by <unknown>
Xiong Wuji opened his mouth slowly, his voice low and deep like a bear that was rubbing against a tree. "You risked your own life to save my adopted son. I owe you a great favor. You are from the space, Dr. Sha is from the space, and my adopted son Wu Mayan is also from the space. You can see that the Furious Bears Tribe is different from certain other tribes! Who are you, why are you here, and what do you want?"
Li Yao blinked, his mind in a mess.
He didn't know that this Sha Yulan was truly from the space, and it did not seem to be a secret in the Furious Bears Tribe!
Sha Yulan gestured for Xiong Wuji to retreat farther. She then carried a chair and sat down, before she spoke softly. "Judging from the wounds on your body, you've suffered a lot on Iron Plateau. I can totally imagine what kind of life a space resident must've been living after he was forced onto Iron Plateau. It is perfectly normal that you are very alert. How about I tell my story first, and then you tell yours?
Before Li Yao could reply, Sha Yulan had already started. "I'm from a family that specialized in the medicine, born the Horizontal Wind Space Zone. My father was a well-known doctor in the space zone. Once, a patient who suffered from the Black Spider Death Curse and was on the brink of death came to my father.
"Although my father failed to save him, the Black Spider Death Curse left a very deep impression in me. That's why I saw through your tattoo easily a moment ago.
"My husband was a manager of a small sect in the Horizontal Wind Space Zone and was in charge of the logistics.
"When our son Wu Mayan was six months old, the three of us went on a trip to visit my parents, but we encountered space pirates half way through.
"Most of the starships in our fleet were captured. My husband managed to break away from the siege as a skilled pilot, but in our haste, and driven by a cosmic storm, we drifted to the Iron Plateau Space Zone.
"When we arrived here, we had run out of food and ammunitions, and there was barely any fuel left. The telepathic thought transmitter on board was broken, too. We could not reach out to the outside world via the Spiritual Nexus as there was no such thing here.
"Therefore, we could only risk landing on Iron Plateau.
"But we didn't expect for the defense network of Iron Plateau in its atmosphere to be so powerful. Our starship was seriously damaged again when we were breaking through the planetary ring.
"My husband burnt his life and soul without thinking about anything else in order to steer the broken starship. Although we landed successfully in the end, my husband passed away unfortunately because of over-exhaustion."
Sha Yulan sighed. "Wu Mayan, who was only six months old back then, and I were lost in the desert and about to be slain by the demon beasts when qi-trainers of the Furious Bears Tribe appeared and rescued us."
Li Yao lips moved, but he did not dare to open his mouth. He was meaning to ask why the qi-trainers did not ask for her trouble since she was also a Cultivator.
Xiong Wuji seemed to have seen through what was on his mind. He sniffed and remarked, "What do you think we qi-trainers are? Scumbags who bully women and children?"
Sha Yulan managed to make a smile. "I'd read a few confidential files about Iron Plateau before and was aware that, although the natives of Iron Plateau were not primitive barbarians, their impression about the residents in the space, especially Cultivators, was not very good. However, for my son, I couldn't care less about that and thought that they could torture me however they wanted as long as they kept my son alive.
"As it turned out, when those silly bears discovered that there were only the two of us, they did not know how to deal with me at all even though they had noticed that I was a Cultivator.
"At that time, Wu Mayan was still being breastfed. He was just a small meatball. I was merely a non-battle-type Cultivator who could not even catch a chicken. They could neither beat nor condemn us, and we would be dead for sure if they drove us to the desert.
"Therefore, they established a small house in the corner of Furious Bears City where my son and I could stay. It seemed like they were even scared that we might die. Haha.
"Then, the wife of a qi-trainer had trouble during her labor. Both her child and herself were about to be killed. Nobody knew what to do. I happened to drop by and saved the two of them.
"Later, more people gradually came to seek treatment from me. It was mostly women and kids in the beginning. The job I did most often was the midwife.
