Chapter 314: Men of the Military
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
The contract between the Grand Desolate War Institution and Thunderbolt Hall caused a major riot in the Magical Equipment Exposition.
Of the 21 MP crystal suit models provided by major organizations in the federation, none had been sold so far, including the formidable Tiger King Battlesuit.
After all, most Cultivators were still suspicious about MP crystal suits.
As it turned out, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, which had been hiding in darkness and received few compliments before the exposition, was the first MP crystal suit model to secure an order of ten pieces.
Although the ten Mystic Skeleton Battlesuits combined together were still cheaper than one high-end crystal suit and their purchaser Thunderbolt Hall was a small sect that barely anyone knew, it was still the first official acknowledgement from Cultivators for the MP crystal suits.
For a moment, the booth of the Grand Desolate War Institution which just went quiet was crowded by reporters again.
Since the booth was not very large, it easily brought the feeling that all the reporters in the Magical Equipment Exposition were here.
In comparison, the vast booth of Deep Sea University seemed to be much more scarce and unfrequented.
The video in which Li Yao took down Ruan Honglie briskly in an arena quickly spread among Exos.
Although his victory was based on the trap that he had set up in advance, the terrifying attacks in the latter half of the video were enough to prove his brutality and toughness.
The Exos who had watched the video all agreed that a young expert had entered into the world of crystal suits.
If Li Yao had showed such combat ability before he arrived at the Building Foundation Stage, he would certainly only be stronger later. The name 'Vulture' was destined to resound in the world one day!
Li Yao didn't know any of this, nor did he bother with it.
After he got out of the arena, he headed directly to his personal training chamber.
…
At 8 p.m.
"Hu! Hu!"
Wearing the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, Li Yao was doing muscle training inside the personal chamber.
He had been punching the dynamometer for an entire hour.
Surprisingly, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit did not shed any light. The power rune arrays were quiet. The crystal reactor was in a dull silence, too.
The crystal suit had not been activated at all. It was burdening Li Yao like a normal battle armor.
Li Yao had been punching the target with tons of additional weight on his body for an hour without any pause or rest.
His sweat gathered into a small pool on the ground, which soon evaporated due to the heat from his body, leaving nothing but a shallow trace.
Aggravated by the sweat, Li Yao's eyes were bloody red. He found it hard to keep them open.
Irritated, he shut his eyes. Then he continued punching in the darkness until his every muscle was exhausted.
This was just his recovery training.
Since there would be tests tomorrow, he was only doing the easiest exercises today.
His usual training was ten times more difficult.
A three-minute wonderful performance was based on countless three-hour training sessions.
"Your opponent tomorrow won't be as weak as the Flying Flame Battlesuit.
"Besides, your amazing performance must've alerted everyone who didn't know your actual ability before.
"All of them will target you tomorrow."
Yuan Manqiu entered the chamber. She watched quietly for a while and observed.
"BOOM!"
Li Yao exerted his strength, leaving a clear footprint on the super-alloy ground. The dynamometer leaned backwards and almost kissed the ground. The reading in the light beam was ten times bigger than before!
"I don't like winning a match by disguises.
"Hiding the real ability and ambush the opponents when they're unprepared cannot prove the excellence of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, either."
Li Yao wiped the sweat on his face. But more sweat appeared again only half a second later.
"It's better to be the target of everyone. If I can survive twenty minutes under the collective attack of twenty crystal suits, I bet I will leave a deep impression on the military!"
"I know you will."
"Thunderbolt Hall has officially signed a contract with us. They will purchase ten Mystic Skeleton Battlesuits to build up two tactical squads.
"We've kicked off a good start."
Yuan Manqiu continued, "But the real game is tomorrow. Tomorrow, the delegates of the military will come to the exposition and inspect the latest development of magical equipment. The most important part of their inspection is of course MP crystal suits.
"According to what I've heard, of the 21 MP crystal suit models, the military will only choose four to five for the final bidding.
"Whether or not we are noticed by the military will depend on your performance tomorrow."
Li Yao nodded his head. Taking a deep breath, he felt that the Soul Condensing Pendant which sealed the Phantom Entities was emitting infinite heat and seemed to be leaving a mark on his chest.
That was the spiritual palpitation of his professors and senior brothers of the Refining Department who had felt the intense atmosphere before the final battle.
"BAM! BAM! BAM BAM BAM BAM!"
Li Yao stopped talking. He returned to the dull and boring training.
…
The following morning was the second day of the military magical equipment exposition; the exhibitors all went out their own booths to the testing field that the organizers had set up for real-battle tests.
Flying swords, guns, bombs… All kinds of military magical equipment took turns to display their performance. The spiritual explosions resulted to undying smoke, which was indeed a lively scene.
However, the most crowded place was still the crystal suit testing zone.
Many Cultivators had gathered here even before the sunrise waiting for the tests to begin.
