Chapter 158: Passerby
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Mu, my hands! Look at my hands! You could see it swelling!" whined Ye Chong. His tone sounded like he was going to cry. Ye Chong worked for the next 35 days nonstop, just to cope with the engulfing amount of skeleton parts in demand. Since he did not have the appropriate apparatus to produce the parts, he was forced to craft them the most primitive way - by hands, which directly caused him to overwork his hands. Certainly this did not mean his hard work had gone to waste, after working days and nights continuously for 35 days, his skills had greatly improved. And right before his drowsy eyes, a vast number of high quality bones piled, it was like the discovery of treasure island, a never-before-felt satisfaction. Ye Chong even made a few pieces of skeleton parts himself for replacement, which Mu brought back to the alternate dimension along with the other funny stuffs he bought. This service was only possible with Mu Shang. If they were not there, it would not be possible to zip everything into alternate dimension. Only a high-end photon stimulated intelligence like Mu Shang could execute such task effortlessly in the alternate dimension. The iron lizard scales were also kept safely by Shang the whole time too.
"Yes, your hands are more likely to attract attention, appearance-wise," commented Mu seriously.
"All thanks to that damn Shang. Hmph, just wait for it! Shang, one day you are going to come out and then…" Ye Chong clenched his teeth while he worded his threatening remarks.
"Ye, I am sorry but I have to inform you that you are currently lacking an effective methodology to produce the desired outcome." Mu sounded as if it was for Ye Chong’s own good.
And Ye Chong shut it.
…
In Nine Gates City, when the mysterious crafter ceased his request after three days, people started receiving sets of skeleton parts one by one. Those were the one who sent the bones in the first place. So the hottest topic had shifted from why the mysterious crafter stopped the request altogether to what Santa Craft had given one of the well-behaved pilots today.
Maltese’s negotiation was not a wild goose chase after all, as he had also received one part too. It was a shoulder pad made out of bones of Crimsonpede. It was more exciting than ever to him. He loved it so much that he immediately switched to skeleton parts research to test it out.
It was a happy ending. Ye Chong managed to finish all parts 3 days prior the Level 4 Trial. What a relief.
Soon, people realized that no one else had received more skeleton parts since then. So they assumed the delivery process to everyone entitled for the parts had ended. Right on the second day after people acknowledged the end of bountiful festival, the price of the skeleton parts had its figure increased by a few digits behind. Nonetheless, no one was shaken by the tempting price enough to sell the parts in hand.
Technically in this event, both Ye Chong and the Sanctuary gained the most benefits.
Ye Chong had acquired a massive amount of rare bones, which consisted of species he had never seen before. The issue of insufficient material had been perfectly resolved. Undeniably, most of the bones were contributed by the Sanctuary.
As mentioned before, the Sanctuary also gained great benefits from the event. About 80% of the parts were in their hands while they had just contributed a mere portion of bones in their storage.
But who cares? This had nothing to do with Ye Chong. His major concern at the moment was the upcoming Level 4 Trial in 3 days. After all the remaining works had been completed, the next thing on the list for Ye Chong was to take a good rest for he had been barely getting one since the past few days to deliver these parts. He was utterly drained and urgently pleading for a break.
Two days later, Ye Chong had regained his vitality and returned to his active self once more.
And that was when Level 4 Trial was right after.
The guide was still Wei Xi, who expressed hint of respects towards Ye Chong upon seeing him. Being the guide, she was well-aware of the identity of the culprit to this fiasco of skeleton parts in the market. Her respect was not out of courtesy, rather it was out of recognition, likewise to every place else in the galaxy, the one who wielded most strength always got the respect from people, especially in Nine Gates City where people convinced others with fists mostly.
Ye Chong followed Wei Xi and passed the lobby.
A masked lady in purple walked towards them. And Wei Xi held her steps and bowed to the lady promptly. The masked lady nodded at her slightly in return, "Oh?" She stopped, upon coming across Ye Chong, "Who is this man, may I ask?" Her voice was sweet and somehow seductive.
"This is Mr. Ye who will be attending the Level 4 Trial currently," Wei Xi hastened her introduction.
"Oh? How lovely. I never expected a young man like Mr. Ye to be able to pass the first three levels so flawlessly. You are a genius indeed!" The masked lady seemed astounded as her eyes went wide.
"It’s just normal," expressionlessly Ye Chong replied in his usual indifference.
"Right? Mr. Ye is so great! He was actually the first candidate who passed all 3 levels in a row!" added Wei Xi.
"Wow, such an ambitious man, yet so capable! Uh huh. Very well, I guess I should leave now, I wouldn’t want to take up too much of the man’s time. Good luck, all the best! I have something else to do, if you would excuse me…" The masked lady motioned Wei Xi and walked away, "Good bye."
"We are pleased to see you again, Ma’am," said Wei Xi.
The masked lady had her doubt intensified as she walked… something was tickling her mind for some reason… she could not help but to turn back and have a careful look at that Mr. Ye’s back, she wondered… Who is this? Why does his back remind me of someone? I seemed to have seen this silhouette before somewhere… But I can’t remember who it was. That face of his was ordinary I must say… I’m sure I had never ever seen this man before.
Hmm… Oh wait! I remember! I have something more important to do! I don’t have time for these!
Realizing she was running out of time while being engaged in a mission, "Hah!" She baffled as she reminded herself the time should go to something else more constructive than this, "What’s wrong with me?" and she discarded her confusing thoughts.
