Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“Look. Everybody has their own weakness and their desires that they pursue. As long as the weakness and desires are located, even experts in the Nascent Soul Stage or the Divinity Transformation Stage will be so deeply attracted to the virtual worlds that they cannot free themselves. They will see it as another reality!”

The silver ball continued the persuasion with Professor Mo Xuan’s voice. “Fellow Cultivator Blood Stripe. It is now or never. What are you hesitating for?”

The mental devil licked its tongue quickly, and the greed inside its eyes was even more intense than before, like a weasel that was drooling before the chicken in a trap, both tempted by the meat and fearful of that the trap would kill it. “You—what kind of trap have you deployed in the Heaven’s Origin Sector? Are you confident?”

“Rest assured!” Ripples that implied the confidence of victory spread out on the surface of the silver ball. “My antecedent was a crystal processor virus produced to invade the super crystal processors in the Star Prier’s House. Most of the super crystal processors in the Star Glory Federation today, including the latest models adopted by the government and the military, are related to those crystal processors from the Star Prier’s House. In the past few decades, through Deep Blue Super Brain Hospital, I’ve received tremendous secrets hidden inside the brains of the vegetative patients, including the control permissions and soul passwords. With all the information I have, the crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus of the federation are no secret to me at all!

“It is also the same on the Imperium of True Human Beings’ side!

“I have extracted a lot of information about the crystal processors of the Imperium from the memory pieces of the star child and Su Changfa. Besides, the Imperium of True Human Beings and the Star Ocean Imperium in the past are of the same lineage. The architecture of their crystal processors is similar to that of the super crystal processors in the Star Prier’s House, too. As long as I can get in touch with the crystal processors at a close distance, it will be no trouble to hack them at all!

“It doesn’t matter if I tell you the truth now. The most elite troops of the Star Glory Federation and the Black Wind Fleet have been gathered in the Heaven’s Origin Sector for a world-shaking battle!

“Hehe. I have hacked and controlled the three space gates of the Heaven’s Origin Sector. The connection between the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the outside world has been entirely cut off. The Heaven’s Origin Sector right now is like an enclosed colosseum where two trapped beasts are mauling each other until one of them is down!

“At this moment, the cyberwar is also getting heated. The war network of both parties has been riddled with holes because of the enemy’s attack. Moreover, all the Cultivators above the Nascent Soul Stage—regardless of whether they are admin-type, battle-type, research-type, culture-type, or creation type—have exhausted their brains and souls!

“You know that almost everybody counts on the help of the crystal processors in a modern battle, which creates the best opportunity for me to invade the brains of those experts. At the moment when the battle is fiercest and when their soul is the weakest and least defended, I will invade them and control the most elite fleets of both parties, including the strongest Cultivators and Immortal Cultivators!

“The flagships and most of the main-force warships of the Black Wind Fleet and the Burning Prairie Fleet, the three super crystal processors of the Star Glory Federation, and hundreds of experts in the Nascent Soul Stage and the Divinity Transformation Stage will all be under our control. We will be the absolute dominators at the edge of the cosmos!

“Honestly speaking, before you came, I was only seventy percent sure about the whole plan. Or rather, I estimated that I could only invade the brains of sixty to seventy percent of the experts successfully. A fierce battle would be inevitable later.

“But with you, Fellow Cultivator Blood Stripe, the situation is naturally different. After you completely swallow Li Yao’s soul, you will be able to announce your grand return to the Heaven’s Origin Sector under the identity of Vulture Li Yao and join the most intense battlefield where the most experts have gathered. Ding Lingdang and Jin Xinyue will both recognize you. Nobody will doubt your identity. Isn’t that so?

“Hehe. When the battle reaches an impasse and all the experts are too occupied to care about anything else, I will launch an ‘invasion’ from their crystal processors, and Fellow Cultivator Blood Stripe, you will corrupt their physical bodies with their blood as the medium. If we attack together, who can ever stop us?”

The mental devil rolled its eyes again and again. Finally, it laughed delightedly, as if it had completely agreed on Professor Mo Xuan’s idea. “What an immaculate plan. I can’t find any reason to say no. Hahahaha. Excellent. Professor Mo Xuan, I will work with you for now. Let’s hope that you do not forget your promises once the job is done!”

“Why would I?” The silver ball was amused. “While there is little mutual trust between us, we are both unpardonable extraterrestrial devils in the eyes of the Alliance of the Holy Covenant and the Pangu Civilization. It is necessary for us to join hands and cope with the common foe, isn’t it?”

“That makes sense.” The mental devil’s smile became more and more vile, and the bloody thorns flowing around its body grew more and more intense. “Fine. In that case… Huh?”

