Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8: REPAIRING A CRYSTAL PROCESSOR

“You’re late by 55 minutes,” said the beauty coldly, like a frozen mountain .

“Sorry, this place was kind of hard to find . Did you bring the goods?” Li Yao criticized implicitly as he extended his dirty claw .

Si Jiaxue willow-like eyebrows wrinkled slightly as she judged Li Yao’s appearance . She felt that it appeared she had chosen the location without much thought . She hesitated for a short while, but nevertheless fished out a crystal processing unit from her school bag .

“Its this CPU, its super unstable after bootup . It crashes every time if you let it run over three minutes . I already went to dozens of repair shops and they all say that the architecture is way too archaic, that there’s a lot of components inside that are no longer produced, and that it’s impossible to repair . I’ve heard you are a veteran crystal processor enthusiast and also a complete expert on repairing them . If you can fix this, name whatever price you want . Money is not a problem . Of course, if you can’t fix this… Please don’t break any of the countless components within . ”

“Let’s discuss this after I take a look . ”

Repairing crystal processors required a broad and profound set of skills . Li Yao did not dare to give a guarantee . He pulled out a pair of dust-repelling gloves and put them on . Only then did he solemnly take the CPU .

When the CPU was pressed into his hand, he felt fully the firmness of a true crystal processor classic . This was an antique CPU with at least over a hundred years of history . Half of the architecture was still mechanical in nature . There was a triangular button on the ball-shaped exterior .

When Li Yao lightly pressed the button, the crystal processing unit made a humming sound and lightly vibrated as it awakened . It seemed that its mechanical architecture was operating at lightning speed . A few seconds passed and suddenly it flew out of Li Yao’s palm to float in midair . Two beams of light shot out from the two openings on its top and bottom, condensing together to form a giant hologram . It morphed 49 glistening, shining glyph characters into existence, which formed a elaborate virtual glyph keyboard .

“This is simply a work of art…” Li Yao’s eyes became filled with an incomparable tenderness .

He identified that this was the Heavenly Zither Sect’s Tube Type CPU, the Vast Tomb-7, developed over a hundred and forty years ago .

In the history of crystal processor development, the “Tube-Type CPU” was only in the arena for a mere dozen years before falling to the more advanced “Chip-Type CPU . ” Moreover, the Heavenly Zither Sect was a small sect that only existed for 50 or so years . This small sect relied on the success of releasing generations of the “Vast Tomb” Crystal Processor architecture, but they never kept up with modern developments in technology . During the decade when Chip-Type CPUs were rampant, this sect decided to go all in . They poured all their resources into developing the Vast Tomb-7 . Ultimately their source of capital fractured and they had to declare bankruptcy .

Thus the Vast Tomb-7 was known as the shining final glory of all Tube-Type Crystal Processors, setting its place as a masterpiece .

Li Yao’s pair of hands turned into a light breeze as they hopped around on the glowing, rippling glyph keyboard .

His typing speed wasn’t necessarily fast, but his movements were natural and flowing, rolling freely and easily . His appearance wasn’t that of tapping a keyboard, but of strumming a priceless zither . Appearing on the hologram were rows and rows of glyph script instructions that followed his movements, dropping down like a torrential storm of rain . And the crystal processor followed as well through its interface, by emitting an utterly weak beep that was incomprehensible to the ordinary person .

Li Yao leaned his ear closer, listening attentively . He had an expression of complete concentration . Each of his movements was incomparably precise .

After all, Tube-Type CPUs were artifacts created over a hundred years ago . Their architecture was simpler in comparison to the opposite mainstream Chip-Type Processor of the present . Two minutes later, Li Yao was able to make an initial verdict: “There should be something wrong with the heatsink, causing the internal temperatures of the crystal processor to become abnormally high during run-time . The functionalities of modern crystal processors are becoming more and more powerful, having to process greater amounts of telepathic data and information . As for the older type crystal processors of over a hundred years ago, the load becomes too heavy . It is the same as a 150 year old man who’ve had to bear over a thousand pounds of weight everyday, year in year out . It’s hard to avoid destroying the joints . ”

“This crystal processor is a remnant left behind by a close relative of mine . To me it’s an important memorial containing meaningful memories . As long as you can fix it, I am willing to pay any cost . ” Si Jiaxue spoke seriously .

Li Yao thought and thought, and nodded his head: “A scraped heatsink is a common breakdown in crystal processors, technically it’s not a big issue . The reason why none of the repair shops you went to were unable to repair is primarily because this model number of crystal processors is way too rare . The technology utilized by this processor is also way too obsolete . The heatsink used inside has not been produced in the last hundred years and modern heatsinks used in modern processors are fundamentally incompatible— Anyways, it doesn’t matter . I just happen to have some extremely precious antique heatsinks in my collection . All I need to do is give it a few tries, even if a few of them become scrapped, I should be able to mod one to fit as a heatsink for this processor . ”

“No need to bullshit! Just name a price!” Si Jiaxue had read between the lines .

