Forty millenniums of cul.., p.299
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 299
Four of the nets had been sewn with metal pieces and membranes carved with countless runes, allowing the nets to absorb the precious spiritual energy from stars, cosmic storms, and spiritual tides.
The holes of the other four nets were miniature. They were designed to capture the meteorites and dust passing by and transport them inside the star beacon where the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures inside the material would be purified for the purpose of self-maintenance.
Just like that, the star beacon revolved slowly. On a level that was invisible to human eyes, it emitted mystic rays in thousands of different colors, broadcasting its location for all the worlds that could receive the signal.
Right then, a rune array inside the star beacon was triggered by a strange power. As if a sleeping animal had been woken up, many runes on the star beacon were illuminated in the chain reaction.
Countless metal antennas hundreds of meters long protruded out of the star beacon, making its size multiple times what it had been.
Its oval body split in two. Ripples spread out from its center to the far, far away, covering tens of thousands of square kilometers momentarily.
As the star beacon revolved slowly, the constellation within the tens of thousands of square kilometers was bathed in mild gold brightness. Then, the runes blinked. The gold brightness seemed to be boiling. A lot of tiny bubbles were popping up.
One of the 'bubbles' suddenly twisted and blurred, before it constricted into the shape of a starship.
The bubble broke. A starship appeared abruptly in the space out of nowhere.
After the prolonged interstellar teleportation, the shell of the starship was damaged again, making it look somewhat haggard.
But the Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars emblem on the front of the starship was still shining brilliantly.
The star beacon had finished its guidance. The gold mystic rays were absorbed back into its body; the guidance antennas retreated. The body which had been split in two reassembled into one and fell silent again, waiting for the arrival of a new interstellar guest.
"We've made it!"
The cockpit of Sparkle was now a sea of cheers.
The probe system of Sparkle had scanned the appearance of the star beacon clearly. Even the mottled Red Dragon Swallowing the Sun emblem was detailed in the picture.
According to the ancient books, the larger a star beacon was, the higher its level would be and the more constellations and worlds it would be able to cover.
The star beacon that Li Yao had established on Boneyard was of the lowest level, which could only radiate out to less than ten thousand lightyears away.
But this star beacon in front was more than a thousand meters in diameter. It must've been a piece of high-level super-large magical equipment even in the era of the Star Ocean Imperium. To complete such giant architecture required a huge amount of spiritual energy and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
Since the Star Ocean Imperium had established such an advanced star beacon in this place, the very world here must've been of great significance!
As a multipurpose exploration starship, Sparkle boasted a lot of different probe magical equipment. Li Yao's spiritual threads extended into the mainframe crystal processor and started sensing the basic conditions of the world.
"Ho!"
After wandering in an infertile wasteland for over a month, Li Yao felt like a mouse which had fallen into a tank of rice now that he'd arrived in a new world.
This was indeed a prosperous world. Although Sparkle was quite a distance away from the star, the spiritual waves nearby were still very intense.
Sparkle had hardly begun searching when it detected several clusters of cosmic dusts and cosmic storms with abundant spiritual energy.
However…
The spiritual energy of this particular world was too abundant, to the extent that one might say it was chaotic.
Yes, chaotic!
Something must've happened to the world before. Sparkle failed to detect many stable planets but had found a lot of stone belts, garbage belts, and world fragments.
It appeared that more than half the worlds here had been blown to pieces a long time ago.
Half a day later, steering Sparkle, Li Yao flew toward some coordinates where metal reactions were extraordinarily intense.
After flying for five days and five nights, he finally arrived at the coordinates, only to find that it was a boundless ancient battleground.
This ancient battleground was thousands of times larger than the ancient battleground remnants in orbit around Boneyard. Li Yao couldn't see the edge of the battleground despite his remarkable sight. It was like an ocean of remnants.
Warship remnants that were riddled with holes, battered star fortresses, broken limbs of crystal suits and Cultivators, and countless lackluster metals and bone scraps were all floating in the dark space, silently displaying the results of the bloody, violent war thousands of years ago.
But this was just one of the ancient battlegrounds in this world.
The probe magical equipment of Sparkle had detected another dozen locations closer to the center of the constellation which were sending out similar metal reactions. Judging from the distance and the intensity of reactions, those remnants were of similar scale to the one that he was in.
"It seems that our deduction was correct. This world used to be an important military base of the Star Ocean Imperium. But during the 'Armageddon Rebellion', an unprecedented battle broke out. Billions of Cultivators and rebelling demonic Cultivators were engaged in furious combat nearby. Maybe, the few worlds nearby were involved, too. The constellation we are in right now was entirely blown up and stirred into chaos," Li Yao mumbled.
Then he was excited again. Rubbing his fits, he exclaimed, "But it couldn't be better for us! With so many ancient battleground relics, we can always find materials that are of use to us, even though most of the magical equipment and starships have been wrecked! Together with the abundant spiritual energy, it should be enough for us to further modify and strengthen Sparkle!"
