First and foremost, he purloined the cadaver, using his partner to cover it up, to conveniently blame that certain partner for his own crime and to extort the money. Each and every deed of his was performed in such a way, that he’d reap benefits no matter what.
Reluctant to regard an adolescent as guilty, he’d concocted various explanations in order to rationalize his actions, but by now, he was almost positive that Qi Ze’s past was anything but uncomplicated and he unequivocally had devised a convoluted plan. He was already ordering Ouyang Ye around; with his family having a hand in the trading of military supplies, he was found to be truly useful.
Even though he gave the cadaver to Ouyang Ye, he was free to get it back at whatever time it was required. How could an individual as dim-witted as Ouyang Ye be evenly matched to him? As for bartering materials for power, it was nothing but a crude mesh of deceit, and if it were to be known by others, not even a three year old toddler would be tricked by such a hoax.
What exactly did Ouyang Ye eat while growing up? Shit? During the time Yan Junyu tailed along, thus far he had noted down in his mind manifold letters of notice for his discontinuation of his schooling.
“Are you cold, Shao Qi? There must be something wrong with the temperature control device at the training ground,” said Ouyang Ye as he wrapped his arms around his chest.
“Not really,” Qi Ze stepped into the fairly large field. His booming voice reverberated inside the open space, the sounds echoing through the air, which carried an odd scent. “Take this sword.” Just as he uttered those words, a sword reaching the length of 80 cm materialized in the palm of his hand. Light bounced back from the side of the brand, resembling a gust of icy-cold air caressing the smooth ridge of the sword, ultimately coalescing and forming the sharp blade; it suggested, for one reason or another, that nothing was considered an obstacle by the one wielding such a weapon.
Despite owning a plethora of items of the highest standard, something attributable to him having deep pockets, it was still his first witnessing such splendor of a sword with an ancient style and taste. After being dumbstruck for a while, he gulped and tentatively spoke, “Shao Qi, this sword is much more lavish than the finest of collections kept in the Imperial Museum. It’s an antique, right?”
Yan Junyu was equally as stupefied. The old Marshal Yan enjoyed collecting antiques, specifically weapons, meaning that Yan Junyu was accustomed to seeing them and was able to recognize their value immediately upon looking. Therefore, the sword was not by a long shot a replica made recently, but a weapon of superlative appearance and texture. If someone were to bring it to an auction house, it’d be worth more than nine figures.
If Qi Ze possessed treasure of such value, why would he bother blackmailing Ouyang Ye? Why was he incapable of paying his tuition and living expenses? As Yan Junyu gazed at the youth holding the blade, more questions surfaced inside his head.
Qi Ze hardly gave this peculiar situation any thought, tossing the sword at him, commanding, “attack the robot and see what it’s capable of.”
Ouyang Ye caught the sword reflexively and hurriedly hacked at the training machinery. The robot was programmed to exchange blows with its opponent—it dodged with an incredible velocity and was preparing to strike back. However, he perceived a drawn-out buzzing noise at the same time as the cutting edge of the sword slashed at the air, sending indiscernible shock waves and penetrating the robot’s metal shell. In a flash, the frosty light faded away and the gash caused by the sword on the metal covering, stretching to half of a meter, became evident to the others. It stabbed squarely into the concealed energy center.
Eventually, the robot came to a standstill after taking two steps.
“Did I do this?” Pointing at the damaged metal plate, Ouyang Ye asked unsurely, “I don’t remember hitting it that hard. Did I do it? Am I wrong?”
“No, you didn’t do anything. The Wind Blade did it.” Yan Junyu saw Qi Ze in a different light now. A sword could not unleash its power without the one holding and using it being endowed with an astounding amount of ability. Yet, the weapon of a person with extraordinary talents must be molded and forged from a special kind of metal, or else the conduction of the power would be weakened and less effective.
The conductive metals were, indubitably, sought-after and valuable, most of which were used to manufacture super mecha armor. It was also utilized in the production of individual weapons at small-scale, though they weren’t made available to the public, but could be operated only by agents designated by the Military Ministry. This was the exact reason why one needed affluence, authority and prestige to purchase such a weapon.
