Chapter 1250: The Prison of Desolation’s Secret
Translator: Lordbluefire
Sun Mo followed Hu Xingjiang through a heavily guarded door and entered the lowest level of the prison— the laboratory that Kong Yuxin had mentioned.
“Teacher!”
Sun Mo’s expression was still calm, but he was panic-stricken. What was going on?
Was he going to let Sun Mo pick a side?
But Sun Mo really did not want to board such a pirate ship!
“Teacher Sun, wait for me here!”
Hu Xingjiang led Sun Mo into a room and left.
...
The laboratory was in a mess.
When Hu Xingjiang entered and saw that Huang Tian was flipping out, he comforted him, “Old Huang, calm down!”
“Congratulations!”
Huang Tian cupped his hands and suppressed his anger at the failure of the experiment. He forced a smile, but after sizing up Hu Xingjiang’s body, he was stunned. “Hmm? Weren’t you the great teacher who had become a saint?”
Huang Tian was the person in charge of the laboratory. His cultivation base and strength were extremely formidable, and he knew that the huge commotion just now meant that someone was successful in their breakthrough attempt to become a saint
He didn’t go up to observe the scene. Firstly, it was because he was a saint and didn’t care about such things. Secondly, it was because the experiment was at a critical juncture and he couldn’t step away.
Moreover, after his good friend became a saint, he would definitely come down to share this joy with him. Therefore, he just had to wait.
However, his guess missed the mark.
(That shouldn’t be the case. Out of the three secondary saints in the prison, Hu Xingjiang is the one closest to the saint tier.)
“It’s Yang Shizhan!” Hu Xingjiang explained.
“Who?”
Huang Tian thought that he had heard wrongly.
“Yang Shizhan!” Hu Xingjiang repeated.
“That’s impossible! How many forbidden experiments had he gone through? Half of them were done by me, so I know better than you how serious the damages to his body are. It’s already good enough that he didn’t die, so how could he advance to become a saint? Don’t be daydreaming!”
“I’m not lying to you!”
Hu Xingjiang felt helpless. To be honest, if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it either.
“...”
Huang Tian’s brows furrowed deeply because his good friend would not lie to him. However, putting aside the wounds on Yang Shizhan’s body, his will had long since broken down. It would not be overboard to say that he was a walking corpse, so how could such a person become a saint?
“It’s because of Sun Mo!”
Hu Xingjiang told Huang Tian what he knew.
Huang Tian was stunned from hearing this.
(Who is this guy? Is it really fine to give someone a saint-tier cultivation art so easily? And he even dared to be so arrogant to give guidance to a secondary saint? How confident did he have to be?)
“Are you sure you’re not joking?”
Huang Tian scratched his hair that hadn’t been washed for a long time. “Why does it sound so fake?”
“I’ve brought Sun Mo here. You can take a look for yourself to see if it’s fake or not!”
Hu Xingjiang chuckled.
“Xingjiang!”
Huang Tian’s face sank and he said solemnly, “You know how important this experiment is. Why did you tell an outsider?”
“It’s because he can become a strong assistant!”
Hu Xingjiang looked excited. “Let me tell you, he’s a great ancestor-level spirit runist, one on Bai Wenzhang’s level. Moreover, on the day he came to the Prison of Desolation, he solved the first riddle and inherited Saint Bai Dong’s legacy. His weaponsmith ability is probably at the ancestor level too!”
“...”
Huang Tian was stunned.
“Hurry up, let’s not be negligent toward Sun Mo.”
Hu Xingjiang tugged at Huang Tian.
Soon, the two of them saw Sun Mo.
“So young?”
Huang Tian glanced at Sun Mo. If it wasn’t for his good friend’s assurance, he’d have turned and left.
(The heck, this kid is only around 25 years old. It’d be considered amazing if he has one great ancestor-level title, but you’re telling me that he’s at least an ancestor in two areas? Who are you kidding?)
“Teacher Sun, allow me to introduce you. This is Great Teacher Huang Tian!”
Hu Xingjiang didn’t say that Huang Tian was a saint, but a saint’s body carried a natural fragrance that could calm one’s mind. Therefore, Sun Mo knew the moment he smelled it.
“Good afternoon, Saint!”
Sun Mo greeted them, but his mind quickly searched through all the saints still alive in the Nine Provinces. There didn’t seem to be anyone called Huang Tian!
“Since Old Hu is your guarantor, I’ll trust you!”
Huang Tian sized up Sun Mo and said, “Everyone is tight on time, so I won’t stand on ceremony. As usual, you’ll have to do two sets of test papers. As long as you pass the average score, I’ll take you in.”
As Huang Tian spoke, he sent a mental voice transmission to his disciple.
Soon, a man wearing a Peking opera mask came over with a stack of papers.
“The time limit is two hours!”
After Huang Tian said that, he stopped paying attention to Sun Mo and left the room with Hu Xingjiang to chat in the corridor.
Sun Mo shook the papers and glanced at them. He then pursed his lips and sat down, starting to answer the questions.
