by <unknown>
However, the flying sword seemed to be very unsatisfied about Li Yao's arrangement. When he landed on Iron Plateau, his flying sword had been coming out once in a while by itself and hit Li Yao. Yes. It had been hitting Li Yao's head with the handle of the sword. Li Yao was more than pissed!
As for the red streak, it was 'Neltharion', a piece of magical equipment used to train its users to steer a starship.
Neltharion had proved to be extremely useful in such a strange environment like Iron Plateau because it was the perfect probe magical equipment. As long as Li Yao attached part of his soul to Neltharion, he could observe the surroundings from the perspective of Neltharion. Also, the magical equipment boasted certain stealth ability and was very hard to find when it snuck into the air without anybody knowing.
"You are my only company now."
Gripping Black Wing and waving the sword, Li Yao suddenly recalled the life of struggles in the magical equipment graveyard together with Little Black five years ago.
He remembered how ambitious and audacious he had been, even though he had been an unknown middle-school student, and how he had been willing to walk on the seemingly hard and dangerous path. He was immediately cheered up again.
"I've passed through so much wind and storm. The demon prince failed to kill me, and the unparalleled deadly demon from forty thousand years ago was drilled right through by me! How can a small Iron Plateau trap me?
"Come on! I'm going to fix the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, find a starship, and get out of Iron Plateau!"
Right at this moment, the alarm magical equipment deployed in the depths of the cave emitted feeble redness.
"Somebody is here!"
Li Yao was refreshed. He put all the objects back to his Cosmos Rings but let Black Wing and Neltharion follow him. Then he dashed out of the cave.
When he reached the entrance of the cave, Li Yao tossed another slice of worm meat to the corrosive thorns guarding the cave. While the thorns were enjoying the new meal, Li Yao rushed to the peak of the meteorite mountain.
Li Yao crouched inside a cluster of grass and lay low before he extended his telepathic thoughts to Neltharion.
"Neltharion, strike forward!"
After entering a trance, Li Yao's vision completely changed, as if Neltharion became his new eyes!
Swoosh!
Neltharion darted out, leaving red traces behind.
Li Yao did not dare to fly Neltharion too high. Iron Plateau was a place hundreds of times more dangerous than the Grand Desolate Plateau. It would be committing suicide to fly too high here because many demon beasts boasted keen anti-stealth abilities.
Therefore, Li Yao flew Neltharion toward the southeast, at such a low altitude that it almost kissed the ground, until it reached the foot of another meteorite mountain. Then, Li Yao hid it in the crown of a giant tree and kept it still.
Neltharion turned around and peeped at the southwest.
Even if someone in the southwest discovered that they were being observed, they wouldn't be able to trace it back to Li Yao.
One could never be too cautious in a foreign land.
Many vehicles were driving over intimidatingly from the southwest. The sand they raised was like a raging yellow dragon.
Every three days, almost twenty vehicles would show up and go hunting in the desert.
It was almost the most important reason Li Yao had chosen to hide himself in this meteorite mountain.
He was trying to observe the natives of Iron Plateau at a close distance.
Although he did not dare draw too close to the vehicles, as he feared that they might have anti-stealth methods, he had still gathered a lot of information after so many days.
Many files he read stated that the few habitable planets of the Flying Star Sector were occupied by demon beasts and primitive barbarians.
From what he had seen, the place was indeed frequented by demon beasts, but the so-called barbarians were not necessarily savages.
The natives of Iron Plateau were not as civilized as the residents in space, but they knew how to drive tanks, and they employed a lot of magical equipment when they were hunting demon beasts. Besides, they were clear about when to attack and when to retreat. The collaboration of the team members was flawless. They were definitely not barbarians but citizens of a highly developed civilization.
They should be what Huangpu Xiaoya addressed as 'qi-trainers'.
Li Yao was aware that 'qi-trainer' was an alternative name for Cultivators in the ancient Cultivation world forty thousand years ago. Many traditional Cultivators preferred to be called qi-trainers.
The question remained: what kind of people were the qi-trainers on Iron Plateau?
However, the wind on the desert was too furious. Whenever they appeared, they would raise a small sandstorm. Everything was obscured by the dust, and Li Yao was not able to watch them clearly.
Li Yao did not dare drive Neltharion too close to the vehicles, because he feared that the anti-stealth methods the qi-trainers had might destroy his treasure.
Li Yao stopped looking at the strangers and focused on studying the messages sent back by Neltharion.
They were the parameters of the airwaves that Neltharion detected.
By analyzing the change of the parameters, Li Yao could evaluate the intensity of a battle and the combat ability of the qi-trainers.
It was like inferring the size of a stone that was tossed into the center of a pond from the ripples at the edge of the pond.
These guys are merely in the Refinement Stage.
Li Yao analyzed the data carefully. Then he retrieved the report of the previous investigations and studied them together.
So far, he had observed six battles. However, Neltharion had never sensed the liquefication of spiritual gas in the air, not even once.
From the beginning to end, they had never showed any signs of having any Building Foundation Stage Cultivators, not even when they were in emergencies.
