Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

The confidence on Lei Chenghu’s face which indicated that he had everything under his control fell apart like a sand wall in a storm.

“Are you crazy?”

Shocked, he looked at Li Yao in disbelief. “You’re giving the ultimate weapon that can destroy the Imperium to two monsters virtualized by crystal processors?”

“Watch your mouth, General Lei.”

Li Yao turned grave too. “They’re my children. They are a life form that exists in reality. They’re neither virtual nor monsters! On the contrary, they can be more calm and rational than us in complicated dilemmas, and they can make the best decision as fast as possible.

“I know myself very well. I admit that I’m not qualified to be a deterrent. Since the very beginning, I’ve been considering to whom I’ll transfer the control of the Gold Crystal Pyramid to. Long Yangjun and Boss Bai are both more suitable than me, but my children are definitely the most suitable!”

“How can you trust them?”

Lei Chenghu was almost jumping out of the light beam. He roared thunderously, “Whatever they are, I do not trust them, and I will not let the Gold Crystal Pyramid fall into their hand!”

“They’re my children that were born based on infinite data in the Star Glory Federation. Why would I trust you over them?”

Smiling, Li Yao said unhurriedly, “All in all, I still have the control of the Gold Crystal Pyramid, but I know that the responsibility is too heavy for me, so I signed an agreement with Xiaoming and Wenwen and put a trigger in their logic circuits.

“They will monitor my biophysical parameters including brainwaves, heartbeat, breath, etc. 24 hours a day. The moment they detect that my mind is about to collapse because I can’t handle the pressure as the deterrent, they will automatically take over the highest permissions of the Gold Crystal Pyramid.

“Also, if I die accidentally, say I got unfortunately killed while fighting your troops, they will also take over the highest permissions and become the new masters of the Gold Crystal Pyramid.

“I did not ask them to do anything specific with the Gold Crystal Pyramid; I simply asked them to defend the best interest of mankind with the Gold Crystal Pyramid. As to how they comprehend the best interest of mankind, sorry, I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

Lei Chenghu looked at Li Yao angrily as if his eyes were about to swallow Li Yao. “You don’t know what they will do after they get the Gold Crystal Pyramid?”

“No. I believe that Xiaoming and Wenwen are two innocent and kind kids, but we’re different life forms anyway. Inferring their way of thinking with our own is like a dinosaur considering the ways an ape fights. It’s utterly impossible.”

Li Yao opened his hands and said, “I don’t know how they will understand the best interest of mankind, or what they will do after they get the Gold Crystal Pyramid, but I know one thing for sure; while you are a hundred times colder than me, they’re probably a hundred times colder than you. Perhaps the billions of creatures in the capital are nothing but some numbers and instructions in their eyes.

“If you insist on landing on the capital planet and intruding the demilitarized area near the Gold Crystal Pyramid, you will have conflicts with Xiaoming and Wenwen as well as their puppet legions. Well, I don’t know what impression you will leave on them, or what decisions they will make to defend the Gold Crystal Pyramid. After all, they are only two kids!”

Lei Chenghu fell in his chair and glared at Li Yao, breathing heavily.

“You can’t do that… You can’t give the fate of mankind away to two lives that are entirely different from us!”

His voice was hoarse, but there was a vague weakness behind his toughness.

“Then you’d better not provoke me.”

Li Yao pointed at his head. “I’m now weak and can’t stand any provocation. I’m now wondering if I should give the Gold Crystal Pyramid to Xiaoming and Wenwen, but if you provoke me, maybe I’ll make the final decision.”

This time, it was Lei Chenghu who fell silent.

“Look, betting with the lives of the billions of people in the Empyreal Terminus Sector is not my style or my threat.”

Li Yao said, “My real threat is to give my place away to someone else. I’m too soft-hearted to be a deterrent, which is why every party can accept me as a deterrent. Otherwise, would you prefer Boss Bai, Long Yangjun, or Xiaoming and Wenwen to be the deterrent?”

Lei Chenghu lowered his head and thought for a long time.

“What if—”

He struggled to say, “If something happens to you in other battlefields, will the Gold Crystal Pyramid go to the two information lives too?”

“I do not intend to go on any adventure for now. I’m not made of iron anyway. After finishing off Wuying Qi and saving the Imperium, I deserve a holiday and a good rest!”

