by <unknown>
70% of the Spiritual Towers of the Flying Star Sector were produced, deployed, and maintained by the Grand Illusionary Group.
The system of the Grand Illusionary Land was constructed and managed by the Grand Illusionary Group, too.
Therefore, although the Flying Star Sector did not have a grand unified government, many sociologists believed that the Grand Illusionary Group shouldered part of the government's responsibility and ensured that the human beings of the Flying Star Sector could live and thrive even though they were so disorganized.
The CEO of the Grand Illusionary Group truly deserved to be called the 'crownless king' of the Flying Star Sector.
Li Yao narrowed his eyes and observed Xiao Xuance carefully.
The man was wearing black linen clothes sewed with gold streaks. His curled hair that was black, shining, and filled with alluring charisma dangled down from his shoulders casually.
His eyes were long, narrow, and almost extended to his temples like two sharp black swords. However, they were gapless and did not emit any brilliance. Instead, they were like two deep lakes that absorbed all the light nearby.
At first glance, he was a middle-aged man in his fifties.
Yet, Li Yao knew for a fact that Xiao Xuance was actually almost 260 years old and a rarely-seen hybrid-type Cultivator both talented in battle and in administration.
He had already advanced into the Nascent Soul Stage a hundred years ago. Right now, he was definitely above the high level of the Nascent Soul Stage, which meant that he was undoubtedly one of the strongest experts in the Flying Star Sector!
Looking at Xiao Xuance, Li Yao suddenly felt that his tongue was bitter and sore. He recalled the first time he had gotten in touch with a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator.
It was in the Temple of Fallen Stars in Empyrean Star City of the Heaven's Origin Sector.
At that time, faced with a Nascent Soul Stage such as 'Iron God' Yan Ba, he was completely at a loss and overwhelmed by him. Even breathing was troublesome for Li Yao.
He had felt that he was faced with a mountain that rose high into the clouds. The peak of the mountain was wreathed in mist, and there was no telling exactly how high it was. He had no courage to climb on the mountain at all.
But right now, he seemed to be able to feel the gap between himself and Xiao Xuance clearly, as if the clouds in the sky were gone. He could see what the peak of the mountain looked like up above, and he finally had the courage to challenge the mountain!
One day—
Li Yao clenched his fists and had a strong 'I can replace you' urge in his heart.
Other than the urge of competitiveness, he also had subtle expectation for the new speaker.
The Ice God Project that Si Koulie proposed, although simple and wasteful, was actually feasible. There was a high likelihood that Spider Den would be destroyed once and for all after the endeavor.
Li Yao pondered for a long time and did not find any better solution.
He was wondering what kind of plan the crownless king of the Flying Star Sector would propose.
Xiao Xuance stood straight on the podium.
Mysteries were beaming out of his extremely long eyes. He did not turn his head, and yet he seemed to have glanced through everyone on the spot.
Everybody, including Li Yao, felt that Xiao Xuance was paying attention to them.
"Two questions."
Without further ado, Xiao Xuance extended two fingers and went directly to the topic. "Firstly, who is our enemy exactly?"
His voice was not loud and did not carry Si Koulie's powerful and persuasive feeling. Instead, it sounded as if he were talking about a self-explanatory natural law that did not require any fury or other emotions.
"Are space pirates and Immortal Cultivators our real enemies?
"Space pirates are but thieves who are hiding and making a living by taking advantage of the remains of the Star Ocean Imperium on Spider Den.
"Immortal Cultivators are just timid rats among the Cultivators.
"The world of Cultivators boasts enormous resources with countless sects, starships, and specialists. Why have we failed to eliminate a few space pirates and degraded Cultivators and even been caused major problems by them?"
Taking a long breath, Xiao Xuance said casually, "Because our real enemy is not space pirates or Immortal Cultivators, but space and distance, or in other words, the mysterious, boundless sea of stars in front of ourselves!
"The universe is too vast a place. As we explored one space zone after another, the distance between us was longer and longer, and the supply line was extended further and further. Like a giant who is growing infinitely, we will be inevitably crushed by our own weight!
"The Flying Star Sector is too large! Even the strongest organization cannot protect every node of every sailing route all the time!
"You can be a thief for a thousand days, but you cannot be braced for burglary forever. Weak as the space pirates may be, they can act freely. They can always choose the time when we are least prepared and attack the places that are least guarded. Whether their assaults succeed or not, they will immediately run away. Blocked by the countless stars, what can the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators do even though they are immensely strong?
"Let's say we demolish Spider Den, destroy the space pirates, and uproot the Immortal Cultivators. So what?
"In the ten thousand years of history of mankind, I've never noticed any era that was completely devoid of thieves.
"As long as we continue expanding in the universe, the distance between us is bound to be lengthened, and the burden for our supply line will be heavier and heavier. Even if we remove the space pirates for now, one day they will return and bite our weakest parts like they did!"
Xiao Xuance paused for a moment and folded his middle finger, leaving the index finger in the air, while he said, "The second question. Forget what will happen in the next thousand years, and let's focus on the present. Who can guarantee that space pirates are the Temple of Immortals' only accomplices?