Before Mo Xuan and the others could respond, red lights were suddenly blinking inside the cockpit. Broadcasting rune arrays were sending out urgent warnings.
"Intense spiritual waves detected!"
"Activities of intellectual creatures detected!"
Li Yao's eyes were immediately shining. The speed of his hands was brought up to a whole new level as he triggered the probe magical equipment.
He found that the center of the relic was wreathed in a cluster of vague grey mist, which made it looked like a round eggshell.
Around the grey mist, there were a lot of traces that looked like capillaries, a clear sign that the solidarity of the grey mist was being disturbed by many objects which had been flying in and out.
"It's a world fragment. A fairly large one!"
Li Yao was greatly interested.
A world fragment was originally part of an intact world. They only came into being because of the collapse of the mother world they were in. The natural laws that made them exist were completely different from those of the intact worlds. They could stay stable even though they were only dozens of kilometers in diameter, with air, sunlight, water, and everything necessary for the survival of human beings.
"Excellent!"
Li Yao licked his lips and swallowed.
Although he had a much stronger body than ordinary people as a Cultivator, he still couldn't wait to enjoy some fresh air after breathing the recycled air inside Sparkle for such a long time.
However, one could never be too prudent. As a 'vulture' born and raised in a magical equipment graveyard, Li Yao wouldn't overestimate the integrity of certain human beings.
The chaotic environment of the world should be enough to prove that the surviving human beings here wouldn't be the most lenient persons in the universe.
For a moment, a familiar feeling suddenly occurred to Li Yao.
"This world is crumbled and chaotic, messed up with large areas of ancient battleground relics and countless invaluable garbage. Isn't this a universe-level 'magical equipment graveyard'?
"Let's see what kind of treasure we can dig out in this place!"
Li Yao smiled confidently and said to Mo Xuan, "Now that signs of living creatures have been detected, let's carry out the 'infiltration' plan!"
Li Yao raised his right hand and pressed his index finger and middle finger to his forehead above his spiritual root. He muttered spells as his Cosmos Ring glittered.
"Shua!"
A weird scene took place!
His body was suddenly enveloped in a black and red glow. The flowing brightness span and tied him up. One third of a second later, the brightness had been entirely consolidated.
The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit covered him!
This was a secret art to retrieve a crystal suit from a Cosmos Ring in the era of the Star Ocean Imperium.
In the past, after Li Yao had retrieved his crystal suit, he would have to open it with his telepathic thoughts, turn around, and walk into it; the entire process would take more than five seconds.
If he was engaged with a super expert, he would've been blown to pieces before he was able to put on his crystal suit.
But if he were to wear his crystal suit all the time, not only would it consume a lot of spiritual energy, the likelihood of him being exposed would also greatly increase, not to mention that he wouldn't be able to fit in many tight spaces such as the cockpit of an armed shuttle.
However, with the secret art of the Star Ocean Imperium, he would be able to put on his crystal suit within one tenth second when he was more familiar with it.
It was only one of the twenty or so secret arts recorded in Senior Gao Xingce's journal.
The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit at this moment had undergone tremendous changes compared with previously, too.
Large quantities of silver bones, ancient magical equipment scraps, and flesh and blood harvested from Skeleton Dragon had been integrated into the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.
Together with Mo Xuan and the 'Four Kings' who had spent their entire lives studying the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, a lot of strengthening and modification plans had been formulated after the sparking collisions of their wisdom.
Right now, the surface of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit had been strengthened by a lot of silver bones, which had significantly improved its defense ability.
Li Yao had also torn off a lot of tusks from the giant skulls on Skeleton Dragon's arms. After mixing them with the scraps of ancient magical equipment, he'd refined them into headbutting horns and combat thorns and added them to the elbows, knees, helmet, and shoulders of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.
As for Skeleton Dragon's flesh and blood, which were surprisingly tensile, they had been used to fill the gaps of joints and the interior of the crystal suit.
The materials were the best buffer that could even dissipate the enemy's strike to every part of the body.
With the 'Thousand Tempering Hundred Refining' technique which endowed Li Yao with impressive defense ability, Li Yao was confident that he could grit his teeth and hold back a Core Formation Stage Cultivator's full-strength strike should he suffer one!
Chapter 440: First Contact |
Crack! Crack!
Five sharp talons stuck out of the left arm, which had been refined out of silver bones and scraps of the ancient magical equipment. It had an air of the brutality and bloodthirst of the demon beasts as well as a vintage and ancient aura.
Their hardness, strength, flexibility, and spiritual energy conductivity were dozens of times higher than those of common super alloys.
With a telepathic thought from Li Yao, the sharp talons started vibrating at a high frequency, triggering purple electric arcs and blue fire, whose brightness consolidated into almost a real thing. The damage of his attack would be five times stronger than before when he performed the Purple Electric Blue Fire Claw Art.
He unsheathed the Boiled Blood Wind Slashing Saber with his right hand. The crimson body of the saber seemed very similar to before. But there were rounds of ripples caused by runes on it right now.