Yan Junyu was born superior to others in aptitude, being a dual user of the thunder and fire elements, and was the head of the Yan family. Still, he received his first elemental1 weapon at the age of twenty-eight, at his opulent coming-of-age ceremony. It was a dagger of the fire element, amounting to tens of millions, and had saved his life countless times.
Only those who had handled elemental weapons before had the luxury of having the knowledge of their genuine power. It could be said with certainty that Qi Ze’s weapon is a sword of the wind element—Ouyang Ye was not a user of the wind element.
Yan Junyu couldn’t make clear everything unfolding before him with his existing cognition. He’s not idiotic enough to believe that Ouyang Ye was intentionally hiding his natural abilities. The Ouyang family held in high esteem the strong. No, it should be said that the entirety of the Black Eye Galaxy held in high esteem the strong. Supposing that he was, in actuality, an individual with extraordinary talents, he would never stand and witness his mother be mercilessly killed by his father’s mistress, let himself be overpowered by Ouyang Duanhua, or give up his inheritance.
Watching Ouyang Ye’s expression scrunch up in bafflement, he was astonished, struck dumb with amazement and couldn’t believe his eyes. Everything proved that even he wasn’t sure what had just occurred.
“Who the hell are you?” Yan Junyu questioned the youth, but he was not provided with any answer.
“There’s not one single person willing to entrust elemental weapons to a secret agent who may die at any time,” he murmured as he shook his head. At the very least the mecha advance unit controlled by Yan would never have been willing to waste many riches on spies. At most they would issue elemental weapons to those possessing abilities above grade A+. It was a customary military notion that the strongest forces must be equipped adequately, so that the outcome of their battle would be destructive.
Is Qi Ze a spy? This question, which had long been answered in Yan Junyu’s mind, was now marked with a bright red question mark.
One living being and one undead soul were still staggered. Qi Ze pulled out another sword and uttered, “how about this one? See the sandbag hanging there? Don’t go over and just stand here to attack.”
Ouyang Ye grabbed the sword in a daze, lacerating the sandbag ten meters away. The blade sputtered a crackling scarlet flame, increasing the room temperature instantly and thawing the bitterly cold atmosphere. The air wave, caused by the hotness of the blaze, contorted Qi Ze’s cool and impassive face, and Yan Junyu’s spiritual body. It was the first time ever since his tragic demise that he could, once again, feel physical pain. The fierce heat seared his skin, which resulted in a sudden agony shooting from deep within his soul. He suddenly understood that if the sword were to strike him, perhaps that’d be the end of his existence.
Could elemental weapons seriously harm one’s spiritual body? Presuming that it’s true, the person wounded by one such weapon would also suffer damage to their mental power. However, any previous cases similar to this had never been mentioned to the public; the Imperial Military Research institute had never released such news before.
It’s a no-brainer to conclude that Qi Ze’s sword was outstanding. His insouciant attitude further consolidated the fact that it was no big deal for him to own two weapons of different elements at the same time. His origins and background were far too complicated for Yan Junyu to fully decipher him, not to mention his purpose for coming to Neptune.
While pondering, the blaze was like a fire serpent, swiftly and skillfully chopping the sandbag into small pieces, and throwing itself against the metal wall behind. The sound resembled the sizzling of a flame melting objects. After a few minutes, the fire of extremely high temperature had been wholly put out. A charred hole was the only thing left behind in the metal wall with the strength of a grade A, giving a glimpse into the brickwork.
“El… e… men… tal… weapon…?” Ouyang Ye spoke haltingly his guess word by word.
Qi Ze moved his lips and seemed to wish to disagree, but he didn’t say anything in the end.
Ouyang Ye corrected himself, “no! It can’t be an elemental weapon, I don’t have any powers!”
“It is, actually, an elemental weapon,” Qi Ze knitted his eyebrows together, as if confused by his statement. After taking back the two swords, he explained patiently, “it’s not your run-of-the-mill elemental weapon, but a…” He paused for a tad, then clicked his tongue in annoyance, as if looking for the proper term. He continued, “but a superconductive one.”
“A superconductive weapon? What’s that?” Ouyang Ye was stumped.
