Chapter 645: Trial of Fire II
For most cultivators, this would be an annoying obstacle. The sheer size is enough to make them either divert their path and go around the whole pool, or outright be forced to fight with it. Both choices will result in the loss of time.
And since I"ve been traveling for hours and have yet to have a target designated, it means I"ve yet to even make it past a tenth of the distance and I"m already facing the first hurdle.
This creature had its legs planted deep within the pool and still was huge enough to emerge fully out of the pool. On its forehead was a red jewel. Maybe that was its core, but it is too obvious of a location.
The conditions of the test didn"t mention anything about collecting anything from these trials. But seeing how that jewel is standing out, it gives it a feeling of importance.
However, I"m not bothering. The test clearly mentioned that I only needed to reach my destination in time, and this could also be nothing but a bait to stall people.
The Hover-s.h.i.+p flew forward while the golem raised its arms high up. Lava poured out of its body as it was about to send both fists cras.h.i.+ng down on us.
"Break its legs," I ordered.
The puppets at the front of the s.h.i.+p aimed one of my new inventions at the legs of the creature.
I had placed two of them one on each side of the s.h.i.+p.
It was a simple weapon that was reminiscing of my improved super sniper. However, it didn"t use explosive Qi. But a far more stable resource and a resource that I can easily manipulate the output of.
Two sets of rails, each placed on one side of the s.h.i.+p, shaped in a U shape. And their base was a holster for a spatial fold where I can constantly feed the rails the ammo needed. The rails themselves were powered directly to the Synthetic Meridian at the base of the s.h.i.+p.
The Core I made is able to convert law into power, and the law I"m using to fuel these rails is Lightning Law.
Basically, it is a railgun a pretty d.a.m.n powerful one at that too.
The idea is simple, to make a railgun I"d need to charge each rod of the railgun"s rails differently. And I found out how I can do that by sheer luck.
It was all thanks to the Thundersteel which is making the rails. The Thundersteel is apparently a super conductive of negative lightning. As for the power that is coming out from the Synthetic Meridian, it is all positive lightning. Combining these two create a super electro magnetic current that can launch a projectile at stupidly high speeds.
A normal Neutron Steel projectile had managed to reach a hundred times the speed of sound. And that was using nothing but a relatively weak metal.
Though that speed is pretty d.a.m.n fast, it is still not enough to contend with some of the high-level cultivators as they can easily achieve these speeds by merely moving.
But for the most part, against beasts and monsters, this speed is far more than enough to completely eradicate them.
The problem is the projectile itself. The stronger the metal the more kinetic energy it can generate, the heavier the impact. However, I don"t have enough rare metal to create more powerful projectiles.
So, for now, I"m using all the remaining Neutron Steel I have left as projectiles. I"ll need to get to the Thunder Domain to get more minerals for myself.
The charge of this weapon takes less than the blink of an eye. And it takes even less for the projectile to shoot and reach its target.
Before the giant golem"s arms even reached halfway to their zenith, the shot had already been sent, the creature"s legs already blew up and then the sound of the explosion echoed.
The creature, unable to understand what happened fell down while my s.h.i.+p flew forward.
"X, just for the sake of caution, grab the jewel," I ordered.
X hopped out of the s.h.i.+p and flew toward the falling creature, ripped out the jewel and flew away and toward the s.h.i.+p in less than a few seconds.
Once he arrived he handed me the small piece to which I simply shrugged.
It was nothing more than a Saint Qi crystal that had been mutated by baleful energy of these lands. Utterly useless.
If it had been another cultivator they"d have spent so much time fighting this guy for a worthless reward.
I unceremoniously threw the jewel to a random corner of the s.h.i.+p and continued looking up ahead as the s.h.i.+p flew across the lava pool into the distance.
***
"WHAT A MARVELOUS DISPLAY OF SKILL! DID YOU SEE THAT DEAR AUDIENCE!"
The announcer was happily replaying several scenes from what was currently going on in the tournament.
But only a select few got the honor of appearing on the ma.s.sive screen.
Most cultivators that had the honor of appearing were all core disciples of the big eight sects.
One of these cultivators who was one of the more favored to win was on the main screen. The Demon sword who tore down the ma.s.sive golem that appeared in front of him in less than a second, retrieved the jewel and continued forward.
"This is the level of skill required to be one of the contestants! Great display of discipline and skill to have taken down a fire golem in less than a single breath even though the Demon Sword was using nothing but Void Stage level cultivation! BUT HE IS NOT THE ONLY ONE!" the announcer said.
