them before we get the big military order, it will ease the burden of the tremendous preliminary cost right now. On the other hand, it will be a great advertisement for us, too.

“How about it? Are you confident?”

“Of course!”

When talking about the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, Li Yao immediately turned sharp again. He declared assuredly, “In the previous month, I wasted no time in preparing several secret weapons just for the big show tomorrow!”

Chapter 304: Foggy Booth

The following morning, the world was greeted by a brightly shining sun.

Leading the delegates of the Grand Desolate War Institution, Yuan Manqiu walked into the hall.

Under the pressure of war all year around, the military magical equipment of the Heaven’s Origin Sector was much more advanced than the civil magical equipment.

In the blue sky, countless supersonic flying swords were dashing everywhere, knitting an impenetrable sword net with beautiful patterns.

It looked splendid, but a demon beast which was stupid enough to breach inside would definitely be caught by the sword net and minced into pieces.

On the ground, all kinds of beast puppets, crystal tanks, and even self-moving war fortresses constituted an iron army and patrolled inside the hall. The entire tower seemed to be trembling at their might.

Earthshaking explosions, booms of spiritual tide collisions, ting-tings of swords crashing sabers… All kinds of noises were echoing nonstop.

Holding his breath, Li Yao was gazing at all the exhibitions.

This was the first time that he had joined an exposition of such a large scale and at such a high level. His horizon was broadened so fast that he felt somewhat dizzy.

The Grand Desolate War Institution had rented a booth of more than 1,000 square meters. Li Yao had thought that it was enormous.

However, now that he saw it with his own eyes, he realized that it was below average and dwarfed by the real bit shots.

Many powerful sects had rented booths as big as 10,000 square meters where hundreds of pieces of their magical equipment would be exhibited.

As for Deep Sea University, its booth was more than 30,000 square meters and took up three floors. Technically speaking, it was not a booth anymore, but a special and independent gallery. More than 5,000 pieces of magical equipment would be displayed in the place, making it the unquestionable kingdom of magical equipment.

Walking past the gate of Deep Sea University’s booth, all the delegates of the Grand Desolate War Institution were solemn and saw the deepest desire in each other’s eyes.

Although not as outspoken as Li Yao, every one of them had been dreaming to oust Deep Sea University and take its place.

The Tiger King Battlesuit, as Deep Sea University’s star magical equipment of the year, was placed in the most conspicuous spot over an artificial rock, where it was crouching and ready to lunge down at any moment.

The majestic mighty of the Tiger King Battlesuit made Li Yao’s fingers twitch uncontrollably. He was of a mind to clench his fists and punch it into pieces.

“Let’s go. We’ll have a lot of opportunities to challenge it in the future.” Yuan Manqiu patted his shoulder.

Li Yao nodded his head. Smiling viciously, he lowered his eyes and moved on.

According to the marketing plan that they’d discussed, the delegates of the Grand Desolate War Institution didn’t stay in their booth. Instead, they toured the hall and visited the booths of their competitors.

The colorful, brilliant, premium crystal suits indeed amazed them. In the meantime, the MP crystal suit models provided by the major sects of the federation let them understand how fierce the competition was.

“How about it?”

Quickly circling the hall for a round, which took them more than two hours, everyone was somewhat gloomy. Yuan Manqiu asked Li Yao, “We’ve seen all the latest crystal suit models of the federation. What do you think?”

“Deep Sea University, Star Nebula University, Gold Armor Sect… These traditional giants have been working on the refinement of crystal suits for hundreds of years. The premium crystal suits that they refine are indeed delicate inventions with powerful abilities, which could be called ultimate magical equipment. I’m afraid we’ll not be able to catch up with them in a short time.”

Li Yao pondered for a while and continued, “But an MP crystal suit is something entirely different. I studied several popular MP crystal suit models just now. Judging from the outlook and structure, they are basically the same as the premium crystal suit models that these organizations refined before, except that the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures have been replaced by ordinary materials and that some components have even been canceled.

“If we get to the bottom of it, these sects are not presenting a new crystal suit model. What they are presenting is a ‘jerry-built’ version of the premium crystal suit models.

“That explains a lot. It hasn’t even been a year since the military announced that the standard military crystal suit would be outsourced. It’s impossible for them to design and refine a crystal suit model with brand new structure in such a short time. Therefore, they had to revise their previous designs and hope that luck is on their side.

“From what I’ve seen, Tiger King, Mournful Mist, Sword Torrent are the only three models that are somewhat refreshing.

“But in my opinion, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is better than any of them.

“Because they are designed more or less in accordance with the ideologies of the high-end crystal suits. Their creators refuse to demean themselves and do not know what the key is to a MP crystal suit.

“However, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit has prioritized low-cost, mass-production, and durability since the very beginning.

“Speaking of the three points, no one has more experience than the refiners of the Grand Desolate War Institution do.

“All in all, my conclusion is that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is the only true MP crystal suit model.

“Other crystal suits, including the Tiger King Battlesuit, are just bluffing that they are MP crystal suit models.

“However impressive their specifications may be, there are bound to be a lot of flaws and defects in them.

“And what I’m going to do is to find their shortcomings and beat ’em all to the ground!”

His words cheered up his companions again.

“Well said!”

Yuan Manqiu waved her hands and declared in high spirits, “Alright, let’s go and teach the believers of the elite refining ideology a lesson about what a real MP crystal suit should look like!”

Talking and laughing, they strode forward.

While they were spying on their competitors, many other Cultivators noticed their existence, too.

The successful refinement of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit had never been known by the public. Besides, the exhibition had started for quite a long time, yet the delegates of the Grand Desolate War Institution were still wandering in the hall.

Many Cultivators inevitably had the misunderstanding that they were not here to exhibit their magical equipment, but to purchase magical equipment from other exhibitors.

“Is the Project Mystic Skeleton still ongoing or what? I don’t seem to see their booth.”

“True that. They suffered a great failure last year. There’s no way that they can work it out so fast. I assume that they’ve given it up already.”

“I think it is a smart choice. Refining is not the Grand Desolate War Institution’s strong point. Besides, crystal suits are pieces of super magical equipment that is too precise and complicated for them to handle. If they are really in need of crystal suits, the best and easiest thing to do is to buy some from other providers. It is both safe and trouble-saving.”

The military magical equipment exhibition had attracted the attention of many reporters, especially those from the three magical equipment magazines and ‘Crystal Suit Vista’. They had been here early waiting before the booths of the major exhibitors.

Delegates of the Grand Desolate War Institution roaming in the hall instead of staying in their booth intrigued many reporters.

The noses of the reporters were much sharper than the common Cultivators. They had heard through various channels that the Grand Desolate War Institution was an exhibitor of the Magical Equipment Exposition which was going to show some interesting stuff.

However, they had looked around and didn’t find the Grand Desolate War Institution’s booth.

Now that they saw the refiners of the Grand Desolate War Institution strolling in the hall at ease with a mysterious smile on their faces as if they had everything under their control, the reports were naturally very curious about it.

“Director Yuan, greetings. I am Gao Yongjie, a journalist from ‘Crystal Suit Vista’. I was told that the Grand Desolate War Institution is an exhibitor of the Magical Equipment Exposition. But I didn’t find your booth after searching. Can you explain what is going on? Is the Grand Desolate War Institution really participating in the exposition? What kind of magical equipment are you going to display? Is it the rumored cheapest crystal suit of the federation?”

“Director Yuan, nice to meet you. I am Bian Yun, a journalist from ‘Gossip Cultivators’. Thirty years ago, you were the ‘Deep Sea Goddess’, yet you went separate ways with your instructor and exiled yourself to the Grand Desolate War Institution because of different beliefs. It’s been thirty years since you last came to Deep Sea City. Are you planning to challenge Deep Sea University on your trip here?”

“Excuse me, you must be Mr. Li Yao, the promising new refiner whose name has been on the rise. The Demon Beast Detector has been quite a hit over the past several months. I remember that you declared war against the Refining Department of Deep Sea University a long time ago. Are you confident that the magical equipment of the Grand Desolate War Institution can beat the magical equipment of the same type from the Deep Sea University?”

Many reporters crowded to them.

This was exactly Yuan Manqiu and Li Yao had been hoping for.

So many people wearing the same uniform walking in the hall round after round was an effective way to advertise and draw everyone’s attention.

Yuan Manqiu and Li Yao exchanged an eye look. She smiled and said. “Ladies and gentlemen, what you’ve been told is true. The Grand Desolate War Institution is taking part in the Magical Equipment Exposition as an exhibitor, not a buyer. What we are going to exhibit and sell is, to quote what you just said, the cheapest crystal suit of the federation!

“However, there is so much more about it other than merely low cost. You will be astonished at its performance!

“If you are interested, please follow us. Let’s unveil the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit together!”

Yuan Manqiu’s words immediately ignited the crowd.

Now that the cheapest crystal suit of the federation had been successfully refined, they were definitely going to check it out despite its doubtful performance.

So, the reporters all followed the delegates of the Grand Desolate War Institution.

This was the time when keeping a low profile in the beginning paid off.

Other than the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, all the MP crystal suit models had called press conferences the moment they were successfully refined. The specifications and demos of them had been known by the entire world and, without the feeling of freshness anymore, they sometimes bored people who got in touch with them.

But the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit had been hiding itself in darkness the whole time. Besides, many people still remembered the big explosion last year.

Not just the reporters, most of the Cultivators were also curious about what a crystal suit allegedly with a cost of around a hundred million actually looked like.

Therefore, the crowd grew larger and larger as it moved on like a snowball, until it reached the northwest corner of the fifth level of the convention center.

The booth in this place had been shrouded by grey fog since three days ago, with a glittering countdown in the middle of the fog that was changing every second.

Behind the countdown was a giant question mark.

Right now, many tourists had already gathered around the foggy booth before the crowd arrived, because the countdown that had been running for three days would return to zero in ten minutes, and the question mark behind it suddenly bounced into an even larger, even more brilliant exclamation mark.

As the shrink of the countdown, the exclamation mark was glimmering accordingly, like passionate heartbeat.

The ever-growing suspense had aroused everyone’s interest about the exhibition to be held inside the foggy booth.

“Shua!”

In the last ten minutes, Fist of Fury, emblem of the Grand Desolate War Institution, gradually revealed itself in the boundary of the dense fog.

Inside the fog echoed gunfire, explosions of spiritual energy, screams of demon beasts, as well as the mighty, incessant roars of human beings.

Chapter 305: Grand Entrance

If one listened carefully, one would easily notice that the noises inside the fog were not chaotic but well organized into a thrilling narrative.

It sounded like a large batch of demon beasts were attacking a human town inside the fog.

At first, there were the noises of the beast tide surging and the alarms of the human’s defense rune arrays ringing.

Then, there were the noises of the demon beasts breaching the defense and fighting the human soldiers face to face.

In the beginning, the two parties were evenly matched. One could hear the human captains commanding the troops calmly.

But soon, the roars of the demon beasts grew larger and echoed on all directions.

The intense gunfire and rubbing of chainsword were soon replaced by screams.

“For the human race!”

“For the federation!”

Inside the fog, the dying shouts occurred once in a while, followed by earthshaking explosions.

Although they didn’t see it with their own eyes, with the surround sound, the audience was able to picture a heartbreaking scene: in a lone town besieged by countless demon beasts, the soldiers and Cultivators stuffed themselves with crystal bombs and rushed against the beast tide in their last battle hymn, dying a martyr’s death unflinchingly.

Women’s screams, children’s cries, civilians’ wails… came from the slaughter house vaguely, too.

The complicated noises boiled for almost five minutes, until the clamor of demon beasts completely overwhelmed the barrage of the human troops. Everybody in the audience could tell that the town would fall in no time.

Right then, distant yet terrifying thunders echoed far away, as if countless giants were marching in a neat formation at the town in war fire.

“BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!”

Iron feet rose up and stomped down in the same rhythm.

The reinforcements were not moving at a fast speed, yet their footsteps were surrounded by an intimidating aura which seemed ready to crush everything in their way.

Joyful, hopeful, and somewhat twisted cries came from the center of the fog.

“It’s a crystal suit legion!”

“The crystal suit legion of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit!”

“BANG! BANG! BANG! BAM BAM BAM BAM!”

The savage footsteps were denser, louder and more furious as they approached near.

Every audience could picture the same scene in their mind: Thousands of Cultivators, wearing glittering silver crystal suits, congregated into an iron cascade and crashed into the beast tide!

The aching noises of the following onslaught put sweat on everyone’s forehead, who was more curious about the belated Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit than ever.

“It seems that the Grand Desolate War Institution has been fully prepared for their exhibition. The advertisement alone is evident enough of their ambition!”

“The Grand Desolate War Institution is indeed good at keeping secrets. They didn’t leak anything beforehand, waiting to pour everything out in the Magical Equipment Exposition today. I’m going to see whether or not their crystal suit is as good as they claimed in the advertisement!”

All of the audience was engrossed in the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.

However, most of the believers of the elite refining ideology, especially those who were the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit’s competitors, were eyeing the booth suspiciously.

“The Grand Desolate War Institution does not have such competence. They’re just bluffing.”

“They claim that they have successfully refined it. Who knows what kind of garbage they’re going to bring out? Don’t think that a battle armor plus a crystal processor equals a crystal suit!”

“Even if they have refined one, it’s going to be uninteresting.”

“Uninteresting or not, I’m more concerned about the stability. Who knows whether or not it will explode again like last year? I suggest we all put on our spiritual shields. Visiting the booth of the Grand Desolate War Institution might endanger your life!”

As for the reporters from the three magical equipment magazines and ‘Crystal Suit Vista’, they were relatively more objective. Gathering together, they discussed the advertisement in whispers.

“This audio advertisement has indeed been finely made. It seems to be suggesting that the Grand Desolate War Institution’s crystal suit will highlight the low cost and the mass-manufacturing possibility.”

“Think about it. If a thousand warriors put on crystal suits and make up a full-crystal-suit legion, as long as the performance of the crystal suit is acceptable, such a legion will be indeed unstoppable.”

“We just don’t know yet how far away the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is from other crystal suits as the cheapest crystal suit of the federation.”

“Look, the countdown is coming to an end. The secret will be revealed now.”

“The last five seconds!”

“Five…four…three…two…one…zero!”

As the countdown reached zero, the fog inside the booth dissipated. The smoke of war fire had been cleared by breeze.

Unfolding in front of thousands of pairs of eyes were vivid city ruins scattered by collapsed buildings that were still burning in fume.

On the ground closer to the audience, there were dead bodies of humans and demon beasts, corroded crystal railguns, burning crystal tanks.

Some of them were mock-ups. Some were holograms projected by mystic lights. Tangled together, they made a life-like post-war wasteland.

Even the air was filled with the intense odor of blood, the stink of demon beasts, and the pungent smell of spiritual energy explosions.

The booth only had a coverage of 1,000 square kilometers. But with the delicate stage setting and the 3D projections, one would be under the illusion that the boundary of the booth extended to the horizon, making the booth ten times larger than it actually was.

In the most eye-catching position and the center of everyone’s attention, a Cultivator in a crystal suit was breathing heavily on one of his knees.

He seemed to have experienced a brutal fight. Many parts of his crystal suit had been destroyed. Whatever remained was full of rust due to corrosion of the venom from demon beasts, to the extent that the crystal suit seemed to be breaking up at any moment.

After taking a rest, the Cultivators stood up difficultly.

All the other items were dimmed. Several mystic lights focused on him, highlighting the terrible conditions of his gear.

The crystal suit that he was wearing couldn’t be worse.

The weird opening immediately raised a round of exclamations.

Neither did everyone expect the Grand Desolate War Institution to transform their booth into a battlefield, nor were they ready to watch the debut of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit in such an awful state.

In the ragged Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, the Cultivator peered at the audience coldly.

Although the face of the Cultivator had been covered by the rusted helmet, the intense scent of killing from the crimson crystal cameras still made a lot audience shiver. Some of them even took a step back in fear.

Then, the Cultivator turned around and walked into the burning city, one step after another.

“Fellow Daoists, my journalist friends, what you’ve just seen is the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, the latest crystal suit refined by the Grand Desolate War Institution. Allow me to introduce the general performance and the refining process to you.”

Yuan Manqiu, together with the rest of the delegates, walked out of the city ruins and smiled.

Then, more than ten giant light beams appeared in the air, displaying the blueprints, specifications, and pictures of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.

Two key points were stressed.

First, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was the cheapest crystal suit of the federation, with a price lower than those of the competitive products by more than a quarter.

Second, the fundamental framework of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was based on technology from the Star Ocean Imperium, which the Grand Desolate War Institution had been working on for twenty years to fully digest it. Therefore, the quality of the suit is guaranteed despite the low cost. It is almost as good as the standard crystal suit of the imperial army of the Star Ocean Imperium.

However, most of the audience didn’t quite catch what Yuan Manqiu said, because their attention was fixed on the Cultivator in the battered Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit who had walked onto a platform in the back of the booth.

A dynamometer for crystal suit rose up from below the platform, with a ten-minute countdown hanging above.

The Cultivator squatted, lowered his shoulder, and clenched his right fist beside his waist where it seemed to be burning in flames.

“He is going to demonstrate the strength of the crystal suit?”

“The crystal suit is as good as rubbish right now. What can it do?”

“I get it. The Grand Desolate War Institution wants the world to know that their crystal suit is sturdy enough to deal impressive damage under such lousy conditions!”

“But I wonder how good it can be. Five tons? Ten tons? Fifteen tons?”

“Pa!”

In everyone’s earnest eyes, the Cultivator kept his feet still, while he punched the dynamometer after a twitch of his back like a dragon jumping out of water. The dynamometer shook violently, before a row of numbers popped up.

“999.99 kg!”

The figure immediately set the spot in riot.

Everyone was wearing a weird expression.

It was not too strong. It was too weak.

“What? Not even one ton!”

“Are you kidding me? I can punch more than one ton even without any help. Why do I want to wear such a crystal suit?”

“Although it is seriously damaged now, it provides absolutely no enhancement to the wearer. There’s nothing worth to show off about the crystal suit. What is the Grand Desolate War Institution doing here?”

The Cultivator seemed to hear none of it. He punched the dynamometer with his left fist the moment he retreated his right fist.

This time, the number was even smaller. It was…

“888.88 kg!”

Complaints grew louder and louder.

But Yuan Manqiu continued smiling and introducing the specifications of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.

The Cultivator turned a deaf ear to the boos from the audience. Dwelling in his own world, he punched the dynamometer with his right fist again.

“999.99 kg!”

The left fist continued.

“888.88 kg!”

Right and left again.

“999.99 kg!”

“888.88 kg!”

The Cultivator was like a precise machine. The gaps between two punches were exactly the same, and so was the damage dealt by each punch. 999.99 kg from the right fist, and 888.88 kg from the left fist.

One minute later, the whispers weakened.

Two minutes later, the whispers were gone.

Three minutes later, the Cultivator was still savaging the dynamometer leisurely. He had punched hundreds of times, and the reading of the dynamometer was either 999.99 or 888.88.

Cold sweat was appearing on the audience’s forehead.

Four minutes later, the whispers were up again. This time with amazement!

Everyone understood that what the Grand Desolate War Institution was trying to demonstrate was not the limit of strength, but the unbelievable stability.

“This…this crystal suit is formidable. It is almost shattered, yet it can maintain exactly the same strength in hundreds of punches!”

“In my opinion, it is the guy who’s wearing the crystal suit that is formidable.”

“The enhancement of the crystal suit is truly important. But his manipulation of his own strength is astonishingly precise, too.”

“Indeed. The guy is definitely a top Exo. I wonder where the Grand Desolate War Institution found such an expert!”

Chapter 306: Seafood Fried Rice and Egg Fried Rice

Five minutes later… Six minutes later…

The precise punches were still on.

As the whispers grew louder than ever, Yuan Manqiu smiled.

“Ladies and gentlemen, our booth, the Burning Town, is of course make believe. Everything is made up by mock-ups and holograms.

“However, the damage to the crystal suit which is receiving the stability test right now are a hundred percent authentic.

“Before the exhibition, we conducted a series of destruction experiments for three days on the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. Please see the light beam for the detailed recordings of the experiment.

“At first, the front side of the crystal suit was crushed by a force of 20 tons ten times in a row, which was to simulate the high-speed collision of the heavily-armored demon beasts.

“Secondly, a Hellfire-Lightning was set off five meters away from the crystal suit, which was to simulate the blast and bombardment of the bomber demon beasts.

“Then, natural venom of demon beasts, which was as corrosive as the body fluid of demon generals, was sprayed to the surface of the crystal suit, and wasn’t cleaned up by water until five hours later.

“Eventually, the crystal suit was poured upon with flammable liquid and set ablaze. After burning for ten minutes, the fire was put off by the staff who shoveled sand on it.

“After the four destruction experiments, the crystal suit has become as crappy as you are seeing right now.

“As you’ve all witnessed, although it has suffered various impairments, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is still highly stable and precise.

“I’d like to point out that this prototype is utterly devoid of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, and nor has it employed any special techniques or tricks. It was refined according to the industrialization standard, which means any future Mystic Skeleton Battlesuits will be as excellent as this one!

“If you have any doubts about the videos, or what I said just now, you are welcome to examine the suit closely later. I’ve noticed that we have a lot of experts here who will be able to tell whether or not the damage to the suit is real with their own eyes.”

Yuan Manqiu’s words caused another round of chaos. The crowds whispered to one another like sparrows in a spring.

Right then, the ten-minute countdown came to an end.

As the countdown returned to zero, the Cultivator on the platform punched the dynamometer for the last time with his left fist.

The reading was still 888.88 kg, exactly the same as the very first punch of his left fist.

What was more shocking was that according to the counter beside the dynamometer, he had punched a thousand times in total, five hundred times with his left fist and five hundred times with his right fist!

Punching a thousand times in an exactly fixed rhythm for ten minutes and keeping the force of each punch at exactly the same level!

Such terrifying precision was remarkable enough both for the crystal suit and for the Exo who had been wearing it.

Everyone was eyeing the Exo in astonishment.

After the Exo finished the test smoothly and went off the platform, his body weirdly blinked as he made the first step on the ground.

“Don’t worry, everyone. There is nothing wrong with the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. It was caused by the difference of gravity.”

Yuan Manqiu said unhurriedly, as she tossed another heavy bomb to the crowds, “Did I mention that the platform has been built inside a rune array where the gravity is ten times larger than usual?”

“What?!”

Everyone was truly shocked.

The amazing performance that had conquered all of them was actually completed in ten-time gravity?

What kind of crystal suit was this?

Who was the Exo that had been wearing it?

Finally, the mysterious Exo walked back to the spotlight in front of the audience.

“Shua!”

The helmet split, unveiling a face that was almost too young for an ace Exo which most audience had imagined him to be.

Several well-informed reporters recognized him and gasped.

“Li Yao?”

As the star of his generation in the Grand Desolate War Institution, Li Yao had been known by his nicknames ‘Vulture’ and ‘Fiend Star’.

However, most people never knew that he was also such a skilled Exo!

“Hello, everyone!”

Li Yao smiled. “I am Li Yao, a sophomore student of the Refining Department of the Grand Desolate War Institution. I first got in touch with crystal suits last year and studied in the Thunder Training Camp for three months, but I was unfortunately eliminated in the end.

“All in all, I am not a professional Exo. I am just a refiner who likes wearing crystal suits as a hobby. It was because of the stability and precision of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit that I luckily completed the test just now.

“Seeing that an amateur Exo such as myself could complete such a difficult test, you must have a deeper understanding how excellent the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is now, right?”

His words caused another round of exclamations.

The ordinary people and the Cultivators who were not familiar with Li Yao’s background were astounded by the dramatic enhancement of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, which had boosted a sophomore refiner that barely knew about crystal suits before to such an inconceivable level.

But for those who knew the truth, especially the refiners from the competitors, they were cursing Li Yao’s shamelessness in their mind. It was true that he was a sophomore, but everyone knew that ‘Vulture Li Yao’ was one of the best students of the Grand Desolate War Institution who boasted amazing capabilities!

It was also true that he had been eliminated in the Thunder Training Camp towards the end of his training, but that was because he had been trapped in Thunderous Sound Mountain.

In the regard of riding a crystal suit, Li Yao was definitely the top of the class of students who were enrolled in the Thunder Training Camp at the same time with him. He was definitely able to stand equal to Long Qianyue, whose fame had been on the rise among Exos.

Such a genius was pretending to be someone common. Wasn’t it a little over-modest, jerk?

Before they were able to speak out aloud, the reporters had already crowded forward.

Almost twenty crystal microphones were waving up and down, jabbing at Li Yao’s face as if they were swords and sabers.

“Mr. Li Yao, I’ve long heard your crazy performance in the Thunder Training Camp, which has left a deep impression on many of your classmates. Even such an expert as Long Qianyue has expressed her regret that she didn’t find the opportunity to challenge you in the final elimination match and her intention that she would like to challenge you again in good time. I never expected that you are so skilled at driving a crystal suit!”

“Mr. Li Yao, since you are the test pilot of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, you must know its advantages and disadvantages very clearly. Can you elaborate them from the perspective of an Exo?”

“Mr. Li Yao, you guys have visited a lot of MP crystal suit models provided by your competitors. What do you have to say about their products, especially Tiger King, Mournful Mist, and Sword Torrent? Although their costs are much higher than the cost of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, their specifications seem to be much better than that of your crystal suit. Is the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit good enough to compete against them?”

