by <unknown>
There was a hole the size of a bowl on his abdomen, through which one could see that his internal organs had been minced. His eyes were wide open, but there was no light in them whatsoever.
Iron God Yan Ba was standing on the horn of the volcano beast. Bloody wounds were everywhere on his body. His flesh and blood were being corroded by the venom, causing excruciating pain.
Li Yao felt everything.
Despite his tough body and sturdy nerves, it was so agonizing that Li Yao almost wanted to kill himself.
But he knew that this was the most critical moment. If he couldn't bear it and withdrew from the memory piece, all his previous effort would have been in vain.
He carefully recalled the changes of Yan Ba's every muscle, every vein, and every nerve. He analyzed Yan Ba's every tactical choice. He studied how Yan Ba exerted the most force in each punch and how he dissolved the heavy blows he suffered by the coordination of spiritual energy and body movement.
Although the battle only lasted three minutes, it was like an encyclopedia with information as vast as an ocean. Li Yao was fascinated by it and started reading it crazily.
After he didn't know how long, Li Yao felt that he was in a trance. Knowing that his mental power was running dry, he had to exit the memory piece unwillingly.
His consciousness returned to his own brain. Ou Yezi's memory tree was still flourishing. All the memory pieces were glittering like golden leaves.
Something weird happened!
Many streaks of light crowded toward the tree from various directions and condensed into a whole new leaf on one of the branches.
It was the memory piece of Iron God Yan Ba versus the volcano beast!
Li Yao immediately thought of something.
According to the staff of Occult Orbs Fellowship, only with the training facility from the Star Ocean Imperium at the cost of countless Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures could the Orb Patrollers read the memory pieces of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators deeply in a 100%-real simulated world.
Otherwise, a memory would be just a memory.
A common Cultivator wouldn't be able to re-enter their own memory years ago without the help of magical equipment.
For most people, they would forget most of the details of what had happened yesterday after a night's sleep.
But it was apparently different for Li Yao.
Before Ou Yezi's soul perished, his immense soul power had planted this memory tree in the depths of Li Yao's brain.
It was his biggest secret as well as his greatest treasure.
Was it possible that the memory tree could absorb new memory pieces even though they didn't belong to Ou Yezi?
'Does that mean I can train with the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators' memory pieces whenever and wherever?'
Li Yao was greatly amazed.
For other Orb Patrollers, this special one month of 'seclusion' might be the most precious days in their Cultivation life, because in one month, they wouldn't be able to make use of the memories of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators without the support of the training facility from the Star Ocean Imperium.
But for Li Yao, he could utilize them repetitively in the future as long as he read them once now.
'It's officially decided then. I will try to absorb as many memory pieces as possible in the coming month!'
Li Yao opened his eyes and regained control over his body. He noticed his injuries but was not in the least bothered.
When fighting against Ding Lingdang, he had suffered much more serious injuries every few days.
Sometimes, when he was reading Ou Yezi's memory pieces, the mental power would feed the experience back to the body, too, leading to severe wounds even though nothing touched him.
He had gotten used to everything.
Li Yao jumped out of the capsule, wiped his body casually, and walked to the back of the training room.
Reading Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators' memory pieces would consume a lot of mental power for Building Foundation Stage Cultivators. They wouldn't be able to do it 24 hours a day.
Therefore, behind every training room, there were fully-equipped rehabilitation rooms, gravity rooms, meditation rooms, and gym rooms. The Orb Patrollers could take a rest and regain their mental power however they wanted.
Li Yao strode into the gravity room.
…
"Orb Patroller No. 59 had activated five times, no, seven… eight times gravity even though his body had not fully recovered!"
"Hiss… Does the guy not know what pain is? Other beginning-level Building Foundation Stage Cultivators would hardly be able to stand up with such serious injuries, and it would take them quite a few hours in the med bay before they could walk again!"
"His breathing and heartbeat are still stable. The broken ribs seem to have no effect on him at all!"
…
After exercising for two hours in the gravity room, Li Yao felt that he was mostly refreshed. He gobbled up a huge amount of high-nutrition food and drowned himself in the capsule again.
This time, he selected a new memory piece.
It still belonged to Iron God Yan Ba. But it was not a battle; it was reflection and meditation.
"Shua!"
The world twisted in front of Li Yao's eyes again. Lights were changing rapidly while his consciousness sank to the deepest part of his brain through an immeasurable black hole into a brave new world.
He found himself in an extremely spacious underground cave. Almost a hundred giant fossils were scattering in the place, which were all primeval beasts of the antediluvian era.
Draconic sharks, Sarcosuchus, Hydras, Tyrannosaurs…
The intimidating fossils hundreds of meters tall dwarfed the insignificant human being nearby.
Iron God Yan Ba sat cross-legged in the center of all the fossils, extending his telepathic thoughts like light smoke to the bones, claws, and teeth, while he sensed the primeval force of the ancient times.
Holding his breath, Li Yao started reflecting and meditating, too.
Days passed.