The left side of the auditorium was occupied by the delegates of the military who were wearing black military uniform.
Among the hundreds of delegates, a grey-haired, hideous old man who had scars all over his face attracted everyone's eyesight.
No one had expected that the military would pay so much attention to the bidding of the MP crystal suit models that Shangguan Ce would come in person!
Shangguan Ce, a lieutenant general of the federal army and a Cultivator at the peak of the Core Formation Stage, was one of the strongest men in the military. He was also a hardline hawk.
He had joined the army when he was seventeen. As an ordinary soldier, he met a beast tide when he was stationed at the northernmost fortress of the federation. He was the only one in his legion who survived the beast tide. But his face was ruined by the corrosive venom from the demon beasts, which was unrecoverable even with the use of strengthening drugs.
From that day on, he seemed to have turned into a tireless paladin who had returned from the valley of death. He gained his unparalleled capabilities through mountains of bodies and seas of blood.
He was especially good at special operations. He had established 'Red Lightning', one of the best special operation forces of the military and led it deep into the Blood Demon Sector for scouting and assassination missions multiple times.
Shangguan Ce was most well-known for slaying Peng Xuan, a demon king, 47 years ago.
47 years ago, Peng Xuan, commanding a large beast tide, invaded the Heaven's Origin Sector and butchered a mining center where seven thousand people were killed.
When he was retreating, Shangguan Ce caught up with him and chased him all the way from the Grand Desolate Plateau to the Dark Desolate Domain, and from the Dark Desolate Domain to the Blood Demon Sector.
In the end, surrounded by countless beasts, Shangguan Ce slayed Peng Xuan easily and brought his head back to the Heaven's Origin Sector.
The morale of the federal army was greatly boosted because of Shangguan Ce's valiant behavior. He was respected as a hero of the federation when he came back. Since then, his rank had soared, until he became one of the most influential officials in the military.
Shangguan Ce had been the most fanatic hawk in the military who firmly believed that a great war between the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector would take place within the next thirty years. His theory was that the Cultivation technology of human beings was developing at an exponential speed, which meant that the limit of current technologies would be broken in no time. By then, the Heaven's Origin Sector would have an overwhelming advantage over the Blood Demon Sector.
The wise leaders of the Blood Demon Sector would not let that happen. So, they would definitely launch the attack sooner.
Therefore, human beings had to abandon the illusion that the demons would just sit around and wait for them to develop more advanced Cultivation technologies.
The only sensible choice was to enter the state of war immediately with whatever technology human beings had at hand and build up an iron army with all the resources available. Then, march into the Blood Demon Sector and burn the war fire in the enemy's territory.
It was better to attack aggressively than to defend passively. When thousands of beast tides were to surge into the human's world, it would be a disaster for the Heaven's Origin Sector even if they were defeated eventually.
The military and the federal government had not been very interested in the theories of the hawks and thought there was plenty of time for the human civilization to develop, until recent years when the unusual expansion of the Dark Desolate Domain and the intelligence from the Blood Demon Sector suggested otherwise. The hawks had been winning more advocates since then.
As an ordinary soldier in his early days and an ace Exo at present, Shangguan Ce knew the significance of crystal suits in a war all too well. Rumors had it that he was the biggest endorser of building up crystal suit legions with standard military crystal suits.
Beside Shangguan Ce sat a plain-looking, middle-aged man, who seemed to be a military consultant at first look.
But the glaring electric sparks in his eyes indicated that the man was much more than what he looked.
Guan Chao, a Cultivator at the start of the Core Formation Stage, was the second captain of 'Red Lightning', as well as a strong Exo. He was known as 'King of Lightning' in the world of Cultivators.
With these two strong Cultivators of the military joining the exhibition, a grave scent of war was immediately brought into the field. The air seemed to be filled with smokes of battlefield.
"BAM! BAM! BAM!"
21 crystal suits in various outlooks walked into the testing field slowly yet firmly.
The tests today were designed for MP crystal suit models. All the crystal suits that took part in the competition had to meet three requirements.
First, the total value of the crystal suit, including all the magical equipment that it carried, must be no higher than 500 million.
Second, more than 90% of the components and the magical equipment of the crystal suit must be able to be mass-produced.
Third, the Exo of the crystal suit must be below the Building Foundation Stage.
Tiger King, Mournful Mist, Sword Torrent, Mystic Skeleton. The four crystal suits were standing in the center, surrounded by the other 17 crystal suits.
After the match yesterday, most of the Exos had come to the conclusion that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit driven by Li Yao was as dangerous an opponent as Tiger King, Mournful Mist, and Sword Torrent were.
"Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!"
Dozens of light beams lit up in the sky of the testing field, displaying the basic introduction and the specifications of the 21 crystal suits which were to be engaged in the tests.
The tests for the MP crystal suit models had officially begun!