Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“Extraterrestrial devils!”

It had been a long time since Li Yao heard such a phrase, but he did experience an enormous arrival of the extraterrestrial devils in person on the tenth space ring of Heavenly Saints City, the heart of the Flying Star Sector.

The arrival of the extraterrestrial devils caused a catastrophe on the tenth space ring. Too many people were possessed by the devils and turned into hideous monsters. Even more were killed in the rampage of the devils. It was one of the goriest tragedies in the Flying Star Sector in the past hundreds of years.

That event had been the beginning of everything, too.

The arrival of the extraterrestrial devils had been planned by Xiao Xuance and the star child behind him.

In order to push the ‘Grand Illusionary Soldiers’ project forward, they directed the catastrophe with the help of the extraterrestrial devils. They allowed the extraterrestrial devils to almost demolish the entire tenth space ring and did not send out a large batch of Grand Illusionary Soldiers to dispel the extraterrestrial devils until the last moment, so that the Grand Illusionary Soldiers could leave everyone’s the impression that they were invincible. After that, all the obstacles that stopped the crazy expansion of the Grand Illusionary Soldiers in the Flying Star Sector were cleared.

Of course, during the battle, Li Yao happened to be in the tenth space ring, too. By accident, he executed Hellsword Zhuang Ziyou, a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, and received his secret arts on mental warfare. He also snuck into one of the space pirates’ starships, reached Spider Den, and encountered Boss Bai, who was better known as the Pirate Potentate. After a series of events, he excavated the Star Prier’s House and trained for a few years inside the residence of Yan Xinjian, the Supreme Pirate, where he advanced to the superlative height of the Core Formation Stage. Eventually, he returned to Heavenly Saints City and disrupted Xiao Xuance and the star child’s great scheme.

Those chain reactions that were almost like a butterfly effect, of course, were not something that Xiao Xuance and the star child could have anticipated when they planned the arrival of the extraterrestrial devils.

“Don’t you feel that it is strange?” the mental devil said. “The high-level extraterrestrial devils—namely the devil kings, devil lords, and even devil gods—are intelligent and certainly not easily manipulated by people like Xiao Xuance. Besides, the arrival of the extraterrestrial devils on the tenth space ring was a play in the first place. In the play, the extraterrestrial devils were destined to be defeated by the Grand Illusionary Soldiers in order to highlight the awesomeness of the Grand Illusionary Soldiers so that all the sects in the Flying Star Sector would be eager to produce them.

“In the whole event, Xiao Xuance and the star child gained all the benefits, whereas the extraterrestrial devils sent countless soldiers to die for nothing. Why?

“Here come the questions. Firstly, how exactly did Xiao Xuance reach out to the extraterrestrial devils, and how did he manipulate them to arrive at the tenth space ring to launch a riot that was destined to fail?

“Secondly, even if Xiao Xuance promised certain benefits to the extraterrestrial devils, what kind of term could’ve convinced the extraterrestrial devils? It must be noted that the extraterrestrial devils barely caused any trouble in the years that followed before his scheme was revealed and he was killed. Even if he promised benefits, the promise was never fulfilled! Were the extraterrestrial devils good-tempered enough to suffer such a heavy loss without seeking revenge?

“Thirdly, even if the leader of the extraterrestrial devils of the Flying Star Sector was truly the most lenient, good-tempered guy, who agreed to help Xiao Xuance without asking for anything in return, would you have believed him if you were Xiao Xuance?

“Unreasonable. That’s too unreasonable. It’s true that Xiao Xuance was an unpardonable villain and an inhuman Immortal Cultivator, but the Immortal Cultivators also claim to be the symbol of the civilization of mankind and the rightful heir of the Star Ocean Imperium, which means that they should be the mortal enemies of extraterrestrial devils! It must be noted that the Star Ocean Imperium was likely destroyed by the extraterrestrial devils!

“Based on what happened during the battle on Kunlun, however evil the Immortal Cultivators are, quite a lot of them do have spines. Some of them were brave enough to attack a member of the Pangu Clan without any hesitation. Would they cower in front of the extraterrestrial devils?

“In conclusion, there was absolutely no reason for the extraterrestrial devils to listen to Xiao Xuance’s command. It should’ve been impossible for Xiao Xuance to trust the extraterrestrial devils, too. Their conspiracy shouldn’t have happened in the first place!”

Li Yao thought quickly. Surging tides were blowing inside his head.

The mental devil was his second personality. What it said just now was the confusion that Li Yao often reflected on himself but soon left behind. The mental devil was merely helping him to express the questions logically.

The arrival of the extraterrestrial devils in the tenth space ring of Heavenly Saints City in the Flying Star Sector was an unresolved case to this day.

At that time, a lot of people had been puzzled by the conspiracy of Xiao Xuance and the extraterrestrial devils, but the answer had never been found even after Xiao Xuance was killed in the failed riot and the star child was completely annihilated.

In the hundred years that followed, the Flying Star Sector had remained quiet and peaceful. Accidents where some devils infiltrated starships and caused the derangement of the crew members happened every now and then, but a large-scale arrival of extraterrestrial devils never took place again.

