Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Li Jialing was stunned for a long time as he listened to Li Lingfeng. His lips shivered for a moment, before he stabbed his fingers into his blood-mottled hair. After thinking for a long time and raising his head to observe Li Lingfeng, he finally said, “Why didn’t you tell me the whole truth before?”

“Firstly, cases such as yours who are corrupted by the barriers of the Covenant Alliance are very rare. Neither I nor Wuying Lan knew how to crack it without causing any side effects,” Li Lingfeng admitted frankly. “Eradicating the seal deep inside your brain and your soul with brutal force would very likely damage your soul, which would affect your further advancement in the future and even your ability to think normally. It is a highly infeasible plan.

“Impose stimulation of a certain degree on you so that your brain will break the seal of the Three Fundamental Laws from the inside after tremendous pressure is accumulated there. I believed that this was the best solution.

“From what I’ve seen now, I can say that we adopted the right methodology. You have indeed broken the Three Fundamental Laws with your own strength!

“Secondly, and also more importantly, it was for your own safety.

“You must know that there have always been forces within the family who oppose me. As my position rises higher and higher in the family, more and more people envy me, hate me, and want to overthrow me through whatever means possible. The tallest tree in a forest tends to be destroyed by the wind first. Since I am a common target for everyone, those people are wasting no time looking for my weakness.

“Think about it. Should they have found your real identity and learned that you were still ‘corrupted’, how would they have treated you, and how would they have used you against me? If you had fallen into their hands, you would have really begged to be killed!

“Therefore, it was for your own safety that I never asked anything about you in daily life and acted as if your life and death was none of my concern. I feared that the eyes that were everywhere would see through the real relation between you and me.

“I couldn’t tell you anything until today, when you completely shattered the shackle deep inside your soul and awakened your real strength. You are now finally able to become a super warrior walking in the daylight representing the future of the Li family!”

Li Jialing took a deep breath, as if he were caught in a trance by Li Lingfeng’s charming words. After a long daze, he said, “That—that explains a lot. Then, what am I going to do next?”

Li Lingfeng smiled and patted the young man’s shoulder where the muscles were still tightened. “You have finished your initial training. From now on, you will stay by my side and receive my personal tutelage.

“Trust me. There are many worlds waiting to be conquered by you, many enemies to be hunted by you, and many glories to be reaped by you. Haha. Hahaha!

“As it happens, we have a reasonably interesting game right now. It is an epic quest regarding Starlight, the resistance group of the Cultivators. It is very suitable for you to enjoy yourself. Why don’t we go to the control center? I’ll ask Wuying Lan to explain the details to you.”

“I—I—” Unused to Li Lingfeng’s warmth, Li Jialing said in a shivering voice, “I don’t know. My head is still a mess. I want to be alone for a moment to calm myself down. Is—Is that okay?”

“Of course. Absolutely. I’ll ask Wuying Lan to arrange an advanced suite for you. It’s true that you should take a good rest, and clean all the stinky vomit on your body while you’re at it. Are you sure you don’t need a full physical examination?”

Li Jialing’s body trembled as he said unconsciously, “Maybe—Maybe in a couple of days. I’m feeling great right now. Can we do the examination in a few days?”

Li Lingfeng smiled. “Of course. Then, clean yourself up now. I’ll be in the control center.”

Delight and disbelief beamed out of Li Jialing’s eyes. “Can I really go to the control center?”

“Certainly. Don’t forget…” Li Lingfeng patted the young man’s shoulder heavily again. “Of the hundreds of thousands of descendants of the Li family, you are the one that I think most highly of and have dedicated the most effort to. Chances are that you will even become my true heir someday. You can go wherever and do whatever you want!”

“Whatever I want…”

A hint of animality suddenly flashed inside the young man’s eyes, and his lips curled into an aggressive smile.

The aggression only made Li Lingfeng smile even more thoughtfully.

Li Jialing summoned his courage and said, “I—I have two questions.”

“Just spit them out. Whatever you want to know.” Li Lingfeng smiled, even more amiably and gently.

“Firstly, who are my birth parents?” Li Jialing asked. “They shouldn’t be as simple as the pair of inferior warriors that you told me earlier, should they?”

“Indeed, they were not, but they were not dominating big shots, either,” Li Lingfeng said. “Their files are all inside the jade chip of the ‘Origin Plan’. The combination of life seeds is the most amazing thing. It is not always the case that the tougher warriors will produce the tougher life seeds, and the combination of two toughest life seeds may not necessarily lead to the strongest zygote. Too many incalculable factors are involved in the whole process.

