Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Long Yangjun’s declaration broke the atmosphere between her and Li Yao like lightning on a sunny day.

Li Yao’s expression of “loyalty and devotion” was frozen on his face, and cold sweat leaked out of his forehead again.

Li Yao stared at Long Yangjun grimly without saying anything.

Long Yangjun blinked her eyes fast and asked, “What?”

Li Yao asked too, “What?”

Long Yangjun said, “What do you mean by ‘what?’”

Li Yao replied, “I’m saying that… you have crossed the line, haven’t you? Even though we have become enemies and want to cut each other into pieces, and even though we are absolutely loyal to His Majesty, the Colossus is the most critical thing for us. Should we really need to go that far? For example, my loyalty to His Majesty is absolutely unquestionable, and I’m willing to be sacrificed for the future of mankind, but it doesn’t mean that I’m willing to cut my cock to serve His Majesty! Would you do that?”

“I… would!”

Long Yangjun opened her hands. “Have you forgotten that I was a eunuch for almost a hundred years?”

Taking a deep breath, Li Yao raised his head helplessly, only to discover nothing but black rocks above his head.

“All in all, I have brought out my Colossus. I believe that this is the most direct and effective way to express my loyalty to His Majesty. Only by doing so can His Majesty completely trust me. Tell me if you dare do the same!”

Long Yangjun raised her Cosmos Ring and stared at Li Yao. “In case you claim that I am submitting a fake Cosmos Ring, I will summon my Colossus right now. Please don’t misunderstand me, Your Majesty. This is not a preparation for an attack. Even if I am attacking anything, my target would only be Li Yao’s worthless head!”

“Fine!”

Li Yao gnashed his teeth. “You think you are the only loyal subject who dares to summon your Colossus to prove the authenticity of your Cosmos Ring? I’ll summon my Colossus and show it to His Majesty too. Of course, if there is a chance to blow up your abdomen, I will not show mercy on you. Remember, the abdomen!”

As he spoke, Li Yao also took out his Cosmos Ring and was about to activate it.

“Wait!”

Wuying Qi had been observing coldly. He suddenly said, “Li Yao, step aside and let Long Yangjun do it first. One at a time. Don’t summon the Colossus at the same time.”

Li Yao: “Huh?”

Long Yangjun: “Huh?”

The two of them looked at each other, only regretting that they could not slap each other in the face. They shouted simultaneously, “What are you exclaiming for?”

“Stop wasting time. The Gold Crystal Pyramid has been activated. Every second counts.”

Wuying Qi narrowed his eyes and looked at the two of them. “If you truly want to prove your loyalty, let’s begin. Long Yangjun will be first. I’m very interested in appreciating your Colossus, ‘Heavenly Crystal’, too!”

“… Yes, Your Majesty.”

Long Yangjun’s eyelids and lips quivered at the same time, and obscure brilliance flashed in her eyes. In the end, she simply closed her eyes and took a deep breath. With space ripples spreading out of her fingers, she retrieved “Heavenly Crystal”, her own Colossus!

The translucent and most splendid light immediately filled up the vast cave.

However, Wuying Qi’s attention was not on Long Yangjun at all but completely focused on Li Yao, or more exactly, on Li Yao’s finger that was rubbing his Cosmos Ring.

It seemed that as long as Li Yao showed any sign of retrieving his Colossus at such a critical moment, Wuying Qi would launch the most aggressive counterattack at him without any hesitation.

Li Yao could keenly sense the coldness that froze his bones.

Therefore, he did not dare take any action at all and could only earnestly watch Long Yangjun’s Colossus gradually take hope.

However, when Long Yangjun’s Colossus only half appeared from the void, Wuying Qi already said casually, “Enough. Take it back. I have already recognized your loyalty, Long Yangjun.”

Long Yangjun hadn’t been seated in the cockpit of the Heavenly Crystal yet. When her closed eyes were suddenly opened, she saw Wuying Qi staring at her thoughtfully.

It was the most awkward phase for a Colossus. She needed another few seconds to be fully equipped and to carry out the maximal combat ability.

Wuying Qi, on the other hand, wouldn’t give her a few seconds.

Long Yangjun could only disrupt the retrieval of the Colossus obediently and pressed the Heavenly Crystal back into her Cosmos Ring.

“Now, it’s your turn, Li Yao.”

Wuying Qi turned around and smiled at Li Yao. “Is there a problem?”

“Absolutely… not!”

Li Yao lifted his right arm and raised at Long Yangjun his middle finger… where his Cosmos Ring was worn.

The Colossus “Arsonist” arrived from the void!

“Enough.”

Just like before, when the Arsonist only revealed 30% of its form, Wuying Qi already interrupted Li Yao’s retrieval, not giving him a chance to completely bring out the Colossus at all. “Is this the superweapon that crushed three experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage and three Colossi in a row? It is truly marvelous. However, let’s study it later when we have more time. Now, retreat it.”

