Chapter 1529: Who's the Mantis? Who's the Sparrow?
Meng Chixin and Wu Suiyun patted Li Yao's shoulder neither too heavily nor too lightly with their cold hands that looked like icy mist.
Li Yao was almost shouting in excitement!
"We have just learned that you are one of the best sword forgers in the Ancient Sages Sector today, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture," Meng Chixin said solemnly. "You had an intriguing debate with Sword Maniac Yan Liren regarding swords at the Dragon Spring Meeting. Later, you also held a lecture in person where you elaborated on ancient refining arts, showing your unparalleled expertise in the field.
"In the half year that followed, you travelled among many sects and helped the Cultivators of various sects to forge swords and modify their magical equipment. There didn't seem to be a single piece of magical equipment that you couldn't refine, maintain, or modify. The power of the magical equipment that was maintained and modified by you was often more than doubled. It was almost a miracle!
"Also, we are told that you once received the heritage of 'Yan Zhu', a sword forger from the Great Zhou Dynasty, and that you have the nickname 'Grandmaster of Great Zhou' in the outside world.
"The Great Zhou Dynasty succeeded the Cloud Qin Dynasty in ancient times. The Cloud Qin Dynasty rose with their twelve Cloud Qin Gold Statues. They could not have been completely ruined when they were passed on to the Great Zhou Dynasty. At least half of them should still have been intact!
"Since 'Yan Zhu' was a top-tier sword forger of the Great Zhou Dynasty, is there any chance that he once got in touch with some Cloud Qin Gold Statues? Have the secret methods regarding the adjustment, modification, and maintenance of the Cloud Qin Gold Statues been left in his notes and his heritage? Have you learned those secret methods, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture?
"Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, we know that those secret methods are certainly your top secrets that you would rather nobody else saw. However, this is a period of life and death for the Ancient Sages Sector. We should all open ourselves for sincere cooperation! Wu Suiyun and I are already prepared to teach everybody our knowledge of the Colossi. There's no need to keep anything to yourself anymore, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture!"
Li Yao's heart was pounding, and his brain was almost exploding because of excitement!
Even though he had been considering exposing his identity, the idea had now been completely dismissed!
What Meng Chixin and Wu Suiyun suggested was that he would work as the 'technical director' of the twelve unparalleled experts. He would be fully responsible for all the technological issues about the Colossi and even all the other magical equipment!
What an important post it was!
On second thought, who was better qualified for the job than the 'Grandmaster of Great Zhou', one of the best refiners of the Ancient Sages Sector?
In such a case, would the critical parts of the other unparalleled experts not be handed over to him?
Li Yao was one of the best specialists of Colossi in the Star Glory Federation! Even without setting up any backdoors and barriers inside the Colossi on purpose, he would grasp the advantages and shortcomings of every Colossus after studying their performance parameters and tactical features, thereby taking the full initiative if a battle broke out!
"Calm down!" the mental devil shouted inside his brain. "Meng Chixin and Wu Suiyun are definitely no fools. Do not be overwhelmed by ecstasy. It is possible that they are still testing you and waiting for you to expose some openings. Maybe they saw through your identity a long time ago but simply pretended that they didn't in order to take advantage of you. They've asked you to adjust and maintain the Colossi because they want to steal the techniques from you, exactly like how they took advantage of Heiye Lan and stole the tricks on the usage of the Colossi earlier!"
Li Yao was suddenly alarmed.
The mental devil was quite right. It seemed a bit too soon for the two Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators to have trusted him and given him such an important task!
Although there was no time to consider it carefully at that moment, he should still be vigilant and never underestimate the wisdom of the ancient people. Otherwise, his outcome would only be more wretched than Heiye Lan's!
Li Yao hesitated and solemnly replied, "It's true that I received certain scraps on the maintenance of the Cloud Qin Gold Statues from the heritage of Yan Zhu, the sword forger of the Great Zhou Dynasty. However, the scraps were incomplete and unsystematic. Also, I have never practiced them in person. I'm not confident that I can accomplish such an arduous task at all!"
Meng Chixin and Wu Suiyun looked at each other and both seemed relieved. They smiled and said, "As long as you are willing to take the responsibility, it will be fine. Aren't we all blind people riding blind horses, stumbling and groping in darkness, when faced with the Colossi and the universe beyond? At least, as the best refiner of the Ancient Sages Sector and the Grandmaster of Great Zhou, you should be more suitable for the job than any of us. That's all we need!"
"Thank you for your trust, seniors!" Li Yao said in excitement. "I'll certainly do my best!"
"Very good. Besides the maintenance of the Colossi, there are another two tasks of paramount importance that can't be finished without you," Meng Chixin said. "Firstly, we need to strengthen the barriers between the Nuwa warship and the underground palace of the Pangu Clan.
