by <unknown>
"Mo Tianshui! Mo Tianshui! Mo Tianshui!"
"Huangpu Xiaoya! Huangpu Xiaoya! Huangpu Xiaoya!"
Overshadowed by the two monster-level geniuses, the other refiners found it hard to breathe.
Long Yunxin and Zhou Xiaoyu looked at each other and noticed the amazement in the other's eyes.
However, they had not planned to fight for the title of 'Sword Master' in the first place. After they entered the top 32, they would be engaged in one-on-one elimination matches. If they were lucky enough, they wouldn't meet either of the two monsters until semi-finals or even the final match.
Therefore, they just needed to take down the opponent in front of their eyes and enter the elimination match first!
Five refiners in their group had finished the test. Their total damage was all around 300 crystals. None had a score above 350.
"How boring. Just test mine already!"
The two of them were both anxious.
But it was disappointing that Li Yao's magical equipment was the next to be sent into the test room.
Chapter 496: Which Li Family? |
"Everyone, at the request of our guests, we are now switching the main camera to the test room for the No. 23 group. Contestant Li Yao's magical equipment is about to be examined. His performance during the refining was indeed an eye-opener for us all! What surprises will his magical equipment offer us?
"Judging from the appearance, Contestant Li Yao's magical equipment is rather plain. There is not the slightest trace of spiritual waves. It does not look like a piece of magical equipment, but a regular sword!
"Now, the artificial arm has transmitted the spiritual energy into the sword!
"Odd. Contestant Li Yao's chainsword has no reaction whatsoever. There are no signs that the rune arrays are activated, either. Did the refining failed?"
Inside the test room, Li Yao's chainsword was raised high and slashed at the target in the front.
During the entire process, there were neither waves nor electric arcs. It seemed to be the most typical heavy blade.
However, when the sword approached the spiritual shield of the target, the tip of the sword quickly shivered, as if it was feeling cold.
After the shiver, the spiritual shield was breached through without counterattacking at all. The sword seemed to have 'blinked' into the spiritual shield.
"Chi!"
The chainsword penetrated into the crystal gel.
The damage jumped out on the light beam: 99 crystals!
"An acceptable result."
The host was clearly disappointed. He commented drily, "Contestant Li Yao's chainsword has dealt a damage of 99 crystals. It is very close to a hundred. Not entirely a bad—"
Before he could finish his observation, abrupt changes took place. A cluster of dazzling brilliance burst out suddenly deep inside the crystal gel. A formless blade had marched forward inside the crystal gel!
On the light beam, the figure changed. It leapt from 99 crystals to 141 crystals instantly!
"Oh!"
Somebody seemed to have kicked the host right in his loins. He exclaimed at the loudest voice, "Not 99 crystals, but 141 crystals! Contestant Li Yao has blown out a damage of 141 crystals! It is only secondary to Mo Tianshui's and Huangpu Xiaoya's, and ranks third in this subject!
"His chainsword has preserved all the spiritual energy in a very delicate way and didn't unleash it until the blade was deep inside the target's body. It would be able to deal much more devastating internal injuries this way!
"Contestant Li Yao is indeed the biggest surprise of the Skyhill Sword Seminar this year! I wonder, will his next two pieces of magical equipment amaze us as well?"
The spectators who were seething with excitement burst into an even messier riot!
"141 crystals? Are you kidding me? So close to the results of the talented heirs?"
"They are the only three who have improved the damage of the chainsword to above 120 crystals. Other people have been left behind far away!"
"Which one is Li Yao? Let me see!"
Long Yunxin and Zhou Xiaoyu, who were at loggerheads with each other, seemed to have been struck by lightning at the same time. They turned around stiffly and stared at Li Yao in dazed disbelief.
They all knew themselves well. Their chainswords wouldn't have a damage higher than 120 crystals, which meant that there was at least a gap of 20 crystals between Li Yao and them. The following subjects would be unnecessary!
What, what was this all about?
The two 'old nemeses' hadn't sorted out their grudges yet, and the Mr. Nobody from a remote area was about to eliminate the two of them. Should they just go home now?
Li Yao was still concentrated. The roars and exclamations inside the field and in the stands, as well as the shocked eyes of the audience, had no influence on him at all. He waited for the results of the last two subjects patiently.
Forging swords was not what he was best at.
What he liked most were sabers.
When Long Yunxin and Zhou Xiaoyu were back to themselves after their astonishment subsided and looking back at the light beam again, the aura of Li Yao's saber was brushing the target of crystal gel like a phantom.
But nothing seemed to have happened to the target. The reading on the light beam was frozen at '0', too.
Black brightness was spreading in the bottom of his eyes. He put on a satisfied smile.
One second later, the target of crystal gel slightly trembled. The upper half of the target leaned leftwards, slid down and fell off to the ground. A section as smooth as mirror was left on the target!
What a fast sword!
It was not until this moment that the reading on the light beam bounced crazily like a rabbit that had just been stabbed.
The damage of Li Yao's vibration saber—201 crystals!
