Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

The creepy touching was even more terrifying than piercing through his body. The Immortal Cultivator’s face shattered like glass before it completely fell apart.

“I am Liao Fei, nicknamed ‘Unparalleled Blade’. I was in the middle of the live stream of ‘Slaughter Moment’. How did I fall into this uncanny ‘Nether Realm’?” Liao Fei, the Immortal Cultivator, cried out. “What the f*ck is this? Another reality game introduced recently?”

“What is ‘Slaughter Moment’?” Li Yao asked.

Liao Fei’s eyes widened warily. “‘Slaughter Moment’ is just ‘Slaughter Moment’. Everybody in the Imperium knows that. Even the people of the Covenant Alliance know of it. How do you want me to explain it? Or maybe—”

Looking at the enormous giant in the ocean of blood and the overwhelming wraths in the sky in confusion, he suddenly put on an expression of epiphany. “Are you a native of this place, a sinner in the Land of Sins?”

Extreme fury and regret immediately beamed out of his face, but Li Yao simply raised a tide of blood and slapped his face hard, almost blowing his head up.

“I am not a sinner in the Land of Sins,” Li Yao said. “I was forced to land upon the planet on a meteorite by accident. I know that this is a planet under your control. I know this place used to be called the Martial Meritocrats Sector. I know the Imperium of True Human Beings is outside. I… almost know everything.”

While Li Yao was talking, the mental devil corrupted and infected Liao Fei’s soul without him knowing, forcing him to be trapped in Li Yao’s logic and completely believe what Li Yao said subconsciously.

“What?” Liao Fei blinked in confusion. After pondering in secret for a long time, his eyes widened further, and he stammered, “It’s impossible. What are you exactly to have such weird forces? Are you… not a human being?”

“Well…”

Liao Fei struggled hard. “Whatever alien species you are, this is a world of human beings. This is the powerful Imperium of True Human Beings! If you dare act recklessly, you will only end up caged in a laboratory of human beings to be sliced and studied, which will certainly be a feeling that you can never imagine!”

Li Yao was somewhat surprised, not expecting that the bones of the Immortal Cultivator would be so tough.

However, the next second, Liao Fei showed his cowardly appearance. He said in a low voice, “However, if you mean no harm to human beings, don’t kill me. We can talk nicely!”

Li Yao thought of something and simply pretended that what the guy said was true. “Have a lot of my own kind visited the world of human beings before?”

The mental devil whispered to the depths of Liao Fei’s soul in secret. “Perhaps it is really an alien species. This is bad. However, it wouldn’t hurt to chat with the creature for a moment. Chances are that there will be unexpected benefits, right?”

Liao Fei shuttered and said, “There are indeed a myriad of alien species that have been defeated or captured by the Imperium, but I do not know whether or not they are your own kind. I have never seen any alien species with my own eyes. They are just stories for me.”

“Fine…” After considering for a moment, Li Yao said, “You do not need to know what I am. All you need to know is that I am very curious about the world of human beings. I was heavily wounded due to some accidents and accidentally fell to this planet to treat the wounds, only to discover that this was a weird, artificial world. I need to figure out the environment I am in before I make plans.”

“You are in a terrible environment right now,” Liao Fei said. “This is a planet that is closely monitored by the Imperium. Our men are everywhere in the sky and on the ground. There’s no way that you can get out of here without my help.”

Li Yao smiled. “That’s good. I want to ask you a few questions about this world and the Imperium of True Human Beings. No classified information will be involved at all. As long as you answer the questions dutifully, perhaps I’ll consider setting you free or even reside inside you and transform your body, granting you the most unparalleled strength!”

“What?” Liao Fei was so overjoyed that his voice was shaking. “Really?”

“Why would I lie to you?” Li Yao said casually. “Now that you have guessed that I am a brand-new intelligent life form other than mankind, you should know that I do not want to be caged in a laboratory of the Imperium of True Human Beings to be sliced and studied. Residing inside you to learn about the world is the most convenient approach and will do you a lot of good, too. It is a win-win, isn’t it?”

“Yes, yes, of course!” Liao Fei’s eyes shook again and again. “However, I really do not know any classified information. All I know is the news that everybody knows. The intelligence that I can confess must’ve been grasped by the Covenant Alliance!”

To this moment, he was still suspicious that he had been captured by the Covenant Alliance.

If the enemy was not from the Covenant Alliance, it did not seem very scary.

The civilization of mankind had governed the universe for a hundred thousand years. The organized alien species had all gone extinct before the rise of human beings. The few survivors of the alien species who lived on to this day would never be able to cause any trouble.

Even if the man was neither from the Covenant Alliance nor an alien species but a mysterious expert who was a sinner in the Land of Sins after mutations, it would still be the best choice to cooperate obediently for now and save his life.

