Chapter 316: Flying Crystal Racing
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
The competitive test was a popular game in the world of Exos called 'Flying Crystal Racing'.
A Flying Crystal was a piece of magical equipment that was a bit larger than a watermelon with a smooth surface which was carved with a lot of power rune arrays. The spiritual energy contained inside it was abundant, too.
The Flying Crystal could drive the power rune arrays and flee in various directions with the surge of spiritual waves.
It could also trigger violent electric shocks when touched.
All in all, the sole purpose of a Flying Crystal was to escape control at an amazingly high speed.
Even when it was caught by someone, it would always try to flee with arc blowout and high-frequency oscillation.
The Flying Crystal used to be a piece of training magical equipment for battle-type Cultivators when they were alone.
For some strong Cultivators, they could release five to six Flying Crystals and catch all of them at the same time.
In the world of Exos, since most of the training was tedious, the game of 'Flying Crystal Racing' had been invented.
In a Flying Crystal race, a frolicking Flying Crystal would be released on a designated racetrack, which would dash forward unpredictably under the control of the pre-input telepathic thoughts.
All the crystal suits in the game would chase the Flying Crystal.
While they were chasing, they were allowed to attack each other.
Every once in a while, the crystal suit at the tail end of all the participants would be eliminated.
Flying Crystal Racing was much more about speed and agility.
The fast and agile crystal suits were naturally capable of catching the Flying Crystal before everyone else could.
However, after grasping the target, they would turn into targets themselves whose back would be attacked by every other participant.
Besides, the Flying Crystal was born with the ability to struggle violently and give out crazy electric shocks, which meant that no crystal suit would be able to contain the Flying Crystal for long.
If their attention was focused on controlling the Flying Crystal, their combat ability would be greatly undermined.
Their competitors would definitely seize the opportunity and launch their attacks.
The winner of a Flying Crystal race was not the one who passed by the finish line with the Flying Crystal, but the one who was the first to keep the Flying Crystal for a designated length of time.
For example, in the upcoming Flying Crystal race which would be joined by the 21 crystal suits, all the participants would be teleported into a world fragment where a giant racetrack had been built.
The circuit racetrack was 100 meters wide and 10,000 meters long, with traps of various types all the way to the end.
The participants were allowed to use their weapons at their will.
Every minute, the last participant in the line would be eliminated, until there were only five participants in the field.
The participant that held the Flying Crystal for a hundred seconds in total would be deemed to be the final winner.
Flying Crystal racing and super shuttle racing were the two most famous racing games in the federation, both of which were popular among Cultivators and among the ordinary people.
The tricky rules made the game full of changes.
Even the strongest crystal suit would be greatly impaired when it controlled the Flying Crystal, and those weaker crystal suits might find the opportunity to take it down easily.
No one could guarantee that they would be the winner until the last second of the game.
Such uncertainty had made all the Exos crazy about Flying Crystal Racing.
When there were more than three Exos who wanted to challenge each other, a Flying Crystal race would always be their first choice.
At 3 p.m., the convention center was devoid of any sound even though hundreds of thousands of people were inside of it. The magical equipment booths that had been jam-packed were entirely empty now. All the Cultivators and tourists went to the outdoors and gazed at the giant light beam in the sky anxiously with their mouths wide open.
In the testing field, all the audience fell into silence, too.
The students of Deep Sea University had sunk into a serene, bottomless ocean, which was even more appalling than the billowing roars in the morning.
On the opposite side of them were the delegates of the Grand Desolate War Institution who were apparently outnumbered.
But the burning fire in Yuan Manqiu alone seemed enough to vaporize all the water of Deep Sea University.
She didn't hide her sharpness at all. Her eyes stared at the direction of Deep Sea University as if they were two flying swords.
Then, she noticed that Supernova Jiang Sheng was looking at herself at the same time.
'Junior Brother, the war between the Grand Desolate War Institution and Deep Sea University has now begun!'
'Senior Sister, Deep Sea University is invincible. Give it up already!'
Invisible blast that seemed to be tearing the air apart spread from where their eyes met.
On the racetrack inside the world fragment, the atmosphere was thousands of times more intense than outside.
The 100-meter wide and 10,000-meter long racetrack was almost too large to fathom. Standing on it, humans were like ants that had fallen into a giant bowl. Their size was completely dwarfed by that of the sky and the earth.
However, the fighting will of the 21 Exos seemed to be blocking the enormous racetrack!
One minute before the match, all of the Exos were adjusting their mood and warming themselves up.
Li Yao touched the Soul Condensing Pendant.
Although the armor was too thick for him to actually sense the pendant, he still felt a fire burning inside his palm.
The heat of the fire did not seem to be physical. It seemed to be mental existence that was burning directly inside his brain.
