Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Squeak, squeak.

The noises that the iron rope that held the hanging man uttered were particularly annoying in the quiet room.

Heiye Ming hinted for his subordinate to open the bottom half of the hanging man’s iron mask, giving back his ability to speak. But so much saliva spurted out of the hanging man’s mouth that the agents of the Imperium had to pump the mucus away from his mouth.

“Of course I was speaking the truth.”

The hanging man’s voice was calm, steady, and even dull. It did not sound like he had just been through the most miserable torture, or that he was still hanging in midair without being able to move his little finger. “As the commander of the expedition army of the Imperium, even if you don’t believe me, you should at least trust the power of the interrogational and soul-searching magical equipment of the Imperium.”

“I want you to repeat Jin Xinyue’s plan,” Heiye Ming said coldly.

“I’ve already repeated it twenty-two times,” the hanging man replied equally coldly.

“But you never repeated it under nineteen times the pain limit, did you? Based on the experience of the Imperium, even the most brilliant conmen cannot lie in the state of beyond fifteen times the pain limit. So, forgive me.”

After saying that, Heiye Ming made a gesture at his subordinates without waiting for the hanging man to reply.

The so-called ‘pain limit’ far exceeded the pain that women went through during natural labor. If it was multiplied by nineteen times, even the tough nerves and soul of a Cultivator could barely grit their teeth through it.

The hanging man grunted. The mucus in his mouth was pouring out again, and pink bubbles popped out of his nose, making him look like a fish that was about to die.

Hinting for his subordinates to monitor the breathing, heartbeat, and brainwaves of the hanging man closely, Heiye Ming said, “Speak now. Repeat everything you said in five times the pain limit, nine times the pain limit, and thirteen times the pain limit. This is the last time.”

The hanging man spat out thick saliva and blood one mouthful after another, but his voice was as flat and monotonous as before. “The real ‘Dim Moon Plan’ is much more complicated than a ‘fake surrender’. It has been launched and pushed forward since almost a hundred years ago as a follow-up, or rather, a twin, of the Red Tide Plan.

“The main target of the plan is not just the Black Wind Fleet but also the renowned sects and even all the human beings in the Star Glory Federation. Or in other worlds, the federation itself!

“Jin Xinyue has three identities. She is the demons’ leader, Li Yao’s disciple, and a leader of the federation.

“Therefore, the full version of the ‘Dim Moon Plan’ has three purposes. Realize the renaissance of the demons, achieve the complete rise of Li Yao’s group, and help the federation defeat the expedition army, securing the regional hegemony at the edge of the cosmos and therefore turning into a critical factor in the war between the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance.”

“Wait.” Heiye Ming frowned. He looked at the few agents on the light beam and asked, “Is he under nineteen times the pain limit? Why are his breathing, heartbeat, and brainwaves no different from when he was in nine times and thirteen times the pain limit?”

“Yes, commander. It is nineteen times the pain limit!” the agents replied.

The hanging man laughed. “Compared with the future of mankind, the pain of an individual is too insignificant. For the Imperium, for the truth path of immortality, and for my billions of compatriots, I’ll try to control myself and convince General Ming of everything.”

Heiye Ming sniffed. “Continue.”

“You must’ve seen how Jin Xinyue dealt with the traditional conglomerates in the federation. It is exactly what I predicted.

“Jin Xinyue attached herself to some of the renowned sects a hundred years ago and pretended that she could only count on them after the division with Ding Lingdang, Guo Chunfeng, and the rest of them. Then, she helped those sects crush the other big sects that were not as easy to control.

“In fact, while she did not get along well with Ding Lingdang, she should be in the same gang with Guo Chunfeng. The rivalry and disagreement between the ‘Secret Sword Bureau’ and the ‘Dim Moon Fund’ were all faked. It was part of the ‘Dim Moon Plan’.”

“Why did Guo Chunfeng cooperate with Jin Xinyue?” Heiye Ming asked. “What’s the foundation for their mutual trust?”

“I don’t know,” the hanging man said. “It’s a top secret that only the two of them know.”

Heiye Ming looked at the agent who was operating on the polygraph. The agent nodded, confirming that the hanging man was not lying.

The hanging man’s eyes were still covered by the mask, which prevented him from seeing anything. Yet, he seemed able to see everything. “There’s no need to check. I’m not lying.”

“I will be the one to judge if you are lying. All you need is to talk,” Heiye Ming said.

“Jin Xinyue and Guo Chunfeng, with the two intelligence agencies, gathered enough proof to overthrow the traditional conglomerates over decades,” the hanging man said. “In the end, they detonated everything with the insurgency on Firefly, and Jin Xinyue dragged all the renowned sects to die with her!

“The arrival of Firefly was an accident, but even without Firefly, Jin Xinyue would’ve arranged another shocking scandal at that point to detonate herself as well as the traditional conglomerates!

“In such a case, all the obstacles in the way of ‘Li Yao’s group’ have been cleared. More importantly, it created the illusion that Jin Xinyue is grasped by desperation and is about to be sent to prison and lose everything, which is a perfect excuse for her ‘betrayal’.”

