Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 305 - 305 0243 How could it hold back_2

Chapter 305: Chapter 0243 How could it hold back_2 Chapter 305: Chapter 0243 How could it hold back_2 Qi Tian looked at the mountain cave he had dug out. The crane statue had enlarged, filling the small cave to the brim. If he were to stand on the crane’s back, he would inevitably bump his head.

Qi Tian didn’t know how to bring the crane statue back to its original size. He could only attempt to stretch his hand to the top of the crane, trying to knock it with his hand. However, he found that the spirit stone seemed rooted there, immovable. But soon, Qi Tian noticed a small protrusion next to the spirit stone. Touching it with his hand, after about ten seconds, the spirit stone popped up from the top of the crane with a click, and the crane statue restored to its original size.

Qi Tian was thrilled and hurriedly put away the crane statue. He hurriedly crawled out of the cave and came to the mountainside.

It was night here, although not pitch dark, vision was greatly affected. This conveniently allowed Qi Tian to experiment. He took out the crane statue again and replaced the top of the crane with a middle-grade spirit stone. In the blink of an eye, the crane statue enlarged once more, this time being at least a third larger than when using a low-grade spirit stone previously. If previously only one person could sit on its back, now it could barely hold two.

Qi Tian stepped onto the crane’s back. Instantly, he felt as if his feet were rooted on its back. A force firmly fixed him on the crane’s back while at the same time, the subtle connection he had with the crane before became clearer.

Qi Tian made a slight movement with his mind and thought “rise,” the crane immediately stood up. He thought “fly,” and the crane directly flapped its wings, taking off into the air with Qi Tian on its back.

Qi Tian laughed heartily in excitement. From the first day of his practice, he had been longing for the ability to fly. He never expected to finally achieve this ability now. Unlike his past life when he could only fly by airplanes, now he was standing on the back of a crane, facing the elements, which made the flight experience much more authentic.

After his excitement, Qi Tian started to issue various commands to the crane statue. He wanted to familiarize himself with the crane’s characteristics and strengthen their bond, making it an aid that could provide positive force when he needed it, rather than causing chaos.

By dawn, Qi Tian had generally mastered the commands of the crane statue, as well as its various performance indices.

When using the middle-grade spirit stone, the crane statue could fly up to 500 meters in the air, with a maximum speed of 300 kilometers per hour, and a cruising speed of about 200 to 240 kilometers per hour. The cruising time could exceed five hours. The only reason he couldn’t confirm the exact length of time was that Qi Tian had only tested it for five hours, and the spirit energy in the middle-grade spirit stone had not been exhausted, suggesting it could last considerably longer.

However, when using a low-grade spirit stone, all the crane statue’s performance indicators dropped significantly. It could only fly at a maximum height of 100 meters, with a top speed of around 60 kilometers per hour, a cruising speed of 50 kilometers per hour and a cruising time of about an hour. Though these figures aren’t very impressive, they are already quite amazing. Qi Tian had inquired about the price and performance of many flying swords in Wanjie City and found that such performance figures would not have a selling price below 50,000 spirit stones. However, Qi Tian could achieve the same effects with just one low-grade spirit stone, a difference that would amaze anyone who knew it.

Qi Tian believed that if he used top-grade or extreme-grade spirit stones, the various indices of the crane statue could improve even further. However, he had very few top-grade spirit stones and didn’t want to use them lightly, and he had no extreme-grade ones at all. Even if he had, he wouldn’t waste them on such a thing. Compared to enhancing the crane’s attributes, both top and extreme-grade spirit stones were much more valuable elsewhere.

Ignoring the potential improvement of top-grade spirit stones, Qi Tian was basically satisfied with the performance of the crane statue when using low-grade spirit stones. His satisfaction only increased with the performance achieved when using middle-grade spirit stones. Equipped with middle-grade spirit stones, his crane statue could overshadow any known flying swords or birds, giving Qi Tian an invincible edge in aerial combat. However, he would not easily execute this move. He remembered that both Great Zhao and Chi Di had Gold Core stage experts. If they decided that the crane statue was valuable and wanted it, would he give it up? If not, he expected the fate of being hunted down; if yes, he would not willingly submit.

Middle-grade spirit stones could be used on the crane statue, but he should not easily exhibit its capabilities. At most, he would only maintain it at the performance of a low-grade spirit stone.

Of course, Qi Tian wasn’t prepared to use the Immortal Crane Statue just yet. He had already purchased quite a few Soaring Cloud Talismans, which were sufficient to handle the general needs. Though using Soaring Cloud Talismans wasn’t as economical as using the Immortal Crane Statue, they were far safer. Qi Tian decided that for now, he would mainly rely on the Soaring Cloud Talismans, saving the Immortal Crane Statue for when necessary.

Qi Tian put away the Immortal Crane Statue, then released Hu Niu. He climbed onto Hu Niu’s back, heading in the direction of Tongmen West Pass.

Everything at Tongmen West Pass was normal. During Qi Tian’s departure, the Chi Di people had carried out a probing attack on Tongmen West Pass. Although they had failed to conquer it, they had inflicted considerable casualties on the border army.

Huang Zhiwei was already feeling the strain. This year’s Chi Di troops were exceptionally strong and robust. Their military equipment was at least one grade higher than that used in previous years, while the military preparation at the Tongguan Left Guard Station just maintained at the same level as previous years. This resulted in a predictable strain on the border army.

There were already signs of this before. For example, the catapult they used was more powerful than any they had used before.

When Qi Tian saw Huang Zhiwei, he was banging on the table in anger. He had dispatched several teams to the Tongguan Guard Station for reinforcement but strangely, there was still no news from there.

Huang Zhiwei was reprimanding the Reconnoitre Captain who dared not even lift his head.

The reconnoitre captain pleaded on his knees, “Commander, please allow me to personally go to the Tongguan Guard Station for help. If I can’t get the reinforcements, I would rather die as an apology.”

Just then, Qi Tian walked in. Seeing Qi Tian, Huang Zhiwei rushed over and said, “Immortal Master, I heard you were in closed-door cultivation, why are you out? Have you finished your cultivation?”

Qi Tian nodded, “I’ve solved my problem. What are you all doing?”

Naturally, Huang Zhiwei wouldn’t hide it from Qi Tian. He briefly explained the situation and sighed, “Immortal Master, I still can’t figure out what’s going on. Nominally, Tongguan Guard Station can’t just stand by and watch us die. They should join us in fighting the enemy at this critical juncture. How can they be dragging their feet?”

Qi Tian asked with a frown, “Has there ever been a situation like this in history?”

Huang Zhiwei shook his head directly, “Actually, if we look back, there have been similar situations where conflicts have arisen between two guard stations, with one turning a blind eye when the other is in trouble. But under the wise reign of the current Emperor, no one dares to engage in such underhanded activities. If found out, the whole family would be executed and all their relatives punished up to the ninth degree. Who would dare take such a risk?”