Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

An hour later, in their suite…

The manacle that confined Huangpu Xiaoya had been relieved. But she was imposed upon yet another few barriers. It was fine for her to eat or drink, but she could only summon the least spiritual energy. Whenever she had the idea of self-torturing, she would immediately receive an electric shock and be paralyzed to bed.

Therefore, just like a beast that had fallen into a trap, Huangpu Xiaoya could do nothing but glare with her bloodshot eyes at the bed on which Li Yao was reading an ancient book comfortably on the other side of the room. The book was Huangpu Shiyi’s personal collection. It was offered to Li Yao without him asking because Huangpu Shiyi felt extremely good today.

Huangpu Xiaoya stared at Li Yao for a long time, only to discover that he was smiling as airily as before. She gnashed her teeth. ”Shameless!”

Li Yao laughed and replied, ”You think this is shameless? Then I’m afraid that your eyes will be opened today. Do you want to hear it?”

Huangpu Xiaoya was dazed, not knowing what he meant.

Li Yao continued instead of waiting for a reply. ”When I reflected on the whole thing, there are several points that have been bothering me. Look, according to Huangpu Shiyi, his sole reason for going to the Skyhill Domain was to invite you to join the Temple of Immortals and become an Immortal Cultivator, was it not? At that time, he was not aware of my capability yet. He merely planned to kill me as a favor for Fengyu Zhong, who is also a member of the Temple of Immortals.

”I was never his focus; you were.

”Then, here comes the question. Do you not think that there should be a step-by-step process to lure in other people, especially hardcore Cultivators who were born in the noble families in the Cultivation world and firmly believe in the ethos of Cultivators?

”For example, he could’ve elaborated to you about how merciful and beautiful the Temple of Immortals is, or that it was established for the peace of the universe and for the happiness of the people. At the very least, he should’ve explained that there were good reasons that the Temple of Immortals were killing other people, say, killing some was actually saving more, or that it was not the Immortal Cultivators who were wrong but the other living souls in the multiple worlds, bla bla bla.

”Then, he could’ve shown you the dark side of the Cultivators and let you realize that Cultivators were actually pretentious people whose actions turned out to be the very opposite of their claims, and so on.

”The process could be repeated until you were brainwashed and gradually accepted their stance. You would’ve been transformed slowly but surely.

”This should be the standard procedure to get more people to join his organization!

”But what did Huangpu Shiyi do exactly?

”He showed the serial explosions in the Skyhill Domain to you before anything else, as if he was afraid that you could not see through his evilness. He seemed to be trying to trigger your fury and resistance against the Temple of Immortals.

”Right now, we’ve been held captive for more than half a month, but he’s only spoken to you less than three times. By logic, it’s perfectly normal that an avid believer of the Cultivators’ creeds could not change their mindset in such a short amount of time, is it not? Why doesn’t he take you to the headquarters of the Temple of Immortals and ask a few more kindly-looking, preferably middle-aged, nuns to take their time to work together and talk sense into you?

”If the Temple of Immortals really is so bad at recruiting new people, I can only wonder how the organization has existed for such a long time and is even showing signs of thriving.

”The Huangpu family is a noble family of refining and one of the most renowned families in the circle of refiners. You are the most talented genius in the younger generation of such a family. To deal with such an important figure like yourself, it won’t be a waste of time even if it has to take several years, will it?

”Thirdly, even if Huangpu Shiyi is in dire need of a pair of new hands, does he really have to be so hasty? The medical staff on this starship are definitely less proficient than the doctors in the headquarters of the Temple of Immortals. Why can’t he wait until we reach the headquarters and ask a professional doctor to do the transplantation? Why is he not patient enough to wait for another half a month?

”Those three points have been baffling me for an entire hour. However, I suddenly figured everything out when you called me ’shameless’ just now!”

Huangpu Xiaoya was dazed. She pondered for a long time and still failed to get what Li Yao was trying to say. She murmured, ”What do you mean?”

Li Yao smiled knowingly. ”It’s simple. If Huangpu Shiyi’s purpose was to tempt you to join the Temple of Immortals, what he has been doing is idiotic and unreasonable.

”So, the fact is, since the very beginning, he had never wanted you to join the Temple of Immortals, and he was even scared that you might decide to join it.

”His one and only purpose at the Skyhill Domain was your hands!”

Taking a deep breath, Huangpu Xiaoya felt that several bolts of lightning were striking inside her head.

After she heard Li Yao’s explanation, she found everything clearer and yet more desperate!

”So, this was his scheme all along. He—he is my blood uncle, but he has been coveting my hands!”

Huangpu Xiaoya was trembling beyond her control. ”Terrible. You Immortal Cultivators are too terrible! You are not humans. Definitely not humans!”

Li Yao smiled. ”Huangpu Shiyi is a super refiner. Since he was in need of a pair of new hands, he definitely wouldn’t choose any random person’s. Inside the Huangpu family, the hands of his relatives of his generation or senior to him were too old. He wouldn’t be able to use them for long even if he transplanted them. So, he could only look for alternatives in the younger generation.

