Chapter 123: Not the Ultimate!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Meng Chao and Luo Hai were already working very closely with each other.
If being more specific, Soul Breaking Saber was working with a large weapon manufacturer to create a brand new saber specifically for the One Hundred Saber Techniques, and it was created based on the characteristics of the future version of the technique.
The strength, arc, thickness, sharpness, materials, weight, center of gravity, and every detail of the saber could bring out the full potential of the future One Hundred Saber Techniques.
This saber was mainly targeted at the low-end and middle-tier market. More specifically, it was meant for normal students and soldiers.
Based on Luo Hai’s words, it would be the first saber for youngsters.
As long as they could provide thirty percent of the city’s sabers for middle school and elementary school, then get a few deals from the army, the profit would definitely be much higher than creating one or two amazing weapons that had a lot of harsh requirements to use.
Since it would be a beginner’s saber, it would not be very suitable to sell it using Soul Breaking Saber Luo Wu as the selling point.
Coincidentally, they could have Meng Chao serve as the spokesperson. He could work together with Luo Hai, and Luo Wu would train up two children like this.
The two youths contacted each other often. Hence, it was not difficult for Luo Hai to learn about Project 1024. He immediately mentioned that he could get a lot of sponsors from his circle of friends.
“Isn’t Dragon City University’s martial arts course the main camp of the Overkill Style? Our new project is going to kind of go up against the Overkill Style. Why are you getting in on this?” Meng Chao could not understand.
“When we’re doing business, we only talk business. Practicing the Overkill Style and investing in the new style isn’t a conflicting matter,” Luo Hai answered with a grin. “Anyway, last time, after we sparred against each other in the Supernatural Tower, I was impressed.
“My dad also said that you and your supporter are unfathomable. I am to constantly keep an eye on you. If you do something, I have to partic.i.p.ate in it, for that’s how I can become rich as well. Hey, we’ve fought together before. Since you have a good project now, you have to let me join in on the fun.”
Meng Chao was lacking money and resources, so he naturally did not reject the offer.
When he saw Luo Hai joining his project so readily, a thought appeared in his head. “If the new martial art style is born, would you switch to the new style?”
Luo Hai immediately said, “Sure. As long as you can do one thing, I will immediately give up on the Overkill Style and learn the new martial art. I’ll even become your disciple!”
“No way, what is it?” Meng Chao could not believe it.
“It’s very simple. Once you create the brand new martial art, come to Dragon City’s martial arts course and defeat all the Overkill Style martial artists...
“Ah, you don’t have to defeat ‘all’ of them. You can just choose some five hundred martial arts course students, including me, and beat us up. That’ll do,” Luo Hai said with a smile.
Meng Chao thought about it.
“Sure. That’s a promise,” he said very seriously.
At that point, it was Luo Hai’s turn to be dumbfounded.
With Ning Shewo, Yan Organization, and the Luo father-son duo’s support, Meng Chao went to Fengshui Medical Center to look for Dr. Su Yuan.
Then, through Dr. Su Yuan, he contacted a few manufacturers of medical cabins.
“Over the past few years, medical technology in Dragon City has been developing really quickly. All sorts of medical cabins have been created, and the compet.i.tion in the market is really intense. The frequency at which you replace old models with new ones is also very high.
“The rate of profit with them is very high, but the capital and risks involved when researching them are even higher. There are plenty of products which are no longer in use even though their weaknesses aren’t actually very obvious, and it’s a real pity for them.
“If we can modify medical cabins into cultivation cabins, we will be expanding the market by several times its size. Many of the technology and production lines will be used again. You can dilute the cost and avoid risks as well as increase your profit, thereby getting multiple birds with one stone.
“We already have Yan Organization, the Fire Relayer Foundation, and Soul Breaking Saber Luo Wu supporting this, so we don’t lack money. We just want to rent some medical cabins from you to modify them and do research on them. We’ll just be reusing your trash, so the price you have to pay for failure won’t be high, but if we succeed, the return on investment is going to be shocking!”
Meng Chao did not go overboard with his request.
Medical cabins were the newest technology, and many of the factories were still groping around in the dark when it came to them. When a factory managed to win a tender in a hospital, it meant that another factory would have no one asking after its product, and the investments put into researching and developing the product would go down the drain.
But the standards of good and bad for medical cabins and cultivation cabins were completely different.
Medical cabins which were not mature enough, did not fit the standards, and had flaws could be developed into cultivation cabins that were suited to create people for the Ultimate Style.
Just like that, in a short five days, everything was ready but one last thing.
As Gu Jianbo looked at the large amount of money in his account, the cultivation resources in his storage, and the brand new medical cabins, he could hardly believe his eyes.
“Meng Chao, you are simply... amazing!”
If he had not known that Meng Chao came from a public renting house and a key high school in the region, he would have begun to wonder if this kid wasn’t a b.a.s.t.a.r.d of some Deity Realm elite.
But Meng Chao knew that it was not his doing.
Instead, it was due to the value of the Ultimate Style. It had run into all sorts of suitable conditions, and the timing was right. The conditions were ripe, so everything fell into place.
Even if he were not around, if Gu Jianbo persisted for a few more years, he would have seen the solution, and with the unique charm of the Ultimate Style, he could have attracted Yan Organization, the production factories of the medical cabins, and all the other major forces of power to invest in his project.
Meng Chao was just going along with the flow and bringing the investments to the project ahead of time.
“Big Brother Bo, you don’t have any reason to reject me from joining the alliance now, right?” Meng Chao asked with a smile.
