by <unknown>
"Swoosh!"
Frost rune arrays of both crystal suits started fully functioning to withstand the unbearable high temperature.
The two crystal suits were immediately covered in a thin, white mist, which blocked the vision of the audience.
"Shua!"
When the match began, the brightness of the Flying Flame Battlesuit was ten times more startling than before. It shot dazzling orange lasers which surged at the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit like burning feathers.
For a moment, the sky seemed to have rained fire!
The Flying Flame Battlesuit didn't stop. Upon shooting, it squatted and sprinted, following closely behind the fire wave that it just sent out.
"Impressive!"
"The high temperature has significantly increased the performance of the Flying Flame Battlesuit. Ruan Honglie is an expert adept at fiery spiritual energy too. In such an environment, he is as good as a Building Foundation Cultivator!"
"The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, on the other hand, seems a little sluggish. Maybe that's because of the heat-resistant plate armor. There's no time for it to react!"
In everyone's exclamation, Li Yao seemed too unprepared to do anything, except to turn his crystal cannon to two stone pillars in front of him and blow them into pieces.
"BOOM!"
Pieces of the stone pillars were enough to block most of the fiery bullets. But the Flying Flame Battlesuit was still charging at it like a mad bull.
"BAM!"
The Flying Flame Battlesuit crushed into Li Yao as if it were a crystal train at the maximum speed.
In the simulated underground mines, the space was restricted. Most of the long-range attack magical equipment was not of much use.
Ruan Honglie did not want to tangle with Li Yao whom he thought to be no one for long. He intended to crush the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit into pieces like a relentless lightning strike in order to better demonstrate the excellence of the Flying Flame Battlesuit.
Since he was the one taking the initiative, the high-speed collision was in his favor, too.
Moreover, his opponent was wearing a layer of heat-resistant plate armor which was mostly made of ceramics. It was too weak to withstand a major strike.
"Boy, let me show you today what a real crystal suit should look like!"
Ruan Honglie was grinning hideously, until the collision took place, because an ever-lasting cracking noise came from his crystal suit. Countless magical equipment components had broken into pieces!
He felt that he didn't crush into a layer of weak heat-resistant plate armor, but a steel wall that was embedded with long spikes!
Chapter 313: Explosion-reacting Plate Armor |
His head was like a giant bell being hit by a heavy hammer. He felt that surging tides were savaging inside his brain and he could not see nor hear a single thing, except for the shocking exclamations from the auditorium.
He knew that the exclamations were not for him.
All the audience had enjoyed an amazing scene.
When the Flying Flame Battlesuit crashed into the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, everybody had thought that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit would be blown away. Even if it could survive the hit and continue the match, the Flying Flame Battlesuit would definitely dominate the game until it was over.
After all, heat-resistant plate armor was best known for its weakness.
But as it turned out, the plate armor of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was indeed shattered because of the explosion. However, from the broken armor burst out intensive spiritual waves which exploded around the Flying Flame Battlesuit like 100 Hellfire-Lightnings.
The Flying Flame Battlesuit was immediately caught in fire and thunderbolts.
Although the Flying Flame Battlesuit was remarkably heat-proof, its defense against explosions of thunder attributes was nothing special. It was unable to move for a long time due to the intensified electric shock.
The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit took the opportunity to counterattack.
After being kneed in the chest once, the body of the Flying Flame Battlesuit was bent like a shrimp.
Then, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit waved its two arms and slashed down as if they were two axes, which put the Flying Flame Battlesuit to the ground immediately. Then the crystal cannon on the back flipped up quickly and fired at the ground.
The moment the spiritual energy inside the crystal cannon burst out, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit put its hands on its waist where its fists took on a pair of boxing gloves that was full of three-edged needles. Electrical sparkles were dancing on the two gloves.
Ruan Honglie fell into a passive position due to one reckless move. He gritted his teeth and tried to scramble to his feet against the cannon fire, only to be knocked over by Li Yao. The two of them rolled around on the ground for a while. Then Li Yao's heavy punches rained on Ruan Honglie's face like a thunderstorm.
This time, the punches were not 888.88 kg and 999.99 kg. Two of them were enough to blow a lot of the components of the Flying Flame Battlesuit away. Judging from the fierce attacks, the strength in each punch must be at least ten times larger!
"Brutal!"
Looking at Li Yao sitting on the top of Ruan Honglie's chest and mauling his opponent's face one punch after another, every spectator felt astounded.
"The guy's melee combat ability is impressive. His defense ability is even stronger. Ruan Honglie has punched him in the face several times, but he didn't even flinch as if they were mosquito stings. The speed of his own attacks was not the least affected.
"Ruan Honglie is at a major disadvantage in such a combat!
"Where is this monster from? How come his defense ability is so strong? Feng Kai, what would you do if you were engaged in close-combat with him?"
Smiles in Sha Yucheng's face were gradually gone. He patted his thigh somewhat anxiously.
