Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Li Yao’s voice was like the gloomy wind blowing in hell. “Therefore, the so-called ‘temple’ is indeed a scheme to attract all the enemies and capture them together!”

“It’s not much of a ‘scheme’ but a large-scale ‘game’ at best.” The mental devil grimaced. “You’ve seen it with your own eyes. For the Imperium of True Human Beings and the Immortal Cultivators today, Cultivators are an obsolete and insignificant concept. It can barely be counted as a threat.

“Compared to the pressure caused by the Alliance of the Holy Covenant on the frontal battlefield, Starlight, even if it does exist, is nothing more than a skin disease.

“In other words, while the Cultivators like you regard the Imperium of True Human Beings and the Immortal Cultivators as sworn enemies and want to prove that your ideology is correct, the Immortal Cultivators do not bother to look at you properly. They simply take you for flies and mosquitoes, or endangered species at best!”

“Yes. In the eyes of the Immortal Cultivators, the Cultivators are exactly like flies and mosquitoes, which, although unable to cause much harm, can be quite annoying when they keep humming around you. Therefore, the Immortal Cultivators are paving a sticky pad and attracting all of us to land on it so that they can burn us up once and for all. Then, the whole world will be at peace!”

Li Yao pondered for a moment and said, “Such a plan is exactly the same as how the Star Glory Federation established the Dragon Snake Space Zone and sent Lu Qingchen to set up CFIA.

“Wei Longtao of Starlight in the Land of Sins is exactly like Lu Qingchen of the CFIA in the federation. He is not a legendary hero who fights hard in the underground world at all but a puppet idol that the Immortal Cultivators have intentionally fabricated!

“He elaborated on the ‘temple of Cultivators’ and the ‘control center of the global sword network’ as if they were real. Even if they are, the place must’ve been heavily surrounded by the Immortal Cultivators, who are waiting for the ignorant members of Starlight to enter it and be killed.

“No. We have to save them!”

“Of course, they must be saved,” the mental devil said slowly. “Not those in the underground temple but those in space.”

“The space?” Li Yao was deep in thought. “That’s right. Are you suggesting that of the two branches of Starlight, the space one is the key?”

“Obviously,” the mental devil said. “As the saying goes, you cannot raise a huge turtle in a small can. It is impossible for a dragon to dash out of a little pond.

“The Martial Meritocrats Sector in the past and the Land of Sins today are such little ponds and fully-sealed cans. How developed can Starlight possibly be even if it has the leadership of an unparalleled genius?

“With the overall capabilities of the Imperium of True Human Beings and the cunningness of the Immortal Cultivators, if they had truly wanted to demolish the underground branch of Starlight, were they unable to accomplish it in the past hundreds of years? Even if a few small fries did escape, there would’ve been little that they could do.

“But not only did the Immortal Cultivators fail to completely destroy the underground branch of Starlight, they also sent a legendary hero that was Wei Longtao in secret, helping the dying underground branch of Starlight to revive and flourish again. If everything is just meant to be a game, the cost and the risks are too high, aren’t they?

“Therefore, this is only a plan to loosen the trotline in order to catch the big fish. The underground branch of Starlight is just a big, fat bait. The real target of the Immortal Cultivators is the space forces of Starlight!”

“Fair point.” Li Yao’s eyes were opened, too. He added quickly, “First of all, Blackstar the Great returned to the Martial Meritocrats Sector for revenge with an overwhelming fleet a thousand years ago, launching what Wei Longtao and Zuo Jingyun called the Judgment War. That was probably real.

“However, the Martial Meritocrats Civilization had arrived at its peak, too, and was mixed with the bloodthirst and ruthlessness of the Sand Primitive Sector. Technologically speaking, it couldn’t have been much worse than the Imperium. At the very least, there was not a generation gap, like stone axes versus assault rifles. It was only weaker than the Imperium in terms of scale and comprehensive national strength.

“Then, even if it suffered a crushing defeat on the frontal defeat and was no match for the Imperium at all, it was not entirely unlikely that a few starships broke out of the siege in the middle of the chaos and escaped into space, right?”

“It’s certainly possible,” the mental devil said. “In fact, the Martial Meritocrats Civilization we talk about today was a twin civilization that involved both the Martial Meritocrats Sector and the Sand Primitive Sector. Considering the frequent communication between the two Sectors, they must’ve grasped very advanced space sailing technology.

“Also, don’t forget that the Fist King mentioned that the Martial Meritocrats Sector and the Sand Primitive Sector had a minor war before the arrival of Blackstar the Great.

“War would naturally greatly damage the comprehensive strength of the Martial Meritocrats Civilization, but it would also boost part of the cutting-edge technology and weapons. For example, the forces of the entire world might be focused in order to produce a few extremely advanced super starships, whose comprehensive battle performance might reach seventy to eighty percent of what the starships of the Imperium had. It seems to be a reasonable assumption.

“If such advanced starships did exist, it’s very possible that a few survivors escaped from the siege even though they could not defeat the fleet of the Imperium.

“The universe is boundless. Once they escaped from the planet, they would be like dragons unchained. It would be practically impossible for them to be locked onto and annihilated.”