Li Yao was never a prudent man. He smiled and said, “In my opinion, the relationship between the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit and the products of our competitors can be compared to the relationship between egg fried rice and seafood fried rice.”

His remark silenced the entire spot.

Even the most knowledgeable reporters were looking at each other in confusion.

Some of them rubbed their ears uncontrollably which they thought had deceived them.

Crystal suit and fried rice? How in the world were they related?

Li Yao explained unhurriedly, “We visited a lot of booths just now and we have no doubt, but only admiration for the experience and capability that the major universities and sects of the federation have in the refinement of crystal suits.

“As a crystal suit fan, I have listed many of their classic crystal suit models as objects that I need to study and targets that I must reach. I dream of buying several of their masterpieces, even if that might bankrupt me.

“However, the classic crystal suit models have utilized a lot of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures without any exception.

“A refiner who is good at crafting high-end crystal suits equals to a chef of an expensive restaurant who is good at making seafood fried rice with the best lobsters, scallops and abalones.

“I’m afraid that such a dish of seafood fried rice won’t be affordable for everyone. Two to three thousand a serving, I imagine.

“However, the chef is now asked to make a dish of ordinary fried rice with a cost below a hundred.

“I admit that the culinary skills of the chef are definitely top of the trade. However, the cost limits his options. How can he put in the tasteful seafood that he is most familiar with when he only has a budget of a hundred bucks?

“The Grand Desolate War Institution is different. As the well-acknowledged citadel of grassroots refining ideology, the Refining Department of the Grand Desolate War Institution has gained abundant experience in the refinement of low-end magical equipment for a long time. We are like ordinary cooks specializing in egg fried rice.

“If we were to produce a dish of seafood fried rice that sells two to three thousand, our product would certainly be beaten to the ground.

“However, if the target of the competition is a dish of ordinary fried rice, no one will have more professional expertise than we do.

“We have never considered whether or not we should add seafood since the very beginning. Instead, we have carefully picked the perfect eggs, hams, onions and rice and cooked them into impeccable ham-and-egg fried rice in the way that we are most familiar with and good at.

“Let me ask you, if you have a hundred bucks, would you prefer a bowl of seafood fried rice without any seafood, or a bowl of supreme ham-and-egg fried rice with authentic and well-picked ingredients?

“I have every faith in the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, and I believe that you will enjoy our ‘supreme ham-and-egg fried rice’!

“Action speak louder than words. Crystal suits are the stars of the Magical Equipment Exposition this year. The organizer has specially set up many contests for crystal suits. I’ll participate in some of the important ones with the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. By that time, you will be able to observe the collision of different types of ‘fried rice’!”

The unexpected metaphor had prompted the reporters to write it down quickly; Li Yao’s aggressive declaration made many of them enjoy themselves, too.

Right then, an unharmonious shriek came from the crowd.

“Mr. Li Yao, your performance just now is too unbelievable for a beginner with a cheap crystal suit to achieve. The dynamometer…”

Chapter 307: Face Slapping!

The shriek stopped suddenly, intentionally cutting off the latter half of the sentence.

But it was enough for everyone to understand what he was trying to say. He was implying that the Grand Desolate War Institution had cheated on the dynamometer, otherwise Li Yao’s fists would’ve never been so stable.

Narrowing his eyes, Li Yao stared at the crowds with eyes as sharp as saber, as he asked calmly, “May I ask who you are?”

“I am Xu You, a journalist from ‘Magical Equipment World’. I believe many others share the same doubts as mine after witnessing Mr. Li Yao’s shocking performance; I’m speaking for all of us.

“However, I can’t help but notice that the dynamometer has been lowered down. I doubt if there’s any significance examining it now.”

A sly reporter in his thirties talked slowly in a high voice with a fake smile.

He was insinuating that even if the dynamometer turned out to be fine after examination, it was still not enough to prove their innocence, because the Grand Desolate War Institution must’ve removed the tricks on the dynamometer in the past several minutes.

Xu You was indeed good at framing other people. There seemed to be no evidence to falsify his theory.

“Magical Equipment World?”

“Xu You?”

The name alarmed Li Yao greatly. Brutal brightness beamed out from his eyes, as his lips curled in cruelness.

He remembered who the guy was.

When the Demon Beast Detector was first released, the three magical equipment magazines had all posted several implicit reviews.

The reviews on ‘Refiners’ Home’ and ‘Flying Sword and Battle Armor’, although showed no confidence in the Demon Beast Detector, were actually elaborated from the perspective of its creator, who was only a college student with barely any experience, and the perspective of its orientation, which was mixed and unclear.

The perspectives indicated that they didn’t find much useful materials to attack the Demon Beast Detector per se.

The review on ‘Magical Equipment World’ was the only one that lambasted the Demon Beast Detector.

Li Yao was never a lenient man. He had been pissed off by the review upon reading it. How could he let go of someone who had vilified his dear magical equipment?

He remembered clearly that the author of the review was Xu You!

The two of them stared at each other in the eyes and noticed the viciousness in the other’s eyes at the same time.

Xu You was pissed off by Li Yao’s panache, too.

Xu You had graduated from the Refining Department of Deep Sea University. He majored in History of Refining and Comparative Refining.

He had been working at ‘Magical Equipment World’ all the time after graduation.

After more than ten years of hard work, he finally gained enough expertise and connections to establish a column in ‘Magical Equipment World’.

Right then, a college classmate who had been working in the Zephyr Guild reached out to him, subtly asking him to write a ‘just’, ‘objective’, and ‘professional’ review regarding the Demon Beast Detector.

It was not unusual for reporters.

Although ‘Magical Equipment World’ had strict rules banning him from openly accepting commercial bribes, his friend had arranged parties and dinners where he really enjoyed himself and had been providing a strengthening drug for him to ‘evaluate’ for a very long time.

Besides, the Zephyr Guild was a giant in the business of refining. It would do him good for his future development if he could make some friends there.

As for Li Yao, the refiner of the Demon Beast Detector, who was that guy?

No one!

He felt that there was no need to think twice. The moment he went back home, he wrote an article slamming the Demon Beast Detector fiercely.

He thought that was it. He was only a second-rate critic of ‘Magical Equipment World’, and his column was on an unimportant page. The Demon Beast Detector was a piece of magical equipment that hardly anyone knew about, too.

Never did he anticipate that a few months later, Twin Dragons Union, of which Li Yao was a shareholder, would invest in the Mountain Sea Sect, which then cooperated with the Moon Splitting Sword Guild. With the nationwide commercials and the brand-new distribution network made up by flying swords, the Demon Beast Detector was on fire!

Inevitably, the review that Xu You had written was dug out again.

As the Demon Beast Detector became a fashion and many people had tested it themselves, they naturally discovered that the review was over-exaggerated, or rather, utter BS, if put more straightforwardly.

Many netizens had left comments in his column decrying him to be a blind idiot who knew absolutely nothing about magical equipment.

Even worse, many colleagues inside ‘Magical Equipment World’ complained about him, too, accusing him of undermining the professionalism of ‘Magical Equipment World’.

It was true that every reporter had friends and connections, and that the articles they wrote were not always neutral. But it was wrong of him to have been so obvious!

“Xu You is still too young and immature. He needs more practice.”

If anything were to move on smoothly, Xu You would’ve been promoted to host a renowned column of ‘Magical Equipment World’ shortly.

However, due to the incident, he was remarked as above when vetted by the leaders of the magazine. Not only did he blow the opportunity of hosting the renowned column, he even lost his personal column and was relegated to be a field reporter who had to travel busily all the time.

Xu You had never been more furious. He was not angry at the Zephyr Guild, nor at his old friend, nor at the review that he had been fooled into writing. Instead, he was bent out of the shape when he thought of Li Yao, the refiner of the Demon Beast Detector.

If Li Yao had not invented this wretched Demon Beast Detector in the first place, how would he have ended up like this with all his hard work in the past decade gone forever?

When enemies meet, there is bound to be blood. Xu Yu hated Li Yao and was not particularly fond of the Grand Desolate War Institution where Li Yao came from, either. He had been nitpicking the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit the whole time in the crowd. Now that he saw it was Li Yao who had been driving the suit, he was overwhelmed by madness and blurted these words out.

However, he hit an iron plate this time, one that was barbed, poisonous, and heated.

Li Yao smiled and replied, “I was wondering which experienced journalist could come up with such a brilliant satire, and I immediately thought of Mr. Xu You. And when I turned around, there you were!

“The 18,744th issue of your magazine, on which a review entitled with ‘Demon Beast Detector: A Crab that Does Not Taste Good’, is still fresh in my memories.

“In the article, you proposed a lot of marvelous and mysterious insights. For example, wearing the Demon Beast Detector on one side of the head would lead to body imbalance; the pieces of the Demon Beast Detector would stab into the eyes if it was accidentally broken… Those sharp observation and extraordinary deductions proved that you are a well-deserved top expert of magical equipment.”

Li Yao’s words triggered a round of whispers.

The audience at the spot were experienced experts of the trade and magical equipment fans. Many of them had heard of the Demon Beast Detector before and knew that the criticism of ‘body imbalance’ was cavil.

“What’s going on? The two of them are targeting each other. Is there grudge between them?”

“Of course there is. You didn’t know anything about it? Come on, let me tell you…”

Most of the audience had heard of the background of the Demon Beast Detector. Now, with the introduction of the reporters who were never afraid of stirring up trouble, everyone had put on an ‘ah ha!’ face and were looking at Xu You in disgust.

The reporters from ‘Refiners’ Home’ and ‘Flying Sword and Battle Armor’ were gloating over Xu You’s disgrace and glad that they did not catch much attention. Otherwise, it would be them who were being bashed by the public.

Xu You did not expect that Li Yao knew who he was and remembered the article he wrote, and he did not expect that Li Yao’s tongue was so sharp that it slapped his face like a thorny whip.

He was rendered speechless for a long time with his face flushed and his neck bulging.

Li Yao’s eyes left him as if he were already a dead dog and then glanced at the crowds,

“The test just now can be repeated at any time. If you have any suspicion, we can rerun the test on a dynamometer provided by the organizer or any party that is willing to offer, except…

Li Yao sneered and said, “Except ‘Magical Equipment World’. I personally have doubts about the position and professionalism of ‘Magical Equipment World’. Until I’m fully convinced, I’m not taking any interview or review from ‘Magical Equipment World’!”

Everyone gasped at what Li Yao just said, which was like a Hellfire-Lightning that blew the crowds away.

A typical refiner would always try to make friends with the three magical equipment magazines, which made Li Yao, who had fallen out openly with ‘Magical Equipment World’, a unique and eccentric one.

No wonder he was ‘Vulture Li Yao’!

“Crack! Crack!”

For a moment, countless flash rune arrays were lit up in front of Li Yao’s face. Many photos that were going to be popular on newspapers, magazines, and Nexus were taken.

In the meantime, Xu You seemed to be caught by a raging fever. His body was shivering, and his teeth were chattering. The flames in his eyes seemed to be burning Li Yao to ash.

He knew that he was in even bigger trouble now.

Li Yao scoffed.

Elite refining ideology was the mainstream among refiners. The three magical equipment magazines were dominated by the elite refiners, too.

As a grassroots refiner, he wouldn’t be welcomed by them even if he were to bow and kneel humbly. They were not going to judge the magical equipment of the grassroots refiners objectively, either.

In light of that, he might as well go at loggerheads with the three magazines. That way, there would be a good chance that he would attract a lot of attention in the Cultivation world.

Meanwhile, the three magical equipment magazines would be taught a lesson that Vulture Li Yao, as well as the Grand Desolate War Institution behind him, was not a push-over.

Right then, Yuan Manqiu walked forward and said with a smile, “Everyone, the booth of the Grand Desolate War Institution is officially opened now. Please enjoy yourselves inside. You can examine the broken Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit with your own hands. Also, we have an intact Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit here which is ready to be tested by fellow Daoists who have experience in wearing a crystal suit!”

Li Yao took a step back and spoke to Yuan Manqiu in a low voice, “How about it, professor? Did I do my job well?”

“Yes, marvelously. You have outdone yourself.”

Yuan Manqiu winked at him, “We have set off a firecracker that is loud enough. I’m pretty sure that all the media will report the news about the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit later. Maybe we’ll even be able to kick Deep Sea University out of the headlines!”

Chapter 308: Magical Equipment Purchaser

“I’m afraid I was too outspoken towards the end and ridiculed ‘Magical Equipment World’ to their bones. Will they write something bad about us if they feel insulted?”

Li Yao was a little ill at ease.

“If we didn’t ridicule them, would they write something good for us?”

Yuan Manqiu patted his shoulder. “Rest assured. I picked you as our spokesman today because you are a student and it is not a big deal what you say. We’ll be able to clean up the mess however you castigate them.

“Also, you didn’t overstep any line just now. You just said that you would decline interviews and reviews of ‘Magical Equipment World’ personally. Young men are always rash. Everyone understands that. Besides, there are still ‘Refiners’ Home’ and ‘Flying Sword and Battle Armor’.

“Even if the three magical equipment magazines are all against us, it is still unimportant. The Grand Desolate War Institution has its own media channels, too!”

The Grand Desolate War Institution was relatively weaker in regard to refining. However, as one of the Nine Elite Universities, it boasted great comprehensive capability and had a lot of connections both in the military and in the news industry. It was also in a good relationship with the Demon Hunters’ Association, whose magazine ‘Predator’ had crystal suit sections, too.

Besides, now that Li Yao had pointed out the conflict between ‘Magical Equipment World’ and himself to the public, it would be questionable whether the three magical equipment magazines were bold enough to continue posting negative reviews about the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.

Chances were that they might have to return to a relatively neutral position due to the pressure.

As it turned out, the news of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit had appeared on the live stream of dozens of media outlets within the next hour, informing the entire federation of its arrival.

The mysterious promotional audio, the intimidating stage setting, the amazing stability and durability of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, the startling strength control of Li Yao, who had been engaged in a violent quarrel with a reporter from ‘Magical Equipment World’…

All of these made the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit and Li Yao a focus of public attention.

“The decorations of the Grand Desolate War Institution’s booth are so unique! Their battle-scarred crystal suit is very interesting, too. They seem to be very confident about the quality of their crystal suit.”

“The Cultivator who was wearing the crystal suit was awesome! His subtle control over his fists is unbelievable! We’ve never heard that the Grand Desolate War Institution has such an ace Exo before, have we?”

“Wow! Publicly snubbing ‘Magical Equipment World’? That’s so impressive!”

Such discussions were all over the Nexus.

Grand Desolate War Institution, Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, Vulture Li Yao… became trending words of the day on many major forums.

Back in the Magical Equipment Exposition, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit attracted more and more eyes, too.

Visitors crowded to the Grand Desolate War Institution’s booth. Every staff member was cornered by enthusiastic reporters. Li Yao didn’t avoid his fate of being besieged, either. All those who came touched the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit in person to examine whether or not the damages were real.

The competitors of the Grand Desolate War Institution felt great pressure.

After watching Li Yao’s astounding performance, the visitors had questioned the stability and the durability of other MP crystal suit models.

This time, many sects were dripping cold sweat.

Even the Mournful Mist Battlesuit of the Star Nebula University and the Sword Torrent Battlesuit of the three major sword-training sects were not good enough for a performance of precision like Li Yao’s due to different designing purposes, let alone the rest of the MP crystal suit models which were basically pieces of previous models patched up together.

…

Below Deep Sea University’s booth, deep inside the Kingdom of Magical Equipment, in an enclosed testing room.

“Pa! Pa Pa Pa Pa!”

Zuo Feijing was punching a dynamometer wearing the Tiger King Battlesuit one time after another. The dynamometer was shaking violently.

The light beam beside showed the reading of his strength,

“999.99 kg!”

“888.88 kg!”

“999.99 kg!”

“888.87 kg!”

Zuo Feijing stopped.

The helmet split, revealing a gloomy face, whose owner was deep in thought looking at the glittering reading in front of him.

Behind him, Jiang Sheng, the Supernova, remarked calmly, “Feijing, don’t let it bother you too much.

“In order to be an instant hit, the Grand Desolate War Institution must’ve put a lot of thought into it before they finally figured out a test that could best demonstrate the characteristics of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.

“The test pilot must’ve practiced it many times, too. It’s even possible that he did nothing but practice precisely punching over the past month.

“Besides, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit on the stage must’ve been adjusted to strengthen its stability and precision.

“This is your first try. It’s perfectly normal that you didn’t achieve the result you wanted, and it doesn’t mean that Tiger King is worse than Mystic Skeleton, or that you are worse than the test pilot.

“You’ve read the specifications of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, which are poles apart from ours. This is just a gimmick. In a real battle, stability and precision are indeed important. But how will a ten-minute punching with a constant velocity help a soldier? God knows!

“So, we don’t need to be distracted by the Grand Desolate War Institution and dance to their rhythm.

“There are a thousand tests that the Tiger King Battlesuit can do and the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit can’t. Why do you cling on this particular test which is utterly absurd?”

Zuo Feijing was quiet for a while. Then he said, “Professor, I heard that the name of the Grand Desolate War Institution’s test pilot was Li Yao. Is he the same Li Yao who defeated Jiang Shaoyang before?”

Jiang Sheng nodded his head and sighed.

“Correct. That’s him. I’m not optimistic about the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. However, this ‘Vulture Li Yao’ is indeed a good disciple of my beloved Senior Sister Yuan’s. An exemplary young man of his age.”

Zuo Feijing continued, “Is it true that he never touched crystal suits until last year in the Thunder Training Camp?”

Jiang Sheng paused for a moment. Then he replied, “I have arranged someone to check it out. But I don’t think they would lie about that. Besides, Li Yao was born in a magical equipment graveyard, which is not a decent place for anyone to grow up in. It’s not unusual that he never touched crystal suits before.”

“I got it.”

Zuo Feijing nodded. His furrowed brows suddenly loosened as he put on a sunny smile, “I was regretting that Mournful Mist and Sword Torrent were not enough to fulfil my hungry stomach.

“But with Vulture Li Yao joining the game, I think I might be able to enjoy a nice meal with Mystic Skeleton, Mournful Mist, and Sword Torrent on my tray.”

“Shua!”

The helmet wrapped up again.

A hurricane suddenly appeared in front of Zuo Feijing, who was punching at a much faster speed than Li Yao did. Hundreds of punches were completed within ten seconds.

“999.99 kg!”

“888.88 kg!”

“999.99 kg!”

“888.88 kg!”

This time, the readings were identical without the slightest flaw.

…

Luo Jingang, leader of Thunderbolt Hall, was a high-level Cultivator at the Building Foundation Stage and a tough man who had gained his expertise through mountains of dead bodies and seas of blood.

His soul was extremely solid. He didn’t even wince when he fell into a trap made by more than ten high-level demon generals.

But as he went into the booth of Red Serpent Sect, he felt so dizzy that he was falling to the ground at any moment, partly because the advanced and splendid crystal suits inside dazzled him, and partly because he was shocked by the price tag below them.

“Dammit, why are crystal suits so expensive nowadays?”

Cold sweat was appearing on the forehead of Luo Jingang, who had never raised his eyebrow even when surging beast tide was coming at him. He was starting to realize that this shopping trip was not going to be as smooth as he had thought.

Luo Jingang used to be an unaffiliated Cultivator who often went to the depths of the Grand Desolate Plateau with his brothers to hunt down demon beasts. Slashing the sharpest saber, drinking the strongest liquor, slaughtering the brutalist demon beasts… It had been quite an enjoyable life back then.

However, as they grew older, they all started their own families and recruited many disciples. More and more mouths were counting on them to feed.

Hunting demon beasts was a dangerous job. After decades in the wilderness, many of his friends had been seriously wounded. Some even perished, leaving broken families behind them.

Wounds of the living had to be treated. Families of the deceased had to be attended to. As the team grew larger and larger, money became a top priority. It seemed irresponsible to be a free unaffiliated Cultivator anymore.

It happened that Luo Jingang discovered a mother lode of rare crystals while he was hunting demon beasts. According to the federal law, the exploitation right fell into their hands after they paid a huge amount of tax.

After discussing with his brothers, Luo Jingang registered his own sect, Thunderbolt Hall, based on the mother lode.

He had thought that with such a precious mother lode, they would be able to live a comfortable life for several years.

However, development of the mother lode was not as easy as it sounded. What Luo Jingang discovered was a deep mother lode. The valuable resources were buried thousands of meters down in the ground, which required special mining magical equipment to dig out. The initial costs would be very high. But the yield when the resources were retrieved was promising, too.

Luo Jingang’s ambition was burning brighter than ever. He gritted his teeth and borrowed a large sum of money from the bank with the mother lode as the collateral. With the loan, he purchased the latest mining magical equipment and hired a research-type Cultivator who was adept at earth-class and metal-class spiritual energy as the technical director of Thunderbolt Hall.

His brothers and he had invested all their savings into the new sect. According to the estimation of the technical director, as long as the mother lode was mined normally, their initial input would be redeemed within five years. The mother lode had enough resources for the use of a hundred years, which was long enough for the Thunderbolt Hall to develop into a middle-size sect with around a hundred Cultivators.

The promising project plan had elated both Luo Jingang and his brothers.

However, fortune is always fickle. Since last year, the demon beasts on the Grand Desolate Plateau grew more and more irritated. The mother lode of the Thunderbolt Hall had been frequented by them.

The demon beasts murdered the miners and destroyed the mining magical equipment, resulting to a tremendous loss for the Thunderbolt Hall. The miners were panicked and refused to go down the wells anymore.

Luo Jingang’s life savings had been poured into the enterprise. Every day when he opened his eyes, the first thing that occurred to him was always the astronomical interest that he need to pay to the bank. He was counting on the mother lode to get rich someday.

The miners’ strike nearly choked his friends and him.

As an old Demon Hunter, Luo Jingang bothered little about the demon beasts before which had been jeopardizing his endeavor because they were not strong at all.

However, the demon beasts were locals of the underground world. They were good at stealth and sneaking, as well as employing guerilla warfare tactics. Luo Jingang cleared the mother lode up twice, and even found two nests of the demon beasts deep in the underground which he demolished. However, it didn’t help at all. The demon beasts crept back again, angrier and crazier than before.

The only solution was to set up a patrol team in the mother lode 24 hours a day for the protection of the labors.

However, Thunderbolt Hall was a newly established sect. Only Luo Jingang and several of his old friends were at the Building Foundation Stage. Their disciples and children were mostly beginners who’d just arrived at the Refinement Stage. In the underground world which was dominated by darkness, their chances of winning were slim.

After careful consideration, Leader Luo had decided to bulk purchase a batch of magical equipment for his subordinates to better defend his sect.

Chapter 309: Shopping Around

The initial costs to develop the mine were enormous and had nearly drained all the capital of Thunderbolt Hall.

Due to recent demon beast invasions, not only had the Thunderbolt Hall suffered a tremendous loss from the worker strike, it needed to pay a huge amount of compensation to the miners who were killed, too.

Right now, Thunderbolt Hall’s cash flow was running dry.

Luo Jingang and a few elders of Thunderbolt Hall did their best and managed to raise almost two billion.

But when they arrived at the exposition and looked around, they noticed that it was enough to buy common magical equipment such as chainsword, storm bolters, or Hellfire-Lightnings. But the crystal suits, the kings of magical equipment, were too expensive for them.

A disciple of Red Serpent Sect came up to them and greeted them with a smile. He quickly introduced himself.

“Hello. I am Cao Huorong, a disciple of the Red Serpent Sect. We are a renowned sect in refining and our history can be dated back to hundreds of years ago. In regard to magical equipment of fire attributes, we are definitely top of the federation. May I know what you’re looking for?”

Seeing that Luo Jingang and his companions were gazing at a crystal suit, he continued, “You’ve picked a good one. This crystal suit is called ‘Bursting Flame Battlesuit XVII’. It is the latest model of a classic crystal suit of our sect. It is mainly made of Thousand Flames Scale, Hundred Crimson Stones, and Phoenix Dance Gold and is most suitable for the Cultivators who are good at manipulating fiery spiritual energy, or the environments that were extremely hot.

“The Fire Dragon Saber that it carries can automatically absorb the fiery spiritual energy floating in the air and transform it into unstoppable saber attack. Our super crystal processor, which boasts amazing computational ability, can store five ultimate skills beforehand. With a telepathic thought, the skills can be performed without the Exo doing anything.

“The God Slayer Cannon on the crystal suit is even more powerful. It has two working modes. In the maximum mode, it takes three minutes for it to charge up with spiritual energy, and then it will perform a deadly attack like a volcano eruption that is equal to a full-strength strike of a Core Formation Stage Cultivator!”

“Full-strength strike of a Core Formation Stage Cultivator…”

Luo Jingang swallowed. He looked at Ge Feipeng, an elder of Thunderbolt Hall, and noticed that his companion was as tempted as himself.

More than thirty different kinds of fiery crystals were buried in the mother lode of Thunderbolt Hall. The temperature of the underground mines was extremely high. Sometimes it could be hundreds of degrees.

Meanwhile, the demon beasts that lived on the fiery crystals nearby mostly belonged to the fire class, too. Their burning attack could have a temperature as high as a thousand degrees.

Therefore, the purpose of their trip was to purchase a batch of magical equipment of fire attributes that was suitable for the high temperature and sweltering environment.

