Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
Li Yao said coldly, "Since your sources told me that I rank the fourteenth on the must-kill list of the Temple of Immortals, you should also know that I've slain sixteen assassins from the Temple of Immortals over the past half year, seven of whom were from the notorious 'Spider's Thorn'. One of the assassins was in the Core Formation Stage, and his heart was blown up by me while he was alive."
Master Heavenly Eye nodded. "That's very true, but it has also been confirmed that the Temple of Immortals will launch an unprecedented assault on the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting, which will be held in ten days.
"At that time, you will possibly be one of the important targets for the Temple of Immortals."
Li Yao smiled. "The Edge Sharpeners' Meeting is a gala for refiners that is held every five years. All the experts of the Flying Star Sector will gather. In the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting this year, issues regarding the stellar-level magical equipment will be discussed, with the sole purpose of dealing with the Temple of Immortals.
"Of course, the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting will be a target for the Immortal Cultivators.
"However, the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting is different from the Skyhill Sword Seminar, which is a tournament among young refiners. It will be a real summit forum and will be held in the central area of Heavenly Saints City. Other than refiners, a lot of Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators will attend the meeting, too.
"I would very much like to know how the Temple of Immortals will launch a large-scale attack under so many Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators' noses in the heart of the Flying Star Sector!"
Since the assault on the Skyhill Sword Seminar one year ago that marked the rise of the Temple of Immortals, the organization had kept quiet except for their activity on Iron Plateau.
The space pirates had been harassing the towns and people as usual, but they were far from enough to overturn the Flying Star Sector.
Therefore, everybody was speculating that the Temple of Immortals was secretly accumulating its strength and planning an earthshaking operation.
The Edge Sharpeners' Meeting was naturally the best target for the Temple of Immortals.
Everybody knew that.
But Li Yao could not begin to fathom how the Temple of Immortals could fish up so many refiners in the central area of the Flying Star Sector, breaching the protection of Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and Core Formation Stage Cultivators.
"Immortal Cultivators are not morons who will readily commit suicide. Every sign indicates that the Temple of Immortals is mobilizing its forces. Some of the spies that have been lurking in Heavenly Saints City for decades recently popped up. Their cost is quite huge," Master Heavenly Eye said.
"With that in mind, the raid on the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting will likely succeed, at least from their point of view."
Li Yao was silent.
Zhao Hongguang smiled and said, "Chairman Sand, the Heavenly Eye Sect is one of the oldest evaluation agencies of the Flying Star Sector. Their evaluation report is absolutely justified. Naturally, you are free to look for a different agency to evaluate your potential and risks, but I believe that there won't be much difference.
"You are now a pain in the ass for the Temple of Immortals, and they are very likely to summon a lot of assassins against you in the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting.
"It is quite risky for us to lend you money right now. Naturally, the interest rate is slightly higher.
"If you are not satisfied by the proposal, I suggest we talk about the deal several months after the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting, when the Temple of Immortals' plots will have proved futile.
"I believe that your credit level will have significantly improved, and your interest rate will plummet by then."
Li Yao considered carefully.
The large sum of money he was trying to collect was exactly meant for the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting.
The Edge Sharpeners' Meeting was the most professional meeting for all the refiners in the Flying Star Sector. Other than the exhibition of the latest magical equipment, a lot of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures would be auctioned, some of which were extremely rarely-seen.
The inventory of part of the materials to be auctioned had been published in advance.
Li Yao was determined to bid for twenty or so of them no matter what their price was!
Reading the proposal carefully again and again and calculating for a long time, he confirmed the details with Zhao Hongguang for the last time. "The money will all be in position before the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting?"
Zhao Hongguang smiled. "Of course."
Li Yao took a deep breath and extended his hand to the vice manager of the Cross Wind Union Back. "Deal."
He was more and more looking forward to the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting.
…
Eleven days later, in the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting at the central area of the Heavenly Saints City…
"Wow!"
The moment she stepped out of the interview car, Yi Feilan felt that a thousand colors crashed into her eyes, and ten thousand sounds were vibrating her eardrums.
Her head was dizzy, and her lips were dry.
She was a journalist from 'Entertainment Weekly', but she was like a country bumpkin who was visiting the city for the first time and felt like she had forgotten to bring her brain with her.
In space, she had never seen such a spacious man-made area that looked like a real planet, nor had she seen so many obstreperous people who had packed the entire area with barely any gaps for her to squeeze through!
The Edge Sharpeners' Meeting was divided into the sales area, the auction area, the lecture area, and the forum themed on the arts of refining in the next millennium.
Each of the areas had dozens of halls and open-air demonstration zones.
As far as one's eyes could see, every direction was teeming with people, making the place look like a lively grocery market.
The air was so hot that it seemed like it would start burning at any moment.
As if worrying that the scene was not fervent enough, hundreds of enormous light beams were floating in midair, and the broadcast balls that had wings and were boosted by power rune arrays were flying everywhere, promoting the latest products released in the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting as loud as possible.
"The annual product release conference of the Feathered Snakes Brotherhood has finished. The latest generation of 'Dragon Snake Sword', the flagship model of flying swords, will be up for sale in half a month!
"The new Dragon Snake Sword employs the latest 'Phase Phantom' technique. The trajectory of the flying sword is much more complicated and unpredictable, and the minimum spiritual energy that it requires and the telepathic thought reflection area have both been greatly improved. It is now being tested in the No.6 test field!"
