Chapter 929: Chapter 702 Defiance
"Yes, that Adaman." Saint Linde found Long Yi’s various adjectives both amusing and exasperating.
"If I remember correctly, someone like Adaman would be considered the pinnacle of combat strength in our Plane, right?"
"Indeed, you are correct."
"Oh, where can that Adaman be found?"
"I have no idea about that, I’m afraid only Landers and Soro would know! Mister Long Yi, Soro is definitely targeting you this time, you must be very careful!" Saint Linde once again steered the conversation back on track.
"Targeting me? What a joke! They think they can target me just like that? A bunch of shameless fools! No worries! Let them come! If one comes, I’ll slay one, if two come, I’ll slay a pair!" Long Yi was utterly unconcerned.
Two days later, the Sanctuary Empire publicly announced. The renowned Ancient powerhouse and student of Adaman, Soro, had joined the Sanctuary Empire. With Soro’s addition, the military strength of the Sanctuary Empire was bound to greatly increase, and so on.
But the so-called Soro targeting Long Yi never actually showed up in front of Long Yi. Long Yi, too, didn’t bother with it, busying himself with his daily tasks.
Until one morning, when Long Yi arrived at the military factory, he found the factory that had been producing Divine Armor had unexpectedly ceased operation!
"What’s going on? Running out of materials?" Long Yi asked the person in charge of the military factory.
"How could that be! It’s all because of that Soro!" The person in charge of the military factory said angrily.
It turned out that Soro, on his first day after defeating the former Seven Star Divine Armor Mages, immediately declared that these Divine Armor Mages were just a bunch of useless trash. The strength gained without his own training could never defeat the enemy. The production of Divine Armor must stop, and all the Divine Armor that had been produced should be destroyed.
Naturally, this statement faced opposition from the military, since the actual combat effectiveness of the Divine Armor had been proven in battle. The safety measure of being able to instantly recall their own troops from the battlefield was nothing short of miraculous. Compared to the so-called training to gain strength, Divine Armor was undoubtedly a simpler and more effective alternative for the military.
The military opposed it, so Soro went to the Emperor. Of course, the Emperor wasn’t about to take such obviously nonsensical advice seriously, but Soro directly invoked Adaman’s name. He claimed that his teacher, Adaman, also held this view, and not heeding his advice would be the same as ignoring Adaman’s.
That single statement immediately deflated the Emperor’s resolve. Adaman’s notoriously terrible reputation from ancient times was simply too memorable—petty and vengeful. Everyone would rather have nothing to do with such a person.
However, by this time, it was too late to say anything.
The Emperor had no choice but to reluctantly order the military factory to temporarily halt production, hoping that perhaps Soro would forget about this in time.
The soldiers, who had gained the strength of the Seven Star upon donning the Divine Armor, now had all their armors sealed away. Asking them to undergo the so-called training filled the entire army with complaints. The warriors who remained after military cutbacks had been gloriously thriving with the help of the Divine Armor. Now, it felt like they had been thrown back overnight to the past.
Almost every day, higher-ups in the military received joint letters from the ranks below, demanding the reactivation of the Divine Armor, and there was even a wave of retirement at one point.
Soon, Emperor Saint Danze could no longer sit still. He first sought out Landers, but Landers told him that this was merely Soro’s personal action. Although he did not support it, he also had no solution.
Seek out Soro himself? That would surely be fruitless, as everything that needed to be said had already been said. In truth, Saint Danze also understood that this matter was not targeting Divine Armor but Long Yi instead. Yet at this time, Long Yi acted as if he was completely unaware, still busying himself with his own things each day.
Eventually, the Emperor found Long Yi alone in the deserted military factory. Long Yi was still busy with the development of his new type of armor. Upon seeing Saint Danze and his son Saint Linde arrive, Long Yi simply smiled, but he didn’t stop the work at hand.
"The manufacture of the Divine Armor has stopped, what’s the point of you continuing to work here?" Saint Danze said.
"If you don’t want them, surely someone else will, right?" Long Yi said with a smile.
"You’re leaving?" Saint Danze was taken aback all of a sudden.
"I have no choice, I don’t want to hand over all my techniques to an idiot, especially when that fool doesn’t know who is more important," Long Yi said, putting down a piece of armor he had been holding, stepping back a few paces as Mana surged. The surrounding armor plates combined autonomously into a large armor, intricate Runes imbued with infinite potential.
Saint Danze could feel it, this armor was even more powerful than the Divine Armor!
"I don’t want it to be this way either, but I really dare not offend Adaman! You know, that person, he..." Saint Danze wanted to use a curse word, but ultimately didn’t dare; Adaman’s bad reputation was too well-known.
"Come here." Long Yi disregarded Saint Danze, directly tossing an undergarment armor to Saint Linde, "Put it on and then try it out."
