Forty millenniums of cul.., p.515
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 515
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Countless shooting stars hit the ground and raised a sand storm hundreds of meters high.
Soon, clattering noises echoed inside the sandstorm. A silver metal torrent flooded out of the sandstorm and blossomed like a flower into the various tunnels of Capital Nest.
Grand Illusionary Soldiers!
Li Yao pupils constricted violently. From the perspective of Neltharion, he could clearly see that the metal torrent was made of silver war puppets with limbs, a head, and everything. But they were all no higher than two meters. It was unlikely that they were crystal suits. The only possibility was that they were the Grand Illusionary Soldiers!
The Grand Illusionary Soldiers that had been dispatched for the battle were completely different from the prototypes that Li Yao had seen in the Meeting of the Next Millennium five years ago.
They were apparently better made. The rune arrays carved on their bodies were more elegant and glamourous. Illuminated by the setting sun, brilliance was flowing on them, indicating that they were made of more advance materials, too.
The Grand Illusionary Soldiers have been deployed to assault Spider Den, and the Temple of Immortals and the space pirates are actually the defenders now. It seems that the Immortal Cultivators are in a bad position.
A lot of the Cultivators' warships must have gathered near Spider Den.
The Grand Illusionary Soldiers required the Spiritual Nexus to be connected to the enormous database of the Grand Illusionary Group in order to achieve their best performance. Based on Li Yao's knowledge five years ago, there was no Spiritual Nexus in the Spider Den Space Zone.
Therefore, quite a few crystal warships of the Cultivators must have gathered in space and established a temporary network as its nodes.
The Immortal Army and the space pirates in various directions of Capital Nest, noticing that the Grand Illusionary Soldiers had invaded, lunged out and fought the intruders hard.
The Grand Illusionary Soldiers are quite strong. Li Yao observed the situation calmly.
Compared with the prototypes five years ago, the Grand Illusionary Soldiers today moved more agilely and had abundant tactical choices. Li Yao noticed that they frequently performed the classical moves of the best Exos as if actual humans were controlling the metal puppets.
Common Grand Illusionary Soldiers could resist the bombardment of crystal cannons head-on almost five times. For the Grand Illusionary Soldiers, which were more eye-catching in color and protected by multiple layers of spiritual shields, they could even be on par with the space pirates in the Building Foundation Stage during the battle.
It will indeed be terrifying if there are a million such warriors!
Li Yao continued climbing upwards, searching for a suitable target.
Very soon, he found a burning building and a few dead bodies on the ground nearby.
Li Yao opened his fingers. His spiritual energy surged out like a tide and forced the bodies to float in midair.
He moved his fingers quickly. The crystal suits on the few bodies were dissected into the most basic components after a 'huala' sound.
Tens of thousands of components formed a tornado in the air and swirled rapidly.
Li Yao curled his finger. The tornado of components moved toward him and wreathed him. After a period of clattering sounds, a brand-new crystal suit was assembled, and the redundant components darted out automatically into the rocks like bullets in earsplitting noises.
His left hand behind him casually, Li Yao extended his right index finger. A brilliant sun was soon shining on his finger.
Immense spiritual waves were spreading out of the light ball, which was soon perceived by the Grand Illusionary Soldiers.
They were like a group of sharks that had smelt a drop of blood.
Seven Grand Illusionary Soldiers immediately lunged at him.
Li Yao shook his right hand. The light ball of spiritual energy vanished into thin air. The surface of his crystal suit was covered in a thin spiritual shield, and he simply allowed the Grand Illusionary Soldiers to barrage him.
He discovered that the Grand Illusionary Soldiers were made of teams of seven. Every team had roles such as remote attackers, melee fighters, snipers, and tanks. The teamwork was neat and flawless, indicating that they had been well-trained.
The specifications of the temporarily assembled crystal suit plummeted like a thermometer that had been broken.
Bathed in the sword auras and the bombardment of spiritual energy, Li Yao noted every perceivable change, deep in thought.
In less than half a minute, the crystal suit on his body had been riddled with holes and was on the brink of destruction.
Some of the crystal cannons hit the parts of his skin that were exposed to the air, but it seemed that they had missed their target since there was absolutely no damage at all.
The combat data has mostly been collected.
Li Yao extended his right hand again and snapped his index finger.
A streak of whiteness darted out of his fingernails and blew up the head of a Grand Illusionary Soldier instantly before it marched to the next one.
It was not until the heads of three Grand Illusionary Soldiers were blown up that a high-pitched noise was echoing above the battlefield.
What is their internal structure?
Li Yao opened his right hand and pressed down. The remaining four Grand Illusionary Soldiers seemed to be suppressed by an invisible mountain. However many sparks were bursting out of their joints, they could not move forward even one step.
Hundreds of spiritual threads emerged like vipers on Li Yao's right hand. They slithered toward one of the Grand Illusionary Soldiers. They circled around the Grand Illusionary Soldier three times before they found the first gap.
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
Li Yao's spiritual threads flew up and down around the Grand Illusionary Soldier. Five minutes later, the Grand Illusionary Soldier was dismantled into the most fundamental components.
