Forty millenniums of cul.., p.150
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 150
The Mystic Wolf had two modes of operations.
It could be remotely controlled by soldiers or cultivators.
One could also enter a general objective beforehand, such as "patrol", "guard", "weapons-free", after which the Mystic Wolf would be controlled by the built-in crystal processor and conduct operations autonomously in accordance with the previous commands.
Once the Mystic Wolf appeared, it immediately replaced the position of many army dog-type spirit beasts. And it was particularly favored by the scouts.
Today, each standard reconnaissance unit of the army consists of two scouts and a Mystic Wolf.
However, the condition of the Mystic Wolf before Li Yao was somewhat worse for wear.
It seemed that the Mystic Wolf had suffered a long-range corrosive attack from a demon beast; its metallic coverings had been eroded and was riddled with holes, even the crystal fibers connecting many of the key points had suffered from corrosion.
And after the corrosive attack, the Mystic Wolf seemed to have fought with the brutal demon beast; its head had a deep dent, at many places the coverings had been broken into pieces, three of its four limbs were broken off, whereas only a few pitiful crystal fibers were keeping the two forelimbs from getting detached from the main body.
Its abdomen had an even more horrifying hole. Many of the engraved crucial array glyphs, crystal chips, and internal parts were missing. As for the rest, they were corroded from some kind of acid and riddled with holes; they were far from any operable standard.
With the exception of its intact spine that was refined from a special alloy, the Mystic Wolf was almost on the verge of getting scrapped.
As far as Li Yao was concerned, such a scene was quite common for him.
Whether it was the Magical Equipment Graveyard or the ruins of the Grand Desolate War Institution's Refining Department, 90% of the magical equipment was either on the verge of getting scrapped or were completely scrapped.
So what?
Couldn't he recover it bit by bit as before, or maybe even stronger than ever.
This Mystic Wolf was still far from the most damaged magical equipment which Li Yao had ever repaired.
Rubbing his hand, Li Yao threw himself into an intensive repair work with rapt attention.
First, he started disassembling all the components of the Mystic Wolf to see which components could be retained, which must be repaired, and which must be discarded. Only then could he start crafting anew.
"What the hell?"
After having spent eleven minutes and completed 80% of the disassembling work, Li Yao suddenly found a deeply hidden problem.
In his hands was the completely intact vertebral column of the Mystic Wolf.
However, from the sounds caused by the friction between the joints between the vertebrae[1], Li Yao sensed a subtle peculiarity.
Without a shred of hesitation, Li Yao pressed his ring finger with his thumb and lightly flicked at the twenty-second vertebra. As he carefully listened to the subsequent vibrations produced in the metal, an intricate cross-sectional diagram was sketched out in his mind.
"The twenty-second vertebra seems to have a problem!
"Although the vertebra column looks completely intact from the outside, after having been hit several times heavily, microscopic cracks which are invisible to the naked eyes have already appeared in the internal structure; the alloy has reached the limits of metal fatigue!
"As long as it suffered another high-speed impact, no, no, no, even without any collision, as long as the Mystic Wolf suddenly came to a stop after moving at a high speed, the vertebra would completely crack!"
Wolves were creatures with a copper head and an iron tail, but an abdominal region like tofu; its abdominal region was its fatal weakness.
The same was true for the puppet warbeast, the Mystic Wolf. In order to pursue incredible speed and flexibility, it had a streamlined body, the abdominal region connecting the anterior and the posterior regions was the most vulnerable region; it was only supported by the vertebral column.
What's more was that the Mystic Wolf was completely different from the wolf-type demon beasts, it also had two crystal railguns attached to its either side; the recoil from the fire would similarly produce a huge pressure on the vertebral column.
The twenty-second vertebra was located in the lumbar region[2] and was the most important vertebra. Once it cracked, it was equivalent to paralysis of the lower body; the Mystic Wolf would lose 95% of its battle force in the blink of an eye!
"It appears that this is a trap!
"At first glance, the Mystic Wolf appeared to be riddled with holes, torn to pieces, and heavily damaged... but these are still minor problems!
"This invisible hidden damage is the true fatal injury!
"If we just repaired the damages on the surface and ignored the damage in the vertebral column, then, it would look brand-new but it will not be able to stand the combat trials. At the test site, just a few high-speed maneuvers would make its vertebral column to crack down!"
Li Yao slightly smiled. Since he had found the problem, the next step was easy to figure out.
Having checked twice again to confirm that this was the only trap, Li Yao walked into the warehouse and looked for the raw materials required for maintenance.
Soon, he discovered a second fatal issue.
"This isn't Purple-Gold Titanium, but a... Purple-Gold Titanium Associate!"[3]
The Purple-Gold Titanium was a rare metal which was used in refining the special alloy that was used for forging the vertebral column of the Mystic Wolf. It was an essential raw material that could greatly enhance the tensile strength of the special alloy.
The Purple-Gold Titanium Associate was a very strange metal associate found in the Purple-Gold Titanite.