Red Serpent Sect was best known for its fire-class magical equipment. Its classic crystal suit ‘Bursting Flame Battlesuit’ was a heat-resistant heavy crystal suit specially designed to fight fiery demon beasts. The elegant outline and the intimidating plate armor, which seemed to be made of thousands of solidified flames, were indeed enticing.

However, its price burned Leader Luo’s heart like a fire of thousands of degrees, too.

“The price for a standard ‘Bursting Flame Battlesuit XVII’ is 1.55 billion. With the latest attack modules, its price will be just over 2 billion. Every time it is used, the spiritual energy consumption and the erosion of magical equipment components will result to a cost of several million. If it is damaged in a battle, the repair fee…”

Cold sweat was dripping from Luo Jingang’s forehead as he was running the calculations.

“Actually, we are planning to purchase some magical equipment for the juniors of our sect. Do you have any crystal suit that is more suitable for Refinement Stage Cultivators?”

Cao Huorong’s face remained unchanged. He continued smiling as he replied, “That’s no problem. Bursting Flame Battlesuit is indeed too advanced for Refinement Stage Cultivators. It would be wasteful.

“Here, we have an MP crystal suit model named Flying Flame Battlesuit which is the simplified version of the Bursting Flame Battlesuit. It is specially designed for the Refinement Stage Cultivators. Please follow me.”

Cao Huorong led the two Cultivators of the Thunderbolt Hall to a crystal suit that was smaller in size.

The crystal suit looked alike to the Bursting Flame Battlesuit. It was also shining in incandescent brilliance which was indicative of its supreme quality.

But, of course, its specifications were far from those of the Bursting Flame Battlesuit.

On the bright side, its price was much lower, too. The naked version without any additional magical equipment would cost 230 million. The fully equipped version was about 300 million apiece.

“Well, the price…”

Luo Jingang stroke his beard.

Cao Huorong was smiling brightly as he said, “Mister, judging from your outlook, I can tell that you must be a seasoned warrior from the Grand Desolate Plateau who knows a lot about the cost and performance of different crystal suits.

“The Flying Flame Battlesuit refined by us might not be the strongest of all MP crystal suit models. But it’s definitely one of the best in regard of price-performance ratio. Also, it is particularly suitable for high-temperature environments where the fiery spiritual energy is abundant. In such cases, no crystal suit will be match for the Flying Flame Battlesuit!”

Luo Jingang nodded his head. As a Demon Hunter, he had worn a lot of crystal suits in his decades of hunting life. He knew very well the price of a decent crystal suit.

In fact, he was quite surprised to see that the price for a fully equipped crystal suit was below 500 million, and he was embarrassed to negotiate over the price.

According to the information that he gathered before he came, most of the MP crystal suit models provided by the major sects were of similar price. Few of them were cheaper than this one.

Although there were several other renowned MP crystal suit models such as Tiger King, Sword Torrent, and Mournful Mist, they were much more expensive and not suitable for battles in the underground mines. Therefore, Luo Jingang had never taken them into consideration since the beginning.

The Flying Flame Battlesuit seemed to be their best choice right now.

“Big Peng, what about it?” Luo Jingang asked Ge Feipeng, elder of Thunderbolt Hall and also his lifelong brother, in a low voice.

“We’ve visited a lot of booths. It seems that this model fits us best, doesn’t it?”

“It’s still a little too expensive.”

Ge Feipeng frowned. “300 million apiece. Even if we put all our money into it, we can only buy five to six, which would only be enough for one tactical squad.”

“But we have five working sites and more than thirty mines being exploited in our mother lode. How can one tactical squad defend all of them at the same time?”

“I guess we the old men have to do more work then. What other choices do we have? The king of magical equipment is always expensive!”

Luo Jingang sighed and said, “If we want cheaper ones, we’ll have to look for second-hand crystal suits.”

As experienced Demon Hunters, the two of them knew too well how messy the market of second-hand crystal suits was.

A well-maintained second-hand crystal suit was less expensive than a new one, but its price could still be as high as 200 million. There were other second-hand crystal suits which had been used for more than a hundred years with deep-buried problems due to battlefield damages.

Sometimes the latter pretended to be the former.

Such second-hand crystal suits looked splendid, but they might crack up any moment when the wearers were using them, which might lead to dire consequences. So, they were also known as ‘walking coffins’.

There was no way that Luo Jingang and Ge Feipeng would endanger the lives of their own disciples with such counterfeits.

Having no other solution, Luo Jingang had to negotiate with Cao Huorong reluctantly.

However, Cao Huorong had seen through that they didn’t have alternative choices. Not only did he refuse to lower the price, he also came up with a series of rigorous conditions, including that they had to buy designated attack magical equipment and that the crystal suits they bought must be maintained by the refiners of Red Serpent Sect.

As a battle-type Cultivator, Luo Jingang always hated detailed and boring negotiations. While he was talking gloomily, a sharp voice shouted from behind him, “Dad, check the booth of the Grand Desolate War Institution out!”

Luo Jingang raised his eyebrow.

“Ah Ling, where did you go? Come and see this crystal suit. Haven’t you and your senior brothers been asking to go down the mines and hunt the demon beasts? Your Uncle Ge and I are planning to purchase crystal suits for you so that we’ll be able to fight together in the mines.”

Luo Ling, Luo Jingang’s daughter, stared at the crystal suit up and down. Then her lips twitched as she remarked, “The performance is not bad. But isn’t it a little too expensive? We have more than ten candidates in Thunderbolt Hall who are capable enough to wear the crystal suit. But we’ll only be able to buy five or so back according to the price tag. The underground mines are too complicated. I’m afraid that the few crystal suits won’t help much.”

“We’re in the middle of a financial crisis right now and we have to grit our teeth through it. Let’s figure out what to do when the financial state is better next year,” Luo Jingang replied hesitantly.

“But we don’t have to buy it here. Dad, Uncle Ge, the Grand Desolate War Institution’s booth is exhibiting a crystal suit that is only 100 million apiece. Its price is below 150 million even if it is fully equipped. If we choose their crystal suit, we’ll be able to buy ten of them, which should be enough for two tactical squads. It will be much easier to deal with the underground situation with two squads,” Luo Ling exclaimed.

“100 million apiece?”

Luo Jingang’s face changed. “Are you serious? Wait. Grand Desolate War Institution? That sounds familiar. I remember that it had an accident last year?”

“Last year and today are different. From what I’ve seen, the crystal suit they provide is quite acceptable, at least in regard of stability and precision. What harm is there to check it out? This is only the first day of the military magical equipment exhibition. We don’t need to place an order now. Let’s just shop around first,” Luo Ling replied disapprovingly.

“That’s true.”

Luo Jingang pondered for a moment. Then he waved his hand and said, “Let’s go and see what drama the Grand Desolate War Institution is playing this year!”

While they were talking, they walked out of the booth of Red Serpent Sect.

Cao Huorong was about to complete the deal, when the Grand Desolate War Institution jumped out of nowhere and wrecked his business. The cooked duck flew away!

…

The Grand Desolate War Institution’s booth was as lively as ever.

Li Yao was as busy as bee. The moment he finished interpreting the specifications for a few visitors, he hurriedly put on the brand new Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit to take a picture with a little girl at her request. Then he heard someone calling him, “Mr. Li Yao, I’ve brought my dad here. Please repeat what you just said to him. Thunderbolt Hall is really interested in the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit!”

Turning back, he found Luo Ling who was smiling brightly, followed by two Cultivators with scarred faces which indicated their seniority in the trade.

Before Li Yao was able to say anything, Luo Jingang raised his eyebrow, “Li Yao? The name sounds familiar.”

“Of course it does.”

Luo Ling said, “Dad, do you remember that we purchased a batch of magical equipment named Demon Beast Detector some time ago as labor protection appliances which proved to be very useful? Li Yao is its inventor!”

Chapter 310: First Deal

“Oh?”

Luo Jingang eyed Li Yao in a different way now.

The Grand Desolate Plateau had become less and less peaceful over the past year. Not only were many strong demon beasts scourging the mother lode, even the ordinary pests were appearing more often than before, too.

From he didn’t know where, the miners heard of the magical equipment named Demon Beast Detector and demanded that Thunderbolt Hall provide it for them.

Luo Jingang had not been very interested in this daring, new magical equipment. However, the mines had been an unsettling place because of the various demon beast attacks. Since the Demon Beast Detector was not expensive anyway, he decided to purchase a batch, for nothing other than to increase the sense of security for the miners.

As it turned out, the Demon Beast Detector was much more efficient than he thought. Snakes, insects, and rats that were hiding in the darkness were mostly discovered. The bites cases in the mines were reduced by two thirds.

One other time, a miner was bitten by a rare Nine-Colored Cardiac Corrosion Scorpion in a tunnel 1,300 meters below the ground and it would have taken half an hour for the paramedic to arrive.

If it were in the old days, the miner would have died for sure.

However, with the Demon Beast Detector, first aid procedures were immediately presented after the accident.

The miner’s workmates did everything according to the instructions. They pierced the earlobe of the miner and squeeze the poisoned blood out, which was enough for him to survive the upcoming half hour for the medical staff to come.

The incident left a deep impression on Luo Jingang.

Besides, he was also a member of the Demon Hunters’ Association and a subscriber of ‘Predator’. He had read the article about Li Yao and remembered the name clearly.

“Mr. Li Yao, nice to meet you. I am Luo Jingang, leader of Thunderbolt Hall. We’ve been focusing on the mining industry. Your Demon Beast Detector has been a great help for us.”

Luo Jingang smiled. His impression of Li Yao was good.

However, as the leader of his sect, he was not going to purchase the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit just because of a good impression.

After all, he had noticed that this was the first time that the Grand Desolate War Institution had refined a crystal suit. Although the place was lively, most people were only here for fun. Up until now, no order had been placed yet. It appeared that no one was willing to be the first person to taste the crab.

“While we were on our way here, Ah Ling briefed me on the basic specifications of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. I saw a few video clips of Mr. Li Yao’s amazing performance, too.

“However, Thunderbolt Hall is just a start-up. I’m afraid the younger generation of our sect is not as good as you.

“Although the other MP crystal suit models are a little more expensive, their specifications are much better.

“Take the Flying Flame Battlesuit for example. It has been specially adjusted for high temperatures and scorching flames and is very suitable for us.

“The crystal suits I buy will be put into fierce battles immediately after I’m back. I need to be responsible for the juniors of my sect, as well as the safety of the miners, don’t I?”

Li Yao listened carefully until Luo Jingang finished his speech. Then he smiled and replied, “Leader Luo, what you said does make sense. The crystal suit is the king of magical equipment and the main force on a battlefield; countless lives are dependent on it.

“The top priority when picking a crystal suit is not the price but the performance.

“But I wonder whether or not you’ve thought about this.

“The average price of the MP crystal suit models in the exposition here is around 260 million apiece.

“But will their performance be as good as they are claimed to be with such a low price?

“A seafood fried rice is being sold a hundred bucks per bowl. Guaranteed that it is full of the best lobsters, abalones, shark fins, etc. Beautiful promotional pictures, too.

“Do you think it’s possible?

“With such a budget, if I indeed bring out a bowl of seafood fried rice that seems to be made of seafood, there are only two possibilities.

“First, the seafood was made from dead fish and lobsters, or counterfeits that are actually ordinary ingredients.

“Second, although the bowl of seafood fried rice is being sold at a hundred bucks, there will be expensive service and miscellaneous fees that follow.

“All in all, business is always business. It’s always about making money.

“I’m told that Leader Luo and Elder Ge used to be Demon Hunters. You must’ve worn crystal suits of various sorts before.

“So, why don’t you recall the price and performance of those models and compare them with the MP models, and see if what you were told is plausible?”

Li Yao’s words immediately dazzled Luo Jingang and Ge Feipeng, who looked at each other in deep thought.

After Li Yao pointed it out, they felt that it was odd, too. The performance of the MP crystal suit models seemed to be too good for their prices.

Li Yao said solemnly, “I’m not implying that these sects are lying. I am trying to say that to achieve such a high performance in such a short refining period with such a low cost, they might’ve employed a lot of radical technology that has not been tested yet.

“And no one can guarantee that this technology will function normally in a fierce battle.

“The Grand Desolate War Institution is different. Our MP crystal suit project was not started just now but twenty years ago. What we employed in the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is mature technology that has been well tested. Although its general performance might not seem as charming as that of other MP crystal suit models, we guarantee that what you see here is what it will be like in a real battlefield, if not better.

“Leader Luo, you just mentioned that you are purchasing crystal suits for the juniors in your sect.

“In my opinion, for young Cultivators who lack experience and skills, a solid, reliable crystal suit is much better than a defective, over-exaggerated one, isn’t it?”

Luo Jingang and Ge Feipeng nodded their heads approvingly.

Luo Jingang said, “Alright, Mr. Li Yao. Ah Ling has told you our needs and the combat environment we’re going to be in. Then, according to you, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is enough for our purpose?”

“Absolutely.”

Li Yao answered unhesitatingly, “As a basic MP crystal suit model, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is designed for middle-level and low-level Cultivators. Its durability and stability in high-temperature environments have been tested multiple times. We have a lot of experiment videos for your reference.

“Ms. Luo Ling just mentioned that Thunderbolt Hall is exploiting a mother lode of fiery crystals. The temperature in the mines can be well above 300°C. The place has been harassed by demon beasts of the fire class, too.

“Therefore, in my opinion, besides the standard components, you should add a set of heat-resistant plate armor which contain twenty frost rune arrays. Such a set of plate armor is not expensive. 10 million each, I believe.

“What’s more, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit has been refined with a modular architecture. By adding different extensions, different tactical purposes can be achieved.

“For example, if you are building up a tactical squad of five people, you can choose a commander extension which significantly enhances the computational ability of the suit, a heavy armor extension which brings up the defense ability exponentially, and a scout extension that contains high-speed power rune arrays. The other two Cultivators of the squad will wear the standard Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.

“That way, you need only 700 to 800 million to establish a tactical squad of five Refinement Stage Cultivators.

“Two or three such squads should be enough to defend the mines. With nothing to worry about anymore, Leader Luo and other high-level Cultivators in your sect will be able to explore the depths of the underground world and demolish the dens of the demon beasts.”

Luo Jingang’s eyes were beaming with joy.

With the same money, he could build up one squad according to Red Serpent Sect, but two according to the Grand Desolate War Institution.

Besides, with the modular design, the specifications of the crystal suit for commander, scout, striker, and ordinary members were different from one another, which would be better for teamwork.

It sounded a lot better than buying five of the same Flying Flame Battlesuits!

Luo Jingang continued asking, “Does the price include all the attack magical equipment? Do we need to buy additional magical equipment components? Who will maintain the suits in the future?”

Li Yao replied, “The price has already included the basic attack magical equipment. There are better attack modules and extensions, but they’re not mandatory.

“According to your description, the crystal suits that you buy will mostly be used in zigzagged underground mines. I doubt that the powerful long-range attack magical equipment will be of much use.

“Besides, our Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is most distinguished for its universal compatibility. The magical equipment that you refine by yourself or purchase from elsewhere can easily be integrated into the suit.

“If it’s okay with you, I can help you plug in the additional modules, too. I am a registered refiner of the federation and I’m qualified for refining services.

“As for maintenance, we suggest you send them back to the Grand Desolate War Institution for maintenance in the next three years. But, as you know, the Refining Department of the Grand Desolate War Institution has always been the center of grassroots refiners. We value simplicity and directness more than anything else. If you have suitable candidates, you can send them to the Grand Desolate War Institution for a few weeks of training, and you will be good to maintain the crystal suits by yourself. We don’t have any strict requirements in that regard.”

The more Luo Jingang listened, the more tempted he became. He was going to inquire more about the details, when a chilly voice called out from behind him, “Mr. Li Yao, in light of the terrible accident that happened to your dear crystal suit last year, the crystal reactor of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is not satisfactory enough, isn’t it?

“The crystal suits that Leader Luo is buying will be worn in the surroundings where the temperature can be hundreds of degrees. When confronted with a demon beast, they might be heated to more than a thousand degrees.

“Is your crystal reactor good enough for such harsh environments? Your crystal suits will not explode again like they did last year, will they?

“Because if they do, it’s going to be a nasty scene in the mines hundreds of meters below the ground!”

Luo Jingang and Ge Feipeng’s expressions both changed as they heard the words.

Cold brightness shined in Li Yao’s eyes. He raised his head and looked at the newcomer.

There was an emblem on the chest of the man’s clothes, which was a hissing serpent condensed by flames whose forked tongue darted out greedily, indicating that the man came from Red Serpent Sect, the top sect in the refinement of fiery magical equipment.

Chapter 311: Deadly Flaw

Li Yao was aware that Red Serpent Sect had also invented an MP crystal suit model and therefore was a competitor of his. Since Luo Jingang mentioned the name ‘Flying Flame Battlesuit’ in the conversation before, it was quite possible that his first customer had been to the Red Serpent Sect’s booth just now.

The disciple of Red Serpent Sect apparently had been irritated, since he had come and spoken so rudely.

Li Yao explained patiently, “Fellow Daoist, it’s true that our Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit has not been built up by Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. However, with the brand new high-pressure valve design and pressure system, the valve of the suit will automatically open and release the redundant spiritual energy when the spiritual energy pressure inside is too intense and surpasses the warning level.

“In the case of Leader Luo, we can add a set of large cooling system to the suit which is driven by the overflowing spiritual energy from the crystal reactor. It will be totally safe.”

Cao Huorong, disciple of Red Serpent Sect, sneered and said, “But wouldn’t that reduce the working time of the crystal suit?”

Li Yao nodded his head and admitted honestly, “Correct. In the worst-case scenario, the working time of the crystal suit might be reduced by half. However, we believe it’s a price that we have to pay. There is no perfect crystal suit in the world. With such a low budget, we must abandon something to ensure the performance of the critical parts of the suit.”

“Hehe. It’s because this is the first time that the Grand Desolate War Institution has ever refined any crystal suit that you’re talking about ‘a price you have to pay’.”

Cao Huorong smiled and proudly continued, “Red Serpent Sect boasts hundreds of years of experience in the refinement of crystal suits and has produced more than ten exceptional models. Take ‘Flying Flame Battlesuit’, our latest MP crystal suit model, for example. It is most suitable for scorching hot environments. Its specification in every regard is way better than that of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, not to mention that its working time is twice the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit’s. We won’t say that our crystal suit is perfect, but we never abandon anything!”

He intentionally raised his voice. Many visitors nearby saw the drama and came close to watch.

Li Yao’s eyes were twitching fast.

Competition between magical equipment providers, especially those whose products are of the same type, was not unusual. There was nothing wrong with bragging about one’s own magical equipment and belittling that of one’s competitor’s in one’s own booth.

Li Yao himself was comparing the crystal suits of ‘certain sects’ to be ‘seafood fried rice made from dead fish and lobster’, too.

But such words were best to be kept within one’s own territory.

‘You came to the Grand Desolate War Institution’s booth and nitpick the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit and crow over your own crystal suit? Do you want some face slapping?’

Brutality shined in Li Yao’s eyes.

‘You are seeking your own death. Not my fault!’

“Fellow Daoist from Red Serpent Sect, we’ve visited your booth just now. Both ‘Bursting Flame Battlesuit XVII’ and ‘Flying Flame Battlesuit’ are modern classics that we need to learn from.”

Li Yao squinted with a fake smile. “Especially the Flying Flame Battlesuit. It employs the same framework and spiritual energy flowing system as those of the Bursting Flame Battlesuit XVII. Most of the characteristics of Bursting Flame Battlesuit XVII can be found on it, too, which basically makes it a smaller-scale Bursting Flame Battlesuit XVII. But its price is only 300 million, a fifth of the price of Bursting Flame Battlesuit XVII. The price-performance ratio is really impressive.

“However, there is one thing that has been bothering me and I hope the fellow Daoist from Red Serpent Sect can enlighten me.

“As far as I know, the long working time of Bursting Flame Battlesuit XVII in extremely hot environments boils down to the countless Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that it uses, including Heavenly Sun Stone and Phantom Snow Crystal, and is not because there is anything special about its structure design.

“Heavenly Sun Stone can absorb heat and transform it into the purest spiritual energy; Phantom Snow Crystal is a natural heat-resistant material that can block hot waves if it is smeared out of a magical equipment component.

“The two Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures are very useful and very expensive. If we’re going to cover a medium crystal suit with Heavenly Sun Stone and Phantom Snow Crystal from head to toe, the total weight of the materials to be used can be hundreds of kilograms, the cost of which alone will be well above 500 million.

“It’s certainly fine to decorate the Bursting Flame Battlesuit XVII this way.

“However, the price of the Flying Flame Battlesuit is 300 million. Its cost will only be lower than that. May I ask how many Heavenly Sun Stones and Phantom Snow Crystals are used on the Flying Flame Battlesuit?”

In a cold smile, Cao Huorong’s chin was protruding further and further as he heard Li Yao complimenting the Bursting Flame Battlesuit XVII.

He didn’t expect that Li Yao had dug a big pit in the end waiting for him to jump in.

“Are you playing dumb? As a cheap MP crystal suit model, of course the Flying Flame Battlesuit does not use as many Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures as the Bursting Flame Battlesuit XVII.”

Li Yao smiled.

“Are you indicating that there is no Heavenly Sun Stone and Phantom Snow Crystal on the Flying Flame Battlesuit?”

Cao Huorong blushed.

“Although we didn’t use Heavenly Sun Stone or Phantom Snow Crystal, we have employed a new cooling technology by melting the powder of Heavenly Sun Stone and Phantom Snow Crystal into the icy moisture made of special materials which circulates among key magical equipment components. It is a very efficient way to reduce heat and bring down the temperature of the suit!”

“So, icy moisture,” Li Yao drawled, with a brutal smile.

When he was visiting Red Serpent Sect’s booth, he had watched the Flying Flame Battlesuit closely and guessed that it was made possible by a cooling liquid circulating system.

Icy moisture was a very rare liquid material that was barely used in the modern Cultivation world.

However, it shared the same drawback as many other liquid materials recorded in the books of the Hundred Smelting Clan, which was…

“A special cooling liquid by melting the powder of Heavenly Sun Stone and Phantom Snow Crystal into icy moisture can bring down the cost as well as maintaining the normal functions of the suit in high-temperature environments, which is indeed a marvelous design.”

Li Yao smiled.

“However, have you sorted out the biggest problem of the icy moisture, which is that it becomes extremely volatile?

“The Flying Flame Battlesuit of yours is designed according to the Bursting Flame Battlesuit XVII, which uses Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to cool down and therefore is not distinguished for its airtightness.

“Now that the icy moisture needs to flow through all the circulation tubes in order to cool down the suit, the rate at which the icy moisture is used will increase.

“The Flying Flame Battlesuit that you are demonstrating does not carry a pot to store the icy moisture, which means its entire cooling system is based on the little icy moisture inside the circulation tubes. I wonder, how long can the icy moisture work before it is completely gone? Three to five days, isn’t it?

“Icy moisture is not expensive. But if you are going to refill it every three to five days, the long-term cost can be quite startling after a few years, which will not be much less than buying the Bursting Flame Battlesuit right now.

“Besides, if the crystal suit is to be used for a mission that lasts for more than five days, you’ll have to carry a pot filled with icy moisture. Not only will it be a huge nuisance, it will also cause major trouble if it is blown apart by the enemy in a battle, won’t it?

“If we take that into consideration, the working time of the Flying Flame Battlesuit might not be much longer than that of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. In fact, it could be even shorter!”

Everyone watching the scene nodded their heads approvingly and looked at Cao Huorong suspiciously.

Confused, Luo Jingang asked, “Fellow Daoist Cao, if the Flying Flame Battlesuit is to be used to patrol and fight in underground mines that are a thousand meters deep at a temperature of hundreds of degrees, how often will the suit need to be refilled with icy moisture and how much will it cost?

“Well…”

Cold sweat was dripping off Cao Huorong’s head. He felt his head was dizzy and his ears were humming, which made him unable to say anything.

Li Yao’s words had hit his critical part.

It was true that the rate of the icy moisture consumption was extremely fast. Otherwise, the Bursting Flame Battlesuit would’ve made use of it a long time ago, and they wouldn’t have waited until right now to put it into the Flying Flame Battlesuit.

Meanwhile, in order to compete with other MP crystal suit models, the price of the Flying Flame Battlesuit had been reduced to minimum, to the extent that there was barely any profit.

Red Serpent Sect had been planning to promote its product with a low initial price before making profits through post-sales services.

According to the plan, Red Serpent Sect would monopolize the components and the maintenance service of the Flying Flame Battlesuit.

For example, Red Serpent Sect could sell the icy moisture at a high price and gain income from it over time.

There wouldn’t be an option if the buyer wanted to switch to another kind of icy moisture provided by other sects, since Red Serpent Sect had added almost twenty micro-constituents into its own icy moisture.

Only with this particular icy moisture could the crystal suit function normally. Faults would occur if a different kind of icy moisture was to be used.

The repair fee would be a huge source of income, too.

Not just Red Serpent Sect. Quite a few other sects who had invented their own MP crystal suit models were actually planning the same thing.

Otherwise, it would be a miracle that almost twenty different MP crystal suit models could be produced within one year.

