Forty Millenniums of Cultivation - Chapter 178

"He's the one who got rid of Gao Ye!"
In this moment, even the female sniper, Bei Jingjing, who was rather callous just before, shirked. She looked at Li Yao with incredulous eyes.
Gao Ye was the brightest star among the freshmen of the Federation’s First Military College.
Even though he was a freshman of the Commanding Department for only half a year, his terrifying computational and commanding ability was absolutely on the level of the senior students.
In many matches under the command of Gao Ye, Ma Jiao, Chunyu Peng, Chunyu Peng, and other freshmen were able to be a match for the strong. They forcefully held against the stormy attacks of the higher grade students and even won a few lucky times. They were praised to be the strongest freshmen of the Federation’s First Military College in the past ten years!
Ma Jiao and the others did not merely admire Gao Ye's commanding ability; they worshiped it. They thought of him as an invincible commanding genius.
One time, during one of their drinking parties, Gao Ye, in complete sorrow, told them of how he had once tasted defeat by the hands of a peer named Li Yao. It was a crushing defeat. He had been efficiently 'decapitated'!
Gao Ye and the others were extremely shocked at the time. The name Li Yao was firmly branded in their minds.
One man had penetrated deep into enemy territory. He laid in wait in the middle of the enemy headquarters for several hours and seized a moment to create chaos. He used this chaos to place a bomb, blasting several high commanders and powerful experts to kingdom come...
People who were able to do all of this would absolutely be known as a Soldier King in the military college!
After hearing the story of Gao Ye, Zhao Tianchong and Lu Tieshan were all a bit stunned.
They only knew Li Yao to be an upstart from the southeast who was accepted into Grand Desolate War Institution due to great efforts of recommendation from Ding Lingdang. They never knew of Li Yao's magnificent history.
Infiltrating enemy lines solo, blasting the enemy command center, and getting rid of several key enemy personnel in a single breath?
That must be an exaggeration!
The two slaughtered their way out from the carnage of the Limit Challenge Competition. They knew full well the difficulty of the competition.
Everything Li Yao did really made them inferior.
The two glanced at each other. Their faces were a bit feverish. Their hearts were filled with shame.
The two were even arrogant after they had just entered the Hidden Dragon Hall. They looked down on Li Yao's kind, a top scorer of the entrance exams, with disdain. They believed him to be a loser of the Limit Challenge Competition and he wasn't that amazing.
They never thought that Li Yao would be this powerful, yet he hid it so well!
Ma Jiao noticed the two's astonishment. He exclaimed.
"Fellow student Li Yao, we heard a lot about you from Gao Ye back in the Federation’s First Military College. Not only did you penetrate enemy lines by yourself in the Limit Challenge Competition, you singlehandedly got rid of the enemy command center. Also, in a state where your spiritual root had yet to awaken, you slew a doped up and mutated, large-eyed ape!"
"According to post analysis, this large-eyed ape's strength very likely reached the level of a low-level demon soldier. The news was simply astonishing!"
"The heck?"
Zhao Tianchong and Lu Tieshan all felt their scalp go numb. Ice cold chills went down their spines.
His spiritual root had yet to awaken; he had been an ordinary person at the time. Yet, he was able to slay a low-level demon soldier?
This kind of fellow had been standing by their side all this time. They even used to look down on him. They wanted to easily put him down, too?
Zhao Tianchong and Lu Tieshan let out a breath of relief, one with a new lease on life.
They were convinced. The two accepted Li Yao whole heartedly.
Li Yao was a bit embarrassed.
While certainly he had infiltrated to the enemy headquarters and blasted them all to kingdom come by himself, he didn't kill the mutated large-eyed ape by himself. He mainly relied on Zheng Dongming's Demonic Blood Cannon to bombard the large-eyed ape which already had heavy injuries. Only then was he able to succeed, luckily.
However, there wasn't a need to explain the truth of the matter to others.
Li Yao changed topics and asked.
"What kind of benefits can we get from infiltrating Gold Phoenix Road?"
Zhao Tianchong replied.
"This will be dependent on our performance and our luck. Gold Phoenix Road is the last stronghold of the surface-level demon beasts. There are quite a few powerful demon beasts amassed there. Getting rid of these demon beasts will allow us to receive a lot of school credits and clearing an area out to be completely safe would nab us more credits. If we're lucky, we'll be able to get rid of several hundred low-level demon soldiers and several dozen intermediate-level demon soldiers; we can wipe clean all the demon beasts of a single high-rise. We might be able to nab several thousand credits in one go!"
"One mission can yield several thousand school credits?"
Li Yao's eyes flared more intensely than those of the three firearms cultivators. A substantial flame erupted forth from the depths of his pupils. The Heavy Vibrosaber on his waist buzzed in its scabbard. It couldn't wait to be unsheathed and feed on blood!
Though such an operation was bound to be dangerous.
But so what?
Everyone came out to cultivate. They never thought about going back with their tails between their legs!
...
Gold Phoenix Road was worthy of being called the last stronghold for demon beasts on the surface.
Here the high rises were in great number. There were many places to hide in the underground network. Even if warships were used to raze the surface to the ground, it would be impossible to eliminate all of the demon beasts.
The remaining beasts were able to survive the intense battles up till now. These last demon beasts were savage, malevolent, heinous, and insidious.
Normally they would hide among the ruins of buildings. It was as if they had disappeared into thin air.

As soon as they sensed the scent of a human, they would charge out like a flood. Various demon beast would be mixed together, long-distance and close-range types.
