Forty millenniums of cul.., p.1022
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1022
A hundred years had passed. Everything had changed, but everything seemed the same, including his boundless passion for all kinds of magical equipment, from crystal processors to crystal suits, from chainswords to vibration sabers to storm bolters to machine guns…
Finally, he was all by himself again.
It was a rare time of relief for Li Yao in the intense and exciting life of battles.
For Long Yangjun's whole plan of gambling, reconnaissance, investigation, and robbery to be implemented, it would take at least two to three days.
Li Yao also needed a few days to finish the selection, adjustment, and modification of crystal suits.
Over the next few days, he could dwell in the world of magical equipment and relax his nerves, which had been too tense for too long.
Right now, I'm all by myself. Long Yangjun apparently gave me such an opportunity intentionally. Should I find a way to contact the federation, say, look for the special agents of the Secret Sword Bureau in the local area?
After pondering for a moment, Li Yao eventually gave up the idea.
After all, a hundred years had passed. He was not familiar with how the Secret Sword Bureau worked. Also, given the complexity of the situation, he could not guarantee that he would be able to find an agent of the Secret Sword Bureau who had not been 'polluted' by the CIFA, Firefly, or other forces.
If he reached out to the federation via the Spiritual Nexus, such cross-Sector communication was exceedingly vulnerable to interference and tracing. Furthermore, he was not sure that the recipient of his message was reliable!
Therefore, he might as well observe more before he made any decision!
Li Yao vaguely had a feeling that, although the federation was more than capable of dealing with the Black Wind Fleet with the seven Sectors that it had in terms of the strength on the surface, what would decide the outcome of the war was actually the spies and trump cards that were hidden below the table.
None of the local forces were aware of his existence and his real identity. So, he could absolutely become a trump card for the Star Glory Federation who would reverse the scales of victory at the most crucial moment!
Even if I wish to contact Ding Lingdang and Jin Xinyue, I will have to find a reliable channel after I return to the Star Glory Federation, or I need to do it very subtly. I can't give up my advantage so quickly!
Therefore… I might as well enjoy my life here for now. Hehe!
Gulping in excitement, Li Yao rubbed his hands and walked into the magical equipment center.
Chapter 1576: Masterpiece |
In the past three days, Li Yao had already learned about the development of magical equipment in the federation in the past hundred years, as well as the brand-new arts of refining introduced from the four new worlds, from many magical equipment archives and magazines.
He was like a wealthy bumpkin, and he walked into the Four Sectors Magical Equipment Center with the intention to observe and learn.
The world of refiners had indeed gone through tremendous changes in the past hundred years. As Kunlun was further excavated, the four new Sectors and the three core Sectors integrated smoothly, and Firefly brought a storm of magical equipment from the center of the cosmos, a lot of new techniques and materials had been discovered. Many kinds of bizarre magical equipment that Li Yao had not even dreamed of before had already been invented.
The simplest example would be the light mask that was stuck to Li Yao's forehead, helping him to change his face.
In the past, when one intended to change their appearance before they went to the underground markets, they would either have to resort to the 'skin masks' made of resins or inject drugs that could temporarily change the form of the facial muscles. Other approaches had their own shortcomings, too.
However, right now, all they needed to do was to stick a chip that was the size of a fingernail and almost weightless to their forehead. The chip would automatically unleash mimic rays and change their head into something entirely different.
Through the connection with the portable crystal processor, the chip could download more than thirty thousand face templates from the Spiritual Nexus. They could also build their unique, custom faces with more than a million different facial organs. Happiness, sorrow, anger, and all other emotions could be vividly demonstrated on the mask projected by the chip.
The magical equipment could even be used to partly modify one's face.
In the past, when someone was dissatisfied with a certain part of their face, plastic surgery was their only option other than wearing makeup.
But right now, all they needed to do was stick a chip to their forehead and set it to the special 'beautification mode'. Then, the magical equipment would automatically modify the flawed parts. It was convenient and timesaving, and the effect could last a long time, which made it ten thousand times more brilliant than makeup and plastic surgery.
It was said that, in the federation, many girls would never take off the mask chip once they put it on. Unless they were with their parents, they would not show anybody their real faces easily.
Li Yao was very happy about the invention of such a piece of magical equipment, not just because of its delicacy but also because of the purpose it was designed for.
Magical equipment at the service of the ordinary people to improve their quality of life quality was perhaps the real focus of a refiner, was it not?
His hands in the spacious pockets of the beach pants, Li Yao roamed around the crowded Four Sectors Magical Equipment Center, not caring about the people around him who were frowning at his greed and fascination. He was exclaiming in amazement and did not conceal his compliments at all, deeply moved by the arduous efforts that all his fellow Cultivators in the circle of refiners had made in the past hundred years!
"This is not half bad!" Li Yao stopped at the area of blades and firearms and nodded in approval quickly.
He realized that the single magical equipment in the federation over the past hundred years, while overcoming the limits of maximum damage and range, was also showing the trend of 'lightweight' and 'automation'.
