Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Li Yao and the Fire Ant King immediately understood what he was getting at.

Ordinary planets did not have an atmosphere or water resources because they were either too close to or too far away from a star.

If they were too close, it was barely possible for them to generate a force field that was strong enough. Most of the spiritual energy around the planet would be attracted by the star.

If they were too far away, they would be frigid hells due to the lack of radiation from the star. The spiritual energy would be equally inactive.

On such planets that were short of sunlight, water, air, and spiritual energy, even if the reserves of metal minerals were impressive, it would be a tedious project to excavate them from underground and refine them into high-purity materials that were good for magical equipment. A lot of corresponding factories and personnel were required. It was indeed impossible to be achieved in a year and a half.

But Kunlun was different.

It was not an ordinary planet but a planetary warship modified by the Pangu civilization, with an atmosphere and an ecological system that were even more stable than the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector!

The purple clouds in the sky indicated abundant water resources. Li Yao and his teammates, while on their way there, had already seen many rivers and lakes. As for the unseen underground rivers, there were certainly even more!

The purple clouds that enveloped Kunlun were also attracting the radiation of the pulsar and transforming them into the purest spiritual energy. It was essentially an inexhaustible treasure!

What was more critical was that metal scraps were scattered everywhere on Kunlun. They were all high-purity materials that had been refined by the Pangu Clan millions of years ago.

Although most of the remains had rusted or lithified with the passage of time, they were certainly of better quality than the raw minerals which contained too many impurities!

In such a favorable environment, the war base of the Imperium did not even need to purify the raw materials. It simply collected the remains, filtered the usable parts, and cut them out. Then, there would be enough ingredients for production!

Such a speed of development was like a big bang. It was definitely a hundred times faster than on an ordinary planet.

Fortune might have been a curse in disguise. Kunlun, because of its closeness, naturally could bring tremendous relics, technologies, and techniques to the New Federation, but at this moment, it also turned into a catalyst that was pushing them toward the abyss of doom!

“According to my calculation, the production of the Grand Illusionary Soldiers and the metal spiders is slowing down.”

Looking at the time on the lens on his retina, Li Yao said in a low voice, “But the construction efficiency of the buildings has been significantly increased. Meanwhile, the entire base seems to be expanding!”

“It is perfectly normal,” Professor Mo Xuan said. “The Grand Illusionary Soldiers are not very advanced magical equipment after all. Their combat ability is not high. There’s no need to waste too many resources on them.

“If I were the commander of the Imperium in the base, I wouldn’t decide to build too many Grand Illusionary Soldiers, either. As long as I could protect myself, it would be good enough. Most of the resources should be used to upgrade the base so that larger, tougher magical equipment could be produced sooner!”

“Magical equipment stronger than the Grand Illusionary Soldiers?” Li Yao licked his dry lips and felt that the tip of his tongue was hot. He could not tell whether he was excited or anxious.

“Have you noticed it?” The Fire Ant King squinted and said, “The Grand Illusionary Soldiers recently produced are mottled, as if they have patches all over their body. Also, their movement is a bit rigid, too, and not as swift as the first Grand Illusionary Soldiers.”

Li Yao and Professor Mo Xuan observed carefully for a moment and nodded at the same time.

“I get it now. The materials that make up the Grand Illusionary Soldiers are not the refined raw minerals but the scrap from the primeval battlefield. Or in other words, they are not ‘produced’ but ‘jumbled’!”

Li Yao patted his head, somewhat in relief. “There go my worries! How could it be so fast to build a complete metal collection and purification system? It is too appalling even for the Imperium! As it turns out, all of them are piled up with garbage. That makes much more sense!

“No wonder they are not producing more Grand Illusionary Soldiers. I assume that it is because the ‘garbage’ nearby has all been collected. There are no materials now!”

Professor Mo Xuan’s voice was still tightened. “However, if we leave them alone, they will build a real purification plant and a magical equipment center sooner or later. By then, walking down from the assembly lines will probably be the most elite Grand Illusionary Soldiers and the powerful magical equipment beyond our imagination!”

“We must… take over it!” Li Yao’s eyes glittered in greed. He licked his sharp teeth and said, “The mainframe crystal processor of the war base must store countless designs of the military magical equipment of the Imperium of True Human Beings as well as the bizarre buildings and the procedures to build them! If we can get this ‘mobile war base’ and even duplicate it on a large scale, our capability will certainly witness a huge leap!”

Magma-like brilliance flowed out of the Fire Ant King’s eyes as he mumbled, “Yes. We are now developing the resources planets of the Flying Star Sector on a large scale and even hoping to look for more Sectors beyond. With such a mobile war base, our efficiency will be more than ten times higher!”

