by <unknown>
Inside the Tarantula, a large amount of lubricant and crystal stabilizing agent gushed out like blood.
It waved its legs madly yet it simply wasn't able to reach its back.
The Tarantula could only run about wildly, roughly shaking its body, and even ruthlessly colliding with rocks and trees, in an attempt to throw off the Wolf King.
However, since the Wolf King has jumped onto the Tarantula's back, why would the Wolf King let it easily succeed?
The Wolf King's vibro-claws firmly clutched the gaps in the armor of the Tarantula like a leech stuck on the body of a human. Regardless of how the creature struggled, it remained motionless and slowly tore the armor piece by piece; constantly enlarging the wound.
"The match is already decided!"
All the examinees unclenched their fists. Their palms were cold.
The very moment the Wolf King jumped upon the back of the Tarantula, it meant that the horn indicating the end of the incredible and gruesome battle had been blown.
The eight-legged beasts were more afraid of attacks from above because of the restrictions of their structure, turning over for them was a downright disaster!
"Three minutes fifty-five seconds." Zhu Yueqin took a cold glance at the other two examiners and said calmly.
"Shaoyang has won!"
The Deep Sea University's examinees let out cries of jubilation and congratulation toward Jiang Shaoyang.
Jiang Shaoyang, on the other hand, had a slight frown crept up on his forehead. A faint sense of disappointment was clearly visible on his face.
Such victory was a pure tactical victory. He had won by relying on the thousands of battle tactics stored inside the Wolf King's crystal processor.
Whereas the Tarantula was a newly modified warbeast. Li Yao could only programme a few battle tactics.
Once the Tarantula encountered an unexpected situation, it would be at a loss as to what to do and would be unable to cope with the situation.
"I did not win in combat, ah!
"I don't want this kind of victory!"
Jiang Shaoyang lamented in his heart. He heaved a deep, long sigh and muttered to himself, "I truly wish I could give Li Yao a few days of time so that he could gather a lot of battle tactics from arachnoid warbeasts, modify them a bit and store them inside the Tarantula's crystal processor. That would definitely improve the strength of Tarantula.
"At that time, perhaps we could have a good battle!"
He could not help but take a glance at Li Yao.
However, he discovered that even when most of the examinees were lamenting, Li Yao happened to have his arms crossed. There was no sadness or happiness on his face, but the corners of his lips were slightly raised; he looked at ease.
This attitude made a sliver of ominous foreboding arise in Jiang Shaoyang's heart.
As he looked at the field again, the Wolf King had already torn open the location of crystal railgun. The Wolf King had completely torn away the armor on the back of the Tarantula and created a horrifying wound.
Various array glyphs and components were completely exposed to the claws and fangs of the Wolf King!
ROAR!
The Wolf King opened its fierce-looking jaws as a ball of crimson flames quickly began to form deep within its throat. The sound of raging fire attribute spiritual energy sounded like a demon beast's roar.
This was the final strike!
Everyone held their breath, awaiting the destruction of the Tarantula!
At this moment—
"Clank!"
It seemed that during the high-speed confrontation, the metal had gone beyond the limit of metal fatigue and the fat and round abdomen of the Tarantula could not hold on as it disengaged from the cephalothorax and fell on the ground!
"Its quality really was much worse, right?"
All the examinees were extremely shocked.
Although the warbeast was provisionally patched up and modified, its quality was indeed not as good as the original product, an important part could actually fall off during a battle, on its own...
It fell off on its own!
Many smart and thoughtful examinees exclaimed one by one.
Impressively, they caught a whiff of a plot.
The three examiners' eyes were also opened wide. They had noticed that it wasn't some accident but rather the Tarantula took the initiative to discard its abdominal section just as the Wolf King had discarded the crystal railguns.
In a battlefield, this type of proactive detachment meant only one thing—the warbeast was about to go into a new battle mode!
"Damn!"
Jiang Shaoyang looked pale as his hands could not help but shiver. His Adam's apple rolled up and down like he wanted to shout at top of his voice at Wolf King, "Jump down! Quickly, jump down!"
But it was too late.
All of Wolf King's spiritual energy had been utilized in the flame array glyphs engraved at the depth of its throat and was being converted into a blazing stream of flames.
At this moment, its vigilance and defense were at its weakest.
From the back part of the chest and abdominal section of the Tarantula which used to be the location where the abdominal section of the Tarantula was attached, a weapon like the tail of a scorpion fiercely lunged out and flexibly swayed a bit in the air. Following which, it plunged at the Wolf King's rear end and pierced inside deeply.
The rear end had always been the most vulnerable part of the warbeasts.
The scorpion tail glittered with an orange glow as the spiritual energy continuously surged towards the front part of the tail and fired a stream of flame violently inside the Wolf King; incinerating the internal components of the Wolf King completely. Finally, the stream of flames burned through the crystal eyes of the Wolf King and left a pitch black eye sockets, from which the flickering flames were gushing out.
BANG!
The scorpion tail directly lifted up the Wolf King and smashed it upon a boulder, which made an ear-piercing sound.
It was like a giant hammer weighing over a thousand kilogram had ruthlessly bombarded the chest of everyone.
