Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Before the reformists’ shouting came to an end, dozens of flying swords had already darted out of the positions of the Kurfürsten’s army and shot at the heavy tractors that had been boarded with gigantic broadcast rune arrays.

The blast raised by the flying swords turned into visible helical pillars of air as they rushed close like burning stars.

Thankfully, the tractors all carried sturdy defense systems, which condensed glowing spiritual shields in front of the line in time. The powerful airwaves they unleashed voluntarily minced the flying swords into pieces or deviated them from the course.

In the next second, a hoarse voice echoed from the position of the Kurfürsten’s army, too. The man cried like a pig about to be butchered, “Brothers, don’t believe the bulls*it of those rebels. As long as we persist for another couple of days, five days at most, the main forces of the four Kurfürsten will certainly arrive in our reinforcement and slay all the worthless rebels!

“Hang in there! Just hang in there! Whoever persists in fighting without retreating for a couple of days—no, for only twenty-four hours, will be rewarded with a hundred kilograms of crystals of the highest quality. Their citizen ranks will also be increased by three levels. Three levels!”

After the shouting of the hoarse voice, the slightly damaged morale of the Kurfürsten’s army behind the forest of blades was more or less improved again.

Somebody sneered behind the positions of the reformists. His chuckle spread out across the entire battlefield through the broadcast rune arrays. “What ‘Kurfürsten’? They are all traitors who stole the places that they did not deserve. The Reform Committee of the Council of Elders represents the highest authority of the Imperium of True Human Beings. We will never admit any knighthood, military rank, or citizen level granted by the old Council of Elders and the four Kurfürst families. Not just an increment of three levels, even if you are improved by thirty levels, you will lose all your rights and end up as slaves and corpses if you are dogged enough to resist us!”

“Bulls*it! Bulls*it! Bulls*it!”

The hoarse voice burst into fury and roared, “What ‘Reform Committee of the Council of Elders’? You are just a bunch of regicidal, hypocritical rats. When the main forces of the four Kurfürsten arrive, all the rebels will be executed with their entire families. We will see who is being dogged and who will turn into slaves and corpses by then!

“Brothers, hold your position. This whole mountain has been armed to the teeth. Behind every rock is a crystal cannon and a firing point on our side. Those rebels are all untrained rookies. They haven’t broken in during the past half month, and they will not break in in another half month!

“The reinforcements of the four Kurfürsten are already on the way. The prodigious crystals, the rarely-seen Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, and the powerful magical equipment—the reinforcements are bringing them to you, as long as you can persist for another twenty-four hours!”

The reformists’ soundwave tractors were silent for a while, as if they were rendered speechless by what the commander of the Kurfürsten’s army said.

But only three minutes later, another voice that was full of mockery and anger echoed again. While it was not as loud as the previous voice, it was well-oriented and very aggressive. “Song Hongchang, stop your bragging. You are still bulls*itting and trying to deceive more people to die for you when things have gone so far?

“Brothers of the Kurfürsten’s army, your commander in this battle area is Song Hongchang, the leader of the ‘Furious Tide Sect’ and a direct descendant of the Song family, right? Let me tell you, you’ve all been tricked by him! Very badly!

“My name is Zhao Guanglong. I used to be a family warrior of the Song family and the deputy director of the Furious Tide Sector. Many brothers here probably know me. If you don’t, ask those around you, and some of them must’ve heard of my name before. You’ll know that Zhao Guanglong is a real person, not someone invented by the reformists!

“I swear that in the past week, I saw with my own eyes that Song Hongchang pushed the disciples of the Furious Tide Sector, as well as the brothers here, to the frontline to be killed, while he secretly sent his family to the starships to escape from this place. Not just his wife and his sons, even his mistress has been sent away by him!

“Did those people leave emptyhandedly? Of course not! They brought all kinds of crystals, magical equipment, and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Some of them were earned through scams in the past decades, and some were looted by him during the past month when other people were in trouble. The worth of his wealth was astronomical, and his wife, his children, and his mistress brought all of it away without leaving a single crystal for you!

“He claims that the reinforcements of the Kurfürsten will arrive if you persist for a couple of days? Hahahaha. That’s bulls*it! There won’t be any reinforcements, at least not in the next month! Right now, the four Kurfürsten are busy nominating a ‘new emperor’. They are bickering with each other hard. Who cares about you?

“Song Hongchang clearly had crystals and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures in his pocket, but he refused to award you and lied to you that reinforcements would arrive with tremendous assets in a couple of days? The truth is that he is just deceiving you into persisting for another twenty-four hours because he will find an excuse to slip away in twelve hours at most!

