Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

In the voices that were both gentle and deafening, Professor Mo Xuan’s body continued expanding until it became a silver, liquid-metal ball again. It was so gigantic and flawless that it looked more like a shining black hole at the center of the virtual universe than a metal planet!

At this moment, different but equally shocking pictures were flashing on the surface of the silver celestial body. They were the illusions in different virtual worlds!

Some of the human beings who were deeply trapped in the virtual worlds without them knowing were studying esoteric projects in the ivory tower. Some were enjoying themselves in holiday paradises like Peach Blossom Village. Some were fighting all kinds of bizarre-shaped enemies on harsh alien planets!

They calculated with all their wisdom. They dedicated themselves to love. They cried, screamed, and grinned to kill and be killed. They laughed. They wept. They were disturbed. They were happy. They were painful. They were crazy. They were tranquil. The infinite wisdom and emotional fluctuations emitted from them were flashing in replacement of one another like ten thousand different colors. The energy source that was vital for the survival of the extraterrestrial devils was entirely absorbed by Professor Mo Xuan and supported him to build an even greater Spiriters’ Realm and devour the souls of even more people!

Countless people’s delight, fury, sorrow, and joy—or rather, their entire lives—was glowing on the surface and in the depths of the silver sphere.

The laughter, cries, and screams of hundreds of thousands of people interweaved into the most horrendous, evil sound that Li Yao had ever heard.

The sound made him both dizzy and outraged!

“You—” Li Yao struggled to extend half of his body out of the bloody thorns. Then, he crazily roared, “I thought that you had merely created some Spiriters’ Realms similar to Peach Blossom Village, and you truly meant to bring peace and tranquility to all human beings. I didn’t know that you had also created so many cruel worlds of killing and intentionally sent so many people into them, manufacturing terror, pain, sorrow, and madness!

“You don’t have the slightest respect for human beings and their most precious emotions and free will! Do the human beings who exist in such a way still count as human beings? They are just cattle that are caged in virtual worlds by you. They are energy factories that are designed to supply ’emotions’!

“You have tarnished the most wonderful and profound emotions in the world. You have stomped on the free will that makes a human a human, yet you are shameless enough to claim that you are Professor Mo Xuan! Everything you do is exactly the opposite of what Professor Mo Xuan had in mind at the beginning! You are just a monster who has occupied the memories of Professor Mo Xuan!”

“How peculiar.” Professor Mo Xuan’s voice came from the silver ball, which made Li Yao feel even more nauseated. “Just now, when I only presented Peach Blossom Paradise to you, you said that such a Spiriters’ Realm was too easeful and eventless and that it would deprive human beings of their ambitions and transform them into goalless parasites.

“Now, I have presented another perfect solution, telling you that the Spiriters’ Realm can also stimulate the courage, valor, wisdom, and ambitions of human beings, in a way that is much more effective than reality. The evolution speed of a human’s soul will be greatly increased, but you are dissatisfied again?

“Not this, not that. You criticize someone else’s plan, yet you cannot bring any solution to the problem yourself. All you do is give a seemingly exciting speech under the banner of justice on the moral high ground. Am I wrong in saying that you are merely high-school level?”

The mental devil could not have agreed more. “Exactly!”

Li Yao was mad. “You… I will not let things go your way even at the cost of death!”

The mental devil grinned hideously. “Save your efforts, high-school student. You are no match for me. I’m about to consume you completely. Together with the enormous soul power of Fellow Cultivator Mo Xuan, you don’t stand a one thousandth chance to make a comeback!”

It turned to the silver ball and nodded head in great satisfaction. “Very good, Fellow Cultivator Mo Xuan. Your whole plan sounds impeccable. Even I am tempted, but there’s one other thing. How are the twelve partners who came from the Ancient Sages Sector, including Heiye Lan, doing right now? You haven’t swallowed all of them yet, have you?”

Professor Mo Xuan hesitated.

“Ass*ole! Nine of them are the best subordinates that I kept to myself!”

The mental devil gnashed its teeth. The bloody threads were all standing up like venomous stings. “I wasted a hundred years exploring the dark nebula with this idiot at the risk of death just to search for some primeval treasures or more powerful partners!

“Finally, I happened to find the Ancient Sages Sector by accident and ran into twelve strong partners. I’ve won their trust and could spread the Blood Stripe Virus!

“My original plan was to bring them back to the Star Glory Federation and involve them in a great battle. Then, after both their physical strength and mental power were exhausted, I would split nine drops of devilish blood and invade the brains of the Cultivators except for the three ghosts, transforming them into ‘blood puppets’ that are similar to Yan Xibei!

“A hundred years! I searched for a hundred years before I finally found nine almost perfect raw materials to make ‘blood puppets’. The whole game was pushed forward step by step according to my plan, too. We were about to jump to the Heaven’s Origin Sector and be engaged in a great war!

