Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“According to the novels, things such as ‘superpowers’ or ‘techniques’ are double-edged swords. The strengthening of muscles and brains, the enhancement of computational ability, and the release of intense brainwaves all require the support of endless energy. The cells of the supernaturals who have been ‘reborn’ are all ferocious monsters who will devour their masters’ bodies without sufficient nutrition.

Li Yao thought to himself, I feel like I’m burning my life force right now.

In any case, judging from the author’s appearance, he wouldn’t be able to stop for a while. It was impossible for Li Yao to hang on the outer wall all the time. Although it was late at night, there would always be residents coming home from the night shift. It would be very awkward if he was discovered.

Li Yao evaluated his combat ability.

Although he could tear the dumbbells with his bare hands when he was at the peak of his physical strength, he did not feel that he could fight against a strong police station when he was hungry.

Why don’t you go out and replenish your energy first?

He tiptoed back the way he had come and walked far away from the neighborhood before he returned to the main road. He found a 24-hour convenience store and bought five boxes of chocolate peanut candies and more than ten cans of functional drinks. Then, he found a quiet and uninhabited place in a poor street and stuffed the chocolate peanut candies and drinks down his throat. Only then did he feel a little better.

Looking at the overdraft limit on his phone, Li Yao secretly sighed.

He hoped that all the mysteries could be solved as soon as possible. At the very least, someone could tell him what was going on. Otherwise, just absorbing so many high-nutrition substances every day would be too much for his wallet.

It was around two o’clock in the middle of the night. Li Yao was not in a hurry to steal the outline. He planned to wait until it was the darkest before dawn, which was also the time when people were the most tired. It seemed that the author was not made of iron and needed to sleep, right?

Tonight, he was not planning to return to school. While there was no one around, he would pay attention to the news of the T3 Game Show.

For some reason, Li Yao felt that the shooting was quite weird and had a lot to do with the death of the famous novelist and the mangaka.

When he logged into the game forum again, the news about the shooting gradually spread.

There were four shooters in total. Three of them had been killed in the crossfire with the police, and one of them had been captured because of an injury. It was quite unexpected. According to the latest investigation, the four shooters were all white men with clean backgrounds, normal jobs, and happy families. They had nothing to do with extremist organizations and did not look like crazy terrorists at all.

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However, when the authorities searched their comments on social media carefully, they discovered that they had joined an organization named ‘Apocalypse’. They believed that ‘Apocalypse Arrives 2018’ was probably a replica of ‘2012, Armageddon’. It was none other than the apocalypse and the final trial at the end of 2018. A catastrophe that was about to restart the entire world was inevitable, and only by helping the heavens harvest the souls of the addicts would they have the opportunity to be redeemed and live a brighter and happier life in the post-apocalyptic world.

It was unclear whether the unknown ‘Apocalyptic Organization’ existed or was merely a disguise for the more famous extremist organizations.

However, dozens of bloody records were added to the list of victims of the T3 game exhibitions.

In the production team of the game ‘Star Ring—Final Battle’, other than ‘Father of Star Ring’ Garriott, there were also two important producers who declared their death in the hospital. They were a script writer and a scenario architect. They were both Garriott’s most trusted assistants and friends who had followed him for more than ten years.

Considering that the progress of ‘Star Ring: The Final Battle’ was only around 70%, the departure of the three heavyweight producers meant that the game would be out of stock indefinitely. Even if the game was completed one day, the final version would certainly be very different from what the ‘Father of Star Ring’ had envisioned.

It was a pity that nobody knew what the ‘final battle’ that the ‘Father of the Ring’ envisioned in the beginning would be like.

Li Yao found a mobile restaurant that was open late at night and ordered a large bowl of fried noodles with eggs, sausages, and slag. He quickly refreshed the webpage while he ate.

He browsed through all the major gaming forums, animation forums, and fantasy literature forums, hoping to find news of new producers, cartoonists, or novelists suffering accidents.

So far, there had been no news as sensational as the shooting at the T3 Game Exposition, but Li Yao had found a very interesting post by searching the keywords.

It was a post posted on a large comprehensive Q&A website. In fact, it was a response to a question. The question was, “How to comment on the departure of ‘Drunk Stardust’?