Qi Ze didn’t open the holographic screen, so he couldn’t discern visually whatever he was searching for in his mind. Ouyang Ye might have just thought that his pause was deliberate, in order to create a more suspenseful moment. However, Yan Junyu saw right through it and soon interpreted the sudden cessation as Qi Ze thinking about what nonsense to spout. He leafed through the dictionary and searched for metal types, read about superconductive metals, and created this ‘superconductive’ weapon on the spur of the moment. Why was it so obvious that it’s fabricated? Because Yan Junyu himself was well-versed when it came to weapons. He had seen and even used new weapons that had never been made public or were still under research.
Supposing that the Black Eye Galaxy truly had superconductive weapons, capable of transforming ordinary people into individuals with extraordinary talents overnight, he would’ve been informed about such valuable pieces of information.
“Everyone is blessed with an unknown instinctive aptitude, maybe a special constitution, or a variation of mental powers and strength. I tested you while you weren’t paying attention with a soul stone and found that you have a dual spirit root of wind and fire, that is to say, you could have dual powers of wind and fire, but oddly enough, they can’t be summoned yet for some reason. Superconductive weapons can guide your elemental powers, to awaken them,” clarified Qi Ze in as little words as possible.
“What’s the reason for this happening? Can you cure it? And what’s this about having a spiritual root2?” Ouyang Ye latched on to the focal point of the discussion.
“Do you even know what ‘some’ means? If you don’t, then I suggest you look it up.” Qi Ze expertly circumvented the last question with an impatient attitude. Why had he brought up the spiritual roots into the conversation and what were they? No matter how much he strained himself to explain it ably, the other would never truly understand.
Ouyang Ye did, indeed, look it up in the dictionary and read it aloud slowly, “some means ‘used to refer to someone or something that is unknown or unspecified’. Something that is unknown, that is to say, Shao Qi, you have no idea?” He stroked his nose thoughtfully and mumbled, “Shao Qi, I get what you mean. Only by using your sword can I summon my powers. Without them, I’m still the same old waste wood, is that true?”
Qi Ze inclined his head in agreement coolly.
“Did you ask me for military supplies to acquire these two swords?” Ouyang Ye had an epiphany, subsequently looking shamefaced. He really considered Shao Qi to be a professional blackmailer who specialized in slaughtering skilled bastards!
“No, these two swords are of incredible significance to me and will not be given away to anyone. I just want you to try them out.” Qi Ze put the sword into his Interspatial Button and said, “if you can obtain everything within a month, I’ll sell you a wind and fire elemental weapon. The quality of it will surpass today’s two swords. How does that sound?”
“If you wish so, even if you’ll end up with no money at all!” Ouyang Ye couldn’t contain his glee, becoming delirious with joy as if he won the lottery. He couldn’t help but rejoice that he chose to believe in Shao Qi rather than refuse to trust him. The golden opportunity to make major alterations to his destiny for the better was immediately snatched by him!
Yan Junyu was now aware of some mind-boggling matters, yet he had long since passed away. He didn’t foresee things would unfold in such a way. His promise to “give ordinary people the ability to experience terrific powers” was, in fact, not a hoax. Where did Qi Ze exactly come from? How many other secrets and unrevealed schemes did he have?
1Author used 属性 which means attribute, nature, quality; I decided for ‘element’, since it’s basically a weapon that complements someone’s abilities. I’ll stop bullshitting, I just have no idea how to translate it in this context
2I’ll explain about spiritual roots (even if I don’t quite understand them also), to any confused readers: in Chinese cultivation novels, usually these are core Qi channels (Qi being some kind of energy that’s prevalent in nature? Or just think of it as mana, lol). The less spiritual roots you have, the easier you cultivate (basically, cultivation is a form of meditation that’s supposed to make you more OP). So yeah, having a dual spiritual root is considered pretty damn good (especially having a fire and thunder dual spiritual root hmmm)
*Note: I know that I used ‘people/individual(s) with extraordinary talents’, but that’s the actual translation and I have no idea what I should change it into in order to not repeat myself.
I’ll work on a glossary for any terms/expressions from this novel and for the characters and link it at the beginning of each chapter for a better understanding of the plot!
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