Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Li Yao wanted to discuss the matter with someone, but for some reason, he was unwilling to talk to the grey mist lady or the Dream Traveler. He thought that it was better to talk to Zhang Daniu.

The guy was quite obedient when he was on the starship. Although the storms and storms every now and then had forced him to vomit his bile, he didn’t complain too much. It was mainly because the grey mist lady had told him everything about the hunting team and the spies, which had scared the coward.

As long as he could save his life, he would be able to endure the pain for now. Besides, the grey mist lady had told Zhang Daniu that there were a lot of his loyal readers in the nest of the Ark Foundation. Naturally, there were a lot of female awakeners who had all kinds of superpowers. He was so happy that his snot was almost popping out. His bones and other organs were suddenly as hard as steel, and he could endure any kind of pain. He could not wait to grow wings and lunge at the ‘Ark’.

Maybe it was because Dream Traveler had guided him to awaken the memories of five reincarnations, or maybe it was because of the useless memories of the illiterate scholars, or maybe it was because so many awakened people were staying together that his brainwaves resonated with each other, but in short, he had been writing ‘Forty Thousand Years of Cultivation’ in a crazy state of mind over the past couple of days. It didn’t matter whether or not he was pouring his heart out, but a new chapter of thirty to fifty thousand words would always give Li Yao something to gain and remind him of more things in the ‘Four Universities of Cultivation’.

At this point, Li Yao was even more convinced that he was the ‘Cultivator Li Yao’ of the ‘Four Planets of Cultivation’. Since he had only transmigrated to Earth for a certain reason, the Red Pole must know what had happened.

Zhang Daniu had specifically requested that he provide protection. After all, he was the strongest and there was no problem with his loyalty. The two of them would sleep in the same cabin at night. It would be more convenient for them to discuss anything.

Therefore, when Zhang Daniu finished his five hours of continuous tapping that night, Li Yao finally couldn’t help but raise the question of ‘glass marbles falling’.

“Master Niu, according to the files collected by the Ark Foundation, they have discovered a lot of ‘earth bugs’, which should be due to the errors in logic resulting from multiple reboots and the incomplete coverage of some of the data. But I’ve read them carefully, and there doesn’t seem to be anything about ‘glass bouncing’. Don’t you find it odd?”

Li Yao said, “You know what ‘glass marbles’ sound is, don’t you? It’s something that people all over the world have heard before. It sounds like a child playing with glass marbles upstairs who accidentally fell to the ground. “Dada dada dada” sounds. Every time this kind of sound appears in the dead of night, it is simply not the time when a child is playing. There are even people who are angered by this kind of sound and run upstairs to negotiate. Only then do they know that there are no children in the house upstairs, nor are there any glass marbles… What exactly is going on?”

“Of course I do.”

Zhang Daniu rubbed his swollen fingers and said casually, “I’ve read an exposé on ‘urban legends’ about the phenomenon of ‘glass marbles falling from the floors above’. It’s true that many people blame the phenomenon on the supernatural. The nonsense about ‘kids causing trouble’ is just nonsense that does not make any sense. In fact, it is the sound of the tubes in the floors when they are expanding or shrinking. Don’t worry too much about it.”

“Is that so? But I still feel that something is not right.”

Li Yao thought carefully and said, “The architectural style and materials of every country are different. Their latitudes and climate are different, too. Of course, the distribution and construction methods of the tubes are different, too. But why is the thermal expansion and contraction of all the tubes the same? Besides, if thermal expansion and contraction are as simple as that, can’t an experiment be conducted to prove it? Or can the authorities of the construction industry be asked to explain the phenomenon? Sometimes, people have heard such sounds in houses, tents, and even outdoors. How can you explain that?”

“Well—”

Zhang Daniu scratched his hair. “I don’t know about that. Speaking of which, why do you care so much about the sound of glass? Many people have heard it before. I’ve heard it many times, too. What’s the big deal?”

“Wait. You’ve heard it, too?”

Li Yao’s eyes suddenly turned sharp. “When and where?”

“Who—who knows?”

Zhang Daniu opened his hands and said, “Who would intentionally remember such a thing? If you’ve heard it, then forget it. Anyway, I seem to have only heard it once recently.”

“Recently?”

Li Yao was somewhat excited. “Where? When exactly? Please think about it carefully!”

“This seems to be, um, the day we arrived at the port.”

Zhang Daniu thought for a long time and replied uncertainly, “Around 8 or 9 o’clock at night. I had just been ‘awakened’ by Dream Traveler and was receiving an infusion in a booth next to the warehouse to replenish my energy. When I was in a daze, I seemed to have heard glass bullets falling on the ceiling. ‘Da da da da da. Da da da da da da’. I can’t remember clearly.”

