Chapter 473 - 292: The Truth? Tianwen’s Inspiration (Part 2)

Chapter 473: Chapter 292: The Truth? Tianwen’s Inspiration (Part 2)

This was dictated by the different duties of each university.

The journey from Changzhou Province took fifteen hours by a large passenger plane, followed by over thirty hours on a special underground train. After five transfers, he finally arrived on the Tianwen campus.

He was only able to enter unimpeded thanks to a special pass from Ye Shuping.

Shenhan University was located in the home planet’s northern hemisphere, while Tianwen was situated near the South Pole. The geographical distance between them was immense.

The moment he emerged, he saw a man with sharp brows and piercing eyes, exuding a keen aura, waiting for him. Standing beside him was a gentle, beautiful woman.

"Yu Fei, long time no see!"

In two and a half years, Ren Feng had changed dramatically from how Yu Fei remembered him.

He was wearing a suit of Mechanical Battle Armor, its style vastly different from those at Shenhan.

Yu Fei had also met the young woman beside him once before, during the Celestial Pride Positioning Competition. He recalled her name was Tang DanDan and that she had likely been rated A-rank.

At twenty years old, they were in the prime of a Martial Artist’s life. Their intimate behavior suggested they were a couple.

He had contacted them both in the virtual realm before. If he recalled correctly, Ren Feng’s father was a Martial Saint.

"You’ve already reached the Gang Qi Realm?"

Ren Feng himself was still working on perfecting his Divine Realm. Martial Artists at their level didn’t rush to advance their realms. Instead, they focused on cultivating each stage to its absolute limit, only attempting a breakthrough when no further progress was possible.

For those with the ultimate goal of becoming a Martial Saint, every step on their path had to be perfect.

The members of the Yulin Army followed the same principle; most of them were currently in the Divine Realm.

Even ordinary Martial Artists knew this stage was a crucial opportunity to build a superior foundation and surpass others. The Celestial Pride prodigies certainly wouldn’t miss it.

To Ren Feng, this Yu Fei was completely different from the one he knew from the Celestial Pride Positioning Competition.

Back then, Yu Fei had been like a sharp sword, capable of cutting through anything.

Now, however, he seemed like a noble prince imbued with a divine quality, as if a god had descended to the mortal world.

’I can’t seem to find any opening to attack,’ Ren Feng considered it carefully. ’The moment the thought even crosses my mind, my spiritual senses scream at me with warnings.’

"Long time no see!"

Yu Fei was also filled with joy at this reunion of old friends.

Having come all this way to Tianwen University, he had remembered Ren Feng was here and wanted to see him.

"Come on! Now that you’re on my turf, I’ll give you a proper welcome!"

As far as the eye could see, Tianwen had a completely different vibe from Shenhan. The sense of technology was much stronger, with a more futuristic style. The campus was filled with all sorts of buildings and facilities Yu Fei couldn’t name. His attention was drawn to a massive, tower-like metal structure ahead, from which he could sense an immense amount of energy.

"Pretty impressive, right? You can feel it too!"

The pride in Ren Feng’s voice was practically overflowing. He declared proudly:

"That’s the Crystal Stone Energy Generator, just completed this year. You probably don’t know this, but this year we at Tianwen conquered a crucial technology: Elemental Crystalization!"

"This means we can build machines on our home planet that are compatible with the Borderlands, as well as upgrade our conventional equipment."

"We can finally say goodbye to traditional chemical and electrical power. Do you have any idea what that means?"

Yu Fei asked curiously, "Elemental Crystalization? Does that mean what it sounds like? Solidifying the world’s primordial energy to power machinery?"

"Exactly!"

"Compared to the pollution from chemical fuels and the lower, less safe output of electricity, primordial energy is incredibly stable, has an extremely high power output, is universally compatible, and can be harvested anytime in the Borderlands."

"That Crystal Stone Energy Generator over there is our new prototype. It can convert the ubiquitous primordial energy of the world into power for the entire city. It can also be used for cultivation. For example, the Primordial Energy Attribute Chambers that used to require expensive materials to build? Now you can use one just by adjusting a few parameters!"

"And..."

Ren Feng lowered his voice. "These primordial energy crystals can be used with a Rune Array to charge super bullets!"

"What?"

Yu Fei stopped in his tracks. If the charging problem for super bullets could be solved, humanity’s conventional combat strength would be massively enhanced.

