Chapter 296: Birth of the Mystic Skeleton
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
The release of Tiger King, Mournful Mist, and Sword Torrent shocked the entire Cultivation world.
Over the following month, things changed drastically in the Cultivation world. More than ten sects and five universities declared the success of their MP crystal suit models.
For a moment, the MP crystal suits became the hottest topic in the Cultivation world. The three magical equipment magazines almost became monographs on crystal suits. Another magazine, 'Crystal Suit Vista', which focused on crystal suits, had experienced a four-time sales increase in a single month.
Of course, it was not difficult to notice that most of the MP crystal suit models had been produced in too much of a hurry. In pursuit of lower cost, many necessary Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures were cut down. As a result, they could only be called strong battle armors, not crystal suits.
One month after the Tiger King Battlesuit was released, the MP crystal suit models that were relatively more competitive were still just Tiger King, Mournful Mist, Sword Torrent and a few others.
Right then, Deep Sea University and the Gold Armor Clan called the second press conference for the Tiger King Battlesuit, in which new real-combat videos, more structure designs, and detailed specifications were presented to the public.
After a month of testing, the Tiger King Battlesuit had been equipped with a set of attack magical equipment named 'Flashing Paws', which significantly improved its melee combat ability.
In the demo, Zuo Feijing, wearing the Tiger King Battlesuit, tore apart three turtle-type demon beasts, which were high-level demon soldiers, in only ten seconds.
The simplicity and easiness impressed every reporter that came to the scene.
The three magical equipment magazines and 'Crystal Suit Vista' were full of complimentary articles.
Compared with the seething world outside, the Refining Department of the Grand Desolate War Institution seemed to have become a black hole where absolutely no news would be let out. It even declined interview requests from several magazines.
All of the grassroots refiners stayed mysterious. No one had sent out any message through their personal channels.
Such a weird reaction had raised suspicions and questions.
Most people thought that the Refining Department of the Grand Desolate War Institution must've come across an unresolvable problem which hindered the progress of the project, and therefore had chosen to quit the military's bid.
In an overview posted on the 'Crystal Suit Vista', after summarizing the progress of the MP crystal suit models of Deep Sea University, Star Nebula University, the three major sword-training sects and other influential parties, the writer concluded the article, not without pity as such:
'The Grand Desolate War Institution was the first organization of the federation to work on the MP crystal suit. However, after the catastrophic accident last year in which most of the participants passed away, the project has been sluggish.
'Although Professor Yuan Manqiu has gathered the remaining grassroots experts and restarted the Project Mystic Skeleton this year, they obviously met the same problem that hamstringed them before, which is that ordinary materials can't be refined into a qualified crystal reactor.
'With so many sects and universities announcing the success of their MP crystal suit inventions, the Grand Desolate War Institution remains silent and refuses interviews, unwilling to reveal any detail of their progress. All the signs indicate that the Grand Desolate War Institution has probably already given up.'
But in the floating mountain of the Refining Department of the Grand Desolate War Institution…
The place seemed to have become an active volcano for the past month. Passion and mania could be felt everywhere.
Everyone was surrounded by invisible flames. Their eyes were as firm as sharp swords which splashed sparkles when there was a clash. They seemed to have been hypnotized by something unknown into devoting their full heart into Project Mystic Skeleton. Other than the furious arguments in the daily briefing every day, they always kept their mouth tight to save every valuable second.
The reason why they declined interviews was not to keep a low profile but to dedicate all the time they had in order to finish the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit sooner.
On Oct. 30, the basic framework of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was determined, and the first vertebral column was successfully refined.
On Nov. 4, the power system was successfully refined. The power system of the primary model had only eight power rune arrays. Its performance might not be the best, but a lot of interfaces had been left open, which entailed the possibility of infinite power rune arrays and anti-gravity rune arrays.
On Nov. 11, the long-range attack system made of 400 super-mini flying swords was successfully refined.
On Nov. 22, all of the pieces of plate armor and defense magical equipment were successfully refined.
On Nov. 24, the military crystal processor 'Type-VII Super Saint' carried by the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was successfully connected to other magical equipment units. Debugging work was initiated.
On Dec. 1, although it was a cloudy day, the Project Mystic Skeleton was in full swing.
Every fist had been tightened, every chest was fluctuating, every dry lip was shivering, and every eye was filled with thrills. All the participants of the project were waiting anxiously.
Li Yao was one of them.
In the past month, Li Yao had done more hard work than any professor or expert did.
The professors and experts were adept at a certain field of refining. Some of them were in charge of the power system, some of them were responsible for the defense magical equipment system, and some of them were best at debugging on crystal processors.
