by <unknown>
Li Jialing was rendered speechless in fury.
"However, there is one thing that neither the queen nor Li Lingfeng lied about. The Imperium is truly a stunning mess right now."
Patting the young man's shoulder, Li Yao said seriously, "In such an Imperium, you can never find a peaceful life of absolute freedom that you want. In the Imperium today, there is only one kind of freedom, which is the freedom of fighting!
"Later, I will help you pick an advanced crystal suit and teach you some pragmatic tactics. I hope you can focus your attention because I cannot stay by your side and save your life every time. For yourself, the queen and your birth father whom you never saw, you'd better… not die!"
Li Jialing was slightly dazed and deep in thought. Feeble fighting will flowed out of his dark golden eyes.
While they were talking, Tu Zhengdao stopped at the end of the pathway. "Fellow Cultivators, we have arrived."
Shua!
The metal cabin carved with the lightning trident emblem of the Imperium of True Human Beings was slowly opened, and the weird fragrance from the smoldering Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, mixed with the scent of metal cutting and polishing, greeted the newcomers.
The fulminations of the various kinds of refining magical equipment also enshrouded them like tides.
The enormous maintenance workshop before Li Yao was as splendid and profound as a palace, making him feel that he was inside the magical equipment factory on a large planet instead of a warship in space.
As far as his eyes could reach, assembly lines that were swallowing and spitting components were everywhere. The multipurpose, automatic arms extended from the sides of the assembly lines under the control of the crystal processors, performing dazzling operations.
They were carving complicated runes, combining the chips that were as thin as paper to the breadboard, or completing the assembly of hundreds of tiny components within a breath. Under the illumination of lights, they were like a silver, exuberant forest of metals.
Behind the assembly lines, at least thousands of refiners were dedicated to the manual polishing and maintenance work that could not be accomplished by machines.
Li Yao's eyes fell on each of the refiners. He found that their eyes were focused and energetic, their hands deft and steady, and their movements as smooth as the flowing mercury. Powerful and stable waves of spiritual energy surrounded them. They were definitely specialists in the standard of the Star Glory Federation.
Li Yao couldn't help but compliment in secret. The Imperium of True Human Beings truly had a huge talent base. Even a private troop that Li Linghai secretly founded behind the back of the four Kurfürst families boasted such a technological reserve!
However, his attention was soon attracted by the Tempest God at the end of the maintenance workshop, which was leaning against a fixed maintenance shelf.
A Colossus was always a Colossus. No matter how many of them he had seen and touched, and although the wounds on this very Colossus were caused by him in person, it was still full of fatal captivation and made it impossible for him to move his eyes away.
"Brother Li."
Tu Zhengdao hadn't recovered from the fear when Li Yao pressed his shoulder earlier. As an experienced battle-type expert in the Nascent Soul Stage, he naturally knew that, if Li Yao could press his shoulder without alarming him at all, the man could certainly cut his throat without blinking.
With such astonishing capabilities, the man should be a revered celebrity even in the Imperium that had tons of experts.
Tu Zhengdao had been working in the military for years. He knew a thing or two about the experts of the hundreds of Sectors and fleets in the Imperium, and he was no stranger to the spiritual energy models and the skills of killing of the major schools. But he could not figure out Li Yao's origins at all.
However, having become the queen's personal bodyguard and taken part in such a crucial mission such as the execution of Li Lingfeng, the man must be the queen's trusted subordinate—if not the most trusted one.
Therefore, Tu Zhengdao was very respectful of Li Yao. Weighing his choice of words, he said, "Her Grace asked me to provide all the help that Brother Li needs. Whatever you may need, be they Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, strengthening drugs, or magical equipment for battles, you can find them here. If Brother Li is interested in the Colossus over there, you are free to examine it at a closer distance too.