“The space pirates in the Flying Star Sector were on a rampage for thousands of years,” Li Yao said solemnly. “Firefly of the government-in-exile of the Star Ocean Republic fled for a thousand years. So, it’s not entirely impossible for ‘Starlight’, a resistance organization of the Cultivators of the Martial Meritocrats Sector, to act unpredictably in the peripheral space zones of the Imperium and shine for hundreds of years, which also agrees with the intelligence that Di Feiwen shared with us.

“Think about it. Di Feiwen and the Black Wind Fleet took off more than a hundred years ago, at which time the Land of Sins was entirely different from what it is today. But rumors of Starlight already existed at that time. It is highly unlikely that the Immortal Cultivators have planned the game for a hundred years, right?

“All in all, the Starlight in space should be the real deal. It also boasts certain forces that caused some trouble for the Immortal Cultivators before.

“In order to resolve the headache once and for all, the Immortal Cultivators have fabricated the legendary hero that is ‘Wei Longtao’. They supported the underground branch of Starlight and made them try to reach out to the fellow Cultivators in space. Then, a magnificent plan for an ultimate counterattack with all the available forces was proposed. After the main forces of Starlight are all mobilized, they will be annihilated completely!

“Just like the Immortal Cultivators said, the Battle of the Temple will not begin for several days. But it was still not going to be the ‘final level’. A battle in space that follows it will be the star of the show.”

“Therefore,” the mental devil said, “it is useless to catch up to Han Te and Liu Li right now. On one hand, we are of unknown origins, and the resistance warriors including Zuo Jingyun have seen Wei Longtao sacrificing himself to cover the retreat fearlessly with their own eyes. It is impossible that they will believe a mysterious freak like you and doubt their general commander.

“On the other hand, even if you do break Wei Longtao’s mask with all the tricks possible, so what?

“Wei Longtao is just a puppet. It won’t solve the problem even if he is minced into pieces. Or rather, the entire underground branch of Starlight, including the temple, does not matter. Space is the key to the conundrum!

“It’s just like I said before. We are now no better than ghosts, with only the level of the Divinity Transformation Stage but not the corresponding combat ability. It is not like we can simply blow up all the Immortal Cultivators and Manjusaka with just our tongues, right?

“It is not going to help anybody to stay here! Return to the sky as soon as possible and get back our body, crystal suits, and Colossus. Swallow all the high-energy nutrition drugs and the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to release the most violent forces of the Divinity Transformation Stage. Sneak into Manjusaka before the army of the space branch of Starlight arrives. That is the only opportunity to crack the trap!”

“Let’s go now.” Li Yao made the decision immediately. “We don’t have much time left!”

Neltharion was no larger than a finger. The gaps that the enormous penetrators could not enter could not stop the small multipurpose exploration starship at all.

Zigzagging in the underground tunnels for a long time, Li Yao activated the drill of mystic rays and began to drill upward.

Naturally, he did not plan to drill up to the surface, which would consume too much of his time.

He was searching for the vertical channels dug out by the Immortal Cultivators. Very soon, he located one.

A lot of penetrators and spiritual puppets were still shipping assets in the vertical channels. Their controllers were mostly Immortal Cultivators in the Refinement Stage or the Building Foundation Stage. Even those in the Core Formation Stage were few. It would be the greatest joke if Li Yao was discovered by them as a Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivator.

Hiding in the gaps of the tracks of one of the penetrators, Neltharion returned to the ground successfully half an hour later.

The surface there was a restricted area. Further beyond, it was a desolate and bleak land, with no sign of a single bandit. There was no telling whether they had been driven away or simply killed.

Li Yao released his telepathic thoughts and scanned everybody and their vehicles in the restricted area. Very soon, he located a small transporter. The vehicle that was similar to a rocket was specially designed to get rid of gravity and commute between the ground and outside the celestial object’s gravitational pull.

When a few Immortal Cultivators walked into the transporter, talking and laughing, Li Yao flew Neltharion to the bottom of the stabilizer fins of the vehicle.

Neltharion was capable of getting rid of gravity on its own. Li Yao was only doing this to deceive the defense rune array that blocked the sky.

Hu!

Flames and smoke spurted out of the transporter, pushing it to beyond the atmosphere!

Half an hour later, Neltharion silently escaped the gravitational pull of the Martial Meritocrats Planet.

Li Yao perceived the rusty planet and Manjusaka, which was like a cancer and a parasite residing on the planet.

Now that he had learned the truth about the Land of Sins and the City in the Sky, his mood was naturally different from when he dived into it at the beginning.

“So, the Imperium of True Human Beings has truly forgotten your ‘old friends’. The Cultivators are no longer your enemies but toys, clowns, puppets, and endangered animals that exist for your daily entertainment.”

Staring at the bleeding Manjusaka, Li Yao mumbled, “It’s alright. I will remind you of everything about the Cultivators.

“A space battle to shoot flies and mosquitoes? Very good. I promise you that the Cultivators will show up on the magnificent stage at the center of the cosmos again after the battle. We are back after a thousand years!”