Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

For a moment, Jin Yuyan’s heart constricted. In a trance, he truly thought that Li Yao was an authentic Immortal Cultivator—and a most brutal and cunning one.

Observing more carefully, he finally discovered that the patterns of broken bones, chopped limbs, and flowing guts on Li Yao’s black robe that seemed to be weaved with infinite unrested souls were vaguely wriggling like thousands of living bugs.

Those patterns were alive!

The deformed corpses and the devastated living people congregated into a vortex of horror that attracted Jin Yuyan’s soul deep into it. The director of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors could almost hear people moaning next to his ears, “We’re so miserable… We’re so miserable…”

That was too… perverted!

Jin Yuyan couldn’t help but shiver hard.

Although he was an Immortal Cultivator, he preferred to be a gentle, peaceful businessman in general, instead of a murderer who had fun in killing and torturing. He was also deeply ashamed of such black sheep among the Immortal Cultivators.

Intuitively, Jin Yuyan stepped back and asked warily, “You…”

“Director Jin—”

Holding his tone, Li Yao continued horrifyingly and unpredictably. Half way through his sentence, he finally realized that his voice was not right. Coughing hard, he resumed his normal tone and waved his hands to turn off the black mist, the fiendish air, and the other messy sound and visual effects, revealing the original look of the clean and sunny lobby. Then, he took off the creepy black robe on his body and changed into a sloppy T-shirt and short pants, before he apologized, “Please do excuse me, I was too devoted to my exercise a moment ago. I hope I did not scare you.”

Dumbfounded, Jin Yuyan watched Li Yao transform from a disturbing dark supervillain into a sunny plain young man all of a sudden. He was stunned for a long time before he finally asked, “What’s your exercise for?”

“To play the role of ‘Black Wind King’ better!”

Li Yao said matter-of-factly, “I’ll meet the upper class of the Imperium and hang around with the expert Immortal Cultivators as the ‘Black Wind King’. Naturally, I need to practice hard and not expose any flaws.

“Therefore, according to my own understanding, I have interpreted the character of ‘Black Wind King’ from twelve different angles. Based on his experiences and his rise, I think that the character should be ambitious, blatant, unrefined, slightly cunning, and slightly self-deprecating.

“The slight sense of inferiority, in particular, is the core of the character. After all, he has a humble background and only rose miraculously by accident. He does not have many supporters, and he is in a hurry to be famous in the Imperium. So, he will act recklessly and even participate in the most insane adventures. This super creepy black robe is also a symbol of his brutality and dominance. However, it also shows that he is somewhat impatient and easy to be manipulated by other people.

“How about it, Old Jin? Do you think the character I’ve created is reasonable enough to fool them? Aya, I’ve never been an Immortal Cultivator before, and I’m just a beginner. Please criticize and enlighten me if you have any insight.”

“You are a beginner?”

Looking at Li Yao’s sincere and open-minded face, Jin Yuyan couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of powerlessness again. He said with a bitter smile, “I’m truly confused about who you are now, Vulture Li Yao. Are you a Cultivator or an Immortal Cultivator, the Black Wind King, or the special representative of the government-in-exile of the Star Ocean Republic? Are you here to renew the Imperium or to destroy it?

“Perhaps Qi Yuanbao’s guess was correct. The Black Wind Fleet did fail to destroy Firefly and was swallowed by Firefly instead. While I cannot think of a single accident that could’ve caused the destruction of the Black Wind Fleet, that is the only reasonable explanation!”

“Maybe, but it is all the same no matter who swallows whom, isn’t it?”

Li Yao opened his hands and sat on the sofa. His legs folded, he smiled. “Cultivator, Immortal Cultivator, Black Wind King, special representative of the Star Ocean Republic—are they any different? When I go shopping in your place, will I enjoy discounts if I am an Immortal Cultivator and be charged twice as much if I am a Cultivator?

“All in all, I have proved my unparalleled capabilities. If I really swallowed the Black Wind Fleet, it would only mean that the strength at my disposal was higher than that of the Black Wind Fleet. Also, there are giant markets and enormous business opportunities at the edge of the cosmos. Those things are certainly not lies, are they?

“With that in mind, our cooperation will only bring you greater profits, and it is even more secure than before. Both of us will benefit from it. Why do you need to bother with the insignificant details?”

Jin Yuyan sighed and said, “I thought so too. That’s why I’ve come to talk to you alone. Otherwise, I would’ve sent a troop to surround this place.”

“It would’ve been the dumbest decision of your life.”

