Forty millenniums of cul.., p.231
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 231
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
The undercurrent hit the shell of spiritual energy heavily. The round zone was full of hollows and bumps. For a moment, it collapsed inwardly; in the next moment, it held back the pressure and returned to normal, sometimes even expanding slightly.
Li Yao gritted his teeth. Every vein and every nerve inside his body were convulsing as if they were living things. Like dragons deep buried in his flesh and blood, they transmitted his strength into the deepest depths of his brain unstoppably.
A slowly-revolving swirl was formed in the middle of his two eyebrows.
"Hoooooo!"
Thunderous roars echoed in Li Yao's throat, as the swirl between his eyebrows suddenly protruded.
An inconceivably brutal force was exerted out of his body.
It was the most powerful spiritual energy beyond the 13th level of the Refinement Stage, as well as the ultimate spiritual gas that any Cultivator could shape.
Peak of the Refinement Stage!
On the surface of the sea, seawater was boiling. The tides solidified into all kinds of fierce beasts, before they crashed with each other, broke up, and returned to the sea.
Deep down in the sea, the round zone around Li Yao was shaped by him into a giant figure of more than ten meters tall, with a face, limbs, and everything. It looked identical to himself, with not even the tiniest detail being left out.
He seemed to have expanded several times in that moment.
"Huala! Huala! Huala!"
Following Li Yao's movements, the formidable giant of spiritual energy started boxing in the bottom of the Billowing Star Sea!
Although it was 'Thirteen Forces of War Beasts', the simplest martial art of all, it was still intimidating enough in the bottom of the Billowing Star Sea where undercurrents prevailed, as if it were going to cut the world fragment into two halves.
The longer he continued, the crazier he became. After a single punch, a wave of almost a thousand meters wide was blown outward and didn't disperse for a long time.
After finishing the Thirteen Forces of War Beasts, Li Yao felt that he couldn't be more comfortable. With a telepathic thought, the giant of spiritual energy suddenly collapsed and turned into a large bird, which triggered a tsunami under the sea with a flap of wings. Ten seconds later, it flew out of the surface of the seawater from the hundreds-of-meter deep bottom to the sky, followed by sea spray that was dozens of meters high.
Li Yao stood in the air hundreds of meters to the ground. Countless feelings were rolling over in his heart as he stared at the sea which didn't go quiet after a long time.
"Over the past six months, the school has offered me a lot of resources to help me Cultivate. I've bought a lot of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, strengthening drugs, and Cultivation appliances myself.
"After days and nights of fighting and training with Ding Lingdang gruesomely, I've finally reached the peak of the Refinement Stage with perfect control over spiritual gas now.
"Right now, I'll need a 'eureka' moment to understand the transformation of spiritual energy from the gas state to the liquid state. When the spiritual energy in my body is condensed to such an extent that spiritual liquid is flowing all over, I will successfully break into the Building Foundation Stage!"
Li Yao landed on the island in the middle of the Billowing Star Sea slowly.
The island had been rocky and rugged with all kinds of stones. It was the training ground for Li Yao and Ding Lingdang.
Two years ago, when Li Yao first entered the Billowing Star Sea, he had been terribly beaten by Ding Lingdang in this place.
After two years of hard training and countless bloody battles, all the stones on the island had been crushed and flattened.
The place which used to be full of rocks was now entirely empty, except for the hollows from punching and stomping and the spider-net-like cracks that were everywhere.
They were the traces of their fierce battles.
Li Yao at present was no longer the rookie that Ding Lingdang could finish in less than one minute.
With the understanding of spiritual gas at the peak of the Refinement Stage and the sturdy body built up by the Thousand Tempering Hundred Refining technique, he was not completely on the losing side even faced with such a combat maniac at the Building Foundation Stage like Ding Lingdang.
Over the past month, the battles between them often lasted more than ten minutes.
Then, they would start another battle.
In such battles, it often took more than thirty, sometimes even fifty, minutes before they were over.
But today Ding Lingdang was not present.
Recently, she often left the Grand Desolate War Institution mysteriously without telling anyone where she was going to.
When Li Yao asked her, she said that she would tell him everything after he entered the Building Foundation Stage.
The two of them were both crazy about training, which often required outdoor travelling and exploration. Therefore, Li Yao didn't ask much and simply trained by himself in the Billowing Star Sea.
It was a good opportunity for him to test his secret weapons and new tactics anyway.
With a telepathic thought, two shrieks rang far away.
From the corner of the island, two lasers, one black and the other silver, darted to him and spun around him like two unstoppable hurricanes.
The black laser was, of course, the flying sword Black Wing.
Right now, Li Yao was no longer the cash-strapped scavenger but, more or less, a rich guy. He spent a fortune on a huge amount of crystals and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures for Black Wing to eat.
Black Wing was not picky at all. It had an appetite for the most eccentric Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures as long as there was abundant spiritual energy in them.
