by <unknown>
"According to tradition, the visiting professor of Flying Star University should at least be a professor of one of the other 122 colleges in the Flying Star Sector, and even a visiting scholar should be, at least, an associate professor!
"Right now, you are making history by asking a barbarian to work as a visiting scholar in the Refining Department, join our research, and even teach our students! Is this a joke?"
President Shang hurried to explain, "Dean Wei, please calm down. Communications between Cultivators and Iron Plateau is underway. You are well aware of that, too. You supported the decision and even stated that you would like to recruit a few students from Iron Plateau, didn't you?"
"Cut the nonsense!" Wei Wenyang was rather bad-tempered. He glared and shouted, "Students and scholars are different. If students from Iron Plateau come here, I can always teach them special courses about the rudimental common sense about refining for the sake of communication even if they are not as smart as our students. But if a visiting scholar comes to this place, they are going to teach our students and join our projects. Not only will they mislead the students, it's also quite possible that they will mess around with the projects and delay our progress!
"Besides, I'm rather curious. Since you mentioned that the guy is the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau, you can always send him to the Combat Department or the Exo Department. He would be most welcomed in those places. Why does he have to come to the Refining Department?"
President Shang replied, his face bitter, "We thought exactly the same in the beginning. Since he is known as the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau, he must have unique stills with him even though the Cultivation techniques of Iron Plateau are slightly underdeveloped, considering that he is the 'best' anyway. Therefore, we welcomed him to teach the students of the Combat Department and take part in the projects there. If possible, he could work with our combat-type Cultivators and develop new techniques.
"However, although the man said that teaching students of the Combat Department was not a problem, he also stated that he was interested in the arts of refining, too, and would like to exchange ideas with the best refiners of the Flying Star Sector on the latest theories in refining."
"Exchange ideas?" Wei Wenyao was so angry that he was actually laughing. "President Shang, not that I look down on the Iron Plateau natives whom I know for a fact are not primitive barbarians, but really… Forget it. Tell me more about the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau. Does he have any experience in refining?"
President Shang coughed and replied, "Iron Plateau is still relatively closed to us for now, and we do not have a very good intelligence network. Right now, the two parties are in a honeymoon state, so it's impossible for us to send people to investigate. Thus, what we have here are only the official profiles that the Iron Plateau natives offered us.
"According to the Iron Plateau natives, this best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau was in fact a wildling born in the Dark Continent…"
"Wait!" Wei Wenyao was dumbfounded. "I just said that they were not primitive barbarians, and you are immediately giving me one to prove that I was wrong?"
"Please listen to my explanation first." President Shang thought that the whole thing was absurd, too, but he was responsible for human resources after all. "The best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau has a legendary background. It is said that, although he was born a wildling, he was actually raised up by a mysterious space resident who was not only an unparalleled expert but also a skilled refiner. Therefore, the best warrior knows a thing or two about refining."
"Bullsh*t," Wei Wenyao sneered coldly. "The art of refining is a professional, complicated, comprehensive subject that involves hundreds of independent courses and countless kinds of precise magical equipment. Only after rigorous, systematic training can a qualified refiner be raised.
"A mysterious expert living in the woods teaching a random guy casually for several years, and an expert of refining was born? Is this a fairy tale?"
President Shang wiped the sweat on his forehead and replied, "I've seen the armor that the best warrior refined. It seems rather delicate to me."
Wei Wenyao sniffed and said, "I've seen a lot of True Qi armor and True Qi blades crafted by the Iron Plateau natives over the last couple of days. They have their own advantages, but in regard to structure and materials, they are still in the primitive, crude phase.
"Maybe, a refiner was forced to land on Iron Plateau and taught the barbarian some basic skills of refining that were enough for him to distinguish himself on Iron Plateau.
"But it does not mean that such a barbarian is qualified to work as a visiting scholar in my Refining Department!"
Chapter 640: Magnate of the Magnates |
"The bottom line is, have you ever seen his capability in person, President Shang?"
President Shang nodded quickly and replied, "I have. At the disciple recruitment ceremony in Furious Bears City three days ago, the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau showed his skill a little bit.
"There were three super alloy planks twenty centimeters thick that could serve as the gates of treasuries, with a gap of one meter in between.
"After his one punch, the first plank was immediately melted by his spiritual gas; even its surroundings became orange.
"On the second plank, hundreds of holes appeared. His spiritual gas was condensed into needles and pierced through the plank.
"His spiritual gas did not run out after blowing through two planks and left a fist indentation more than ten centimeters deep on the third plank!
"The Cultivators who joined the ceremony did not think too highly of the Iron Plateau natives. They were dumbfounded when they saw his performance. According to the evaluation of several battle-type Cultivators, the man's maximum combat ability was at least in the middle level of the Core Formation Stage.
"The Iron Plateau natives also have secret arts that can allegedly enhance their combat ability by reverberating their fighting will. If he is on a rampage, he might be able to fight a peak-level Core Formation Stage Cultivator! I've seen it with my own eyes."
