Chapter 254 – Bing’s passion
Translated by: YX
Edited by: XRCO, Earl, Natsuriayuko and De Andre
Ink City’s horizon exchange competition had just started. However, most of the audience had not recovered from the shock yesterday. Even the participants were still dazzled.
A Heaven Road List Martial Artist was killed!
In any of the planets in the Southern Sky’s 42 Constellations, it was major news. In addition, the fighter that had died was initially registered as a mechanical martial artist in the competition, setting a record that was hard to achieve. For mechanical martial artists, to be listed on the Heaven Road was a far-fetched ambition.
It had been a long time since a mechanical martial artist was ranked on the Heaven Road list. Today, those fighters on the Heaven Road List who were termed as mechanical martial artists were in fact not purely mechanical martial artists, but simply had interest in mechanical weapons, hence they named themselves as such.
Thunder was similar to them. But compared to the rest of the mechanic martial artists, Thunder had formidable strength in mechanical weapons.
After Liu Ya Zhi, who had captured people’s attention with his eye-catching performance, announced his withdrawal from the competition, the enthusiasm of the audience died down. Many of them were anticipating whether Liu Ya Zhi would be a threat to Thunder, which made them very upset over his withdrawal.
Participants of the competition included not only mechanical martial artists, but also a large number of machine engineers. After repeated research from machine engineers, they came out with a shocking conclusion. Snow, which Thunder was piloting, was a very unique form as compared to the traditional types of mechanical weapons.
Snow was extremely nimble. Never was there a mechanical weapon that had reached the level of nimbleness as Snow had.
Rumours of the Mo Family and ThunderSnow cooperation soon spread across Ink City like wildfire.
No one knew that at this moment, Tang Tian and Sai Lei had just left Ink City. The Corvus Gold and the design blueprint were all given to the Mo Family. Tang Tian, who was carrying 5.2 billion worth of Star Coins, was cautious of strangers, constantly looking around to see who might have noticed the large cash he was carrying. On the other hand, Sai Lei dwelled into her fantasy on how to best spend the fortune, while blabbering to herself on what she should do.
“I want to build a luxurious mechanical weapon!”
“I yearn for a room full of gorgeous dresses.”
“I want….”
Only after finding Bing did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Bing saw Tang Tian guilty expression and said in astonishment, “You failed?”
“I got the money!” Tang Tian let out a huge smile. He then realized that he had been smiling from just now, hence his cheeks went numb.
Bing was elated. With this fortune, they could improve their weapons enormously. And if they wanted to buy Spirit cards, they could afford a lot of good ones as well. Tang Tian as of now required rank six spirit cards. These types of cards were abundant, but it was expensive to buy quality ones since rank six cards had entered the domain of the Heaven Road List martial artists.
Rank seven spirit cards were even more expensive. And Tang Tian’s training required the use of rank six star rocks, hence their purchases were going to be very expensive.
More Star Coins signified faster progress in training. Bing understood the benefits that could be garnered from the Star Coin fortune.
“That’s great. This is a big sum of money, which can last us a long time.” They could sense happiness underneath Bing’s tone.
Tang Tian repeated to Bing the series of events that happened over the two days, including the story on Mo Family and them seeking mentorship. Tang Tian was surprised that when he told Bing about the transaction made for 100 million StarCoins for each person, Bing was not excited about it.
Bing replied, “The Mo Family is a very good ally to have. Since you guys are not going into the business of manufacturing mechanical spirit weapons, then you all will have no economic conflict with the Mo Family. Once the mechanical spirit weapons starts to rise in popularity, the status of a mechanical martial artist will rise in tandem. And with a strong foundation, Mo Family has the ability to benefit from this event. The future of the mechanical world might be dominated by both mechanical spirit weapons and blood meridians weapon sect. Since this is so, there will be a feud between us and the Blood Weapons Group. Hence, we must be ready.”
Tang Tian was puzzled and did not fully comprehend what Bing had said. “So does that mean you agree?”
“Yes.” Bing nodded. “But the mentoring price is to be 300 million for each person, limited to two people at most.”
Tang Tian took a big gulp and replied, “300 million for each?”
Sai Lei, who overheard the conversation, was stunned as well by the price stated by Bing.
“That’s right.” Bing was firm. “If it was during my generation, 300 million would have been too little to hire me as a mentor. They must be dreaming!”
Tang Tian glanced Bing and matched him up, “Big Uncle, I think I need to get to know you better. I did not expect that you were such a profiteer!”
Bing ignored him and changed the subject, “You decided to let the Wu Guang and his guys to handle the Blood Weapons Group? They are suitable for the job. Have you contacted them?”
“I couldn’t get a hold of them” Tang Tian replied. “I am not sure why the Honorable Martial Plate couldn’t be used to contact them.”
Sai Lei exclaimed, “It is because of the Spirit Region. There are too many martial spirit pieces drifting around the Spirit Region, so those items that utilize martial spirits at their core will have problem functioning. I was already worried before whether mechanical martial weapons will have problem functioning inside the Spirit Region.”
“So that is why!” Tang Tian realized.
“It is not just that.” Sai Lei explained, “To deliver messages across Southern Sky’s 42 constellations is also much easier. That includes Northern Sky’s 19 Continents. But the wide gulf makes it hard to message between these two regions.”
“Then how does one deliver it through to the Spirit Region?” Tang Tian was puzzled, “Does that mean I have to make another trip down?”
“No need. I gave them a Spirit Sound Tube.” Sai Lei was delighted, “Although I was not able to come out with something like the Honorable Martial Plate from Honorable Martial Group, delivering messages across the Spirit Region is still not too hard for me.
