by <unknown>
"If they knew that such a strong Devastating Icy Revenant was hiding underground and were planning to release it, they were definitely carrying something that could suppress it!
"But since they ran into us, they never had the opportunity to use it!"
As if awoken from their dreams, everyone came back to themselves. Hong Tong gritted his teeth and said, "Li Yao, Lingdang, you two go back and look for that something. The four of us will try to lure the Devastating Icy Revenant away. But make it fast. The Devastating Icy Revenant seems to be absorbing the coldness in Mystic Glacier and getting larger and larger. We won't be able to hold it for long!"
"Understood!"
The six members of Team Blue Bronze rushed for a while, before they suddenly split into two squads and ran off in different directions.
The Devastating Icy Revenant hesitated for a moment, then chased after the squad which had more people as they expected.
Li Yao and Ding Lingdang rushed back to the battleground hundreds of kilometers away as quickly as possible without bothering about their consumption of spiritual energy.
Glancing around, Li Yao immediately discovered the corpse of the demon in glamourous clothes. He kicked it into pieces of ice.
As he expected, there was a piece of magical equipment the shape of a sea snail in the middle of the ice.
Since the magical equipment was supposed to be used to suppress the Devastating Icy Revenant, it was quite possible that it was cold-proof. Therefore, Li Yao had decided to find it out in the simplest way.
However…
Li Yao had never seen such a kind of magical equipment before; he had no idea how to use it at all.
In the communication channel, Hong Tong and his other teammates were breathing heavily. Ba Weiqi was even screaming crazily. Every sign indicated that they wouldn't be able to hold out for long.
Taking a deep breath, Li Yao took out the maintenance glove that Ding Lingdang had given him. He crumbled it in his palm. Silver liquid instantly flowed out from the gaps of the finger of the crystal suit and formed a silver glove enveloping his hand, while dozens of disassembling and maintaining tools appeared in his fingertips.
Li Yao's right hand turned into a streak of silver and dismantled the sea-snail-shaped magical equipment into the most fundamental components.
Demon Beast Empire was based on the ancient Cultivation world. Much of its technology and secret arts were similar to those of the ancient times.
Therefore, the methods through which the demon clan refined magical equipment and demonic equipment were greatly influenced by the ancient refining arts which Li Yao was quite familiar with.
Li Yao's eyes were shaking back and forth dozens of times per second, as he was identifying the components of this particular magical equipment while picturing the design and spiritual energy flowchart in his brain.
"So, this is the case. The key component of this magical equipment is a Cosmos Ring that was made to suppress unrested souls. It has undergone major modifications so that it is functional in the frigid temperature of less than minus two hundred degrees. The special spiral vibration that it triggers can raise a massive attraction force for souls and icy fog…
"This magical equipment can only be activated by the blood of silver-blood demons. But it doesn't matter. I can totally design a new triggering component and cut it in to activate the magical equipment by force!"
Li Yao was fascinated by the idea, his eyes shining.
"Vulture, we can't delay it any longer. Have you found anything that can tame it?" Hong Tong bellowed exhaustedly.
"I have."
Li Yao licked his lips and crossed his fingers. Every joint in his hand was shivering rapidly, as he declared confidently, "Get it here. I need… 4 minutes and 38 seconds!"
Chapter 379: Harvest |
When Hong Tong and the other three teammates drew the Devastating Icy Revenant to the camp of the demons in their broken crystal suits, Li Yao was still waving his hand up and down as quickly as lightning.
The general components that he had brought with him were polished, reshaped, and modified, before they were piled on the sea-snail-shaped magical equipment until it was entirely enclosed.
Although the Devastating Icy Revenant was rampaging overhead, Li Yao didn't have time to blink because his full attention was focused on the complicated crystal wires and rune arrays.
The triggering component was not hard to assemble per se. The real tricky part was to deceive the authorization system of the magical equipment to fool it into thinking that this was a normal activation.