"This... this is—"
In the blink of an eye, the Tarantula switched from being a prey to a hunter. Waving its eight sharp legs, it pounced at the wreckage of the Wolf King. It was a complete slaughter. Components and crystals flew endlessly in the air as the Wolf King was reduced to pieces.
Everyone was completely flabbergasted. They were at a loss.
What kind of material did Li Yao use to forge this weapon to have such strength and flexibility?
How could Li Yao forge such an aggressive and exquisite weapon using the ordinary materials available in the repair workshop in a span of ten hours?
"It's not like I forged a new weapon out of thin air."
Li Yao explained, facing the bewildered gazes of everyone directly, "This is forged from the vertebral column of the Mystic Wolf.
"I redesigned the structure and mimicked the shape of arachnoid demon beasts. There was no need for the vertebral column, so I simply transformed it into a tail which strengthened the defense of upper part of the body.
"In addition, since the Tarantula didn't have an obvious head, the flame array glyphs that were previously installed inside the throat of the Mystic Wolf were also moved to the end of the tail.
"Once the tail pierced the enemy's body, it would attack from inside to outside, incinerating the internal organs directly which would be more lethal than burning from outside to inside."
Li Yao's explanation rendered everyone speechless.
The Deep Sea University's side fell into a deathly silence.
The examiners who were in high spirits a moment ago were now like pinkish roosters whose feathers have been plucked out; they no longer had the slightest bit of brilliance.
All that resounded in the weapon test field was the hair-raising strange sounds coming from the sound amplifying array glyphs.
CRACK! CRACK! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
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They were the sounds of Tarantula eating.
...
At the army guest house during the night.
The fatigue from continuously working for over twenty hours exploded. All the examinees were exhausted physically and mentally; they had consumed a great deal of their spirit.
In addition, their test results and their identity information were also sent to the association for verification in order to issue the certificate and the emblem.
Therefore, the examinees were resting here in the night as they waited for tomorrow morning to obtain the formal emblem of a registered refiner, after which they would return to their cities.
By then, they would be respected registered refiners with unimaginable future prospects.
"Hufff—"
On the green army bed, Li Yao lay flat on his back.
After a day and night of exams, he was feeling exhausted. His body was extremely tired.
His brain, on the other hand, prickled, not from pain but rather excitement.
"I've done it!
"Old man, I've done it. I've become a registered refiner!
"This is just the first step, next I will complete the Project Mystic Skeleton with teacher and craft a Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit that can be mass-produced. Afterward, I will invent even more fearsome magical equipment and crystal suits, and step by step, progress toward the peak of the strongest refiners and defeat the Deep Sea University. I will explore the endless mysteries of vast cosmos!"
Just as he was imagining the wonderful future, a light knock came from the outside.
As he opened the door, it was none other than Jiang Shaoyang.
His hair was disheveled, his skin was pale, and had bloodshot eyes.
When Li Yao first saw Jiang Shaoyang, he had an aloof and prideful temperament which now have been swept away and was replaced by an intense madness.
He had a large pot in his hand which was filled with lemon tea that could be found in any common household. It held approximately 500 liters of lemon tea; almost half of the lemon tea had already been finished. The remaining 150-200 liters of lemon tea was shaking inside the pot.
"You also can't sleep! If I had to guess, you're itching to have a go? Tell me, why did you come!" Li Yao flexed his finger as they made crackling sounds.
Although he was physically tired, it was dual between the refiners, especially with a top peer like Jiang Shaoyang who was almost at the same age as him. Li Yao would not refuse.
Jiang Shaoyang said in a hoarse voice, shaking his head, "There is no need to compete. At least, at this moment, I am not as good as you.
"I only have a couple of questions, I would like to ask Senior Brother Li to guide me a bit."
Jiang Shaoyang's teacher was Jiang Sheng, while Li Yao's teacher was Yuan Manqiu; their teachers were related through a martial siblings relationship. Therefore, between the two of them, they could also use senior brother and junior brother to address each other.
However, Jiang Shaoyang addressed Li Yao as senior brother because he had been convinced sincerely today, and admitted, that Li Yao's skills were better than his.
Li Yao, on the other hand, didn't think so much. He also recognized Jiang Shaoyang's strength. It was difficult to find a well-matched opponent among his peers. Li Yao also had the intention to become friends with Jiang Shaoyang. Inviting Jiang Shaoyang inside, he broke into a grin and said, "It's just giving directions, that's all. We both are equally matched, not to mention, the two warbeast will also have many future versions. If we fought again, it's hard to tell who would emerge victorious.
"If the questions are related to refining techniques, you are more than welcome to study together with me for sure.
"However, first tell me why are you carrying such a big pot of tea?"
Jiang Shaoyang raised the pot of lemon tea and shook the pot as he said, expressionlessly, "Today's war is the most painful failure in my life. I was completely defeated. This defeat is etched in my heart!
"I decided to drown in alcohol to ease my pain, vent all my painful emotions.
"However, as a refiner, I am not allowed to numb my brain and hands with alcohol.
"So, I can only take tea for wine, and get good and drunk."