Over the past half a year, the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that it absorbed were even more than those consumed by Li Yao during his Cultivation.
Its speed and range of spiritual threads had significantly improved, too. It could perform all kinds of incredible movements when it was moving at supersonic speed.
However, the deficiency that it couldn't be used to attack remained. Li Yao studied for a long time trying to figure out why but to no avail. He still had to consider Black Wing as the best shield and the most trustworthy means of escape.
Attacks could be carried out by the silver laser.
The laser was, no less, 'Neltharion', the warship model of the Star Sea Imperium that he retrieved from his Cosmos Ring.
After Project Mystic Skeleton was completed, Li Yao finally had enough time to explore the mysteries of Neltharion.
Neltharion was not a toy for fun. It required complicated procedures to operate.
Li Yao had estimated that it was a piece of training magical equipment in the Star Sea Imperium that had been used to train warship captains for the imperial fleets.
Once he sank part of his soul into it, his consciousness would be split into two halves.
The half that maneuvered Neltharion was faced with an extremely sophisticated control menu.
In the beginning, Li Yao didn't know where to start at all. He could barely fly Neltharion for half a minute without crashing the wall or the ground.
Learning how to steer the warship model was also a soul burning process. Without the solid soul that had been cleansed by Ou Yezi, his spirit would've been drained after only several seconds after he entered it.
Following half a year of exploration, he was finally able to maneuver Neltharion in a range of no more than a hundred meters.
He had also discovered two great advantages of Neltharion.
Firstly, stealth.
Neltharion boasted special stealth ability. Once it was activated, Neltharion would vanish from this world, yet it could still observe this world from where it was in a way that he couldn't comprehend.
Li Yao had tested it in front of Ding Lingdang several times. Ding Lingdang had never noticed anything wrong, which was evident that such stealth was beyond the recognition of Building Foundation Stage Cultivators.
There were several Core Formation Stage Cultivators in the Grand Desolate War Institution. Li Yao had flown Neltharion to three hundred meters away from them, and they had no reactions to it whatsoever either.
But Li Yao did not dare to go any closer.
The observation in stealth meant that he had an invisible and indestructible crystal camera in a battleground.
It would be a huge advantage.
Secondly, collision.
Just like any crystal warship, Neltharion had a spiritual shield as defense, which was extremely steady.
Although it was not as fast as Black Wing, the damage of its collision was no less intimidating. With a telepathic thought, it could crash into the enemy from an unimaginable angle.
Together with its stealth ability, it would be an inconspicuous yet deadly weapon!
Black Wing and Neltharion, a black light and a silver one, with the former in charge of defense and the latter responsible for attack. Considering that he was already at the peak of the Refinement Stage, Li Yao was confident in fighting three to five demon generals at the same time when he met them!
His trump cards were more than those two.
"Shua!"
Li Yao exited the Billowing Star Sea and returned to Ding Lingdang's bedroom.
The teleportation array to the Billowing Star Sea had been modified. It was larger and more complicated, with an additional operation panel now.
Li Yao quickly typed on the operation panel. The light beam beside him blinked. The destination on it changed from 'Billow Star Sea' to 'Diminutive Dust Domain'.
The Diminutive Dust Domain was a world fragment he bought for himself and also where his personal 'Fiend Star Refining Workshop' was located.
Li Yao stood on the teleportation array again. Brilliant brightness spurted out. He was consumed and brought to the Diminutive Dust Domain.
It was a super-mini world fragment with a diameter of no more than one kilometer.
The natural laws here were identical to those of the Heaven's Origin Sector, except for the large swirl in the blue sky which would absorb all the dust and particles in the air, so that the place would be turned into a natural cleanroom.
It was a perfect place for refining. Li Yao had built it into a quaint refining workshop in the traditional ways of the Hundred Smelting Clan.
Chapter 339: First-degree State of War |
In the middle of the refining workshop was an advanced refining furnace, which was 'Vulcan III', the latest model that Empyrean Terminus Sect developed one year ago.
The fact this particular model had been named after the god of fire was evident enough of Empyrean Terminus Sect's ambition and confidence.
Around Vulcan III, the iron mat, heater, and polishing pool were distributed according to the traditional styles of Hundred Smelting Clan, together with a few other refining furnaces that Li Yao crafted by himself using the ancient techniques.
At first, he would refine the components with the modern technology. Then, he would polish and furbish them delicately with the secret arts of Hundred Smelting Clan. This was the unique refining style of Li Yao.
In such a way, Li Yao upgraded the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit from head to toe.
As a MP crystal suit model for the federal army on a large scale, the performance of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was acceptable.
However, as his personal crystal suit which he would wear for life-and-death combats and maybe to the Occult Orbs one day, it was far from satisfactory.
As his own strength improved, especially after he reached the peak of the Refinement Stage, Li Yao had always felt that he couldn't enjoy him enough when he was wearing the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.