Dazzling brilliance was beaming out from Li Yao's eyes, while he mumbled to himself, "4 minutes and 17 seconds, 4 minutes and 18 seconds, 4 minutes and 19 seconds…"
Walls made of rocks rose up in front of Hong Tong one after another, only to be ripped apart by the Devastating Icy Revenant again and again.
The Devastating Icy Revenant turned into thousands of torrents of ice flowing through the holes and regathered in the air with hisses, as if it were sneering.
"CRACK!"
The plate armor on Hong Tong's shoulder was hit by the ice arrow, which immediately turned into a blue tube. As he continued moving his arm, the plate armor gradually broke up, exposing his shoulder to the coldness of below minus two hundred degrees. Despite the double protection of the mustard suit and the spiritual stamps, his movements still turned extremely rigid.
His other three teammates were in much worse states than himself. Their crystal suits were so crappy that they seemed as if they could break up at any point. There was not any part on them that was intact.
"Li Yao, we can't take it any longer!" Hong Tong roared.
"Nine seconds to go. Give it to me."
Li Yao's voice was calmer than ever, with a confidence of victory.
Hong Tong gnashed his teeth.
"Are you sure?"
"Trust me!" Li Yao responded decisively.
Hong Tong was dazed for a moment. Then he roared and led his other three teammates past Li Yao and Ding Lingdang, before they all fell to the ground because their spiritual energy had run out.
In the center of the Devastating Icy Revenant, shrieks were echoing like growling wind. All the bright blue streaks were suddenly more brilliant than ever, as it swept at Li Yao.
"Three… Two… One…"
Li Yao ignored it. He even somehow slowed down his movements as he inserted a crystal chip carved with triggering rune arrays into the sea-snail-shaped magical equipment gently and pressed it.
"Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum!"
The sea-snail-shaped magical equipment immediately started shinning and vibrating. A cluster of grey mist was released and charged at the Devastating Icy Revenant.
The Devastating Icy Revenant which was domineering a moment ago seemed to have felt that a predator was coming. It wriggled and hissed while it tried to run away, only to be caught up by the grey mist and melted with it.
Corrupted by the grey mist, the Devastating Icy Revenant turned into a giant swirl revolving in the sky from inward to outward. One stream of ice after another was thrown out from the swirl and absorbed by the sea-snail-shaped magical equipment.
In less than three minutes, the ice cloud—dozens of meters in diameter—was entirely swallowed by the sea-snail-shaped magical equipment.
In the meantime, the shell of the sea-snail-shaped magical equipment turned into deep blue, with bright blue streaks here and there, which was quite beautiful.
At this moment, Li Yao was finally relieved. He sat on the ground and exhaled a long breath.
The six Orb Patrollers of Team Blue Bronze sat on the grey, barren, desolate land for a long time in silence, until someone burst into laughter in the communication channel. A few seconds later, all of them lost control and started laughing crazily.
…
A day later, in the launch base of Occult Orbs Fellowship in the Heaven's Origin Sector.
"Chi!"
A star shuttle, which had
been frozen to the color of grey-white and was emitting icy steam, stopped at the end of the rail precisely. The six members of Team Blue Bronze crawled out of it on all fours.
The first thing Li Yao did was open up his helmet and take a deep breath of the fresh and warm air of the Heaven's Origin Sector.
"Home sweet home, right?" Hong Tong asked with a smile.
"Indeed." Li Yao said with quite complicated feelings.
He was born with foreign memories from a different time and space, which made him less troubled by nostalgia than other children were.
However, after this trip to Mystic Glacier, he had truly come to understand the preciousness of the Heaven's Origin Sector.
Hometown…
Yes. There might be thousands of worlds in the boundless sea of stars, but only one of them was his hometown: the Heaven's Origin Sector!
He wouldn't let his hometown ruined by the demon beasts at any cost!
