by <unknown>
Such streams were not drinkable, but they were particularly suitable for sword-forging and refining.
Therefore, the Skyhill Domain was headquartered by many Cultivation sects and sword-forging families.
The magical equipment forged with the silver streams, especially the melee magical equipment such as sabers and swords, was valuable and popular in the Thousand Sails Space Zone.
The Skyhill Domain was not large, but there were almost a hundred enormous floating mountains in the sky, each of which were filled with zigzagged natural caves. People had been expanding the caves and increased the usable area of the Skyhill Domain by dozens of times. A lot of hills in the sky were thus formed. It was also how the Skyhill Domain got its name.
After hundreds of years of development, it had become one of the most important production bases of melee magical equipment in the Flying Star Sector.
It was a world of swords and an ocean of sabers as far as one's eyes could see. In the valleys and beside the rivers, refining furnaces, sword-forging pools, and countless sword tombs were everywhere, surrounded by bizarrely-shaped, coldly-shinning blades.
According to the ancient Cultivators, the sword tombs were established to allow the newly-forged blades to absorb the natural essence so that they could boast much more damage.
According to the theories of modern Cultivators, only by keeping newly-refined blades in a fixed position for some time—which reduced the inner stress before the refurbishment of the next phase—could the most marvelous blades be created after several years!
In the sky, many travelers were flying with glittering wings behind them.
Such a piece of personal magical equipment named 'Airfoil' was much more agile and exciting than shuttles. Many Cultivators preferred to utilize them for the transportation between the floating mountains.
On the side of one floating mountain, five magnificent words were carved into it: "Museum of Sabers and Swords'.
A dusty young man, with hollowed eyes, plain clothes, and a pair of extremely ugly gray gloves, walked into the museum slowly along with the crowd.
Chapter 484: Arriving in Skyhill |
"Welcome to the Skyhill Museum of Sabers and Swords. The Skyhill Domain is the largest refining base of melee magical equipment in the Flying Star Sector. The Skyhill Museum of Sabers and Swords is one of the most professional museums in that regard, too. I am your tour guide, and you can call me 'Sword Lady'!"
Three days before the annual Skyhill Sword Seminar, countless tourists and fans had arrived in the Skyhill Domain.
Most of the lovers of melee magical equipment would all take a tour in the well-known Skyhill Museum of Sabers and Swords. For the real lovers, it was even a sort of pilgrimage for them.
The spacious and bright museum was packed with people. Li Yao was pushed along with the crowd and was somewhat dizzy. Thankfully, there was a lovely girl dressed in red, floating in midair with a long sword on her back. She was the virtual tour guide of the museum.
"It is well known that, starting from the collapse of the ancient Cultivation world and the renaissance of human civilization, the refining of sabers and swords in our modern world has gone through four periods. The Aura Sword Hall that we are in represents the first period.
"Ten thousand years ago, modern Cultivation theories were still brewing. Cultivators' understanding of spiritual energy was still very lacking. Most of the Cultivators were in the Refinement Stage. Therefore, aura swords that were driven by high-pressure air currents were born. Please take a look, the most awesome aura swords at the time could compress one standard unit of spiritual gas to one hundredth its size, and when the spiritual gas was unleashed suddenly, the damage could be very impressive. Also, it could work as a jet and bring the Refinement Stage Cultivators who hadn't learned the mysteries of flying into the sky so that they could add height to their attacks, increasing the repertoire of moves.
"Our next stop, the Mechanical Sword Hall, represents the second period.
"Based on the aura swords, the refiners continued researching and finally combined spiritual energy with machines perfectly. All kinds of incredible blades were invented at the time. Theoretical models of chainswords, vibration sabers, as well as quite a lot other melee magical equipment were invented with during the time before they were successfully manufactured later! The melee magical equipment of this period only used spiritual energy as a source to drive the machines and provide revolution, vibration, cutting, and other effects; the spiritual energy was not part of the attack itself.
"We are going to enter the Hall of Compound Swords and Sabers now. Compound blades are also the most frequently-seen solutions for swords and sabers nowadays.
"Compound melee magical equipment usually boasts mechanical attack abilities like chains and vibrating edges. In the meantime, its spiritual energy could be condensed into an aura and attack the enemies directly. The double-attack pattern increases the range of attack significantly and also makes it much more difficult for the enemies to defend.
"Right now, in the Cultivation world, there are many kinds of melee magical equipment that were solely built up by spiritual energy, such as Light Sword and Spiritual Photon Battle Saber. They are the fourth-generation sabers and swords for us. Although there are still many flaws on the restriction models and trigger designs in such weapons right now, the advantages of blades made of pure spiritual energy are revealing themselves. Maybe soon enough, they will become mainstream in the Cultivation world!
"Other than the renowned sabers and swords of modern times, we are also exhibiting tremendous scraps of ancient flying swords. Now, everyone, please follow me to the 'Ancient Sword Hall'."
Li Yao spent the entire morning wandering around in the museum following the 'Sword Lady' and quite enjoyed himself.
After one month and a half's harsh training, it was a long-due relaxation, too.