Helplessly, Li Yao had no choice except to keep the Arsonist back.

“Right, there’s something that I’ve been curious about. Since you two are both so frank, I believe that you certainly wouldn’t lie about such trivia.”

Wuying Qi looked at Li Yao and then at Long Yangjun. “I remember that I blew your Colossi apart at the bottom of the Silver Moon Ocean and that Li Yao was almost both physically and mentally crushed, but why have your Colossi been entirely renewed after only half a month, and why has Li Yao been improved into a much higher level, as if he encountered a certain fortuitous incident?

“I can see the Heavenly Crystal of the old days in your new Colossus. The maintenance and modification are still reasonable.

“Li Yao’s ‘Arsonist’, on the other hand, has been completely reborn. It’s almost like a technological boom. What happened?”

Li Yao was completely astounded by the question.

It was like a gigantic hammer that hit the tip of his nose brutally and smashed it into the back of his head.

“Well…”

Li Yao rolled his eyes crazily, wondering how he should explain it.

“Huh?”

Brutality beamed out of Wuying Qi’s gloomy face again.

“Li Yao, with everything coming to this point, are you still not confessing the things about the ‘witchcraft civilization’?”

Long Yangjun glared at him. “For how long do you plan to keep it from His Majesty?”

“Yes, the witchcraft civilization!”

Bulging his eyes, Li Yao blurted out, “I transformed the Arsonist to the point of beyond recognition and improved my own combat ability based on Long Yangjun’s primeval technologies as well as the technological modification of the witchcraft civilization!”

“The witchcraft civilization?”

Wuying Qi was rather suspicious. “What is that?”

“It’s exactly one of the civilizations from the multiverse, just like the civilization of the Cultivators… right, the Immortal Cultivators!”

Li Yao said quickly, “I was forced to land on the Devilish Scorpion Nebula when I jumped to the Imperium. As it turned out, I discovered the remains of a starship from a witchcraft civilization. It contained all kinds of peculiar things, and I swallowed abundant legacies without me knowing it. I also learned part of the mysteries about the grand universe from it.

“Those legacies have been condensed inside my body and my soul. I tried to unlock them, only to no avail. However, after Your Majesty’s lessons at the bottom of the Silver Moon Ocean, which were almost a session of enlightenment, the chunky veins and nerves inside my body were all dredged, allowing me to perceive many mysterious, indescribable knowledge. Therefore, this is all thanks to Your Majesty. We can also say that Your Majesty has brought tremendous wealth to the civilization of mankind even before your plan is activated!”

“That explains a lot. A witchcraft civilization?”

Wuying Qi had touched upon some intelligence about the alien civilizations of the multiverse before, which vaguely agreed with what Li Yao said. He was even more convinced and said, “How interesting…”

“If you don’t buy it, Your Majesty, I can sing you a song of the witchcraft civilization as proof.”

Li Yao cleared his throat and began chanting, “ABCDEFG, HIJKLMN, OPQ[1]…”

“Enough. Shut up.”

Wuying Qi rubbed his temple softly. “I definitely believe what you said, Li Yao. There is no need for you to prove it… in such a way.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Greatly relieved, Li Yao wiped his cold sweat and said, “I didn’t mean to keep the things about the witchcraft civilization a secret. It’s just that they are unrelated to the upcoming battle. That’s why I did not confess them at first and waste your time. I would’ve told them to Your Majesty in the future when there’s a chance to.”

“Now that we have proved our loyalty to Your Majesty, and Your Majesty trusts us enough, everything is fine. The rain is over, and the sun is out. What should we do now, Your Majesty? Just say the word, and I will live and die for you, Your Majesty!”

While talking, Li Yao put his hand that was wearing the Cosmos Ring on his back.

However, it was useless. Wuying Qi’s eyes were still stuck to their Cosmos Rings that stored their Colossi without even half a second’s pause. It was impossible for them to change the Cosmos Rings.

“Well…”

As Li Yao talked and talked, he gradually ran out of words.

“It… It seems that we should give the Colossi to His Majesty now.”

Long Yangjun reminded him.

“Of course, I’m already giving the Colossus to His Majesty, alright?”

Watched by Wuying Qi’s half scorching and half freezing eyes, Li Yao could only bring out the hand that he had put behind him and slowly, slowly, slowly delivered the Cosmos Ring in which the “Arsonist” was stored to Wuying Qi.

“Let me tell you, you are thinking too simple and superficial of His Majesty!”

Staring at Long Yangjun aggressively, Li Yao gnashed his teeth. “Even if we are willing to give the Colossus to His Majesty, His Majesty definitely won’t take it because of his great mind and vision.

“Besides, I have every reason to believe that it is your scheme to strike His Majesty’s beliefs. You are trapping His Majesty in such a way to disrupt His Majesty’s ‘Next Sun Plan’. Even the entire Imperium and the whole civilization of mankind may be destroyed!”

[1] Li Yao was singing the alphabet song.