The 'lightweight' meant the greatest reduction of dispersing spiritual energy to lower the so-called 'recoil'.
The aggressive magical equipment from a hundred years ago all boasted very powerful 'recoil'. The furious spiritual energy that escaped due to the incomplete seal would cause a heavy blow on the soul of the user. Only the powerful souls of Cultivators could resist such blasts.
Therefore, even the light magical equipment such as the single storm bolter could only be used by the strong, healthy adults among the ordinary people. If the weak, women, or children were to use such weapons recklessly, chances were that they would be knocked out the moment they pulled the trigger.
Even the tough soldiers in the military could not use a piece of magical equipment for a long time at a high intensity before their spiritual roots were awakened.
Before Li Yao awakened his spiritual root, he had once seen a team of the soldiers of the federal army using the Taiyi Lightning Railgun on the train north to the Grand Desolate Plateau. After a shot, leaving whether or not the enemy was hit aside, almost all the soldiers' eyes and fingernails were bleeding. All their hair was standing up, and their souls were almost blown apart.
However, at least based on the demo videos next to every piece of magical equipment, the problem of spiritual energy leaks had greatly improved. Many pieces of weaponry magical equipment actually highlighted that they were user-friendly for all ordinary people in order to boost the sales.
Secondly, the 'automation'.
The biggest problem for ordinary people when it came to using blades and guns was that their reaction speed could not keep up with the speed of the functioning spiritual energy in the magical equipment and the enemy's escape. Powerful as a storm bolter might be, it would be absolutely useless if it could not hit the enemy!
In the past hundred years, the federation had developed almost a hundred kinds of automatic aiming magical equipment and the special bullets that incorporated 'tracing rune arrays'. The magical equipment that had adopted the 'shoot-and-move' pattern prevailed. As long as one pulled the trigger in the basic direction, the odds of hitting the target were more than tripled!
The result of 'lightweight' and 'automation' was that the combat ability of the ordinary people had been significantly improved. Although their role was still secondary on the battlefield, they were now able to annihilate the enemy with their sheer advantage in numbers.
For a team of ordinary soldiers with sufficient firepower, it was definitely possible for them to take down a low-level Cultivator. If thousands of infuriated ordinary people were armed with appropriate magical equipment, even the Cultivators in the Core Formation Stage or the Nascent Soul Stage would have to think about their decisions carefully.
The Star Glory Federation did not abandon its ideals from a hundred years ago. Everybody that made up the federation, be they ordinary people or Cultivators, residents or citizens, was burning their life and soul with their best!
Watching the crowds of ordinary people roaring and marching forward to the highlands in the demo videos, Li Yao felt that his blood was boiling, and his forehead was sweating. He seemed to have crawled into the light beam and turned into one of them!
Other than the single magical equipment, what interested Li Yao most were the many kinds of gaming capsules, or rather, the motion training capsules.
In such facilities that were similar to tablets or cocoons, through the special nerve ending connection liquids, one would be able to enter the Grand Illusionary Land of a deeper level where the training and battles with crystal suits and even Colossi were simulated.
The nerve ending connection liquids could directly stimulate the nerves, cells, and muscles and trigger responses. They were more effective and straightforward than traditional training games in the Grand Illusionary Land. Such a practice was also greatly beneficial for the development of the Spiritual Actualization Quotient.
After having the soul-stirring, life-and-death battles in the game, the Spiritual Actualization Quotient of the users was greatly enhanced. Whether they became a Cultivator or not, they slowly grasped the arts of the usage of crystal suits as they grew more familiar with such magical equipment. In such a pattern, the odds for ordinary people awakening their spiritual root had soared in the past hundred years. The population of the well-trained Exos had boomed, too.
Furthermore, with the 'skill cards' brought by the Flying Star Sector and the manufacture of beginner-level crystal suits in the assembly lines of the factories, the cost of the crystal suits had been significantly reduced. They were popularized among the people. The ordinary people could all at least afford to rent, if not buy, a crystal suit and knew how to use it. The federation right now was an out-and-out the World of Crystal Suits!
"This is amazing!"
Watching the crystal suit advertisements that targeted ordinary people, Li Yao found that they were as common as the advertisements for the shuttles a hundred years ago. He could not help but feel that his dream had come true after a long sleep.
"This is my country. This is… a homeland that deserves to be protected!" Li Yao blinked, suddenly feeling extremely happy.
Now that crystal suits, the traditional 'king of magical equipment', had found their way into the households of ordinary people, the most immediate consequence was that the Armadominuses, creators of the crystal suits, were much more popular and respected than before.
Not just in the circle of refiners, even in the circles of Cultivators and ordinary people, they were the most revered, wealthy celebrity-like superstars.
When an 'Armadominus' invented a groundbreaking crystal suit or modified a classic crystal suit marvelously, they would often invoke a vogue that swept across the entire federation and even the Dragon Snake Space Zone and Firefly!
