by <unknown>
"It took me a whole year to fully recover. But, although my body was healed, there has always been some unresolved issue on my mind. I can't use my left leg as fluently as I use my right leg. There's always a tiny difference. It's sort of an 'inner demon' for me.
"But the difference is so small that few people can recognize it. Li Yao, now that you've pointed it out, is there anything you can do about it?"
Zhou Zhenghao knew that Li Yao must've had more to say about the issue.
For years, he had been looking for doctors and experts for his leg. In fact, his leg injury had been cured a long time ago. It was the mental problem that had been haunting him.
But he was a stubborn man and not the type of people who would be easily influenced by interferences. Therefore, although he had many hypnotherapy sessions, they didn't really help.
Seeing that Li Yao could find out about his old ailment based on just a few elastic gaskets, a glimmer hope was rising from the bottom of his heart.
Li Yao thought for a while and nodded, "Now that your injury has become a mental issue, it's definitely not something that I can fix up.
"However, I do have a few suggestions for you as a Refiner.
"Your problem right now is that your speed and reactions in combat are affected because of your imbalanced legs. I'm not sure how the problem can be sorted out in daily life, but I have two ideas if you're in a crystal suit.
"Firstly, change the elastic gaskets in the right leg of the Thunder Axe Battlesuit into something made of softer materials.
"There are many kinds of elastic gaskets. Sanskrit Sun Demon Fish's bones have medium elasticity. You can choose a softer material so that the force from your right leg will be more absorbed than your left leg is. This way, your two legs will remain balanced.
"Secondly, if you don't want to change the elastic gaskets, you can also ask a Refiner to increase the weight of the electromagnetic axe on your right leg, or reduce the weight of that on your left leg.
"All in all, the point is, to restore balance by foreign aids.
"The two approaches can't resolve your mental issue. But at least they will increase your combat abilities in a battlefield.
"As to precisely which kind of elastic gasket you should use, or how to reshape the electromagnetic axes, you'll need to hire an experienced Refiner who will observe your legs and run calculations to figure out the delicate differences before modification."
Zhou Zhenghao beamed and nodded.
Although Li Yao's proposal was only palliative, it did solve his urgent problem and was not difficult to put into practice. In fact, it was much easier than resolving the insubstantial mental issues.
His depression caused by elimination was instantly gone!
Zhou Zhenghao even felt that he was lucky to have met Li Yao in the elimination match.
Eliminated by the Thunder Training Camp, he could still try other training camps, or accumulate experience from real combats. There was still a good chance that one day he could become a strong Exo.
But without Li Yao's enlightenment, the leg injury would've been likely to bother him forever!
"I can't thank you enough!"
Zhou Zhenghao paused for a while. Then he said, "Li Yao, from the way you tossed the axes just now, I can see that your speed and strength were both good enough, albeit not without a lack of subtleness. It appears to me that you haven't done much training with flying axes and you were merely throwing them away with brute force.
"In fact, there are many tricks you can use to flying axes. Once you get to the bottom of it and wield axes with your full abilities, the axes will be ten times more intimidating than the flying swords! I've practiced axes-flying for a while, and I think I have some shallow understandings about how to best use it. If it's not too presumptuous of me, we could discuss this and see if there's any improvement."
He was trying to return the favor and also make friends with Li Yao.
After the soul-stirring combat, Zhou Zhenghao was aware of how strong Li Yao was and thought Li Yao deserved his respect.
Also, Li Yao pointed out his problem without holding back and helped to resolve it, which indicated a good personality.
Moreover, Zhou Zhenghao had long known that Li Yao was a Refiner whose name was on the rise.
Now that he was lucky enough to meet a young, strong, upright, genius Refiner who was destined to be the star of tomorrow in the world of Cultivators, how could he miss such a rare opportunity to make friends of him?
This was also how Cultivators normally made new friends and expanded their social network.
What he said lit up Li Yao's eyes, who leaned forwarded and said earnestly, "Not presumptuous at all. I, for one, admire Brother Zhou's strength very much. A super-heavy crystal suit is not something that some random guy can play with!
"I was only taking advantage of my familiarity with the structure of the crystal suit.
"If we have another fight and you're aware of the weakness under your arm, there is no way that I will defeat you.
"You're correct. I never learnt the art of flying axes. When I tossed the electromagnetic axes, I did feel that something was wrong. My tremendous strength couldn't be transmitted into the axes, and it near suffocated me. Please do enlighten me, Brother Zhou!"
Zhou Zhenghao smiled.
"Your strength is indeed abundant. The explosive power inside your body is disproportional to your tiny figure. What a beast! The key is breathing. Your breath must reverberate with the electromagnetic momentum in a sophisticated way. The following things are of paramount importance…"
Two training maniacs started discussing wholeheartedly.
The breathing method introduced by Zhou Zhenghao gave Li Yao major inspiration, while several of Li Yao's ideas on how to exert one's force caused cold sweat to break out on Zhou Zhenghao's forehead.
The more they talked, the more topics they found themselves both interested in. From the art of flying axes, tricks of super-heavy crystal suits' small-scale movement, ways to minimize the enemy's range of activity by flying swords, to the question how to lure the enemy into the Thunder Axe Battlesuit's sprint distance.