Gulu…
Yet, as if trying to humiliate him, his stomach started rumbling, in a quite ear-catching fashion.
Many passers-by glanced at him weirdly, and when they noticed his peasant-like clothes, their eyes were even weirder.
Li Yao was not being pretentious; he was merely faced with an embarrassing problem: that he had run out of money.
A month and a half earlier, he could almost be called a millionaire. With the fortune he had looted from Fengyu Ming and the salary that Lei Dalu had paid him, he could've lived a comfortable life for a couple of years if he were an ordinary person.
However, the way Cultivators spent their money was not imaginable for everybody. It was especially so for Li Yao who had been training at the highest standard in preparation for the Skyhill Sword Seminar.
Putting the rent of his training chamber and refining workshop aside, putting the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that he used up inside his training chamber aside, putting the strengthening drugs and medications he took every day aside, the specially-made 'Green Water Ointment' alone that he smeared on his hands to improve their sensitivity was costing him almost ten thousand Flying Star dollars on a daily basis!
After pouring millions of Flying Star dollars into it, the final result might be that the sensitivity of his fourth finger was improved by 0.1%.
But he didn't have a second option. One millimeter of difference between two top experts might determine the victory and failure of a match. A 0.1% sensitivity gap might mean the difference between the final 'Sword Master' and someone ranking in the fifties.
Li Yao had carefully studied the videos of the Skyhill Sword Seminars from the previous twenty years. He discovered that every one of the top thirty winners was an experienced refiner; especially those from the renowned sword-forging families, they all had immeasurable skills and were not easy to deal with at all.
The organizers of the Skyhill Sword Seminar did not forbid the previous contestants from joining the match again. Therefore, many of the people he had seen on the videos might be his opponents.
Opportuniti
es were rare to fight against the top experts and the heirs of the noble families. Li Yao had decided to participate in the match in his best state. Thus, he had spent quite a fortune on his training.
It was a respected quality for a Cultivator to spend money fast. If a Cultivator could absorb Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures worth millions within three days without wasting any, then this Cultivator was definitely one of the top experts.
With Li Yao's current capability, he had many ways of earning money. But since the match was drawing near, and also because he had merely been doing rehabilitation training over the last couple of days which did not cost much, he didn't want to waste his time. Instead, he went directly to the Skyhill Domain after making sure that he still had enough money for his daily life.
But since his money was meant to buy Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, he had little funding to care about his appearance. His clothes were all riddled with holes because of the high-intensity training sessions, but he had to make do with them. It was relieving when he learnt that standard uniforms would be dispatched after the match began. He wouldn't need to worry about his comfortableness at that time.
Should I find an auction agency and sell one or two of my collections?
There were bountiful scraps of ancient magical equipment and rare crystals inside his Cosmos Rings. Taking their value into account, Li Yao was definitely still an out-and-out magnate.
However, refiners all had one occupational disease: Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that fell into their hands were like their additional body parts, and if they were forced to sell them, it would feel as painful as somebody chopping part of their flesh off.
Li Yao hesitated for a long time. He thought of ten thousand usages for this particular scrap and eventually let go of the idea of selling it.
The next day, the organizer would start the reception work. Standard accommodation and food would be provided for all the contestants. He need not waste his scrap when he was one step close to the final competition.
Let me go out and check if there is any cheap food. I will accept any food as long as it can fill my stomach.
Li Yao rubbed his belly while he was making plans.
…
Xie Anan was holding in her hand a bamboo book that depicted sword arts which were automatically changing. It was a souvenir of the museum.
Her eyes were wide open, and her cheeks were puffed. She bounced around like a rabbit. Whenever she saw anything interesting, she would immediately dash to a tall girl and exclaim, "Sister Long! Sister Long! Come and look, it's the Heavenly Dragon Sword! We've seen it before in the textbook. I even made a mistake about its structural design during the last exam when it was tested! And now I'm seeing a real one!"
Long Yunxin frowned. She discreetly pinched her companion's bottom and said, not very happily, "Xie Anan. Would you please keep your voice down? You are a student of the Refining Department of Flying Star University anyway. The Xie family is a well-respected one among all the refiner families. Don't act like a farmer who has never seen anything before, alright?"
"Ou—Ou—Ouch!"
Xie Anan quickly nodded.
She was neither experienced nor capable enough and could only work as a volunteer of the Skyhill Sword Seminar. She was responsible for the registration work in the beginning and the reception work later.
On the other hand, Long Yunxin came from a very impressive refiner family. Her family was only slightly weaker than the Mo family and the Huangpu family, two of the best sword-forging families that had lasted for hundreds of years.
Long Yunxin had taken part in the Skyhill Sword Seminar last year and got the 21st place. She had been swearing that she would make it to the top ten this year.
The Long family and the Xie family had been friends for generations. Xie Anan had been playing with Long Yunxin since she was a little kid and always listened to her.
However, after only two seconds of silence and obedience, Xie Anan's eyes bulged again. "Sister Long! Sister Long! Look over there! It seems to be Zhou Xiaoyu, the young master of Snowy Sword Village! Such an expert has come to the Skyhill Sword Seminar this year! No, let's go there and ask for his autograph!"
