Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Xie Qianhe was quite shocked.

In order to make sure that the evaluation meeting was unbiased, nobody except the host knew the object to be evaluated.

Xie Qianhe had known that Master Xue Yuanxin was crafting a brand-new Ares Extension and that Sand Scorpion was involved in the project, too.

However, as an outsider, he was not clear on whether Sand Scorpion was merely the investor or really working as part of the team and making contributions.

But he did not think much. As an experienced refiner, he left all the annoyances behind him when he devoted himself to his work.

He was half an hour late, and the evaluation meeting had long begun. A piece of giant anti-gravity magical equipment was placed on the platform, supporting an Ares Extension in midair. Half of the Ares Extension has been dismantled with only the framework left, which looked like a dinosaur fossil recently excavated.

Even so, the elegant design and the intimidating aura of the extension were still apparent.

The experts of the trade all took out their secret gadgets and evaluated the parameters of the Unparalleled Extension with their ultimate skills. They dismantled the magical equipment and studied the components while they commented on it.

”This is indeed Master Xue Yuanxin’s masterpiece. The prolonged preparation was definitely worth it. I’ve seen a lot of crystal suits and Ares Extensions that employ the principle of biomimetics. However, Master Xue is the only one who has achieved the perfect balance between defense and agility by combining biomimetics and aerodynamics!”

”As a brand-new alloy, the Super Bendable Steel utilizes a unique honeycomb structure that can crystalize the spiritual energy when it floods in with an extremely low loss rate. Together with the special ripple-like buffer rune arrays, the spiritual energy can be absorbed, stored, and unleashed again!”

”Although the material’s longevity is too short for it to be applied to normal magical equipment such as crystal suits, it is perfect for an Ares Extension for one-off usage.”

The experts of the trade all complimented the Unparalleled Extension.

Xie Qianhe circled around the framework of the Unparalleled Extension and tested the technology of spiritual energy storage in the breastplate. He was deeply amazed and nodded in approval, too.

Master Huangpu, on the other hand, had been testing the spine of the Unparalleled Extension in a corner of the test field. Now that the examination was finished, he joined the crowd and smiled. ”Old Xue has been quiet in Flying Star University for the last couple of years. I thought that he’d given in to his old age and did not expect that he would present such a big surprise for the world of Cultivators out of nowhere!

”Thankfully, the Silver Heart School has not initiated any important Ares Extension projects in recent years. If we had, we definitely would have been eclipsed in the competition!”

The refiner from the Red Line School observed bitterly, ”The Red Line School prepared to release an Ares Extension during the Edge Sharpeners’ Meeting. Now, this is going to be a clash!”

Everybody laughed, knowing that the refiner was merely joking.

Before Master Xue Yuanxin joined Flying Star University, he had worked as the First Armadominus in the Red Line School for decades. The Red Line School was like his home, and it was quite proud now that Xue Yuanxin presented such a great product.

Moreover, even if the Ares Extension manufactured by the Red Line School was not as good as ’Unparalleled’, there would still be endless benefits if they continued cooperating with Master Xue Yuanxin.

Therefore, although the refiner from the Red Line School sounded frustrated, he was actually wearing a smile and felt equally honored.

Master Huangpu smiled. ”Come here, everyone. Old Xue spoke to me in person, telling me that the spine of the Unparalleled Extension is the most delicate part of it. I have just examined it, and it is indeed extraordinary. Here, you can have a look yourself.”

The supportive axis in the back was the most important part for both crystal suits and Ares Extensions.

The supportive axis connected the crystal processor above, the super-compressed crystal reactor in the middle, and the main power rune arrays at the back.

Just like the spine of a human being, it was always of paramount importance.

If the spine was broken, a man would be paralyzed. It was exactly so for the supportive axis.

Therefore, the supportive axis was also known as the ’crystal spine’. It was one of the most essential units for crystal suits and Ares Extensions.

Taking a deep breath, Master Huangpu Bo rubbed his hands. White mist as thick as water flowed out of his palms and divided into four streams.

An intact crystal spine was dissected into dozens of fundamental components after several cracking sounds.

Most components were left aside. But seven intriguing components in eccentric shapes were gathered in the middle.

It seemed that they were the core components of the crystal spine.

The seven experienced refiners all held their breath and observed the seven components carefully.

The seven components were all in irregular forms and had sharp edges. They looked somewhat similar to the real spine of a dragon.

When aimed at the light, colorful brilliance was vaguely spreading out like hazy mists.

”This is—”

Xie Qianhe tried to explore one of the components with his spiritual threads to determine the materials that constituted the component.

Yet, his soul shivered, and his face color immediately changed.

”This component is made of the Heavenly Fire Wolfram, the Moon Tear Germanium, and the Electric Brewer Bronze, three extremely aggressive materials, as well as dozens of other microelements!

”How can that be?”

Xie Qianhe had a deep understanding of material science. He said, ”Heavenly Fire Wolfram, Moon Tear Germanium, and Electric Brewer Bronze are the ultimate materials of the fire class, the water class, and the electricity class respectively. They are all extremely violent!