Although its appearance, color, texture bore a striking resemblance with the Purple-Gold Titanium, its properties were somewhat different. It was simply unable to elevate the tensile strength of alloys.
In the warehouse, there was some Purple-Gold Titanium Associate, but not even a gram of true Purple-Gold Titanium!
"Is this another trap?
"Do they want to test the examinees' acuity? Want to see whether we could differentiate between the Purple-Gold Titanium and the Purple-Gold Titanium Associate?
"I'm simply unable to refine a new vertebral column without the Purple-Gold Titanium."
Sitting at the center of the warehouse, Li Yao lightly tapped his finger on the ground as he quietly pondered.
In the control room, a strange smile was pasted upon the three examiners' faces as they watched the grimacing and pondering examinees.
"How many people among the three hundred or so examinees do you think would be able to notice the trap in the vertebral column, and even if they noticed it, after how long would they take to realize that we have provided the Purple-Gold Titanium Associate and 'forgot' to provide the real Purple-Gold Titanium?" Dong Liuqi asked with a smile.
Yan Tianhe slightly smiled as well. Just as he was about to open his mouth, a hologram at center suddenly flashed.
Apparently, an examinee had asked a question.
"Excuse me, why is there no Purple-Gold Titanium, which is absolutely necessary to repair the Mystic Wolf, in the warehouse?" In the hologram, Jiang Shaoyang very calmly asked.
Chapter 215: What in the Bloody Hell is That! |
At that moment, since the start of the third round, only thirty-one minutes and forty-two seconds had elapsed.
The three examiners were slightly astounded. It was totally out of their expectations for Jiang Shaoyang to quickly see through the two traps set in the test and also promptly forward his doubt to them.
Such acuity, means, knowledge of the materials, and quick thinking was certainly superb!
Zhu Yueqin was all smiles as she immediately said, "Okay, we'll give you the Purple-Gold Titanium!"
From the get-go, this trap was just there to confuse the examinees. Obviously, it was impossible for them to not provide the Purple-Gold Titanium as it would render the examinees unable to complete the maintenance work.
In accordance with the rule which only the three examiners were aware of, as long as the examinee had the guts to boldly ask them, he or she could get the Purple-Gold Titanium.
All the examinees who could pass through the two exams and enter the final round were all outstanding refiners.
These two traps could not outsmart them at all.
After having carefully examined for more than an hour, many examinees had discovered the hidden damage in the twenty-second vertebra.
However, a majority of the people had fallen into the second trap.
The Purple-Gold Titanium was an extremely rare metal, whereas generally, the refiners, even more so, didn't care about a useless material like the Purple-Gold Titanium Associate.
In the warehouse, the names of the various materials had not been intentionally marked, it was all to mislead the examinees so that they think that it was the real Purple-Gold Titanium.
Of course, after the Purple-Gold Titanium Associate was thrown into the crafting furnace, it would react differently with the subsequent flames and the spiritual energy as compared to the real Purple-Gold Titanium.
A majority of the examinees only came to their senses at this step and realized that there was something wrong with the material before questioning the invigilating staff.
All of these people had gotten the real Purple-Gold Titanium.
However, a lot of time had been wasted in vain.
There were still a certain group of examinees, who still didn't realize the trap in the twenty-second vertebra from beginning to the end. They were all laboriously doing their utmost to solve the obvious problems on the surface. These people were bound to return in disappointment.
The scenes of hundreds of maintenance workshops were being projected in the hologram.
However, there was a hologram in the center, which remain unchanged. It projected the situation in two maintenance workshops that belonged to the most favored examinees.
First was naturally Jiang Shaoyang.
After having acquired the real Purple-Gold Titanium, he, with textbook-like perfect order and techniques, meticulously started refining, polishing, and performing maintenance.
His actions were as fluid as quicksilver flowing on the ground, concise yet natural and smooth.
Watching him refine was as intoxicating as a fine wine; it was pleasing to watch and brought an indescribably wonderful feeling. No one could bear to remove their gazes from even half a second.
The second was Li Yao.
There was no movement, Li Yao just sat at the center of the warehouse; seemingly sitting in contemplation.
Only when the three examiners observed closely did they discovered a faint steam rising from Li Yao's head.
Li Yao's brain was in an extreme state of high-speed calculation.
"What is he actually doing? Why is he not asking for the Purple-Gold Titanium Associate?"
After having watched Li Yao's shocking performance for the first two rounds, even Zhu Yueqin, who disliked Li Yao, had a high evaluation of him.
From the level of intelligence shown by Li Yao in the previous rounds, it was quite obvious that those petty tricks simply would not fool him.
He should have questioned the examiners at the very first instance, so why was he blankly staring for such a long time?
The three examiners glanced at each other; multitudes of questions revolved in their hearts.
However, they failed to realize that Li Yao was an unconventional refiner from the Magical Equipment Graveyard, whose line of thinking differed greatly as compared to a vast majority of normal refiners.