Because of the fierce battles that they were engaged in in Mystic Glacier, Team Blue Bronze underwent thorough physical examinations to ensure that no sequela remained. It was not until more than half a day later that they finally got everything done and entered the base where they turned in the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and had their contribution points balanced.
They met several 'old friends' by accident in the base, the members from Team Lingering Wind.
Guo Yu of Team Lingering Wind was seriously wounded by Li Yao in the duel more than one month ago. It had taken him more than twenty days before he was half recovered.
They had just completed an exploration mission, too. But they were much luckier than Team Blue Bronze. They had not been harassed by the demon clan and successfully collected a lot of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures without much trouble.
"This time, not only did we gather a huge amount of Blood Swallow Stones, we also collected a special plant, Moon Tear Flower, not to mention, we explored more than a half of Mysterious Moon's map. I believe we will earn more than twenty thousand contribution points, won't we?"
"Haha. The result is out. 27,520 contribution points! Our rank has risen by two!"
Guo Yu stared at Li Yao who was not far away from him and scoffed, "After trading the contribution points for new magical equipment and secret arts, the capability of Team Linger Wind will definitely reach a whole new level and break into the top 50 of the Rank of Stars in no time!
"As for Team Blue Bronze, I'm told that they encountered major chaos during their mission to Mystic Glacier. They even wasted a star shuttle, which means a huge reduction of contribution points!"
"Ha. Newbies are newbies anyway. However remarkable they are in the Heaven's Origin Sector, they will reveal what they really are the moment they set foot on an Occult Orb. They are totally useless garbage that will only drag the entire team down!"
"Just wait for it, Vulture Li Yao. I will challenge you to a duel soon!"
Yet, Li Yao and his teammates completely ignored Guo Yu's resentment. They left in a hurry after balancing their contribution points in the mainframe crystal processor.
Guo Yu was gritting his teeth, but his shoulder was pressed by the captain of Team Lingering Wind.
The captain did not seem to be in a good mood. He said in a low voice, "Guo Yu, don't be rash. Members of Team Blue Bronze have beaten you twice in duels, which is a disgrace for Team Lingering Wind, too. We are definitely going to set everything straight! Just wait until we get a few more train sessions in the Occult Orbs, then I will challenge Team Blue Bronze in the name of Team Lingering Wind!"
"Captain, are you sure?" Guo Yu was overjoyed.
Duels between teams were more formal than personal duels. They were more intense, too.
"Of course! Team Blue Bronze has wounded you twice. We've wasted months of times because of not being able to explore the Occult Orbs. Our losses are astronomical. If we don't fight back, we will always be the biggest joke among the Children of Occult Orbs!" The captain of Team Lingering Wind said toughly. Then he raised his eyebrow, "Strange. Why are so many people crowding at the mainframe crystal processor? Is something going on?"
Members of Team Lingering Wind were confused. They moved closer and noticed that everybody was talking and pointing at the Rank of Stars.
Glancing at it, the countenance of everyone in Team Lingering Wind changed.
"What? Team Blue Bronze earned more than 114 thousand contribution points for the exploration of Mystic Ice? That is five times ours!"
"How can that be?"
"Didn't they wreck a star shuttle? Almost ten thousand contributions are supposed to be deducted!"
"Mystic Ice is just a mining base. There shouldn't have been any treasure that is of significant value in that place. What on earth did they find that is worth so many contribution points?"
"Their rank has soared by more than twenty. They are the 46th now!"
The members of Team Lingering Wind were all dumbfounded. They didn't have the vaguest clue as to how Team Blue Bronze was able to earn more than a hundred thousand contribution points.
Even the super teams ranking in the top 10 were not always capable of getting such a huge amount of contribution points for one mission. It was truly a great fortune!
Some of the bystanders had talked with Team Blue Bronze just now. They were whispering to each other, "Did you know that Li Yao was the MVP for the more than a hundred thousand contribution points?"