”Just as there can’t be two tigers on the same mountain, the three materials are like ’tyrants’ among Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Only one of them can be used as the main material for a piece of magical equipment. Other materials should all be ancillary ones.

”It is already extremely difficult to meld two of the materials into one, not to mention combining three steadily and naturally while maintaining their respective features!

”Master Xue Yuanxin is indeed not old yet!”

”And this one—”

Xie Qianhe’s shock had not ended yet. When he triggered the component with his spiritual energy, he seemed to hear a sign from the inside of the component. Then, three tiny rune arrays appeared on the surface of the component that had been empty a moment ago.

”Hidden runes!”

Xie Qianhe’s eyes opened even wider.

Hidden runes, as the name suggested, meant rune arrays that were hidden inside the magical equipment instead of being carved on the surface.

There were many merits to such a practice. The rune array would remain intact for longer and was less likely to be damaged. It would be less affected by the spiritual waves of the outside world, and the circulation of spiritual energy would be smoother.

But it was extremely difficult to compose hidden runes. Even Xie Qianhe was not confident that he could leave hidden runes on any material, much less a weird, synthesized one!

However—

Xie Qianhe gasped.

Something weird happened.

While he sent more spiritual energy into the component, the three hidden runes on the surface of the component underwent subtle changes and turned into three entirely different rune arrays!

”Stroke switching!”

Xie Qianhe was dumbfounded by Master Xue Yuanxin’s amazing skills in refining.

Stroke switching was another sophisticated technique in refining that allowed a refiner to compose different rune arrays on the same spot with different ink and methods.

When the telepathic thought from the user or the spiritual energy sent in were altered, the runes would change into various forms accordingly.

However large a piece of magical equipment was, the space for runes was always limited.

When one could only carve five rune arrays with the common techniques, they would be able to carve fifteen or even more with the ’stroke switching’ technique.

It was needless to say which of the two choices was better.

Take the component in front of Xie Qianhe for example. The two sets of rune arrays that appeared before and after both highlighted ’solidness’, ’sturdiness’, and ’persistence’. But he had sensed that the first set of rune arrays was more focused on attack while the second gave more attention to defense.

It meant that the Unparalleled Extension could be switched between the aggressive form and the defensive form freely at will after adopting such a design.

”Combing three materials as volatile as Heavenly Fire Wolfram, Moon Tear Germanium, and Electric Brewer Bronze perfectly and composing six sets of different rune array groups in the tiny space with the hidden rune technique and the stroke switching technique… The spiritual energy circulates smoothly, and the hundreds of runes do not affect each other at all!

”The toughness and performance of the component is at least 30% higher than components of the same type.

”Immeasurable. Truly immeasurable!

”As expected of Master Xue Yuanxin, the previous First Armadominus of the Red Line School!”

Xie Qianhe was fully convinced. Such marvelous arts of refining were perhaps unattainable for him in the rest of his life!

However, on second thought, Xie Qianhe felt happy and grinned when he realized that his daughter would probably study equally marvelous refining skills from Master Huangpu, who was as famous as Master Xue.

The other few experienced refiners surrounded the seven irregular components and were all amazed. They all sang its praises.

”The core components of the crystal spine must’ve been polished by Master Xue in person. They are indeed wonders!

”The seven core components alone are enough to support an excellent Ares Extension even if there is no Super Bendable Steel!”

”Not just the Ares Extension! The seven core components are at a very advanced level in regard to sturdiness and functionality. They can be applied to many high-end crystal suits!”

”For example, ’Red Phoenix’, the flagship model that the Red Line School introduced this year, specializes in high-speed scouting. It has an extremely low weight. But to achieve the purpose of reducing the weight, the performance of the crystal spine was not very satisfactory.

”If it is strengthened with the same techniques as the seven components, the performance of the crystal suit will definitely be upgraded!”

The other few refiners all nodded their heads in approval.

The amazing performance that the seven components showed had proved them qualified enough to be applied to magical equipment of various types. They could turn ordinary into extraordinary and ultimately improve the quality of a piece of magical equipment.

They whispered to each other and planned to talk with Master Xue about cooperation or even transferring the techniques.

But with a complicated smile, Master Huangpu sighed and said, ”If I may suggest, you can stop thinking about how to please Old Xue.”

”Why? Is Master Xue unwilling to transfer the techniques?”

The refiner from the Red Line School said confidently, ”As long as Master Xue is willing to transfer the techniques, we can pay whatever price he wants!”

The Red Line School was practically Xue Yuanxin’s home, and the two parties had always been in a close relationship. If the techniques were confidential, they could always rehire Master Xue and ask him to provide technical support.

But Master Huangpu shook his head and said, ”No. According to the work report of the Unparalleled Extension in my hand, the seven core components were not refined by Old Xue, but by Sand Scorpion, the second refiner of the Unparalleled Extension!”