by <unknown>
"Through the generations of old grandpas that fall from the sky, all the techniques and magical equipment to be tested, which are highly dangerous and unstable, are given to the sinners as 'gifts'. No coercion is needed at all to make the sinners volunteer to become lab rats for the Immortal Cultivators.
"After the test for a technique is done, and all the hidden problems and shortcomings in real combat are revealed or even perfected by the sinners, more radical, powerful, and unstable techniques are projected to begin a new round of tests.
"In the death contest where you kill or get killed, somebody will definitely take the risk. As long as one person chooses the new techniques, the other people can only grit their teeth and follow. This is an arms race!
"The Desolate Worlds; the Bloody Worlds; the Elysian Worlds; and Manjusaka, the City in the Sky. The four seemingly progressive worlds give the sinners a slim chance of hope. Like the carrot hanging in front of a donkey's head, they lure the sinners to train themselves crazily without bothering about anything, even if they clearly know that the arts that they are practicing are full of fatal shortcomings.
"It is needless to say that the various quests released by the City in the Sky are partly meant to maintain the Immortal Cultivators' reign on the Land of Sins and partly to collect data. It's killing two birds with one stone!
"What a marvelous design. It is much more efficient than forcing the slaves to train themselves under blades and chains in a simple and straightforward laboratory!"
Li Yao's soul was a bit cold. He was about to talk when the two little fellows both exclaimed at the same time, "Look, Grandpa Yao, look. That is Manjusaka, the City in the Sky!"
Li Yao increased the perception of his soul to the highest as he looked at the zenith of the sky.
At this moment, the dark night had fallen, but the sky was still gleaming in various colors while the dust of radiation was surging nonstop, as if groups of fireflies were dancing crazily.
Right above, at the edge of the high sky, it could be seen that a red star was glowing and blossoming like a chrysanthemum.
The flowing brilliance cascaded down like a waterfall, flying in the night wind both like upside-down flames and like the long hair of a siren.
"Manjusaka, the City in the Sky…" The young man stared at the night sky in a daze, his both eyes occupied by the brilliance as demonic as fire. He could not help but open his arms at the red star and declare, "I will certainly go to Manjusaka. I will!"
"It is said that seeing Manjusaka when the night just falls will bring good fortune for an entire year. I pray that dad and Han Te can get well soon. I pray that the village can survive the Bliss Ceremony this time. I pray that everyone is safe and sound," the girl prayed in a low voice, her hands clasped together. "Please watch over the poor sinners, Manjusaka!"
"I just remembered that I've seen the name of 'Manjusaka' in a notebook of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures in the Heavenly Refining Tower," Li Yao said to the mental devil coldly. "Manjusaka seems to be an extraordinary flower grown in the early years of the ancient Cultivators. It was also known by the locals as 'Flower of the Other Shore'.
"It is a flower that is as beautiful as it is poisonous. It has the glamor of the setting sun and the pureness of the white snow.
"According to the legends of the locals, the flower grows on the shores of the river in hell. It emits a sweet smell that gives the deceased a moment of ecstasy so that they will cross the river in ignorance, step into hell, and fall into eternal reincarnation.
"The notebook of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures of the Hundred Smelting Clan gives no comments about such a legend, but it does agree that Manjusaka boasts a very powerful hypotonization and hallucinogenic effect. The flower can paralyze one's nerves and even soul, making them die with a smile on their faces in bizarre dreams. All in all, it is a very dangerous material."
"Isn't it perfect?" The mental devil chuckled. "Wasn't the outcome of the sinners predestined when the Immortal Cultivators named their laboratory 'Manjusaka'? Think about it, if a sinner is able to practice dozens of different arts that have serious shortcomings without getting killed, and their strength even grows exponentially—allowing them to pass multiple tests, accomplish the most arduous quests, and accumulate tremendous contribution points—they are finally qualified to enter 'Manjusaka'. Think about it. What awaits them in the crimson City in the Sky? Will they become 'angels', or will they be sliced up for study to analyze the mysteries of their bodies and figure out why they could have overcome so many shortcomings?"
"…Just like Han Te's sister?"
The mental devil grimaced. "Maybe."
After a long silence, Li Yao declared, one word after another, "We have to go to Manjusaka, the City in the Sky!"
"Exactly," the mental devil said. "If Manjusaka is indeed the control center of the 'planetary experiment base for magical equipment', it must have 'high-molecular layer-by-layer scanning magical equipment'. Chances are that there will be a lot of resources that can help us make significant progress. Of course we are going to Manjusaka!"
"There's also 'Starry Light', the mysterious resistance organization of Cultivators, and the legendary 'Lost Cultivator'," Li Yao said. "If the Land of Sins is truly an overwhelming laboratory that nobody can escape from, it is not strange at all that the people here will turn into real Cultivators after they learn the truth!"
"But we must tread lightly and not expose ourselves in any case," the mental devil said. "Since this place has been confirmed to be a laboratory of magical equipment and techniques for the Immortal Cultivators, there must be a lot of surveillance systems here. Chances are that high-resolution crystal cameras that can monitor every corner on the ground clearly have been installed all over the Heavenly Rails that surround the entire planet.