"However, if I may remind Brother Li, the general manager of this maintenance workshop is Master 'Jin Tianzong', the chief director of magical equipment of our Deep Sea Fleet. He happens to be on board with us this time to provide technical support for Her Grace and the battle against Li Lingfeng and to deal with the 'Tempest God'.
"He is a master of refining in the Divinity Transformation Stage that everybody in the circle knows. The queen went through a lot of trouble to invite him to join the Deep Sea Fleet. His place is rather unique, and he can't be treated as a simple subordinate.
"Therefore, now that we have come to his maintenance workshop, you might want to check with him first if you need anything, Brother Li. Naturally, given the queen's order, he will certainly not decline your request!
"Also, if you make friends with Master Jin, it will certainly be greatly beneficial for your training and fighting in the future. It is absolutely not a problem for the crystal suit that he adjusts in person to improve your maximal combat ability by 3% to 5%!"
A refiner in the Divinity Transformation Stage!
His heart racing, Li Yao couldn't help but lick his lips and beam with interest.
As long as someone could advance into the Divinity Transformation Stage, whatever their professions and gifts were, they would definitely be the expert of the experts. Even the leaders of the four Kurfürst families had to show enough respect for them. They were indeed not common subordinates.
It was just like when the queen tried to recruit Li Yao, she had to explain her ambitions and principles clearly first, describing the future that she envisioned, in order to seek common grounds. She couldn't just simply offer a salary or propose other conditions.
Li Linghai's private troop that had been hiding in the dark had attracted a master of refining in the Divinity Transformation Stage, which immediately improved Li Yao's evaluation of the queen's capabilities.
Of course, more importantly, he felt that his fingers were itching and burning again!
Thinking for a moment, Li Yao narrowed his eyes and asked Li Jialing with the private-talking technique, "Who is this 'Master Jin Tianzong'? Have you heard of him before? Is he very impressive?"
Li Jialing was a super warrior that Li Lingfeng carefully refined and raised as half an "heir". Having been informed of abundant intelligence in various fields of the Imperium, he was naturally not ignorant of such a famous celebrity as Jin Tianzong. He simply bulged his eyes again and exclaimed in disbelief, "It's him? He is still alive?"
Chapter 2168: Groundbreaking Hybrid Engine! |
Looking at Li Jialing's shining eyes and his disbelief, Li Yao was hooked. "What's up? Is he very famous?"
"Yes. He was very famous, until three years ago!"
Li Jialing also said in a low voice through the private-talking technique, "Master Jin Tianzong was a professor at the Refining Department of the Imperial Polytechnical University. He seemed to be also leading a very famous crystal suit laboratory. His main fields of study were the single magical equipment, namely the crystal suits and the Colossi. He was one of the best specialists in these fields."
"Oh? He is from the Imperial Polytechnical University?"
Li Yao's eyes beamed with interest, and the eagerness on his face was even more intense.
He was from the Refining Department of the Grand Desolate War Institution, one of the most famous "Nine Elite Colleges" of the Star Glory Federation.
After encountering Su Changfa, Di Feiwen, and other Immortal Cultivators, he naturally took an interest in the most famous "holy land of ref
ining" in the Imperium.
According to the introduction of Su Changfa and Di Feiwen, the best refiners of the Imperium of True Human Beings were mainly from three institutions—the Imperial University, the Imperial Polytechnical University, and the Imperial Advanced College of Metallurgy. The refining-related majors in the three academic establishments represented the peak of magical equipment production in the Imperium of True Human Beings.
Among them, the Imperial University was a comprehensive universe that was one of the best in the Imperium of True Human Beings. It boasted many departments that had a long history and a strong faculty, such as the "Archaeology Department", which had monopolized more than 50% of the explorations of the primeval relics. They were perfect partners for the Refining Department.
Therefore, the Refining Department of the Imperial University was the best in the Imperium!
The Imperial Polytechnical University, on the other hand, did not have so many primeval relics to excavate, but it boasted distinguished advantages in terms of industrial designs.