Cao Huorong never expected that Li Yao would be able to point out the biggest problem of the Flying Flame Battlesuit straight from the start.

‘How can the boy know the details of such a scarce material as the icy moisture?’

He was startled and knew that he had been caught in a dilemma.

If he was to go back just like that, when the news spread out, there was no chance that the Flying Flame Battlesuit would be sold, let alone the military order that his sect was trying to bid for.

His leader would tear him apart and eat him alive!

Hearing the louder and louder discussions around and seeing many other Cultivators shaking their heads, Cao Huorong’s face was flushed in embarrassment and anger as he gnashed, “Talk is cheap. If you are so confident in your crystal suit, I challenge you to a duel to see which one is more suitable for high-temperature combats, Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit or Flying Flame Battlesuit!”

The crowds gasped at his words.

A duel between two pieces of magical equipment was always in the repertoire of the Magical Equipment Exposition and often the most amazing part of it.

Generally speaking, if one party challenged someone else to a duel, the other party wouldn’t say no, because it concerned the pride of the refiner as well as the honor of the sect or university behind him.

Everybody was aware that the military was going to reveal the bidding plan at the Magical Equipment Exposition. At that time, more than twenty MP crystal suit models would be engaged in a tremendous fight!

But they did not anticipate that the first duel would take place so fast!

Li Yao looked back at Yuan Manqiu.

With a solemn expression, Yuan Manqiu bit her lips and nodded her head vigorously.

Chapter 312: 700°C Battleground

Mystic Skeleton versus Flying Flame, the duel was about to begin!

The news quickly spread to every corner of the convention center.

Although all the MP crystal suit models would take part in the performance tests hosted by the organizers of the exposition in which there would be battle simulation tests, such one vs. one duels were apparently more intriguing for Cultivators who desired conflicts more than anything else.

Everyone was crowding to the top floor of the convention center where the arena was located. The reporters were all jumping up and down as if they were on drugs.

Seeing that he had caused a lot of trouble, Cao Huorong had to report the whole issue to the elders of Red Serpent Sect, and was, no doubt, berated by them, partly for his recklessness, and partly because they thought he had chosen the wrong opponent.

“Competition of the MP crystal suit models is so intense. Everyone is trying to promote their own product in order to gain a larger market share. It is not unacceptable to challenge someone to increase our popularity.

“But what kind of opponent have you picked? Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit of the Grand Desolate War Institution? Isn’t it the well-known metal scraps? Even if we tear it into pieces, it won’t be enough to prove anything at all!”

Elders of Red Serpent Sect bashed him as above.

But now that the challenge had been accepted, there was no way that they were taking it back.

Red Serpent Sect had done a lot of preparation for the Magical Equipment Exposition. Ruan Honglie, test pilot of the Flying Flame Battlesuit, was a Cultivator at the peak of the Refinement Stage, as well as an Exo with more than ten years of experience.

At 3 p.m., in the arena on the top floor of the convention center…

The arena was 300 meters long and 300 meters wide. It was surrounded by countless rune arrays and magical equipment which could simulate all kinds of extreme environments.

It could switch from a snow world of -100°C to a sizzling inferno of 500°C in a flash.

There were no empty seats in the auditorium. More people in the lower levels of the convention center were watching at the giant light beams floating in the air waiting for the fierce battle to begin.

The ordinary tourists in the ground floor visiting the civil magical equipment exhibitions were also craning their heads eagerly.

Before the match began, the auditorium was already humming with whispers.

“Flying Flame versus Mystic Skeleton. The former is the latest magical equipment of a major refining sect, while the latter has shown great durability and stability just now. Which side do you think will win?”

“Flying Flame Battlesuit, of course. Flying Flame Battlesuit is a crystal suit most suitable for high-temperature environments. Besides, it is twice as expensive as its opponent, with abundant Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. It’s impossible that it will lose!”

“Correct. According to the brochure of Red Serpent Sect, the Flying Flame Battlesuit is basically a Bursting Flame Battlesuit in a smaller scale. Its specifications and parameters are much better than the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit’s. Besides, the battlefield is a scorching one that is most favorable for it. This battle is going to be a one-sided slaughter!”

“Their test pilot Ruan Honglie is a renowned Exo who knows what he’s doing. Although he is only at the peak of the Refinement Stage, he has been in real battlefields for more than ten years. His experience is much more than a sophomore student’s.”

“All the circumstances are in support of Red Serpent Sect. I would say that the Grand Desolate War Institution will prove themselves capable enough if their crystal suit can survive five minutes!”

“Five minutes? I think three minutes will be miraculous enough!”

In the highest place of the auditorium, a tall and thin figure was standing straight like a spear. He was gazing at the arena.

His name was Feng Kai, an Exo from the Battlesuit Department of Star Nebula University. He was the test pilot for the Mournful Mist Battlesuit.

“Feng Kai, I didn’t expect that you would be attracted by such a boring game.”

A teasing voice came from his back, as a smiling face gradually appeared in the darkness. A man that was not very tall but had two extremely long arms walked out slowly.

“Sha Yucheng?”

Feng Kai’s pupils constricted violently.

Although the newcomer seemed to be nice and friendly, he was the best sword trainer of the younger generation in the Rising Tide Sword Guild, as well as an ace Exo who boasted a lot of potential.

The Sword Torrent Battlesuit that had been co-developed by the three major sword-training sects would be driven by him.

Sha Yucheng of Rising Tide Sword Guild and Zuo Feijing of Deep Sea University were two formidable enemies that Feng Kai had been preparing to deal with before the Magical Equipment Exposition began.

However, he couldn’t help but notice that a new enemy needed to be added to the list.

Feng Kai said casually, “Since the military announced that the standard crystal suit of the army would be outsourced, 21 organizations have released their own MP crystal suit models. However, until this day, no MP crystal suit models have ever been engaged in a real fight. I would definitely come and enjoy such a show. Not just me. Someone came even earlier.”

Feng Kai nodded his head to a direction.

Sha Yucheng narrowed his eyes. Green lights beamed out of his eyes as his pupils shrank to the size of the tip of a sword. Then he saw a guy standing in the darkness far away.

It was Zuo Feijing, test pilot of the Tiger King Battlesuit as well as one of the Novem Stellae.

Zuo Feijing saw the two of them, too. But he didn’t show any sign that he did, as if greeting them was a complete waste of time.

“What an arrogant guy!”

Sha Yucheng’s lips twitched.

“He has every reason to be. Both the performance of the Tiger King Battlesuit and his skills of driving a crystal suit are extraordinary!”

Feng Kai’s expression remained unchanged.

“Huh. We’re going to find out whether or not the Tiger King Battlesuit is as invincible as it claims to be tomorrow!”

Sha Yucheng licked his lips and said in confusion, “Back to this match. I have fought with Ruan Honglie several times before, and I know he is quite an experienced expert. But who is this guy Li Yao? I understand that he is a refiner who invented a piece of magical equipment named Demon Beast Detector that has been quite popular. What, is he also an Exo?”

“For old time’s sake, I’ll offer you a kind reminder. Don’t look down upon Li Yao because you don’t know him. You will regret it one day.”

Feng Kai continued with a vague smile, “Same as Zuo Feijing, the guy is a hybrid-type Cultivator that is both talented in fighting and in creating. He has a nickname ‘Vulture’, which is a hint of his brutality and cruelty.

“Rumors have it that he had never touched crystal suits until he studied in the Thunder Training Camp last year. But don’t consider him some random newbie just because of that. There is a young rising star in the world of Exos named Long Qianyue. Have you ever heard of her name before?”

“Of course I have. She defeated seven experts who had more than ten years of experience in crystal suits last year and hence has become known as the strongest Exo below the age of 30.”

Sha Yucheng frowned. “Does she have something to do with Li Yao?”

“She and Li Yao were in the same class when they were in the Thunder Training Camp. According to Long Qianyue, Li Yao’s skills in driving a crystal suit were as good as hers, if not better, and the reason why she is challenging expert Exos crazily right now is because she wants to duel with Li Yao and see which of them is stronger someday.”

“Is that so?”

Sha Yucheng was a little shocked. “Then I’ll have to watch this match closely.”

“You should.”

Feng Kai said carefully, “Vulture Li Yao is the biggest uncertainty in this Magical Equipment Exposition. He is also the trickiest opponent other than Zuo Feijing to cope with for you and me.”

While they were talking, two crystal suits had risen up from the below of the arena.

The arena simulated the environment of an underground mine. Under the heating of flame rune arrays, the temperature inside the arena had shockingly reached 700℃.

Giant stone pillars were scattered all over the arena which would spurt super-hot fire as a simulation of underground magma.

The Flying Flame Battlesuit was standing on one side of the arena. In the background of boundless flames, it looked more majestic than ever, as if it were the king of the magma world.

The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit had just added a layer of heat-resistant plate armor with a lot of frost rune arrays plugged in that looked like patches. It looked plain and shabby.

Judging from the outlook, the Flying Flame Battlesuit was definitely the winner!

“Swoosh!”

Frost rune arrays of both crystal suits started fully functioning to withstand the unbearable high temperature.

The two crystal suits were immediately covered in a thin, white mist, which blocked the vision of the audience.

“Shua!”

When the match began, the brightness of the Flying Flame Battlesuit was ten times more startling than before. It shot dazzling orange lasers which surged at the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit like burning feathers.

For a moment, the sky seemed to have rained fire!

The Flying Flame Battlesuit didn’t stop. Upon shooting, it squatted and sprinted, following closely behind the fire wave that it just sent out.

“Impressive!”

“The high temperature has significantly increased the performance of the Flying Flame Battlesuit. Ruan Honglie is an expert adept at fiery spiritual energy too. In such an environment, he is as good as a Building Foundation Cultivator!”

“The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, on the other hand, seems a little sluggish. Maybe that’s because of the heat-resistant plate armor. There’s no time for it to react!”

In everyone’s exclamation, Li Yao seemed too unprepared to do anything, except to turn his crystal cannon to two stone pillars in front of him and blow them into pieces.

“BOOM!”

Pieces of the stone pillars were enough to block most of the fiery bullets. But the Flying Flame Battlesuit was still charging at it like a mad bull.

“BAM!”

The Flying Flame Battlesuit crushed into Li Yao as if it were a crystal train at the maximum speed.

In the simulated underground mines, the space was restricted. Most of the long-range attack magical equipment was not of much use.

Ruan Honglie did not want to tangle with Li Yao whom he thought to be no one for long. He intended to crush the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit into pieces like a relentless lightning strike in order to better demonstrate the excellence of the Flying Flame Battlesuit.

Since he was the one taking the initiative, the high-speed collision was in his favor, too.

Moreover, his opponent was wearing a layer of heat-resistant plate armor which was mostly made of ceramics. It was too weak to withstand a major strike.

“Boy, let me show you today what a real crystal suit should look like!”

Ruan Honglie was grinning hideously, until the collision took place, because an ever-lasting cracking noise came from his crystal suit. Countless magical equipment components had broken into pieces!

He felt that he didn’t crush into a layer of weak heat-resistant plate armor, but a steel wall that was embedded with long spikes!

Chapter 313: Explosion-reacting Plate Armor

His head was like a giant bell being hit by a heavy hammer. He felt that surging tides were savaging inside his brain and he could not see nor hear a single thing, except for the shocking exclamations from the auditorium.

He knew that the exclamations were not for him.

All the audience had enjoyed an amazing scene.

When the Flying Flame Battlesuit crashed into the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, everybody had thought that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit would be blown away. Even if it could survive the hit and continue the match, the Flying Flame Battlesuit would definitely dominate the game until it was over.

After all, heat-resistant plate armor was best known for its weakness.

But as it turned out, the plate armor of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was indeed shattered because of the explosion. However, from the broken armor burst out intensive spiritual waves which exploded around the Flying Flame Battlesuit like 100 Hellfire-Lightnings.

The Flying Flame Battlesuit was immediately caught in fire and thunderbolts.

Although the Flying Flame Battlesuit was remarkably heat-proof, its defense against explosions of thunder attributes was nothing special. It was unable to move for a long time due to the intensified electric shock.

The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit took the opportunity to counterattack.

After being kneed in the chest once, the body of the Flying Flame Battlesuit was bent like a shrimp.

Then, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit waved its two arms and slashed down as if they were two axes, which put the Flying Flame Battlesuit to the ground immediately. Then the crystal cannon on the back flipped up quickly and fired at the ground.

The moment the spiritual energy inside the crystal cannon burst out, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit put its hands on its waist where its fists took on a pair of boxing gloves that was full of three-edged needles. Electrical sparkles were dancing on the two gloves.

Ruan Honglie fell into a passive position due to one reckless move. He gritted his teeth and tried to scramble to his feet against the cannon fire, only to be knocked over by Li Yao. The two of them rolled around on the ground for a while. Then Li Yao’s heavy punches rained on Ruan Honglie’s face like a thunderstorm.

This time, the punches were not 888.88 kg and 999.99 kg. Two of them were enough to blow a lot of the components of the Flying Flame Battlesuit away. Judging from the fierce attacks, the strength in each punch must be at least ten times larger!

“Brutal!”

Looking at Li Yao sitting on the top of Ruan Honglie’s chest and mauling his opponent’s face one punch after another, every spectator felt astounded.

“The guy’s melee combat ability is impressive. His defense ability is even stronger. Ruan Honglie has punched him in the face several times, but he didn’t even flinch as if they were mosquito stings. The speed of his own attacks was not the least affected.

“Ruan Honglie is at a major disadvantage in such a combat!

“Where is this monster from? How come his defense ability is so strong? Feng Kai, what would you do if you were engaged in close-combat with him?”

Smiles in Sha Yucheng’s face were gradually gone. He patted his thigh somewhat anxiously.

“I won’t give him the opportunity to get close to me,” Feng Kai said firmly one word after another.

It sounded like a confident declaration. However, Sha Yucheng understood Feng Kai’s meaning between the lines: if ‘Vulture Li Yao’ got close to him, he did not have an effective solution, either.

Sha Yucheng looked at Zuo Feijing who was far away.

Zuo Feijing’s face was hidden in the darkness. There was no telling what his expression was.

But the veins on the back of his hands which were holding a handrail were bulging, like dragons that were ready to jump out of the water and pierce through the sky.

“Shhhhhh!”

A long, high-pitched shriek occurred inside the arena.

Much greenish steam surged out of the Flying Flame Battlesuit, as Li Yao had located its cooling tubes which he destroyed with a dagger.

The icy moisture spurted out and immediately vaporized, forming a greenish, transparent smoke over the arena.

“End of the match!”

A high-level Cultivator wearing a glamourous crystal suit rushed into the arena and separated the two of them.

“Winner of this match, Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit of the Grand Desolate War Institution!”

The auditorium was caught in a weird silence, which was broken by thunder-like applauses a moment later.

Since the price of the Flying Flame Battlesuit was twice that of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, everybody had thought that the game would be its demonstration match and that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was going to be butchered ruthlessly.

However, a ruthless butchering did take place, with the expected winner and the expected loser switching positions.

In the end, the one standing in the middle of the arena accepting applauses and cheers from all the audience turned out to be the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, whose price was only half of its opponent.

“How did he do it?”

“Why did his crystal suit explode in the first place? It was the key to his victory. If the Flying Flame Battlesuit wasn’t caught off guard, the battle would’ve been much longer than this.”

Everyone was confused.

Five minutes later, the Exos were brought up to the arena by lifts.

Despite the double protection of crystal suit and mustard suit, Ruan Honglie’s face was still black and blue after the combat.

Seething in anger, he pointed at Li Yao’s nose and shouted, “You cheated! That was not heat-resistant plate armor at all!”

Li Yao eyed him with his face unchanged for a long time, before he said after a sigh, “It’s true that while you were present, I complained to the judge that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was not a special model designed for super-hot environments and, for the sake of fairness, I asked to add a layer of plate armor.

“You said casually that I could add however many layers of plate armor I wanted. One or ten would be the same for you because you would tear them apart one layer after another.

“Eventually, the judge granted my request to add a layer of plate armor.

“But I never said that it would be heat-resistant plate armor from the beginning to the end.

“I merely said that I wanted to add a layer of ‘plate armor’. If you don’t believe me, you can check the surveillance video. I definitely never said ‘heat-resistant’.

“Besides, all kinds of plate armor are permitted in such matches, aren’t they? Plate armor can increase the defense ability, but it will also bring down the speed and agility. So, it’s more of a personal choice whether or not to add plate armor and how many layers to add. I’ve never heard anyone blame their failure on the plate armor of their opponents before!

“What I added was of course not the heat-resistant plate armor, but the explosion-reacting plate armor for the defense of flying swords and long-range attacks from demon beasts. There are countless one-way mini crystal bombs inside the plate armor which will explode when it is crushed to offset the blast from the attack.

“However, as it turned out, you simply thrusted yourself into the plate armor, which almost equaled to you thrusting yourself into a pile of crystal bombs. Of course they blew the hell out of you.

“In fact, the explosion-reacting plate armor is quite easy to deal with. If you had just shot your gun at a long distance with your fire waves, you would’ve noticed that there was something wrong with my plate armor and you could’ve set off the mini crystal bombs in the armor before you reached me.

“But since your crystal suit is much more expensive than mine and you were in a super-hot environment that was most suitable for you, you felt that it would be embarrassing if you couldn’t beat me to a pulp within one minute, didn’t you?

“That’s why you dashed at me at the earliest chance you found. It’s not my fault that you fell into the trap so easily.”

Li Yao’s words froze Ruan Honglie to the ground as if they were superglue. He was dazed for a long time, before he screamed desperately, “That’s not what explosion-reacting plate armor looks like! It had the coating of heat-resistant plate armor! And all those frost rune arrays!”

Li Yao smiled.

“Just now, I spent half an hour redecorating the plate armor and repainting it.”

Ruan Honglie was about to weep. He was speechless for a long time.

Their conversation was transmitted to every corner of the arena through crystal microphones.

Everyone was looking at each other in astonishment, failing to find a suitable word to express what was in their minds.

Disguising explosion-reacting plate armor as heat-resistant plate armor, wasn’t that a little… sordid?

However, it did reflect the excellence of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, which had worked for such a long time in a battleground of 700°C and even managed to put down a Flying Flame Battlesuit.

It was indeed sturdy and reliable!

“Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is indeed impressive.”

Above the arena, Sha Yucheng took a long breath. “I never believed that a crystal suit at a cost of only a hundred million and without any Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures could perform normally in a 700°C environment without the heat-resistant plate armor.”

“It’s not entirely the crystal suit’s credit.”

Feng Kai squinted. “The body hardiness of this ‘Vulture Li Yao’ is far beyond the Refinement Stage. Even many Building Foundation Stage Cultivators may not be as sturdy as him. I even have the feeling that this monster can fight in a 700°C environment without a crystal suit!”

The two of them looked at each other and noticed the fighting will in the other’s eyes, before they walked out simultaneously.

‘I’m going to fight the monster tomorrow. No. I need to start warming up right now!’

Below the arena, Yuan Manqiu and Luo Jingang, leader of Thunderbolt Hall, were shaking hands.

“Leader Luo, thank you for your trust in the Grand Desolate War Institution. We’ll dedicate ten best Mystic Skeleton Battlesuits for your two squads. Please rest assured. We won’t let the first client of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit down!”

Yuan Manqiu seemed to be smiling at ease, but the drop of sweat on her forehead exposed her thrill.

“After watching the combat just now, I’m pretty sure that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is what Thunderbolt Hall needs.”

Luo Jingang grinned. “However, the younger generation of Thunderbolt Hall is not as skilled as Mr. Li Yao. I’m afraid we’ll have to ask for several instructors from the Grand Desolate War Institution to train them in order to maximize the performance of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.”

“That’s not a problem!”

Yuan Manqiu replied without any hesitation, “The Grand Desolate War Institution is a place that is never short of teachers and instructors. The school has been strongly supporting the Project Mystic Skeleton, too. There will be training programs for the clients who purchase the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. Their disciples can be sent to study in the Grand Desolate War Institution for free. In the case of Thunderbolt Hall, we can offer you several complimentary fire-class martial arts and arrange the best experts and professors to teach you until the young disciples in your sect learn all of them.”

“That would be wonderful!”

Luo Jingang’s eyes were beaming in joy. He said hurriedly, “Let’s sign the contract now.”

Chapter 314: Men of the Military

The contract between the Grand Desolate War Institution and Thunderbolt Hall caused a major riot in the Magical Equipment Exposition.

Of the 21 MP crystal suit models provided by major organizations in the federation, none had been sold so far, including the formidable Tiger King Battlesuit.

After all, most Cultivators were still suspicious about MP crystal suits.

As it turned out, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, which had been hiding in darkness and received few compliments before the exposition, was the first MP crystal suit model to secure an order of ten pieces.

Although the ten Mystic Skeleton Battlesuits combined together were still cheaper than one high-end crystal suit and their purchaser Thunderbolt Hall was a small sect that barely anyone knew, it was still the first official acknowledgement from Cultivators for the MP crystal suits.

For a moment, the booth of the Grand Desolate War Institution which just went quiet was crowded by reporters again.

Since the booth was not very large, it easily brought the feeling that all the reporters in the Magical Equipment Exposition were here.

In comparison, the vast booth of Deep Sea University seemed to be much more scarce and unfrequented.

The video in which Li Yao took down Ruan Honglie briskly in an arena quickly spread among Exos.

Although his victory was based on the trap that he had set up in advance, the terrifying attacks in the latter half of the video were enough to prove his brutality and toughness.

The Exos who had watched the video all agreed that a young expert had entered into the world of crystal suits.

If Li Yao had showed such combat ability before he arrived at the Building Foundation Stage, he would certainly only be stronger later. The name ‘Vulture’ was destined to resound in the world one day!

Li Yao didn’t know any of this, nor did he bother with it.

After he got out of the arena, he headed directly to his personal training chamber.

…

At 8 p.m.

“Hu! Hu!”

Wearing the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, Li Yao was doing muscle training inside the personal chamber.

He had been punching the dynamometer for an entire hour.

Surprisingly, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit did not shed any light. The power rune arrays were quiet. The crystal reactor was in a dull silence, too.

The crystal suit had not been activated at all. It was burdening Li Yao like a normal battle armor.

Li Yao had been punching the target with tons of additional weight on his body for an hour without any pause or rest.

His sweat gathered into a small pool on the ground, which soon evaporated due to the heat from his body, leaving nothing but a shallow trace.

Aggravated by the sweat, Li Yao’s eyes were bloody red. He found it hard to keep them open.

Irritated, he shut his eyes. Then he continued punching in the darkness until his every muscle was exhausted.

This was just his recovery training.

Since there would be tests tomorrow, he was only doing the easiest exercises today.

His usual training was ten times more difficult.

A three-minute wonderful performance was based on countless three-hour training sessions.

“Your opponent tomorrow won’t be as weak as the Flying Flame Battlesuit.

“Besides, your amazing performance must’ve alerted everyone who didn’t know your actual ability before.

“All of them will target you tomorrow.”

Yuan Manqiu entered the chamber. She watched quietly for a while and observed.

“BOOM!”

Li Yao exerted his strength, leaving a clear footprint on the super-alloy ground. The dynamometer leaned backwards and almost kissed the ground. The reading in the light beam was ten times bigger than before!

“I don’t like winning a match by disguises.

“Hiding the real ability and ambush the opponents when they’re unprepared cannot prove the excellence of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, either.”

Li Yao wiped the sweat on his face. But more sweat appeared again only half a second later.

“It’s better to be the target of everyone. If I can survive twenty minutes under the collective attack of twenty crystal suits, I bet I will leave a deep impression on the military!”

“I know you will.”

“Thunderbolt Hall has officially signed a contract with us. They will purchase ten Mystic Skeleton Battlesuits to build up two tactical squads.

“We’ve kicked off a good start.”

Yuan Manqiu continued, “But the real game is tomorrow. Tomorrow, the delegates of the military will come to the exposition and inspect the latest development of magical equipment. The most important part of their inspection is of course MP crystal suits.

“According to what I’ve heard, of the 21 MP crystal suit models, the military will only choose four to five for the final bidding.

“Whether or not we are noticed by the military will depend on your performance tomorrow.”

Li Yao nodded his head. Taking a deep breath, he felt that the Soul Condensing Pendant which sealed the Phantom Entities was emitting infinite heat and seemed to be leaving a mark on his chest.

That was the spiritual palpitation of his professors and senior brothers of the Refining Department who had felt the intense atmosphere before the final battle.

“BAM! BAM! BAM BAM BAM BAM!”

Li Yao stopped talking. He returned to the dull and boring training.

…

The following morning was the second day of the military magical equipment exposition; the exhibitors all went out their own booths to the testing field that the organizers had set up for real-battle tests.

Flying swords, guns, bombs… All kinds of military magical equipment took turns to display their performance. The spiritual explosions resulted to undying smoke, which was indeed a lively scene.

However, the most crowded place was still the crystal suit testing zone.

Many Cultivators had gathered here even before the sunrise waiting for the tests to begin.

The left side of the auditorium was occupied by the delegates of the military who were wearing black military uniform.

Among the hundreds of delegates, a grey-haired, hideous old man who had scars all over his face attracted everyone’s eyesight.

No one had expected that the military would pay so much attention to the bidding of the MP crystal suit models that Shangguan Ce would come in person!

Shangguan Ce, a lieutenant general of the federal army and a Cultivator at the peak of the Core Formation Stage, was one of the strongest men in the military. He was also a hardline hawk.

