Li Yao was very satisfied with Master Jin Tianzong's answer.
Of course, he was not a nice guy who pretended to be generous for no good reason.
Besides, Jin Tianzong and everybody in the Deep Sea Fleet, even though they were "rebels" in the eyes of the authorities of the Imperium, were Immortal Cultivators too.
The war between the low-level Immortal Cultivators and the high-level Immortal Cultivators was just a dog-eat-dog fight where the interests were unevenly distributed.
Every secret recipe in Li Yao's head was a priceless treasure. Naturally, he would not pretend to be a charitable guy in front of a bunch of Immortal Cultivators.
However, Li Yao was very clear about the weight of a refiner in the Divinity Transformation Stage in an organization.
It was especially so for a rebellious force such as the Deep Sea Fleet, which had just risen, it was unlikely to attract too many masters of refining to join it. Master Jin Tianzong was one of a kind.
Li Yao estimated that the Crystal Suit of the Deep Sea Fleet and even all the super experts of the "reformists" had been repaired, trained, and maintained by Master Jin Tianzong in person. Many secret military operations required targeted modifications on the Crystal Suit, which certainly could not be hidden from Master Jin Tianzong's eyes.
Therefore, making a good relationship with Master Jin Tianzong would allow him to stab into the core of the "reformists".
Besides, a lot of Li Yao's refining techniques were too profound and mysterious. Ordinary refiners would not be able to see the subtleties of his techniques at all. They would even think that he was deliberately showing off his skills. It would be quite embarrassing if he was sweating profusely while winking at a blind person.
Was he supposed to tell Li Linghai in person shamelessly, "Your Grace, in fact, my refining skills just now are so awesome and boast so many techniques, so you must attach great importance to me and drag me into the core of every secret operation?"
Only a master of Jin Tianzong's level could see through Li Yao's real value.
With Jin Tianzong as his guarantor, he was more valuable to Empress Li Linghai.
Thinking about that, Li Yao smiled and continued. "However good the secret arts to nurture the hands are, it is impossible for them to completely restore Fellow Cultivator Jin's hands to their peak state. All kinds of ancillary artificial limbs and strengthened external skeletons are still indispensable. I can tell that the strengthened external skeleton that Fellow Cultivator Jin is using right now is very delicate, but it still cannot restore 100% of your capability, right?"
Master Jin Tianzong nodded and said, "This strengthened exoskeleton is called 'Heavenly Jade Silk'. If it weren't for its support, I would've been completely paralyzed. Now, about 80% of my body functions can be recovered. This is already the most advanced strengthened exoskeleton."
Li Yao pondered for a moment and said, "The strengthened exoskeletons made of rigid metals are almost perfect as long as they are as good as Heavenly Jade Threads. However, have you ever considered refining the strengthened exoskeletons with soft metals, or rather, liquid alloys? At the very least, you can craft a pair of 'strengthened gloves' to cover your wounded hands and manipulate them with your spiritual energy and telepathic thoughts. I believe that it will be much better than the strengthened exoskeletons right now, won't it?"
"Liquid metals?"
Jin Tianzong's eyes glittered at first, but then he shook his head and said, "Are you talking about the soft metals that are used to repair the shell of starships? The spiritual energy conductivity and shaping abilities of such alloys are too poor. No matter how much spiritual energy is inputted into them, they will only turn into sticky, mud-like objects. Otherwise, they will turn into hard iron. Even if they cover the hands, how can you perform the delicate refining work?"
Li Yao narrowed his eyes and said, "Since I suggested that Fellow Cultivator Jin repair your hands with liquid metals, I was certainly not speaking without thinking. To be honest, I have a special mixture of liquid alloys, which is the most confidential of secrets and cannot be offered to Fellow Cultivator Jin easily. However, I can supply the finished liquid alloys to Fellow Cultivator Jin. Trust me. The ancillary effect of such a new strengthened external skeleton is definitely much better than that of the traditional rigid strengthened external skeleton!"
Li Yao was not exaggerating.
The new liquid alloys were not invented by him, either. He was mainly good at the design and modification of Crystal Suit, and he did not know much about the fundamental fields such as material science and metal smelting.
Professor Mo Xuan was the one who came up with the liquid metal ratio modulation plan.
Professor Mo Xuan lost his fleshly body in the great explosion of the laboratory more than a hundred years ago and turned into weird 'Phantom Entities' together with his four disciples. Later, due to the radiation mutation of the cosmic storm, his self-awareness and memories of the past were awakened, and he evolved into 'star spirits'.
During the evolution into star spirits, their souls somehow melted with the liquid metal repair materials on the starships, which equaled to a very unique 'liquid metal prosthetic body'.