Wei Wenyao scoffed. "What about a peak-level Core Formation Stage Cultivator? Fighting and refining are entirely irrelevant. That's why I said he should be invited to the Combat Department."
President Shang smiled and said, "Don't be hasty, Dean Wei. I haven't finished my point yet. Iron Plateau natives value aggressiveness and valiancy, and they worship the strong more than anything!
"The best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau enjoys quite a high prestige in the place. Not only did tens of thousands of people of the Furious Bears Tribe participate in the ceremony, the other five tribes also sent many representatives led by their chiefs and elders to congratulate him. It was indeed a lively and splendid scene!"
Wei Wenyao frowned. "What does that have to do with the Refining Department?"
"The guests did not come empty-handed. The gifts from the five tribes almost filled the valley. Any one of them was an invaluable treasure," President Shang replied. "The best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau then gifted twenty Cloud Thunder Pearls even larger than pigeon eggs to his disciple!
"As a refiner, you must have heard about the treasure before. Not only does the pearl glitter at night, enormous spiritual energy of the thunder class is also contained inside. It is one of the best ancillary materials for training!
"A Cloud Thunder Pearl the size of a finger is already too precious to be bought on the market, not to mention twenty of them the size of pigeon eggs!"
Wei Wenyao gasped.
He was a refiner, so he knew what a valuable material Cloud Thunder Pearl was better than anybody else.
President Shang lowered his voice and said, "We were all shocked by the extravagance of the best warrior. After we asked around, we learned that the man had done the five tribes a great favor even though he had been wronged by them. Therefore, the five tribes offered a lar
ge number of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, as well as other valuable resources, to him to express their apology and gratitude.
"Although Iron Plateau is a desolate area, a lot of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures have been found during the five thousand years of exploration. The endless mother lodes buried underground alone are much more promising than the dust in space where we get our resources, are they not? Therefore, the Iron Plateau natives may seem strong and simple-minded, but they are out-and-out magnates!
"Therefore, the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau is one of the richest among the magnates. It may be exaggerating to say that he is richer than a country, but it's quite possible that his belongings are more valuable than the assets of a small sect!"
"Oh?"
Wei Wenyao finally realized where the conversation was going.
President Shang was beaming with a smile. "Now you see, Dean Wei. This is the situation I assumed.
"Sand Scorpion learned from a refiner from space during his childhood and must've grasped a thing or two. In the primitive world of Iron Plateau, he is the tallest among a bunch of dwarfs. Of course, he feels like he is a king.
"Since the man is unparalleled on Iron Plateau, it is natural that he feels his refining arts are already excellent, and he has decided to communicate with the masters of refining.
"Of course, we can turn down the request, but I suggest that Dean Wei does not to rush into anything. In short, the man is a classic more-wealth-than-wisdom guy. If such a rich man comes to the Refining Depart as a visiting scholar, he is definitely going to bring a large sum with him!"
Wei Wenyao stopped whining.
Being a dean of the Refining Department of a college was different from being a pure refiner.
The most important task for a dean was perhaps not his own study, but to find more donors for the Refining Department.
It was true that Flying Star University was one of the two best colleges in the Flying Star Sector, but no colleges in the world would ever complain that they had too much money.
The Refining Department was quite a large department, with a lot of money-burning projects and programs. Besides, the Refining Department of the Heavenly Saints Institute was always competing with them.
If an idiot really came here with loads of money…
Wei Wenyao quickly thought of several projects in the department.
The projects had all been stagnated for various reasons. Some were because of the impractical designs, some because of the huge investment, and some because of the tremendous setbacks they suffered.
President Shang hurried to fan the flames. "Dean Wei, stopping hesitating. This is not a wildling; this is a mother god of fortune! If you hesitate, he might go to the Heavenly Saints Institute and revive a few projects of the Refining Department there. Please don't be angry then!"
Wei Wenyao was finally interested in the idea. "President Shang, are you sure that he is willing to invest? How rich can he be, considering that he's all by himself?"
"That's not a problem." President Shang smiled. "He may be not rich enough, but he is backed by the entire Iron Plateau! As for whether or not he is willing to invest, that will depend on your treatment of him. In my opinion, with so many great masters of refining in our department, it will be more than easy to fool a bumpkin from the remote area when they team up."
Wei Wenyao chuckled. "We are not 'fooling' anybody; we are mere each playing our part in the discovery of the endless mysteries in the world of refining together with our good friend from Iron Plateau, with the intelligent doing the research and the wealthy paying the money!"
After he shut off the communication, Wei Wenyao thought for a moment and reached out to almost ten project leaders who were currently short of funding. A remote meeting was held.
A moment later, doubts and exclamations burst out above the small lake again.
"What? A wildling is coming to my project team as a visiting scholar? Isn't that bullsh*t?"
…
Outside of Furious Bears City, Li Yao's and Wu Mayan's shadows were lengthened by the setting sun.