"According to the calculations of Wu Suiyun and I earlier, the barriers might not be able to survive another ten years under the repetitive clash of the monsters underground. Right now, we are faced with more urgent problems and have no time to deal with them temporarily. Maybe, after we receive more powerful techniques and magical equipment from the Imperium of True Human Beings or other forces in the universe, we will be able to finish the problems in the underground palace once and for all!
"But until then, maybe we should gather the strength of the twelve of us and establish an impenetrable barrier to build up the gate together!
"Of the twelve of us, many are experts of barriers, but as for whether or not the gate should be upgraded with some confining magical equipment, it will depend on you, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture! I'm told that you are a distinguished specialist when it comes to the confining magical equipment, right?"
The mission was very reasonable. Having no reason to refuse, Li Yao nodded and agreed quickly. "I will certainly consider the issue carefully and make sure that the gate of the underground palace is safe and secure and will never be broken through by the monsters!"
"Excellent!" Meng Chixin smiled and said, "Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, you are truly a straightforward man. We have found the right person! The third mission has a higher demand on your resolution and wisdom. Maybe, under certain circumstances, we will need you to watch Heiye Lan, the female warrior from the Imperium of True Human Beings!"
"Watch her?" Li Yao was slightly dazed. "What do you mean?"
"Although the woman is just a pure warrior, her father is the commander of the Black Wind Fleet after all," Meng Chixin explained. "She must be some sort of 'noble' in the Black Wind Fleet. The way we see it, she seems to have been in touch with techniques related to magical equipment maintenance and starship operation before, which will prove to be very useful for us later.
"In our plans in the future, we will likely need her help to dismantle and crack the Nuwa Warship, to carry out part of the maintenance task on the Colossi, and even to repair her 'Bloody Blade'-level assault warship so that we also have the ability to cruise through the universe instead of being frogs in a well!"
Li Yao nodded quickly.
The two Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators were indeed thoughtful. They had made plans for Heiye Lan's starship so quickly.
He was quite right. Only when the Ancient Sages Sector boasted the ability to cruise through space would they rid themselves of the fate of being at the mercy of somebody else. If they could not beat the enemy, they could at least run away!
"That's what we are thinking about, but we fear that she might play some dirty tricks while she pretends to cooperate with us on the surface," Meng Chixin said hesitatingly. "After all, her techniques and technologies from the... modern civilization of Immortal Cultivators are too sophisticated and mysterious. Even if we are both in the Divinity Transformation Stage, it is impossible for us to understand them soon.
"If she pretends to cooperate with us and helps us repair Weary Tooth while activating a piece of magical equipment that can send messages to the mother fleet in secret and summon the Black Wind Fleet before we are ready, we will be caught in a very passive position!
"Therefore, we need an expert of refining to keep an eye on her! Nobody is better qualified for the mission than you, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture!"
Li Yao narrowed his eyes and thought quickly.
Meng Chixin's three missions were quite reasonable. He indeed seemed to be the best fit.
It appeared that he was truly an important person that could potentially decide the life and death of the Ancient Sages Sector. No wonder the two Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators had invited him for a private talk so mysteriously.
Supervising Heiye Lan had many benefits for Li Yao personally.
On one hand, he could take the chance to study the secret arts and techniques of the Imperium of True Human Beings.
In the more extreme situation, he could even consider killing Heiye Lan directly, thereby stopping the Ancient Sages Sector from joining the Black Wind Fleet once and for all!
Of course, such a course of action would definitely lead to recoil. There was no telling what kind of madness the Cultivators of the Ancient Sages Sector would do in their fury after they found that they had been tricked.
All in all, he would have one more option in his basket.
"I am not as optimistic as you," the mental devil said coldly in his brain. "I'm thinking about a story."
"What story?" Li Yao asked.
"Two countries are at war. A is a spy that Country 1 sends to Country 2. One day, A receives a mission to secretly escort B, a spy of Country 1, to the headquarters. According to A's supervisor, B doesn't know that his identity has been exposed yet. So, on the surface, the two of them are just on a trip to the headquarters to report for duty together.
"A knows that great responsibility is on his shoulders, and he must not expose his identity. Having no choice, he can only sacrifice 'B', his compatriot.
"Therefore, on the way, A and B, the two spies of Country 1 who don't know each other's identity, set up all kinds of traps and schemes for each other. Eventually, A finally 'escorts' B to the headquarters despite all the dangers!
"However, after they arrive, A and B are both captured!
"As it turns out, Country 2 knew that A and B are both spies but did not want to alarm them. So, they devised such a subtle trap by telling A to escort B in secret and telling B to escort A in secret. In fact, the two spies were escorting and fighting their own people, while Country 2 took advantage and captured the two spies with the least trouble!"
"A childish story," Li Yao remarked calmly. "There are too many loopholes. It's impossible that such things happen in reality."
"Indeed, it is impossible," the mental devil said. "However, when a spy from the Star Glory Federation supervises a spy from the Imperium of True Human Beings, he may be supervised by the locals of the Ancient Sages Sector. Such a sparrow-mantis-cicada story can definitely happen!"