Although Liao Fei did have a certain degree of loyalty to the Imperium of True Human Beings, the loyalty definitely did not spread to the Land of Sins.

“What is Slaughter Moment?” Li Yao asked again.

This time, Liao Fei, who had made up his mind, replied dutifully. “‘Slaughter Moment’ is a large interactive war game. It is one of the most popular live streams in the entire Imperium, with a record of three hundred billion viewers watching online at the same time. The total viewership including those who watch the recordings and the short videos exceeds one trillion! Well… do you follow me?”

“Just go on,” Li Yao said without giving any comment. “What are you supposed to do on this planet?”

“Since the name of the show is ‘Slaughter Moment’, we are here to kill people, of course,” Liao Fei said. “I have taken part in a special contest with a hundred and twenty participants in total. We will compete with each other on the total kills in one month. Whoever kills the most people will be the final winner. The audience all over the Imperium can enjoy our killing performance through our crystal cameras and the invisible lenses we wear on our eyeballs. That’s basically everything.”

Trying to sound nonchalant, Li Yao said, “Therefore, the planet is a paradise for your killing game, the sinners in the Land of Sins are all your hunting targets, and the so-called ‘war’ has been planned and directly carefully by you, right?”

“Basically, yes,” Liao Fei said. “However, the players of ‘Slaughter Game’ are not the only ones active here. Dozens of other interactive games and live shows—including ‘War Game’, ‘Glorious Apostles’, ‘Invincible Blades’—are aired here too all year round. All of them involve killing!”

“I don’t understand.” Frowning, Li Yao asked, “Does such meaningless killing do you any good? I don’t think that you can keep in touch with the sky all the time, and the odds of your death can be quite high, right?”

“Of course, there are benefits,” Liao Fei explained in delight. “Up until two hundred years ago, the place was a simple test field for weapons. Then, a genius thought that it was too much of a waste to just regard the natives here as targets to be tested on, and he came up with the ideas of interactive games and live streaming. After a hundred years of exponential development, this place is now a renowned center of entertainment in the Imperium that fulfills the afterwork life of countless citizens in the Imperium. A lot of betting companies with deep backgrounds have participated, too. The revenue generated here every day is astronomical!

“Take me for example. If I take part in ‘Slaughter Moment’, there will be a high payment immediately. If I earn a high rank among the hundred and twenty participants, there will be a bonus. However, they are not worth mentioning at all compared to the tips from the audience.

“Like I said just now, more than three hundred billion viewers in the entire Imperium appreciate our show at any moment. As long as I kill in the way they like or leave their names on the dead bodies, they will definitely not hesitate to tip me. Three hundred billion. Three hundred billion viewers!

“I am just an unattractive, mediocre warrior. Most of the tips will be claimed by the platform of Slaughter Moment, and I have to pay more than ninety percent as a special acting tax. Still, the remaining money is enough for me to live a luxurious life and perform the training of the highest intensity!

“Otherwise, as a nobody without any significant familial background and support, how could I have earned enough resources to advance into the Core Formation Stage if not through streaming killing?”

“In other words,” Li Yao said gravely, “other people pay you to watch you kill? What an unbelievable society!”

“Not as unbelievable as it sounds,” Liao Fei said. “You might not know this, but the Imperium of True Human Beings classifies all the subjects into two classes, namely true human beings and hominoids. True human beings are Immortal Cultivators with massive strength like me. Naturally, they barely watch the live streams because they can kill on their own if they want to have fun. There is no need for them to enjoy it indirectly.

“But hominoids are different.

“Hominoids are the weak, lazy, and sordid existences at the bottom level of the Imperium, bordering on ignorant and disobedient animals.

“If the animality inside their body is repressed for too long without being vented, they may cause great trouble.

“His Majesty is very merciful and does not want the hominoids to attack one another, which will greatly lower the work efficiency and disrupt the social order. The ‘killing streams’ solve the problem perfectly. If all the hominoids waste their superfluous vigor by watching the killing streams, they will certainly behave and work dutifully, and society will be harmonious and stable.

“Almost all the hominoids are fond of watching the live streams of killing and are willing to tip with a great amount of money. Some even steal or rob other people just to give us gifts. I do not know what is on the mind of the hominoids, but it doesn’t matter. Money is money. Although the tips from every single hominoid are a drop in the bucket, the total turnover can be very high. This is the biggest reason I’m willing to take part in the kill challenge in Slaughter Moment!”

“Got it,” Li Yao said. “In other words, such games have become an enormous industry in the Imperium of True Human Beings.”

“Exactly,” Liao Fei said. “It is an enormous industry that can affect the entire Imperium of True Human Beings. It is also a thriving, promising one. The royal family, the nobles, and almost all the big shots are investing heavily in it. Compared to them, I am just a shrimp and a most insignificant gear in the giant machine!”