Other refiners, even geniuses like Jiang Shaoyang, had received a school-based, orthodox education since childhood.
For them, it was as just as heaven to begin refining only when they had a complete set of raw materials.
In the environment that they grew up, their teachers, seniors, and staff members would naturally prepare a variety of materials for them. Even if they were lacking just one element, just by moving their fingers, they could order them via Spiritual Nexus.
As far as these normal refiners who grew up in a nurturing environment were concerned, if a material was missing, then the very material should be immediately allocated; there wasn't a second option!
However, Li Yao was different.
The terribly brutal Magical Equipment Graveyard wasn't some calm and peaceful campus. Even for a small lump of strengthened alloy, a fight would break out. How could he collect all the materials and then start repairing?
Whatever he could find, he would use that. Even if he had nothing, he would use a wooden stick to replace the necessary material so that the magical equipment could barely start running. Even if it operated for just three seconds, maybe in those three seconds, he could eliminate an enemy!
That was Li Yao's line of thinking.
Therefore, having discovered the lack of the most important Purple Gold Titanium among the raw materials, and even though he very well knew that it was a trap, he didn't question it.
He presumed that since the third round was a "practical exam", then isn't it just normal to lack various materials in real life scenario?
Suppose he was at a provisional repair station on the frontline which was completely surrounded by demon beasts, and the repair station had just run out of the Purple-Gold Titanium, then what to do?
Are they going to request an armistice with the demon beasts until the Purple-Gold Titanium can be shipped from the back before fighting again?
How could that be possible!
"I understand, the real purpose of the third round is to examine how we are going to react in a stressful situation, want to see how we are going to repair the Mystic Wolf without the Purple-Gold Titanium.
"It sounds quite difficult!
"However, a registered refiner had always been one of the best vocations in the world of cultivation. It is quite normal for the last round to be this difficult!"
Li Yao slapped his forehead, believing himself to have seen through everything.
He no longer hesitated and started thinking with all his concentration.
Without the Purple-Gold Titanium, he was unable to forge the 22nd vertebra. And with the lack of a vertebra, even if the Mystic Wolf could barely be recovered, its flexibility and speed would take a big dive and it would be simply impossible to recover it to 90% of its war force?
It seems that he had to once again display his crazy, devilish skills and hugely change the overall structure of the Mystic Wolf.
Li Yao licked his lips, his eyes, on the other hand, in the blink of an eye, flickered with blazing flames as though he had returned to those decadent days when he was modifying the 1st Generation Tai'e Furnace.
Although the Mystic Wolf was a classic, lightweight warbeast, Li Yao was slightly disappointed by its concept and structure.
Even though according to the data it was quite powerful and could play quite of terrifying strength on the battlefield, too much emphasis was paid on speed and agility, which resulted in it having a vulnerable abdominal region which could not be resolved. If it were bitten by a demon beast at its waist, its vertebral column could quite easily break.
The resulting rate of failure would be high.
At present, huge strategic battles had not erupted between the Heaven Origin Sector and Blood Demon Sector. All the battles fought were either small-scale raids or close encounters. The rate of failure was still within an acceptable range.
However, once a big battle broke out, during which the resources and maintenance staff would be scarce, the shortcomings of the Mystic Wolf would come into light.
Usually, Li Yao liked looking at some classic magical equipment's blueprints and imagine how he would carry out some "crazy modifications" in his free time for amusement.
The Mystic Wolf had already been in production for over three decades; its blueprints were no military secrets and could be found in Grand Desolate War Institution. Li Yao had also thought of several modification plans for the Mystic Wolf. He had never imagined for them to be of use today.
"Which set of modification should I use?
"Forget it! Since it's such an important exam, I should use the safest, most conservative, and most old-fashioned set just to be safe!"
Suddenly, Li Yao stood up, his eyes lit up; he was ready to go all out.
Meanwhile, in the control room, when Li Yao began his crazed performance, each of his actions had been called into question by the three examiners, "What... what is he doing? Why is he drawing so many blueprints and spiritual energy flow diagrams like crazy? He just has to repair the Mystic Wolf, that's all, but why does he need to draw so many diagrams?"
"Hey, he even picked up as many as 142 kinds of raw materials? Obviously, just 97 kinds of raw materials are sufficient to repair the Mystic Wolf!"
"The components he is forging are quite strange. They are not the standard components for the Mystic Wolf. I really want to know what's going on inside his brain."
"He has dismantled the crafting furnace!"
"That's not it, he is actually using many of the crafting furnace's components to strengthen the Mystic Wolf. Even the units of the crafting furnace aren't spared!"
"Is-isn't this violation of the rules? What, it isn't a violation of the rules? The examinees can use everything within the repair workshop?"
"And now he is assembling that thing! What am I looking at, it doesn't look like a Mystic Wolf!"
Finally...
The exam came to an end!
When the exhausted examinees somehow dragged their tired bodies out of their respective caves along with their repaired Mystic Wolves, they were deeply shocked by the amazing masterpiece at the center of the huge disc, one after another.