They were more creative and less bound by predecessors and traditions. So, they had produced a lot of bizarre, innovative, and experimental magical equipment. The place was also a "holy land of refining" and a "heaven of magical equipment" for many Immortal Cultivators in the Imperium!
A master of refining in the Divinity Transformation Stage from the Imperial Polytechnical Universe certainly deserved to be made acquaintance with!
Li Jialing went on, "In the past hundred years, Master Jin Tianzong developed more than fifteen models of brand-new crystal suits and held thousands of patents. He even won the prize of 'Heavenly Craftsman', the highest honor in the circle of refiners of the Imperium, for two years in a row. He was one of the few masters who had made such an achievement.
"I remember that even Li Lingfeng had collected three crystal suits that were polished by Master Jin Tianzong in person. He often brought them out to maintain them in person. From the brilliance in his eyes, I could tell his fondness of the three crystal suits. When I asked if I could take a look at them, he declined my request without any hesitation!
"However, I'm told that Master Jin Tianzong already died three years ago. How did he end up here?"
Li Yao was intrigued. Such a master of refining in the Divinity Transformation Stage was definitely a national treasure. The man would be respected as an honorable guest whichever of the four Kurfürst families he visited.
There must be more to the story about how Li Linghai recruited such a master.
Li Yao asked, "How exactly did he die according to what you were told?"
"He seemed to suffer heavy wounds in an experiment accident, and he died later in regrets."
Thinking for a moment, Li Jialing said, "When I went to 'Manjusaka, the City in the Sky' for refinements last year, Li Lingfeng happened to bring a few crystal suits to Wuying Lan and asked him to modify it, because Wuying Lan's laboratory was quite capable in terms of cutting-edge magical equipment too. After all, there were so many 'experiment subjects' that he could test on.
"The two of them chitchatted on the test field and did not avoid me. When they happened to talk about Master Jin Tianzong, they both agreed that it was a shame that Master Jin passed away. If he had not, the few crystal suits should've been modified and adjusted by Master Jin instead of being brought to Wuying Lan's laboratory. They also said that something was seriously wrong, and Master Jin died probably because he pissed off someone."
Li Yao narrowed his eyes. "Every master of refining is backed by countless experts. Even if he did piss off someone, who dared to do anything to a master of refining in the Divinity Transformation Stage?"
"That I don't know."
Li Jialing said, "I only vaguely heard a theory. Li Lingfeng and Wuying Lan said that Master Jin was best known for his fairness and integrity in the Refining Department of the Imperial Polytechnical University. A few years back, he disclosed a large-scale academic cheating event that involved the four Kurfürst families, which was a humiliation for hundreds of descendants of the four Kurfürst families. It was a great scandal."
Pondering for a moment, Li Yao shook his head. "Such kind of incidents would truly make certain scoundrels hate Master Jin, but it was not enough to get a Divinity Transformation Stage refiner killed."
Li Jialing recalled a moment and said again, "Or maybe, it was about the studies that Master Jin had been dedicated to. Li Lingfeng and Wuying Lan said that Master Jin Tianzong had been working on the studies of 'hybrid' crystal suit, and he seemed to have made such significant progress. He claimed to have made quite a few crucial results, but a lot of specialists in the circle of refiners said that Master Jin's research was completely wrong and that his experimental data were edited and fabricated. For them, Master Jin was a fraud who only wanted to get famous.
"Desperate to prove his research, Master Jin started extremely dangerous experiments without bothering with anything else. As a result, an accident happened. The leakage of a certain poisonous chemical killed him and his entire team. That… seemed to be his whole story."
"Hybrid crystal suit?"
Li Yao's heart was suddenly racing, and his pupils were almost reduced to the size of needle tips. Managing to hold back the excitement deep inside his heart, he asked, "Does it mean to highly combine the spiritual energy within an Exos and the spiritual energy inside the crystal reactor to realize the single output of a hybrid engine system?"
