Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

While they were talking, the red-and-white bubbles were inflated again, which looked exactly the same as before, except for the black spot at the center.

”You can picture the encryption as the immune system of a human being and Black Worm as a virus.”

Yuan Qi explained, ”Since the double encryption is too complicated to be broken through all at once, the worms I deployed would compromise parts of the encryption first and take in their forms so that the trigger system of the encryption would be fooled. When 90% of the encryption has been replace by the worms, it will be the time for the general offensive.”

Yuan Qi stopped and looked at Li Yao in a very strange way.

Li Yao didn’t understand what was going on. He stared back at Yuan Qi.

Half a minute later, Yuan Qi sighed and said, ”The reason why I explained so much to you and even translated the arcane arts of encryption hacking into a simple and easy metaphor is because I want to tell you that this is an extremely complicated, awesome, and troublesome technique that I’ve been working on for many years, which means—

”It’s very expensive!”

Li Yao was dazed. His face was flushed.

”I’m sorry, Master Yuan. I wonder, how much will it cost to crack such a double encryption?”

Yuan Qi replied, ”Usually my customers have all consulted with other encryption hackers who can’t solve their problems. That’s why they come to me. So, my charge is relatively high. Generally speaking, a hundred million for my service.”

”A hundred million?!”

Li Yao trembled in shock.

He was not used to the prices of the Cultivation world yet, which seemed to him to be in a state of apocalyptic currency inflation.

”Of course. How else do you think I can pay for my super shuttles?”

Yuan Qi rolled his eyes. Then he changed his tone and said in a smile, ”However, here’s something I’m very curious about. Based on the few words you told me, I was already able to beat Gao Rong’s ass and improve my personal record by 7%.

”What will happen if you help me modify a super shuttle, one that is best fit for my own driving style?”

It was a very reasonable requirement. Li Yao thought for a moment and said, ”But I can’t do anything without a workshop and modification modules.”

Yuan Qi spoke fast, ”I’m an old customer of the few super shuttle workshops nearby. There won’t be a problem to borrow one room and a few mechanics to help you for a while. Their module list is very thorough, too. If they don’t have the module that you need, they can ask the dealers to ship the module to them easily. Money won’t be a problem, either. Whatever you need, just pick ’em!”

Li Yao pondered for a moment and then said, ”I also need footage of you in super shuttle races from various perspectives. The more, the better. I need to analyze your driving pattern and capability.”

Yuan Qi nodded his head,

”No problem. I always save the footage of every race I’m in. They will be given to you in a moment. Is there anything else you need?”

”There is.”

Li Yao said seriously, ”Show me a set of martial arts.”

Yuan Qi was dazed.

”Quadrilateral coordination is very important for drivers. I need to see how good you are.”

Deeply frowned, Yuan Qi made a funny noise. He seemed to be suddenly caught by chondropathy and performed crookedly what could almost be called ’Thirteen Forces of War Beasts’.

”Awesome, Master!”

”Master is as handsome as ever whatever you’re doing. Little Right can’t hold myself anymore!”

The two artificial souls were singing, dancing, moaning again around him.

Yuan Qi gnashed his teeth and asked, ”Now, is everything good?”

”Yes, everything is good.”

Li Yao smiled. Cracking sounds came from his fingers as he crossed his fingers and pressed them.

An intimidating aura of mastership enveloped Li Yao, the same as Yuan Qi back when he was behind the virtual keyboard.

…

Half an hour later, in a super shuttle workshop not far from the warehouse…

”Mr. Sun, this is Master Fang, an expert that I hired recently. Master Fang is going to modify the ’ ALKAID 1 ’ that I sent for maintenance here the other day. He is going to need one of your rooms as well a few mechanics to help him. Is there any problem?”

Yuan Qi was very familiar with the boss of the workshop. He grinned as they spoke.

”Of course not. I’m sure that Master Fang must be a top expert of the trade. We’re grateful that we have the opportunity the learn from Master Fang. No problem at all.”

Mr. Sun showed them the way into his workshop with a big smile while he was sneering in his mind wondering how much money this so-called ’expert’ had swindled out of Yuan Qi.

This was not the first time that Yuan Qi had introduced an ’expert’ to him, who was entrusted by Yuan Qi to modify his super shuttles. Expert or not, the fees they charged were all shockingly high.

But of course, Mr. Sun wouldn’t say it out, because just like the ’experts’, he was also counting on Yuan Qi’s money to feed his own family.

Anyway, Yuan Qi was a well-off encryption hacker. The expenses were nothing in his eyes.

In Mr. Sun’s eyes, the top principle of the Cultivation world was that friendliness was the harbinger of wealth. It was best to flatter one another and make money together. Why should he tell the truth and scare the big client away?