He had joined the army when he was seventeen. As an ordinary soldier, he met a beast tide when he was stationed at the northernmost fortress of the federation. He was the only one in his legion who survived the beast tide. But his face was ruined by the corrosive venom from the demon beasts, which was unrecoverable even with the use of strengthening drugs.

From that day on, he seemed to have turned into a tireless paladin who had returned from the valley of death. He gained his unparalleled capabilities through mountains of bodies and seas of blood.

He was especially good at special operations. He had established ‘Red Lightning’, one of the best special operation forces of the military and led it deep into the Blood Demon Sector for scouting and assassination missions multiple times.

Shangguan Ce was most well-known for slaying Peng Xuan, a demon king, 47 years ago.

47 years ago, Peng Xuan, commanding a large beast tide, invaded the Heaven’s Origin Sector and butchered a mining center where seven thousand people were killed.

When he was retreating, Shangguan Ce caught up with him and chased him all the way from the Grand Desolate Plateau to the Dark Desolate Domain, and from the Dark Desolate Domain to the Blood Demon Sector.

In the end, surrounded by countless beasts, Shangguan Ce slayed Peng Xuan easily and brought his head back to the Heaven’s Origin Sector.

The morale of the federal army was greatly boosted because of Shangguan Ce’s valiant behavior. He was respected as a hero of the federation when he came back. Since then, his rank had soared, until he became one of the most influential officials in the military.

Shangguan Ce had been the most fanatic hawk in the military who firmly believed that a great war between the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector would take place within the next thirty years. His theory was that the Cultivation technology of human beings was developing at an exponential speed, which meant that the limit of current technologies would be broken in no time. By then, the Heaven’s Origin Sector would have an overwhelming advantage over the Blood Demon Sector.

The wise leaders of the Blood Demon Sector would not let that happen. So, they would definitely launch the attack sooner.

Therefore, human beings had to abandon the illusion that the demons would just sit around and wait for them to develop more advanced Cultivation technologies.

The only sensible choice was to enter the state of war immediately with whatever technology human beings had at hand and build up an iron army with all the resources available. Then, march into the Blood Demon Sector and burn the war fire in the enemy’s territory.

It was better to attack aggressively than to defend passively. When thousands of beast tides were to surge into the human’s world, it would be a disaster for the Heaven’s Origin Sector even if they were defeated eventually.

The military and the federal government had not been very interested in the theories of the hawks and thought there was plenty of time for the human civilization to develop, until recent years when the unusual expansion of the Dark Desolate Domain and the intelligence from the Blood Demon Sector suggested otherwise. The hawks had been winning more advocates since then.

As an ordinary soldier in his early days and an ace Exo at present, Shangguan Ce knew the significance of crystal suits in a war all too well. Rumors had it that he was the biggest endorser of building up crystal suit legions with standard military crystal suits.

Beside Shangguan Ce sat a plain-looking, middle-aged man, who seemed to be a military consultant at first look.

But the glaring electric sparks in his eyes indicated that the man was much more than what he looked.

Guan Chao, a Cultivator at the start of the Core Formation Stage, was the second captain of ‘Red Lightning’, as well as a strong Exo. He was known as ‘King of Lightning’ in the world of Cultivators.

With these two strong Cultivators of the military joining the exhibition, a grave scent of war was immediately brought into the field. The air seemed to be filled with smokes of battlefield.

“BAM! BAM! BAM!”

21 crystal suits in various outlooks walked into the testing field slowly yet firmly.

The tests today were designed for MP crystal suit models. All the crystal suits that took part in the competition had to meet three requirements.

First, the total value of the crystal suit, including all the magical equipment that it carried, must be no higher than 500 million.

Second, more than 90% of the components and the magical equipment of the crystal suit must be able to be mass-produced.

Third, the Exo of the crystal suit must be below the Building Foundation Stage.

Tiger King, Mournful Mist, Sword Torrent, Mystic Skeleton. The four crystal suits were standing in the center, surrounded by the other 17 crystal suits.

After the match yesterday, most of the Exos had come to the conclusion that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit driven by Li Yao was as dangerous an opponent as Tiger King, Mournful Mist, and Sword Torrent were.

“Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!”

Dozens of light beams lit up in the sky of the testing field, displaying the basic introduction and the specifications of the 21 crystal suits which were to be engaged in the tests.

The tests for the MP crystal suit models had officially begun!

Chapter 315: One-on-one Clash

“Swoosh!”

A firecracker shot up into the sky and exploded, causing a crimson smoke the color of blood.

Below the bloody smoke, the competition of the 21 crystal suits had begun.

“Tiger King! Tiger King! Tiger King!”

Deep Sea City was the home field for Deep Sea University.

For the game today, the Refining Department of Deep Sea University had gathered thousands of students who wore the same uniform to cheer up for their team.

Their thunder-like roars were almost as impressive as the solemnness of the military delegates.

The Tiger King Battlesuit didn’t let them down.

The moment it got its turn, it easily put down three beast puppets with an astonishing advantage and secured an unbelievably high score in the melee combat test.

Zuo Feijing seemed to have been stimulated by Li Yao’s performance yesterday. He was extremely vigorous right now.

Immediately after the melee combat test, he walked on the platform for the long-range attack test and hit 999 targets without a single miss in less than 10 minutes, before he went on to the agility test without any rest.

The rarely-seen high scores lit up one after another on the light beam, triggering rounds of exclamations.

The Tiger King Battlesuit was like a majestic king and a rising sun; its glaring brilliance eclipsed all the other crystal suits and made them its background.

The scores of the Tiger King Battlesuit were almost the highest in every test, except for the long-range attack test and the stealth test, in which the Sword Torrent Battlesuit and the Mournful Mist Battlesuit got the highest score respectively, but only with a tiny advantage.

The glamorous performance of the Tiger King Battlesuit made every member of the audience at the scene its fan. The students from Deep Sea University were shouting so excitedly that their throats were going dry.

“Tiger King! Tiger King! Tiger King!”

In the overwhelming atmosphere that was as hot as fire, Li Yao stayed calm without being the least disturbed. He looked up at the light beam when he completed the long-range attack test.

The 21 crystal suits had all finished the long-range attack test. The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit ranked 8th, neither very good nor very bad.

Li Yao was greatly relieved.

The long-range attack was what he had been worst at. He was quite satisfied at the 8th place in a test that was most likely to drag him down.

In other tests, his performance was very stable, and he was ranked among the top five in each of them.

The Mournful Mist Battlesuit and the Sword Torrent Battlesuit, on the other hand, were terribly lopsided. They could score the first in the long-range attack test or in the stealth test, but their rank sometimes fell beyond 10th in other tests.

Li Yao believed that the military wouldn’t choose a crippled duck as the main force of a major war.

What came next was…

Resistance test!

“BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”

In the testing field, thousands of crimson crystals with sharp spikes dashed at Li Yao like solidified fireballs and didn’t explode until they reached Li Yao’s face.

The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was hardly able to stay stable. The intense blasts hit Li Yao’s stomach one wave after another like giant hammers.

Li Yao gritted his teeth and walked forward slowly yet firmly.

“Shhhhhhhh!”

Greenish corrosive venom rained upon the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. A giant cluster of greenish mist rose up from its surface. But Li Yao continued walking on.

“Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!”

Dozens of alloy bullets hit the critical parts of the crystal suit at the sonic speed. The crystal suit was almost ripped open under the attack.

But Li Yao took them for mosquito bites. He ran faster and faster against the stormy attacks until he passed the finish line.

“Shua!”

The rank of the resistance test was displayed on the light beam. ‘Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, Grand Desolate War Institution’ appeared like ghost sitting on the top of ‘Tiger King Battlesuit, Deep Sea University’.

There was a double-digit gap between the two scores.

This was the first time that the Tiger King Battlesuit had been exceeded by such a huge difference.

Cheers from the students of Deep Sea University stopped abruptly.

Li Yao opened his ragged helmet, clenched his fists and started roaring.

The thousands of students of Deep Sea University were looking at each other in dead silence, their confidence suppressed by Li Yao’s astounding shouts.

All the other Exos forgot their own tests and gazed at the light beam in bewilderment.

They knew previously that the defense ability of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was amazing, but they didn’t expect it to be so good.

Subconsciously, they glanced at the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit’s other test results.

They were shocked to discover that in all the other tests except the resistance test, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was never the best, but it never fell beyond top five, either. It seemed that the crystal suit had no shortcomings.

Taking all the test results into consideration, in the perspective of comprehensive capability, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit seemed to be even better than Mournful Mist and Sword Torrent and was closely behind the Tiger King Battlesuit.

Considering the difference of price of the two crystal suits, it was not hard to say whose price-performance ratio was better!

The delegates of the military were discussing its performance amongst themselves.

“Who’s the wearer of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit of the Grand Desolate War Institution? I never heard that there’s such an excellent Refinement Stage Exo. Li Yao? Who’s that? I want all of his files!” Shangguan Ce said to a staff officer beside him. Then he turned to Guan Chao, the incumbent captain of ‘Red Lightning’, and smiled.

“Which crystal suit do you think better meets the demand of the federal army?”

Red Lightning had been established by Shangguan Ce. Guan Chao was his favorite soldier when he was the captain. They had saved each other’s lives multiple times in the battlefield, and they trusted each other more than anybody else.

Guan Chao observed, “If we are choosing a crystal suit for Red Lightning, Mournful Mist and Sword Torrent both have their advantages. I would say we need to purchase several sets of both of them.

“However, if we’re going to equip every Cultivator in the main troops with a crystal suit, I think Tiger King and Mystic Skeleton would be a better option. Honestly speaking, I didn’t expect that the sword that the Grand Desolate War Institution had been whetting for twenty years could be so sharp and perfect.

“In the aspect of price-performance ratio, I’m more in favor of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. After all, we only have a limited budget.

“Many people in the government and in the military are still insisting on the route of railguns and warships. They maintain that more advanced crystal warships are the key to victory and have been criticizing crystal suits. If the crystal suits we purchase are too expensive, they’re definitely going to kick up a fuss about it.”

“Exactly.”

Shangguan Ce sighed. “Everything about the Tiger King Battlesuit is perfect, except that it is a little bit expensive. You’ve seen the report, too. The final battle is likely to happen earlier than we expected. Before the day comes, we have to equip every Cultivator in the military with a crystal suit, otherwise…”

“I understand.”

Guan Chao nodded his head, “However, such tests can only partly demonstrate their performance.

“Maybe the more intense competitive test later can better reveal their actual performances.”

At 2 p.m., the 21 crystal suits finished all the tests.

The comprehensive performance of Tiger King was unquestionably the best. Mystic Skeleton, Sword Torrent and Mournful Mist followed closely behind, with an almost indistinguishable gap amongst themselves.

Other crystal suits were far away from them.

However, in the eyes of real experts, such rigid tests could only be used as a reference for the performance of the crystal suits. They could not really prove that a crystal suit was good or bad.

The competitive test coming next was the more convincing one!

The 21 Exos were in too much a hurry to have lunch. They each had a high-energy nutrition dose in order to refresh themselves faster.

After the series of tests in the morning, especially the resistance test, their crystal suits were scarred with holes here and there, and therefore had to be maintained immediately.

The organizer gave the Exos half an hour for the maintenance of their crystal suits.

19 crystal suits were sent down to the workshops below the testing field.

But two crystal suits remained on the testing field, the Tiger King and Mystic Skeleton.

Li Yao and Zuo Feijing stared at each other. Their equally sharp eyes clashed in the middle of the air with invisible sparkles.

It was the tranquility before an earthshaking hurricane.

“Shua!”

Li Yao took out a silver-grey glove and put it on his left hand.

The glove was made of seven different marrow crystals and took him an entire month to refine. It could magnify the sensitivity of fingers by up to ten times, allowing the wearer to better perceive the problem in the magical equipment and the direction of the spiritual energy flow inside it.

In the meantime, a dagger that had been refined out of the bones of the mutant lion dragon was already dancing in his right hand.

Zuo Feijing had put on a pair of bizarrely shaped gloves which were emitting intense spiritual waves, suggesting that it was also a piece of marvelous magical equipment.

Both of their hands waved up and down like butterflies and started maintaining their crystal suits.

Guan Chao was amazed and said in a low voice, “In a real battle, a workshop and a mechanic are not always readily available. When faults occur, it sometimes counts on the Exo to solve the problems.

“The two Exos know the logic very clearly. They are very confident in their crystal suits, too.”

The vast testing field went into an odd silence. Everyone held their breath, fearing that they might disturb the fluent and professional actions of the two Exos below them.

The students of Deep Sea University put on an affectionate expression.

They knew very well about Zuo Feijing’s amazingly fast hand movement and super professional maintenance skills. But when they saw it with their own eyes again, they still felt that it was dramatic and incredible.

But when they glanced at Li Yao who was standing in the opposite side of Zuo Feijing, they noticed that not only were Li Yao’s hands as fast as Zuo Feijing’s, his knowledge and maintenance skills of the crystal suit were also as good as Zuo Feijing’s.

“Where is this monster from?”

“No wonder he could drive Jiang Shaoyang, the Tenth Star, away and was bold enough to challenge the Refining Department of Deep Sea University.”

“He is indeed arrogant. But he is truly strong, too!”

Half an hour passed in no time.

The two crystal suits were reborn in the hands of Li Yao and Zuo Feijing.

Although their surfaces were still well-worn with bumps and hollows, they looked brutally charming on the other hand.

Meanwhile, the other 19 crystal suits rose up slowly from below the testing field.

‘I’m going to beat you all with an indisputable performance in the final competitive test!’

All the Exos gritted their teeth and clenched their fists.

Chapter 316: Flying Crystal Racing

The competitive test was a popular game in the world of Exos called ‘Flying Crystal Racing’.

A Flying Crystal was a piece of magical equipment that was a bit larger than a watermelon with a smooth surface which was carved with a lot of power rune arrays. The spiritual energy contained inside it was abundant, too.

The Flying Crystal could drive the power rune arrays and flee in various directions with the surge of spiritual waves.

It could also trigger violent electric shocks when touched.

All in all, the sole purpose of a Flying Crystal was to escape control at an amazingly high speed.

Even when it was caught by someone, it would always try to flee with arc blowout and high-frequency oscillation.

The Flying Crystal used to be a piece of training magical equipment for battle-type Cultivators when they were alone.

For some strong Cultivators, they could release five to six Flying Crystals and catch all of them at the same time.

In the world of Exos, since most of the training was tedious, the game of ‘Flying Crystal Racing’ had been invented.

In a Flying Crystal race, a frolicking Flying Crystal would be released on a designated racetrack, which would dash forward unpredictably under the control of the pre-input telepathic thoughts.

All the crystal suits in the game would chase the Flying Crystal.

While they were chasing, they were allowed to attack each other.

Every once in a while, the crystal suit at the tail end of all the participants would be eliminated.

Flying Crystal Racing was much more about speed and agility.

The fast and agile crystal suits were naturally capable of catching the Flying Crystal before everyone else could.

However, after grasping the target, they would turn into targets themselves whose back would be attacked by every other participant.

Besides, the Flying Crystal was born with the ability to struggle violently and give out crazy electric shocks, which meant that no crystal suit would be able to contain the Flying Crystal for long.

If their attention was focused on controlling the Flying Crystal, their combat ability would be greatly undermined.

Their competitors would definitely seize the opportunity and launch their attacks.

The winner of a Flying Crystal race was not the one who passed by the finish line with the Flying Crystal, but the one who was the first to keep the Flying Crystal for a designated length of time.

For example, in the upcoming Flying Crystal race which would be joined by the 21 crystal suits, all the participants would be teleported into a world fragment where a giant racetrack had been built.

The circuit racetrack was 100 meters wide and 10,000 meters long, with traps of various types all the way to the end.

The participants were allowed to use their weapons at their will.

Every minute, the last participant in the line would be eliminated, until there were only five participants in the field.

The participant that held the Flying Crystal for a hundred seconds in total would be deemed to be the final winner.

Flying Crystal racing and super shuttle racing were the two most famous racing games in the federation, both of which were popular among Cultivators and among the ordinary people.

The tricky rules made the game full of changes.

Even the strongest crystal suit would be greatly impaired when it controlled the Flying Crystal, and those weaker crystal suits might find the opportunity to take it down easily.

No one could guarantee that they would be the winner until the last second of the game.

Such uncertainty had made all the Exos crazy about Flying Crystal Racing.

When there were more than three Exos who wanted to challenge each other, a Flying Crystal race would always be their first choice.

At 3 p.m., the convention center was devoid of any sound even though hundreds of thousands of people were inside of it. The magical equipment booths that had been jam-packed were entirely empty now. All the Cultivators and tourists went to the outdoors and gazed at the giant light beam in the sky anxiously with their mouths wide open.

In the testing field, all the audience fell into silence, too.

The students of Deep Sea University had sunk into a serene, bottomless ocean, which was even more appalling than the billowing roars in the morning.

On the opposite side of them were the delegates of the Grand Desolate War Institution who were apparently outnumbered.

But the burning fire in Yuan Manqiu alone seemed enough to vaporize all the water of Deep Sea University.

She didn’t hide her sharpness at all. Her eyes stared at the direction of Deep Sea University as if they were two flying swords.

Then, she noticed that Supernova Jiang Sheng was looking at herself at the same time.

‘Junior Brother, the war between the Grand Desolate War Institution and Deep Sea University has now begun!’

‘Senior Sister, Deep Sea University is invincible. Give it up already!’

Invisible blast that seemed to be tearing the air apart spread from where their eyes met.

On the racetrack inside the world fragment, the atmosphere was thousands of times more intense than outside.

The 100-meter wide and 10,000-meter long racetrack was almost too large to fathom. Standing on it, humans were like ants that had fallen into a giant bowl. Their size was completely dwarfed by that of the sky and the earth.

However, the fighting will of the 21 Exos seemed to be blocking the enormous racetrack!

One minute before the match, all of the Exos were adjusting their mood and warming themselves up.

Li Yao touched the Soul Condensing Pendant.

Although the armor was too thick for him to actually sense the pendant, he still felt a fire burning inside his palm.

The heat of the fire did not seem to be physical. It seemed to be mental existence that was burning directly inside his brain.

Since the birth of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, he had noticed that the Phantom Entities in the Soul Condensing Pendant seemed to have awoken from the protracted nightmare and were getting more and more active.

Although they were still not able to communicate with each other freely, he could feel the hopeful, irresistible force, like a soft grass which had pierced through the stone pressing on it.

Maybe, with a little more hard work, the Phantom Entities would be able to find their self-awareness and become spectral Cultivators!

“Professors, Senior Brothers, I believe that the day we are actually fighting side by side is not far away!”

Half a minute before the match, all the Exos stood in the starting points that were decided by drawing lots.

Coincidentally, Zuo Feijing was next to Li Yao.

However, the two of them just exchanged glances without saying anything.

Everything that needed to be said had been said with that.

For two dangerous Exos such as themselves, trash talk before a game was of little significance.

Whatever they had to say in their mind, just say them out with flying swords, Thunder-Palms, and crystal cannons!

Ten seconds before the match, the 21 Exos were all in position like 21 solid statues.

The air was so intense that it seemed to be exploding at any moment.

A Flying Crystal landed before the start line slowly. It was emitting colorful brilliance and surging spiritual energy while it was bouncing without any pattern.

Three seconds before the match.

Activated by the telepathic thought of a high-level Cultivator, the Flying Crystal rushed forward like lightning while it was jumping up and down.

One second before the match, all the Exos had brought the performance of their crystal reactors to maximum. Earsplitting noises were echoing in every crystal suit, their backs unleashing glaring rainbows.

The match began!

“Swoosh! Swoosh swoosh!”

The 21 crystal suits dashed forward like arrows just released from bows and lunged at the playful Flying Crystal one after another.

The crystal suit leading the charge was not Tiger King, or Mystic Skeleton, or Sword Torrent, or Mournful Mist. It was a super-light crystal suit named ‘Wild Skylark’.

The Wild Skylark Battlesuit treaded gently on the racetrack like a dragonfly touching a river, then it accelerated as if it were a soft smoke and caught the Flying Crystal in the blink of an eye.

“Shhhh!”

The brightness on the Flying Crystal grew much more intense. The electric arcs which looked like serpents whipped the Wild Skylark Battlesuit, making it stop briefly.

In the meantime, more than ten glaring lasers were coming at its back, which were the attacks of the crystal suits behind it when they noticed that the Wild Skylark was hamstrung by the Flying Crystal.

The Wild Skylark Battlesuit was immediately caught in a storm of spiritual energy.

The Flying Crystal took the chance to free itself and bounded forward.

When the spiritual energy dispersed, the Wild Skylark Battlesuit was almost shattered. The spiritual waves behind its back became intermittent, like the dying coughs of an old man.

Its speed was amazing, but its defense ability was too unsatisfactory. Under the interferences of the Flying Crystal, it suffered great damage from the collective attack of more than ten opponents, which crippled it on the spot.

Whoever snatched the Flying Crystal would be attacked by everyone.

However, it wouldn’t help if one just stood by and watched. The longer someone else held the Flying Crystal, the closer to victory they would be. Following behind others would mean that there was no chance of winning at all.

The contradiction was also why Flying Crystal Racing was so interesting.

‘That guy was too rash!’

As Li Yao was passing by the Wild Skylark Battlesuit, he glanced at it and noticed that it struggled to stand on its feet several times, only to collapse to the ground in the end.

But on second thought, Li Yao realized that the Wild Skylark Battlesuit had no advantage whatsoever other than its speed. If it hadn’t tried its luck in the beginning period when everyone else was still prudent, it would’ve had barely any chance to touch the Flying Crystal in the remaining part of the game.

At least now, the Wild Skylark Battlesuit had held the Flying Crystal for… one second!

Right then, the crystal suits in the lead were suddenly broken into a mess because they had entered the first trap.

In the sky of the racetrack, almost a hundred winged mines were waiting for them patiently.

They were magical equipment that had been designed based on landmines. Basically, they were Thunder-Palms that could fly. They could sense the heat and vibration nearby and flew close to the source before setting themselves off.

The explosion of the hundred winged mines immediately scattered the 21 crystal suits which had been very close to each other.

However, as the explosion took place, thousands of flying swords were unleashed from a crystal suit.

It was the Sword Torrent Battlesuit!

The crystal suit co-developed by the three major sword-training sects was like a steel hedgehog with flying swords all over its body. When everyone else was avoiding the explosion of the winged mines in a flurry, it suddenly attacked them without any hesitation.

Many of the other crystal suits were caught unprepared and slowed down as their spiritual shields were blocking the incoming flying swords.

The Sword Torrent Battlesuit accelerated at this moment and dashed to the Flying Crystal which it locked in its chest easily.

Chapter 317: Match in Lightning

In the moment of mess, only five crystal suits were not interfered with by the winged mines and flying swords. They caught up from various directions.

Sha Yucheng, Exo of the Sword Torrent Battlesuit, grinned hideously. With a telepathic thought, dozens of flying swords dashed out and hovered around him at an amazing speed with deep blue electric arcs dancing here and there, which looked like a mincing machine.

The first two crystal suits were not prepared for this. They stopped abruptly, only to be caught by the sword net and nearly cut into pieces.

The following three crystal suits bothered little about it. They rushed into the sword net as if it were nothing.

“Chi!”

Several grey spiritual waves were released from the Mournful Mist Battlesuit, wreathing it like a grey mist without any gap.

It was weird that when the flying swords hit the grey mist, they started shaking violently as if they were drunk and missed their target. Not a single flying sword was able to hit the Mournful Mist Battlesuit.

The spiritual shield of the Tiger King Battlesuit was suddenly brighter than ever. It didn’t do anything while the flying swords hit the spiritual shield with glaring sparkles, but its speed was not the least affected.

It had resisted the mincing of the sword net with nothing but its spiritual shield.

“Swoosh!”

Driven by Li Yao, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit which seemed to be heavy and clumsy was like a tyrannosaur dancing gracefully on the tip of a sword. It shunned dozens of flying swords by twisting its body into inconceivable angles.

The few flying swords that it failed to dodge passed by the armor without dealing any damage because of fast small-scale body movements.

The three crystal suits cut into the middle of the sword net in different ways.

“Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!”

The Mournful Mist Battlesuit launched mysterious and unpredictable soul attacks.

The Devil Destroyer Cannon on the chest of the Tiger King Battlesuit roared.

Two crystal cannons flipped up on the shoulder of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, too, unleashing furious spiritual energy.

Sha Yucheng, Exo of the Sword Torrent Battlesuit, was caught by the soul attack from the Mournful Mist Battlesuit and was dazed for 0.1 seconds.

Then, he felt scorching, almost unbearable heat in his back.

There was not enough time for him to jump away. He had to bring the spiritual shield of his suit to maximum, hoping to block the attacks.

“BOOM!”

The collective attack knocked Sha Yucheng over. The Sword Torrent Battlesuit leaned forward and fell on its face.

The Flying Crystal immediately took off and bounced forward like a lightning.

Li Yao was going to catch up with it, when an earsplitting shriek boomed in his ears, as if a Hellfire-Lightning had exploded right beside his ears.

He immediately felt a strong headache, with all kinds of hallucinations appearing before his eyes.

“Soul attack!”