“The experiment has reached a bottleneck. The step of soul separation always fails, but I can’t find the reason behind that!”
Huang Tian sighed.
“Take it slowly!”
Hu Xingjiang consoled him.
“Time waits for no man!”
Huang Tian sighed. “The Saint Gate has also set the examination venue here. Did they discover something?”
“Don’t worry, this is my territory!”
Hu Xingjiang snorted coldly. “Without my permission, no one can think of boarding the island.”
After the two of them talked for a while, Huang Tian took out his pocket watch and took a look.
“I’ll get going first. You can check Sun Mo’s papers!”
Huang Tian instructed his disciple and was about to leave. His time was very precious, so he couldn’t waste it here. However, he had only taken a few steps when he saw Sun Mo open the door and walk out.
This made him frown.
“What’s the matter?” Hu Xingjiang was also stunned. “Did we disturb you?”
“No!” Sun Mo smiled.
“Since that’s not the case, then just continue!”
Huang Tian was displeased. The people he wanted on his team must be serious and capable. It was impossible for them to get in through connections.
“I’m done with the papers”
Sun Mo shrugged.
“What?”
Hu Xingjiang had wanted to persuade Sun Mo to follow Huang Tian in his experiments as it would be very helpful to his life. This kind of opportunity was something that others could not even hope to get.
However, Sun Mo’s answer made him speechless.
“That’s impossible!”
Huang Tian shook his head subconsciously. “It’s only been half an hour. How can you possibly have finished the papers?”
“Go take a look yourself!”
Sun Mo smiled. “Next time, please increase the difficulty level.”
Huang Tian did not reply. He only strode into the room, picked up the papers, and flipped through them quickly.
The more he looked through them, the more surprised he became.
(Damn, they are all correct?!)
Getting all the questions correct and getting them all correct in half an hour were two different concepts. The latter meant that Sun Mo was very familiar with these questions and could answer them easily without needing to think through them.
“Are you really at the ancestor level in both the art of spirit runes and weaponsmithing?”
Although Huang Tian had Sun Mo’s results as evidence, he still found it unbelievable. After all, Sun Mo was too young.
“I am in spirit runes, but I haven’t taken the test for weaponsmithing!!”
Sun Mo was very confident.
“Not bad. You’re qualified to be my assistant.”
Huang Tian was very satisfied.
However, Sun Mo shook his head. “Farewell!”
Sun Mo was worried that he would not be able to get off such a pirate ship.
“Teacher Sun, stop messing around!”
Hu Xingjiang pulled Sun Mo back. “The experiments we’re doing are top-notch in the Nine Provinces. Moreover, it concerns the future of humanity.”
“Lad, don’t worry. Everything you’ve learned here is yours. After we leave the prison, we’ll treat it as if we don’t know each other!”
Huang Tian comforted him and handed a Peking opera mask to Sun Mo.
Sun Mo did not take it. “Your sincerity is to give me a mask that has been enhanced with a Gu technique?”
“Hmm?” Huang Tian was shocked. “You know Gu techniques too?”
“I also know herbology and spiritual control techniques!”
Sun Mo rolled his eyes.
“Haha, don’t be mistaken. This mask is used for disguise. Since you can see through its background, you should know that it’s not harmful, right?”
Huang Tian did not believe Sun Mo’s words. After all, having two ancestor-level titles was already very scary. Would he still be considered human if he knew other stuff too?
Sun Mo took the mask and wore it.
Crackle! Crackle!
Changes started to take place on Sun Mo’s body. He grew taller than before and became thinner. His voice also turned hoarse.
This mask was actually made from a type of gu-bug. After wearing it, it would stimulate the human body and mutate one’s appearance.
“Since you specialize in spirit runes and weaponsmithing, then you will be in charge of the maintenance of experimental equipment!”
Huang Tian assigned Sun Mo some tasks and asked his disciple to pass this portion of the data to Sun Mo.
15 minutes later, Sun Mo was led to a large study the size of a basketball court. It was filled with bookshelves with densely-packed information.
“You can go take a look yourself!” The disciple reminded him, ” And don’t spoil them.”
“There’s so much?”
Sun Mo felt a headache coming.
“Much? This is only one-fifth of it!”
The disciple chuckled.
...
Although Sun Mo had joined the group, he wasn’t qualified to participate in the experiments. Even with his terrifying learning ability, in addition to going without sleep or rest, it still took him three months to get familiar with the parts he was in charge of.
He finally understood that Huang Tian was carrying out soul transfer experiments.
Simply put, it was to extract a person’s soul from the body and channel it into a new vessel. If this new vessel was a person, then it would be a case of eternal life for the soul.
There were also variants in this experiment. For example, to wait for a time before injecting the extracted soul into the original body or another person’s body.
This experiment was both mysterious and advanced.
Because it involved the soul, the equipment used was very precious and precise. Sun Mo was good at weaponsmithing and spirit runes, so his job was to maintain the equipment.
As for participating in the experiments?