"'Furious Sun', the super-large power rune array co-developed by the Burning Sun Alliance and the Star Fighters Alliance, has been released! Designed for crystal warships, 'Furious Sun' utilizes the groundbreaking hexagonal turbo boost structure and can improve the speed of the current crystal warships of the Flying Star Sector by at least 5%!
"The Furious Bears Union and the Iron Stream Crystal Suit Center have introduced their 'Heavenly Lord', a heavy, powerful crystal suit. It is going to be displayed in the No.4 exhibition hall. Ten lucky dogs will be picked after drawing lots to wear 'Heavenly Lord' in person and feel its invincibility in the test field!"
Yi Feilan felt that her legs could not support her anymore. At a loss, she clutched the seasoned journalist near her who had seen the scene multiple times. "Brother Mo, there are so many booths here. Which one should we get started with? Boss said that we must look for the thrilling news. What is thrilling news? I have no idea!"
'Weekly Entertainment Magazine of the Blue Sky Space Zone' had always been focused on gossip news. Yi Feilan was a green hand who had only just graduated this year. She did not have any idea about magical equipment or refiners at all.
However, the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting was a great event in the circle of refiners. The magazines, large and small, in the Flying Star Sector all sent their reporters. Yi Feilan's magazine was not an exception.
Compared with Yi Feilan, the old journalist, Mo Lin, was much calmer. Although he did not know much about magical equipment and refiners, either, he had done a lot of preparation work. Besides, after decades as a journalist, he had quite a lot of connections in his trade.
While communicating with his friends in the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting via a light beam and asking about the most valuable news, Mo Lin intentionally dragged his tone and said, "The thrilling news is of course the most attractive news. But our magazine is not specialized in magical equipment. Our readers couldn't care less about the performance of the magical equipment. So, it will be best if we can dig out some interesting news…
"Here it comes!"
Like a hound that saw a rabbit, Mo Xin's ears were suddenly perked up, and he exclaimed in shocked, "Air change! A young genius only fourteen years old has performed an air change, allegedly the most marvelous technique among Exos! He's in the No.2 test field. Let's go!"
Mo Lin immediately ran off.
Baffled, Yi Feilan followed him. While running, she received the background files that Mo Lin sent over and finally realized what was going on.
What was being displayed in the No.2 test field was a new crystal suit co-developed by the Refining Department of Flying Star University and the Silver Heart Crystal Suit Center.
However, it was not the crystal suit that caused such a buzz, but the tester.
The crystal suit had three models in total: high-speed scout model, melee combat model, and stealth-sniper model.
Generally speaking, the tester would retreat to the side of the arena and change to the second model with the help of staff after displaying one model.
However, during the test, the tester used air change, which was known to be a 'godly skill' among Exos, and switched to the melee combat model from the high-speed scout model in only several seconds.
He put on the stealth-sniper model in the same way.
The entire changing process took less than four seconds. It was indeed fluent and flawless!
When everybody was wondering which renowned expert was wearing the crystal suit, they were all shocked!
After the Exo took off the facial cover of his protective mustard-seed suit when he finished demonstrating the three models, the spectators discovered in shock that he was a young man!
"Fourteen-year-old, unparalleled genius!"
"The strongest newcomer of the Flying Star Sector this year!"
"A rising new star, and a legend that has just begun!"
Together with the shocking titles was a face that was handsome, indifferent, and somewhat wild.
The face alone was enough to conquer all the females from 16 years old to 160.
Looking at the picture on the light beam, Yi Feilan somehow understood why Brother Mo decided to interview the young man.
Such a pretty face would definitely be a favorite of the loyal readers of their magazine!
However, the young genius seemed to be favored by a lot of reporters.
The outside of No.2 test field was packed with people. They were all journalists who were carrying large crystal processors and microphones and eyeing each other suspiciously.
Hardly had Yi Feilan caught her breath when she saw a man dart out above the journalists' heads in her direction.
"Hooray!"
Yi Feilan almost cried in joy. It was the young genius who was running at her!
He was trying to avoid the journalists and failed to distinguish where he was going.
Gritting her teeth, Yi Feilan sprinted at the young man.
However, due to an obstruction she neglected, she fell off on the ground right before the young genius.
The young genius frowned. He was still young and not shameless enough to run away immediately after seeing the pitiful appearance of the girl. He helped her to her feet.
"Thank you."
Yi Feilan's face was red, and she breathed heavily. "Wu Mayan, nice to meet you. I am—"
Wu Mayan extended his fingers and said coldly, "Half a minute, two questions."
Yi Feilan rolled her eyes and said quickly, "Alright. You are only fourteen years old, and you are already able to perform the marvelous 'air change'. It's incredible. Can you tell us your training tricks?"
Emotionlessly, Wu Mayan replied, "That was not air change."
Yi Feilan bulged her eyes. "It wasn't? But—"
"Compared to the real air change," said Wu Mayan, who was quite frustrated, "what I just performed was crap."
"Well…"
Yi Feilan calmed herself down and raised the second question. "Wu Mayan, you are the well-acknowledge genius in Heavenly Saints City, and you have reached a level higher than many forty-year-old Cultivators at only fourteen. But you are as calm as ever and do not have the arrogance that is typical for young geniuses at all. May I ask how you have been adjusting yourself? As a young genius living in public eye with barely any peers in the entire Flying Star Sector, it is extraordinary of you to keep the inner peace!"
Wu Mayan glanced at her, his lips twitching, as if part of his hateful memory was triggered. He pushed her aside and walked away without looking back.
While walking, he gnashed his teeth. "If you are savaged in a living hell for half an hour every night no matter how dominating you are during the day, you will be as peaceful as me!"