Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

”I sensed very strong spiritual waves and intense metal reactions. Something has got to be hiding inside the rock stratum!” Yan Yangtian shouted in the communication channel.

Li Yao also felt a very familiar wave behind the rock stratum which was as smooth as a mirror.

It was itself a very odd phenomenon that such a flawless rock stratum should appear in a canyon in the deep ocean.

”Hurry and blow up this rock stratum! We cannot give up hope, no matter how slim it is!”

Gritting his teeth, Li Yao summoned Floating Vulcan Machine Guns and crystal cannons. Almost ten lines of burning bullets rained upon the rock stratum.

Deep purple flames surged out of Ding Lingdang’s body, which pushed away seawater and hit the rock stratum.

Yan Yangtian, Ba Weiqi and Leng Ziming all exerted whatever was left of their spiritual energy and bombarded the rock stratum.

CRACK! CRACK!

The rock stratum was not thick. Very soon, cracks resembling spider nets were appearing on it, making it look like a dam that was going to collapse.

However, the rocks falling off above everyone’s heads were more numerous and larger, too.

One of the rocks would’ve hit Yan Yangtian precisely if Ding Lingdang hadn’t pulled her away in time.

”Our attack has accelerated the collapse of the crevice. According to my calculation, this undersea crevice is going to collapse and bury us completely within one minute!

”We have no other choice except to increase our firepower and dig out the metal object hiding inside the rock stratum!”

With rocks falling on their heads from above and more than ten demons lurking outside, Team Blue Bronze barraged with all their might. Ten seconds later, the thin rock stratum finally exploded. A lackluster silver brightness glittered in the darkness.

”This is—”

In front of everyone was a remnant of a crystal warship which was riddled with holes but not plagued by rust. Silver brightness was flowing all over its body.

The crystal warship was not very large. It was less than two hundred meters and streamlined. One could describe its style as ’unrestrained’. It gave the feeling that it came from an ancient painting drawn with ink in freestyle.

On the ragged shell of the warship was engraved with a Red Dragon Swallowing the Sun emblem, indicating that this was a crystal warship from the Star Ocean Imperium.

Maybe it had been left by the previous expedition team who explored Boneyard thousands of years ago.

Everyone was overjoyed with hope at first, but later, their hope turned into endless desperation while their hearts became heavier than ever.

They had found a crystal warship. But how could they enter it?

A crystal warship from the Star Ocean Imperium wouldn’t be opened easily. Half a minute later, they would be buried forever, ten thousand meters below the surface of Boneyard together with the warship!

The only exception was Li Yao. His eyes were bulging, and his mouth was stretched wide, because he found it hard to acknowledge what was happening.

No wonder he had felt a familiar wave just now.

The crystal warship in front of his eyes, despite the crap-like appearance, was exactly the same as his Neltharion.

Neltharion was a piece of training magical equipment from the Star Ocean Imperium which he had retrieved together with his Cosmos Ring.

He had speculated that the item was meant to train warship pilots.

Over the past year, he had been training with Neltharion all the time and learnt the basic driving skills. He was not familiar with every detail of the warship yet, but he could fly it without much trouble.

As for the operation pattern, internal structure, weapon system… He had learnt a thing or two about them, too.

If the training magical equipment that was Neltharion corresponded to the very crystal warship in front of his eyes, it meant…

”Don’t give up yet! There’s still hope!

”Lingdang, help me block the rocks. Give me… thirty seconds!”

Li Yao turned into a streak of blackness and dashed at the crystal warship. He twisted and dodged countless raging rocks like a loach. Stomping on a giant stone, he accelerated again and landed on the shell of the crystal warship.

Behind him, Ding Lingdang grunted. Thousands of shackles seemed to be broken at the same time, as she entered the seed explosion state!

”BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”

One, two, three… Seven dragons of flame in different colors roared and rushed out of her body. They circled her and chased each other. All the falling rocks coming close were blown to pieces immediately!

Li Yao’s speed was extremely high, but his mind was more tranquil than ever. His eyes turned into the most precise crystal cameras. Stable, effective, and utterly devoid of feelings.

He had dashed to the back of the remnant crystal warship.

He was well aware of Neltharion’s complicated structure. There were four doors for the crew and six projection platforms for crystal suits, but they were all heavily protected without the slightest gap. It would be impossible to open them without the pertinent spiritual passwords.

Besides, these entrances were all controlled by rune arrays. It was doubtful that the rune arrays were still functional after thousands of years of deterioration.

However, on the left side of the end of the warship, there was an entrance for maintenance staff that could be opened from the outside, so that it would be easier for the staff to get their job done.

The most exciting point about the entrance was that it was controlled by complicated mechanical structure. Since the crystal warship had been forged by more than five thousand kinds of different alloys, and the silver seawater seemed not very corrosive, it could still be working!

Soon, Li Yao found the maintenance entrance.

Beside the round control panel, there were seven holes in different shapes. The panel could only be opened by inserting seven different tools together at the same time.

A silver metal ball appeared in Li Yao’s right hand, which flowed slowly like glue, crawled into the seven holes and coagulated at his telepathic thought.

”CRACK!”

The control panel was opened, revealing a sophisticated, spider-net like mechanical structure.

Li Yao’s brain was functioning fast. The silver metal ball inside his palm turned into four different tools, while he handled the delicate mechanical structure quickly.