Li Yao devoured the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators' memory pieces gruesomely like a hungry tiger chasing lambs.
Sometimes, he entered the memory of Iron God Yan Ba and fought fearsome enemies bare-handed with nothing but the primeval force buried inside his cells.
Sometimes, he entered 'Sand' Sha Ziming's memory, where he learnt that a grass or a branch could kill everything when its speed broke all limits.
Sometimes, he visited Meng Weiyang's memory. The battles between mental attack experts that seemed tranquil but not any less dangerous were demonstrated to him.
There were still more memory pieces. Li Yao spared none of them, especially when they belonged to Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators who were best at swords or sabers.
Half a month later, most Orb Patrollers absorbed no higher than five memory pieces, of which only one or two were battle-related.
After all, the information inside the battle-related memory pieces was too enormous for them digest easily.
Strong as Yan Jun may be, he had just absorbed 21 memory pieces.
In the meantime, Li Yao had already absorbed 49.
Even though he couldn't comprehend them all at once, he could store them on Ou Yezi's memory tree and study them later on.
One month later, it was the final day of the memory training.
Li Yao seized the last few minutes to work out in the gravity room.
Compared with one month ago, he was much thinner. His skin was pale, and his muscles were flattened. All his strength had been buried deep inside the cells.
Judging from his appearance, he looked somewhat like a scholarly, professional refiner.
But the number on the control menu gave his toughness away.
'Current setting: 20 times standard gravity!'
"Shua! Shua shua!"
Li Yao seemed to be standing still in the middle of the gravity room, but there were earsplitting sounds of air being to
rn apart.
Only the most advanced crystal cameras could capture his super-fast movements.
He was fighting against invisible demon beasts with the Demon Slaughterhouse.
After a short month, he had arrived at Level 33.
He was no longer faced with several demon beasts, but a boundless, ever-raging ocean of them!
Chapter 393: Final Competition |
"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!"
Despite the twenty times gravity, the sounds of air being torn apart grew more and more intense, as if an invisible storm was raging inside the small room.
Li Yao's chest was fluctuating fast. Arrow-like breaths were rushing out of his nose. The misty air inside the room twisted and blurred his figure.
It was his sweat which had been vibrated and atomized by his muscles.
Suddenly, the mustard suit on Li Yao's body, which was supposed to be elastic enough to be stretched to ten times its origin length, exploded into shreds the size of a fingernail and spluttered in the room. More than ten deep footprints appeared on the super-alloy floor. Every toe was distinguishable!
A moment later, the stomping noise echoed from the ground like thunder.
A mild synthesized voice came from the walls.
"Beep! Beep! Your time is up!"
"Phew…"
Taking a long breath, Li Yao walked out of the gravity room. One of the walls had glided open to two sides. Three pairs of artificial arms picked up a brand-new mustard suit and put it on him.
Black as the background, with red lines on the edges which gathered into jumping fire on his chest, the mustard suit highlighted his muscles and make him look sharper than ever.
He stretched his arms, and staring at the capsule for the last time, Li Yao strode out of the training room, never to look back.
A small teleportation array was waiting for him outside.
The last test was going to be held.
Of the ten Star Teams, only five could enter Ultimacy as the first echelon.
Everybody knew that the first echelon would be very likely to experience unexpected adventures.
As for the second echelon setting off half a year later, there might not even be leftovers for them.
Nobody would give up such a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity.
Then, just let your capability do the talk!
Li Yao smiled confidently and stepped into the small teleportation array.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared in a world fragment.
This was a world of rocks. Clouds the color of lead were floating in the sky, as if they'd all been stuck together. The environment gave a feeling of gloom and mugginess.
Hills dozens of meters tall standing in the middle of nowhere like giant maze-like city walls.
Between some of the hills, there were pits and cracks dozens of meters deep where steams were popping up nonstop.
From the underground came suspicious noises that did not resemble the screams of demon beasts but sounded more like the roars of the earth itself.
Beside the teleportation array was a solid mini crystal processor as well as a vest refined from gold threads as thin as a cicada's wings and embedded with countless crystals.
Li Yao put both of them on. With a telepathic thought, the vest uttered a 'Bo' sound and enveloped him in a bright gold spiritual shield.
"Beep!"
The mini crystal processor was activated automatically, from which a fervent voice came out.
"Elites of the Orb Patrollers, your one month of special training has ended today!
"Over the past month, you've all experienced perilous tests and passed by the shadow of death more times than anyone could count. But you are also blessed with incomparable Cultivation knowledge.
"First of all, I'm sorry to tell you that, during the last month, five Orb Patrollers went deranged during their training and their brains were seriously damaged. Their lives were saved miraculously with attentive care. But their spiritual roots have been destroyed, and they will never be able to Cultivate again.
"There are another two Orb Patrollers who suffered even more injuries than them. They perished on the spot before any treatment could be applied!
"They've all sacrificed for the Star Glory Federation and for all Cultivators in the Heaven's Origin Sector. Let's have a one-minute silence in honor of the heroes!"