"Seems so."
Li Jialing said, "I don't quite understand the details. They are too sophisticated."
"Not just sophisticated. This is a universal dilemma!"
Li Yao was so thrilled that he was almost yelling.
"Hybrid crystal suit" was indeed a groundbreaking, revolutionary idea and also a super conundrum that countless specialists of refining believed could not be resolved.
All the popular crystal suits in the civilization of mankind today, in the Star Glory Federation, the Imperium of True Human Beings, and even the Alliance of the Holy Covenant, and be they the most low-level engineering crystal suits, the beginner-level battlesuits plugged with skill cards designed for ordinary people, or the special crystal suits tailor-made for the Divinity Transformation Stage experts—they all belong to the same category if classified by the power output—parallel engine system. Two power sources were in function at the same time and provided impetus together.
After some training, the ordinary people could jump to almost ten meters tall, blow up a giant rock with a single punch, or run dozens of kilometers in an hour without panting after putting on a crystal suit. What was the power that boosted them to be faster, higher, and stronger? Naturally, it was not the energy stored inside the human body, but the energy provided by the fuel cabin and the crystal reactor. The muscle and nerval reactions of the human body only provided the power of micro adjustments at best.
If there were still fuel and crystals in the crystal reactor, the crystal suit would continue to work incessantly. If the fuel ran out, the crystal suit would be wasted garbage and might even crush the user in it.
The logic naturally worked for the ordinary people, because ordinary people were relatively weak. How could they uphold the crystal suits, which weighed hundreds of kilograms, to move and fight with their own strength?
Even if they gritted their teeth to do it after the injection of excitants, they would die of exhaustion in no more than five minutes.
Therefore, for the ordinary people, crystal suits were the same as armed shuttles and crystal tanks. The power output was solely dependent on an external source, namely the crystal reactor. From that point of view, crystal suits were more like "vehicles" than "suits".
However, for the trainers, especially the high-level ones, the case was entirely different.
The high-level trainers had powerful souls and abundant spiritual energy in their bodies, which equaled many minor "reactors" in their abdomens, spines, or other parts of their bodies.
Both the
Cultivators and the Immortal Cultivators were capable of soaring to the sky, diving to the ground, or breaking the mountains with the "reactors" in their bodies in the first place.
After they put on crystal suits, as a battle unit, they actually had two power sources, one being the reactors inside their bodies and the other being the crystal reactors in their crystal suits.
Here came the question. Which of the two power sources was main and which was secondary? And how they should be coordinated.
After all, it was not an armed shuttle or a starship with two power units, whose distribution and output efficiency could be adjusted randomly. One of the power sources here was embedded inside the body that even the trainers could hardly change. It was exactly like a normal person could not change the place of their heart.
The two power sources were like two legs, one of which was real and the other was false. Sometimes, one of them was longer than the other. How could the person walk or run with those legs?
The higher one's level was, the more complicated the question would be.
The "reactors" of the high-level experts were powerful enough themselves, and their output was astronomical. The crystal suits they wore were extraordinary products too, with remarkable output from the crystal reactor. There would be dire consequences in the case of the discoordination of the two power sources.
The beginner-level crystal suits often enabled the function of the mode switch, which could change the power source between the crystal reactor and oneself. Only one of them would be used at a given time.
When the crystal reactor outputted power, the user would hold themselves back.
On the other hand, if they were going to use the crystal suit by burning their life and soul, the crystal reactor would be put on hold.
It was not hard to imagine that whoever had higher pursuits would not accept such a simple and crude pattern of power output.
Then, in the advanced crystal suits, many delicate circuits and rune arrays would be adopted, with a high demand on the architecture of the crystal reactor, to ensure that the crystal reactor and the trainers themselves could output spiritual energy at the same time in a coordinated way. In the end, the two power sources would help each other so that the user could "run with both legs".
