Chapter 195 - Agreement (1)

Xu Yuan’s eyes were very serious as he spoke. Along the way, he had seen the role formations played in this world. War, daily life, production... there were traces of formations everywhere.

Technological innovation had a very real effect on the development of productivity.

For the common folk of the past, going hungry had been ordinary even in prosperous times. But now, the people of the Great Flame Empire were basically guaranteed enough rice for two meals a day. Rice on the market had even been divided into four grades, A, B, C, and D, and they had cultivated spirit rice that contained source qi.

In terms from his previous life, Xu Xinyao was top-tier scientific research talent. What was a research talent like her doing out running sales instead of staying properly in the Institute of Applied Research and doing research?

At that thought, Xu Yuan suddenly glanced at the boots and clothing on Xu Xinyaos dainty feet and asked, “Little Four, did you research those boots yourself?”

Xu Xinyao did not answer right away. Her eyes lowered as she thought over what Xu Yuan had just said. Only after a good while did she suddenly look up as if coming back to herself. “Ah?”

Xu Yuan repeated the question.

Xu Xinyao pursed her lips and smiled. “Mhm. Yes.”

Xu Yuan continued asking, “When I attacked you earlier, I saw something like a shield appear. Was that because of your clothes?”

Xu Xinyao shook her head. She reached up to her collar and pulled it down.

Xu Yuan’s gaze did not waver, though a trace of curiosity flashed through his eyes.

Looking down past the girl’s delicate collarbone, Xu Yuan saw a form-fitting suit of sky-blue soft armor. Faint, dim formation patterns could be seen flowing across the armor. They were extremely precise. The lines were almost invisible to the naked eye, and only with his soul sense could he detect the exact structure of the formation patterns.

Xu Xinyao said softly, “Cloth can’t withstand formation patterns. It’s because of this Heavenly Feather Armor.”

“Then do you have any offensive methods?” Xu Yuan asked.

“Yes.” Xu Xinyao had no intention of hiding anything from Xu Yuan. She pulled up both sleeves, revealing something like a bracelet tied around each of her pale wrists.

Xu Xinyao raised her hand toward the ground without waiting for Xu Yuan to ask.

Tap! There was a ripple of source qi. After a sound so faint it was nearly inaudible, a needle as thin as a hair pierced roughly ten meters into the earth.

The instant Xu Yuan sensed it with his soul sense, his scalp went numb. He turned his eyes toward Ran Qingmo.

Their eyes met, and Ran Qingmo said softly, “It’s useless against me.”

Xu Xinyao said in a gentle voice, “Sister Qingmo’s cultivation is profound. A little toy like this naturally wouldn’t be of any use.”

As she spoke, Xu Xinyao took two big items out of her Sumeru Ring. It was a crossbow and a rod about ten centimeters thick.

Xu Yuan’s eyes showed a hint of confusion.

Xu Xinyao seemed to have no intention of stopping. She handed both items to Xu Yuan, gesturing for him to hold them first, as if she planned to show Xu Yuan her entire arsenal from top to bottom.

Xu Yuan took them on instinct. He probed the two items with his soul sense and discovered that the rod was hollow. Without thinking, he raised it level and peered inside.

At that moment, Xu Xinyao explained softly, “This is the Soul Splitting Crossbow. It can attack the soul sense. That rod can fire source crystal explosives.”

Xu Yuan silently lowered the rod and looked up at Xu Xinyao, who was in the middle of her weapons demonstration.

By then, Xu Xinyao had already taken another odd-looking object out of her Sumeru Ring. It was a cuboid, one foot long, pitch black all over like a dark little box. There was a grip underneath, but no trigger.

The corner of Xu Yuan’s eye twitched when he saw the thing. Its appearance reminded him of Xu Xinyao’s ultimate back in Azure Point.

In the game, whenever she used her ultimate move, the little 2.5D character would pull out a black, ugly-looking thing.

Xu Yuan was just about to ask.

But Xu Xinyao had already aimed the black box at the ground nearby.

Xu Yuan fell silent.

Whoosh! A faint sound rang out, and Ran Qingmo, standing off to the side, unconsciously furrowed her brows.

Xu Yuan did not see it clearly, since the Sage’s remnant soul was still sealed away, but he did sense a vast ripple of source qi spreading out in every direction.

And in the next instant, Xu Yuan saw the power of Xu Xinyao’s ultimate.

A hole the width of a thumb had appeared in the ground.

It was pitch-black within, stretching straight downward. Even when Xu Yuan pushed his soul power to its maximum range, he still could not sense the bottom.

After a moment of silence, Xu Yuan frowned and asked, “Where does the source qi for this device come from?”

The bracelets earlier were single-use items, and both the crossbow and the rod were embedded with concentrated source crystals. But this black box had no source qi source at all.

Xu Xinyao smiled at Xu Yuan with crescent eyes and raised one fair hand, waving it in front of him. A pale-blue ring on her index finger was especially eye-catching. “Isn’t that a Sumeru Ring?”

Xu Xinyao shook her head, her voice gentle. “It’s a little different from an ordinary Sumeru Ring. It can directly draw source qi from the source crystals stored inside the ring.”

Xu Yuan’s gaze froze. “You researched this yourself?”

Xu Xinyao nodded. “Mhm. But Father helped me a great deal. Without Father’s cultivation, this ring could never have been made.”

At that instant, Xu Yuan suddenly felt that there really was a serious problem with that old man’s educational policy.

This kind of formation innovation was already epoch-making. A research talent like her should have been tied up, dragged home, and made to do honest research. Yet they had actually let her wander around wherever she liked? Had that old man never heard the saying that technology was the foremost productive force?

After several breaths of silence, Xu Yuan looked at the Sumeru Ring on Xu Xinyao’s slender, jade-like finger and suddenly gave a light cough. “Ahem. Xinyao, about me hitting you earlier, that really wasn’t something I did of my own free will. So, this ring and that black box, what do you think...”

After hesitating for only an instant, Xu Xinyao directly handed the black box to Xu Yuan, then began taking off the ring.

“...” Xu Yuan fell silent. Her being so straightforward left him completely at a loss. What he had meant was that after they returned to the Imperial Capital, she could help make him a new set. Holding her armory in his arms, he freed one hand and caught the hand she was using to remove the ring.

“What I mean is, after we get back to the Imperial Capital, you can make me another set. You still need to keep these things to protect yourself.”

Xu Xinyao hesitated slightly. “The Soul Splitting Crossbow and the others are enough for me. Third Brother, you’re always running into trouble. You need this more than I do.”

Xu Yuan waved a hand and stuffed all three items back into Xu Xinyao’s arms in one go. “Enough. When we get back to the Imperial Capital, if Xu Changge sees me wearing your things, he’ll most likely think I robbed you.”

He paused, then glanced at the bracelets on Xu Xinyao’s fair wrists and said in a low voice, “These are pretty good. You can give me one of those. And also, think carefully about what I said just now. Hundreds, even thousands of years ago, even in prosperous times, many common people still went hungry. But under the Great Flame Empire now, as long as there are no natural disasters or demonic beasts, most people can earn two meals of rice a day if they work hard enough. If you want to save the people, you can do it anywhere.”

After a long silence, Xu Xinyao said very seriously, “I’ll think about it properly.”

“Heh.” Xu Yuan gave a soft laugh, waved his hand, and walked toward the main house of the courtyard.