It raised its eyebrows, somewhat in surprise, and looked at Li Yao who had been tied up by him. At this moment, Li Yao was wreathed in multiple layers of bloody stripes like an enormous red cocoon, but bright golden fire was blossoming from the center of the interconnected bloody thorns and soon burnt the bloody stripes apart!

“You two *ssholes, don’t ignore me!” Li Yao broke out of the red cocoon. His furious fighting will jabbed at the mental devil like golden daggers while he roared at the top of his voice. “As long as I exist, I will never let your scheme work out. The Star Glory Federation will be guarded by the people of the federation. The cunning and sordid extraterrestrial devils will never have their turn!”

“What—what kind of strength is this?” The mental devil had trouble keeping its eyes opening under Li Yao’s golden daggers. “It’s impossible. I clearly examined every part of your soul. How did you—”

“How can the soul of a human be parsed and analyzed so easily?” Li Yao burst into laughter. Bright golden blood was flowing out of his eyes, nostrils, ears, and mouth. His soul power surged out like a volcanic eruption, and even the illusionary world at the fundamental level could not bear the pressure anymore. The universe that felt like black velvet began to shake. Every crystal world was shivering lightly like a glass ball!

“Your virtual world has reached the limitation of its computational ability!” Fury and disdain beamed out of Li Yao’s eyes and darted at the silver ball. “False is always false. It can never become real. And you were talking about 120% real? Do you know the biggest difference between an illusionary world and a real one?

“The illusionary world has limitations. It is bound by the computational ability of the crystal processors. Even the super crystal processors with the highest computational ability have their extremes in computation, simulation, and rendering. Those trapped in them are like fish in a glass tank. However big and real the glass tank is, the fish will inevitably touch an invisible barrier one day as long as they strive to swim forward!

“But in reality, no matter how ugly, cruel, and dark it is, there are possibilities of infinite wonders and a most bright future inside the ugliness, cruelty, and darkness. In reality, there is no glass ceiling that can stop mankind from striding forward!

“Even if an artificial intelligence can make the most reasonable reaction according to every situation based on the database that is as enormous as the ocean, it is not a real virtual life!

“By the same logic, however vivid your virtual world is, it is still false, in that it lacks what is of paramount importance for a civilization—the hope for the future and for the destiny of the universe!”

“Idiot!” the mental devil roared. The blood stripes waved crazily again, slapping the right half of Li Yao’s body brutally like thorny whips. “Cut the cr*p, you hotblooded high-school student. Just be quiet and wait to be killed!”

“I will not die. Ding Lingdang and Jin Xinyue are still waiting for me!” Li Yao gnashed his teeth. The bright golden blades of his soul and the bloody thorns were entangled tightly, and the two parties began a fierce fight. “My friends, my family, and the soldiers… Everybody in the Star Glory Federation is waiting for me. I will certainly return to their side and fight with them!”

Li Yao and the mental devil looked like a two-headed boa, but the two heads growing on the same torso were gnawing on each other. The bloody thorns riddled the right half of the body with holes, the soul blades cut the left half of the body so hard that it was bleeding, and the bright gold flames and the crimson flames were colliding heavily, triggering thousands of sparks.

It was the most dangerous mental warfare. After only a couple of seconds, the two parties were already heavily wounded. Their colors were dim, their flames were shaking, and they were breathing hard.

The mental devil shrieked with a hoarse voice, “I—I’m going to eat you alive!”

Li Yao’s voice was somewhat intermittent, too. “I will not let things go your way. I will not!”

“Ah!” The mental devil burst into fury. Then, thousands of bloody thorns suddenly burst out and tied up the right half of Li Yao’s body. It turned around and shouted, “Fellow Cultivator Mo Xuan, what are you waiting for? I have corrupted most of his soul and completely controlled his body. Come on and give me a hand to swallow his soul. Then, we will go to implement your perfect plan together!”

“Sounds good!” The silver ball agreed quickly. Then…

It floated thousands of meters back within a breath.

While floating, the ball turned into an oval before it evolved into what appeared to be a peanut. A tiny cluster of liquid metal split apart from its body and slowly condensed into the shape of a human that flew toward Li Yao and the mental devil.

Li Yao and the mental devil, who were mauling each other, fell dazed at the same time.

The situation seemed to be turning awkward.

“Hey, Fellow Cultivator Mo Xuan, what is the meaning of this?” the mental devil demanded. “I asked you to help. Why did you run away? Us extraterrestrial devils shouldn’t be so disloyal to our friends, should we?”

“Of course not. However, as you may know, I was a refiner in the beginning and then turned into a specialist in crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus. I have a shallow understanding about sociology and scheming, too.

“But in any case, I am not a warrior. There’s no reason for me to get close to the two of you when you are having a fierce close-distance combat, is there?”

“Well…”

The mental devil and Li Yao looked at each other in bewilderment. Their ‘perilous’ and ‘soul-stirring’ battle somewhat turned rigid.