“By then, he will continue his luxury life at the edge of the Imperium with the wealth that he exploited from you. He may continue serving as a noble or a commander under the so-called ‘new emperor’. But the poor cannon fodder like you would have been rotten into nothingness by then!

“Brothers, I used to be a family warrior and a trusted subordinate of the Song family, which is why I know all the clandestine things he has done. I could’ve totally left with Song Hongchang, but it would be too unbrotherly. I would not deserve the brothers here and the real Imperium!

“That’s why I abandoned the darkness and joined the reformists, siding with justice and loyalty, to reveal the hideous face of Song Hongchang for you.

“The corrupt scoundrel Song Hongchang is a representative of all the big nobles. Brothers, what are you thinking exactly? Are you really going to die for those insatiable, selfish animals?”

The few words were as powerful as three hundred crystal bombs. The frontline of the Kurfürsten’s army was seething, and the morale that had just been condensed collapsed again.

The hoarse voice was panicked and did not reply until after a long daze, “Zhao Guanglong, you traitor, spy, shameless scoundrel! This is shameless slander!

“It was you who intended to escape from this place by slipping on a starship after you stole tremendous military assets if you were not caught by me.

“You kneeled before me and cried hard, claiming that you did a stupid thing in your confusion. Considering that you were a family warrior that had been following me since little, I spared you and hoped that you could correct your mistake by making greater contributions.

“I did not know that you would be so shameless as to join the regicidal rebels during the chaos or to come up with such asinine, flawed lies!

“Brothers, don’t be fooled by him. It is absolutely untrue and ungrounded! I swear to live and die with the position. I swear to fight side by side with the brothers here until the end!”

“Is that so? Then, it’s simple!”

Zhang Guanglong chuckled on the reformists’ side and shrieked, “We’ll know if it is true when you let your wife and your sons stand before us! Song Hongchang, your eldest son is 27 years old and an Immortal Cultivator in the Building Foundation Stage. Right now, everybody is fighting fiercely in the frontline, and countless fellow Cultivators have died miserable deaths, but where is your eldest son? Is he having a great time somewhere else?

“Come on, let your eldest son stand out. As long as he appears in the position here and now, I’ll cut my head off and give it to you!”

After hearing that, the positions of the Kurfürsten’s army fell into dead silence.

The hoarse voice was silent for a long time before the man shouted in fury and helplessness, “Zhang Guanglong, you were a family warrior of the Song family. How disloyal and unfaithful you are!”

“Damn you!”

Hardly had he concluded his sentence when Zhang Guanglong on the reformists’ side spat hard and interrupted his former master without any mercy. “I am a valid Immortal Cultivator and a defender of the Imperium of True Human Beings and the civilization of mankind. I am only loyal to the Imperium, to the queen, to the real His Majesty, and to the Reform Committee of the Council of Elders. Who is your family warrior? Are you even qualified to demand the loyalty and faith of an honorable warrior of the Imperium?

“Brothers of the illegitimate Kurfürsten’s army, have you seen the ugly faces of the big nobles? However hard you work and fight, and however loyal you are to them, you are just a dog, a servant, or a family warrior at best in their eyes!

“Is that what you want? Is that the fate of your life that you are unwilling to change? I truly feel sorry for you!”

The specialist of mental attacks on the reformists’ side who spoke first chimed in, “All the brothers of the illegitimate Kurfürsten’s army, now is the last opportunity for your ‘battlefield uprising’. Rising up will be different from being captured and even more different from being killed!

“Wake up and resist. See clearly the real brightness and justice and join the great cause to renew the Imperium. Aim your weapons and blades at the nobles and the lords, especially Song Hongchang.

“Don’t let Song Hongchang get away!

“Don’t let Song Hongchang escape with the wealth that is supposed to be yours!

“Besides Song Hongchang, there are still countless other wretched nobles and lords in the city who have not escaped yet with their tremendous wealth. Come on and march into the city with us and keep the trophies to ourselves!”

The voices that were full of temptation and instigation found their ways into the ears of every soldier and every bottom-level officer in the Kurfürsten’s army like all-pervasive venom although the battlefield was mired in deafening noises, raising the most primitive hatred, the most scorching desires, and the darkest jealousy in the hearts of the low-level Immortal Cultivators.

Why could the big nobles escape on the starships openly, while they had to die in the damp trenches and the stinky fortresses like rats and cockroaches?

It remained to be seen whether or not the reformists could achieve what they wanted, but they would probably kill all the enemies on their way in their fury.

Everything would be gone after death!

Just like that, the positions that the Kurfürsten’s army had defended for more than half a month finally had thousands of cracks and collapsed beyond control.