"Vulture Li Yao will be able to get thousands of contribution points after his first official visit to the Occult Orbs. His own income will be even more than many teams'! He's a rich guy now!"
"Team Blue Bronze is indeed unbelievably lucky! A few months ago, Queen of Fire Ding Lingdang joined the team. A few months later, through Ding Lingdang, an even stronger new guy, Li Yao, was recruited, too!"
"Judging from the trend, it won't be long before Team Blue Bronze returns to its peak state, just like when its former captain Yin Qingfeng was still alive, and reclaims its title as a super team by breaking into the top 10 of the Rank of Stars!"
Members of Team Lingering Wind retreated out of the crowd silently.
According to the tradition of the star teams, contribution points would be evenly distributed among the members. But if one of the members played an irreplaceable role for the success of the mission and reversed the situation single-handedly, the member would be credited as 'MVP' and would get additional contribution points.
Team Lingering Wind had been collecting Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures for days and nights in Mysterious Moon and also picked up a special plant by luck, all of which together only amounted to some twenty thousand contribution points.
How was it possible that Vulture Li Yao, an utter green hand, who had never been to an Occult Orb before, could earn almost fifty thousand contributions by himself, which was even more than the revenue of their entire team?
How did he accomplish it?
Guo Yu was scratching his head so hard that he was almost bleeding.
"Well, Guo Yu…"
The captain of Team Lingering Wind was dazed for a long time, before he finally opened his mouth hesitantly. "About you going to challenge Li Yao for a duel, and the match between Team Lingering Wind and Team Blue Bronze…"
"What about them, captain?" Guo Yu was about to cry.
"Let's just not rush into anything, shall we?"
The captain took a long breath and, containing his envy, made the most sensible choice.
Chapter 380: Center of Attention |
While Team Lingering Wind was caught in their misery, Team Blue Bronze was rejoicing in their base on the top floor of the luxury hotel.
"Li Yao, had you not cracked the magical equipment left by the demons at the critical moment on our trip to Mystic Glacier, I'm afraid we would've all been buried under that planet's snow. You saved all our lives!" Hong Tong said cheerfully.
The other three members, except Ding Lingdang, had also changed their attitude toward Li Yao.
When they were training together, they had learnt of Li Yao's capability. However, since he was a newcomer, they had always feared that he might be a burden to the team in the Occult Orbs.
They'd even prepared quite a few contingency plans in case something went wrong with Li Yao.
As it turned out, not only was Li Yao tough enough to send the demons into chaos with Ding Lingdang, he was also courageous enough to unlock the magical equipment that the demons left in such a short time despite the threat of the Devastating Icy Revenant.
After going through life and death together, Team Blue Bronze had truly become united. The mutual trust among teammates was much stronger than before.
"Li Yao, you played a decisive role on the trip to Mystic Glacier. Therefore, when I was balancing the contribution points, I listed you as the MVP. According to tradition, you will get one third of the contribution points we earned, and the rest of us will divide the remaining contribution points evenly. You can take a look at your account now. There should be 37,000 contributions already," Captain Hong Tong announced.
Their contribution points did not just come from the Nine-holed Stones and the Soul Melting Crystals that they collected but had more to do with the Devastating Icy Revenant as well as the magical equipment that tamed it.
According to the rules of Occult Orbs Fellowship, since the demon clan summoned the Devastating Icy Revenant while they were alive, it was considered to be the property of the demon clan.
Then, Team Blue Bronze had taken over the Devastating Icy Revenant from the demons, which meant that it was their trophy and belonged to them without having to be shared with Occult Orbs Fellowship.
The target of such a rule was to encourage the Star Teams to attack the demon squad actively.
Otherwise, everyone would only be willing to carry out the collection missions which were easy and safe instead of missions that involved fighting and killing. That would go against the core purpose of Occult Orbs Fellowship.
Since it was a trophy, Team Blue Bronze could've kept the Devastating Icy Revenant and the magical equipment for themselves.