Heiye Ming nodded. “Indeed. ‘Fake surrender’ is an ancient tactic that was perhaps invented during the first war human beings ever fought, but planning a ‘fake surrender’ for decades? Jin Xinyue is truly a dreadful woman!”

The hanging man went on peacefully. “The Star Glory Federation does not want a protracted war, nor can it withstand a war of attrition for ten to twenty years. After all, the Black Wind Fleet is not the sole army of the Imperium. Even if the federation kills the Black Wind Fleet after decades of battles, what’s the point? After the second expedition army arrives, it will swallow the federation in no time!

“Therefore, the federation has no choice but to swallow the Black Wind Fleet’s main force in a quick battle and force your remnants to surrender. Then, it will build up its strength as fast as possible so that the Imperium will not dare send a second fleet after calculating the cost and the gains of the war. That will be the only chance of survival for the federation.”

“Swallow my main force? Jin Xinyue has a good appetite!” Heiye Ming said coldly.

The hanging man smiled and said, “Under normal circumstances, it is certainly impossible, but things may be different at your most vulnerable moment after you finish a space jump.

“General Ming, you are familiar with the history of the federation. So, you must remember the battle in which Jin Xinyue’s father Jin Tuyi completely controlled the power of the Blood Demon Sector.

“At that time, Jin Tuyi was a puppet who had yet to control the coalition army of demons, but through the collapse of Eye of Blood Demon, the super teleportation array, he trapped and killed countless insubordinate experts and troops, turning himself from a puppet into the real lord of the Blood Demon Sector!”

Heiye Ming nodded. “Jin Xinyue wants to follow her father’s example and copy the collapse of Eye of Blood Demon.”

“Not copy but upgrade,” the hanging man replied. “In twenty-four hours, she will certainly ‘betray the federation’, control all the space gates in the Heaven’s Origin Sector, and summon the Black Wind Fleet to pierce the federation’s heart.

“However, during the vulnerable period when half of your main force has just been teleported to the Heaven’s Origin Sector, and the other half is still being teleported in the four-dimensional space, she will extinguish the star beacons, turn off the space gates, and change the navigation signals.

“The Big Bai Fleet that is supposed to give you a hand will immediately attack you and confound your fleet that has not stabilized in the three-dimensional form yet. The Burning Prairie Fleet will also jump to your location and launch thunderous strike under Jin Xinyue’s guidance!

“Half of your main force will be lost in the dimensional turbulence, and the other half will be struck hard before it has stabilized. How can you not lose?”

The shocking intelligence did not even make Heiye Ming bother to blink his eyes. “Got it. This is the way to defeat the Imperium, but what about the rise of demons?”

“Jin Xinyue has a highly confidential team of daring demon warriors,” the hanging man said. “They are the most loyal and passionate soldiers that she carefully selected in the war of darkness in the past hundred years. Their loyalty to the demon race is as indestructible as the Immortal Cultivators’ loyalty to the Imperium.

“Jin Xinyue must’ve set up a certain secret weapon in the space zones outside of the Heaven’s Origin Sector, which must be maneuvered by the daring team. It may be a critical blow for the Black Wind Fleet.

“Once they succeed, those demons will be the decisive factors of the victory. They will be the greatest contributors to the war!”

“So what?” Heiye Ming asked.

“Don’t you understand, General Ming?”

The hanging man smiled. “Spiritual energy is getting more abundant in the sea of stars today. Demons, as a race, are destined to wither and decline, with no prospect of prospering again.

“Right now, the federation has a population of a hundred billion, and demons make up thirty percent of it. Their voices are large enough in the federation, but this is already the best they can do.

“The Star Glory Federation will not be content at the corner of the cosmos. They are bound to march to the center of the cosmos full of ambition.

“After the federation has ten, twenty, thirty, and even more worlds that are exclusively inhabited by human beings, how much will the ratio of demons in the population and their influence in the federation drop?

“Demons are destined to decline. Even Jin Tuyi’s Red Tide Plan a hundred years ago was not trying to save the demons as real entities, but a belief, a lineage, a symbol, a sign.

“All the hard work of the Star Glory Federation in the past hundred years has been for the war against the Black Wind Fleet today. This is also going to be the war that really founds the New Federation. If the war is won, the New Federation will be qualified to march to the center of the cosmos!

“Therefore, if the war is won by demons, demons will be heroes who rescue the federation at the most crucial moment. Then, they will leave a glorious and ineffaceable mark on the history of the New Federation!

“From then on, nobody will ever talk about the grudge between the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector in the past. Nobody will dare discriminate against demons. Even if the Star Glory Federation governs the entire universe one day, the most important chapters in the history books will still include the epic stories where demons fought and sacrificed valiantly for the federation in this war!

“Flesh and blood will decay, but spirit and will last forever. Jin Xinyue inherited her father’s last will and developed the Dim Moon Plan on the basis of the Red Tide Plan. She is not going to revive the body of the demon race; she is preparing to redefine ‘demon’.

“In the past, people of the federation thought of blood, slaughter, ugliness, and hatred when they heard ‘demon’.

“But after this war, all the people of the federation in the next ten thousand years will only think of one thing after they hear ‘demon’.

“Heroes!

“Isn’t this the rise of demons?”