“Alright. Even if Ms. Li curses me to death, I’m not going to care anymore! Meng Chao, welcome to Project 1024!” Gu Jianbo laughed and hugged Meng Chao tightly with tears in his eyes.
“Zong Ye, Xu Fang, Zhou Tianrui, Li Yufei, watch. This time, we’ll definitely succeed!”
He hugged Meng Chao so tightly that the youth started wincing.
Gu Jianbo then glanced at the brand new medical cabins and the sufficient amount of materials and rubbed his palms in eagerness. “When are we starting?”
“Wait. There’s something else.” Meng Chao rubbed his elbows and said, “Shouldn’t we give the new martial arts a name? Look, everyone else goes by Overkill Style, Beast Soul Style, machine armor style, and whatnot, and they sound really amazing. But Project 1024 doesn’t sound amazing at all!”
“You’re right. What sort of name should we give it?” Gu Jianbo rubbed his chin and thought about it.
Meng Chao flipped open the research notebook Zong Ye had left on the table.
The t.i.tle page had a line of words written so powerfully that the strokes had left imprints on the next page. It was as if the pioneer’s pa.s.sion and blood had seeped into the words themselves.
They had been sealed for ten years, but even so, that pa.s.sion never died down.
Gu Jianbo narrowed his eyes and thought about it. “Only death is ultimate in life.”
“No,” Meng Chao said firmly. “Even death is not ultimate in life!”
The two of them looked at each other, and they saw the sparks burning in each other’s eyes. Together, they shouted, “Ultimate Style!”
Meng Chao was ranked at the top of the admission test for the martial arts course. He had twenty-five thousand worth of monster coins in his hands, but he went to the refresher course and chose Gu Jianbo as his tutor, who was only a nameless four-star superhuman. This caused a ruckus among the students.
Some people were puzzled, some found it a pity, and some mocked him.
And after many people learned of the “secret” behind how Meng Chao got his twenty-five thousand worth of monster coins, they regarded him in disdain and jealousy, and they said among themselves, “He was just being opportunistic and used flowery words to trick Sun Ya and the others. If I were in his place, I could have done it too!”
As for how Meng Chao s.n.a.t.c.hed dozens of monster coins from Duan Lian, they believed that it was because Duan Lian had an arm in a hole at that time, so Meng Chao landed the first strike. They did not talk about whether it was despicable, but they agreed that it was nothing amazing.
“Broken-star superhumans don’t have enough room for growth. Even if he had chosen an ace lecturer, he would not have been able to match the other students’ cultivation speed. He wouldn’t be able to create even half of the amazing and exquisite spirit energy magnetic fields from the lecturers. There was no point for him to choose them.
“It’s better for him to just behave and get guidance from that refresher course lecturer. After all, most of the refresher course students are broken-star superhumans!”
After the students a.n.a.lyzed things carefully, they came to a realization.
During this period of time, they had come into contact with the uppercla.s.smen, and they had learned about the situation in regard to the refresher course. They also inherited the disdain the uppercla.s.smen held to the students from society.
Naturally, they regarded Meng Chao’s choice with disdain too.
And Meng Chao’s performance during their professional courses verified their guesses.
They had just begun, but when they met up in the basic cla.s.ses about rune studies and spirit energy studies, Meng Chao’s face was pale. The shadows under his eyes were prominent, and he was always tired and sleepy.
It was as if he had been ravaged by female monsters every night.
Sometimes, when they were going through academic drills, he was like a badly damaged porcelain doll with myasthenia gravis. His limbs were limp and did not have any strength in them. When someone touched him, he just fell. His movements no longer contained the glory he had during the admission test.
It was as if all his talent and spirit energy had been released on the first day. Then, with a shocking speed, he crashed into the ceiling of broken-star superhumans and became a normal person. He fell to the slumps.
However, just like all news and gossip over meals, news about Meng Chao’s glory and subsequent fall into obscurity only lasted for a few days before it slowly faded away.
Everyone faced a new environment, new challenges, and new compet.i.tions. They had to learn a completely different strength system and cultivation method. They also had to control all sorts of complicated spirit energy magnetic fields as well as digest a lot of lecture materials and books. They were so busy that they felt faint. No one had the time to bother a broken-star superhuman.
As for Sun Ya and the rest of the Four Great Kings, they continued creating news and attracting everyone’s attention.
Sun Ya and Xie Feng chose Lion Vulture Li Yingzi as their tutor and learned her beast soul fusion.
Jiang Rui chose Jiang Ming and cultivated the most orthodox method of the Beast Soul Style.
The first half a year since a superhuman awakened was their golden period.
The aristocratic children who came from cultivation families were able to unleash all the spirit energy their bodies had been devouring, absorbing, and nurturing for eighteen years. It made them grow like bamboo shoots after a rain, and they improved visibly every day.
“Jiang Rui just created a spirit energy magnetic field that requires twenty-four main meridians, and it’s really hard to use! He can now execute the Swallow Slash, a really difficult but powerful kicking technique that can deliver certain killing moves!”
“It has only been ten days since he joined the course, but Xie Feng has already discovered the profound secret of beast soul fusion and learned to absorb two types of beast souls at once!”
“A dragon meridian! Sun Ya actually cleared a dragon meridian! My G.o.d, just what sort of monsters are they?!”
Shocking news trampled the students’ nerves almost every day. In the beginning, they were filled with disbelief, but in time, they got used to it and turned numb.