There was nothing but dead silence inside the field. It was even quieter than a grave that had been abandoned for a hundred years.
If the audience was crazy about Li Yao's chainsword's performance, then the terrifying result that outshone the two talented heirs and left everyone else far behind had frozen every spectator's voice, as if the sharp blade had cut into their necks and slashed their vocal cords in half!
It was not until ten seconds later that the host bellowed, "What did I see? What did I see? In the subject of vibration saber, Contestant Li Yao has blown out a damage of more than 200 crystals! Even Mo Tianshui and Huangpu Xiaoya were completely surpassed!
"Saber King!
"The previously-unknown young man from the edge of the sea of stars is definitely the king of sabers of the Skyhill Sword Seminar this year, no, over the last ten years."
His cry completely battered the frozen ambience.
Volcanoes seemed to be erupting inside the field and out. Magma was spurting in the crowds. Both the common audience and the experts were bubbling with excitement. All the students in the two Refining Departments of the two supreme colleges who were working as volunteers jumped to their feet, too, while they were letting out meaningless yet thrilled cries.
Not far away, in the other two workshops, Mo Tianshui and Huangpu Xiaoya stared at the light beam in disbelief. Their faces were frozen for a long time before they gradually melted.
"Li Yao…"
The two talented successors squinted and recited the name.
The heat axe test, which followed, was not as impressive as that for the vibration saber, but Li Yao still secured third place.
Based on the glamorous performance of the vibration saber, the accumulated damage of his three pieces of magical equipment had reached 503 crystals, parallel to Mo Tianshui's score and only 3 crystals fewer than Huangpu Xiaoya's. The three horses constituted the tantalizing first echelon and galloped forward!
Long Yunxin and Zhou Xiaoyu were both dumbfounded.
Although their tests had begun, they were not interested in the result any longer because they had been eliminated!
…
An hour l
ater, all the magical equipment had been tested. The top 32 players of this Skyhill Sword Seminar had been determined and teleported to the central hall of the honeycomb-like refining center!
The top 32 players were almost exclusively heirs of the noble families or well-known celebrities in the circle of refiners. Li Yao was the only stranger there and did not seem to fit the environment.
But everyone was looking at him in shock and fear.
Dozens of crystal cameras were flying in the air, capturing the images of the top 32 players and sending them to the light beams inside the field and out.
Most of the cameras, however, were focused on Li Yao.
"Is he Li Yao?"
"He looks rather plain. There are no signs of him being an expert. Though, his eyes are indeed intimidating!"
"How was he doing his refining a moment ago? The skin on his hands has all broken apart!"
Many spectators grew interested in Li Yao.
For the regular audience, Li Yao, as a mysterious young man from the edge of the sea of stars, was apparently much more eye-catching than the talented heirs of the two noble families of refining.
The experts and scholars were quickly searching files and looking into the schools of refining that had been lost during the last hundreds of years.
However, the universe was too large a place. There were more schools that had gone extinct in the Flying Star Sector than anybody could count. Nobody could say for sure which one Li Yao belonged to.
"Everyone, the top 32 players have been selected after a day of fierce competitions. Tomorrow, the more thrilling elimination matches will be held! Right now, the most exciting procedure of the day is about to begin. The match partners of the top 32 players tomorrow will be settled randomly!
"There is no concept of 'seeded players' among the top 32 players. It is quite possible that Mo Tianshui and Huangpu Xiaoya will run into each other in the very first match!
"Now comes the big moment!"
On the giant light beam, the names of the 32 players turned into streaks of gold brightness instantly and span crazily.
After half a minute of spinning, the streaks were thrown out of the swirl one after another to the two sides of the light beam.
One minute later, the 32 streaks were classified into 16 groups. Two names were placed in a line and paired with each other!
"Hiss!"
All the spectators gasped.
"The match table for the top 32 players is out. An unexpected surprise has indeed happened! Mo Tianshui, one of the two favorites as well as the strongest heir of a noble family of the refining, is about to crash into Li Yao, the mysterious refiner from the periphery of the sea of stars!
"Yes. Mo Tianshui versus Li Yao. It's going to be the first match tomorrow!"
The result stirred the minds of everyone watching the Skyhill Sword Seminar like a hurricane.
One of them was the talented heir of a noble family that had lasted for hundreds of years, while the other was an expert from the countryside who had risen to fame miraculously. What kind of sparks would break out when they collided?
Li Yao and Mo Tianshui, on the other hand, seemed to be in the center of the tornado; they were not affected at all.
Amid the whispers, Mo Tianshui walked over to Li Yao.
He was a man of manners. Despite the high-intensity refining work that had gone on for five hours, he was as graceful as when the matches had begun. He seemed to have just paced out of a mottled ancient painting.
His eyes, which were as deep and vast as an ocean, stopped at Li Yao's bruised hands for a long time, before they were moved to the stranger's face. He looked at him with great interest.
"Mo Tianshui, of the main bloodline of the Mo Family, from Tongye City in the Hidden Mountain Domain. May I have the privilege?" Mo Tianshui smiled and asked about Li Yao's background in the ancient way.
