li yao was very satisfied with master jin tianzong’s answer.
naturally, he was not giving the man a favor for no reason at all.
besides, jin tianzong and everybody else in the deep sea fleet, although being the “rebels” in the eyes of the authorities of the imperium, were still immortal cultivators.
the war between the low-level immortal cultivators and the high-level immortal cultivators was a simple one caused by the uneven distribution of interests.
every ancient prescription inside li yao’s head was an invaluable treasure. naturally, he would not play the role of a generous giver in front of a bunch of immortal cultivators for no good reason.
however, li yao was well aware of the weight of a refiner in the divinity transformation stage in an organization.
it was especially so for a rebellion force that had only risen recently such as the deep sea fleet, which couldn’t have attracted too many masters in refining. one might even say that master jin tianzong was unique here.
li yao estimated that the crystal suits of the deep sea fleet and even all the top-tier experts of the “reformists” had been repaired and maintained by master jin tianzong in person. many secret military operations that required pertinent modifications on the crystal suits couldn’t have been a secret to master jin tianzong either.
therefore, making friends with master jin tianzong would help him reach the center of the “reformists” more easily.
besides, many of li yao’s refining arts were too sophisticated for the common refiners to appreciate. they might even think that he was deliberately showing off his skills. it would be quite awkward if he worked and sweated hard only to discover that he was giving a performance to a bunch of blind people.
it was not like he could be barefaced enough to speak to li linghai in person, like “your grace, in fact, my refining arts just now were so awesome with this and that technique, so you must pay great attention to me and involve me in your every secret operation”.
only the masters of jin tianzong’s level could see li yao’s real value.
with jin tianzong vouching for him, he would be of greater value to queen li linghai.
thinking about that, li yao smiled and went on, “even the best techniques to nurture the hands cannot restore fellow cultivator jin’s hands to their peak state. the ancillary artificial limbs and strengthened external skeletons will still be necessary. i can tell that the strengthened external skeleton that fellow cultivator jin is using right now is very delicately made, but it still cannot recover 100% of your capabilities, right?”
master jin tianzong nodded his head. “this strengthened external skeleton is named ‘heavenly silk jade clothes’. if it weren’t for the support, i would’ve been completely paralyzed. right now, about 80% of my body functions have been recovered. this is already the most advanced strengthened external skeleton.”
pondering for a moment, li yao said, “the strengthened external skeleton made of rigid metals is already perfect enough to be refined into the level of the ‘heavenly silk jade clothes’. however, have you ever considered crafting a strengthened external skeleton with soft metals or liquid alloys? at the very least, you can cover your damaged hands with a pair of ‘gloves’ and control them with their spiritual energy and telepathic thoughts. i imagine it will be much better than the strengthened external skeleton right now, won’t it?”
“liquid alloy?”
jin tianzong’s eyes shone, then he shook his head and said, “are you talking about the soft metal materials that are used to repair the shell of the starships? those alloys have poor spiritual energy conductivity and shaping abilities. however you input spiritual energy into it, it will just be a sticky mess like mud or turn into a cluster of steel. even if my hands are covered by them, how can i expect to perform the highly-precise refining work?”
narrowing his eyes, li yao said, “there is a reason why i suggest fellow cultivator jin repair your hands with liquid metals. tell you the truth, i have a very special production plan of liquid metals, which is a top secret among the top secrets and cannot be provided to fellow cultivator jin easily. however, i can supply fellow cultivator jin with the liquid metals after they are produced. trust me, the enhancement of such a new strengthened external skeleton will be much better than the traditional rigid external skeleton!”
li yao was not exaggerating.
the new liquid alloy was not his invention either. his main focus was the design and modification of crystal suits, and he did not have a profound understanding of material science, the purification of metals, and other fundamental disciplines.
the production plan of such a liquid metal was come up with by professor mo xuan.
professor mo xuan lost his body of flesh and blood in the laboratory explosion more than a hundred years ago and turned into weird “phantom entities” together with his four disciples. later, due to the radiations of the cosmic storm, their self-awareness and their memories of the past were awakened, and they evolved into “star spirits”.
during the process when they evolved into the star spirits, their souls were somehow melted with the liquid metal repairers on the starship, which gave them a very unique artificial body made of liquid metals.
although their bodies became liquid metals, professor mo xuan and his four disciples had been persisting in their dream of refining. in a time span of a hundred years, they had been refining and experimenting on liquid metals repetitively, hoping to produce body materials that were more sensitive to spiritual energy, faster in condensing and melting, and more suitable for refining.
