Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Nine hundred meters! Eight hundred meters! Seven hundred meters!

Li Yao was closer and closer to the victory. There was no time for Lu Zui’s crystal warships to lock onto him!

Right when he was about to pass the last avenue and march into the small square before the parliament building, two passionate crowds crashed into each other heavily and blocked the entire avenue!

They were the two teams with the most people, who had met each other in front of the parliament building. Flags were intertwining with flags, and roars were colliding with roars. All the people, men and women, young and old, friends and strangers, were all hugging each other in excitement, leaving absolutely no room to pass by!

Of course, Li Yao could jump above everyone’s head and simply fly over.

But the price was that he would be exposed to the cannons of the ten or so crystal warships. With his wounds right now, it would be extremely difficult for him to dodge.

Besides, many people in the crowd had already noticed him.

The main participants of the ‘triumph parade’ were the representatives of the veterans nationwide. Naturally, a lot of them were Cultivators.

They might not be very strong themselves. Most of them were merely at the middle level or the low level of the Refinement Stage, the bottom for all Cultivators.

However, since they had all survived decades of years of bloody battles in the battlefield, they definitely had abundant combat experience and boasted the keenest sense about danger!

The Cultivators among the veterans immediately noticed the fierce fight between Wu Mayan, Ding Lingdang, and the ‘patriots’ among the skyscrapers!

They also noticed that Li Yao was squeezing in the crowd anxiously.

“What are you doing here!”

A few days ago, an explosion just took place in the Federal Square. The veterans were all highly alert. They surrounded Li Yao and unleashed their auras that were not strong but definitely tenacious enough!

Li Yao gritted his teeth, with fire popping out of his eyes.

If it were the ‘patriots’ under Lu Zui’s command that were stopping him, he would certainly have drawn his Blood Moon Dragon Hunting Saber and slashed all of them.

But the veterans who were blocking him were all ignorant and innocent. He could neither jump into the air and escape nor kill them. How could he free himself from the siege?

Right then, somebody in the crow shrieked, “He is an escaped criminal. Capture him now!”

Hearing the words, the veterans were even more daunting than before. Even the old men whose hair were white and who were short of an arm or a leg were also clenching their fists so hard that they seemed to be back to the battlefield decades ago!

Li Yao cursed loudly in his heart and immediately realized what was happening.

The ‘triumph parade’ today had certainly been instigated by the Patriots Partnership. Then, it was perfectly normal that several ‘patriots’ had blended into the demonstrating crowd to control the pace and the rhythm!

Lu Zui must have passed on his will to the ‘patriots’ who were lurking in the crowd. Now, they had let out fatal cries at the critical moment!

Li Yao glared in the direction of that cry, only to find nothing but heads and flags. There was no telling who the ‘patriot’ was at all.

The veterans who knew nothing, on the other hand, pushed closer and closer. The muscular man in the lead, with an iron plate and almost ten rivets on his head, yelled gravely, “Who are you exactly?”

“Listen to my explanation!” Li Yao opened his hands, indicating that he absolutely meant no harm. “You must believe—”

Before he finished ‘me’, every muscle on his back was shrinking violently, and his spine was leaping up like a shocked snake.

When he turned around and looked, Li Yao was greatly surprised!

In the sky not far away from him, a crystal warship in the half-stealth state was peeking around the corner of the skyscrapers. Three pointy magnetic rails extended from its head. A ball of lightning in which hundreds of electric arcs were entangled was crazily expanding, jumping and shining between the three rails!

In the few seconds while Li Yao was blocked by the parade, Lu Zui’s ‘Hidden Star’ had finally caught up to him. The powerful ‘Three Stars Slant Moon Cannon’ on board had completely locked onto him!

When Li Yao turned around, what he saw was merely the residues of the attack. The real explosion energy of the attack had already burnt through thousands of meters coming right at his face!

For a moment, Li Yao’s mind seemed to freeze. The entire world came to a halt. The only thing left in front of his eyes was the quickly expanding ball of lightning.

The parliament building was seven hundred meters behind him. Perhaps, if he burnt his life and soul without caring about anything, he would be able to dash into it within a breath.

However, standing right next to him were tens of thousands of ordinary people!

In front, there were the high school students who were holding the flags of their school excitedly.

On the left, there were the veterans who were wearing old, decolored uniforms and shining badges.

On the right, many citizens of the capital city had brought their children to the event. Many vigorous boys were sitting on their father’s shoulders and giggling while looking around, having no idea that the destructive energy was falling upon them.

Around him were seniors, kids, men, and woman. They were someone else’s parent, child, husband, or wife!

[Can I dodge the attack?

[Maybe I can. Or maybe, I can blow the ball of lightning away with my spiritual shield and dash into the parliament building with the counterforce!

[However…

[How many people will die?

