by <unknown>
Li Yao shook his head and tossed the philosophical problems away. For some reason, he found it hard to hate Yan Xibei.
Righteous or evil, Yan Xibei deserved to be the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau in the past!
Li Yao sighed. He then retrieved some crystal bombs that he had dismantled from the tank of the Burning Sun Tribe and placed them on Yan Xibei's body solemnly.
Mo Xuan was dazed. "What are you doing?"
Li Yao replied, "Every living creature here, including the smallest insects, might have already been corrupted. Naturally, I'm going to bombard everything to the ground. As it happens, this very bomb contains fatal neurotoxins. I don't know if they work on the foreign blood, but they should be better than nothing!
"I've set the bomb to explode in half a minute. You go back to where you came for now. I'll send the map of the Furious Bears Tribe to you shortly. We'll meet again later near the Furious Bears Tribe!"
"Alright!"
Mo Xuan also knew that Li Yao must've experienced a lot of adventures on Iron Plateau, but now was not a good time to talk yet. He maneuvered Sparkle and disappeared in the hole he had come from.
Li Yao looked at Yan Xibei's body for the last time. Spiritual gas spurted out from the Sky Scorpion Armor as he flew off.
Just when his feet left the ground, weird redness suddenly leapt out of Yan Xibei's body and pierced at Li Yao's back like a lightning!
Just as I expected!
Li Yao had been waiting for it. He had condensed dozens of purple gold electric arcs inside his right palm. He opened his right hand, and the Purple Electric Blue Hellfire Claw Art was activated to the maximum. The electric arcs were all released and hit the bloody redness precisely!
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
The electric arcs locked the bloody brightness like a cage. It was screaming miserably and trying to rush out of the cage, only to be burnt into black stinky smoke when it reached the boundary. After ten seconds, its struggle became feebler and feebler, and it turned into ash in the end!
"Hu…"
Li Yao took a long breath in relief. A bloody streak suddenly blinked in the depths of his left eye, but he didn't realize it and dashed to the earth without looking back.
On the earth, the heavy storm continued unabated.
The weird grey mist flooding out of the cave made everybody wary of getting too close. They could only hold their breath and gaze at the entrance of the cave.
Xiong Wuji managed to sit straight with the support of Wu Mayan and Sha Yulan. He gritted his teeth and stared with hope.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The thunderous explosions from underground seemed to indicate that a great earthquake had happened.
Before everybody had the chance to exclaim, a shadow dashed out of the cave.
It was Li Yao!
In that moment, the valley was seething with cheers and applause that even eclipsed the sound of the storm!
…
In the planetary ring outside Iron Plateau, the fleet of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City had already gathered. Countless Exos and armed shuttles were sent out to perform directional blasting jobs.
Although they could not destroy the whole defense array, they were capable of digging a hole through it.
Inside the bridge of Proud Sun, the flagship, Captain Wan Liyun was eyeing the space steles about to be detonated one after another coldly.
By controlling the direction, angle, and intensity of the explosions and deploying a huge number of magnetic devices, the soldiers were creating a channel in the dense array of meteoroids.
On the light beam, a Cultivator wearing the badge of the Burning Sun Alliance reported, "In twenty-four hours, a channel that assault warships can pass through will be completed!"
"Very good. These are the last twenty-four hours. If we don't receive a signal from the Great Horn Exo Society, we'll send our main troops down!
"Remember, it is very possible that Iron Plateau has become a base of the Temple of Immortals. All the qi-trainers are our potential enemies. So, don't consider this operation a simple rescue mission.
"This is war. A real war!"
Wan Liyun smashed the control panel and gnashed his teeth in fury. "If the rescue mission fails, or the hostages are confirmed dead, retaliation is to be put into action immediately. I want Iron Plateau to be buried in flames!"
Next to Wan Liyun, a Cultivator wearing the emblem of the Furious Bears Union observed gravely, "Captain Wan, we have always believed that there is much more to the incident. Should we act more judiciously until we have solid evidence proving that Iron Plateau natives were involved in the kidnapping?"