"The Ice God Project that Leader Si proposed is indeed very practicable. However, it will consume tremendous resources, and the best outcome it can achieve is that the space pirates lurking on Spider Den will be annihilated.
"Here comes the question. Let's say that we drain the resources of half the Flying Star Sector without thinking about the cost and carry out the Ice God Project, and that Ice King and Spider Den collide into each other and both explode. What if we then find that the Temple of Immortals have other schemes and that it has an even sharper claw?
"I believe everybody has felt the sordidness and cunningness of the Temple of Immortals in person over the past year. Is such an organization, which has been hiding in darkness for hundreds of years, going to reveal its full capability to us openly?"
Xiao Xuance lambasted the Ice God Project ruthlessly.
It was similar to the contradiction between the spacers and the homers five thousand years ago.
The resources were limited and could only support one plan. Therefore, the proposers of the plans were natural competitors.
But this time, Xiao Xuance launched a critical strike and pointed out the two fatal weaknesses of the Ice God Project.
Li Yao was deep in thought. After hearing Xiao Xuance's questions, he felt that the Ice God Project was not appropriate, too. Such a risky plan seemed to be too much of a gamble for the Flying Star Sector.
But how exactly was Xiao Xuance going to address the problems?
Xiao Xuance was silent for ten seconds and allowed the audience to reflect on his words. Instead of giving an answer promptly, he played a 3D video clip through the Grand Illusionary Land.
It was the field test of two teams of Exos.
"A new crystal suit?"
Li Yao and his two companions were immediately refreshed, because this was what they were good at.
However, no matter how hard they thought, they could not figure out how a crystal suit could eliminate all the
space pirates and Immortal Cultivators.
The field test was conducted in a narrow valley.
The blue team consisted of ten Exos who were wearing classic crystal suit models. Judging from their warm-up movements, they were all seasoned Exos.
There were almost a hundred Exos on in the red team. They were wearing a light crystal suit that Li Yao had never seen before. Their crystal suits were so short and small that their gears together with themselves were no taller than two meters.
Li Yao frowned. Such a height suggested that the Exos inside were teenagers who were no taller than 1.5 meters. Besides, since the plate of the crystal suit was thin, there was not much room to store crystals and magical equipment.
In real battles, such tiny crystal suits were rarely-seen, and their combat ability could not be very high.
The process of the battle proved Li Yao's assumption.
The ten Exos in the blue team were all experienced warriors. Crystal suits were like their second skin. Their tactical movements were carried out fluently and precisely.
Although the red team outnumbered the blue team, they were like a bunch of beginners. Their movements were inflexible and clumsy, making them both like zombies and rusted machines.
However…
"Huh?"
The small movements of several Exos made Li Yao's pupils constrict violently.
He discovered that, although the hundred Exos in the red team were rigid most of the time in their tactical movements, they seemed to have a 'eureka' moment and performed unbelievable marvelous skills when the blue team entered their attack range.
In the ten minutes of battle, Exos in the red team were knocked down one after another.
On the other hand, the blue team suffered 'casualties', too, because of the occasional 'eureka' moments in the red team.
What was weird was that, whenever Exos in the blue team were 'injured' or 'killed', they would be immediately dragged off the battlefield.
However, when the Exos in the red team fell to the ground, and even when their crystal suits were spluttering with sparks and electric arcs, the staff simply idled by and watched indifferently.
It appeared that they did not care about the lives of the red team at all.
The Exos shouldn't be treated like this even if they are just beginners.
Li Yao frowned and felt that the test was very weird.
After twenty minutes, the test was over.
The hundred Exos in the red team were all knocked to the ground.
In the meantime, the blue team suffered a loss of eight Exos. Only two ragged crystal suits managed to keep standing in the battlefield.
The team combat is not of a very high level. The amazing tactical movements that the red team performed must be because they've installed advanced skill cards. But even so, their overall combat ability is still mediocre.
What does Xiao Xuance mean by showing this? How can we expect to defeat the space pirates with this?
On the battlefield, the two Exos in the blue team left the picture, and around ten crystal suits in the red team that were not seriously wrecked staggered to their feet.
It appeared that the crystal suits in the red team were the objects being tested.
Li Yao was even more confused. The Exos in the red team were weaker than the cannon fodder of space pirates. What could they do?
Seven crystal suits in the red team bowed to the camera. After a 'Chi' sound, the armor split from the head to the breast like a blossoming flower.
"Hiss—"
Li Yao, Xue Yuanxin and Huangpu Bo, three experts in crystal suits, all gasped and exclaimed in shock.
Inside the seven crystal suits were complicated components and units. There were no Exos at all!
Chapter 679: Grand Illusionary Legion! |
The units inside the chests of the seven crystal suits emanated starry crimson brilliance that pierced into Li Yao eyes through the Grand Illusionary Land like countless rubies.
Cold sweat was popping up on his forehead.
If there were no Exos inside, such magical equipment was not a crystal suit, but a human-shaped beast puppet. They were also known as 'spiritual puppets'.