Li Yao was rendered speechless. After being stupefied for a long while, he said, "Then I will accompany you for two cups. I still have half a bag of peanuts and some ham, do you want some?"
"May as well."
Li Yao brought two disposable paper cups. The two filled the cups, ate some peanuts, and then finish the cup in one go.
"Good wine!"
Jiang Shaoyang's eyes became redder as though he was bleeding from his eyes. He said, ruthlessly biting the ham, "Slightly sour, just like my mood!"
"Great Brother, did you come just to drink lemon tea?" Li Yao silently said in his heart.
"Senior Brother Li, there is one thing I can't understand."
Jiang Shaoyang slammed the paper cup on the table as he said seriously, "How can you carry out so many repairs and modifications in a span of ten hours, and also programme so many battle tactics to deal with my every attack?
"According to the performance of the Tarantula, you have at least installed hundreds of battle tactics which would have taken you one to two hours, only then should the Tarantula be able to cope with such an intense battle.
"This is something even the Building Foundation Stage refiners are unable to do.
"Senior Brother Li, please do tell, how did you do that?"
Chapter 221: Different Roads |
While spreading his hands, Li Yao said, "Of course, it is impossible for me to program a couple hundred battle tactics. From the beginning to the end, there was only one battle tactic, that was to assume the enemy would have misgivings about the powerful firepower of Tarantula and give up shooting, and instead choose to fight at close range.
"In close combat, the enemy's main point of attack would be the rear and upper part areas. Afterward, I preinstall two traps. When the enemy attacks from above, the Tarantula will promptly disengage the abdominal section and use the tail forged from the vertebral column of Mystic Wolf to launch a fatal attack. No more than that."
Jiang Shaoyang's pupils suddenly constricted as the paper cup in his hand was slightly crushed. He said, clenching his teeth, "You mean to say, you led me around by the nose from beginning to end? I unknowingly fell into your trap?"
Li Yao heaved a sigh and said, "The Tarantula is a freak that was hastily modified. Certainly, it will have fatal flaws. As long as it was a refiner with a little bit of insight, they would be able to see that it's clumsy, has slow speed, and very inflexible when turning around on the spot.
"How could I hide those things? They were simply impossible to hide.
"In that case, I did just the opposite and turned the flaws into traps. It's not that I was intentionally aiming for Wolf King but it was the only suitable tactic that I could come up in that moment. That's all.
"However, this tactic was only suitable for sneak attack. It was likely to succeed the very first time. Once the enemy had taken precautionary measures, this trick simply would not work."
Nodding, Jian Shaoyang pondered for a moment and said, "I guess, that's right. It's not that I can't afford to lose, but let's take the matter on its merit; if you let me craft a new Wolf King, and input today's battle data into the crystal processor and also let me program new battle tactics, then the outcome would be different for sure!"
"I believe you."
A smile appeared on Li Yao's face as he pursed his lips and pulled up a couple dozen blueprints from the crystal processor, "However, my Tarantula is incomplete. If you give me ten to fifteen days to craft it completely, then it also wouldn't be as horrid as today. Come, check it yourself!"
A majority of the time, the refiners were bored.
Usually, the refiners would be holed up inside the laboratory and refining workshop, completely immersed in the world of refining, their brains would be fu
ll of formulas, algorithms, and data. They would appear a bit cold. Even if others were talking to them, their reaction would be half a beat slow and would give off the impression that they are half-heartedly paying attention.
However, once they crafted a completely new magical equipment, they would be no different to a child who had assembled a new toy, they would always be eager to show it off.
The same was true for Li Yao. He was a guy who was introverted and presumptuous as well.
However, in the Grand Desolate War Institution, he could only show off to Yuan Manqiu and Jiang Wenbo, the veteran refiners.
But they were not from the same generation, there was a big generation gap. Even if they praised him with a few words, he would always feel a sort of distance between them and himself.
And among his peers, there were Ding Lingdang, Zhao Tianchong, and Lu Tieshan with whom he could enjoy, but they were martial arts fanatics. Even if he took out complex blueprints to show off to them, it was tantamount to giving flirtatious glances to the blind; there was little to no sense of accomplishment.
A rare encounter like today where he got to meet Jiang Shaoyang who was a top expert among his peers made Li Yao incredibly excited as he got to meet his match.
Li Yao believed Jiang Shaoyang could definitely see the exquisiteness of these blueprints.
Sure enough, with just two glances, Jiang Shaoyang was deeply attracted and even exclaimed, "Is this the ultimate form of Tarantula? It sure is formidable!
"You are planning on using Thundercloud Rock and Jade Red Gold to create a porous composite and forge a semi-circular armor, which would at least reduce the weight by 25% while ensuring the tensile strength and corrosion resistance of the armor. And you are also going to employ propulsion array glyphs for middleweight warbeast, which will greatly improve the speed and agility!
"And the acid sack in the abdominal section will be divided into four vesicles, which can hold four different kinds of fluids; acid, venom, napalm, and also super sticky saliva extracted from Bullet Dart Frog? Not bad! Once this saliva is shot at an enemy, it would be like stuck in a spider web. It will greatly affect the mobility, and the enemy will be at your mercy!