Just like a pianist who was fully focused on the instrument in front of him, Li Yao dwelled in his world, forgetting that he was in a cave that was about to collapse.

In the communication channel, Ding Lingdang’s breathing was becoming heavier and heavier. Yet, she didn’t urge him at all, because she totally believed in Li Yao, and if Li Yao said he needed thirty seconds, he would definitely give everyone a miracle thirty seconds later!

24 seconds… 25 seconds…

”BOOM!”

The flame dragons surrounding Ding Lingdang had almost lost all color. But they were as stubborn as their master; they roared out and smashed incoming rocks time and time again.

However, the overwhelming storm of rocks was beyond the capability of any human being. Her actions were slower and slower. Countless smaller rocks escaped the hunting and hit her body heavily.

28 seconds… 29 seconds…

”CRACK!”

Beside Li Yao, the seemingly intact shell suddenly glided open. A cabin door that could allow one person to come through at a time appeared and opened!

Inside the cabin door, there was an ivory brightness that stopped the seawater from flooding in!

”I made it! Come in now!”

Li Yao roared, but he didn’t crawl into the cabin immediately. Instead, he stomped on the shell of the boat and rushed backwards to Ding Lingdang like a shooting arrow.

Ding Lingdang stayed in the seed explosion state for more than ten seconds. Her soul and spiritual energy were almost drained. She was merely carrying on with the last bit of perseverance inside her body.

Li Yao’s arrival eased her. She collapsed in Li Yao’s arms in great relief.

”Thirty seconds. Nailed it!”

Ding Lingdang wanted to laugh, but what came through the communication channel were chesty coughs. Li Yao could feel that her body was shaking even with the block of the thick crystal suits.

”Of course. You are a human-shaped tyrannosaur. What can those pebbles do to you?”

Li Yao smiled drily. He dragged Ding Lingdang toward the crystal warship. One rock after another bashed his back, but he bit his lips and didn’t utter any sound.

The five of them entered into the maintenance channel, half rolling and half crawling. When Li Yao was shutting the cabin door, a giant rock weighing almost a hundred tons knocked the shell of the warship, raising such a loud yet dull noise that their eardrums were almost torn apart.

”BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”

The world seemed to be swirling. The undersea crevice finally collapsed.

Team Blue Bronze had been locked into an iron coffin ten thousand meters underground.

…

Out of the crevice, in the bottomless trench, fourteen demons were cruising inside the pervading sea sand. But they couldn’t sense the existence of any Cultivators.

”Smashed by billions of tons of rocks, the five Building Foundation Stage Cultivators are dead for sure!” One of the demons grinned hideously.

Yet, Wang Ji’s face was gloomy. The voice that he gnashed through his teeth spread out clearly,

”Vulture Li Yao, such a way of death is too much of a bargain for you.

”My hatred won’t be gone until I skin you, burn you, crush your bones and throw away your ashes!

”Alright. Let me get down to my business for now. I will look for you dead body later after I dig out the secret treasures left by Skeleton Dragon!”

Wang Ji waved his bone tail. The fourteen demons turned around at the same time toward the undersea town relics that belonged to Skeleton Dragon’s tribe.

…

In the darkness, Ding Lingdang, Ba Weiqi, and Leng Ziming were over-exhausted after entering the seed explosion state. They were moaning in excruciating agony.

Li Yao took out three Flowing Brightness Grasses and three Heart Locking Flowers from his Cosmos Ring.

”Yan Zi, the three of them have run out of strength. Separate the Flowing Brightness Crystals from the roots of the Flowing Brightness Grasses, crumble them into powder, mix the No. 14 strengthening drug and the No. 21 recovery drug with a ratio of three to one, and then pour the power into the mixed drug with half a minute of stirring.

”Half will be taken orally, and half will be injected into their veins.

”As for the Heart Locking Flowers, squeeze out its sap and mix it with the No. 6 strengthening drug. Smear some of it on their temples and below their nose. The remaining part should be taken orally, too.

”The Flowing Brightness Crystal can help them recover their spiritual energy. The Heart Locking Flowers will prevent them from becoming deranged. You know the rest of the treating procedures.

”Don’t take off your crystal suits right now. The air here is terrible and unsuitable for the wounded.”

While he was talking, Li Yao crawled deeper into the maintenance duct.

”Wait, where are you going?”

The question was posed by Ding Lingdang and Yan Yangtian at the same time.

Li Yao’s heart suddenly shrank. Ding Lingdang’s voice was extremely frail due to her bad body conditions. The scared little girl in the city besieged by demon beasts seemed to be back.

He crawled back and groped for Ding Lingdang’s hand. He held it tight and said, ”Believe in me!

”I will be back soon.

”I’m going to find a way of survival for us, and a way to hell for the scumbags of the demon race.”

While he was talking, he turned around again and crawled into the darkness, never to look back.

Li Yao put away all irrelevant thoughts. Translucent, complicated structure designs popped up inside his brain, which had all been learnt from his Neltharion.

He was going to the cockpit and control center of the warship.

Although he didn’t know whether the crystal warship which had hibernated in the depths of Boneyard for thousands of years was functional or not, the fact that the seawater-resistance rune arrays on the cabin door were still working gave him a sliver of hope.

Even the chance was only 1%, he would not give up; he would make it happen with 10000% of his effort!

”Wang Ji…”

Li Yao’s eyes were cold, his killing scent soaring!