“Let me see!” Tang Tian was curious of the new gadget.
A green copper bamboo joint appeared in her palm, “This is one of the findings I obtained from my research of martial spirits. Every martial spirit piece is unique. There is no two pieces that are similar, just like how there is no two martial spirits that are similar. I took a completed martial spirit and separated it into two. These two had a spiritual connection between them, which allows for the Spirit Sound Tube to work. It is very hard to explain to you how it works.”
“You are right.” Tang Tian agreed, “As long as I do not have to run, I am fine with it.”
“Shouldn’t we be discussing how the money should be spent?” Sai Lei said delightfully.
Tang Tian thought, this time round it was mostly Sai Lei’s effort. Had she not discovered the value of the Corvus Gold, they could not have landed this fortune. Along the way, he could already see that Sai Lei was impatient in wanting to spend the money.
When talking on serious matters, Sai Lei expression grew solemn, “First, we need raw materials. ThunderSnow’s body is in a bad shape, but fortunately its martial spirit was improved by you. I will modify ThunderSnow’s body, which should cost around 30 million. Sky Tiger also requires an upgrade, which should cost around 20 million. These two mechanical spirit weapons will become the most advanced mechanical spirit weapons in the world!”
Holding on to 5.2 billion Star Coins, Tang Tian exclaimed confidently, “No problem!”
“My understanding of the body of a mechanic spirit weapon after all my research is now rather profound. Next stop, I will try to research on martial spirit, which should cost around 200 million. Sai Lei was stated grudgingly, “Anything regarding martial spirits is expensive.”
“I will give you 400 million.” Bing replied, “However, I hope to see a change in dimension in your research on martial spirit, and not being limited to mechanic spirit weapons.”
Sai Lei was delighted, “As long as the fundings are sufficient, it should not be a problem!”
She then looked at Tang Tian, who was the real boss managing the fortune.
Tang Tian was slightly reluctant, but he also agreed to it.
The research into martial spirits will greatly facilitate Tang Tian’s future training. The Silver Martial Spirit residing in its body is the key reason he had been victorious in his battles thus far.
“We need to upgrade the security around our shop front. Since I do not want to remain cautious of my surrounding for my entire life.” Sai Lei exclaimed.
“Can we buy Three Spirits City?” Bing suddenly blurted out.
Tang Tian and Sai Lei were stunned by what Bing said. Tang Tian then asked Bing, “Uncle, why do you want to buy the Three Spirits City?”
“Martial Spirit Chamber’s entrance!” Bing replied: “We need to transform the Three Spirits City into a impenetrable base because the entrance is an important link between the barracks and the outside world. Once Three Spirits City is blocked up, we will be in deep trouble.”
Sai Lei said, “Although 5 billion is a lot of money, it is still not enough to buy Three Spirits City.”
“We can take it one step at a time.” Bing replied, “We can first purchase the land then build a camp on it. A part of the land can be used for for Sai Lei’s experimental lab and Mechanic Spirit Weapon Shop. The rest of the area can be used as a training facility for mechanical martial artists. The facility needs to fit the requirements of the military.”
Sai Lei replied, “Similar to the Military Weapon Warehouse?”
“That’s right.” Bing continued, “We can then establish an underground network that connects to the Military Weapon Warehouse, protecting the entrance to the Martial Spirit Chamber.”
Though Bing’s tone was solemn, Tang Tian could feel a zealous undertone from the way he explained his plans in details.
Could it be that the war-minded Bing wanted to revive the honour of the Southern Cross Army? No matter how Tang Tian look at it, Bing was seen to be energetic and zealous about his plans.
He raised his hand, “How much will it cost?”
Sai Lei calculated and replied, “It will cost at least 2 billion!”
“What?” Tang Tian’s eyes were wide open.
Sai Lei counted with her fingers, “One laboratory, storefront and a training facility. The space required will take up at least one-fifth of the area of Three Spirits City. Honestly, since we live in the city, it is very difficult for us to buy land near our proximity. Hence, this establishment we plan to build will have to be constructed outside.”
Tang Tian suddenly had an idea, “What about the Lin Family? They have a huge place. Why don’t we buy the area from them.”
Sai Lei replied, “That’s right. I heard that the Lin Family wanted to migrate. It might be possible for us to purchase that piece of land. But there are bound to be countless people who are also eyeing that plot.”
“Let me handle this.” Bing said confidently and with a killer instinct that caused the two to tremble.
“If we are successful, 500 million should be enough to buy it. But to have a facility that has similar standards as the Military Weapon Warehouse will require large amounts of bronze. The Lin Family were once a mechanic clan, hence they should have stockpile left that we can takeover. I estimate that we might need a further 1.2 billion for the bronze.”
This sum made Tang Tian shudder.
“The remaining 300 million can be used to replenish weapons and to create a mechanical beast for defensive purpose. Since the area will be huge, we will require a mechanic beast that might cost quite a sum. 300 million might not be enough.”
Bing looked at Tang Tian.
Tang Tian had never seen such passion in Bing’s eyes before. The relationship and trust between them was incomparable to others. Without Bing, he wouldn’t have been here.
Tang Tian gritted his teeth and gave in, “Okay! I will give you 2.5 billion! Do not save on the laboratory, we need to buy a good one.”
Sai Lei was stunned. What is wrong with these guys today?
Bing was not surprised. He replied solemnly, “Thank you!”
Tang Tian had spent roughly 3 billion. “What else do you guys need? Just tell me!”