They are simply a bunch of Refinement Stage Cultivators. Although they are all battle-type, they are nothing to be scared of.
After ascertaining his conclusion, Li Yao smiled and was fully relieved.
Chapter 549: First Interaction! |
He planned to get in touch with the qi-trainers despite the risk involved.
Repairing the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit not only required very advanced furnaces but also a fully-equipped maintenance workshop as well as almost a hundred indispensable strengthened alloys and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
In the barren, desolate wilderness, even Ou Yezi would not have been able to fix the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit with stones and twigs if he came back to life.
Besides, Li Yao needed a starship to help him leave the Iron Plateau Space Zone, and it was not like he could pick one up in the wasteland.
Since the hunting team of the qi-trainers had such so many vehicles and used magical equipment frequently during battles, it was safe to assume that they must have facilities to create and maintain the magical equipment in their bases.
If he reached the qi-trainers' town, there was a very good chance he would be able to mend the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit and even find a starship.
Of course, Li Yao wouldn't be so reckless as to walk out and greet them like an old friend.
All the files of the Flying Star Sector affirmed that the barbarians living on the planets feasted upon raw meat and blood and loathed the residents in the space.
Some starships had been forced to land on the planets due to space storms, only to never be heard from again. There was no telling whether they ended up in demon beasts' stomachs or were captured by the barbarians.
Huangpu Xiaoya had also said that qi-trainers were not particularly fond of the Cultivators from the outside world.
Therefore, Li Yao had been lurking for an entire month in order to determine the capability of the hunting team of the qi-trainers.
Although most of my capability has been locked by
the Black Spider Death Curse, I can easily reach the peak of the Refinement Stage. Moreover, my 'battle awareness' is still in the high level of the Building Foundation Stage!
Therefore, I'm definitely invincible among Refinement Stage Cultivators!
Realistically speaking, it's not like the twenty qi-trainers are all at the peak of the Refinement Stage, is it? Most of them should be in the middle level and high level of the Refinement Stage. Their leader might be the only one at the peak of the Refinement Stage!
Let's say that I'm unlucky enough and that a once-in-a-billion-years event happens to me. If the twenty qi-trainers are all at the peak of the Refinement Stage, I can always run away from them if I can't beat them, can't I?
The odds of such a coincidence were so low that they could always be ignored.
Li Yao thought through the whole plan again and realized that he would have to get in touch with qi-trainers anyway in his current situation.
Right now, the qi-trainers in front of them were not strong enough. The pace of the communication would be within his control. He could decide whether to negotiate or to attack and whether to fight or to flee.
If he did not get in touch with them right now, it would be quite awkward if he ran into qi-trainers that were equal to Building Foundation Stage Cultivators.
Thinking about that, Li Yao carried Black Wing on his back and dashed out like a bolt of lightning.
He did not rush to the qi-trainers directly, but took a large turn around the meteorite mountain and left messy traces around the cave where he had been hiding.
Then, he neatly deployed the last few crystal bombs in a valley that he had chosen a long time ago.
When he was fully prepared, he walked toward the qi-trainers neither too fast nor too slowly.
The qi-trainers seemed very interested in the giant worms that could absorbed metal ores in the desert. They had been chasing the giant worms for more than half a day and eventually slayed six of them.
Li Yao was hoping to borrow the maintenance equipment of the qi-trainers, so he was unwilling to get on bad terms with the natives of Iron Plateau. Thus, he did not hide himself and reached them openly.
While he came close, he was able to observe the strangers more carefully, only to be startled by what he saw.
The qi-trainers were using True Qi magical equipment!
True Qi was condensed by Cultivators through absorbing the natural spiritual gas. Then, the True Qi could be launched to drive the complicated mechanical devices and deal great damage!
As the magical equipment in the exploration phase at the early stage of the modern Cultivation civilization, the True Qi magical equipment was heavy, clumsy, and sophisticated in structure. They were all silly, thick, and stupid steel beasts.
Also, the transformation efficiency when the True Qi was turned into energy and damage was too low with too much loss, not to mention the wasted gas, black smoke, and earsplitting noises!
Therefore, True Qi magical equipment was soon replaced by the next-generation magical equipment, which was smaller, neater, and had a higher efficiency rate of spiritual energy.
Right now, the qi-trainers in front of him were driving single tanks that had two giant wheels, one at the front and the other at the rear, which were embedded with sharp thorns. The two wheels were more than one meter in diameter. The power rune arrays carved on them were askew and disordered. They were like the drawings of a new-born baby!
Rolls of bronze tubes extended from the core of True Qi in the middle of the tank to the front and the rear, covering the entire tank. All the tubes were connected by rivets, but the joints were loose. Dense black smoke was surging out from the gaps of the tubes, as if almost twenty chimneys were stuck in the tanks. Fulminations resembling the noise of a waterfall made Li Yao feel that his ears were numb.
Such a steel beast was more than seven meters long and three meters high. It could only accommodate three knights at best. Compared to the shuttles commonly-seen among Cultivators, it was truly ineffective. But the daunting aura of antiquity couldn't have been better demonstrated!
All the tanks were of a similar style to the single tank.