The following day, the two of them would set off. For the first time in Wu Mayan's memory, he was going to leave Iron Plateau for the boundless universe. The young man was a bit uneasy.
His right arm was exposed to the air, as he was testing a piece of new magical equipment Li Yao had refined for him. It was a silver glittering glove that extended to his elbow with complicated spiritual stripes on it. When he put on the glove, his right arm looked like an artificial one and was quite eye-catching.
The glove was based on Xiong Wuji's right arm, which had been blown away during his fierce fight against Yan Xibei.
Wu Mayan had picked up the broken arm from the battlefield and begged Li Yao to craft a glove for him.
Xiong Wuji's artificial arm was made of ordinary materials. Therefore, Li Yao added another dozen or so rarely-seen materials to it and asked for the advice of the five spectral Cultivators on Sparkle before the job was done.
Wu Mayan put on the glove and punched, tornadoes sweeping out from his right fist. He had trained himself hard wholeheartedly. His sweat was glimmering in the sunset.
"Have you made up your mind?" Li Yao smiled at his first disciple. "Have you decided to keep walking on the path of qi-training?
"I need to remind you that you cannot have all the best in the world. The path of qi-training and the path of normal Cultivation are not compatible. The thicker your veins and nerves are, the more spiritual gas you will be able to store. However, the result is that it will be more difficult to liquefy the spiritual gas.
"You are still young, and you have the chance to choose. But after another few years of training, I'm afraid that you will never get to the Building Foundation Stage.
"My situation is different. I'd already been in the Building Foundation Stage before I started practicing the qi-trainers' arts. Therefore, you cannot copy my experience."
Wu Mayan punched hard one more time. Looking at his spiritual waves dispersing dozens of meters away, he wiped his sweat and nodded his head. "The decision has been made. Although Master and Father Xiong both want me to study in Heavenly Saints City, and I'm very interested in meeting the experts in space myself, I will probably never be a Cultivator. My path is destined to be the path of qi-trainers!
"What's wrong with not being able to build the foundation?
"For five thousand years, the highest level of the Iron Plateau qi-trainers had always been the 99th level. Many people thought that the so-called 100th level did not exist and was just an ungrounded illusion. The 99th level was supposedly everyone's limit!
"However, Father Xiong punched that 'limit' into pieces with his iron fists!
"If he could reach the 100th level, I think the 101st level, the 200th, the 500th, and the 1,000th are definitely reachable, too!"
"With your aptitude, a lot of people will be willing to guide you when we arrive in Heavenly Saints City. Chances are that you will have the chance to enter the Core Formation Stage in the next twenty years. Your capability wouldn't be necessarily lower than that of the 100th level of the Refinement Stage," Li Yao said.
"At the very least, the Building Foundation Stage, the Core Formation Stage, the Nascent Soul Stage, and the Divinity Transformation Stage are unambiguous and unmistakable. The journey to the 1,000th level of the Refinement Stage, in comparison, is long and full of terrors. Why do you have to choose such a path?"
Looking at the desert and mountains far away, Wu Mayan replied softly, "Because it is the path that Father Xiong wanted to walk on."
Chapter 641: He Will Not Be Easy to Deal With |
Two months later, in the No. 6 space port of Heavenly Saints City…
"Achiu!"
Xie Anan sneezed. Her small nose shivered slightly, and she shrank further into her red coat, as if she were trying to bury herself in it.
As a star fortress, Heavenly Saints City maintained the clima
te and weather by magical equipment. It was possible to set the environment to a cozy temperature.
But people living in space often missed the seasonal changes on planets. Therefore, spring, summer, autumn, and winter were simulated on Heavenly Saints City. Occasionally, there was rain, snow, and fog.
It was the beginning of spring in Heavenly Saints City. Damp, cold wind was blowing in the scarce No. 6 space port and piercing into the collars and sleeves of the travelers through the tiniest gaps.
However, what really frustrated the young girl was not the weather but the grueling task that awaited her.
Xie Anan rubbed her hands and complained to Long Yunxin in a low voice.
"Really. There are so many students in our department. Why does it have to be me to welcome the visiting scholar?"
Xie Anan and Long Yunxin both came from noble families of refining that had a long history. They had been friends from a young age.
In the previous Skyhill Sword Seminar, both of them had been in touch with Li Yao. Long Yunxin had even been defeated by him.
Since she had been eliminated from the tournament too early, Long Yunxin naturally did not receive any offers from the three main crystal suit centers.
Thankfully, since her basic skills were quite good, and her family had a lot of connections in the circle of refiners, she had finally been accepted by the Refining Department of Flying Star University, her mother school, as an associate researcher. She was currently working in a renowned laboratory affiliated with the Refining Department.
Xie Anan, Long Yunxin, and four young refiners of the Refining Department of Flying Star University had come to the No. 6 space port in order to welcome a special visiting scholar.
The hundred exchange students from Iron Plateau had mostly arrived one month ago. The young people from a desolate planet had made quite a fuss and left a lot of funny tales when they first got to the most prosperous city of the Flying Star Sector.