It sort of felt like a tall, muscular man who was waving a bulrush as his weapon. Not only was he unable to exert his full strength, he was also afraid that the bulrush might break up at any moment.
Therefore, over the past half year, Li Yao had purchased a lot of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and modified the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit crazily.
After his modifications, other than the classical framework design which had been retained, all the parts of the crystal suit had undergone tremendous changes.
The key components had been replaced by Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, which had been further strengthened by many secret arts including 'Dragon Scales Tossing', 'Seven Levels of Heaven', 'Invisible Seals', etc.
The crystal reactor had been changed to the most advanced model refined out of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, too. But the valve design was kept. When necessary, the spiritual energy inside the crystal reactor could be used to launch a critical attack easily.
At first glance, the new Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit seemed no different from ordinary ones. If anything, it seemed more shabby and straightforward, with an air that it could crush anything in its way with nothing but its speed and steadiness.
But in fact, the combat ability of the new Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit had been improved by multiple times!
Beside the new Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit stood a red crystal suit that looked like burning fire.
It was 'Crimson Phantom', a crystal suit specially designed for body practitioners. After Li Yao bought it, he had been modifying the crystal suit intensively according to Ding Lingdang's body shape and combat habits.
Body practitioners had different demands for crystal suits compared to common Cultivators.
They usually did not like too many weapons or pieces of magical equipment as accessories on their crystal suits. Instead, they were more interested in the enhancement of crystal suits to improve their sensitivity to the outside world.
Most importantly, since body practitioners often had powerful spiritual tattoos on their body, the crystal suits they wore could not hinder the flow of their spiritual tattoos. It would be best if the crystal suits could magnify the spiritual tattoos, so that the combat ability of the body practitioner would be significantly improved.
This 'Crimson Phantom' was one of the best crystal suits for body practitioners. It had won several important prizes in crystal suit design matches. Besides, a lot of fiery crystals were embedded into the crystal suit, which was perfect for a body practitioner whose spiritual root was of the fire attribute such as Ding Lingdang.
With Li Yao's current knowledge, it was hardly possible for him to refine a crystal suit from scratch.
However, Li Yao was already an experienced expert in upgrading an existing crystal suit with his insane imagination.
The purchase of Diminutive Dust Domain, Crimson Phantom Battlesuit, and the huge amount of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, as well as the modification fees that he had spent on the two crystal suits with absolutely no consideration of budgets whatsoever, had cost him a great fortune.
Although Li Yao had made quite a decent amount of money through Project Mystic Skeleton and the Demon Beast Detector, he had used up all the money and even borrowed a large sum of loans from the bank. He was a cash-strapped poor man again now.
However, compared with ordinary people, money was not that important for Cultivators, who always valued the improvement of their strength more than anything else.
Besides, in the past half a year, the news was more and more troubling. An unprecedented storm seemed to be brewing.
Over the past six months, beast tides had been breaking out much more frequently. Small-scale beast tides were taking place every day. The federal army had been busy as bees putting out fire here and there.
More and more high-level demons were joining the beast tides, too. Every three to five days, strong demons at the level of demon king would trespass into the Heaven's Origin Sector through wormholes and sabotage the human towns and cities.
Even the regular demon army had come several times.
The regular demon army was similar to human beings in appearance with equally high intelligence. Their devil weapons were as powerful as the magical equipment of human beings. They would charge and retreat according to commands. As well-trained soldiers, they boasted a far stronger fighting will than ordinary demon beasts did.
Even when they were besieged by the federal army and Cultivators, they were still able to handle the situation. When they were retreating, they always left a series of tricky traps that often lead to major casualties.
Some small-scale devil warships were teleported to the Heaven's Origin Sector through wormholes and reinforced the demons on the ground with fire support.
They'd surprised the federal army many times, who had been taught a hard lesson by them.
The Grand Desolate Plateau had become a battlefield that was full of perils.
Even the most inert inland citizens were aware that a bloodier war than any of the past 500 years was going to break out in no time.
In response to the new situation, both the federal government and the Cultivators were taking actions promptly. Top secret projects were revealed to the public one after another, unveiling powerful magical equipment that had never been seen before, in order to show the muscles of the Heaven's Origin Sector and pacify the people.
News about Occult Orbs Fellowship was one of them.
Before, the citizens had heard a thing or two about the fact that the federal government and the Cultivators were exploring world fragments, but they didn't know the details or the progress.
This time, not only did Occult Orbs Fellowship show a lot of secret treasures and arts from the world fragments to the public, it also revealed a lot of video clips of the bases of the federation in the Occult Orbs and the large-scale exploitation on them.
Several strong Cultivators that had been Cultivating in the Occult Orbs for their entire lives returned to the Heaven's Origin Sector. After they challenged the rampant beast tides with their extraordinary performances, they immediately became center of public attention and were considered as new heroes of the federation.
In such a magnificent era when big shots emerged like rising storms, whatever influence Li Yao had had half a year ago was soon drowned under the surging tides.