Spiritual puppets were once a piece of popular magical equipment. They were tireless and fearless, and they could fight in extremely harsh environments, which made them the perfect weapons for a war.
However, spiritual puppets were commanded by crystal processors. However advanced crystal processors were, they were dead objects after all and could only carry out orders rigidly despite their immense computational ability.
There were too many variables in a battlefield. Even the crystal processors with the best performance could not replace the brain of a human.
Besides, the crystal processors whose computational abilities met the needs of a battlefield were often extremely large and expensive. They were also hundreds of times more vulnerable than a brain and easy to be damaged. It was impossible to apply them to spiritual puppets.
Therefore, it was determined that spiritual puppets could not replace crystal suits and Exos soon after they were invented, and such tools were gradually forsaken.
However, the spiritual puppets produced by the Grand Illusionary Group seemed to be different from what Li Yao had imagined.
Although their movements were still rigid, their choice and implementation of tactics were quite smart, as if an invisible brain was commanding them!
Xiao Xuance's calm voice came over again. "Now, allow me to introduce to you the 'Grand Illusionary Soldier Project'.
"I believe everybody has noticed that the Grand Illusionary Soldier is a spiritual puppet that is smarter, more agile, and more responsive to changes!
"In the past, the biggest shortcoming of spiritual puppets was that the normal crystal processors with average performance could not simulate the thought processes of human brains during combat. Those that could simulate more than 30% of the reactions were all large and expensive mainframe crystal processors. They could not be installed in the puppets, whose bodies were too small, and their price was too high!
"It's true that life is priceless. But the resources and cost to build spiritual puppets installed with a mainframe crystal processor could be used to train twenty Exos and equip them with MP crystal suits.
"It was never cheap to produce spiritual puppets.
"Therefore, spiritual puppets were gradually replaced by beast puppets, which were cheaper and had a better price-performance ratio. It would take as many resources to train five Exos and produce twenty beast puppets as it would to build three to five spiritual puppets, but the combat ability of the former was ten timers higher than that of the latter!
"The Grand Illusionary Soldier, on the other hand, adopted an entirely different designing principle.
"What is installed inside the chest of each Grand Illusionary Soldier is 'Empyrean Sun-V' crystal processor, which is cheap yet efficient.
"I believe that many refiners here know that it is a popular crystal processor which is applied to many low-end crystal suits. Its computational ability is not very high, at least not high enough to support the crystal suit to perform such complicated tactical movements.
"And this is the key to the 'Grand Illusionary Soldier Project'.
"Inside every Grand Illusionary Soldier, other than an 'Empyrean Sun V' crystal processor, a special rune array to receive telepathic thoughts has also been installed. Through the reception array, all the Grand Illusionary Soldiers are connected to the 'virtual star brain'!
"One Grand Illusionary Soldier is naturally far from enough to be called a piece of planetary-level magical equipment.
"However, if we gather all the resources of the Flying Star Sector and produce tens of thousands of Grand Illusionary Soldiers, they will constitute a 'Grand Illusionary Legion' after they are connected to the virtual star brain. It will be a piece of out-and-out planetary level, if not stellar-level, magical equipment, whose influence will radiate to every corner of
the Flying Star Sector!"
Li Yao, Xue Yuanxin and Huangpu Bo looked at each other in confusion. "Virtual star brain?"
In the Grand Illusionary Land, the valley dispersed into butterflies and disappeared.
Xiao Xuance's image showed up again.
His background seemed to be a vast universe where countless stars were swirling, colliding and finally condensing into a shining gold super brain!
Every star seemed to be a brain cell, and the rivers of stars that were made of countless congregating stars were the circuits inside the brain. The collision between stars was producing sparks of wisdom!
The camera pushed forward and magnified the brain that was made of countless stars. Some of the stars jumped out and were dissected into hundreds of pictures.
Every picture was a battle of Exos fighting in the Grand Illusionary Land!
"The Spiritual Nexus that connects the entire Flying Star Sector has been built for more than a thousand years, and virtual platforms such as the Crystal Suit World have been successfully established for hundreds of years, too," Xiao Xuance said.
"Over hundreds of years, countless Exos left immensurable data with their wisdom and experience after they fought in the virtual platforms via the Grand Illusionary Land.
"In the one minute just now, yes, in only one minute, 16,072 virtual battles took place in the Grand Illusionary Land, some of which were the summit confrontations between super experts!
"It is safe to say that all the possible situations in a real-life battlefield have happened before in the virtual battlefields!
"My fellow Cultivators and dear users of the Grand Illusionary Land, I'm afraid that you haven't realized the value of the combat data that was accumulated in the Grand Illusionary Land.
"The so-called 'virtual star brain' is a piece of magical equipment invented by a genius of the Grand Illusionary Group who specializes in crystal processors. What is stored inside the virtual star brain is the valuable combat data filtered from the countless battles in the Grand Illusionary Land over the past hundreds of years.
"All the Grand Illusionary Soldiers are connected to the star brain through the Spiritual Nexus. When they are in a battlefield, they will select the most suitable move from the star brain according to the actual situation.