Ye Chong however was not at ease as the masked lady. His heart nearly ceased functioning the very moment his eyes crossed her.
That… Feng Su, yes, that is Feng Su! It has to be her!
"Ye, caution ahead, it’s Feng Su!" Almost simultaneously Mu’s warning rang in his head, "And Shang had once performed a thorough scan over her curves." Added Mu, "So we knew."
Ye Chong whose heartbeat was reverberating inside tried to calm his muscles and to act naturally. He would be skewed if Feng Su actually recognized him!
Feng Su’s outfit was too outstanding, it was like her signature costume. She was in her purple garb and put her mask on forever. That outfit and that distinct voice of hers had left deep impression in Ye Chong back then. He had fought her before at the woods near Mr. Yin’s residence so he was already informed of her strength despite her deceitfully feeble physique. The wounds she caused lingered as a twitching fright in Ye Chong. Luckily he was in his Black Cove’s masks back then, so she did not truly discern every part of his face. "Or else…" shuddered Ye Chong. He refused to imagine what the lobby could have become.
Judging by Wei Xi’s reaction towards Feng Su, it was justifiable that she held a high rank in the Sanctuary… Speculated Ye Chong as he reminisced the brief moment they spoke to each other. The lady was somehow attentive over himself… And that sufficed an alarming moment inside Ye Chong.
The footsteps echoing throughout the lobby had vanished, it seemed to be safe for now, "Who is that person just now, Wei Xi? The outfit was quite odd!" Pretended all uninterested, Ye Chong asked Wei Xi.
Wei Xi snickered, "That’s our ma’am. Master Feng has always been like this. We are also very intrigued to know her face too! But I had heard that, no man ever knew how she looks other than the elder himself! Master Feng is such a great pilot, she is the ace of the Sanctuary! In spite of her achievement, she was humble and friendly, we adore her a lot!" Wei Xi’s eyes lustered with fandom, which was nauseating to Ye Chong.
I see… That explained her power. Well, my defeat back then was justified. I wonder how she would perform when she pilots a mech… Ace pilot huh? Should be really great. What kind of a mech though… that’s the question. Ye Chong was running a conference with himself.
Maybe she could be using a skeleton mech. And advanced dark Raven or something, yeah something like that…
And of all possibilities, he had never thought of the likelihood of him witnessing the actual mech himself once before…
"Well!" Wei Xi’s eyes blinked expressively, "Master Feng seemed to be really impressed of you!" She stared passionately.
"Oh, really?" Ye Chong threw a random response.
The next moment, Wei Xi carried on guiding Ye Chong to the venue. After a few turns and ups and downs, they had arrived before a room. Wei Xi gestured Ye Chong to place the wristband on his left hand in front of the door to perform the verification. Beep! The door span open.
Ye Chong walked into the room. Wei Xi did not follow however. She waited by the entrance. Her stare was frozen. The door shut itself right after Ye Chong made his entry.
At the end of the room a panel of 7 to 8 elderlies sat. They looked very old and right at their opposite a row of men stood. They seemed nervous at the slightest and like Ye Chong, they should be the candidates sitting the Level 4 Trial too.
Ye Chong’s entry caught everyone’s attention out of sudden.
"What?" Exclamations bounced back and fro. Even the calmest eyes failed to hide the shock inside. And a look at a participants could explain everything. Ye Chong soon came to his understanding that other than he himself, the rest of the candidates consisted of men in their middle-ages. They had spent their lives striving to be the best to pass the trial and this fella in his twenties popped in the crew. Obviously, Ye Chong would be eye-catching.
Ye Chong’s expression was calmer than ever, fearlessly he walked to one end of the queue.
"Ahem! Ahem!" The elderly in the middle could not stand the ridiculous exchange of stares between the candidates over Ye Chong anymore, as he coughed few times to retrieve their attention. Scruff.
And they shifted their attention back to the panel, with their eyes focused at the elderly in the middle out of the blue. He was in green robe and looked solemn with the few strokes of beard in fair white. His eyes were lustrous.
Green robe?! Ye Chong’s heart skipped a beat. He knew that only the mentalists would put on a green robe. This elderly was actually a mentalist?! Ye Chong put up his guard. Even though the mentalists were not as powerful as their pilot counterparts, they still wielded masterly mentality. They were well-trained and well-built in their heads. They possessed countless unpredictable tricks to handle people. They were highly sensible and Ye Chong did practice meditation before. He was worried if he would be caught red-handed by this elderly… if that was the case, it would be bad!
The elderly scanned through the candidates. His eyes shone sharply like a sword, which the candidates shunned as they lowered their heads.
The moment when the elderly's sight hit Ye Chong, he could feel his body being seen in and out. Goosebumps were running over every inch of his skin.
Like what other candidates did, he lowered his head instantaneously. He felt agitated, his stress building up! Mr. Yin’s head had such information before, regarding the application of this powerful stare. It required high mentality from the user however. Well, clearly the elderly was the expert among the mentalists. Although he had lowered his head, Ye Chong could still feel the stare lingering around him for a few seconds longer than the others.
"Hmm, very well. Firstly, congratulations on passing Level 3. But I must say, what awaits all of you would be a trial much harsher. Now, let me brief all of you some rules and regulations for Level 4 Trial." The elderly spoke sluggishly. His words felt like an indirect order, which caused everyone lifted their heads immediately.