Li Yao said, “I think nothing can threaten my life if I stay on the capital planet, right? Also, didn’t you promise that you will protect me as the King of Black Wind, General Lei?”

“As for the future, like I said just now, we can establish a committee in the demilitarized area and study the secrets of the Gold Crystal Pyramid together, and the committee will control it.

“But that is on the premise of sincere cooperation. For us to cooperate sincerely, I have to maintain minimal deterrence, don’t you agree?”

Lei Chenghu thought for a long time and took a deep breath.

“I do.”

It was the first time that Lei Chenghu spoke in the sound of a mosquito when he always rumbled.

Hearing Lei Chenghu’s reply, Li Yao took a long breath and smiled in relief.

“You wouldn’t demand to take control of the Gold Crystal Pyramid now, would you?” Li Yao asked again.

“Yes.”

Lei Chenghu gnashed his teeth and said, “But everything apart from the Gold Crystal Pyramid must be transferred to us immediately!”

“Of course! Then, the battle in the capital has come to end, hasn’t it?”

Li Yao extended his hand to Lei Chenghu on the light beam. “We’ve won!”

“For now, only for now.”

Lei Chenghu unwillingly extended his hand and shook Li Yao’s.

“A temporary victory is better than an eternal failure.”

Li Yao blinked his eyes and said, “Even a forced alliance can still bring us precious peace, can’t it?”

…

No matter how many setbacks were awaiting them in the future, the victory and the hope for peace had truly arrived at the capital that had almost been swallowed by the wrath of the star at this moment thanks to the hard work of Li Yao, Long Yangjun, Li Jialing, Lei Chenghu, Boss Bai, and many other people.

In the following month, the reformists seized every second to coordinate their forces, including Lei Chenghu’s expedition army, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors’ army in the Seven Seas Space Zone, and the Deep Sea Fleet that previously belonged to Wuying Qi and Li Linghai. Those forces were gathered into the greatest troop that mankind had ever witnessed.

Of course, the Arsonist Fleet as well as the Cultivators also joined the reconstruction of the capital under the name of “Black Wind Legion”.

The Immortal Cultivators were reluctant to admit or talk about the Cultivators. Many of them were worried and embarrassed, and some found the Cultivators utterly unacceptable.

However, Li Yao was the legitimate King of Black Wind and a strong expert beyond the Divinity Transformation Stage. Many people knew that it was he who blew up the remaining soul of Blackstar the Great. For the Immortal Cultivators who worshiped power, Li Yao’s strength was his best shield.

Plus the insincere endorsement from Lei Chenghu, the theory that most Immortal Cultivators heard was that Vulture, a new-generation King of Black Wind, conquered the Star Glory Federation, a country of Cultivators at the edge of the cosmos, and returned to the center of the cosmos for the renewal of the Imperium.

The Imperium of True Human Beings was based on the Star Ocean Republic, and the first batch of Immortal Cultivators mutated from the Cultivators. So, it was not entirely unacceptable that there were a lot of Cultivators in the Black Wind Fleet who were “going through the same mutation”.

The relocation and reorganization of the ace fleets of the four families went quite well too.

Most soldiers in the fleets were crushed in the Next Sun Plan. Even though their souls had recovered, they lost their will of resistance. When they realized that their fleets were gone and the Deep Sea Fleet, the Astounding Thunder Fleet, the Arsonist Fleet, and the Imperial Guards were united, they gave up fighting for their families.

In particular, when they heard that it was Li Yao, the King of Black Wind, who played a vital role in the battle of the capital, a lot of them even asked to join the Black Wind Legion and serve Li Yao!

Of course, not everybody was willing to surrender.

Many of the four families’ forces that intruded the capital had escaped back to their nests before the scourge of the solar storm.

Just because they had lost the ace fleets did not mean that the four families would give up their resistance. The grand nobles were still hiding in their nests, preparing for their final struggle. In fact, the brutal failure in the capital made them unprecedentedly united. They even gave up the competition for the crown and elected a new emperor at a speed like never before.

The reformists would certainly not sit around and watch. Since the coronation ceremony on the four families’ side was about to be held, the reformists decided to hold their own too in order to reassure the soldiers and the people. In the days to come, there were bound to be two emperors in the Imperium of True Human Beings, and it remained to be seen which of them would declare the other one a counterfeit.