The two of them were chatting with their arms waving up and down. Even after the instructors escorted both of them out of the arena, they were still in high spirits.
"I'm terribly sorry that I eliminated you. I wish we could still learn from each other in the training camp."
Li Yao meant what he said.
"Indeed, it is regretful. But it doesn't matter now."
Zhou Zhenghao scratched his beard and replied cheerfully, "I am now in a new training camp called 'the universe'. Although I've been eliminated by the Thunder Training Camp, I will pursue my training in the 'Universe Training Camp'. There is still a long road ahead. We'll have a lot of opportunities to meet and discuss with each other. Hopefully, one day, we'll be able to fight side by side! 'Vulture Li Yao', this is a name that I'm never going to forget."
Li Yao smiled. "'Vulture' is my nickname for my enemies; if you consider me a friend, call me the 'Fiend Star'!"
Zhou Zhenghao nodded. "I spent almost all of my time on training and don't have many friends. But you're definitely one of them! There's still some time before the end of the elimination match. Would you like to watch the game with me in my preparation room and talk about the crystal suit skills?"
"That's exactly what I want!"
They talked and laughed on their way to the preparation room.
The audience was stupefied and couldn't understand what was going on. Blocked by dust, they couldn't see clearly the actions of the two Thunder Axe Battlesuits. They'd seen that Li Yao had been suppressed by his opponent the whole time and he was on the verge of being cut into pieces. But before they knew it, the system had announced that Li Yao had won the match!
What was more puzzling was that after a little chitchat when they were off their crystal suits, Zhou Zhenghao seemed to be mad with joy in appreciation.
Bu
t Li Yao had just eliminated him!
Zhou Zhenghao had struck everyone as a man serious in both speech and manner who cared about nothing but training. He was cold like ice whenever one spoke to him. Definitely not someone with a good temper.
It was also one of the reasons why he was nicknamed the 'steel man'.
But why was he talking with Li Yao so casually and joyfully now?
Everyone was looking at each other, hoping to find an answer from someone. It felt like there was a giant stone stuck in their chest.
What kind of person was Li Yao? A newbie or a murderous vulture?
"What the hell?"
Yuan Yeshi was biting his lips so hard that blood was running out. He clutched his fists, his veins appearing on his face.
Intentionally or unintentionally, he glanced at the No. 1, Long Qianyue.
"Interesting. I'll find the answer myself in the second elimination match one month later."
Long Qianyue smile vaguely. She wrote 'Li Yao' on her palm with her finger.
Then, with a clap, her hands folded, crushing both the air and name in between into pieces.
Chapter 244: Slashing My Way Forward |
Ten days later.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
It was a sunny day on the desert, yet sounds of thunder echoed.
In the middle of the grey desert, a blood-red figure was burning with a blade flying up and down, triggering waves of wind and tides of thunder.
It was Li Yao who was practicing a saber art!
Of the three months training in the Thunder Training Camp, the first month was meant for rudimental movements and basic crystal suit driving skills, the second month was for embedding the trainee's previous arts into the crystal suit, and in the third month, the trainee would need to improve themselves by hunting down demon beasts in some of the most dangerous zones in the Grand Desolate Plateau together with their instructors.
Li Yao was wearing the Bloody Blade Battlesuit, which was a model even older than Seven-step Rock Snake. Few people in the Outer Camp were fond of it.
Yet, Li Yao loved it, because it was simple, solid and reliable. Besides, there were endless possibilities for it to be modified so that he could fulfil the potential of the saber.
Chief instructor Mao Feng was a big fan of the Bloody Blade Battlesuit, too. He taught Li Yao his experiences about the Bloody Blade Battlesuit without reserve. Li Yao's understanding of the classic crystal suit grew deeper after Mao Feng's teaching.
The standard Bloody Blade Battlesuit carried a 2.01-meter long heavy straight saber.
Li Yao substituted it for a 1.97-meter long crescent saber with air paths on both sides, so that his advantage in swiftness could be maximized.
"BOOM!"
Li Yao stomped on the ground. The burst of spiritual energy from below his feet sent hundreds of pebbles up to the sky in all directions.
"Shua!"
The Bloody Blade Battlesuit turned into dozens of crimson shadows which enveloped most of the pebbles.
Li Yao's movement was too fast to measure. With several cracking sounds, the pebbles were all cut into halves and fell to the ground.
"BANG!"
The last few pebbles exploded into powder because of the spiritual burst.
Li Yao put back his saber. The crystal camera on his suit beamed red rays and scanned the field. Then he sighed grimly.
"Of the 372 pebbles, 364 were cut into two halves, 6 were hit too hard that they were crushed into pieces, and 2 fell to the ground before I reached them.
"I still can't utilize the crystal suit perfectly. I don't have enough control over my strength and I can't manipulate it the way I want.
"Three days. It's been three days since I made any progress. Is this my limit?"
Li Yao was somewhat irritated.
Since he entered the second phase of the training, his progress had been slower. He missed the feeling of joy in the first phase when he was improving every second.