Li Yao didn’t know anyone named ‘Drunk Star Dust’. He searched the relevant articles and found out that it was an unknown web novelist who had left the world quietly in the middle of the night due to a heart attack.

Presumably, this question was raised by a loyal reader of ‘Drunk Star Dust’.

It was a pity that the web novelist was not very famous. Except for a few readers, he didn’t receive many responses. The answers were mostly about the condolences of the author and the appreciation of his work. They were not of much help to Li Yao.

But one of the answers caught Li Yao’s attention.

“I have never seen the work of ‘Drunk Stardust’, but I am not surprised to hear of his death. Do you think ‘Drunk Stardust’ is just the first?

“Let me tell you—I’m a crazy fan of fantasy novels, comic books, and games. Over the past three years, I’ve collected more than a hundred accidental or fatal accidents among the domestic and foreign producers of fiction, comic books, and fantasy entertainment. Here’s the list!”

The answerer released a list of names of the creators in the field, followed by their age and cause of death.

With a quick glance, Li Yao estimated that the ratio of patients both domestically and internationally was about 50%. The ratio of patients to accidents was also 50%. However, more than half of the patients were under fifty. It was indeed a bit shocking.

However, most of the creators of the fantasy works were not very famous. Some of them, such as ‘Drunk Star Dust’, were known by only a few people in their respective fields. Accidents were happening to almost ten billion people in the world every day. Nobody had ever linked their deaths together before.

“You may think that I’m crazy, but please believe me. I’m not crazy. I’m absolutely clear-headed. The voice inside my head will not lie to me.

The answerer continued, “The deaths of so many writers, cartoonists, and producers are definitely not due to accidents or diseases, but because some mysterious force is manipulating everything and directing a tragic death.

“I don’t know what this force is, nor do I know what its purpose is, but I believe that this is just the beginning. The reason is simple. The creators who have passed away over the past three years do not have enough fame and influence. This is just a few drops of cold rain before a storm.

“Soon, very soon, even more important creators, some masters who created bizarre fantasy worlds for us, will leave. Believe me, no matter how normal they seem, their deaths are accidents, schemes, and part of an enormous scheme!

The answer had dozens of comments, which was quite popular under the question.

However, most of them expressed their objection and even cursed the answerers.

Many people were cursing the responders for playing to the gallery and using the deceased to attract attention. Whether it was the writer, the cartoonist, or the producer, they had been working day and night for a long time. The mental pressure was high, and the odds of sudden illness and chronic disease were much higher than those of normal professions. What could the deaths of more than a hundred people worldwide say about three years?

The conclusion that ‘a Master will pass away very soon’ was even more shameless. Since he was known as a Master, it was only natural that he earned his fame and fortune. He was too old to be surprised by the death of a Master in his sixties.

In short, no one believed the speaker’s words. Most people were cursing him.

Li Yao, on the other hand, became interested in the answer because he discovered that the time of the answer was exactly eight days ago, which was also the day of the Pegasus Lake International Animation Festival.

While the respondent was writing the message, in the west, Gilson, the author of ‘Blood and Sand’, a famous master of fantasy literature, was holding his chest and falling to the ground in pain. In the east, the famous cartoonist Gao Wuyi, who had painted ‘Strong Colonial Hunters’, was humming a cheerful tune and walking on the bloody road to hell.

Was this a coincidence?

Li Yao paid special attention to the answerer’s account. The answerer had named himself ‘Dream Traveler’.

Clicking on his name, one would be able to see all the answers he had left on this Q&A website. There were quite a few pages.

It was his last reply.

The penultimate rule, on the other hand, was a response to another question, ‘What happened to you?’

In this reply, Dream Traveler wrote, “When I was in the third year of primary school, I went swimming in the reservoir next to my grandma’s house and drowned for at least half an hour. From then on, I became a Dream Traveler.

“I know that no one will believe it. Anyway, ‘Do You Know’ has long become a temple for braggarts and posers, but I don’t care whether you believe it or not. I’m just telling my story.

“I have a feeling that ‘they’ will arrive soon. If I don’t talk about it now, I might not have a chance to open my mouth in a few days just like those people.