During that period, the New Federation was busy consolidating the seven Sectors in preparation for the scourge of the expedition army of the Imperium of True Human Beings. The unsubstantial concepts such as ‘extraterrestrial devils’ and the minor issues such as the connection between Xiao Xuance’s gang and the extraterrestrial devils a hundred years ago had long been forgotten by everyone other than the historians.

Li Yao pondered and said in his head, “Yes. Xiao Xuance was a hardcore Immortal Cultivator. There was no reason for him to reach out to the extraterrestrial devils or have absolute trust in the extraterrestrial devils to allow them to savage Heavenly Saints City, his base. Once the fire was set, who could guarantee that the extraterrestrial devils would not rampage all the way to the center of Heavenly Saints City?”

“Unless it was not Xiao Xuance, but somebody who was of a higher level than Xiao Xuance, absolutely trusted by Xiao Xuance, and who could even manipulate Xiao Xuance, that established a deep cooperation with the extraterrestrial devils!” the mental devil said.

“The star child!” Li Yao said solemnly. “Xiao Xuance was just a puppet on the table. The star child, who pretended to be his foster son, was the real mastermind of the scheme!”

“Well,” the mental devil said, “there is something that I have to say. In fact, the Imperium of True Human Beings’ way of exploring the universe, or specifically speaking, retrieving the souls of high-level Immortal Cultivators, crafting them into pure energy entities—star children—and sending them to places far away through the four-dimensional space, can be quite dangerous, although it saves both spiritual energy and time.

“It is because a lot of weird beings utterly unimaginable for mankind exist in both the third dimension and the fourth dimension, and even higher dimensions. For example, the ‘extraterrestrial’ in extraterrestrial devils does not necessarily imply that they live in a space zone far, far away from the three thousand Sectors. It merely means that they are probably predators who lurk in the fourth dimension most of the time and only arrive at the third dimension for hunting now and then.

“When the creatures in three-dimensional space break the void and perform a space jump, they will be entering an unknown realm. Souls of human beings are easily infiltrated in the first place. Half a day ago, it was exactly during a space jump that Professor Mo Xuan intended to invade our soul.

“Such scourge is barely resistible even with the protection of the fleshly body, not to mention that the star child was just a defenseless soul. When he travelled through the four-dimensional space naked, he was like a fragrant roasted chicken that was swaggering under the gazes of wolves and tigers!

“So, I felt that it was quite odd a long time ago that the Imperium of True Human Beings was so lucky that the star children who barely had any ‘four-dimensional defense’ were never locked onto by the extraterrestrial devils or other energy life forms when they travelled in the universe. They were truly bold, or maybe they were only fearless because they were ignorant!”

Li Yao took a deep, deep breath. Even his voice was almost trembling. “Are—are you suggesting that Xiao Tianbao, the star child who arrived in the Flying Star Sector, was probably already corrupted by the extraterrestrial devils during the journey and that he was not just a star child from the Imperium of True Human Beings but also mixed with parts of the extraterrestrial devils?”

“I am not very sure about that,” the mental devil said. “But just think about it. Do you remember that the star child once said that he encountered a catastrophic cosmic storm when he arrived in the Flying Star Sector, which blew apart his soul and made him feebler than ever? That was why he lurked for a hundred years and chose Xiao Xuance as his representative in order to establish the space gate and summon the fleets from the Imperium.

“All I want to say is that the star child who was just devastated by a cosmic storm was certainly the best target of corruption. Even I could’ve corrupted him without any trouble.

“The Flying Star Sector was a paradise for energy life forms in the first place. There was the Blood Stripe Virus on Iron Plateau and the extraterrestrial devils in space. Chances were that other uncanny existences lived in the four-dimensional space, too. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the star child was corrupted a long time ago.”

A drop of sweat that was as cold as ice leaked out of Li Yao’s forehead. Then he grew suspicious again. “What’s the relationship among different energy live forms? Why do I feel that you want me to destroy the extraterrestrial devils? Aren’t you supposed to help each other since you’re the same kind?”

“People of the federation and people of the Imperium are the same kind, as are the people of the Imperium and the people of the Covenant Alliance. Don’t you have a lot of fun killing each other when you are all human beings?” The mental devil cackled. “It’s only natural that you hate your own kind because your own kind needs similar resources. That’s the best motive for you to fight each other! Sometimes, it’s easier for different kinds to live in peace!

“As for the Blood Stripe Virus and the extraterrestrial devils, or perhaps plus the mysterious Chaos, well, their relationship is probably the same as that between you and a cockroach. Except that you are both carbon-based live forms and you probably share the same origin, you have nothing in common at all.”

“Is that so?” Li Yao frowned, feeling that he needed to know more about energy life forms.

“Of course,” the mental devil said matter-of-factly. “Did you know that there are more than three hundred million carbon-based lives on your home planet in the Heaven’s Origin Sector? Most of them have nothing to do with you, right? Why do you think that all the energy live forms in the universe are next-of-kin to each other?

“For me, the whole significance of extraterrestrial devils is food. I am a wolf, and the extraterrestrial devils are lambs. The more extraterrestrial devils you kill, the stronger I will be, and I will have a greater chance of suppressing you one day! So, just rest assured. Everything I said just now is true because I want to swallow more extraterrestrial devils. Hahaha!”