Chapter 321 - 247: Sword Control Technique: Small Success
His words brought a measure of silence to the surroundings.
It was true. In pursuit of the ultimate aerodynamic design, the X-01’s exterior looked completely bare, with no visible weapon hardpoints.
Han Feng shot him a glance, then walked under the aircraft’s nose and lightly pressed a specific spot.
"CLICK. CLICK. CLICK."
A series of soft, mechanical clicks echoed.
The smooth skin of the underbelly, wing roots, and air intakes suddenly flipped open, revealing six internal weapon bays and two retractable high-energy laser emitters.
Even more unnervingly, a black barrel, a full two meters long, extended from directly beneath the nose.
"Is that..."
Li Tiecheng’s eyelid twitched.
"An improved ’Sky Splitter’ Magnetic Rail Cannon."
Han Feng patted the hard, black barrel.
"It may only be Tier Three in terms of power, but it’s paired with the ’Spiral Force’ acceleration Runes I designed specifically for it.
A single, soul-shattering shot can pierce the scales of a Tier Four Demon Beast, no problem."
Councilor Wang’s face instantly turned the color of beet root.
What a resounding slap to the face.
"To ensure stealth capabilities and aerodynamic efficiency, all weapon systems are housed internally,"
Han Feng explained unhurriedly.
"Councilor Wang, would you still like me to demonstrate how it fires?
It’s loaded with live ammunition, though. If it were to misfire..."
Councilor Wang instinctively took a step back and snorted.
"That won’t be necessary!"
Li Tiecheng burst out laughing and slung an arm around Han Feng’s shoulder.
"Alright, alright, stop teasing him.
Let’s talk business. The X-02 mass-production model—you said you could have it ready in three months?"
"As long as the materials and funding are in place, three months is a conservative estimate,"
Han Feng said, his playful expression turning serious.
"But I have to warn you, even though the X-02 will only have about sixty percent of the prototype’s performance, the requirements for its pilots will still be extremely demanding."
"How demanding?"
Li Tiecheng asked.
"For starters, their physical conditioning must reach the Meridian Passage Realm Peak at a minimum."
Han Feng held up two fingers.
"The most important factor is their Spiritual Power—or, to put it another way, their neural reaction speed.
They have to be able to withstand the mental strain from the ’Spiritual Energy Resonance.’
Anyone with slow reflexes would just be flying to their death."
’Actually, there’s no mental strain at all.’
’The so-called "Spiritual Energy Resonance" is just a pseudoscientific concept I cooked up to hide the Sword Control Technique.’
’Without my system’s assistance, a normal person could never achieve Human-Machine Unity the way I do.’
’But I can implant a simplified version of the Rune logic into the mass-production model’s control system. It will allow pilots to guide the jet using specific Spiritual Power frequencies.’
’It won’t be true Sword Flight, but they’ll still be able to perform maneuvers far beyond what a conventional fighter is capable of.’
’This means the pilots’ Spiritual Power must be sensitive enough to perceive the faint fluctuations of the Runes.’
Li Tiecheng’s brow furrowed in thought for a moment.
"Finding pilots at the Meridian Passage Realm Peak is easy enough. Most of my ace pilots meet that standard.
As for their Spiritual Power..."
He suddenly slapped his thigh.
"No problem!
The Garrison Army has plenty of people who also train with Visualization Methods. Their Spiritual Power is much stronger than their peers of the same tier.
Even if I have to pick one out of every hundred, I’ll put together a full squadron for you!"
"Then it’s a deal."
Han Feng nodded. "I’ll draw up a detailed training regimen later. We’ll start them on the simulators, and they’re not getting into a real jet until they’ve practiced so hard they puke."
"Excellent! Perfect!"
With business concluded, Li Tiecheng lost interest in continuing the tour. He left with Chen Beixuan and the group of experts, who departed reluctantly.
Councilor Wang’s face was grim as he left.
He would clearly be doing some political maneuvering once he got back.
But under the banner of "Project Torch," he couldn’t stir up much trouble.
Once everyone had departed, the heavy blast doors sealed shut once more.
The noisy hangar fell quiet again.
Lin Xue, Zhao Yu, and the rest of the team were still bustling around the jet, collecting flight data.
Han Feng waved a hand, signaling for them to carry on, and walked into his private lounge off to the side.
He shut the door and drew the curtains.
Han Feng collapsed onto the sofa, letting out a long, deep sigh.
"Fucking exhausted..."
Despite the spectacular show he’d put on, those ten-odd minutes of extreme flight had genuinely drained more than half of his Sword Essence and stamina.
That final maneuver—the hover-drop into a Cobra Maneuver—was a pure death-defying stunt.
It was a good thing his "Innate Sword Body" could handle it. Any other person, even someone at Meridian Passage Realm Perfection, would probably have their internal organs rearranged by now.
But...
It was totally worth it!
With a thought, Han Feng summoned his system panel.
He checked his rewards.
[1. Sword Control Technique Skill Proficiency: +1000!]
[Current Level: Sword Control Technique·Mastery (3896/4000)]
[2. Innate Sword Body Tempering Progress: +150!]
[Current Level: Middle Level Innate Sword Body (545/10000)]
Looking at the soaring numbers, Han Feng broke into a wide, silent grin.
His body ached as if it had been trampled by an elephant, but the thrill of his power skyrocketing was simply addictive.
His Sword Control Technique Skill Proficiency had shot up by 1000 points from just a single test flight!
’If I had to grind this out myself, how long would that have taken? Forever?’
’Looks like the system wasn’t kidding. Flying a plane really is a shortcut to Cultivation Immortality.’
The next step was to grind his Sword Control Technique to the Small Success Level as quickly as possible, which was one of the requirements for advancing to Sword Master.
He also wondered what kind of Sword Cultivator knowledge he’d receive from the Empowerment when his Sword Control Technique reached the Small Success Level.
The Sword Storage Technique and knowledge of Runes from the last Empowerment had been immensely beneficial.
Furthermore, the Small Success Level Sword Control Technique should also bring about a qualitative change in its ability to temper his Dao Veins.
He eagerly anticipated just how efficient it would be to solidify his Dao Veins while flying a Spiritual Artifact Level jet and using a Small Success Level Sword Control Technique.