"I won't give him the opportunity to get close to me," Feng Kai said firmly one word after another.
It sounded like a confident declaration. However, Sha Yucheng understood Feng Kai's meaning between the lines: if 'Vulture Li Yao' got close to him, he did not have an effective solution, either.
Sha Yucheng looked at Zuo Feijing who was far away.
Zuo Feijing's face was hidden in the darkness. There was no telling what his expression was.
But the veins on the back of his hands which were holding a handrail were bulging, like dragons that were ready to jump out of the water and pierce through the sky.
"Shhhhhh!"
A long, high-pitched shriek occurred inside the arena.
Much greenish steam surged out of the Flying Flame Battlesuit, as Li Yao had located its cooling tubes which he destroyed with a dagger.
The icy moisture spurted out and immediately vaporized, forming a greenish, transparent smoke over the arena.
"End of the match!"
A high-level Cultivator wearing a glamourous crystal suit rushed into the arena and separated the two of them.
"Winner of this match, Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit of the Grand Desolate War Institution!"
The auditorium was caught in a weird silence, which was broken by thunder-like applauses a moment later.
Since the price of the Flying Flame Battlesuit was twice that of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, everybody had thought that the game would be its demonstration match and that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was going to be butchered ruthlessly.
However, a ruthless butchering did take place, with the expected winner and the expected loser switching positions.
In the end, the one standing in the middle of the arena accepting applauses and cheers from all the audience turned out to be the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, whose price was only half of its opponent.
"How did he do it?"
"Why did his crystal suit explode in the first place? It was the key to his victory. If the Flying Flame Battlesuit wasn't caught off guard, the battle would've been much longer than this."
Everyone was confu
sed.
Five minutes later, the Exos were brought up to the arena by lifts.
Despite the double protection of crystal suit and mustard suit, Ruan Honglie's face was still black and blue after the combat.
Seething in anger, he pointed at Li Yao's nose and shouted, "You cheated! That was not heat-resistant plate armor at all!"
Li Yao eyed him with his face unchanged for a long time, before he said after a sigh, "It's true that while you were present, I complained to the judge that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was not a special model designed for super-hot environments and, for the sake of fairness, I asked to add a layer of plate armor.
"You said casually that I could add however many layers of plate armor I wanted. One or ten would be the same for you because you would tear them apart one layer after another.
"Eventually, the judge granted my request to add a layer of plate armor.
"But I never said that it would be heat-resistant plate armor from the beginning to the end.
"I merely said that I wanted to add a layer of 'plate armor'. If you don't believe me, you can check the surveillance video. I definitely never said 'heat-resistant'.
"Besides, all kinds of plate armor are permitted in such matches, aren't they? Plate armor can increase the defense ability, but it will also bring down the speed and agility. So, it's more of a personal choice whether or not to add plate armor and how many layers to add. I've never heard anyone blame their failure on the plate armor of their opponents before!
"What I added was of course not the heat-resistant plate armor, but the explosion-reacting plate armor for the defense of flying swords and long-range attacks from demon beasts. There are countless one-way mini crystal bombs inside the plate armor which will explode when it is crushed to offset the blast from the attack.
"However, as it turned out, you simply thrusted yourself into the plate armor, which almost equaled to you thrusting yourself into a pile of crystal bombs. Of course they blew the hell out of you.
"In fact, the explosion-reacting plate armor is quite easy to deal with. If you had just shot your gun at a long distance with your fire waves, you would've noticed that there was something wrong with my plate armor and you could've set off the mini crystal bombs in the armor before you reached me.
"But since your crystal suit is much more expensive than mine and you were in a super-hot environment that was most suitable for you, you felt that it would be embarrassing if you couldn't beat me to a pulp within one minute, didn't you?
"That's why you dashed at me at the earliest chance you found. It's not my fault that you fell into the trap so easily."
Li Yao's words froze Ruan Honglie to the ground as if they were superglue. He was dazed for a long time, before he screamed desperately, "That's not what explosion-reacting plate armor looks like! It had the coating of heat-resistant plate armor! And all those frost rune arrays!"
Li Yao smiled.
"Just now, I spent half an hour redecorating the plate armor and repainting it."
Ruan Honglie was about to weep. He was speechless for a long time.
Their conversation was transmitted to every corner of the arena through crystal microphones.
Everyone was looking at each other in astonishment, failing to find a suitable word to express what was in their minds.
Disguising explosion-reacting plate armor as heat-resistant plate armor, wasn't that a little… sordid?
However, it did reflect the excellence of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, which had worked for such a long time in a battleground of 700°C and even managed to put down a Flying Flame Battlesuit.
It was indeed sturdy and reliable!
"Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is indeed impressive."
Above the arena, Sha Yucheng took a long breath. "I never believed that a crystal suit at a cost of only a hundred million and without any Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures could perform normally in a 700°C environment without the heat-resistant plate armor."
"It's not entirely the crystal suit's credit."