what they eventually got was a new material named “water soft crystal”, which could fully carry out the characteristics of the liquid metals, which were both hard and soft and full of variations.
the experiment data of the liquid metal materials in the hundred years had all been sealed in the enormous heritage and delivered to li yao and the mental devil.
that was why li yao was confident that he could solve master jin tianzong’s problem.
of course, both the ancient medical fluids that could cure the hands and the rare metals and heavenly materials and earthly treasures needed to produce the “water soft crystal” were precious ingredients that were hard to come by.
li yao estimated that even queen li linghai had to spend at least a couple of months searching for all the materials.
however, after raising such enticing conditions, he could win master jin tianzong’s trust immediately.
if master jin tianzong and he could monopolize the maintenance of the magical equipment of all the super experts among the “reformists” as two cores, wouldn’t there be a lot of room that he could take advantage of?
“of course, none of this comes free.”
li yao did not want to raise the suspicion of master jin tianzong and other refiners by being too generous. he simply said with a smile, “but i do trust fellow cultivator jin’s integrity. i believe that you will certainly offer a price that will attract me, say, applying fellow cultivator jin’s ‘hybrid’ design to my crystal suit, or giving me a hand when i craft large magical equipment, right?”
master jin tianzong’s throat was rolling fast.
for a man who had melted the refining arts into his blood and soul, who had offered his entire life to the furnace as a sacrifice, and who was ambitious enough to challenge the entire circle of refiners, could he have given a second answer except “yes”?
what happened next was within li yao’s expectation.
his astonishing performance in the maintenance workshop completely disrupted li linghai’s arrangements.
at first, li linghai was still pondering how she should settle li yao.
the participation of a warrior in the divinity transformation stage was certainly a good thing, but she wondered if li yao should have access to the most central personnel and secrets when he was not on a mission.
however, now that li yao had proved him to be not only a warrior in the divinity transformation stage but also an excellent refiner who was on par with master jin tianzong in terms of level and even much better than him in terms of practical operations, the situation was entirely different.
besides, li yao had proved that he was not from the imperium through his incredible refining arts, which indirectly suggested that everything he said was true.
of course, li linghai did spend like thirty seconds considering if li yao was a spy from the covenant alliance.
however, li linghai had never heard that the covenant alliance, which had suffered a crushing defeat in the past ten years against the imperium, boasted such an extraordinary person as “vulture li yao” who was as remarkable in fighting as he was in refining.
such a man would play an irreplaceable role wherever he went. why would he have been sent to the enemy’s rear alone as a spy in such a preposterous way?
although li linghai was not entirely reassured about li yao yet, she did reach a conclusion after quick calculations, which was that the value li yao could provide far exceeded the insignificant suspicions about him.
as the leader of the “reformists” who intended to overthrow the four kurfürst families’ reign of the imperium despite the small chances, li linghai was a wild gambler, and she took a wild gamble regarding the use of li yao.
while his identity of “personal guard” remained unchanged, li yao was added with a rather absurd new identity—the queen’s personal magical equipment consultant.
the identity that equaled “deputy director of magical equipment in the deep sea fleet” would allow li yao to gain access to the top confidential magical equipment projects in the deep sea fleet as well as the crystal suits of most of the leadership. he was almost on the same level as master jin tianzong.
in any organization, two masters of refining with similar capabilities would be more or less in conflicts.
it was especially so when li yao had assumed a high place as a newcomer. it was inevitable that he gave the feeling that he had stolen somebody else’s power.
at such a moment, the two “gifts” that he offered played a vital role.
master jin tianzong was not very passionate about power or fame in the first place but was completely dedicated to his project of “hybrid crystal suits”.
before, when he looked at his wounded hands that bordered on completely destroyed, there had been little hope in the heart of master jin tianzong, who was only catching his last breath.
but li yao’s arrival poured a bucket of hot oil on the flames in his heart, making him see the light of hope clearly again.
master jin tianzong was still counting on li yao to repair his hands for him. why would he fight for power with li yao at such a moment?
therefore, their cooperation had been rather smooth and neat since the first day.
despite the disabilities, jin tianzong was one of the best specialists in refining in the imperium of true human beings after all, and he had been formally educated in the imperial polytechnical university. his head was almost an encyclopedia of the magical equipment in the imperium. li yao couldn’t help but feel that he had entered a mountain of eye-opening treasures, and he just couldn’t dig out enough of them.
also, when li yao casually mentioned the ideas or the structure designs that he got from the ancient cultivators or the kunlun relic, jin tianzong was secretly shocked too, and he felt more and more that the mysterious expert “vulture li yao” whom the queen had hired from he did not know where was too immeasurable.