Li Yao noticed that, at the center of the Four Sectors Magical Equipment Center, which was the best location with the highest customer flow, a graceful crystal suit that looked like a colorful butterfly was standing on the exuberant exhibit table.
According to the light beam next to the crystal suit, the crystal suit, named 'Phantom Butterfly', had been designed by 'Solar Eclipse' Jiang Shaoyang in person, who had authorized the red line crystal suit center to craft it.
The crystal suit was not produced by the master in person but only a duplicate version under his authorization. Yet, it was already able to dominate such an important location.
It was the first clue of the position of the Armadominus and the crystal suits in this era.
"Master Solar Eclipse Jiang Shaoyang…"
Li Yao stuck his nose against the glass and widened his eyes to observe more carefully, Jiang Shaoyang's expertise is quite impressive. Judging from the perfect combination of the streamlined design of the plate armor and the anti-blast, profiled surfaces, he is definitely much better than me a hundred years ago! It seems that he never once slacked in his training in the past hundred years. Chances are that he has experienced some special adventures, too!
Although it is not crafted but only designed by him, it is already evident enough of his abundant experience and his profound knowledge. I'm so desperate to know how good it would be if it were crafted by Jiang Shaoyang carefully in person!
"Off! Off! Off!"
While Li Yao was gulping, the security nearby shooed him impatiently. "Go back. Stay outside of the ring of light!"
"Okay." Scratching his hair, Li Yao blinked and asked, "If I may ask, how much is this 'Phantom Butterfly?"
The security eyed him up and down and laughed. He pointed at two lines right below the glass exhibit table.
"Not For Sale."
"For Exhibition Purpose Only."
Chapter 1577: Something's Wrong with the Crystal Suit! |
"Fine." Li Yao shrugged. It seemed that he could only compete with Jiang Shaoyang some other time.
When he thought about that, Li Yao somehow felt ashamed because he felt that he had… cheated in the competition with Jiang Shaoyang.
It was true that the arts of refining in the federation had witnessed explosive development in the past hundred years thanks to Kunlun, the four new Sectors, and the techniques from the center of the cosmos brought by Firefly. Jiang Shaoyang, as one of the best talents in the circle of refiners, was certainly standing at the top of the revolutionary tide.
Li Yao, in comparison, had spent most of his time in hibernation. The only time that Li Yao had been dedicated to the arcs of refining was the last year.
Ostensibly speaking, Li Yao did not seem to be at an advantage. He was like the hare who was sleeping all the time in the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare.
However…
In the last year, Li Yao had spent most of his time inside an intact warship of the Nuwa Clan whose most cabins were still complete. There were almost twenty brand-new Colossi, more than fifty remnants of the Colossi in different forms, and countless pieces of cutting-edge magical equipment of the primeval era waiting to be studied by him!
Li Yao had absolutely no doubt about the potential, creativity, and speed of development of the civilization of mankind.
However, the civilization of mankind was still a young civilization that was maturing. Compared to the Pangu civilization and the Nuwa civilization, it was still an imitator and a chaser, which was also an undeniable fact.
The Colossi were the ultimate weapons in the sea of stars and the essence of the highest technologies of the Nuwa Clan. In the federation a hundred years ago, with only the five jumbled Colossi excavated from Kunlun, as well as the tremendous rusted pieces, the overall technology of magical equipment had already made significant progress.
As for the debris that Li Yao had found on the Nuwa warship, even if it could not be restored to as good as new, it was certainly preserved in much better conditions and had a high research value!
The most critical factor was that Meng Chixin and Wu Suiyun, the two Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators, had helped Li Yao find dozens of jade chips that contained the maintenance manuals for the Colossi!
It was like one, no, dozens of tutors of the Nuwa Clan had taught Li Yao to diagnose and maintain dozens of different Colossi!
For those with a lower Cultivation or a shallower understanding about the arts of refining, it might have been impossible for them to realize the true value of the Colossi.
However, before Li Yao went into the Nuwa warship, he had already been a refiner in the Nascent Soul Stage. For a Cultivator at his level, they could often make a hundred deductions after they learned one piece of knowledge. Sometimes, what they were short of was just the direction to work in.
Maintaining and debugging the Colossi, as well as analyzing almost a hundred primeval treasures, had made him step into the ultimate hall of the arts of refining on the shoulders of giants!
To make an inappropriate metaphor, the best refiners in the federation such as 'Solar Eclipse' Jiang Shaoyang were like the most talented and diligent students who had access to ten thousand simulation examination papers for the College Entrance Exam drafted by the best teachers. They studied the examination papers for a whole year, and they were confident that they would get a full score in the exam!
As for Li Yao… he did not dare guarantee that he would certainly be more smart or diligent than Jiang Shaoyang. He did not have much time to finish as many simulation examination papers, either. He also was not confident that he could certainly achieve a full score in all the subjects in the exam.
However, he did spend half a month in the laboratory of a few college professors, where he received the personal enlightenment of the college professors and their notes and memoirs. In the end, he was finally able to understand, however difficultly, the papers and the research projects of the professors. That was all.