”Who in the younger generation has better hands than you, the talented heir of the Huangpu family?

”As it happened, you were his blood nephew. Your father and him were brothers. You shared the same bloodline. His body wouldn’t have a problem to accept organs from you.

”Therefore, these young and vigorous hands of yours were apparently destined for him!

”He played the scenes of the Skyhill Domain’s explosions on purpose so that you wouldn’t even consider surrendering to the Temple of Immortals. He is so eager to chop off your hands now because he wants to settle everything as soon as possible.

”There will be too many uncertainties when you return to the headquarters of the Temple of Immortals. Let’s say you suddenly change your mind and decide to join the Temple of Immortals. If so, there will be absolutely no reason for him to cut off your hands anymore! Haha!”

Huangpu Xiaoya was almost stunned. She stammered, ”If—if you have seen everything through, are you still willing to be a disciple of such a venomous viper?”

Li Yao chuckled. ”What’s wrong with that? I’ve slain my own master before, haven’t I? Huangpu Shiyi and I are merely taking advantage of each other. Now that we are still of value to each other, we will always restrain ourselves and be friendly to one another. A relationship bound by interests is so much more solid than one built on feelings!”

”Indeed.”

Huangpu Xiaoya closed her eyes, cold tears dripping down her face. She mumbled, ”I almost forgot. You are also a vicious, filthy, cowardly, and selfish Immortal Cultivator!”

…

Inside a dark room near the suite…

Although Li Yao had proved himself to be loyal enough, Huangpu Shiyi and Su Jiuzhen had never let loose of monitoring him.

Three crystal cameras and detectaphones had been hidden in the corners of the room. They were five times more inconspicuous than the previous ones!

It was a smart psychological strategy.

After Li Yao dismantled so many crystal cameras and detectaphones in the beginning, he would inevitably think that Huangpu Shiyi’s methods about deploying surveillance equipment were only as good as that.

Therefore, Li Yao had never discovered the last three crystal cameras and detectaphones that were much more discreetly than previous ones.

However, his blunt words, since he thought no one was watching him, cast the dark room into awkward silence.

Su Jiuzhen said coldly, ”Is it true, what Li Yao just said?”

Sweat appeared on Huangpu Shiyi’s forehead, as he stuttered, ”Well, about that…”

Su Jiuzhen snorted. ”It’s your own business to chop off Huangpu Xiaoya’s hands. But you have mobilized so many resources of our organization without telling us your true purpose. Have you notified the Lotus King of your jobbery?”

Huangpu Shiyi was trembling violently. With a bitter face, he replied, ”I… I…”

”I suppose that’s a no?”

Su Jiuzhen sighed and said, ”Rest assured, I will not report the matter. After all, we are both subordinates of the Lotus King. If I were to blab about it, we might have to turn against each other. What benefits can I get from that?

”However, what if someone else learns of the matter and attacks the Lotus King for his lack of control over his subordinates?

”When we return, you have three days to explain yourself to the Lotus King. If you don’t tell him everything after three days, I’m afraid that I’ll have to brief the Lotus King myself.

”Huangpu Shiyi, I’m not criticizing you, but why didn’t you talk to the Lotus King before you did such a thing, which is not entirely forbidden? Why were you so self-willed? How foolish you were!”

Huangpu Shiyi’s face was as pale as sand. He murmured, ”I thought… I thought…”

Su Jiuzhen looked him in the eye and said, ”You didn’t think that the Lotus King would help you, did you? Then you couldn’t have been more wrong! Now that you have chosen to serve the Lotus King, and you are well aware of the Lotus King’s power inside our organization, you should have every faith in him!

”I’m clearer than you about how the Lotus King returns his subordinates’ loyalty. If you had talked to the Lotus King in advance, he would’ve arranged everything perfectly for you. There wouldn’t have been the slightest chance that other people might see through the operation.

”Alright. What is done is done. It’s needless to say anything else. After your competition with Li Yao tomorrow, just ask him to chop off the hands and replace yours with them as you planned. Then, you’d better be prepared to ask for the Lotus King’s pardon. I will try to say something nice for you, too.”

Huangpu Shiyi wiped his sweat quickly. ”Thank you very much, Master Su! After my body is accustomed to my new hands, I will immediately turn on my furnace and refine a set of the most delicate ’Thirteen Ghost Soul Needles’ for you!”

Huangpu Shiyi’s promise was apparently what Su Jiuzhen had been waiting for. But he simply grunted, not showing approval or disapproval. He squinted and looked at Li Yao inside the light beam again. ”This boy was smart enough to see through your ruse, though.

”However, since he is speaking evil of you, his future master, so patently, it is evident enough that he does not know that there are other bugs inside the room and that we are still supervising him to this moment!

”His declaration about joining the Temple of Immortals for his own benefits seems more valid now.

”Alright, now, I can finally say with a hundred percent certainty that Li Yao is willing to join the Temple of Immortals sincerely and that he is a real Immortal Cultivator!

”Excellent. A great talent has joined the Lotus King’s cause. How can the other three expect to compete with the Lotus King now?”