"Judiciously?" Taking a deep breath, Wan Liyun replied coldly, "Brother Su, you must think that the Burning Sun Alliance has gone mad because our disciples were captured and even murdered, right?
"This is the latest news sent from the Heavenly Saints Space Zone. Brother Su, and everyone else, please take a look.
"Up until now, the Heavenly Saints Composite Index has dropped by more than forty percent compared to three months ago. The average share price of the major groups under the name of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City has plunged by fifty percent. The transportation sector suffered the heaviest losses. More than seventy percent of the share price has been vaporized.
"This is an out-and-out stock market crash!
"Right now, the financial market is in chaos. A lot of transportation companies are dying under the threat of the space pirates. The cargo passing through Heavenly Saints City this month was only sixty percent what it was during the same period last year. Don't forget that Heavenly Saints City is the most heavily guarded metropolis in space!
"Some smaller space towns have shut their doors to the outside world in fear of the assault of space pirates. Their cargo throughput was only twenty to thirty percent of last year's!
"You still think that the so-called space pirates and the Temple of Immortals are merely skin diseases?
"They are most definitely not!
"The civilization of the Flying Star Sector is founded on the smooth, secure lines of transportation!
"The six sects of Heavenly Saints City are acknowledged by most ordinary people because we can protect the traffic lines and ensure the communication of people and goods in the bleak, dark universe!
"Transportation lines are the foundation of our civilization. Without transportation lines, we are but lone islands scattered in the sea of stars. Before long, our entire civilization will collapse!
"After the several months of rioting from the space pirates, all the people of the Flying Star Sector are hiding in their towns and fortresses, shuddering in fright. They are losing confidence in the six sects of Heavenly Saints City!
"If a rumor that we cannot even protect our family and disciple breaks out right now and that they were ruthlessly murdered by Immortal Cultivators whom we can only sit and watch to run away, how can we convince the ordinary people that we have the ability to protect them?
"If we don't have the ability to protect ordinary people, why would they support us, buy our shares, receive the education that we provide, take our carriers, and stand on our side?
"Do you understand? This is not an issue of twenty hostages; it concerns whether or not everyone in the Flying Star Sector should continue trusting the six sects of Heavenly Saints City!
"It will certainly be for the best if we can rescue the hostages, but if we can't, we have no other options except to launch a thunderous attack at Iron Plateau with all our might. We will rebuild people's confidence in the six sects of Heavenly Saints City with the destruction of our enemy!
"Do you agree, everybody?"
There was a long silence inside the bridge.
Cultivators wearing the emblem of the Furious Bears Union slowly nodded their heads. "Agreed."
Those wearing the emblem of the Feathered Snakes Brotherhood replied, their eyelids twitching, "Agreed."
Heavenly Wolves Fortress
, Giant Axe Hall, Silver Moon Clan… All the Cultivators sighed and nodded one after another. "Agreed!"
Wan Liyun was flushed and appeared restless. He waved his hands, somewhat tired. "Everybody, take a good rest in our last day. In twenty-four hours, 'Operation Thunder' will be carried out!"
Right then, the light beam started shaking weirdly. Taking a deep breath, the officer exclaimed, his voice shaking, "Ca—Captain, we received a message from the Great Horn Exo Society!
"The rescue mission was a success!
"The twenty hostages are all unharmed!"
Chapter 634: Ultimate Core! |
Ten days later, in Furious Bears City…
The Temple of Immortals' scheme had been foiled, but its repercussions still plunged Furious Bears City into a swirl of events. Li Yao, on the other hand, was bothered by none of it. The most important task for him in the past few days had been to eat well, sleep well, and treat his wounds while consolidating his position in the unprecedented superlative height of the Building Foundation Stage.
Shua!