The structure is quite precise. The designs of five classical crystal suits have been borrowed from. The key components are all made of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Quite a piece of magical equipment. It must have consumed a lot of resources, though.
Li Yao's eyes were like two crystal cameras with extremely high resolutions. The loose components were transformed into microstructural designs and saved in his brain.
In the same way, he dismantled the rest of the Grand Illusionary Soldiers that were designed for different purposes.
According to the different tactical purposes, the sniper, the melee fighter, and the heavy firepower Grand Illusionary Soldiers boast different designs. The commander has a strengthened telepathic thought reception rune array attached to its crystal processor, which ensures that enough information can be received even if the Spiritual Nexus is unstable, and it can share the information with its 'subordinates'.
Pa!
Li Yao held his right hand. All the components floating in midair were pressed together by the invisible spiritual energy as if they were plasticine. They were crumbled and crushed until they became a big, smooth iron ball.
Watching the iron ball falling into the deepest part of a mining hole, Li Yao was deep in thought. It seems that the technology in the Grand Illusionary Soldiers has significantly improved in the past five years. Such a team of Grand Illusionary Soldiers may mean little for the Cultivator above the Core Formation Stage, but they can pose a huge threat for common Cultivators.
If there are enough of them, say, ten thousand, even a Core Formation Stage Cultivator would have a headache.
Also, since those Grand Illusionary Soldiers have been deployed for battles publicly, they are perhaps not the best weapons under Xiao Xuance's control. Chances are that he is manufacturing even stronger Grand Illusionary Soldiers in secret!
Li Yao roamed the battlefield in the ragged crystal suit, looking for a suitable target to interrogate. He was desperate to know what had happened in the outside world exactly during his five years of training below the ground.
He did not intend to capture an ordinary space pirate, because they were merely cannon fodder and had no access to inside information.
He did not want to capture the soldiers of the Immortal Army, either. Those Immortal Cultivators might know much more information, but they were also the most fervent zealots and would not tell him the information he needed easily.
Soon, he found a perfect target.
It was a team of space pirates with a battle emblem of a bloody raindrop, which was a sign of the Storm Prison Pirate Gang, on their crystal suits.
Since Fengyu Zhong was designated by the Temple of Immortals as the new ruler of space pirates, his subordinates must know more than other people do.
The space pirate in the lead is in the peak of the Building Foundation Stage. He must be one of the core members in the Storm Prison Pirate Gang.
It shall be him!
Li Yao moved forward and turned into a streak of brightness. When he accelerated, the whole world seemed to be frozen by a cluster of invisible glue. The Immortal Army, the space pirates, and the Grand Illusionary Soldiers were suddenly slowed down, and he was the only one that retained the high speed!
Shua!
When Li Yao reached the center of the battlefield, the ragged crystal suit on his body had long been shattered, but his target was a muscular man more than two meters tall, more than 2.5 meters tall including his heavy crystal suit.
However, Li Yao snatched the neck of the space pirate with his right hand only and dragged him off the battlefield without any trouble!
Chapter 772: This Is the Last War! |
The space pirates, the Immortal Cultivators, and the Grand Illusionary Soldiers only sensed something flash by. The next thing they knew, a man who had been jumping and yelling a moment ago vanished into thin air!
Inside an abandoned warehouse far away from the battlefield, Li Yao shook his right hand, and cracking noises echoed inside the space pirate's body, which looked like a black, iron tower. Li Yao broke all his joints, and he was tossed to the ground like a spineless snake.
Li Yao's spiritual energy entered the space pirate's body and mercilessly stimulated the nerve endings and acupoints like needles.
"Ahhhh!"
The space pirates jerked up as if he had been hit by ten thousand lightning bolts simultaneously, only to be pressed down by Li Yao's spiritual energy. He seemed to have hit an invisible cap and fell back to the ground heavily. His eyes were so bloodshot that they might have burst out at any point!
Right when his soul power was the weakest, redness blinked in Li Yao's eyes, and he threw a 'terror bomb' into the space pirate's brain, where it was detonated!
In a moment, the space pirate began seeing all kinds of illusions. He felt if he was placed in the middle of a magnificent furnace whose walls were as smooth as mirror. He could not get out of the cage however hard he tried. On the bottom of the furnace, the temperature was rising, and the air gradually turned more scorching than ever.
On the top of the furnace was a horrendous devil that was staring at him emotionlessly.
The space pirate completely broke down and stopped struggling. He breathed heavily and cramped uncontrollably.
Li Yao observed for a moment and asked solemnly, "Did you enter the underground fortress five years ago? What became of Bai Xinghe in the end?"
The space pirate shuddered in both fear and confusion. As if hypnotized, he murmured, "Five years ago, I followed captain and went to the underground fortress. But we encountered flood, explosions, and collapses and got trapped for an entire month before we finally escaped.
"Bai Xinghe… Boss Bai… was strong. Too strong!
"Boss Bai fought hundreds of space pirates and Immortal Cultivators all by himself. He heavily wounded captain and the Black King of the Temple of Immortals. Although the blood on his body was almost running dry, he killed two of the Eight Blades of Black Spider unhurriedly before he finally fell into the flood.