"Li Yao, of the Li family," said Li Yao briefly, who focused his eyes on Mo Tianshui's hands, too.
Mo Tianshui raised an eyebrow. There was a moment of confusion in his eyes.
He had thought of all the noble refining families of the Flying Star Sector quickly and came up with no 'Li family' that was worth mentioning.
He asked unconsciously, "Which Li family?"
Li Yao retreated his gaze and walked past Mo Tianshui to the teleportation array leading to his personal chamber.
As he passed by, he said, "The Li family that has me."
Chapter 497: Behind a Genius |
At night, inside the hotel where the top 32 players stayed…
The Skyhill Sword Seminar was not just a match; it was also an important chance for communication within the circle of refiners as well as an opportunity to promote the arts of refining among ordinary people. Therefore, the contact between the contestants and the audience had always been highlighted.
Many ordinary guests were staying in the luxury hotel. A great number of fans of magical equipment had also gathered in the garden outside of the hotel and cheered for their favorite players.
A lot of contestants often chose to leave their rooms and meet with the fans in the garden in order to increase their popularity.
Some of them were already the spokespersons of a certain brand or had companies of their own that were related to magical equipment. They wouldn't hesitate to be known by more people so that their products could be better sold.
Li Yao, on the other hand, stayed in his room and listened to the sounds outside the window.
Most of the roars were dedicated to Mo Tianshui and Huangpu Xiaoya.
But every once in a while, his name could be heard, too.
"Li Yao! Li Yao! Li Yao! Li Yao!"
If one were to turn on the Spiritual Nexus, they would read news about him everywhere, including the videos of his crazy performance in the match. Most of the media had described him as 'a genius rising to fame miraculously'. Even Mo Tianshui and Huangpu Xiao had to share the headlines with him.
In front of Li Yao, Bi Luoling, third place of the Skyhill Sword Seminar last year as well as the rising star inside Red Line School, was smiling at him.
"Fellow Cultivator Li, you've become well-acknowledged after only one battle. All the refiners know you right now. In regard to the refinement of battle sabers, many experienced experts are quite interested in you.
"There is no need for me to boast about the leading position of Red Line School in the trade. The clauses on the contract are quite decent, too. After all, you are just a top 32 player and haven't made it to the top 8 yet. I don't believe that you will be offered a second contract that is as appealing as mine.
"You've read all the clauses. I can explain them to you if you find any parts unclear. You are free to propose extra demands, too. We are always open to negotiation."
Li Yao lowered his head and pushed the jade chip back to Bi Luoling. He said calmly, "I refuse the contract."
Bi Luoling's eyebrow was curled into two crescent moons, as she asked in astonishment, "Why?"
Li Yao replied, "Because it is not the top contract. According to the clauses, I can only join the mediocre groups of Red Line School and can't participate in the core projects. Also, I only have access to 80% of the classics and files collected by Red Line School. The more valuable and essential 20% is not available for my reference or training."
Bi Luoling coughed and frowned. "Fellow Cultivator Li, allow me to explain it. It is not as simple as you imagined for the three main crystal suit centers to recruit new people.
"Yes, you've demonstrated impressive capability, but you are a top 32 player right now after all, and it's very likely that the odds will not be in your favor when you are against Mo Tianshui tomorrow.
"Besides, your techniques are very mysterious, which do not belong to the major schools of refining.
"Excuse me, I am not prying into your background. However, we cannot run a precise assessment on your capability without knowing your background, nor are we certain about the stability of your performan
ce and the ability of your cooperation with other people.
"To create a crystal suit, a platform for super magical equipment, teamwork is mandatory. We have to take many factors into consideration. A pair of phantom-like hands alone won't do.
"For the top crystal suits that Red Line School is working on right now, because of the preferences in designs, we are not preparing to equip them with sabers.
"However, among the crystal suit projects of a lower level, one model has been formulated to use a battle saber as the main weapon.
"It is because of your proficient skills in the refinement of sabers that we drew a contract in advance and invite you in.
"Speaking of the contract, it is truly a sincere one that is favorable for you in terms of salary, benefits, and your future career. You can ask around. It's very rare for a young refiner less than 30 years old to join the groups of Red Line School that are only secondary to the groups for the core projects!
"Besides, there are a lot of matches within Red Line School. The communication among the three main crystal suit centers is frequent, too. If you truly believe in your capability, you can always prove yourself in three to five years and advance into the top group to be part of the core projects!
"Three to five years of studying will do a young man like you no harm."
Li Yao pondered carefully for half a minute and shook his head again. "Thank you for your kindness, but the answer is still no.
"I will defeat Mo Tianshui tomorrow.
"After that, if Huangpu Xiaoya stands in my way, I will defeat her as well.
"Other than the top groups of the three main crystal suit centers, I won't settle for anything else.
"If you bring out the top contract right now, I will sign it immediately.
"If you can't, please go back. I have to train myself. We can talk tomorrow after the battle.
"However, I cannot guarantee that Red Line School will be first to provide a contract."