Li Yao was different.
As the test pilot, he needed to propose suggestions and complaints regarding every part of the crystal suit from the perspective of a terminal user.
In the meantime, he was the assistant of refining for all the experts.
As his talent in refining was gradually discovered by everyone, many experts had asked him to be involved in the refining process of key components. Sometimes they even entrusted the whole work to him.
Li Yao was almost working 24 hours a day. He wished that he could divide himself into eight selves so that he could be at several places at the same time.
In the end, Yuan Manqiu was somewhat intimidated by his craziness. She escorted him to the deep sleep capsule to take a break many times. But he would always sneak out after no more than half an hour.
He couldn't help it. The opportunity was too rare to be missed out.
Project Mystic Skeleton was the glory of every grassroots refiner. The professors and experts had exerted the best of their skills, which were dazzling eye-openers for Li Yao.
Helping them as an assistant for half a day was more useful than reading books for an entire week. Li Yao was a man who was going to be the strongest refiner of the federation. There was no way that he would let go of such an opportunity.
As the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was taking shape, Li Yao's understanding in the art of refining grew deeper and deeper. The professors and experts were proficient at their respective fields, but Li Yao had learnt a thing or two about every field of crystal suit refining.
With the first-hand knowledge, Li Yao found that many incomprehensible books of the Hundred Smelting Clan from 40,000 years ago were clear and straightforward now.
Many esoteric theories brought up by the professors and experts could often be traced back to the classics of the Hundred Smelting Clan as well.
Therefore, the unity of knowing and doing had been achieved.
Finally—
When Li Yao had almost learnt everything that the professors and experts had to teach, the prototype of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was finally out!
Placed before everyone was a giant utensil made of tempered glass that was filled with a scarlet antirust fluid in which a human-shaped object was standing.
"Ci… Ci… Ci… Ci…"
As the antirust fluid was emptied, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit revealed its true self.
Li Yao was breathing heavily. He felt that his eyes were sour and swollen. The Soul Condensing Pendant was shivering vigorously, too.
Compared with the impressiveness of the Tiger King Battlesuit, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit looked somewhat shabby.
The primary model was only 2.11 meters tall, shorter than most of medium crystal suits.
The plate armor was made of ordinary alloy. The performance of the military crystal processor was nothing special, either.
The only shining point was the two crystal cannons on the two sides of the crystal reactor, which could be directly charged by the escaping spiritual energy from the crystal reactor. As a result, the working time of the crystal suit was shortened, but the long-range combat ability was greatly enhanced.
There was also a melee magical equipment rack on the waist of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit which could carry many kinds of heavy chainswords and anti-ship sabers.
Other than that, there were two knuckles on the arms that could be put on for boxing.
At first glance, the equipment that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit carried was barely enough for a real-life battle.
Compared with the Tiger King Battlesuit, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was like a child's toy.
But behind the uninteresting specifications, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit boasted unique advantages, too.
First of all, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit employed the framework design of the Star Sea Imperium.
The project itself had been inspired by the scrap of an ancient jade slip. Mo Xuan and Yuan Manqiu had spent more than ten years studying the structure blueprint until they finally understood everything. In regard to the main framework, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was definitely among the best crystal suits!
Brilliant framework design meant higher survival ability.
The defense strategy of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was completely different from that of the Tiger King Battlesuit.
With the technical support of the Gold Armor Clan, the Tiger King Battlesuit was equipped with the most advanced plate armor and defense magical equipment, which were extremely difficult to be broken through in a battlefield.
However, the defense system of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit might seem weak. But according to the experimental results, the combat ability of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit still partly remained even though 70% of its plate armor had been destroyed, like a cockroach that couldn't be killed. That was all because of the remarkable framework design.
Secondly, with the cooperation of the grassroots refiners, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was only made of 13,998 components, which was less than two thirds of the crystal suits in the same level and only half of the Tiger King Battlesuit.
The more simple, the more stable. Should any problem occur, it would be easy to fix.
Thirdly, the enormous potential for adaptation.
Because of the modular design, all the magical equipment units were replaceable. During the refining process, all the refiners, including Li Yao himself, had already come up with almost twenty modification plans.
The potential of adaptation meant that when the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was on a battlefield, dozens of derivative models could be created freely to meet the needs of different tactics. It was also great news to the Exo trainers and the logistics department of the military.
With the three advantages, as well as the unbelievably low price, everybody of the Refining Department was very confident about the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.
"First test of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit begins now!"
Taking a deep breath, Li Yao strode forward, while everyone was looking at him eagerly.