Li Yao waved his saber. After a 'shua' sound, the body of the saber split into dozens of sections like a spine. Each section was connected to the next one by Skeleton Dragon's transparent flesh that was as thin as a hair. Under the surging spiritual energy, the saber extended to almost a hundred meters long, dancing and circling him like a bizarre boa that was baring its fangs.
The attack range of the strengthened Boiled Blood Wind Slashing Saber had been expanded to a hundred square meters. Multiple attack modes were added, and the attack angles were much more unpredictable!
As for Li Yao's favorite Triple-headed Six-barrel Vulcan Machine Gun, its barrels had been significantly improved, too. More importantly, since many silver bones and scraps of ancient magical equipment had been too broken to be reorganized, Li Yao had refined them into special silver bullets and sealed Skeleton Dragon's intense demonic energy into them, before performing the Blood Baptism by mixing the blood from his fingertip, the tip of his tongue, and from his heart with his telepathic thought!
Once the bullets were triggered, he would be able to control them fully at his will. They were like countless tiny flying swords that would go anywhere that he wanted.
The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit which had been comprehensively upgraded was both gruesome and murderous, and in every way intimidating. If it were in the Heaven's Origin Sector, its specifications would be as good as those of Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators' super crystal suits, if not better.
Other than that, Mo Xuan had also conducted a lot of modifications on the crystal processor of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit and remotely docked it to the mainframe crystal processor of Sparkle.
Within a certain range, Li Yao could control Sparkle with his telepathic thoughts even if he was not in it.
Even though Li Yao was distances away from Sparkle, as long as they were on the same world without too much interference, they would be able to construct a communication channel and contact each other.
A silver brightness was flowing slowly among the gaps of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit which was part of the mustard-level maintainers. Li Yao carried them with him for the simple maintenance work.
Li Yao also stored a lot of silver bones, scraps of ancient magical equipment, and Skeleton Dragon's flesh inside his Cosmos Ring. He would be able to complete more complicated modifications when the actual situation demanded.
Li Yao, at this moment, was truly armed to the teeth.
Yet, he was not satisfied yet. He touched his forehead with his two fingers again. A lot of additional components appeared on the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.
These were the plug-ins that they had refined based on the mechanism of the Ares Extension, but they didn't provide any extra abilities at all; they were just a layer of camouflage.
In a moment, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was covered in a layer of ragged, broken plate armor. Many parts of it were rusted as if they had been deeply corroded by something.
Whoever saw the crystal suit would be given the impression that it would crumble in the very next second.
Li Yao scanned his appearance with crystal cameras and nodded in satisfaction. Then, he reached a cabin in the center of the starship.
A long-prepared oval escape capsule was waiting patiently. Its shell was full of dints that were clearly the result of a shower of small meteorites, indicating that it had gone through a protracted, perilous journey.
"After I take off, you just hide in the depths of the ancient battleground and cover the surface of Sparkle with the ragged remnants nearby. Try to conceal Sparkle and yourselves!
"There are thousands of remnants of starships in this place. Hiding here is like placing a pebble in a riverbed. Nobody will notice anything abnormal at all.
"You can also explore the ancient relics and search for valuable remnants, but take care of yourselves. Safety first!
"If there's anything wrong on my side, I will reach out to you and you can reinforce me as soon as possible."
Li Yao crawled into the escape capsule after issuing his instructions to Mo Xuan and the rest of them.
It was a plan they'd settled on after lengthy discussions. When they came across a new world of Cultivators, Li Yao and Sparkle would part with each other and start their respective operations until the details of the new world had been figured out.
Sparkle was too large in size, after all. The starship was two hundred meters long. It was but millet compared to the vast universe. However, it would be quite a conspicuous target within the atmosphere. Somebody would definitely notice it.
If strong forces that boasted one or even more Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators resided in the planet, Sparkle would be like walking right into a trap.
If Li Yao were alone, the target would be much smaller, and he would be able to do whatever he wanted freely.
Once he was caught in any danger, Sparkle would be his trump card to reverse the situation.
"Rest assured. We'll definitely make Sparkle stronger than now while you're away!"
Professor Mo Xuan grinned.
Li Yao smiled. Triggering his telepathic thoughts, he activated his escape capsule, which slid out of Sparkle and dived into the world fragment enveloped in the grey fog.
Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!
The sixteen miniature power rune arrays around the escape capsule spurted thin air currents. Steering the vehicle delicately, Li Yao avoided the remnants by a close margin.
However, he would crash into a remnant or two on purpose, leaving new hollows on the shell of the escape capsule to make it more like an authentic one.
When he approached the grey fog, he even crashed into an extremely sharp remnant, which produced a giant hole on the escape capsule and caused all the air to leak outside.
Therefore, he had a perfect reason to be wearing a crystal suit.
The escape capsule dashed into the grey fog and landed toward the world fragment.
…
Mu Ping grunted. He swallowed many times but finally failed to hold it in. A mouthful of black blood was vomited out.