"Come back here!"
Long Yunxin gnashed her teeth, yet she didn't know what to do with her sister, who was a crazy fan of swords and yet only had limited talent in that regard. Her mind was not the sharpest, either. It was already the best she could do to be admitted by the Refining Department of Flying Star University. Having no other choice, she had to shift her attention to the famous swords and people. Every time she saw a refiner who was a minor celebrity, she would exclaim in wild joy, distracting everyone passing by.
"It's just a Zhou Xiaoyu. Not a big shot after all. He was only two places higher than me last year. This year, I'm going to cut, cut, and cut him into eighteen pieces!"
"Okay…"
Xie Anan retreated, not entirely happy about it. But her big eyes were still rolling around. Two seconds later, she trembled and almost jumped up. "The mysterious expert!"
Long Yunxin felt that her head was about to explode. She looked at where her confidante was looking at, only to discover that a young man about twenty years old, with messy hair, ragged clothes, and, most eye-catching of all, a pair of big and ridiculous grey gloves, was rubbing his abdomen hard in a way that suggested he might've been starved for years.
Long Yunxin was dazed. "Xie Anan, how could you tell that he is a mysterious expert?"
Before she had even finished her question, Xie Anan had already jumped out!
She had never forgotten the mysterious expert in the virtual registration spot on the Spiritual Nexus a month and a half ago who had passed the test perfectly within only one minute. It never occurred to her that the guy looked exactly the same in reality, only even thinner. She recognized him with just one glance!
She had been one of the staff, and it was inappropriate for her to nose into it back then. But starting tomorrow, she would be one of the receptionists. It would be fairly reasonable for her to know the contestants in advance, wouldn't it?
Chapter 485: Unfamiliar Guest |
"Hello, I'm Xie Anan. I'm a student of the Refining Department of the Flying Star University and also one of the staff of the Skyhill Sword Seminar. It was me who helped you sign up at the registration spot. So, I will be responsible for catering to your needs when the reception work begins tomorrow. I didn't know that I would run into you today! Hahahaha. What a coincidence!"
Li Yao stared at the double-ponytailed girl who was like a rabbit; she did look familiar.
Xie Anan's appearance was alike to hers in the virtual world. She was more solemn in the registration spot. But right now, her impishness was fully revealed.
"I am supposed to call you 'master'. But I didn't think you would be so young. Can I call you Senior Brother? You wouldn't mind, would you, Senior Brother Li Yao?
"I know it is kind of aggressive to jump out of nowhere. But I was too excited when I saw you. I have many questions regarding refining that I want to discuss with an expert like you. Please don't refuse me!" Xie Anan said earnestly.
Li Yao scratched his messy hair. 'Refining Department of Flying Star University' made his eyes shine. Since he had nothing better to do anyway, it didn't seem like a bad idea to talk with student who had been receiving the most formal education of the Flying Star Sector.
However, before he opened his mouth, a cold wind swept close.
A tall, beautiful, and indifferent girl pulled Xie Anan behind her, as if fearful that he might gulp her in.
"Long Yunxin, from the Refining Department of Flying Star University, of the Long family of Spiritual Stream. May I know my fellow Cultivator's name?"
"Li Yao, from Great Horn."
There was clearly a misunderstanding, but Li Yao didn't care about it. He scratched his nose and was preparing to leave at any moment.
Long Yunxin had heard the name of the Great Horn Exo Society
before and, knowing that he was not an evil man, was somewhat relieved.
But she had never heard that there were any extraordinary sword-forging masters in the Great Horn Exo Society.
Long Yunxin took a step back and asked in a low voice, "Anan, you said that the guy is a mysterious expert? How did you know?"
"Well…"
Although Xie Anan could be incompetent sometimes, she knew what she was doing when it came to the important things. As staff of the Skyhill Sword Seminar, naturally, she was not allowed to leak the details of the contestants. She stammered for a long time but failed to come up with anything. In the end, she jerked and said, "The bottom line is, Senior Brother Li Yao is really an expert. A very awesome one!"
"How awesome? Even more awesome than me?"
"Well…" Xie Anan stammered again.
Her hesitation suggested that, in her opinion, this plain-dressing guy might really be better than Long Yunxin.
Long Yunxin was very curious.
The Flying Star Sector was a large place, but there was only a limited number of top experts in refining. There were only a handful of families that had lasted for more than a thousand years. Even taking the Cultivation sects that were famous for refining into account, the total number of the people who were adept at the job was quite small. Most of them had been in touch with each other since they were very young.
Even though they had never met each other in reality, they must've at least heard a thing or two about them on the Spiritual Nexus if they were real experts.
But Long Yunxin had never seen Li Yao before, nor did she ever know of a 'Li family' that was good at refining.
She was better than judging other people by their appearances, and she knew too well that the last thing many great Cultivators cared about was how they looked.
Although the guy in front of her did not seem to be a great Cultivator, it would be the most foolish decision if she were to take Xie Anan away now. She would be admitting Li Yao's seniority if she left just like that.