Li Yao shouted in his mind. The Mournful Mist Battlesuit must’ve launched soul attack on Zuo Feijing and him when they were too busy attacking the Sword Torrent Battlesuit to notice anything else.

However, since his soul had been cleansed by Ou Yezi for multiple times, his soul was far more solid than any other Refinement Stage Cultivator’s.

Shaking his head and taking a deep breath, he was back to himself again.

The Mournful Mist Battlesuit was hundreds of meters ahead of him, with the Flying Crystal in its hand.

With a cold smile, Li Yao stomped on the race track, ran off, and sped up crazily. Within a moment, the distance between them was shortened to twenty meters.

It was his favorite distance to launch an attack!

Almost at the same time, a gold laser caught up and dashed forward in parallel with him, even though it had set off much later.

It was the Tiger King Battlesuit!

Right then, the Mournful Mist was in the lead with the Flying Crystal under its control.

Mystic Skeleton and Tiger King were following closely.

The Sword Torrent Battlesuit had recovered from the previous strike. Retrieving all the flying swords it had sent out, it turned into an invulnerable iron hedgehog again.

The four crystal suits were at the vanguard.

All the other crystal suits were chasing them furiously from far behind.

Li Yao and Zuo Feijing looked at each other and were about to attack the Mournful Mist Battlesuit in front of them simultaneously, when it suddenly twisted weirdly in a dense smoke and…

And split into seven!

Seven identical Mournful Mist Battlesuits, each of them holding a Flying Crystal, rushed forward in the same posture.

“Impressive hallucination skills!”

Hallucinations skills were not complicated. They were just vivid shadows formed by optical camouflage and 3D projections.

But the hallucination skills performed by the Mournful Mist Battlesuit were not simply shadows.

In Li Yao’s probe magical equipment, seven light spots were blinking clearly.

“Even spiritual waves can be simulated? The jamming magical equipment inside the Mournful Mist Battlesuit is indeed marvelous!

“However—”

Three bolts of lightning interrupted his thought. He squatted and accelerated into a vague smoke, dashing through the gaps between the lightning.

The four crystal suits had entered the second trap of the racetrack, the lightning zone!

The air in this zone would unleash high-intensity lightning unpredictably. If a crystal suit was to be accidentally hit by the lightning, it would risk being wrecked and eliminated out of the match immediately.

In order to avoid the lightning, Mystic Skeleton, Tiger King, and Mournful Mist all performed wonderful small-scale movements.

Of the seven Mournful Mist Battlesuits, only the real one was doing the movements, while the other six were simply mimicking it, which made them odd and easy to distinguish.

“Second from the left!”

Li Yao certainly wouldn’t let go of such an opportunity. He located his target without any trouble and accelerated again. More than ten lightning bolts were dancing around him, yet all of them missed him as if he were insulated.

Zuo Feijing had identified the target at the same time.

The Tiger King Battlesuit lunged at its prey like a hungry tiger. The full-speed charge of itself was as intimidating as the march of an entire legion.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them were already behind the Mournful Mist Battlesuit.

Their craziness seemed to be enough to tear Mournful Mist apart without them doing anything.

Feng Kai, driver of the Mournful Mist Battlesuit, was an experienced Exo. Now that he was aware that his opponents had seen through the disguises, he made up his mind and threw the Flying Crystal to the front with his full strength.

Li Yao and Zuo Feijing launched their attack simultaneously, not at Feng Kai, but at each other!

They were only five meters away from each other. Flying swords and crystal cannons were of little significance at such a short distance.

Li Yao suddenly kicked at Zuo Feijing’s abdomen.

With the enhancement of the power rune arrays on the leg, the kick had almost reached the sonic speed.

A coldly shining spike stuck out from the tip of his foot.

It seemed that if the kick was to arrive at its destination, not only would the crystal suit that Zuo Feijing was wearing be broken through, Zuo Feijing’s stomach would be ripped open, too.

Right then, two claws that were vibrating violently protruded on the back of Zuo Feijing’s hand.

Zuo Feijing waved his arms and snatched at Li Yao’s ankle.

Li Yao’s kick seemed to be going to a dead end. Before it was to pierce through Zuo Feijing’s abdomen, Zuo Feijing’s tiger claws would mince his foot into pieces.

Li Yao scoffed. The crystal reactor on his back was burning furiously. Every power rune array was brought to maximum. His leg folded miraculously like a switchblade and avoided the attack of the tiger claws. Then, at the same speed, he kept his legs bent and kneed Zuo Feijing’s chest brutally.

Zuo Feijing roared and took the blow. In the meantime, the two tiger claws struck at Li Yao’s ribs unstoppably.

“BOOM!”

The two crystal suits clashed.

Cracking noises were ringing in the waist of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, whose components were flying everywhere.

“Li Yao, how arrogant of you!

“Tiger King Battlesuit of Deep Sea University has been co-developed with Gold Armor Clan. Much of its design is based on the Mystic Turtle Battlesuit. Its defense ability is far beyond your expectation!

“You think you’re tough? Idiot!”

After being hit by Li Yao, a shallow hollow had appeared the armor on Zuo Feijing’s chest. But it did not affect the normal functions of the crystal suit. The fact that he was laughing right now seemed to be evident enough that his crystal suit suffered much less damage than his opponent’s had.

With the counterforce of the collision, Zuo Feijing accelerated again and caught the Flying Crystal in less than five seconds.

Right then, he heard the sound of wind.

More exactly, the sound of tornadoes.

Desperate alarms were ringing inside the Tiger King Battlesuit. All the information in front of Zuo Feijing was bloody red.

The audience all exclaimed in bewilderment because they had seen something that was impossible to happen.

Hit by the tiger claws, the most distinguished melee magical equipment of the Tiger King Battlesuit, right in the critical part, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit regained balance only one second later and caught up with Tiger King, as if nothing had happened.

The destruction of so many magical equipment components seemed to have had no effect on the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit at all.

At this moment, several expert Cultivators realized what Li Yao was trying to do.

The reason why he attacked Zuo Feijing aggressively just now was to reduce Zuo Feijing’s attention and to enlarge the distance between them, so that he could perform what he was best at…

The saber art!

In lightning and thunder, Li Yao was only ten meters away from his opponent.

With the enhancement of the power of lightning in the air, Li Yao spun, unsheathed his saber, and slashed forward!

The heavy battle saber, which he’d spent half a month refining and could bring the speed to maximum by the air paths on its surface that were as delicate as flowers, turned into a shocking flash and tore the sky apart.

The Thunderous Tornado Saber Art!

The saber art that absorbed the mysteries of the martial arts of Long Wenhui, a Core Formation Cultivator, that had been created and improved in savaging dust storms, and that had slain tornadoes once before, first revealed itself ferociously in front of the world!

“So fast!”

“So intimidating!”

“So brutal!”

Those who witnessed the slash all shuddered in horror.

Although they were in two different worlds, they felt their hearts nearly stop beating, as if the slash could break through the boundary of worlds out of the light beams and land at their own necks.

Zuo Feijing didn’t expect Li Yao’s defense ability to be so good as to be able to take his attack and still launch such an unstoppable slash as if the damage on his crystal suit was nothing.

Li Yao had calculated his speed, strength, and angle too well. He chose the timing when Zuo Feijing just caught the Flying Crystal.

Zuo Feijing’s attention was all focused on the Flying Crystal. He had nowhere to run and could only bring the spiritual shield of the crystal suit to the maximum for defense.

In the meantime, he thought of dozens of counterattack plans.

As long as he could take the slash, there were hundreds of ways he could turn around and cut Li Yao into pieces!

“Bo!”

Li Yao’s saber slashed into the spiritual shield of the Tiger King Battlesuit.

The seemingly solid spiritual shield was shattered into pieces like an eggshell, which had been broken through by the heavy saber without any trouble.

Astounded, Zuo Feijing gritted his teeth and, having no time to consider his demeanor anymore, leaned forwards until his body reached the ground. Then he dashed forward like a giant lizard.

The saber missed the target.

But the saber aura that had been condensed by the dancing lightning nearby followed him and hit his back like a haunting ghost.

Chapter 318: Rush Hour!

“Crack!”

The plate armor on the back of the Tiger King Battlesuit which looked like a giant turtle shell was slashed into two halves by Li Yao’s saber.

Everybody seemed to be able to hear Zuo Feijing’s grunts.

But a dead enemy is better than a wounded enemy!

Li Yao didn’t chase the Flying Crystal. Instead, he turned around, intending to kill the Tiger King Battlesuit while he had the chance.

But right then, hundreds of flying swords launched by the Sword Torrent Battlesuit rained down upon him.

The Mournful Mist Battlesuit sneaked by him and reached the Flying Crystal without bothering the two of them.

The other 16 crystal suits were also coming close rapidly.

Li Yao sniffed. The moment before the flying swords tangled him, he pulled back his saber and rushed at the Flying Crystal, leaving Zuo Feijing behind.

The auditorium was filled with dead silence in the beginning, which was then broken by louder and louder whispers that resembled the sound of a pot of boiling oil in which a block of ice was tossed.

Students of Deep Sea University pulled their hair in bewilderment. Someone was repeatedly blinking their eyes in shock, trying to wake themselves up from the nightmare.

They could not believe that Zuo Feijing had been hit by Li Yao and wounded so badly.

Supernova Jiang Sheng was still inscrutable.

But the metal ring that had been on his nose all the time suddenly turned brighter than ever.

His eyes were ten times sharper than before as he looked at Yuan Manqiu, his senior sister, who was sitting among the delegates of the Grand Desolate War Institution.

Yuan Manqiu bit her lips and waved at him.

“Interesting.”

In the zone of the military delegates, Guan Chao, captain of ‘Red Lightning’, took over a crystal processor from General Shangguan Ce and browsed through Li Yao’s files. “It’s indeed marvelous that a boy no higher than the peak of the Refinement Stage was able to perform such a deadly slash, harnessing an air of the destructive dust storms and thunderbolts in the depths of the Grand Desolate Plateau.

“If he hits the critical part of an enemy with the same slash just now, he might even be able to put down a middle-level demon general instantly.

“Oh? He killed a demon general when he just entered the Refinement Stage?

“The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is tough enough, too. After a huge impact against the Tiger King Battlesuit, not only did it remain intact, it even allowed its Exo to perform such a splendid slash.

“This is going to be an interesting match.”

While they were talking, the situation on the racetrack was changing drastically.

Li Yao dashed forward from the right. His saber slashed the Flying Crystal like a hurricane, which came to a halt.

Li Yao took the opportunity to sheathe his saber before holding the Flying Crystal in his arms.

“Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!”

The Flying Crystal was violently shaking in Li Yao’s chest like a Hellfire-Lightning that was going to explode.

Meanwhile, deep blue electric arts pierced into his body through the gaps in the crystal suit.

“Shhhhhhh!”

Li Yao was grimacing because of the electric shock. Every one of his body cells were itching in pain, and he couldn’t focus at all.

He finally understood why Zuo Feijing had taken the blow from him without counterattacking immediately just now.

One second!

Two seconds!

The longer he held it, the more violent the Flying Crystal became. The electric shocks it sent out were getting more and more intense, too.

Li Yao almost gritted his teeth to pieces. He dashed forward, having no time to bother anything.

Behind him, 19 crystal suits had crowded and launched their long-range attacks.

Hundreds of flying swords, dozens of mystic lights and almost a hundred Thunder-Palms were flying at him unstoppably.

It was a tricky multiple-choice question.

If he gave it up too early, his time of control over the Flying Crystal would not be long, and such a rare opportunity would be wasted.

If he gave it up too late, he would have little time to prepare to defend himself, and he might be eliminated on the spot.

Li Yao’s pupils shrank to the size of the tip of a burning needle, as he had brought his computational ability to maximum. The crystal camera on the back of the helmet scrutinized every upcoming attack, before he analyzed the frequency, speed and trace of the weapons and the tiny gap between flying swords, mystic lights and Thunder-Palms.

It was not until a flying sword exploded in the right corner of his spiritual shield that he thrusted the Flying Crystal away…

Not forward, but backward!

“BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”

Flying swords, mystic lights and Thunder-Palms enveloped the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit immediately. Bloody lotuses were blossoming one after another. But the stamens of the flowers were cut open by a flashing saber, through which the burning Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit jumped out of the sea of flames.

Up until now, Li Yao had kept the Flying Crystal for 5.3 seconds.

Feng Kai, in the Mournful Mist Battlesuit, was behind him. He had kept it for 3.7 seconds.

Sha Yucheng, Exo of the Sword Torrent Battlesuit, had kept the target for 3.5 seconds.

To everyone’s surprise, Zuo Feijing, who had been driving the Tiger King Battlesuit that had been deemed as the best of all the MP crystal suit models, had only kept the Flying Crystal for 0.1 seconds.

“Ho!”

The crystal reactor of the Tiger King Battlesuit was engaged in the full-fire mode. It roared astoundingly like a dangerous tiger that had just come down the mountain.

Thrown back by Li Yao, the Flying Crystal was in the middle of the other 16 crystal suits, which immediately caused major chaos.

Colorful blasts occurred one wave after another. All kinds of magical equipment components were flying everywhere in the air. Explosions and screams were echoing nonstop.

Right then, the Tiger King Battlesuit finally caught up with the crowd. It charged at the other crystal suits as though they were goats and was not blocked by any of them at all. Then it snatched the Flying Crystal and held it in its arms.

Li Yao, Feng Kai, and Sha Yucheng looked at each other.

The three of them were like a squad that had been cooperating for a long time. They cornered the Tiger King Battlesuit in a triangle with tacit mutual understanding.

The remaining part of the match turned into a demonstration match for Tiger King, Mystic Skeleton, Sword Torrent, and Mournful Mist.

For 90% of the time, the Flying Crystal was handed over amongst themselves. Hardly anybody else was able to touch the Flying Crystal.

When another crystal suit was bold enough to seize the Flying Crystal, it would be crushed by all of them instantly.

Even if the crystal suit did not explode immediately, it would suffer enough damage to get itself eliminated in the next minute because it would not be able to catch up with other crystal suits anymore.

Meanwhile, whenever one of the four crystal suits had the Flying Crystal under control, it would be attacked by the other three crystal suits directly.

Strong as the Tiger King Battlesuit may be, it was not good enough to resist the collective attack from the other three crystal suits under the interferences of the Flying Crystal.

One lap… Two laps… Three laps…

The match was so intense that people had lost the sense of time.

Although the racetrack was 10,000 meters long, every lap seemed to be as short as a 100-meter sprint.

After five laps, most of the other crystal suits had been blown to pieces or had to withdraw from the match because of malfunctions.

The time length that each of the four crystal suits gained in every hand-over had significantly increased, too.

The advantages of the Tiger King Battlesuit, which were that it had no major shortcomings and that its defense ability was remarkable, were gradually made best use of in the match.

Sword Torrent and Mournful Mist, on the other hand, were terribly lopsided and therefore found it more and more difficult to keep up with the game.

The Sword Torrent Battlesuit was most distinguished for its flying swords and long-range attacks. But in the intense combat, most of its flying swords had been sent out, of which few were able to be retrieved. As a result, its attack ability was greatly undermined.

The Mournful Mist Battlesuit, although adept at stealth and soul attack, was not famous for its defense ability. After several collective attacks from the other three crystal suits, sparks were bursting out from all the critical parts of the crystal suit. The hallucinations that it created became fuzzy and shabby, too.

The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was the only one that could keep up with the Tiger King Battlesuit.

Ostensibly speaking, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was the most miserable crystal suit on the spot.

It looked as if it had been soaked in the corrosive venom of demon beasts for a day and a night before being roasted on a fire.

At first glance, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit seemed to be a pile of garbage. There was no charisma of ‘King of Magical Equipment’ in it whatsoever.

But such a pile of garbage had tangled with the Tiger King Battlesuit like an undying cockroach.

They clashed and separated, again and again!

The tornado-like saber was as bright as the very beginning.

However…

‘There is something wrong with the spiritual waves on the back of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.’

Many experienced Exos raised their eyebrows.

Generally speaking, if a crystal suit was in a normal state, the transition of the colors of the spiritual waves would always be natural and smooth. There shouldn’t be any abrupt changes.

But right now, the surging spiritual waves behind the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit were fluctuating high and low, bright and dark.

For a while, it was glaring in brilliance; a moment later, it turned into dull green; then, it turned as red as blood; suddenly, it was orange with purple sparkles dancing here and there.

Such a phenomenon was often indicative of a problem with the crystal reactor, which was mostly because the telepathic thoughts of the Exo were obstructed and were not able to trigger the spiritual energy in the crystal reactor normally.

Could it be…

The experienced Exos and refiners looked at one another. Cold sweat was appearing on their forehead.

No matter what the case was, they could see that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit had reached its limit.

“Beep!”

Right then, a brisk shriek rang in the sky of the racetrack.

The Tiger King Battlesuit’s total time of keeping the Flying Crystal had surpassed 95 seconds.

Five more seconds, and the Tiger King Battlesuit would be the final winner.

At this moment, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit ranked the second, with a total time of 92 seconds.

But the Flying Crystal fell into the hands of the Mournful Mist Battlesuit.

Zuo Feijing roared. He charged at the Mournful Mist Battlesuit with his tiger claws shinning unnervingly.

Li Yao and Sha Yucheng looked at each other. They made the sensible choice at the same time. Instead of attacking the Mournful Mist Battlesuit with Zuo Feijing, they attacked Zuo Feijing from his left and his right.

If the Tiger King Battlesuit got the Flying Crystal, they would be doomed to fail.

The Mournful Mist Battlesuit, which had been seriously damaged in the previous fighting, ranked fourth among the four crystal suits, with a total time of 72 seconds.

Their biggest threat right now was Tiger King!

“You two are not enough to stop me!”

Without the interferences of the Flying Crystal, Zuo Feijing was not afraid of their assault at all.

His tiger claws scattered the last cluster of flying swords from the Sword Torrent Battlesuit into pieces. In the meantime, the Devil Destroyer Cannon on his chest fired and blew Li Yao away like a volcano eruption. Then, he kicked the back of the Mournful Mist Battlesuit and knocked his opponent more than thirty meters away. The Flying Crystal was freed again and jumped into the sky.

One versus three, as easy as pie. The Tiger King Battlesuit couldn’t be more magnificent!

Zuo Feijing smiled and seized the Flying Crystal.

But his attention was entirely focused on Li Yao whom he had locked onto with the hidden crystal cameras on his back.

He had set up a trap waiting for Li Yao to jump in. Before the final victory, he would blow the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit into pieces!

But Li Yao… simply squatted.

Four stabilizer fins suddenly protruded from the back of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, like a butterfly which had just grown out of the caterpillar.

Chapter 319: Rise From Ashes!

Everything had been covered in grey mist in his eyes, except for the Tiger King Battlesuit and the Flying Crystal. But they soon turned into a series of figures, lines and angles in his insane calculations, too.

The real world vanished. A pure computational world assumed its place.

Brain cell activity, 200%!

Brain cell activity, 300%!

Super perceptive state, activated!

“Chi!”

Unimaginable brilliance burst out of the back of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, which seemed to have grown two fiery wings that were dozens of meters long. At its peak speed, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit sprinted at the Tiger King Battlesuit like a shooting star.

“How can it be?”

Zuo Feijing didn’t expect that Li Yao could still accelerate at the end of the game. He also realized that Li Yao was not going for the Flying Crystal, but for him.

The traps that he had been preparing for were in vain. Li Yao crashed into him heavily.

“Crack!”

The Tiger King Battlesuit was knocked more than ten meters away. Its components were flying in the air like the petals of a flower being blown by raging wind.

For Zuo Feijing, the slash in the beginning only worked out because he wasn’t paying much attention to it. This was the first time that the Tiger King Battlesuit had been so severely damaged in a face-to-face confrontation.

“Are you crazy?!”

Zuo Feijing gritted his teeth and couldn’t figure out why.

In regard of structure hardiness, the Tiger King Battlesuit, which had employed many synthesized Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, should be much better than the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.

Li Yao would definitely suffer much more damage from the clash than he would.

But why was this monster…

Before he was able to finish his thought, Li Yao had dashed up to him once again like a psycho. The burning flames behind Li Yao’s back was like a dragon who just jumped out of an abyss.

The intense pressure twisted Zuo Feijing’s face. He had to give up thinking. With a surge of spiritual energy, his tiger claws were ten times its previous size with reckless electric arcs dancing nonstop. They took the blow from Li Yao’s heavy battle saber.

“BOOM!”

“BOOM!”

“BOOM!”

The earthshaking and heaven-splitting sound seemed to be suggesting that this was not a match between two crystal suits, but an accident where two crystal warships crashed into each other.

The auditorium was quiet. The convention center was quiet. Every spectator watching the live stream was quiet.

The fists of the audience were clenched so hard that sweat on their palms seemed to be being pressed back into the skin.

Their hearts were burning and exploding, unleashing enough heat to boil all their blood.

The performance of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was beyond the wildest imaginations of the audience.

Anyone with even a little knowledge of magical equipment would know that there was a huge gap between the specifications of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit and those of the Tiger King Battlesuit, since the price of Mystic Skeleton was only one third of that of Tiger King. Theoretically speaking, the result of the match had been predestined even before the match began.

But as it turned out, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was the only crystal suit that challenged Tiger King in a face-to-face confrontation and persisted for more than ten seconds on the racetrack.

Despite the most excellent framework design, the hardiness of ordinary materials was still far from that of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, even though the latter had been synthesized.

After every clash, large clusters of sparks and multiple components would burst out from the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, as if it had been blown by a large-scale crystal railgun.

Ten seconds later, there was no Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit anymore. There were only fragments of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.

But Li Yao gritted his teeth and continued on the match wearing what was no better than a pile of garbage.

Every time the audience felt that he was never going to stand up again, more intense spiritual energy than the previous time would burst out inside the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, allowing him to sprint and charge at his opponent once more.

‘Just stop. Such combat is evident enough of the performance of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit!’

Many people who were watching the game, even including the students of the Refining Department of Deep Sea University, couldn’t bear to watch it anymore and thought to themselves.

‘Stop now. The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit has exceeded its limit. Something bad is going to happen if you go on like this!’

Supernova Jiang Sheng’s face was not as tranquil as just now. The corner of his mouth twitched violently without him knowing.

“You are out of your mind! You really are!”

Under Li Yao’s ferocious and endless attack, Zuo Feijing shouted, “Your exhaust flame is abnormal. There must be something wrong with your crystal reactor. The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit cannot handle such intense collisions at all. You’re playing with fire!”

“BOOM!”

To better prove what he just said, a power rune array on the back of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit exploded in a blaze due to overloading.

Affected by the explosion, the crystal reactor of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit stopped functioning briefly. Then, after strange cracking noises, colorful and weird smoke popped up from the inside of it.

Everyone’s blood almost froze.

All the Exos knew that it was an ominous sign which indicated that the crystal reactor had entered an extremely unstable state and it had to be stopped immediately!

But, in a frenzy, Li Yao roared, “The name of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit shall be known by the entire world even if I am to be blown into pieces!”

The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit squatted, while its crystal reactor was overloading to the limit of its limit. The surging exhaust flame, together with dense smoke, was spurted almost a hundred meters away.

Li Yao was entirely melted into the flame, as he slashed forward as if he were going to cut the racetrack into two halves.

“BAM!”

Radiance brighter than the glowing sun burst out between the heavy battle saber and the tiger claws.

The two pieces of ultra-solid magical equipment broke into pieces at the same time.

Despite the overwhelming blast, Li Yao lowered his shoulder and dashed forward at the Tiger King Battlesuit again.

After the collision, another three power rune arrays exploded on the back of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. The right side of plate armor was almost entirely shattered.

But the Tiger King Battlesuit was pushed away for more than ten meters.

Li Yao took the opportunity and snatched the Flying Crystal. He was going to accelerate again, when a colorful swirl appeared behind him which was expanding rapidly.

It was the ultimate omen that massive spiritual energy had been leaked and there was about to be an explosion.

Everyone’s eyes bulged as they exclaimed.

“Not good. Something’s wrong with the crystal reactor of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit!”

“Doesn’t it claim that it has a high-pressure valve system? Now’s the time to release the redundant spiritual energy!”

“The match must be stopped! You wouldn’t want to see what’s to come next!”

“High-pressure valve system?”

Among the students of Deep Sea University, Supernova Jiang Sheng sighed. He shook his head and muttered to himself, “A high-pressure valve is likely to malfunction, or even to be blown into pieces, any time in an intense combat!

“Gambling the safety of a crystal suit entirely on a small valve. Only the grassroots refiners are crazy enough to come with such an insane solution!”

Tiger King, Mournful Mist, and Sword Torrent all noticed the anomaly of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.

The three Exos felt short of breath because of anxiety. They brought their spiritual shield to maximum without any hesitation.

But it was too late to blow the whistle.

Amidst everyone’s exclamations, Li Yao accelerated again, again and again while his crystal reactor was overloading.

At first, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit broke into the supersonic speed and rushed for almost a thousand meters like a laser.

Then, another eight of its power rune arrays exploded at the same time, which bashed it to the ground like a giant hammer.

Before Li Yao was able to stand up, a blazing, man-made sun rose from the middle of the racetrack and consumed him.

The sun quickly turned into a giant orange fireball which was expanding exponentially, before a pale mushroom cloud popped up. There seemed to be a hideously grinning face of a devil in the smoke.