Sha Yulan plucked the last gold needle from his chest. Sensing the prospering circulation of spiritual energy inside his body, she smiled. "Your body is even sturdier than that of the healthiest qi-trainer than I've ever seen. I have no idea how you trained yourself to such an extent at all. I thought that you would have to lie on bed for a couple of months, but you've fully recovered after only ten days!"
Li Yao smiled, too. He sensed the strength that felt both familiar and strange flowing inside his body. He punched several times, and the air in front of him rippled like water. However, there was not the slightest sound.
His control over his strength had reached an amazing level that far exceeded the peak of the Building Foundation Stage in common sense. Even Cultivators in the beginning level of the Core Formation Stage might not have been as skilled as him!
Sha Yulan was beaming with interest and said, "The world of Cultivation is indeed full of changes and mysteries. I thought that you were dead for sure, but you've set yourself off on a whole new path!
"I've carefully analyzed everything in the last couple of days. Your status right now is different from the superlative height of the Refinement Stage. Not every qi-trainer can enter your level by compressing their spiritual gas after they reach a certain threshold in the Refinement Stage.
"At that time, the chaotic spiritual energy released from the cores of the apocalyptic beasts was still lingering inside your body, waiting to be transformed and absorbed. It was accumulating in your abdomen and could have killed you.
"As it turned out, Yan Xibei's attack with his apocalyptic strength battered the foreign spiritual energy and set it free from your body!
"Moreover, Yan Xibei's bloody mist covered you like a big cooker and restrained the escaping spiritual energy around you, making it have nowhere to run to.
"Also, everybody was in the most intense reverberation state at that moment.
"All the coincidences together led to your inexplicable level."
Li Yao chuckled and scratched his head, realizing that he was truly unbelievably lucky.
Sha Yulan suddenly changed the topic. "However, regarding the weird situation inside your body, I have two speculations, one good and the other bad. Which one would you like to hear first?"
Li Yao thought for a moment and replied, "The bad one, please."
"Although you've broken into the 'superlative height of the Building Foundation Stage' by luck and your combat ability has been significantly increased, I estimate that it will be ten times more difficult for you to enter the Core Formation Stage than for common Building Foundation Stage Cultivators," said Sha Yulan.
Li Yao raised his right eyebrow.
Sha Yulan explained, "You've received the harshest training of the qi-trainers, and now, you are in the superlative height of the Building Foundation Stage. As a result, your veins, nerves, and abdomen have ten times the capacity of common Building Foundation Stage Cultivators'!
"Metaphorically speaking, if the body of a common Building Foundation Stage Cultivator is a lake, your body is an ocean."
Li Yao nodded. His spiritual energy capacity had indeed improved a lot over the last couple of months. After he entered the superlative height of the Building Foundation Stage, he had been feeling hungry all day. His daily training always consumed dozens of crystals, and he still felt that he hadn't enjoyed himself. His body had become like a bottomless hole.
"Let's say that one would be able to enter the Core Formation Stage when the 'water level' reaches a certain height. One heavy rain will be enough to raise the water level of the 'lakes' of common Building Foundation Stage Cultivators and make them reach the threshold," Sha Yulan said. "But for an 'ocean' such as yourself, one heavy rain is far from enough. How much water do you need if you want to raise the water level of an ocean by one meter? I can't even imagine!"
Deep in thought, Li Yao realized that Sha Yulan did have a point.
Sha Yulan continued her explanation. "For a long while now, I've been wondering why none of the qi-trainers, many of whom were talented and smart, have ever entered the Building Foundation Stage successfully in the past several thousand years. There should've been some, no matter how low the odds are!
"Now, I finally understand that it was because the qi-trainers overstretched their veins and nerves, increasing their spiritual energy capacity. While their 'lakes' grew larger and larger, more and more 'water' could be stored, but it made it more and more difficult to improve the 'water level' in order to reach the threshold of the Building Foundation Stage!"
Li Yao slapped his thigh and observed, "Good point!"