"The 'Desolate Worlds' we are in are the bottom level of the Land of Sins. The surveillance here won't be too strict. This is a place where people are encouraged to attack each other so that 'elite experiment subjects' can be screened out.
"After we reach the Bloody Worlds, the Elysian Worlds, and even Manjusaka, we will certainly be faced with the surveillance of a dragnet and ubiquitous prying."
"Therefore, we might as well take the two little fellows with us." Li Yao smiled. "The techniques that the Immortal Cultivators released for testing, despite the fatal shortcomings and problems, are indeed powerful enough. The two teenagers are experts above average even by the standard of the federation!"
Illuminated by the crimson light of Manjusaka, the three of them drove out of the city ruins, each thinking of their own business. Moving in the wilderness in silence for more than an hour, they returned to the Village of Peace.
"Grandpa, we are about to enter the territory of our village!"
Robbing and killing the travelers in the wilderness for their treasures was a daily routine in the Land of Sins. The two little fellows had been staying on the highest alert all their way here.
It was not until they saw a metal board standing on the ruins, which had the word 'PEACE' painted in enormous letters, that they finally took a breath in relief.
In front of them was a boundless lake. The sound of surging tides could be vaguely heard, as if they had come to an ocean.
Li Yao had observed the environment from the sky earlier and therefore knew that this place was still far away from the ocean. The lake that was hundreds of kilometers in diameter must have been formed by a few overlapping craters that were filled with rainwater. It was possible that they were melted with the canals of the past, too, allowing the fresh water to flow in incessantly, which kept the vitality of the lake.
Looking into the distance, Li Yao could vaguely see that dozens of rusted, iron-shelled boats had been connected, constituting a tall, tight-knit village on the water.
The place was ablaze with light although it was late at night. Countless people were busily working on the deck. Many smaller catamarans were rowing near the village, sending ou
t ripples nonstop. This was the Village of Peace, which had a population of several thousand and could be counted as a 'big' village in the hundreds of square kilometers around.
Chapter 1959: Bliss |
At this moment, hundreds of white, flawless flowers were blossoming in the sky of the crater lake that the Village of Peace was at while they fell in the wind.
A lot of flowers had already fallen to the surface of the lake. They were floating like jellyfish.
The flowers made all the villagers go crazy. They were either searching on the lake in boats or fighting for them in midair with curved magical equipment that was similar to a paraglider on their back. Their searchlights illuminated the sky as if it were daylight. It was quite a lively scene.
Li Yao focused his attention and could vaguely tell that they were parachutes that were carrying some metal boxes.
"A blessing from the angels!"
The two little fellows already saw the white flowers falling from the sky from a long distance away. They were both exclaiming in excitement. They explained to Li Yao, their faces still flushed, "That is the aid tossed from the Heavenly Rails. Before the 'Bliss Ceremony' every year, the frequency of the assets sprayed from the Heavenly Rails increases. It is some sort of additional grace. I didn't know that we would happen to run into it today."
Seeing that a parachute was blown away from the lake toward them, Han Te exclaimed, "There's one over there!"
He turned the shuttle abruptly, running at the landing point of the 'blessing'. He found the metal box that had already fallen apart at the edge of the lake. It was filled with soft bubbles as buffers.
Under the protection of the bubbles, there were two weapons that were blinking coldly.
"New magical equipment. Two of them!"
Han Te and Liu Li's eyes shone. They picked up the new weapons and played with them in great interest.
Li Yao released feeble telepathic thoughts that attached to the weapons in the hands of the two little fellows before he studied their structure carefully.
The weapon was very similar to the 'power knuckle' in Li Yao's memory. It could entirely cover one's fingers, palm, and elbow. However, a thick metal ring was added above the wrist, and there were twelve deep blue crystals the size of pebbles on the surface of the metal ring. There was no telling what they were designed for.
The two little fellows, however, were quite familiar with the situation. They kneeled on the ground and searched among the bubbles. Soon, they found a jade chip.
After being pressed softly, a 3D light beam was released from the front end of the jade chip, introducing the usage of the weapon with images, the most simple and straightforward way.
The weapon was named 'Heavenly Fire Thunderous Strike Ring'. It was indeed an upgraded version of 'power knuckle'. Other than significantly increasing the damage of the user's fists, it also boasted two additional techniques in melee combats and in remote shooting.
When switched to the melee mode, the metal ring attached to the wrist would generate the specific fields of electric arcs and flames to simulate the effect of thunderous sabers and sky-burning axes.
When switched to the remote mode, it would launch a cluster of plasma, electrocuting targets up to a hundred meters away.
Judging from the 3D images released by the jade chip, the weapon was indeed quite powerful. When fully activated, it could pierce a spiritual puppet in one attack.
"This—this is so awesome!"
Han Te and Liu Li were in a trance, and their mouths were bulged so wide that one might be able to stuff two eggs inside.
It is indeed a piece of rather ingenious magical equipment, but it is too radical!
Li Yao's soul had searched the two weapons inside and outside dozens of times, scanning the rune arrays on every layer of them and memorizing the information. He could not help but shake his head in secret.