"We searched for his body in the water for a long time but found nothing. It was perhaps swept to a deeper part of the underground fortress by the flood."
"Oh?"
Li Yao was immediately interested. It was unlikely that Bai Xinghe survived the battle against two experts in the Nascent Soul Stage and hundreds of other high-level Cultivators. However, since the man's body was never found, he could make something out of that.
After pondering for a moment, Li Yao spoke again. "Tell me any news on the Great Horn Exo Society in the past five years."
The space pirate quickly replied, "The Great Horn Exo Society has been growing quickly over the past five years. It is almost the biggest Exo Society of the Flying Star Sector now. They established their headquarters on Iron Plateau, and a lot of elites among the qi-trainers have joined the Great Horn Exo Society. As for their equipment, the Glorious Sunlight Group has greatly supported them.
"The Glorious Sunlight Group is another organization that has been expanding quickly over the past five years. The Glorious Sunlight Magical Equipment Research Center is now almost on par with the three main crystal suit centers and has provided a lot of advanced magical equipment.
"Supported by Iron Plateau and the Glorious Sunlight Group, although Lei Dalu, the captain, and Bai Kaixin, the advisor, are merely in the Core Formation Stage, the Great Horn Exo Society has a lot of hands and a high comprehensive capability despite its lack of super warriors!"
Lei Dalu and Bai Kaixin had both escaped!
Li Yao was greatly relieved. It was a piece of good news that he had been looking forward to for five years.
"Has the Glorious Sunlight Group been developing fast recently?" Li Yao asked calmly.
In the space pirate's illusion, Li Yao's voice was as overwhelming and irresistible as thunder. He could only confess obediently. "Very fast. The Glorious Sunlight Group is already one of the strongest organizations in the Flying Star Sector, other than the six sects of Heavenly Saints City. There is a guy named Wu Mayan in the Glorious Sunlight Group. He is the best expert in the younger generation of the Flying Star Sector now. He has killed many of our people in the past five years. The Black Spider Tower organized several assassinations against him, but none of the attempts succeeded."
Li Yao could not help but smile in his mind. The young Wu Mayan was indeed not idling around!
Having received satisfactory answers to the three most crucial questions, Li Yao was much more confident about the situation right now. He then asked the space pirate about the history of the Flying Star Sector in the past five years unhurriedly.
It was only after he asked carefully that he learned a great many events had taken place in the Flying Star Sector over the past five years.
Five years ago, during the final battle between the old king of space pirates and the new, although Fengyu Zhong and the Black King had been heavily wounded and Bai Wulei had even been executed by Bai Xinghe, Bai Xinghe's great escape plan did not work out in the end because of Bai Kaixin's abrupt appearance. The Temple of Immortals still controlled Spider Den.
Then, the survivors of the Temple of Immortals got out of the underground fortress in the next month and successfully subdued all the forces that were still loyal to Bai Xinghe.
Since Bai Xinghe and Bai Wulei were both dead, there was a power vacuum in the Abyss Pirate Gang. It was incorporated into the Immortal Army and the Storm Prison Pirate Gang.
After taking over the whole of Spider Den, the Temple of Immortals soared in capability. It began carrying out operations everywhere and harassing all the remote space zones.
In the first two years, they made a lot of progress. During their prime days, they even occupied two space zones and established governments according to their ideology.
But their good days did not last long.
The assaults of the Immortal Cultivators triggered the deepest sense of crisis for the Cultivators. All the sects dedicated their available resources to the production of the Grand Illusionary Soldiers without caring about the cost.
As more and more Grand Illusionary Soldiers rushed out of the assembly lines, those war machines that were tireless and fearless were deployed to the remote space zones and the dangerous sailing routes. They were like nooses that gradually tightened the necks of the Immortal Cultivators and the space pirates.
In the beginning, the Grand Illusionary Soldiers could do nothing except increase the cost and duration of the space pirate's jobs.
Even so, the space pirates already felt very uncomfortable because they had to pay more, and their gains were fewer.
Gradually, with the technology of the Grand Illusionary Soldiers growing more and more mature and better materials being adopted, the combat ability of the Grand Illusionary Soldiers significantly increased. They were able to fight the space pirates in high-intensity combat.
The remote space zones that used to be flat plateaus turned into marshes and swamps when the tremendous Grand Illusionary Soldiers guarded them. When they were careless and got trapped by the Grand Illusionary Soldiers, they would not be able to get away unless they paid a high price.
After several large pirate gang got trapped by the Grand Illusionary Soldiers when they were plundering and were annihilated by the reinforcing Cultivators later, all the space pirates began hesitating. They often did not dare do anything until they had lurked for months and made thorough plans. Even so, the success rate of their missions was dropping fast.
Faced with such a dilemma, the Immortal Cultivators offered no good solutions. Over the years, they attempted to lure the extraterrestrial devils in several space zones. But the Grand Illusionary Soldiers were like the insecticide for the extraterrestrial devils. The hasty operations did not achieve the desired results at all. Instead, the hatred and the resolution of the entire Flying Star Sector were triggered by their boldness.
"Let's go to Spider Den and destroy the Temple of Immortals once and for all!"