"There's another fatal problem about your body. Your abdomen was pierced through by Yan Xibei's brutal attack. It is now like a bag riddled with holes. However much rice you put into the bag, some of it is bound to leak out.
"The strength that leaks out makes your whole new level. However, it also adds to the difficult of breaking through to the Core Formation Stage, because forming the core highlights the concertation of spiritual energy and not dispersion.
"All in all, my conclusion is that you've already deviated from the normal path of training. The superlative height of the Building Foundation Stage is not compatible with the Core Formation Stage, just like the superlative height of the Refinement Stage does not agree with the Building Foundation Stage!
"When the qi-trainers persist in walking on the superlative height of the Refinement Stage and surpassing the 50th level, the 80th, and even now the 100th, the price they pay is that they are unlikely to enter the Building Foundation Stage.
"If you go higher in the superlative height of the Building Foundation Stage, you may reach the 10th, the 20th, and even the 100th level of the Building Foundation Stage, but it is very possible that you will have to pay your price, too, which is that… you will never enter the Core Formation Stage!"
Li Yao felt a headache coming on. It was indeed a tough choice.
The superlative height of the Building Foundation Stage was a significant improvement to his combat ability. According to Li Yao's self-evaluation, his maximum combat ability was close to that of the middle level of the Core Formation Stage. Even if he ran into an experienced Core Formation Stage Cultivator such as Fengyu Zhong again right now, he would not necessarily be on the losing side.
If he could march into the 30th or the 50th level of the Building Foundation Stage someday, it was not unlikely that he could defeat the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators!
However, Cultivation was not simply about the improvement of combat ability.
The Core Formation Stage, Nascent Soul Stage, and Divinity Transformation Stage represented the major landmarks in the path of evolution.
He was like a dinosaur among Cultivators right now.
The combat ability of dinosaurs was naturally much higher than that of monkeys.
But that did not mean that dinosaurs were more advanced than monkeys; monkeys had endless p
otential due to their intelligence!
Li Yao took a long breath and asked curiously, "Then, what's the good news, Sister Sha?"
Sha Yulan smiled and replied, "Need I inform you of the good news? Your body is now an ocean. Although it is ten times more difficult to enter the Core Formation Stage, you will be the strongest Core Formation Stage Cultivator in history should you succeed some day! I don't even know whether or not 'core' will be an appropriate word to describe your status by then. Your capability will definitely be terrifying!"
Li Yao's eyes suddenly shone. It was quite true. Raising the water level of an ocean by one meter was naturally much more troublesome than lifting that of a lake. However, the force used when the ocean moved several meters would be much more intimidating than when a lake moved!
"It's decided then!" Li Yao clenched his fists, his eyes glittering. "I will not abandon the Core Formation Stage. Maybe I will suddenly break into the superlative height of the Core Formation Stage from the superlative height of the Building Foundation Stage one day during my training!
"Superlative height of the Core Formation Stage! Wow. I'm drooling just thinking of it!"
Sha Yulan couldn't help but chuckle. She covered her mouth and said, "Alright. Alright. You can study how to form the ultimate core right now. I'll go and change Big Xiong's medication. Right, come to Big Xiong's ward soon. Captain Lei seems to have brought Big Xiong something, and he wants to share it with you!"
After Sha Yulan left, Li Yao pondered for a moment and locked the door from inside. Then he secretly established communication with Sparkle.
Sparkle was hiding dozens of meters below his ward. Since the distance was very short, the point-to-point communication was not in the least hindered by the rock stratums in between.
Sparkle had not been idling by in the last couple of days. Li Yao had sent the broken Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit and the pieces of the Apocalyptic Extension into Sparkle. Professor Mo Xuan had taken charge of the repair work, and everything was successfully completed three days later!
Li Yao explained his situation to the five spectral Cultivators. He also told them that he wouldn't give up on the Core Formation Stage. Mo Xuan and the rest of the spectral Cultivators couldn't have agreed with him more.