Since the birth of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, he had noticed that the Phantom Entities in the Soul Condensing Pendant seemed to have awoken from the protracted nightmare and were getting more and more active.
Although they were still not able to communicate with each other freely, he could feel the hopeful, irresistible force, like a soft grass which had pierced through the stone pressing on it.
Maybe, with a little more hard work, the Phantom Entities would be able to find their self-awareness and become spectral Cultivators!
"Professors, Senior Brothers, I believe that the day we are actually fighting side by side is not far away!"
Half a minute before the match, all the Exos stood in the starting points that were decided by drawing lots.
Coincidentally, Zuo Feijing was next to Li Yao.
However, the two of them just exchanged glances without saying anything.
Everything that needed to be said had been said with that.
For two dangerous Exos such as themselves, trash talk before a game was of little significance.
Whatever they had to say in their mind, just say them out with flying swords, Thunder-Palms, and crystal cannons!
Ten seconds before the match, the 21 Exos were all in position like 21 solid statues.
The air was so intense that it seemed to be exploding at any moment.
A Flying Crystal landed before the start line slowly. It was emitting colorful brilliance and surging spiritual energy while it was bouncing without any pattern.
Three seconds before the match.
Activated by the telepathic thought of a high-level Cultivator, the Flying Crystal rushed forward like lightning while it was jumping up and down.
One second before the match, all the Exos had brought the performance of their crystal reactors to maximum. Earsplitting noises were echoing in every crystal suit, their backs unleashing glaring rainbows.
The match began!
"Swoosh! Swoosh swoosh!"
The 21 crystal suits dashed forward like arrows just released from bows and lunged at the playful Flying Crystal one after another.
The crystal suit leading the charge was not Tiger King, or Mystic Skeleton, or Sword Torrent, or Mournful Mist. It was a super-light crystal suit named 'Wild Skylark'.
The Wild Skylark Battlesuit treaded gently on the racetrack like a dragonfly touching a river, then it accelerated as if it were a soft smoke and caught the Flying Crystal in the blink of an eye.
"Shhhh!"
The brightness on the Flying Crystal grew much more intense. The electric arcs which looked like serpents whipped the Wild Skylark Battlesuit, making it stop briefly.
In the meantime, more than ten glaring lasers were coming at its back, which were the attacks of the crystal suits behind it when they noticed that the Wild Skylark was hamstrung by the Flying Crystal.
The Wild Skylark Battlesuit was immediately caught in a storm of spiritual energy.
The Flying Crystal took the chance to free itself and bounded forward.
When the spiritual energy dispersed, the Wild Skylark Battlesuit was almost shattered. The spiritual waves behind its back became intermittent, like the dying coughs of an old man.
Its speed was amazing, but its defense ability was too unsatisfactory. Under the interferences of the Flying Crystal, it suffered great damage from the collective attack of more than ten opponents, which crippled it on the spot.
Whoever snatched the Flying Crystal would be attacked by everyone.
However, it wouldn't help if one just stood by and watched. The longer someone else held the Flying Crystal, the closer to victory they would be. Following behind others would mean that there was no chance of winning at all.
The contradiction was also why Flying Crystal Racing was so interesting.
'That guy was too rash!'
As Li Yao was passing by the Wild Skylark Battlesuit, he glanced at it and noticed that it struggled to stand on its feet several times, only to collapse to the ground in the end.
But on second thought, Li Yao realized that the Wild Skylark Battlesuit had no advantage whatsoever other than its speed. If it hadn't tried its luck in the beginning period when everyone else was still prudent, it would've had barely any chance to touch the Flying Crystal in the remaining part of the game.
At least now, the Wild Skylark Battlesuit had held the Flying Crystal for… one second!
Right then, the crystal suits in the lead were suddenly broken into a mess because they had entered the first trap.
In the sky of the racetrack, almost a hundred winged mines were waiting for them patiently.
They were magical equipment that had been designed based on landmines. Basically, they were Thunder-Palms that could fly. They could sense the heat and vibration nearby and flew close to the source before setting themselves off.
The explosion of the hundred winged mines immediately scattered the 21 crystal suits which had been very close to each other.
However, as the explosion took place, thousands of flying swords were unleashed from a crystal suit.
It was the Sword Torrent Battlesuit!
The crystal suit co-developed by the three major sword-training sects was like a steel hedgehog with flying swords all over its body. When everyone else was avoiding the explosion of the winged mines in a flurry, it suddenly attacked them without any hesitation.
Many of the other crystal suits were caught unprepared and slowed down as their spiritual shields were blocking the incoming flying swords.
The Sword Torrent Battlesuit accelerated at this moment and dashed to the Flying Crystal which it locked in its chest easily.