In short, they were steel structures driven by smoking True Qi, connected by rough rivets, armed with turrets using True Qi as cannonballs, with zero suspension components, so that those on board would feel every bit of the bump and blast and exert all their strength.
"Hoo! Hoo! Hoooooo!"
Every tank of the qi-trainers was like a hungry animal, sending out earsplitting roars!
The qi-trainers discovered Li Yao very soon. The tube of one of the single tanks suddenly spurted two clusters of large and intense black smoke, before it accelerated and rushed toward Li Yao at a high speed!
Li Yao narrowed his eyes and gazed at the single tank, ready to fight.
The single tank was painted a crude red in the shape of burning fire, which seemed to be made of the blood of demon beasts. There was only one knight on it.
The knight was in his twenties, but he was more than two meters tall, mighty and muscular. His shoulders were twice as wide as Li Yao's. He was wearing a fearsome helmet crafted out of the skull of a demon beast, and leather armor and a pair of trousers refined out of the hide of a black demon beast. There were protective pads on his shoulders and wrists.
The pads were embedded with bone spurs more than one inch long, which were emanating a dominating aura!
Two giant rivets protruded out of the knight's chin. They were carved with two round runes, suggesting that they were some sort of magical equipment.
Li Yao was somewhat relieved.
Despite the eccentric clothes, they did not look very different from the residents in space, except that they were taller and more muscular.
Among the space residents, due to the cosmic radiation, tall, brawny men more than two meters tall were not very uncommon.
Even Li Yao could turn into such a giant with the secret arts to trigger the primordial powers in his cells and expand his muscles, which he inherited from the spiritual seed of Iron God Yan Ba, a body fundamentalist.
Li Yao had been worried that the qi-trainers might be a different species with red hair, blue eyebrow, and green teeth. It would have been difficult to communicate with them if so.
Hardly had he taken a breath in relief when he was stunned by the two flags flying at the rear of the tank of the qi-trainer.
Those qi-trainers seemed to be rather ostentatious. Several flags were stabbed at the rear of each tank and were all rattling in the wind.
Before, Li Yao had not been able to see them clearly via Neltharion due to the long distance. It was not until this moment that he discovered that what was drawn on the two flags was an angrily roaring face resembling the sun, which was spraying flames of fury to the surroundings.
That is—the battle emblem of the Burning Sun Alliance!
Li Yao was shocked.
The Burning Sun Alliance was one of the six major sects in Heavenly Saints City and one of the strongest Cultivation sects of the Flying Star Sector!
How come their battle emblem had shown up on the flags of qi-trainers?
While he was pondering, the iron horse of the qi-trainer had sprinted at Li Yao, preparing to crush him directly.
Li Yao sniffed. He lowered his body and was ready to slash the hostile tank into two halves.
The knight roared in fury. The black smoke emitted from his tank soared into the sky together with his killing intent, as if a brutal tornado was brewing!
However, Li Yao remained as solid as a stone in the center of a tornado, except that the coldness in his eyes was becoming brighter and brighter.
He was not scared at all, because he had even slain a real tornado before!
Eventually, the iron knight was awed by Li Yao's serenity and intimidating aura. He came to a sudden halt when he was some ten meters away from Li Yao.
Unpleasant noises echoed inside his tank, as if it were discontent that its master did not
charge into the enemy directly.
"Who are you exactly?"
The iron knight was waving a large saber, which was more than three meters long and made of three blocks joined by rivets. The edge of the saber did not look sharp, either.
Li Yao was highly suspicious that the blades were meant to bash the enemy instead of slashing the enemy.
Although the iron knight's voice was extremely hoarse and unclear, it was the same language as the residents in space. He was speaking the standard language passed on from the ancient Cultivators and normalized by the Star Ocean Imperium.
At this time, the rest of the qi-trainers yelled and surrounded him.
Li Yao was not in his crystal suit, but he was wearing his mustard-seed battle suit, which was neat, tidy, and streamlined, not at all similar to the crude black leather clothes of the qi-trainers.
The eyes of the iron knight in the lead were beaming like beacons as he stared at Li Yao's mustard-seed battle suit. Suddenly, he bellowed, "You are not an Iron Plateau citizen; you are from the space!"
You may understand True Qi as spiritual gas in the context.
Chapter 550: Invincible in the Refinement Stage |
Li Yao opened his hands and showed that he meant no harm to them, before he said calmly, "It's true that I came from space, but I did not come here on purpose; I was forced to land on Iron Plateau due to an accident. I want to leave Iron Plateau as soon as possible, too. Therefore, I would like to make a deal with you.
"I need a maintenance workshop with furnaces. It doesn't matter whether the furnaces are advanced or not, as I will modify them myself.
"Other than that, I need some Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and super alloys. If you don't have alloys, common metals will do. I can purify and merge them myself.
"If you have starships that can sail across space zones, I'm hoping that I can borrow one, too.
"Stop glaring at me so much. Since this is a deal, I will not use your stuff without offering anything in return.
"Truth be told, I'm a refiner with reasonably good skills. If you can provide the resources and facilities that I need, I can help you repair and refine magical equipment in return!