“But as it turned out, you jumped out of nowhere at the most critical moment and kidnapped all of them.

“They are all my prey. You want to swallow them? Not a chance! Let me tell you, I’ve been starving for thousands of years. Yan Xibei and Li Yao are far from enough to fill my belly. They are all mine! No matter whether you are Pangu, Nuwa, or a cyberspace devil, I’m definitely going to die with you if you lay one finger on them!”

The mental devil did not disguise its hostility at all. A hundred bloody threads darted at the silver ball like quick arrows.

“Don’t be anxious. I didn’t do anything to them!” The silver ball quickly changed the voice when the mental devil’s aggressiveness was obvious. “Rest assured. I have teleported them to somewhere very safe, in a desolate area not far away from the Hundred Flowers Space Zone. At that time, I didn’t know who you were and thought that you were a secret investigator from the federation or the Imperium. That was why I made my move in advance.

“It’s true that I intended to corrupt and control their souls, but I haven’t succeeded yet. None of those monsters from the Ancient Sages Sector are easy to deal with. Although I have trapped them with multiple illusions, it will still take some time before I completely digest and absorb them. Truth be told, I’m indeed short of strength right now, and it is bothering me.

“Since they are the puppet materials that Fellow Cultivator Blood Stripe have selected since a long time ago, I will certainly be generous enough to offer them back to you.

“However, Fellow Cultivator Blood Stripe, you are attached to creatures with living bodies. I believe that the ‘blood puppets’ must rely on fleshly bodies, too, mustn’t they? Of those experts from the Ancient Sages Sector, Meng Chixin, Wu Suiyun, and Wan Mingzhu are spectral Cultivators without real entities. They are no use to you at all. So, why don’t we…”

The mental devil immediately understood what he meant and chuckled. “Wan Mingzhu might pass, but Meng Chixin and Wu Suiyun are the only two Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators among them, who have the greatest soul power. You are going to claim the greatest benefits. Fellow Cultivator Mo, that seems a sound plan for you!”

Enticing ripples were spreading on the surface of the silver ball. “Of course, I wouldn’t take away Fellow Cultivator Blood Stripe’s benefits for nothing. You must know the risks of corrupting those experts, too. I’m afraid that you are not confident in corrupting and controlling all of them in one try and converting them into ‘blood puppets’. That’s why you never really took action until now, right?

“Even if they are guided to a battlefield, they will not listen to your arrangement obediently and exhaust their physical strength and mental power in a world-blighting battle. It remains to be seen if you will have an opportunity. One moment of carelessness, and they may detect your existence. It is not entirely unlikely that they will bombard you with their joint efforts!

“Now is the best opportunity for us!

“The twelve of them have been separated by me and trapped in different Spiriters’ Realms. Their souls are greatly weakened. This is the best chance to strike them discreetly!

“As long as we join our hands, we will be fighting each of them with the two of us. I will help Fellow Cultivator Blood Stripe to corrupt and control nine of them first, and then Fellow Cultivator Blood Stripe will help me to swallow the rest three. Nobody will lose anything in our cooperation. How does that sound?”

Greedy and wary brilliance beamed out of the mental devil’s cunning eyes. “Sounds reasonable enough, but how do I know that you are not lying? How are they doing right now? Show me first!”

“Naturally!” The silver ball was quite frank. Twelve enormous crystal balls were pulled over and revolved around it. Every transparent crystal ball was focused with pictures from almost a hundred perspectives. The main character of every picture was an expert from the Ancient Sages Sector!

Including Long Yangjun, the eleven experts of the Ancient Sages Sector as well as Heiye Lan were all trapped in the gruesome battles in the illusionary world.

The illusionary worlds that they were in were slightly different from one another. Some of them had even forgotten where they were and even having fun inside.

The illusions of Yan Liren, Han Baling, and Qi Changsheng were the simplest ones. They were fighting against an overwhelming number of enemies!

Yan Liren was a pure warrior. Qi Changsheng was the commander of an army. Han Baling was a local warlord. They were all fighting to their heart’s content in the illusionary world, their soul power fading away without them knowing it. Professor Mo Xuan had also gathered tremendous data about their fighting habits in the process!

‘Emperor Phoenix’ Zhu Zongyou, Qi Zhongdao, and some others, on the other hand, were trapped in the files and documents that were as high as a mountain, enjoying the pleasure of managing a city, a planet, or a country.

The rest of them all had their own illusionary experience and dwelled in the breathtaking virtual worlds.

Even when they realized that the illusionary world was false and broke it with all their soul power, they would only find their way into another virtual world that was even larger. After dozens of repetitions, the boundary between reality and illusion was blurred. Their weaknesses and preferences were figured out by the system, too, and the virtual world became more and more to their liking.

Even Heiye Lan had been projected into a space battlefield and engaged in a ceaseless battle as the commander of a fleet!