Li Yao said casually, “Do you really think that a couple of guys in the Divinity Transformation Stage and thousands of regular soldiers are enough to stop me? Hehe, when I am determined to leave, the capital cannot stop me, and the Seven Seas Grand Market cannot stop me; Blackstar the Great cannot stop me, and the greedy dealers and merchants like you certainly cannot stop me either!”

Sensing the powerful vibe and dominance spurting from Li Yao, Jin Yuyan was somewhat lost again.

But out of his expectation, Li Yao chuckled again and wiped his face. “How about it, Old Jin? My acting skills are not bad, right? Not that I’m bragging, but my face is exactly what I count on while I travel in the sea of stars!”

Jin Yuyan was silent for a long time before he took a deep breath and said, “Enough. I don’t care who you are, because we have a mutual enemy at hand. Whatever schemes and conspiracies we may have against each other, let’s wait until the battle of Seven Seas is won. Do you agree?”

“I can’t agree more!”

Li Yao said, “Let’s get down to business. How are your talks with the warlords and the wavering guys within the four families? Do you know the date of the jump of the four families’ coalition fleet?”

“I have good news and bad news. The good news is that my negotiations with those people are rather promising. Almost everybody signed a new secret agreement with us to strike a solid alliance.”

Jin Yuyan paused for a moment and further explained, “Before, while we had some secret agreements, they did not leave their soul signatures. The details were ambiguous, and their attitudes were unclear too. They might shift their side anytime.

“However, I have pointed it out to the guys who are sitting on the fence that the distribution of interests after the victory, including the development rights of the Sectors at the edge of the cosmos and the market share in the barbaric worlds, will depend on the performance in the battle.

“Also, the arrival of such a powerful ally as the Black Wind Fleet strengthened the confidence of a lot of people in our army. Those who intended to earn more in the game had betted all their stakes on our side.

“This is exactly a snowballing chain reaction. As long as somebody takes the lead, more and more people will follow. By the time more than half of the people are on our side, the remainder of them will have no choice except to follow too.

“All in all, most of the warlords, Sector Masters, and middle class in the four families have left soul signatures and abundant military secrets as a gesture of good faith. There will be severe consequences if the leaders of the four families discover those things. Therefore, it is a sign that they have made up their mind to work for us.

“However, combining the intelligence from everybody, we have the bad news—the four families’ coalition fleet, which boasted an unprecedented number of soldiers, has been gathered and will launch a general attack within 48 hours. It is said that a million starships will jump to the Seven Seas Space Zone at the same time. However strong our defense system is, it will be crushed immediately!”

“A million starships?”

Li Yao scorned, “That’s bulls*it!”

Li Yao was sort of a battle-tested general himself. Naturally, he knew that the bragging in space battles was no different from the ancient wars tens of thousands of years ago.

In the ancient wars, the dynasties which were still in the feudal phase could launch an expedition with a million soldiers now and then. How was it possible, considering the technological and organizational abilities at that time?

As a matter of fact, the “million soldiers” were at least twice exaggerated, and more than half of the real army was made of peasants and supply teams. It would be remarkable if the capable soldiers could amount to a hundred thousand. Then, even among the capable soldiers, the elite, fearless ones who could fight relentlessly usually only took up ten to twenty percent.

In other words, an army that claimed to have a million soldiers was already remarkable enough if it had thirty to fifty thousand truly capable warriors.

In the space age, although technologies were much more advanced, the battlefield and the supply lines had been much more stretched out too. Considering the lack of unity among the four families, it was impossible for them to mobilize enough resources and soldiers for a great battle of a million warships in such a haste.

A million warships and a million starships were absolutely different.

Li Yao estimated that, counting all the supply ships, the barges, and even the escape capsules, it was possible for them to aggregate to a million starships, but the warships among them couldn’t have been more than three hundred thousand.

Of the three hundred thousand warships, most belonged to the warlords and the Sector Masters of the peripheral worlds, who had been flirting with the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors at this moment.

Considering the situation today, those people would rather be loyal to the four Kurfürsten if they did not defect. Unless there was an accident, they would not attack the Seven Seas Grand Market for real.

Even in the fleets of the four families themselves, countless captains, advisors, and even commanders were hesitating about whether or not they should overthrow the old men in their houses too.

Therefore, the situation was not as tough as it appeared, and their odds of winning were still rather high.

Jin Yuyan thought the same.

Although the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors was not one-tenth as strong as the army of the four families on paper, ninety percent of the army belonged to the warships and the local magnates. As long as they were given enough interests and shown the hope of victory, they could carry out their secret agreement and betray anytime.

The real foundation of the four families’ army was the eight fleets that were mobilized from the dominions of the families, which was also known as the Eight Adamantines.