Feng Kai squinted. "The body hardiness of this 'Vulture Li Yao' is far beyond the Refinement Stage. Even many Building Foundation Stage Cultivators may not be as sturdy as him. I even have the feeling that this monster can fight in a 700°C environment without a crystal suit!"
The two of them looked at each other and noticed the fighting will in the other's eyes, before they walked out simultaneously.
'I'm going to fight the monster tomorrow. No. I need to start warming up right now!'
Below the arena, Yuan Manqiu and Luo Jingang, leader of Thunderbolt Hall, were shaking hands.
"Leader Luo, thank you for your trust in the Grand Desolate War Institution. We'll dedicate ten best Mystic Skeleton Battlesuits for your two squads. Please rest assured. We won't let the first client of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit down!"
Yuan Manqiu seemed to be smiling at ease, but the drop of sweat on her forehead exposed her thrill.
"After watching the combat just now, I'm pretty sure that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is what Thunderbolt Hall needs."
Luo Jingang grinned. "However, the younger generation of Thunderbolt Hall is not as skilled as Mr. Li Yao. I'm afraid we'll have to ask for several instructors from the Grand Desolate War Institution to train them in order to maximize the performance of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit."
"That's not a problem!"
Yuan Manqiu replied without any hesitation, "The Grand Desolate War Institution is a place that is never short of teachers and instructors. The school has been strongly supporting the Project Mystic Skeleton, too. There will be training programs for the clients who purchase the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. Their disciples can be sent to study in the Grand Desolate War Institution for free. In the case of Thunderbolt Hall, we can offer you several complimentary fire-class martial arts and arrange the best experts and professors to teach you until the young disciples in your sect learn all of them."
"That would be wonderful!"
Luo Jingang's eyes were beaming in joy. He said hurriedly, "Let's sign the contract now."
Chapter 314: Men of the Military |
The contract between the Grand Desolate War Institution and Thunderbolt Hall caused a major riot in the Magical Equipment Exposition.
Of the 21 MP crystal suit models provided by major organizations in the federation, none had been sold so far, including the formidable Tiger King Battlesuit.
After all, most Cultivators were still suspicious about MP crystal suits.
As it turned out, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, which had been hiding in darkness and received few compliments before the exposition, was the first MP crystal suit model to secure an order of ten pieces.
Although the ten Mystic Skeleton Battlesuits combined together were still cheaper than one high-end crystal suit and their purchaser Thunderbolt Hall was a small sect that barely anyone knew, it was still the first official acknowledgement from Cultivators for the MP crystal suits.
For a moment, the booth of the Grand Desolate War Institution which just went quiet was crowded by reporters again.
Since the booth was not very large, it easily brought the feeling that all the reporters in the Magical Equipment Exposition were here.
In comparison, the vast booth of Deep Sea University seemed to be much more scarce and unfrequented.
The video in which Li Yao took down Ruan Honglie briskly in an arena quickly spread among Exos.
Although his victory was based on the trap that he had set up in advance, the terrifying attacks in the latter half of the video were enough to prove his brutality and toughness.
The Exos who had watched the video all agreed that a young expert had entered into the world of crystal suits.
If Li Yao had showed such combat ability before he arrived at the Building Foundation Stage, he would certainly only be stronger later. The name 'Vulture' was destined to resound in the world one day!
Li Yao didn't know any of this, nor did he bother
with it.
After he got out of the arena, he headed directly to his personal training chamber.
…
At 8 p.m.
"Hu! Hu!"
Wearing the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, Li Yao was doing muscle training inside the personal chamber.
He had been punching the dynamometer for an entire hour.
Surprisingly, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit did not shed any light. The power rune arrays were quiet. The crystal reactor was in a dull silence, too.
The crystal suit had not been activated at all. It was burdening Li Yao like a normal battle armor.
Li Yao had been punching the target with tons of additional weight on his body for an hour without any pause or rest.
His sweat gathered into a small pool on the ground, which soon evaporated due to the heat from his body, leaving nothing but a shallow trace.
Aggravated by the sweat, Li Yao's eyes were bloody red. He found it hard to keep them open.
Irritated, he shut his eyes. Then he continued punching in the darkness until his every muscle was exhausted.
This was just his recovery training.
Since there would be tests tomorrow, he was only doing the easiest exercises today.
His usual training was ten times more difficult.
A three-minute wonderful performance was based on countless three-hour training sessions.
"Your opponent tomorrow won't be as weak as the Flying Flame Battlesuit.
"Besides, your amazing performance must've alerted everyone who didn't know your actual ability before.
"All of them will target you tomorrow."
Yuan Manqiu entered the chamber. She watched quietly for a while and observed.
"BOOM!"
Li Yao exerted his strength, leaving a clear footprint on the super-alloy ground. The dynamometer leaned backwards and almost kissed the ground. The reading in the light beam was ten times bigger than before!
"I don't like winning a match by disguises.
"Hiding the real ability and ambush the opponents when they're unprepared cannot prove the excellence of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, either."