Li Yao and the others encountered three waves odd demon beasts within an hour of entering Gold Phoenix Road. Every wave contained over fifty demon beasts.
The wave in front of them contained over a hundred demon beasts.
Most of them were trash Green-Skinned Saber Mantises, but Black Armored Saber Mantises were mixed in. There were even two Green-Skinned Saber Mantises watching from the back lines.
There was something more troublesome in the darkness behind the hundreds of Saber Mantises. It seemed there was a long-range attacking demon beast lying in wait. A dangerous aura that felt like needles was coming from it. It caused everyone to feel ill at ease, their eyes flickering to corners.
"B-B-B-B-B-B-B-Boom!"
Li Yao, Ma Jiao, and Chunyu Peng, these three people sprayed like mad, their bullet barrage was like rain.
The Green-Skinned Saber Mantises could be killed with a few rounds if they didn't withdraw into their carapaces. So they simply exploded when they were bombarded with Li Yao's Six Barrel Rotary Cannon or Chunyu Peng's Flaming Python Model 7 Heavy Machine Gun. They turned into cyan pastes of flesh.
Even though the Green-Skinned Saber Mantises didn't have that much strength, there were Green-Skinned Saber Mantises and Black Armored Saber Mantises mixed together. They used the Green-Skinned Saber Mantises as a screen to quietly press closer to the crowd of humans.
At this time, they had to rely on Zhao Tianchong's and Lu Tieshan's expert close combat fighting skill. Sniper Bei Jingjing took out two pistols as well, opening fire with both of them. She acted as close-range firepower support.
Li Yao immediately discovered what he was lacking, being mixed with two expert firearms cultivators.
He used the powerful and mighty Six Barrel Rotary Cannon. The two used a Flaming Python Model 7 Heavy Machine Gun and an assault rifle.
However, he was the weakest when it came to killing ability.
He needed to concentrate fire for seven or eight seconds to completely kill a Black Armored Saber Mantis.
Yet Chunyu Peng only needed two or three seconds to take it down with his Flaming Python Model 7 Heavy Machine Gun.
Even Ma Jiao, who used an assault rifle, used no more than three seconds.
Bei Jingjing, who danced with her pistols, would occasionally land a headshot against a Black Armored Saber Mantis, killing it.
"Clearly my gun is the most powerful. Why is my power the weakest?"
Before Li Yao could start mulling over this, a sharp wind assaulted them.
Luckily, everyone had made preparations ahead of time. They wore the thickest of body armors, not minding how cumbersome they were. The body armor detected danger and the crystals upon them suddenly flared, releasing a powerful spiritual energy shield.
Humm, an intense vibration diffused around the shield. A black poisonousness needle pushed firmly through the shield, though the speed of it slowed a little.
Li Yao cocked his head. The poisonousness needle swept past his cheek. It penetrated the earth with a ding, digging three meters deep.
"It's a Poison Dart Scorpion! Sniper!"
Ma Jiao yelled out.
Bei Jingjing squinted her eyes and retreated to the back of the group. She went into a crouching position and took the long package on her back into her hands. She removed the cloth to reveal an ash gray sniper rifle. Profound and complicated spiritual lines spiraled all around its body. It seemed to be an artisan sculpted work.
Bei Jingjing mumbled to herself. An aura that could be seen with the naked eye seemed to appear around her body. She then chanted at lighting speed, the telepathy spiraling around the barrel of the gun.
Her eyes flared brighter and brighter. Though it was daytime, her eyes were as clear as stars in the darkness of night.
When the brightness reached its pinnacle, she fired a round into the skies ahead, seemingly not aiming at all.
"Whoosh!"
An azure streak came roaring from the muzzle, rushing straight through the sky.
Li Yao was stunned. This shot was way off its mark, right?
The azure glow made a bizarre curve as it streaked through the air. It actually made a turn and pierced down behind the ruins. Only a bang was heard as purplish black blood gushed into the sky. It dyed all the ruins purplish black.
No poisonous needles were fired over ever since then.
Li Yao was dumbstruck. The Poison Dart Scorpion and the Gold Armored Saber Mantis were the same. They were intermediate-level demon soldiers. Let alone their incredible speed, they possessed impressive defensive strength. They were experts in lying in wait and evading.
Was it actually killed in a single shot by Bei Jingjing?
"The bullet can curve, yet there's still so much power. That's so awesome!"
Compared to these three professional firearms cultivators, Li Yao felt he was just holding onto a flaming rod.
The battle ended half an hour later. Six people sat together performing maintenance.
In the end, Li Yao couldn't help ask.
"Fellow student Ma Jiao, why is it that your might is so strong when you use standard weapons? You’re more amazing than me using my Six Barrel Rotary Cannon. Is it because your guns have been specially modified?"
"And fellow student Bei Jingjing was able to get rid of the Poison Dart Scorpion with a single bullet. I looked at the corpse of the Poison Dart Scorpion just now. It totally exploded. There was not even a shred of flesh bigger than the size of a fist. What kind of bullet can have such strong destructive power and turn?"
Ma Jiao laughed and spoke with pride.
"We use the most common standardized firearms. Though Bei Jingjing sniper bullet is a bit more powerful than normal, it’s still common mass-refined goods. They're nothing special."
"However, we are firearms cultivators, the gun fighting techniques we cultivate are naturally different from those of amateurs."
"Gun fighting techniques?"
Li Yao's curiosity began to rage and burn.