Sun Mo had only joined for a short time and didn’t have enough qualifications.
Even so, Sun Mo had reaped a lot because the equipment itself was filled with imaginative and high-end technical attainments. It was an eye-opener for Sun Mo.
It wasn’t a loss for him at all.
Through the weaponsmith process of the equipment, Sun Mo started to develop new ideas. He planned on combining spirit runes with weaponsmithing to make a groundbreaking product.
Time flowed by unknowingly like a mountain stream.
The past six months had been the most fulfilling and happy days for Sun Mo. He had been studying, researching spirit runes and weaponsmithing knowledge, participating in experiments, maintaining equipment, and even undergoing meditation and cultivation. Sun Mo felt that he was growing every day.
...
Yu Lin was locked in prison and was bored out of his wits. When he saw Ji Han passing by, he hurriedly called out, “Boss Ji, where’s Teacher Sun?”
“He left!”
Ji Han replied half-heartedly.
It was not only Yu Lin. The other prisoners, as well as examinees like Pang Tong and Wu You, were also thinking of Sun Mo. It was because his God Hands were too comfortable.
“Could something have happened to Teacher Sun?”
Yu Lin was worried. “God, please let Teacher Sun live a safe life!”
(If I can meet Teacher Sun again, I am willing to turn over a new leaf and follow his side. I will listen to his teachings and become an ordinary teacher in the Central Province Academy.)
...
Bang!
A huge explosion rang out, stunning Sun Mo, who was fiddling with a pile of machinery.
“Equipment team, come over quickly. Something has exploded!”
Someone shouted.
Sun Mo quickly got up and rushed to the laboratory.
The laboratory was in a mess, and a few researchers were also injured. They were lying on the ground, unconscious and receiving treatment.
“Hurry up and change the equipment!”
Huang Tian urged.
The other members of the equipment team were already used to listening to Huang Tian’s orders and were about to enter when Sun Mo held them back. “The experiment must stop!”
“Scram!” Huang Tian cursed. “Do you know how much losses we’ll suffer if we stop the experiment now?”
Putting aside the precious equipment that had been damaged, the experiment progress this time was much greater than before. Who knew, he might be able to complete the experiment after some fixing.
“The equipment is already unstable. If we continue with the experiment, who knows how many people will die!”
Sun Mo argued.
“So what if people die? The experiment takes priority!”
Huang Tian shrugged Sun Mo’s hand away and shouted at the entire team, “What are you guys waiting for? Get to work!”
The footsteps were hurried.
“If you value your life, then scram!”
After Huang Tian bellowed, he was about to continue his experiments when another explosion occurred.
Boom!
Another piece of equipment exploded.
The scorching spirit qi radiation scalded many people.
Sun Mo saw that Huang Tian refused to be persuaded and he cursed out before he dashed toward the damaged equipment. “All of you, get out! I’ll do it.”
Of course, his words were useless.
In order to confine the soul and transfer energy, the surfaces of this equipment had spirit runes engraved on them, forming a stable force field.
The explosions had damaged those spirit runes, so the experiment would naturally fail.
In the past, everyone’s method of doing things was to change the equipment. However, with Sun Mo around, he could directly repair the spirit runes.
“Huh? Can it be done like this?”
The team members were stunned when they saw Sun Mo holding a spirit rune carving knife to repair those cracks. In the past, when they encountered such situations, they would always change the equipment directly.
“You guys, go and check the spirit runes. Change the equipment that is more than 70% damaged. For those that are 50% damaged or so, report to me. I will repair them!”
Sun Mo instructed.
The team members did not know what to do and looked at the team leader.
“Do as he says!”
This team leader who wore the dan mask[1] was someone who knew his stuff. When he saw Sun Mo’s skills, he immediately gave him the command rights.
Three and a half hours later, the repair work was completed.
Sun Mo slumped into the corridor, tired out.
After repairing advanced spirit runes for such a long time, his mental energy and spirit qi had been seriously depleted.
“Here, have some water!”
The team leader handed him a water bottle.
“Today has been an eye-opener. To think that maintenance work can be done like this!”
“If it wasn’t for you, today’s experiment would have failed!”
“Your mastery of the spirit runes must be at the ancestor level, right?”
The team members sized up Sun Mo, curious about his identity.
“Have you forgotten the laboratory’s rules? Don’t try to find out about other people’s identities!”
The team leader reproached.
“Team Leader, there are less than ten spirit runists in the entire Nine Provinces who can do what he just did. I’d be able to guess with just my kneecaps!”
A team member chuckled.
Many of the assistants in the laboratory had been found with help from the Dark Dawn. Among them were great teachers from the Nine Provinces. Besides, the reason they had chosen to join the laboratory was to improve their skills.
Working in such a top laboratory for three years would bring about a much greater improvement than pondering over things by themselves.
“Ten?”
The team leader sneered. “There’s at most three. Didn’t you see that even Teacher Huang was astonished?”
[1] Dan is the general name for female roles in Chinese opera, often referring to leading roles.. They may be played by male or female actors.
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