As the fireball was expanding, the blast rippled to the far-away distance slowly like a giant swirl.

The entire convention center was filled with gasps.

No one had foreseen such a tragedy.

The crystal reactor of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit had exploded yet another time!

Both the serene Deep Sea University delegates and the tough military delegates were overwhelmed by whispers.

“It really puzzles me sometimes why those grassroots are trying so hard to prove themselves when they refuse to recant their wrong belief.”

Supernova Jiang Sheng mumbled to himself, “Defeat Deep Sea University? That’s a lofty ideal. But doesn’t an ant who wants to shake a tree and a mantis who tries to stop a shuttle by its forelegs have a lofty ideal, too?”

“In fact, his performance was good enough already.”

Guan Chao, captain of ‘Red Lightning’, was in grief. “His files suggest that he is a Class 1 Federation Disabled Soldier. At first, I didn’t understand how a young college student was able to earn such an honor.

“But now I get it.

“The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit might not be the best crystal suit.

“But ‘Vulture Li Yao’ deserves the title of Class 1 Federation Disabled Soldier. He is one of the best Cultivators!”

“Li Yao!”

“Vulture Li Yao!”

Countless voices were sighing for the same name.

Yuan Manqiu fell back to her chair uncontrollably. The zone of the Grand Desolate War Institution was gravely quiet.

Zuo Feijing, Sha Yucheng, and Feng Kai were astounded by the shocking scene, too, and were not back to themselves for a long time.

Although they were competitors, Li Yao’s idiotic insanity still aroused complicated feelings in their heart.

Vulture Li Yao was going to be a name that would not be forgotten easily.

However…

“It’s not right.”

Zuo Feijing was the first to realize that something was not right. A drop of cold sweat appeared on the tip of his nose. “My spiritual shield remains as intact as before, which means I was not affected by the blast of the explosion!”

“An explosion of a crystal reactor equals to an explosion of at least a hundred Hellfire-Lightnings. Although I’m hundreds of meters away from the center of the explosion, my spiritual shield should’ve been undermined by at least a quarter. How come it is still intact?”

“Look over there!”

Sha Yucheng shouted, pointing at the giant light beam floating in the sky which had been displaying each player’s total time of keeping the Flying Crystal.

The number behind ‘Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, Grand Desolate War Institution’, in other words, Li Yao, was still bouncing vigorously.

’99 seconds!’

‘99.5 seconds!’

‘End of the race.’

‘Winner: Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, Li Yao, Grand Desolate War Institution.’

“What?!”

Tiger King, Sword Torrent and Mournful Mist seemed to have been cast upon a spell which turned them into frozen statues.

The three Exos inside of them were not even able to lift their finger anymore. They could only shout in bafflement, “Li Yao won? The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit won? What’s going on exactly?”

After a short silence, the convention center was in a much more chaotic mess than before.

A large question mark and an even larger exclamation mark was jumping in everyone’s eyes.

They looked at each in utmost bewilderment.

“Why? The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit exploded just now and Li Yao was blown to pieces. Why did the pre-input telepathic thought inside the Flying Crystal determine that he was the final winner?”

“Speaking of which, where is the Flying Crystal?”

“The Flying Crystal is refined out of the solidest and firmest Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. The previous explosion should not be powerful enough to damage it. It should’ve flown out already!”

“Crack, crack.”

From the gargantuan fireball, a black figure walked out slowly.

Flames were still flowing through the gaps of the plate armor, as if a hundred red roses that were blossoming at the same time.

Since the match had ended, the abilities of the Flying Crystal were automatically turned off. It was nothing more than an ordinary metal ball now.

“Swoosh! Swoosh swoosh!”

The black figure lifted his index finger. The Flying Crystal was revolving fast on his fingertip meekly.

Dazed, Zuo Feijing, Feng Kai and Sha Yucheng gazed at the guy walking out of the fire who should’ve been blown to pieces ten seconds ago – Vulture Li Yao!

Chapter 320: Your Opponent Is a Warship!

Li Yao was like a ghost who had returned from the deepest level in the hell. The ragged crystal suit he was wearing did not seem lackluster, but full of deadly mysteries.

“Crack! Crack!”

Li Yao tore off his helmet which had become too twisted to be opened automatically. He grimaced happily with his lips curled.

To this moment, Zuo Feijing finally understood everything. His face was so gloomy that one might have thought it was going to rain at any moment. He gnashed his teeth. “There was nothing wrong with the crystal reactor of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. It was just a pretense, wasn’t it?”

Li Yao narrowed his eyes, which looked like two sharp sabers.

“Correct. Before I took part in the Magical Equipment Exposition, I spent one month refining some gadgets which I added to the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. There’s nothing special about them, except that they can block the spiritual waves coming out of the crystal reactor and make it look like that the crystal reactor is burning incompletely.

“Besides, I’ve carved a lot of radiance rune arrays on the surface of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit which can unleash dazzling brilliance and an intimidating fireball in a very short time. But in fact, they’re nothing but visual effects without any damage at all.”

“So…” Zuo Feijing bit his lips so hard that blood was flowing down from the corner of his mouth. “You clashing with me so many times just now like a lunatic and your nonsense like ‘the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit shall be known by the world even if I’m to be blown to pieces’ was all to mislead us into thinking you’d lost your mind?”

“Fighting with you the hard way was partly to demonstrate the performance of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, and partly because I need a reasonable explanation for the ostensible overloading of the crystal reactor.”

Li Yao grinned. “But of course, I was joking about the ‘blown to pieces’ part. This is just a game. We really shouldn’t go that far.”

“You!”

Speechless, Zuo Feijing, Sha Yucheng and Feng Kai was clenching their fists and gaping at Li Yao.

This was also the only thing they could do at the moment.

…

The dialogue between Li Yao and Zuo Feijing was transmitted to every corner of the convention center by the broadcasting power runes, which immediately raised a riot.

“So unscrupulous! So shameless! No one pretends that they have self-destructed.”

“Cheating! This is definitely cheating!”

Students of Deep Sea University were all shouting excitedly. Whatever sympathy and admiration they had had felt for Li Yao were completely gone now. Everyone was jumping to their feet.

Gritting their teeth, many guys were rolling up their sleeves and planning to have a nice talk with Li Yao.

Some girls even shed resentful tears for Zuo Feijing’s failure.

“Shaoyang, I am starting to know what you were feeling back then.”

Supernova Jiang Sheng was sitting peacefully. The metal ring before his eyes lost all its brightness. After a long time, vague greenish color crept out.

His lips curled, he couldn’t help but put on a self-mocking smile.

“Since the very beginning, Li Yao has successfully deluded everyone into thinking that he was on a furious rampage. Zuo Feijing, Sha Yucheng, and Feng Kai all fell into his trap and danced to his rhythm, only to be led to a ditch by him in the end.

“Everything has been within his calculation. ‘Vulture’ deserves his name.”

Many experienced Exos were also talking to each with their faces flushed red in embarrassment.

Before Li Yao walked out of the fireball, they had been fooled and failed to recognize that the self-explosion was but an act.

“Li Yao…”

Exhaling a long breath in relief, Yuan Manqiu lost all her strength and leaned against the back of the chair. She covered her face with his hand. Joyful tears flowed out from the gaps of her fingers, as her plump body was shivering.

“What happened? What on earth has happened?”

Many ordinary tourists did not understand the situation. They looked at each other in confusion and dragged those around them asking for explanation.

“Breaking news! In the competitive test of the 21 MP crystal suit models, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, the cheapest of all, defeated the high and mighty Tiger King Battlesuit of Deep Sea University and laughed last!”

“With his dumbfounding performance, Vulture Li Yao has blown the horn in the war against the Refining Department of Deep Sea University.”

“After this Flying Crystal race, no one will dare to look down upon the Refining Department of the Grand Desolate War Institution anymore!”

The reporters were thrilled, too. Countless articles were written on their light beams with telepathic thoughts and spread through the Spiritual Nexus out to every corner of the Star Glory Federation and the Cultivation world.

…

Half of an hour later, inside a med bay, Li Yao was soaking in a pool that had been filled with bright green recovery liquid.

Wounds and bruises could be found in every part of his body.

The game just now had not been as easy as he showed everyone to be.

Out of pursuit of a lower cost, the buffer and defense systems of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit were far from those of Tiger King, Sword Torrent, and Mournful Mist.

The high-intensity collision left many wounds that were deep to the bones.

However, as he recalled the moment when he returned from the inferno to the racetrack and accepted the homage that the audience on the spot paid to him, he felt from the bottom of his heart that the pain was worth it.

The Soul Condensing Pendant before his chest shivered with his breath.

Li Yao sensed that the power inside the Soul Condensing Pendant was significantly greater than before the Flying Crystal race.

Maybe, it wouldn’t take long before the Phantom Entities hiding in it broke out of the cocoon and returned to reality.

Right then, a middle-aged man, wearing a colonel shoulder board, strode into the med bay.

He was wearing a badge on his chest. It was made of a cracked skull with crossed red lightning bolts in the background, which looked cold and cruel.

The middle-aged man stopped beside the pool.

The dreadful injuries on Li Yao’s body made the corner of his eyes twitch. Shock and appreciation appeared in his eyes.

“It seems that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit does not protect the Exo as well as it should,” Colonel Guan Chao, captain of ‘Red Lightning’, observed unemotionally.

Although unaware of who he was, Li Yao had guessed that he must have something to do with the military order. He stated, “Maybe. But I stood to the end and I won.”

Guan Chao squinted and said, “Your performance in the Flying Crystal race was indeed an eye-opener. However, the key to your victory was not free of cunning tricks.

“In a match, you can pretend that your crystal reactor has exploded by taking advantage of the inattentive blindness of your opponents, which can buy you the most crucial ten seconds for your victory. It’s completely understandable.

“But what significance does this approach have in a real battle?

“What the military need is not a crystal suit that can win a Flying Crystal race with fancy disguises, but a killing machine that can slaughter the enemies in a battlefield!”

Li Yao smiled, his sharp teeth glaring. He tried to lift one of his fingers as he said, “Firstly, since the high-level demons are as intelligent as human beings, if Zuo Feijing and the other two Exos are fooled, the high-level demons might be fooled by the trick, too. In a real battle, if a high-level demon gets distracted by the idea that the crystal reactor of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is going to explode, maybe for a single second, it will be the opportunity for the Exo to reverse victory and failure, or even life and death!”

Guan Chao remarked coldly, “Such deception can only be used once. You won’t fool anyone a second time.”

Li Yao slowly lifted a second finger.

“The second point, and also the more important point, which I didn’t tell Zuo Feijing just now because he might be scared, is that this is not deception.

“The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit can truly set itself off if I really want to.”

Guan Chao’s pupils constricted violently. “What did you say?”

Li Yao said, “The crystal reactor of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is devoid of any Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, which makes it the most unstable crystal reactor of all the crystal reactors in the federation.

“The high-pressure valve is far from enough to fix the issue thoroughly.

“After all, the valve might malfunction or even break down in a ferocious battlefield.

“My ability is too limited for me to change that. So, on second thought, I added a detonator power rune array on the crystal reactor.

“With a telepathic thought, the crystal reactor can be turned into a massive crystal bomb and unleash the power that equals to the explosion of a hundred Hellfire-Lightnings.

“So, don’t presume that I was deceiving them just now.

“If I wanted, I had countless opportunities to die with Tiger King just now.

“In front of a world-shaking big bang, the performance gap between the two crystal suits is negligible.

“Of course, it’s just my personal modification.

“But the modification process is not complicated and does not require any Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. The self-destruction system can be added to the standard Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit easily.”

Guan Chao was dazed for a long time. He stared at Li Yao in a perplex way, before he opened his mouth after a long time. “Do you think it’s necessary to include the self-destruction system in the standard Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit?”

Li Yao nodded.

“If a final war between human beings and the demon clan is to break out, I believe a self-destruction system is of paramount importance for every crystal suit.

“I don’t know about other people, but for me, I would prefer dying with my enemies than being captured by the demons and tortured to death.”

Guan Chao didn’t reply. He stared at Li Yao deeply before he walked out of the room without saying anything.

Li Yao was ill at ease, wondering whether or not his answers had satisfied the mysterious colonel.

Five minutes later, Yuan Manqiu walked inside, her eyes reddish.

“We’ve received the official invitation from the military to join with Tiger King, Sword Torrent, and Mournful Mist in a special bidding meeting for the order of standard crystal suits.”

Yuan Manqiu briefly paused after every word, trying to calm herself down.

But Li Yao was able to hear the passion that his professor had been burying under the tranquility for twenty years.

“The military thinks highly of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. The final competition will be between Mystic Skeleton and Tiger King. Mournful Mist and Sword Torrent would serve as supplementary equipment because they are too lopsided in their performance. The military will most likely buy some of them for special forces. But they will not be purchased as the standard crystal suit to equip the federal army.”

Yuan Manqiu couldn’t control herself anymore. Her voice was shaking in anxiety and excitement.

“However, the challenge that you will be faced with in the bidding meeting will be hundreds of times more difficult than the Flying Crystal racing.

“Your opponents are not just the Tiger King, Sword Torrent, and Mournful Mist.

“A crystal warship on active service in the federal army will be your enemy, too!”

Chapter 321: Evening Glow Warship

Half a month later and the unprecedentedly splendid Magical Equipment Exposition was still underway.

The Flying Crystal race, in which Li Yao exceled, was played and replayed to hundreds of thousands of visitors every day on the giant light beam floating in the air.

Discussions as to whether Mystic Skeleton was stronger than Tiger King or the other way around continued unabated on the Nexus, too.

Many people insisted that Tiger King was the best MP crystal suit model whose specifications were far higher than any of its competitor’s. Li Yao’s victory in the Flying Crystal race boiled down to his cheating. If the race were to be held one more time, the Tiger King Battlesuit, driven by Zuo Feijing, would certainly beat it to ash.

But more people believed that since one of the two crystal suits was three times as expensive as the other one, it would be too unfair to simply compare their specifications.

Li Yao may have resorted to tricks in the final period of the Flying Crystal race. But before that, Mystic Skeleton and Tiger King had confronted each other face-to-face multiple times. It even blew Tiger King to the ground twice, which was evident enough of its toughness.

After all, moneywise, three Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit equaled one Tiger King Battlesuit.

What would the outcome be if three Mystic Skeleton Battlesuits had fought the Tiger King Battlesuit in the race just now?

Every netizen, especially those who were interested in crystal suits, took part in the furious quarrels regarding these trending topics.

But Li Yao, the center of the discussion, had vanished yet again from public attention.

Right now, he was on an unmarked crystal airship which was flying to the base of the Fifth Fleet of the federal army deep inside the mountains.

“Your Refining Department finally got its day. I’m told that you’ve received almost a hundred orders of Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit from major sects of the federation in the past ten days. Well well well. After all of them are refined and shipped out, the profit will be more than ten billion. Such a big fortune!”

Ding Lingdang exclaimed joyfully in the spiritual crane messenger.

“Not that much.”

Li Yao counted his fingers as he was running the calculations. “As you know, our Refining Department does not have a magical equipment factory. We can refine three to five pieces by ourselves. But the hundred orders are too much a workload for us and will have to be outsourced to eligible sects. Our profit will plunge because of that.

“Besides, to increase our sales, we quoted a low price for the hundred orders with a lot of complimentary post-sales service. Taking that into consideration, there’s barely any profit now.”

“But it’s great that the brand is finally out. You’re not in the school these days. But the Refining Department has been getting more and more attention. Every corner of the school is discussing the news about the Refining Department. I also heard that leaders of the school were planning to further increase the budget for the Refining Department to build it into a special major of our school. There was a floating mountain that was supposed to belong to the Combat Department upon refinement, but it is going to be transferred to the Refining Department after modification. Our dean Old Xia nearly choked himself out of anger.”

Ding Lingdang smiled. “Besides, you were quite bold in the Flying Crystal race. Many girls in the school regard you as their idol now. They know that we are very close to each other and you’ve been calling me sister. A few days ago, a lovely girl even came to me asking whether or not you had a girlfriend.”

Li Yao raised his eyebrow. “Then what did you say to her?”

“I was quite in a dilemma, since I’d never been in such a situation before. After pondering for a long time—”

Ding Lingdang said, as if it were nothing, “I brought all of the girls that were interested in you to the front of a giant rock, blew the rock into pieces with a single punch, and told them that you are, in fact, my boyfriend and whoever hits on you will end like that rock.”

“Okay.”

Li Yao scratched his head. It was truly as expected of a tyrannosaur.

While they were talking, the crystal airship slowed down after a bump.

Brightness shined in Li Yao’s eyes. He stood up suddenly.

“I’ve arrived!”

“Go for it! Be they crystal warships or star fortresses, blow ’em to pieces!”

Ding Lingdang waved her fists and cheered for him.

Li Yao smiled. He turned off the spiritual crane messenger and walked out of the cabin to the front deck.

The scenery in front of him stopped him from breathing for a moment.

In the middle of the lofty mountains, against the bloody sunset, dozens of ragged warships were floating in the air. They did not seem to be made of metal, but rather looked like pupas billions of times larger. Bones and flesh could be found through the holes on their surface which was full of dreadful warts and scars.

They were the remnants of the devil warships of the demon clan.

Different from the crystal warship of the human beings, every devil warship was a gargantuan living creature and an ultimate biological weapon that came into being after thousands of years of crazy evolution.

Such warship creatures possessed enormous brains whose computational ability was as good as the mainframe crystal processor of human beings.

By telekinesis, they could be connected to the brain of the high-level demons who then could control them at will and make best use of their firepower.

The devil warships had been wrecked by the federal army and towed to this airborne graveyard as a presentation of the might of human beings.

Passing by the devil warship graveyard, there were dozens of crystal warships in the front that were equally dilapidated and full of rust.

They were the retired warships of the Fifth Fleet of the federal army during the five hundred years of bloody battles. Floating in the air, they were ineffaceable monuments.

Behind the monuments were two steep mountains which pierced into the sky like two sharp swords. A narrow and thin valley lay between the two mountains.

This place was named Monument Valley, which was where the Fifth Fleet of the federal army was stationed.

The Fifth Fleet was one of the best troops in the federal army.

Against the spectacular sunset, dozens of crystal warships were emitting blazing brilliance that was hundreds of meters long. But they were as agile as shuttles while they danced in the sky knitting nets in sophisticated and unpredictable patterns.

Above the Monument Valley, a titanic floating fortress the size of a small city was floating in the air. Countless armed shuttles were flying in and out, humming like busy bees.

Enjoying the view in front him, Li Yao’s understanding of ‘war machine’ grew much deeper.

He felt very proud that he belonged to such a great species.

However, when he realized that his opponent might be one of the crystal warships flying over his head, Li Yao’s head immediately started aching.

“Crystal warships have been the main forces of the federal army all the time.”

Yuan Manqiu walked to his side and watched the magnificent parade of the crystal warships for a while with her hands behind her back. Then she observed, “For five hundred years, the military has been focusing on warship technology and has developed countless formidable crystal warships. When a beast tide breaks out, the crystal warships will be deployed to extinguish it.

“As for high-level demons and the scattered demons hiding in forests, underground, or city ruins, they will be dealt with by Cultivators whose individual combat ability is much higher.

“The military are in charge of clearing the ‘sphere’, while the Cultivators are responsible for clearing the ‘spot’. That’s how battles have been fought in the Star Glory Federation traditionally.

“Therefore, there are many warship advocates in the military who insist that railguns and warships can solve all our problems.

“If the problems can’t be fixed, that’s because the railguns and the warships are not large enough.

“Now that the military is planning to endorse standard crystal suits in the federal army, the resources of the warship advocates will, of course, be greatly diminished. The budget that goes to warships will shrink, too.

“So, it’s easy to conceive how much pressure there will be.

“That’s also exactly why this special bidding meeting is being held. Frankly speaking, this is more about the debate of war methodologies in the military and the quarrels between crystal suit advocates and warship advocates.

“In the bidding meeting, not only do we need to prove that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is the best MP crystal suit model, we also need to prove that crystal suits boast irreplaceable advantages compared with crystal warships.

“How about it? Are you confident?

“According to the bidding rules provided by the military, Exos of the crystal suits in the bidding meeting are not necessarily our own candidates. The military can arrange skilled and experienced Exos to drive the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit for the final test. If you feel that there’s too much pressure, we can still change you to someone else.”

Li Yao turned to the side and looked at Yuan Manqiu. Then he smiled.

“Professor, that’s a very strange way of encouragement.”

Yuan Manqiu smiled, too. She handed over a jade slip to Li Yao.

“The military came by this morning, stating that they can arrange a super Exo who has been wearing crystal suits for more than thirty years for the final test of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. But we declined it right then.

“All the participants of the Project Mystic Skeleton agreed unanimously that you will always be the priority Exo for the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.

“We believe in you no matter what.

“This jade slip contains detailed documents regarding the final test. There is still some time before we land. You’d better take a look at it carefully. The test will be different from what we imagined.

“This time, the military is getting serious!”

Li Yao took over the jade slip and took a deep breath when he noticed that his nose had been clogged.

This was going to be the final test!

Passing the test, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit would be able to secure the big order of the military and become the standard crystal suit for thousands of soldiers of the federal army. Maybe it would even become the most manufactured crystal suit model!

One day, thousands of soldiers and Cultivators would congregate into an impregnable steel torrent which would rage through the wormholes into the Blood Demon Sector and crush everything inside into pieces.

For the day to come sooner, not just one crystal warship, even if he were to be faced with the entire Fifth Fleet, he would still break out of the siege and tread over them all like a deadly vulture.

…

Inside the cabin, Li Yao connected the jade slip to the mini crystal processor, which immediately projected a vivid 3D warship model.

‘Evening Glow’ was a medium crystal warship model refined 80 years ago by the federal army.

It was 214 meters long and 36 meters wide. The main gun of the warship model, ‘Heaven Splitters’, after charging for half an hour, could fire spiritual energy as furious as a full-strength attack of a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator.

The sub-cannons below the body of the warship model that were used to attack the targets on the ground had been upgraded to 12 Taiyi Lightning Railguns five years ago.

Li Yao was no stranger to such heavy magical equipment.

Two years ago, on the train north to Wild Waves City, it was with a Taiyi Lightning Railgun that Li Yao managed to cope with the beast tide.

One Taiyi Lightning Railgun had attracted enough thunderstorms to annihilate half of the Ghost Jellyfish beast tide.

But right now, Li Yao was going to be faced with twelve of them.

Chapter 322: Railguns and Warships, Invincible Partners!

Other than that, a hundred ‘Earthshaking Ordnance Penetrators’ were installed on the Evening Glow warship.

They were special explosive magical equipment that had a large drill in the front which allowed them to dig down the ground for dozens of meters before booming. They were extremely useful when used against demons who were good at stealth below the earth.

This was only counting the magical equipment embedded in the warship.

The scariest part of the Evening Glow warship was that it could accommodate ten squads and up to eighty armed shuttles inside its large body.

According to the files, the armed shuttles that the Evening Glow warship had on board right now was known as ‘Vicious Bee’.

Compared with the Mystic Bird Armed Shuttle and the Crimson Flame Armed Shuttle, the Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle was neither distinguished for its speed nor for its firepower.

However, there was a spacious cabin inside the Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle which could carry five small beast puppets. Once they were released, a three-dimensional hunting network that both involved air forces and ground troops could be established immediately.

One Evening Glow warship equaled to a pair of ‘Heaven Splitters’, 12 Taiyi Lightning Railguns, 100 Earthshaking Ordnance Penetrators, 80 Vicious Bees, and 400 beast puppets.

They were what Li Yao was going to face.

The so-called final test was actually a sham battle.

The place of the sham battle was set to the mountains near the station of the Fifth Fleet.

Mystic Skeleton, Tiger King, Sword Torrent, and Mournful Mist would sneak into the mountains at midnight and hide themselves the way they wanted.

An hour later, a fully armed Evening Glow warship would set off, search, and try to capture them.

Of course, it might destroy them on the spot too.

They would need to try to flee into the wilderness with the best of what they and their crystal suits could do.

Four MP crystal suit models were naturally no match for an Evening Glow.

So, their task was just to run away.

The crystal suit that lasted till the end would most likely become the standard crystal suit of the military.

Their performance in the sham battle would influence the attitude of the military, too.

If their performance was so outstanding that, say, one of the four crystal suits survived 24 hours without being captured or destroyed by the crystal warship, the military might actually be convinced and change their attitude. Maybe dozens of crystal suit legions would be established and every Cultivator in the federal army would be equipped with a crystal suit.

If their performance was terrible and they were all caught within several hours, the military definitely wouldn’t put all the eggs into this basket. They might purchase a few hundred crystal suits as a signal of friendliness, but that would be all the military was going to do. Most of the military budget would still go to the refinement of crystal warships.

“The Evening Glow warship has been refined for the purpose of suppressing the strong demon beasts on and below the ground.

“Taiyi Lightning Railguns, Earthshaking Ordnance Penetrators, Vicious Bee Armed Shuttles, and beast puppets all boast superb air-to-ground attack capabilities.

“Not to mention the bombardment of ‘Heaven Splitters’, which can be as powerful as a strike from a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, every half an hour.

“Even with the cover of the mountainous territory, it is still an impossible mission to persist for more than 24 hours under the pursuit of an Evening Glow.

“Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is not a crystal suit good at stealth. Faced with such a challenge, Tiger King and Mournful Mist are in a much more advantageous position!