“Professor! A few years ago, you swallowed most of the computational ability of the ‘star brain’ and grew a deep understanding about the crystal processor system of the Imperium of True Human Beings. You’ve also developed several pertinent viruses targeting such crystal processors. Are you confident to sneak into the war base, steal its mainframe crystal processor, and turn it into part of yourself?” Li Yao asked, full of hope.

“It’s hard to say.” Professor Mo Xuan pondered for a moment and shook his head. “There are two problems. Firstly, the ‘star brain’ that I swallowed was made by the star child, who came from the Imperium more than a hundred years ago.

“It means that the star brain represented the level of the Imperium of True Human Beings more than a hundred years ago.

“We don’t know yet when the ‘war base’ was invented and which era the mainframe crystal processor it adopted belongs to. If it is the latest model with the most cutting-edge technologies, it won’t be easy for me to hack and control it.

“Secondly, the mainframe crystal processor is surrounded by the war base and protected by so many Grand Illusionary Soldiers. Besides, real Immortal Cultivators must be supervising everything inside the base. We must think carefully about how to sneak in.”

Staring at the war base far away, the Fire Ant King asked resolutely, “What if we create a distraction for you?”

“It’s not a good plan.” Li Yao pondered for a moment and vetoed the idea himself. “Right now, the enemy has stopped the production of the Grand Illusionary Soldiers and dedicated most of the resources to the expansion of their base. They must be making preparations for certain large magical equipment.

“The expansion and upgrade of the base will not be completed soon. During that time, the improvement of its overall combat ability will be limited.

“Before, we estimated that it was a ‘scout’ sent by the Imperium of True Human Beings and that there couldn’t be too many tough experts on it. But from what we’ve seen, it is probably going to develop on its own and produce an army in silence. So, we must rectify our previous judgment. The Immortal Cultivators in the war base are not scouts but some sort of commanders. They can’t be weak!

“We only have three Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators. If the enemy has one to two Nascent Soul Stage experts, with so many Grand Illusionary Soldiers and defense systems as well as the ultimate magical equipment hidden inside the base, it is very possible that we will be blocked!

“So, we will be alerting the enemy!”

The Fire Ant King and Professor Mo Xuan realized that it did make sense. The Imperium had projected such a terrifying war base, in which a lot of critical technologies of the Imperium were stored, from afar. If it could be occupied by three Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators easily, the Imperium would not have gone there for an invasion at all but to commit suicide.

There had to be tougher methods of attack deep inside the base that they could not compete with easily.

“Right now, the Immortal Cultivators are unaware of our existence, and they do not know that we have grasped much information about them. That’s why they are not nervous at all and have switched to the ‘base expansion’ mode after only producing a thousand Grand Illusionary Soldiers!”

Li Yao’s eyes were still as bloodshot as those of a hungry wolf, but his voice was extremely calm as he analyzed carefully, “If we launch an assault but fail, the Immortal Cultivators will certainly devote all the resources to the production of the Grand Illusionary Soldiers. In a few days, countless Grand Illusionary Soldiers will be jumbled crazily!

“Therefore, our best strategy is still to wait for Burning Prairie to arrive!

“When Burning Prairie comes here with dozens of Core Formation Stage Cultivators and Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, it can attack from the front and distract the base’s computational ability while Professor and my senior brothers sneak into the base in the form of liquid metal, exactly like what we did to the star brain on Heavenly Phantom. We will definitely be able to take over the war base!”

There was no absolutely-perfect magical equipment or tactic in the universe. The Grand Illusionary Soldiers seemed overwhelming and blood-freezing, but they had a fatal shortcoming, which was their dependency on the mainframe crystal processor.

When the mainframe crystal processors manipulated thousands of Grand Illusionary Soldiers in a fierce battle, a lot of its computational ability would certainly be consumed. It would be a huge burden for the crystal processor itself.

It would also be a great opportunity for Li Yao and his companions!

Right then, the Fire Ant King suddenly exclaimed, “Look. Somebody is out!”

Li Yao and Professor Mo Xuan both shivered. They retreated further into the crevice while looking at the war base through a crystal camera whose resolution had been set to the highest.

Three glamorous shadows slowly rose up from the arced dome of the war base and floated in midair.

Compared with the Grand Illusionary Soldiers, they were tall and muscular, with an average height of more than two meters. The largest of them was more than 2.5 meters tall, the most standard size for a crystal suit.

Agile stripes of light were flowing around their armor like tamed lightning, forming a second armor that was made of light around them and wreathing them in an unearthly halo.

If such halos were spiritual shields, it meant that they boasted technology to control the spiritual and electromagnetic fields that was more advanced than the federation’s, which allowed them to change their spiritual shields into whatever shape they wanted.

Judging from their glamorous armor, their swift movement, and their magnificent auras, they were definitely not Grand Illusionary Soldiers but three Immortal Cultivators!