Saint Linde immediately got excited, put on the undergarment armor, and stood next to Long Yi. Long Yi handed Saint Linde a bracelet, which when Saint Linde wore and infused with Mana, the previously integrated large armor instantly disintegrated, swirling around Saint Linde, combining into an impenetrable large armor. When the assembly was complete, eight stars twinkling with light emerged on the chest of the armor!
"Only eight stars? It still needs further testing; I thought it would directly reach nine stars!"
As he spoke, Long Yi snapped his fingers, and the armor scattered across the floor, revealing an astonished Saint Linde inside.
Nine Star!
Long Yi was developing a Divine Armor that could reach Nine Star! Saint Danze felt his breathing quicken.
"Mister Long Yi, I need your help, please help me," Saint Danze pleaded in a lowered voice.
"Look, the Divine Armor is gone, have I lost anything?" Long Yi asked, looking at Saint Danze.
"No... No," Saint Danze said, somewhat at a loss for words.
"Are there complaints from my army?"
"No."
"Has the strength of my Empire decreased?"
"No..."
"Then what does this matter have to do with me?" Long Yi still wore a smile, with no hint of anger visible.
"But, he is humiliating you! He’s degraded your Divine Armor to being worthless!" Saint Linde stood up.
"Smart!" Long Yi truly laughed this time. "Your son understands far better than you how to persuade others."
Saint Danze suddenly felt his heartbeat accelerating.
"Why didn’t you come to me earlier?" Long Yi asked.
"Because I didn’t dare."
"What are you afraid of?"
"Afraid of offending Adaman."
"Do you think I’m afraid of him?"
"I don’t know."
"Do you think! I am afraid of him!" Long Yi intensified his tone.
"No! You’re not afraid!" Saint Danze had realized that today he must choose between Long Yi and Soro. He also understood that Long Yi was strong, and Soro might not be a match for him. Even if Adaman really got involved, Long Yi’s teacher would certainly be one of the Ancient Powerhouses! At that time, the struggle would not be something those at their level could intervene in.
"Good that you know I’m not afraid, now make a decision," Long Yi said.
Saint Danze took a deep breath.
"Immediately halt all military training plans and restart Divine Armor training, and the military factories must resume production at once!" Saint Danze declared loudly.
At this moment, outside the mansions of Landers and Soro, a large group of soldiers was gathering outside in protest.
Soro and Landers were sitting there, leisurely watching the crowd outside.
"Look at those pitiful little bugs, how they yearn for unearned gains. Do they think donning a set of armor makes them Powerhouses? Now I’ve taken away their armor with a single word, what can they do? Just protest. Why? Because they have no strength, and without strength, they can only be bullied by someone like me who does have it, that’s all there is to it."
At this moment, Soro was still shimmering with golden light, his face wearing a sickly smile.
Landers, too, watched outside and to be honest, he didn’t like Soro. He thought Soro’s methods were too despicable, especially how Soro initially used his teacher Adaman to intimidate Emperor Saint Danze, an act he found contemptible. However, Landers had not stopped him either; his only purpose was to avenge his students.
"It’s been so many days, and that Long Yi hasn’t shown any reaction yet. Could it be that he’s scared?" Soro continued to say.
Was Long Yi scared? Landers didn’t know much about Long Yi, but the limited experience he had from their fight made it clear to him that Long Yi would never be afraid. Landers shook his head and didn’t say much.
Just then, several people arrived from afar, loudly announced something, and the protesting soldiers immediately cheered. Watching the dispersing crowd, Soro was baffled.
Soon, the news arrived. It turned out the Emperor had announced the halt of the individual training programs, reactivated the sealed Divine Armors, and the military factories were to restart work!
"Saint Danze, that bastard! How dare he defy me!" Soro shouted in rage, storming out.
"Where are you going!" Landers yelled.
"To the Imperial Palace!" Soro roared.
"What will you do there? Kill the Emperor?" Landers proceeded to ask.
"Of course I’ll kill him! What use is having an Emperor who doesn’t follow my orders!" Soro was full of savagery.
"No, I won’t allow you to do this," Landers said.
"You think you can stop me? You, the pathetic worm who ran back to his teacher after being bullied by Long Yi?" Soro looked at Landers with a scornful gaze.
"It’s not that I want to stop you, I must stop you. You cannot kill the Emperor, that’s a line you can’t cross. As for how strong Long Yi is, try him and see," Landers still kept a cool demeanor.
"Hmph!"
Soro huffed heavily and slammed the door as he left. Landers followed closely behind and saw Soro grab an official halfway to ask something, then threw the official down and left. Landers flew over and asked the official what Soro had asked. The official replied that Soro wanted to know where Long Yi was. And the official told him that at this time, Long Yi would generally be at the military factory.
It looked like Soro was heading to the military factory.
Then Landers smiled. Soro, oh Soro, is it finally time for your worth to be realized? (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