Although their bodies had turned into liquid metal, Professor Mo Xuan and his four disciples had always carried out the ideal of refining. In the past hundred years, they had conducted experiments on the liquid metal repetitively, trying to produce body materials that were more sensitive to spiritual energy, faster in condensing and melting, and more suitable for refining.
What he obtained in the end was a new material named 'Water Soft Crystal'. It could fully display the characteristics of liquid metal, which were both hard and soft and had a myriad of changes.
The experiment data of the liquid metal materials for a hundred years had all been sealed in the enormous legacy and given 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 medicinal liquids to treat the hands and the rare metals and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to produce the 'Water Soft Crystal' were all precious materials that could only be found by chance.
Li Yao estimated that even Li Linghai, queen of the Imperium, would need a couple of months or even a year to collect all the materials.
However, by proposing such attractive terms, he could win Master Jin Tianzong's trust right away.
If he and Master Jin Tianzong formed a 'dual core' and monopolized the maintenance of the magical equipment of all the super experts of the 'reformists', wouldn't there be a lot of room for competition?
"Of course, everything is not free."
Li Yao did not want to appear too generous, in case Master Jin Tianzong and the other refiners grew suspicious. He simply said with a smile, "However, I respect Fellow Cultivator Jin's integrity, and I believe that you will certainly offer attractive prices, including applying Fellow Cultivator Jin's' hybrid 'concept to my Crystal Suit and giving me a hand when I craft large magical equipment, won't you?"
Master Jin Tianzong's Adam's apple was rolling up and down.
For a man who had melted the arts of refining into his blood and soul, sacrificed his whole life to the furnace, and was ambitious enough to challenge the entire circle of refiners, was there a second answer other than 'yes'?
What happened next was indeed within Li Yao's expectations.
His shocking performance in the maintenance workshop completely disrupted Li Linghai's arrangement.
Before, Li Linghai was still considering how to deal with Li Yao.
It would certainly be great to have a powerful warrior in the Divinity Transformation Stage join the team, but when there were no combat missions, it was necessary to consider whether or not Li Yao should get in touch with the most central personnel and secrets.
However, Li Yao was not just a battle-type expert in the Divinity Transformation Stage but also an expert of refining whose level was on par with Master Jin Tianzong's. In terms of practical operations, he was even much better than Jin Tianzong. So, the situation was completely different.
Besides, Li Yao had proved with his marvelous refining arts that he was not from the Imperium, which indirectly proved that everything he said was true.
Of course, Li Linghai did consider for at least thirty seconds whether or not Li Yao was a spy of the Holy League.
However, Li Linghai had never heard that the Holy League, which had just fought the Imperium fiercely for more than ten years, had such an extraordinary person as "Vulture Li Yao" who excelled in both fighting and refining.
Such a guy would be a big shot wherever he was. How could he have infiltrated the enemy's rear as a spy alone? Also, he had done it in such an … outrageous way!
Even though Li Linghai was not completely reassured about Li Yao, he reached a conclusion after a quick calculation that the value that Li Yao could provide was much greater than the insignificant suspicions about him.
As a leader of the "reformists" who intended to overthrow the four Kurfürst families' reign over the Imperium, Li Linghai had been a stubborn gambler in the first place. Regarding the issue of how to make use of Li Yao, he had put all his eggs in one basket again.
Li Yao's identity as a "personal bodyguard" remained unchanged, but he had a new, nondescript identity — the queen's personal magical equipment consultant.
The identity that equaled to "deputy director of magical equipment of the Deep Sea Fleet" allowed Li Yao to get in touch with the most confidential magical equipment projects of the Deep Sea Fleet as well as the Crystal Suit of most of the high-level commanders. He was almost on par with Master Jin Tianzong.
In any force, two masters of refining who were on par with each other would more or less have some conflicts.
It was especially so when Li Yao occupied such a high position as a newcomer, which gave the feeling that he had arrived out of nowhere to seize power.
At this moment, the two "gifts" that he threw out played a rather critical role.
Master Jin Tianzong was not very interested in power and fame in the first place. He was only obsessed with his "Hybrid Crystal Suit" project.
At first, looking at his wounded and broken hands, Master Jin Tianzong's hope in his heart was already on the brink of death.
Li Yao's arrival poured hot oil on the fire in his heart, allowing him to see the clear light of hope again.
Master Jin Tianzong still counted on Li Yao to help him repair his hands. Why would he compete with Li Yao for power at such a moment?
Therefore, the cooperation between the two of them had been rather smooth since the first day. They were like fish in water.
Despite his disability, Jin Tianzong was one of the best specialists of refining in the Imperium of True Human Beings after all, and he graduated from the Imperial Polytechnical University. His head was almost an encyclopedia of magical equipment in the Imperium, which broadened Li Yao's horizons and gave him the feeling that he could never finish reading it.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