The spiritual stripes and rune array technology in the Imperium of True Human Beings was certainly slightly above the federation's, but the structural analysis of such a mass-produced item was not very difficult for Li Yao.
He could tell that the weapon had adopted more than fifty highly-unstable rune arrays and jumbled them up with the most extreme architecture in order to achieve the maximal output efficiency. Even the circuits of spiritual energy were designed with no consideration of the redundancies of the system. They had adopted a very reckless approach that barely considered anything.
Yes. When it came to the design of general magical equipment, it was acceptable to occasionally adopt one or two extreme rune arrays. As long as the design of redundancies was excellent enough, the maximal performance of the magical equipment would be realized without raising the fault rate.
Li Yao himself was an expert adept at extreme rune arrays. He was best known for his 'insane' style in refining.
However, as insane as he might have been, he never would have jumbled dozens of highly dangerous rune arrays without leaving any redundancies. The sole safety measure on the weapon was two cheap stabilization systems.
Such an approach would always lead to serious faults.
Yes. The 'Heavenly Fire Thunderous Strike Ring' would certainly be much more powerful than normal 'power knuckles', but when they had a fault, it was possible that they would blow up the user's entire arm or directly electrocute them to death.
A piece of high-precision equipment was probably made of thousands of tiny rune arrays with hundreds of thousands of spiritual energy models. It was practically a system of chaos.
If Li Yao was asked to examine it, he would not be able to tell what kind of attack or what amount of spiritual energy would cause the faults in the weapon.
That was perhaps what the designers of the weapon intended to find out in a 'real-life test'.
Via 'Blessings', the high and mighty Immortal Cultivators simply throw the highly-unstable, problematic magical equipment to the sinners so that the sinners will help them run the tests.
The Imperium of True Human Beings' industry of magical equipment and techniques is founded on the piles of bones of countless sinners who have been killed by each other in bloody battles.
In silence, Li Yao was exasperated.
Naturally, the two little fellows did not know the scheme of the Immortal Cultivators. Playing with the weapons in delight for a while, they suddenly remembered the knowledgeable and professional 'Grandpa Yao'. They presented the Heavenly Fire Thunderous Strike Rings to him in great respect and asked him to evaluate it.
Li Yao had long scanned the weapons. Naturally, he was not interested in the two experimental weapons that were extremely dangerous. He simply looked at the horizon curiously. In the places far away from the Village of Peace, a lot more parachutes seemed to be flying in midair.
"Are you not going to pick up those assets?" Li Yao asked.
Han Te glanced casually and shook his head. "They are too far away and have already entered the territory of other villages. By the time we arrive, they will have been picked up by other villages. It is very possible that a conflict will break about. Since the 'Bliss Ceremony' is about to begin, there's no need for us to get into a huge fight at this moment, which will cause great casualties."
"What is the Bliss Ceremony?"
"The Bliss Ceremony is the projection of resources of the largest scale every year. The specific date and location are always announced by the Heavenly Rails one month in advance. There will be a hundred times more assets projected than you have seen today. The quality will be much higher, too. It is very possible that ultimate old grandpas with sophisticated techniques or even an entire arsenal will show up. So, that will be the greatest day for all the villages. Everybody is making preparations to get more things from the Bliss Ceremony!"
"It is exactly because the Bliss Ceremony is of paramount importance, and whoever gets more assets will ensure the livelihood of their entire village in the next year, that not only will all the villages around fight for them, but even the experts from outs
ide covet them," Liu Li added. "Sometimes, the gangs and bandits who are usually active in the Bloody Worlds come. Therefore, we can't be more careful."
After pondering for a moment, Li Yao asked, "So to speak, the competition on the Bliss Ceremony is certainly very fierce, and some people will possibly be killed?"
"Not possibly but certainly. A lot of people will be killed," Han Te said solemnly. "The Bliss Ceremony concerns the life and death of a village. If a village does not get enough assets, not only will they decline by themselves, other people will also attack, rob, and destroy the village after learning of their weakness!
"In contrast, if a village gets enough resources in the Bliss Ceremony and demonstrates great capability, the wanderers nearby who have lost the protection of their villages will come to join them. A lot of experts will request to join the village, too. It will be a great opportunity for the village to expand!
"Take the Village of Peace for example. It was only a small village in peril with a population of around two hundred at the beginning. But after my master greatly distinguished himself in many consecutive Bliss Ceremonies as the unquestionable champion, getting tremendous resources for our village, the village gradually flourished.
"Since the Bliss Ceremony is so important, everybody risks their life for it. Therefore, bloody fights happen every year. A lot of people will die!"
Pausing for a moment, Han Te said again, somewhat embarrassed, "Although my master is the well-acknowledged top expert in the hundreds of square kilometers nearby, he is in fact not a fan of the bloody, cruel competition in the Bliss Ceremony. He always says that when we brutalize each other like that, we are like dogs trained to bite each other.
"He once considered altering the pattern of the Bliss Ceremony by promoting a way to distribute the relief assets fairly so that all the villages and everyone can be satisfied. However, even I feel that such a solution is absolutely impossible!