“What matters most is not strength but suitability.

“Your birth parents were indeed among the best of the family, but they had already sacrificed for the family before the Origin Plan was initiated. I retrieved their life seeds from the frozen seed bank of the family. The project was also a plan to create a descendant for the heroes of the family. I believe that my action was justified, wasn’t it?

“Their ashes are kept in the Hall of Heroes of the family right now, but I don’t recommend that you pay tributes to them for the next year or two. In a couple of years, after your Cultivation advances into higher levels and my position in the family is steadier, it will be a good time to completely reveal your secrets.”

After considering that for a moment, Li Jialing nodded. “Fair point. I’ll follow your advice and act prudently.”

With a smile, Li Lingfeng asked, “What’s your second question?”

“There is one question that is of paramount importance.”

The flames in the young man’s eyes were suddenly condensed into blades.

“You mentioned just now that many people in the family have been opposing you and were even bold enough to sabotage the ‘Origin Plan’ by borrowing the strength of the Covenant Alliance, which almost exterminated me when I was still a fetus. Do you have any theory about who was guilty of the incident?”

Li Lingfeng was slightly dazed for a moment before he replied, “Of course, I am suspicious of a lot of people, but the enemy acted very secretly and mysteriously. I cannot end on bad terms with them until I find any solid evidence.”

“Tell me. Who was it?” Li Jialing asked. “Who was it that intended to suffocate me as a fetus?”

Li Lingfeng hesitated. “Well… It’s hard to say. It’s really hard to say. I do not want to affect your judgment by inculcating certain preconceptions into your head. Besides, just like me, the enemy is a powerful, upper-class person in the family, and a behemoth that is too gigantic for you to compete with openly right now.”

“It’s alright. Just tell me a name that you are mostly suspicious and wary of. I will not make any move recklessly,” Li Jialing said carefully. “No matter how I hated you in the past, I am yours right now after all. It is very likely that the enemy will find your weakness in me. It is very important that I know whom I should be wary of after I return to the Li family, isn’t it?”

“Fine. In that case, prick your ears and listen up.”

Lowering his voice, Li Lingfeng said, one word after another, “I am very suspicious that the schemer who sabotaged the Origin Plan and almost killed you years ago is Li Linghai, the almighty queen of the Imperium of True Human Beings today and my dear sister!”

…

Inside the hot tub that was filled with simmering steam in a VIP suite of the highest level in Manjusaka, Li Jialing was enjoying brief relaxation and tranquility. He suddenly opened his eyes to observe his almost perfect body in the giant mirror on his opposite side.

It was like a combination of a cheetah and a tiger. Every muscle was perfectly mixed with the features of strength and dexterity.

He had fought a bloody battle not long ago, but no wounds could be seen. His fair, translucent skin truly seemed to be made of the purest marrow crystals. Every drop of water from his body would raise the most beautiful splash.

The young man’s eyes were mysterious and sophisticated as he appreciated his perfect and young body. There was not the confusion and panic that he had when he talked to Li Lingfeng a moment ago anymore.

Focusing his brainwaves, he sent a message to his abdomen very peacefully.

“Why are you not saying anything? I have already scrutinized the room. There shouldn’t be any detectaphones or prying devices in this advanced suite. It seems that Li Lingfeng is not willing to break the trust between him and me easily now that it has finally been built.”

The young man’s abdomen was silent for a long time before Li Yao’s waves finally came over hesitantly. “…I’m a bit scared of you.”

“Scared of me?” Li Jialing was slightly dazed. “Why would you be scared of me? In terms of strength, I am absolutely no match for you, and I am almost completely at your mercy with this piece of magical equipment embedded with me. I should be scared of you. Or rather, you should be more scared of Li Lingfeng.”

“No. Although Li Lingfeng is very strong, he is only horrible in the general sense. I have seen and killed too many ‘supervillains’ like him. Maybe it will be tricky to deal with him, but it is far from scary,” Li Yao said. “You are different. You are no older than twenty right now, yet you are already capable of digging such a giant pit for Li Lingfeng to jump into. Had I not known that you’d got a secret plan for yourself, I would’ve thought that you were completely convinced and manipulated by Li Lingfeng based on your conversation with him just now.

“Little did he know that he was the one who judged you wrong!

“You are already capable of such blood-freezing things as a teenager. How horrifying will you be if you hide yourself and train for decades?”