You could use a sniper rifle like a rapid-fire machine gun. No matter how many fiendish beasts charged at you, they’d just be lining up to be slaughtered.

"For real? When will it go into mass production?"

This was critical. It was a development that could change the entire landscape of modern warfare.

Ren Feng scratched his head at the question. "Well, it’s stable in the lab, and the tech is mature. The problem is, we can’t get the cost down. The Elemental Crystalization technology itself isn’t quite refined enough to be rolled out on a large scale!"

"That’s still incredible," Yu Fei said. "New technology always has to go through a long process to make it out of the lab. But just having the core technology developed is the most critical step."

’Tianwen University really is something else,’ Yu Fei thought. If he were to compare it to the sects of old, Tianwen was like a massive, all-encompassing Artifact Refining Hall.

"Oh, right! There’s something else new I want to show you. Come on!"

With a mysterious expression, Ren Feng grabbed Yu Fei and started walking, seeming incredibly eager. Tang DanDan smiled and followed behind, not feeling the least bit neglected.

Having spent a long time with him, she understood his personality perfectly. ’He’s actually a very straightforward, yet proud person.’

’Besides,’ she mused, ’I bet Yu Fei’s strength is even greater than Ren Feng’s.’ When Zhuge Zhigang had visited a while back, Ren Feng had insisted on a sparring match before showing him any of Tianwen’s special features. This time, however, he hadn’t mentioned sparring at all.

Ren Feng led him directly across the Tianwen campus, which was crisscrossed with countless metal tracks and multicolored indicator lights.

Transport robots of all sizes zipped along the tracks, carrying various supply crates, while drones of all kinds flew through the air. Students bustled about, some in different models of protective suits, while many, like Ren Feng, wore battle armor.

Unlike traditional armor, Yu Fei keenly sensed that these suits of battle armor all seemed to have energy cores—some even had more than one.

Yu Fei also spotted some supply crates from the Bright Jade Alliance, which he guessed were filled with refined metals.

He followed Ren Feng into a heavily guarded laboratory building. The building appeared to be unguarded, and even his Reversing Destiny Vision couldn’t find any hidden sentries. However, he detected numerous weapon emplacements and figured it was likely monitored by an intelligent algorithm combined with an access control system.

’If Shenhan’s technology is 200 years ahead of the civilian sector,’ Yu Fei mused, ’then Tianwen’s technology is probably 100 years ahead of Shenhan’s.’

Their ways of life and areas of focus were completely different.

With the four major tech-focused Borderlands at its back, no one knew what undisclosed technologies Tianwen possessed.

But on second thought, Yu Fei realized that within the framework of the Martial Arts Extraordinary World, no matter how advanced their technology became, it could never upend the existing order—unless Tianwen completely mastered the technology to mass-produce Martial Saint-level mechanical lifeforms from the Borderlands.

They traveled downwards. Tianwen had established a network of high-speed tracks deep underground. As he looked around, Yu Fei was shocked to realize that the entire subterranean space here had been completely hollowed out.

They stood inside a massive tube, four or five meters in diameter. Beneath their feet was a rapidly moving conveyor belt, and the sides and top of the tube were made of a transparent material, offering a clear view.

Countless lights illuminated the subterranean world, making it as bright as day.

"Amazing, isn’t it!"

Ren Feng gloated to Yu Fei, "Not choosing Tianwen was a huge loss for you guys. All of humanity’s most advanced technological creations are right here. Tianwen is basically one giant, futuristic city."

"The upper limits of our martial arts path have already been sealed. Only mechanical technology can save the future of humanity."

Ren Feng wasn’t being subtle. As a fellow combat leader of one of the Seven Great Celestial Pride Classes, he believed Yu Fei must already be aware of certain information.

They were different from ordinary people; there was at least an eighty percent chance they were destined to stand at the pinnacle of humanity’s combat power. It was better to exchange these ideas now, before they grew powerful and their beliefs became too deeply ingrained to change.

Yu Fei was noncommittal. Whether it was the path of martial arts, technology, or even biochemical creations, in his view, the rank of Martial Saint was not the end of cultivation. From the hidden information he was privy to, becoming a Martial Saint might only be the baseline for combat power at a certain level.

After his conversation with Ye Shuping, he had come to believe it was highly likely that the current path of martial arts had taken a wrong turn at some critical juncture.

Otherwise, it didn’t make sense that over tens of thousands of years, with so many exceptionally talented and brilliant individuals, not a single one had found any clue to the path that lay beyond. It was completely illogical.