Li Yao was startled.
For him, absorbing memories were as simple as eating and drinking. He'd never realized that the process was so dangerous for other Cultivators.
Supported by the training facility from the Star Ocean Imperium, monitored and protected by so many Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and Core Formation Stage Cultivators, many of them still failed to make it. The result was beyond his expectation.
There were 61 Orb Patrollers in total. Seven of them had accidents. The casualty rate was approximately one ninth!
It was a stunningly high failure rate, and the consequences of failure were too dreadful!
Did Ding Lingdang and the other members of Team Blue Bronze completed the training successfully?
All of them had been secluded for the past month. Everybody was too busy minding their own business to communicate with other people.
To this moment, Li Yao had never learnt of Ding Lingdang's progress. He became somewhat anxious.
After a minute of silence, the passionate voice was heard again.
"But for those who have succeeded, your gains are tremendous.
"Some of you have absorbed dozens of memory pieces and retrieved valuable combat experiences.
"Some of you have taken in the spiritual energy contained in the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Your capability has soared and even lead to your breakthroughs.
"In fact, four high-level Building Foundation Stage Cultivators have climbed to the peak of the Building Foundation Stage.
"In the meantime, there are almost twenty Cultivators who broke into the high level from middle level or broke into the middle level from the low level.
"It is not an exaggeration to say that you've already become the best Building Foundation Stage Cultivators ever in the history of the Star Glory Federation!
"You've all done your best. So, it will be decided by yourselves as to who is eligible to go to Ultimacy and who is not in this final test!
"Rules are simple. All the 54 Orb Patrollers have been randomly placed in this world fragment named 'Thousand Mountains Domain'.
"The mini crystal processor that you carry has communication and positioning functions. It can help you find your teammates.
"The spiritual shield covering you will be broken every time you encounter a fatal attack and absorb 90% of the damage for you.
"Every time it is shattered, you will be given ten seconds for rest and adjustment, during which time you cannot attack or be attacked. You can try to escape during the ten seconds or shift to a different tactic.
"After your spiritual shield is broken ten times, you will be forced to leave the fragment.
"Your task will be to destroy the spiritual shield of other Orb Patrollers that are not your teammates as many times as possible. You will get one score after you break a spiritual shield once.
"The scores of the Orb Patrollers that belong to the same team will be summed. In one hour, the five teams with the highest scores will be acknowledged as candidates for the mission to Ultimacy!
"Please note that one of the Star Teams has lost too many members to maintain the original tactical system. Therefore, according to the study and analysis of the experts of Occult Orbs Fellowship, the remaining members of the team have been regrouped into other Star Teams that have vacancies.
"I'll end with three reminders for you all.
"Firstly, it is suggested that you find your teammates as soon you can and work as a team.
"Secondly, you are all on the border of Thousand Mountains Domain. You have no equipment except for your mustard suit. But in the center of Thousand Mountains Domain, a lo
t of magical equipment has been randomly strewn.
"Thirdly, the tectonic structure of Thousand Mountains Domain is extremely unstable. Earthquakes might take place any time!
"Now begins the final test!"
Hardly had the announcer finished his talk when the shrieks in the underground turned into roars.
The earth was shaking. The rocks were rolling. The hills that were dozens of meters high suddenly sank into the underground, while a lot of other hills that were as sharp as tusks rose up and pierced the sky abruptly.
The land had been shattered and turned into an ocean of rocks in which stones were surging and splashing.
Li Yao turned into a streak of black light, dodging the raging stones swiftly, and picked up two of the stones.
After cracking sounds, one of the two stones was crushed into dozens of sharp stone blades which he hid all over his suit, whereas the other was crumbled into stone powder by his spiritual energy.
It was not until he had finished doing everything that he turned on the communication and positioning system.
The six light spots on the map and the names beside made him greatly relieved.
All the members of Team Blue Bronze were safe and sound.
'Dummy' Ba Weiqi's cheerful laughter immediately echoed in the communication channel.
"Excellent! We are all here!
"Over the past month, I've been being tormented in the deepest level of hell. Thankfully, everybody has made it!
"I've absorbed nine memory fragments. Most of them belonged to the Grand Illusionist Meng Weiyang. I tried all her methods of mental power training. They are indeed mysterious and marvelous!
"Right now, I'm almost twice as strong as one month ago!"
"Don't be overjoyed yet. There are 54 Orb Patrollers, which equals to nine Star Teams. Four of them will be eliminated. Let's pass this test first!"
"Yes, I survived the hell-like training and absorbed twelve memory pieces not to be substitutes!" Yan Yangtian shrieked.
"We should group up as soon as possible. It is tricky for me now that I don't have any guns in hand. Other Orb Patrollers are appearing nearby already!" 'Shell' Leng Ziming said, somewhat anxiously.
"Alright!"
Captain Hong Tong commanded, "Let's scan the territory around and make clear where we are and what the environment is. Then, join everyone's map and congregate to Shell immediately.