The crowd was all hyped as they saw what was going on, "We have the disciple of the northern sea! The Frozen Heart! Although the terrain was highly incompatible with her, she managed to freeze the golem in two breaths of time! Another amazing showcase!"
"The disciple of the Blade G.o.d is also among the first to clear the first hurdle! With a staggering display of brute force! And then lets not forget the Bow G.o.d"s own disciple to have achieved such mastery of the bow at the age of only one thousand! A true genius!"
The announcer continued speaking and explaining what was going on, however, soon he saw someone that wasn"t of the great eight. A person carrying no banner or robes behind him, he wasn"t even running on his feet but sitting on a small throne like chair inside a relatively big room.
The announcer himself was confused on how this man who seemed to be doing nothing but sitting appeared on the screen, however, the screen soon zoomed out to reveal the ma.s.sive boat like structure he was inside.
Puppets were driving the vehicle and he was sitting comfortable inside it.
The announcer tried his hardest to explain what was going on as he saw the boat arrive to the golem.
"It seems that we have an eccentric appearance of a challenger! The name of this person…" the announcer didn"t get the name as Shen Bao had apparently didn"t write his real name and wrote something else.
Du Shen which translates to Poison G.o.d.
Finding it awkward to speak this name, as there was another cultivator that had the Name Poison G.o.d and was very well known in the Beyond the Announcer was in a pickle, however a Divine Sense message immediately had him speak the name.
"We have a rather interesting entry that was promoted by one of the suns themselves! Du Shen!"
The audience was confused, and the man who was t.i.tled the Poison G.o.d stood up from his seat, anger clear in his eyes. But they couldn"t speak a word of protest regardless. Since this guy was after all promoted on the screen by one of the suns, although no one know which of the eight suns did so.
"This person is named Du Shen, please do not confuse him with the esteemed Poison G.o.d here with you in the audience, apparently from the information I"ve gotten this person is also a follower of the Poison Path, although I haven"t seen anything to showcase it yet besides their strange treasure."
"Isn"t that cheating?! Why is he riding instead of using his own power like everyone else?" one of the people in the audience spoke.
And many more nodded to his statement. After all, everyone else were moving using their own prowess but this man was comfortably riding.
"Dear audience! We have confirmed that the treasure the man named Du Shen is using is actually made by himself, it is not an Origin Shattering level treasure so it is permitted."
"But it is still unfair for the rest!" some of the cultivators spectating were clearly dissatisfied.
"The treasure that this person had created are a part of his own intellect and resource, it is similar to the bow of the s.h.i.+n Ryu, the disciple of the Bow G.o.d, it is a part of them and we cannot deny him that. He must be a master puppeteer. Taking it away is the same as taking away the corpses of a corpse puppeteer it is unfair.
Also, if anyone else wanted they could also use their own flying treasures, but there is a reason why no one else is doing that but this man," said the announcer.
The audience waited for the explanation.
"To use a flying treasure would require double the Qi expenditure and mental control than what you can exert by just relying on yourself. Not to mention, it is very hard to dodge or maneuver using something that big. We"ll see right here after he faces the golem how this cultivator will react against great power!"
The moment the announcer finished his words, the golem had already raised his hands up.
The man on the screen had been leaning on one of his arms which was resting on the hand rest of the throne he was on.
He only spoke one word, and the two feet of the golem were blown up. Most people in the audience didn"t even understand what happened, and the few that did had a serious look on their faces.
He then gave another order and a puppet went to retrieve the jewel from the golem. The entire thing felt like it was not an ordeal, but a ha.s.sle the man had to go through as he threw his find away as if it was less worth than the very dirt under a man"s feet.
He then continued moving forward leaving the entire crowd and the announcer in a state of shock.
The only thing that could be heard was the hearty laugh of a man that was sitting alone on one of the eight ma.s.sive towers that were reserved for the eight suns.
The people who looked up noticed that the laughter was coming from the Dusking Sun"s own chamber. And only he was there.
"That b.a.s.t.a.r.d actually improved upon that board, good. Show me what you"re made of child!"
That was a clear compliment, a compliment from one of the suns which the majority of the people in the beyond would spend their entire lives without ever seeing, not to mention getting a hearty compliment from.
This event immediately pushed Shen Bao"s screen from being one of the many screens on the display to appear on the main screen for all to see.