[This is meant to save the federation and save more people!

[No, no, no!

[Ding Lingdang, Wu Mayan, Guo Chunfeng, Professor Mo Xuan… They have done their best. The last task has been put on your shoulders! Run now and fulfill your responsibility. You promised them!

[No… This isn’t my responsibility!]

Li Yao’s head was frozen for only 0.01 seconds.

Or rather, even when his head was still frozen, he already reacted subconsciously.

“Move away!” Li Yao roared and pushed everybody around him almost ten meters away with a blast. Stomping on the ground and leaving a giant crater almost four meters deep, he leaped to the midair, crossed his arms, and blew out a hurricane-like attack toward the surging ball of lightning!

Boom! Crack!

The ball of lightning exploded in midair brutally. The violent spiritual energy was spreading out like the sharpest blade and was about the envelop the citizens around when it was attracted by Li Yao’s overwhelming spiritual energy. Most of the energy was blown apart by Li Yao, and the remaining part was absorbed into his own body!

Pu!

Li Yao plummeted into the crater on the ground like a kite whose string had been severed, raising smoke all over the place!

In the sky, on Hidden Star, a ball of lightning that was even brighter, larger, and more violent was taking shape quickly!

Inside Hidden Star, Lu Zui roared thunderously. “Hurry up. He is wounded now. Kill him immediately. Kill him now!”

“But—” The ‘patriot’ who was responsible for the crystal railgun hesitated. “The Three Stars Slant Moon Cannon has been activated to the highest intensity, and too many citizens are gathered on the ground. No matter how hard we try to adjust the precision and control the electric arcs, somebody innocent will still be injured!”

“Idiot. With everything coming to this point, do we have time to bother that?” Lu Zui pushed the artillerist away and manipulated the crystal railgun in person. He mumbled, “Several battle-type Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators will be arriving soon. The representatives in the parliament building will notice something wrong soon, too. Everything will be doomed if we don’t kill Li Yao and take back the Jade Crystal Disc right now!

“As long as we kill him and take back the Jade Crystal Disc, everything can be explained. The investigation will not be finished until at least ten to fifteen days later even if there is one. Enough. That will be enough for us!

“This is ‘collateral damage’. They are necessary sacrifices! Kill one and save ten thousand. It’s worthwhile. It’s definitely worthwhile!

“Go to hell, Li Yao!”

Lu Zui grinned hideously and smashed the activation rune array of the Three Stars Slant Moon Cannon. The ball of lightning that was long prepared expanded abruptly. In the most fearsome appearance, it fell upon the land like a fiend made of lightning and thunder!

There was only a gap of several second between the first attack and the second. Most of the ordinary people did not realize what was going on. Even the bottom-level Cultivators among the veterans only vaguely felt that a cluster of violent energy exploded brutally above their heads, only to disperse into nothing in the next moment.

Having no time to do anything, they watched the second destructive sun getting brighter and brighter above their heads in bewilderment!

Right then—

Demonic energy was soaring to the sky from the crater on the ground. Bloody flames were rising up uncontrollably!

In the bloody flames, Li Yao opened his arms. His left eye was bloodshot, and bone spurs and scales were growing out of his body. The Blood Demon Form of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was completely activated!

In such a dreadful appearance, he stood in midair in between the ball of lightning and the crowd!

Crack!

Li Yao stabbed his hands into the breastplate and opened it brutally. Overwhelming demonic energy was unleashed from the magnificent demon core embedded to the center of the chest of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, as if a demon emperor had arrived in person!

While he was burning his life and soul and blowing out the strength in the deepest part of his every cell, the Hellish River Cannon, an upgraded version of the Cell Obliteration Cannon, expanded to the limits of the limits instantly!

Li Yao felt as if his internal organs had all been turned into flames, and the flames seemed to have evolved into a burning swirl. The swirl of fire was melting and absorbing his internal organs, his veins and nerves, his soul, and his vitality. When the absorption reached the threshold, it was completely detonated with the unstoppable fury as fuse, like a spring that had been compressed to the minimum!

“I will not allow you to hurt any innocent person!

“Burst out! One trillion times! Super crystal! Hellish River Cannon!”

Boom!

The attack from the Three Stars Slant Moon Cannon crashed brutally in midair with the Hellish River Cannon, like a ferocious beast that had encountered a deadly beast that was even more ferocious. After half a second’s impasse, the ball of lightning was directly swallowed by the infinite flame of demonic energy from the Hellish River Cannon. The power of the Hellish River Cannon even pushed forward and hit the spiritual shield of ‘Hidden Star’, forcing the crystal warship out of the stealth state. It was shaking violently in midair!

“What!”

Lu Zui’s eyes were almost bulging out of his face. He could not understand at all why Li Yao could still blow out such a powerful attack at such a moment!