In the last three days, he even came to a halt. However crazily he trained himself, he found himself not improving at all.
Mao Feng told him that was normal. Every training had bottlenecks and limitations.
An adolescent would still grow taller even if he didn't eat much food, but when he became an adult, it would be difficult for him to be even one centimeter taller no matter how much food he ate.
If a man was growing and improving every second, even only by one trillionth each time, he would be formidable.
What Li Yao needed most was a good rest. He had to slow down and chew over what he had learnt.
But Li Yao didn't buy it. He only took half a day's rest. Then he went to the desert to practice the saber art again.
"How long will it take before I can wave the saber as fiercely as Long Wenhui?"
In the Bloody Blade Battlesuit, Li Yao picked up a small stone from the pocket on his waist.
It was the very stone that the Core Formation Stage Cultivator Long Wenhui, vice president of Hundred Saber Alliance, gave to him.
Every facet of the stone had been left with Long Wenhui's saber demonstration. Each demonstration contained endless mysteries.
After repetitively studying it, Li Yao only had a partial understanding of three demonstrations on the stone.
He was like a beginner who was asked to copy a masterpiece painting when he'd only just learnt how to use a brush.
"Long Wenhui is in the Core Formation Stage. His saber demonstrations are not that easy to follow.
"But with the enhancement of the crystal suit, my combat ability is three times stronger than before. I wish I could understand even one of them.
"One move. I just need one move!"
Holding his breathe, Li Yao touched every facet of the stone again.
Although his fingers were covered by the suit, the delicacy of senses were transmitted into his brain perfectly. But the essence of the saber demonstrations was still intangible as if in mist.
Putting the stone back into his pocket, Li Yao resumed the tedious training.
Blade out, speed up, slash, blade back!
The monotonous actions were repeated time and time again. Li Yao lost the sense of time and buried himself in the world of the Bloody Blade and the pebbles.
Centered at the Bloody Blade Battlesuit, thousands of broken pebbles were scattered over the area of half a square kilometer.
He didn't notice that it was already dusk until he was too exhausted to stand up anymore.
Suddenly, he caught some anxious screams behind him.
The crystal camera on the back of the Bloody Blade Battlesuit recorded what was happening.
Countless beasts on the desert had gathered together and were coming at him unstoppably like surging tides.
Common beasts were in the front, demon beasts with bizarre shapes were behind them. Li Yao even detected several strong demon soldiers.
But it's not like they were hunting anything. They seemed to be fleeing from something!
BOOM! BOOM BOOM! BOOM BOOM BOOM BOMM!
Dull quakes came from the horizon, like an iron army had been assembled and ready to conquer the world.
Soon, a gargantuan yellow cloud appeared in the horizon. It drew closer and closer, blocking the sun and the sky.
"Dust storm!"
Li Yao's face turned pale.
Dust storm was one of the most destructive natural disasters in the Grand Desolate Plateau, in which hundreds of tornadoes were aggregated with millions of tons of sand and stones.
The disaster was often caused by the disorder of natural spiritual energies and showed no signs before it took place. According to the damage, it was classified into ten levels.
A level 10 dust storm, which was the least damaging, was already powerful enough to send humans and animals into the sky.
A level 7 dust storm was strong enough to blow away a crystal-rail train.
As for the dust storms of level 5 or above, even many Cultivators would find themselves unw
illing to face them.
This particular dust storm was vast, yellow in color, and dark like ink. Thunder and lightning seemed to be brewing in it, too. It was definitely level 5 or higher!
"Run!"
Li Yao ran away instantly.
Behind him, the dust storm devoured everything in its way.
Now and then, screams of demon beasts, who struggled only to be consumed by the dust storm, pierced through the sky and died down, ending up somewhere far, far away.
Li Yao brought his speed to maximum. Many red letters were jumping crazily on the screen, warning him that all the power rune arrays were overloaded. The crystal reactor in the stomach was burning so hard that he felt he was holding a fire ball.
"Run! Run!"
Li Yao didn't care. He ground his teeth and carried on fleeing!
The power of nature far exceeded any human's wildest imagination. After dozens of kilometers of running, he was caught and swallowed by the dust storm.
Inside the dust storm seemed to be a totally new world. Because of the disorder of spiritual energies, a lot of colorful tornadoes were moving and roaring everywhere, as if some prehistoric beasts had come back to life. Thousands of lightning bolts resembling vipers were tangled together. It was more splendid and magnificent than Li Yao could ever have imagined.
Countless stones, beasts, and demon beasts were caught by the mad tornadoes and ended up crushing each other into ashes.
Death was so close to him that he felt like the gates of hell had been opened in all directions.
The Bloody Blade Battlesuit was far from enough to overcome the torture of the tornadoes.
Li Yao tried to turn on the power rune arrays in hope to flee out of the dust storm, only to wreck two power rune arrays instantly.
The solid crystal suit, suffering tearing forces from two different directions, with several cracking sounds, seemed like it could explode at any moment.
"If I can't run away, I might as well not even try!"
With death at the doorstep, Li Yao's heart felt like booming. His mind was clearer than ever. Time became slower for him, allowing him to observe the details of the dust storm.