Therefore, the moment Li Yao entered his door, Mr. Sun had started adulating him.

According to the five minutes of speech that he gave, Li Yao had become the best super shuttle modifier in the entire Star Glory Federation.

”The ’ALKAID’ is all yours now. She is my most beloved super shuttle. I’ve had to keep her here for maintenance because of a minor accident the other day. That’s why I had to use a substitute for the race today.”

Yuan Qi smiled, ”It’s quite time-consuming to crack a double encryption. I expect that there will be another day and night before it is done. I need to keep an eye on the process. In the meantime, I hope you can give ALKAID a new life.”

Yuan Qi left the workshop. Mr. Sun and a few mechanics came close and grinned.

”I don’t think we’ve met before, have we?”

Li Yao nodded his head. He said, ”I don’t participate in super shuttle races. I’m just an amateur, modifying shuttles for fun, that’s all.”

Mr. Sun and his mechanics looked at each other in amazement. ’Impressive! An amateur has earned Yuan Qi’s trust. He must know what he is doing.

’Watch and learn how he does the job!’

Mr. Sun gestured to the mechanics with his eyes.

Yuan Qi was not a newbie who knew nothing about super shuttles. Yet, he was not an expert of it, either. Such snobs were the easiest to trick. But it required true knowledge to fool them too.

Mr. Sun and his lot was wondering how Li Yao was respected as ’master’ by Yuan Qi.

Li Yao was indifferent to their reactions. He buried himself in his own world.

Pondering for a moment, he inserted the jade slips that Yuan Qi offered to the mini crystal processor.

”Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!”

More than ten feeds of Yuan Qi’s races were opened simultaneously. He concentrated his attention on them and started studying.

Three hours later, he was still studying.

Li Yao was frozen solid. Even his eyelids seemed to have been glued. The three hundred or so video clips had been played for seven times, yet they were replayed in slow motion for another time.

One mechanic couldn’t help but ask, ”Is he asleep?”

Everybody was impatient after long-time watching. Many of them were yawning. Even Mr. Sun was feeling drowsy.

An hour later, Li Yao rose up and woke Mr. Sun who was taking a nap.

”Where’s the ALKAID? I need to see the shuttle.”

Inside the garage, in the deep darkness were seven parked shuttles, including a few armed shuttles that worth tens of millions.

Yet their brightness was all eclipsed by the super shuttle in the middle that was black and red.

The super shuttle had been designed with an aggressive style. Its sharp edges brought the feeling of a black dagger in blood that was ready to pierce through the heavens and tear the stars apart.

Closing his eyes, Li Yao could picture the super shuttle storming in a beast tide crumbling everything in its way with nothing but the shocking speed.

No wonder it was named ’ALKAID’. It seemed to be capable of slashing an entire army from head to toe without any interruption.

The hatch of the shuttle slid open. Li Yao sat inside and stretched his spiritual threads to every corner of the super shuttle. He felt that the super shuttle and him had melded into one which shared the same blood and soul.

”Lup dub! Lup dub! Lup dub! Lup dub!”

The hatch was closed. The whole world disappeared in silence. The only thing that could be heard was his own heartbeat that was faster and faster.

”Lup dub! Lup dub! Lup dub! Lup dub! Lup dub! Lup dub! Lup dub!”

How long had it been since he last felt his heart beating so fast?

The dashboard was filled with spiritual energy. By telepathic thoughts, one control rune array after another was lit up.

”BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”

The anti-gravity rune arrays of ALKAID started working. It floated from the body of the shuttle, shivering with heavy breath, like an excited fierce beast who was ready to lunge at its prey after a life-long wait.

”Let me see how good this ALKAID is… or how good I am!”

Deep inside his brain lurked countless memories of racing games. He was born into this world with these memories, which were much more profound than Ou Yezi’s.

Car racing was almost his instinct.

Three months of crystal suit training had endowed him with a lot of driving skills—driving a crystal suit was quite similar to driving a super shuttle, if not hundreds of times more difficult.

If he could handle a crystal suit, he could certainly handle a super shuttle.

The seemingly complicated dashboard of the super shuttle was as clear as a drop-down menu in Li Yao’s eyes.

With a telepathic though, ALKAID rushed out like a laser!

…

Next day in the morning, Yuan Qi, who had been busy all night, returned to the workshop.

Although his eyes were full of blood streak, he was really excited.

However, to his confusion, Mr. Sun and his mechanics looked awful in the workshop.

Seeing their terrified faces, one might have thought a majestic, prehistoric animal had ensconced itself in the room behind them.