“Eight or nine o’clock at night?”

Li Yao was dazed. On second thought, it was when he was brought to the warehouse by the grey mist lady for the Dream Traveler’s test.

It was also when he heard the sound of glass.

At the same time, the two of them heard the sound of glass bullets falling. Was it a coincidence, or was there a deeper, more terrifying reason?

“What’s there to be confused about? We are about to reach the headquarters of the ‘Ark Foundation’. If you have any questions, why don’t you ask Red Pole?”

Zhang Daniu said unconcernedly, “Ms. Gray Mist and the rest of them have been bragging about the Red Pole as if it were a god-like planet that could foresee the future. He will definitely be able to answer your questions!”

“That’s… true.”

Li Yao nodded and mumbled to himself, “I have to see Red Pole. As long as I see him, everything will be… resolved!”

…

While they were sailing in the ocean, bad news came one after another.

As the natural disasters grew more and more severe, the order of human society gradually collapsed. Many small countries that were in the middle of economic crises could not resist the scourge of earthquakes, tsunamis, storms, and floods at the same time and fell into a humanitarian disaster beyond description.

The loss of a lot of refugees triggered a chain reaction in many other countries. Even the superpowers at the top of the pyramid were barely able to take care of themselves.

On the fifth day after they entered the ocean, an unprecedented earthquake hit the islands of Fusang again and cut them in half. More than 70% of the land was drowned in the cold seawater, and the rest of the land turned into thousands of isolated islands. Tens of millions of refugees were fighting for the limited space. The scene was quite appalling.

In the meantime, the superpowers of the west were faced with their own natural disaster—the violent eruption of the Red Stone Volcano, as expected, covered more than half of North America in ash. Under the shadow, hurricanes and floods were raging. Thieves and lunatics were on a rampage. The glorious nation on the top of the mountain was decaying at a visible speed, revealing its ugliest side.

Right now, not many people were talking about the apocalypse online.

Because everyone was very clear that the end of the world had come. There was no room for luck anymore.

It was in such an environment that Lucky Star reached its destination.

“We’re here!”

It was a gloomy dawn with barely any sunlight. The air was so hot that one could squeeze water out of it. But in the apocalyptic environment, the weather was not half bad. Ms. Gray Mist summoned Li Yao and Zhang Daniu to the deck and said in relief, “I cannot tell you the specific coordinates of this place, but the ‘Ark’ is right ahead.”

Li Yao and Zhang Daniu stood on their tiptoes and looked into the distance. They had thought that they would be able to see an enormous, magnificent super tanker, but as far as their eyes could reach, the surface of the ocean was peaceful and empty. There was nothing at all.

“What’s the meaning of this?”

Li Yao and Zhang Daniu looked at each other in confusion.

Besides, whether or not the grey mist lady kept the coordinates of this place a secret, wouldn’t the ocean be too… shabby?

The sea here was empty, the sky here was completely unobstructed, and there was not the slightest hint of reefs in the surroundings. The fog was rolling, and the environment was sinister. Anything could be seen clearly from the satellites, be it ships or islands.

It had been less than a week since they left the port. Modified cargo ships were designed to resist the wind and waves. Therefore, they were not driving very fast. This place was somewhere in the South Pacific at best. It was definitely not a place that was unattainable.

If the Ark Foundation had established their nest in this place, wouldn’t the organization of the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the ‘will of the earth’ behind it have discovered it in no time? How could they still be indifferent today?

Seeing that the two of them were confused, the grey mist lady smiled and gestured to the cockpit to move forward.

Breaking the waves, Lucky Star moved forward slowly.

An unbelievable scene took place.

There was nothing in front of the head of the starship, but when they touched the air, heavy ripples spread out. They seemed to have passed through an invisible barrier. Li Yao and Zhang Daniu both felt that something soft like jelly was brushing past their skin.

Looking at the front again, the two of them were greatly shocked—the ocean in front of them had changed!

Just a moment ago, the sky was still covered in dark clouds. The sunlight was too lazy to radiate any heat. The scattered raindrops fell upon them, bringing a bone-piercing chill. The seawater was as black as a swamp, with a lot of ugly seaweed floating in it.

However, after sailing forward for only three to five hundred meters, the sky suddenly turned into a cloudless blue. The scorching sun was shining unscrupulously. Even the seawater was shockingly blue. Every wave was colliding like a sapphire, making it impossible to tell the boundary between the sky and the sponge.