“Oh my . Isn’t it sad to be so urgent to discuss money matters between fellow students? Anyways, it’s not a big problem . Time is short, let me bring it home . I estimate all I need is one night to finish this . As for the dismantling fees, testing fees, repair fees, component costs, assembling and installation fees, and adding my labor fees altogether… I’ll discount it down to 95% for you . I calculate it to be 98,500 credits . Do you want to pay in cash or do a transfer?”

“Hmm?”

Si Jiaxue squinted her eyes . A dangerous glow exuded from within the depths of her eyes . All of a sudden the ambient temperature of the junk room seemed to drop by ten degrees .

“I may have money, but it doesn’t mean I’ll let other people treat me as an easy target to cheat . Do you understand?”

Li Yao swallowed some saliva with utter difficulty . He bore against the pressure explaining: “Its true . When compared to repairing an ordinary crystal processor, this price is a little bit high . With nearly 100,000 credits, one can buy a high-end crystal processor with ‘Computational Power’ comparable to a cultivator at the peak of the Refinement stage . However, your crystal processor unit has over a hundred years of history . It can already be considered an antique . Obviously, the price for repairing an antique is different! Lets not talk about the other costs, let’s just talk about the several heatsinks I will need to use on this crystal processor . They were all acquired through years of bloody effort . I had to spend tremendous utmost effort in order to acquire these rare collection pieces . All of them are simply priceless treasures! So, believe me . This is an absolutely fair and reasonable price!”

Si Jiaxue did not speak a single word . Her serene eyes fixed onto him .

Her Spiritual Actualization Quotient exceeded 70%, bringing with it spiritual pressure that was unyielding . Li Yao’s heart tightened and he was on the verge of collapsing . But when he thought of his own “objective,” he still forced himself to speak: “If my fellow student Si Jiaxue feels it’s too expensive, that’s also not a problem . Lets just say that my inspection was free this one time . You can mail it to a few of the large repair shops in a different country . Let them slowly find the corresponding heat sink for your model . I think it will take at most 3-5 months in order to find one or two in stock . If you decide to go this way, the cost should be cut down to under 10,000 credits . ”

“Three to five months… . . ”

Si Jiaxue groaned lightly . She knew that Li Yao spoke the truth, since the technicians of several repair shops told her the same thing . From what they said, repairing the old CPU types wasn’t difficult, but finding the appropriate components was very hard . They also gave an estimation of three-five months . However if her luck was bad, it was possible that she would have to wait up to half a year .

Presumably, this little rascal also saw this point, thereby considering herself to be an easy target!

Forget it . She, herself, still needed to go cultivate . There’s no need to get tangled up with these bastards of the Common Class . Si Jiaxue nodded her head, and with an expressionless face said: “Okay fellow student Li Yao, I can give you 100,000 credits, but business transactions require business contracts . Tomorrow at this time, I want to see the crystal processor looking completely brand new . Also, you will guarantee its operational stability into the future . If something goes wrong every now and then, I won’t pay any follow up repair fees . Is there any problems?”

“There’s absolutely no problems . After I replace its heatsink with a suitable one, it can resume normal operation for at least three years . During these three years you can continue searching for the appropriate heatsink for this model . As long as you replace it at regular intervals it will be fine . ” Li Yao responded at lightning speed, wearing a smile on his face .

“Then that’s fine . ” Si Jiaxue nodded her head . She was unwilling to deal with this small rascal for even one more second, so she turned around to leave .

Li Yao sat down onto a box of junk, his head was covered with cold sweat . Only after much time had past did he feel the weight off his shoulders, letting out a whistle .

Success!

With 100,000 credits he can go to the “Underground Ghost Market” to buy the illegally produced “Knock-Off Strengthening Drugs,” giving him the chance to increase his Actualization Quotient by a huge percentage!

Knock-off strengthening drugs contained a great amount of impurities and their consumption caused extremely violent side effects . However they are superior in times of cost and sufficiency . 100,000 credits was enough to buy a three month’s supply of dosage for consumption . Giving him the opportunity to temper his spirit root within the “Hundred-day Sprint” timeframe, to be completely reborn!

“My desire is to test into the ‘Nine Elite Universities . ’ This is my sole and only chance . Even if you are the ‘Second’s School Goddess,’ I have no choice but to fiercely cheat you of your money . I am really sorry!” Li Yao shoved the “Vast Tomb-7” CPU into his school bag . He rubbed his somewhat swollen and aching temples for a bit . A glimpse of a smile appeared on his face as he strutted out the room of junk .