“What do I do?”

Li Yao took a deep breath.

Invisible pressure wreathed and suffocated him like the water in the Billowing Star Sea which was ten times heavier than usual.

However, he liked the feeling.

He liked the feeling when every last bit of potential inside his cells were squeezed out and his entire life and soul were blossoming and burning.

Rubbing his hand, Li Yao picked out the detailed map of the battle zone and the exhaustive data regarding the Evening Glow warship from the jade slip.

There were a few hours to go.

He need to memorize the direction of every stream in the battle zone and the location and function of every cabin on an Evening Glow warship.

…

At 8 p.m, Ren Xingbei stood at the highest place in the control tower and stared at the horizon.

Under the deep, dark night sky, the exhaust flames from the crystal warships dispersed into colorful mystic colors which looked like giant flying swords that tore the sky apart.

Every night, Ren Xingbei would stand here quietly and enjoy the magnificent scenery.

It was both relaxing and entertaining.

Feeble as human beings may be, they could refine such a giant crystal warship in which they could cruise and conquer the cosmos.

It was an out-and-out miracle.

As the commander of the Fifth Fleet of the federal army, Lieutenant General Ren Xingbei was the toughest warship advocate and believed in nothing else other than railguns and warships. He had been asserting that crystal warships were the strongest magical equipment in the universe.

The iron beasts which were flying slowly unleashed earthshaking noises that shivered the glasses.

Even they were thousands of meters away, with three layers of glass in between, Ren Xingbei still heard the roars of the power rune arrays inside the crystal warships.

His own heart was also beating fast, like when he first met the crystal warship decades ago. His blood seemed to be boiling.

Steel torrent?

This was the real steel torrent!

Tonight, he was going to prove the point one more time.

Right then, Shangguan Ce walked into the control tower slowly.

The control tower of the base of the Fifth Fleet had been modified to serve as the commanding center of this sham battle.

Ren Xingbei squinted and noticed the newcomer.

Sparks erupted between the two grey-haired generals who had equally long experience in bloody wars, equally remarkable achievements, and equally tough personalities. Two pairs of eyes clashed. An invisible blast seemed to be blowing the entire control tower into pieces.

“Crack! Crack!”

The two of them hugged each other without saying anything.

But it was hard to tell from their gritted teeth and bulging eyes whether they were hugging or wrestling.

The cracking noises of their bones seemed to be suggesting that they were mortal enemies rather than lifelong friends.

Ten seconds later, the two of them released each other at the same time. With their face flushed and their backs itching in sweat, they stared at each other and laughed out aloud.

“Shangguan!”

“Old Bei!”

The two of them hugged again.

This time, it was a sincere, welcoming hug.

Shangguan Ce and Ren Xingbei were two influential officers of the military. They varied differently in their doctrines. One of them was a hardcore crystal suit advocate, while the other was an avid believer of railguns and warships.

But they shared astonishingly similar backgrounds. They both had been ordinary soldiers in the beginning and earned their accomplishments and positions through bloody battles and hard work.

When they were young, they had cooperated and saved each other’s lives in the hell-like battlegrounds more times than anyone could count. They were the real Damon and Pythias.

Although they disagreed with each other fundamentally on the future path of the federal army, their close relationship was not affected at all.

“Shangguan, how dare you convene a meeting regarding crystal suits in the territory of the Fifth Fleet and propose such a hilarious sham battle plan?

“Ask an Evening Glow warship to hunt down four MP crystal suits?

“Did you know that the soldiers of the Fifth Fleet were all seething in anger when they heard the plan? They thought that you the crystal suit advocates were simply too outrageous!”

Ren Xingbei glared at him. “So, don’t think I’ll go easy on you because we’ve been friends for decades. Tonight, I shall show no mercy. The four crystal suits will not see the sunrise tomorrow!”

Shangguan Ce smiled.

“Old Bei, you are truly a stone in a latrine, which is both smelly and stubborn. Why do you despise crystal suits so much?”

“The super crystal suits worth billions driven by Core Formation State Cultivators or Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators are of course as formidable as crystal warships.”

Ren Xingbei sniffed. “However, how many such strong Cultivators are there in the federation? And how many such super crystal suits can be produced?

“As for the four MP crystal suits that you are giving me to test today, their total worth is less than one billion. Besides, the four Exos are merely Refinement Stage Cultivators. And you think I would believe that they can run away from the bombardment of a crystal warship? Of course I don’t! Ten hours should be more than enough for me to take ’em all down!”

“That’s exactly why we decided to do the sham battle with the Fifth Fleet.”

Shangguan Ce replied, his face unchanged, “I know that although the strategy has been settled that crystal suits will serve as the main force and crystal warships will serve as supplements, many warship advocates in the military have kept complaining…”

Ren Xingbei interrupted him, “Not complaining. Cursing and condemning is what you should call it. We were completely dumbfounded. But obedience is the top priority for soldiers. We have to grit our teeth and swallow the anger!”

Shangguan Ce patted his old friend’s shoulder.

“Hence this special bidding meeting.

“A Core Formation State Cultivator in a super crystal suit naturally boasts unparalleled combat ability. It won’t be very persuasive.

“But if an ordinary Cultivator no higher than the peak of the Refinement Stage wearing a MP crystal suit whose value is less than 300 million can survive the hunting of a crystal warship for 24 hours or even longer, it will be much more convincing for inflexible conservatives such as yourself, won’t it?”

“24 hours?”

Ren Xingbei grinned and extended all his fingers. “Ten hours!

“If any one of them could survive for more than ten hours, then I’ll cut the crap once and for all!

“However, if all of them are taken down by my men within ten hours, don’t blame me if I report the outcome of this sham battle to the higher officials! I am planning to cut down a few of your crystal suit legions and use the budget to refine a few main force warships for the Fifth Fleet!”

Shangguan Ce smiled.

“It’s a deal then!

“However, Old Bei, have you decided whom your representative will be?”

Ren Xingbei grinned and said, “Ning Feng and his ‘Tide Berserker’. The warship has been under maintenance for two months because of serious damages from a previous mission and just returned from the dockyard. This sham battle is going to be a chance to check that Tide Berserker has fully recovered. Is that okay?”

Shangguan Ce’s pupils suddenly shrank. His smile turned deeper as he said, “Old Brother, you’re not as contemptuous of crystal suits as you seem to be. Just to deal with four ‘insignificant’ MP crystal suits, you have sent out your toughest warrior.”

Chapter 323: Magnificent Warship Connoisseur

Shangguan Ce understood his old brother Ren Xingbei’s personnel very clearly.

Ning Feng, captain of Tide Berserker, was one of the youngest commanding officers of a crystal warship in the federal army. He was only 37 years old and a Building Foundation Cultivator. But he also happened to be a ‘Warship Connoisseur’ with a lot of potential.

Warship Connoisseur was a special career for admin-type Cultivators who boasted magnificent soul power as well as superb computational, analytical, and collaborating capabilities.

When they entered into the cockpit of a crystal warship and extended their telepathic thoughts into the mainframe crystal processor, their will would be transmitted to every corner of the warship by the enhancement of the crystal processor. The gargantuan steel beast would be at their disposal like their own arms and legs.

There would be a huge difference between the combat ability of a crystal warship with a Warship Connoisseur and that of a crystal warship without one.

A strong Warship Connoisseur could even control hundreds of railguns and thousands of power rune arrays on a crystal warship simultaneously and do perfect dodging and attacking movements. The warship seemed to be part of their body. The most complicated movements were as easy as the blinking of eyes for them.

In the era of the Star Ocean Imperium, countless outstanding Warship Connoisseurs had emerged.

The legendary Warship Connoisseurs who had arrived at the peak of Cultivation could maneuver a star fortress that was even larger than a planet by themselves and fight the Demon Emperor with hundreds of thousands of railguns firing at the same time.

Warship Connoisseurs of the Star Glory Federation were of course far from their fabulous predecessors. But they had been playing a crucial part in the five hundred years of bloody war against the demon clan.

Take Ning Feng for example. Although he was just at the Building Foundation Stage, his strength would be as intimidating as that of a Core Formation Stage Cultivator when he entered Tide Berserker and joined with the warship.

Three months ago, the Fifth Fleet encountered a beast tide commanded by two demon kings.

Ning Feng’s Tide Berserker was the first to respond and lead the charge.

Although it was seriously damaged, the beast tide was torn into two halves by its unstoppable thrust, which created a good opportunity for the siege and attack later.

In the battle later, Ning Feng blew one of the two demon kings with ‘Heaven Splitters’, the main gun of the warship, into pieces, which made him a distinguished figure in the military.

Picking such an ace captain to deal with four insignificant MP crystal suits… It seemed that Ren Xingbei regarded the sham battle as a summit confrontation between warship advocates and crystal suit advocates, too.

Lightnings and sparks were dancing in Shangguan Ce’s eyes.

The purpose of the sham battle as a bidding procedure was to show the power of crystal suits for warship advocates.

If the candidate challenging the crystal suits was too weak, the warship advocates might not be persuaded by the outcome, and there was bound to be further quarrels in the future.

But if a skilled captain such as Ning Feng came to examine the quality of the MP crystal suits, no one would have any doubts about the test’s validity.

But how far could the four MP crystal suits go?

Suddenly, Li Yao’s dangerous smile popped up in Shangguan Ce’s brain.

‘I can guess a thing or two about the tactics and limits about the other three crystal suits.

‘However, Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, Vulture Li Yao, where are your limits?’

…

At 9:05 p.m. Cultivators of Deep Sea University, Star Nebula University and Grand Desolate War Institution, as well as the Cultivators from the three major sword-training sects walked into the command center.

After they learned the details of the sham battle, especially when they knew that the crystal warship taking part in the battle would be Tide Berserker steered by Ning Feng, the faces of all the Cultivators couldn’t look more awful.

Although they were competitors, they felt a subtle sense of camaraderie now.

If all the four crystal suits were to be captured by the crystal warship within several hours, there wouldn’t be a winner even if you were the last to be seized.

The military hadn’t revealed to them as to how many crystal suits they would purchase. If the performance of the test-takers was too unsatisfactory and the military decided that they would only purchase a few hundred pieces, it would hardly be a victory for them.

Then again, if one of the crystal suits was amazing enough to play hide-and-seek with the crystal warship for more than ten hours, or even a day and a night, the potential of crystal suits would definitely be proved. Crystal suits would definitely be able to win more favor in the military, which would be a great help for the promotion of other MP crystal suit models, too.

More importantly, for Sword Torrent and Mournful Mist, their designing purposes were different from Tiger King’s and Mystic Skeleton’s from their conception, which could be compared to the relationship between assault rifles and sniper rifles.

Since their purposes were different, their competition with the other two crystal suits was not fierce. Their chances of winning were slim, but as long as they could do their best in the sham battle and leave a deep impression on the audience by showing their own specialties thoroughly, it would be enough.

Supernova Jiang Sheng and Yuan Manqiu were still at loggerheads.

However, when Ren Xingbei appeared in front of them, the flames in their eyes changed direction and aimed at the commander of the Fifth Fleet at the same time.

The temperature inside the commanding center immediately rose by twenty degrees.

Other than those in the commanding center, top military officers in the military bases all over the Star Glory Federation, as well as high-level Cultivators from Deep Sea University, Star Nebula University, Grand Desolate War Institution, and all other important sects, were all paying close attention to the match, the ultimate confrontation between crystal suits and crystal warships.

It was destined to be a sleepless night.

…

At 10:11 p.m. in the station of the Fifth Fleet, Tide Berserker was doing last-minute checks before taking off.

“Captain Ning, let’s show them who we are! These brats are too outrageous! Nothing but four MP crystal suits, and they want to swagger around and poop on our head?”

“Brother Feng, we have every faith in you. You’ll definitely capture all of them within ten hours.”

“Old Ning, I’ve bet Old Xing and his lot that you will seize all the four running rabbits in less than ten hours! I’m going to be in serious trouble if you fail me!”

Almost a hundred soldiers of the Fifth Fleet, including captains, vice captains, experienced mechanics and ordinary marines, surrounded an officer whose uniform was full of creases.

The officer’s hair was in such a mess that it seemed that it hadn’t been washed for at least three months. His chin was bristly. His eyes were drowsy, as if he were in a constant trance. Even in such a thrilling atmosphere, he still yawned one time after another.

He was Colonel Ning Feng, a Warship Connoisseur, one of the best captains in the military and the commanding officer of Tide Berserker.

Faced with the excited soldiers of the Fifth Fleet, Ning Feng scratched his ear and smacked his lips. But without saying anything, he walked onto his warship lazily.

The moment he went on the bridge of the warship, he seemed to turn into someone else. With a quiver, he was entirely awakened.

His sleepy eyes just now were brimming with radiating vigor, like those of a cat which was hunting at night.

In the federal army, Ning Feng had been given the nickname ‘Drunk Cat’.

Even a demon king would have to run away like a rat when faced with the Drunk Cat.

Inside the cockpit in the middle of the warship, there was a translucent controlling capsule in which Ning Feng lay in and closed his eyes.

Crimson liquid flowed out from the bottom of the capsule and rose up rapidly, before it filled up the capsule and drowned him shortly.

Right then, Ning Feng’s eyes were opened suddenly, from which black brightness was beaming out, making his eyes as deep and vast as the night sky.

With the enhancement of the mainframe crystal processor, his soul expanded to every corner of the warship.

Countless information, data, and images surged into his mind.

Every power rune array, every Taiyi Lightning Railgun, and every armed shuttle, seemed to have turned into his limbs and teeth. The power rune arrays shivered briefly, blinking with the rhythm of his heartbeat and breath.

He was no longer a trivial human being. He was Tide Berserker, a steel beast that was hundreds of meters long.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

With a telepathic thought, the anti-gravity power rune arrays started functioning, roaring like a cascading waterfall.

After a shiver, Tide Berserker took off amidst the applause of the soldiers below. Colorful brilliance was dancing around the warship, making it look like a ferocious dragon.

“Ten hours?”

Ning Feng squinted and scoffed, “Five hours, tops. The four rabbits will never be able to run out of my palm!”

…

At 11:45 p.m. a small carrier was staggering in the sky above the mountains.

It was a thunderstorm weather. One could not even distinguish one’s own fingers with the hand right in front of the eyes. Only when the lightning occurred could the steep hills and dark forests be seen.

This was the biggest mountainous zone in the west of the federation. Hills, cliffs, streams, caves, and underground rivers together constituted a complicated territory.

The fifty square kilometers would the battleground for the match to come.

For the sake of fairness, the military had arranged an artificial thunderstorm in the battleground.

Thunder, lightning, and heavy rain would twist the spiritual waves from the crystal suits and block the detection of the crystal warship so that they could run away more easily.

However, the thunderstorm would only last five hours.

The weather would clear before dawn.

Inside the carrier, the four Exos had put on their crystal suits, each with a kit behind him which had a space of around two cubic meters.

The kit was the latest transportation magical equipment developed by the military named ‘Floating Supplier’.

It was carved with anti-gravity rune arrays and power rune arrays and was maneuvered by a mini crystal processor. It would fly closely behind a soldier in peacetime. When the soldier was engaged in a combat, the kit would dash away until it was safe to return.

Floating Supplier was designed to be a replacement of marching backpacks. It would neither burden the soldiers when they were walking nor affect the agility of the soldiers when they were fighting. The military was planning to make it a piece of standard magical equipment for the federal army in the future.

Today, the four Exos were provided with four prototypes of such magical equipment in which they could store any supplies and magical equipment that they deemed necessary.

“Hoooo!”

At 11:59 p.m., the airdrop platform on the bottom of the carrier opened slowly. Raging wind immediately crashed into the cabin, growling and howling.

“Last minute check. Prepare to land!”

Chapter 324: Narrow Escape

The four crystal suits glittered, outlining four figures clearly in the darkness, which looked like solidified lights.

“Hey, guys. Don’t be so aggressive. In the sham battle today, just because we are competitors does not mean we are not companions in a different form.”

Sha Yucheng, Exo of the Sword Torrent Battlesuit, smiled and said, “Our opponent is one crystal warship. Whoever attracts its attention will give the rest of us more opportunities to run away!

“Taking that into consideration, I hope we can all show what our crystal suits are capable of today and teach those zealots of railguns and warships a lesson on the awesomeness of the Exos!”

“Well said!”

Sha Yucheng’s words eased the intense atmosphere a little bit. Feng Kai, Exo of the Mournful Mist Battlesuit, added, “Li Yao, you gave us all a big surprise in the Flying Crystal race half a month ago. I hope you can give an equally shocking surprise to the captain of the crystal warship today.”

Li Yao nodded his head and took a deep breath. He was walking to the airdrop platform, when Zuo Feijing suddenly cut in front of him.

The Tiger King Battlesuit today had put on a layer of dense jungle camouflage. It looked inconspicuous, and all its deadly scent had been hidden in the gaps of the crystal suit.

Standing next to it, Li Yao was the only one who could feel the dangerous aura that seemed to be a living thing.

“Li Yao, I’m rather curious. Faced with a crystal warship that is hundreds of meters long and has a main gun whose power equals to a full-strength strike of a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, what cunning plans do you have in mind to deal with it? You can’t even leave a trace on its surface even if you are to play the self-destruction move again, can you?”

Zuo Feijing paused after every word. He gritted his teeth as he said, “Over the past half month, I’ve spent every second crazily training. The half month has been as long and miserable as ten years for me, just because I need to prepare myself so that I can defeat you today!

“I hope your performance is even more splendid today. Don’t be captured or killed by the crystal warship after only several hours!

“Because if you do, I will be very disappointed!”

A dull synthesized voice suddenly echoed inside the cabin.

“The battle is now begun. Please finish your landing within one minute.”

Zuo Feijing opened his arms and jumped down.

The Tiger King Battlesuit rushed into the raging storm. It glimmered in the darkness, before it completely vanished inside the deep, dark forest.

Li Yao was next. He waved at Sha Yucheng and Feng Kai, and jumped out of the carrier, too.

“Swoosh!”

Four stabilizer fins stuck out from the back of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. Dazzling brightness surged out from the power rune arrays, as it flew above the forests in the pouring rain.

His Floating Supplier followed him closely, which contained all kinds of magical equipment and tools that Li Yao had prepared for his escape.

But Zuo Feijing was right about one thing.

No matter how formidable the enemy was, running away was never Li Yao’s style.

Even if the opponent was a crystal warship hundreds of meters long with a pair of ‘Heaven Splitters’ and twelve Taiyi Lightning Railguns, Li Yao had never planned to just run away without counterattacking.

Whoever wanted to capture him would have to pay a high price!

“Chi——”

Li Yao landed slowly on Sun Flame Summit, which was the highest mountain in the battle zone.

Li Yao strained his eyes to look at the distance. The crystal cameras with super-high resolution captured all the surroundings down and analyzed the features of the territories, before Li Yao compared them with the pre-input map inside the crystal processor.

Li Yao’s computational ability was brought to maximum. He began to evaluate the current situation.

Three light spots were shooting at the northwest fast, which were the other three crystal suits.

By Li Yao’s estimation, they were planning to hide in the rocky area which was located in the northwest of the battle zone.

Li Yao had studied the map before and was aware that the northwest corner of the battle zone was rugged and full of intersected underground caves, which made it a perfect shelter.

However, Li Yao was not planning to go there.

His opponent Ning Feng, an ace captain of the federal army known as ‘Drunk Cat’, would certainly concentrate much of his attention on the rocky area.

There were many kinds of probe magical equipment on Tide Berserker that could explore the environment hundreds of meters under the ground easily.

The 500 beast puppets were able to sneak underground and search the place, too.

Once his trace was discovered, the 100 Earthshaking Ordnance Penetrators would definitely not be funny.

Since it was a sham battle, the power of all magical equipment was adjusted to one third of their original. The ‘Heaven Splitters’ were even adjusted to one tenth of its original power. But still, Li Yao did not intend to know what it felt like to be hit by them.

Once the underground cave in which one was hiding collapsed because of attacks from Earthshaking Ordnance Penetrators and Heaven Splitters, one might be buried inside with nowhere to run to and could only wait to be captured.

“Beep!”

The crystal camera soon discovered a place that fitted the features that he had inputted into the crystal processor previously.

That was the battleground that Li Yao had selected after hours of thorough consideration.

Li Yao took two steps back and then accelerated. He jumped down from the Sun Flame Summit which was thousands of meters high and did not activate the power rune arrays until he almost kissed the ground.

Colorful brilliance surged out from the back of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, pushing it to the southeast as fast as a laser.

At this moment, there were fifty minutes before Tide Berserker was to arrive.

Ten minutes later, Li Yao appeared in the southeast corner of the battle zone, which was also the place where the crystal warship would enter the battle zone.

Compared with the rugged, rocky area in the northwest corner, the territory here was much flatter. There were only several mountains and cliffs which were not very high. The underground caves were shallow and short, too.

However, the water system here was quite sophisticated. Several rivers and streams interconnected in this area.

Because of the heavy rain, their water level had all soared. Their water current was much more turbulent than before.

“This is the place!”

Li Yao compared the actual territory with the map in his crystal processor. Then he opened his Floating Supplier, took out all kinds of magical equipment that were glittering inside and started setting up some camouflage.

At 00:58, Li Yao finished all the disguising work.

At one o’clock sharp, the southeast night sky was torn apart by a resplendent brightness.

Even the earsplitting thunders could not suppress the roars from the crystal warship.

Tide Berserker flew into the battle zone awe-inspiringly.

At 01:02, Li Yao hid himself in a muddy pond below a cliff.

He turned off all the power rune arrays on his crystal suit and his Floating Supplier, which made him no different than a black, iron lump that had been buried inside the mud for its entire life. He opened his eyes that were full of blood streaks and stared at the sky where rainwater was falling down upon his face like needles.

At 01:05, Tide Berserker passed by the place where Li Yao was hiding against the dense clouds slowly.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but Li Yao felt that the air around him was shaking violently, which made his heart beating faster and faster.

A hostile steel beast hundreds of meters long flying above one’s head unhurriedly. It was not a pressure that just anyone could withstand.

“Shua! Shua!”

Almost ten ivory lights beamed out from the crystal warship. They were knitted into a light net which scanned through the mountains and forests from above.

Li Yao knew that the mystic lights were meant to detect enemies, and once they found a target, it would be impossible for the target to run away.

However, the thunderstorm weather was a major interference for the mystic lights. Not only were they much dimmer than they should be, they also became intermittent when lightning occurred.

The supposedly impregnable dragnet was ripped open by the power of nature.

Besides, the location that Li Yao had picked was not the best place to hide in inside the battle zone.

Most of Ning Feng’s attention had been fixed on the rocky area to the northwest. Therefore, after scanning the below roughly once, Tide Berserker moved on to the northwest without any hesitation.

“Hu…”

Li Yao was greatly relieved. His fiercely beating heart was finally soothed.

The most difficult part had passed.

He had bought at least a few hours of time for himself.

Before the weather was cleared up, it was hardly likely that the crystal warship would come back and search the place once again.

He could hide in this place comfortably and wait until the crystal suits hiding in the northwest rocky area were captured or ‘killed’.

Right then, Li Yao’s eyelids bounced uncontrollably. Dangerous alarms rang inside his brain.

Ten firefly-like light spots were released from Tide Berserker. They kept a similar distance between each other and were interwoven into a loose net which was marching at the place where he was hiding.

Vicious Bee Armed Shuttles!

Li Yao cursed silently. He licked his lips, only to notice that he had pierced them some time ago because of anxiety.

Although the crystal warship had left the area, ten Vicious Bee Armed Shuttles each carrying five beast puppets, which meant fifty beast puppets in total, had been deployed to continue searching.

Li Yao didn’t understand how he had given himself away. The battle zone was a fairly large place. It was impossible to send ten Vicious Bee Armed Shuttles to search every area in the zone.

The place that he had been hiding in was definitely not one that deserved such attention.

Or, maybe he didn’t leave any traces. It was just the instinct of an expert that made Ning Feng feel that there was something wrong with the area and prompted him to release the armed shuttles to continue searching.

“Hum! Hum!”

Vicious Bee Armed Shuttles, which looked like fat bees, were extremely large for armed shuttles because they needed to carry five beast puppets. Their power rune arrays were specially revised, too, in order to provide more impetus. As a result, there would be irritating humming noise when they were working.

Three Vicious Bee Armed Shuttles passed by Li Yao’s head.

Spotlights from them were shooting the ground and nearly cut into the pond where Li Yao was hiding several times.

Li Yao gritted his teeth and remained still.

Right now, the crystal warship was not far away. Once he was exposed, it could immediately turn back and take him down. He didn’t intend to become the first target to be locked onto.

Five minutes, ten minutes, half an hour.

The Vicious Bee Armed Shuttles had come and gone above Li Yao’s head almost five times. But because of the interferences from lightning and storms, they were unable to utilize more probe magical equipment and could only resort to the intermittent mystic rays for scanning. So, he was luckily undiscovered.

The crystal warship had vanished into the northwest horizon. Even its exhaust flames were completely out of sight now.

Right then—

“Huala! Huala!”

Li Yao heard weird clattering noises from the forest, which were utterly different from the noise of trees being shaken by wind.

Ten Vicious Bee Armed Shuttles were hovering in the sky nearby with their stomachs wide open, from which fifty beast puppets were flooding out.