"However, healthy as the men here may be, it was natural that they broke a bone or two when they were fighting demon beasts outside. Some of their traditional methods were effective, but many wounds could only be treated with the more modern medical knowledge.
"After I saved a few seriously wounded qi-trainers, my name gradually spread afar. They started calling me 'Dr. Sha'. Not only was I known within the Furious Bears Tribe, the qi-trainers of the Silver Moon Tribe and those of the Greedy Wolves Tribe would come to ask for my help if they had no solutions themselves, too.
"In the last twelve years, I've saved more Iron Plateau natives than I can count. The serious wound on Xiong Wuji's chest couldn't have been healed without me.
"With my contribution, the adults of the Furious Bears Tribe mostly have the decency not to speak ill of the space residents when I'm around. But sometimes, little kids say the nastiest things, and don't even realize it, when they are horsing around."
Sha Yulan paused for a moment and the continued speaking, somewhat reluctantly. "Yesterday afternoon, my son was playing with a few other kids. He's a proud and aggressive one, and he beat his three companions down heavily. One of them was pissed off and said something that was not very nice.
"My son did not give a reply there. He secluded himself for half a day when he was back. No one expected that he would run out secretly late at night to hunt demon beasts by himself in order to prove that he was as valiant as any Iron Plateau native even though blood of the space flows in his veins.
"Thankfully, you showed up in time, or it would've been a terrible disaster."
Xiong Wuji said, "Last night, I received a message from the Burning Sun Tribe stating that a Cultivator had landed on Iron Plateau and encountered them. The Cultivator was even trying to make a deal with them, but he didn't know that the Burning Sun Tribe was the tribe that hated Cultivators most among the six tribes of Iron Plateau. In the end, the Cultivator fled desperately and even humiliated the son of the leader of the Burning Sun Tribe. If my guess is correct, the Cultivator was you, right?
"The Furious Bears Tribe and the Burning Sun Tribe are different. Why don't you tell us what the deal was that you tried to make?"
Li Yao was interested. He observed the two of them and discovered that they were as calm as before and showed no signs of lying.
Besides, if Xiong Wuji was really the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau, there was no need for him to lie at all.
Pondering for a moment, Li Yao kept most details to himself and simply said that he was a member of an Exo Society who had fiercely battled against space pirates in the Iron Plateau Space Zone and that he had been forced to land on the planet eventually.
Xiong Wuji nodded. "According to our observation, it's true that a fierce battle took place in space a month ago. There were also signs that the defense system of the planet was triggered."
Li Yao concealed most of the details, but he elaborated on his performance in the Skyhill Sword Seminar to prove that he was reasonably good at the art of refining and could help the Furious Bears Tribe craft a huge amount of magical equipment.
Xiong Wuji listened attentively. He suddenly interjected when Li Yao was talking about the Skyhill Sword Seminar. "You are a refiner? Then, can you repair starships?"
Li Yao's eyes suddenly shone. He replied, "My specialty is the refinement and maintenance of melee magical equipment, namely swords and sabers. As for starships, I've conducted a few maintenance tasks before, but I'm not adept at it. It will depend on the model of the starshi
p, the extent of damage, and the number of backup components."
He was better at destroying a starship than repairing one.
Xiong Wuji nodded in acknowledgement and hinted for him to continue.
When Li Yao finished his speech, Xiong Wuji concluded, "So, the deal you talked about was that you get resources and maintenance facilities from us and we get a lot of magical equipment crafted by you."
"Correct!"
Fire of hope was ignited in Li Yao's heart, as he nodded and said, "Chief Xiong, I can tell that you are much more rational than the guy from the Burning Sun Tribe. The deal I've proposed is a win-win for us. If you don't believe me, I can refine a few swords and sabers right now. You can test their quality yourself!"
"I believe you… but the deal cannot be made right now."
Xiong Wuji shook his head. "Right now, I don't have enough resources and facilities to make a deal with you."
Li Yao was dazed. "Why?"
Xiong Wuji narrowed his eyes in which two terrifying flames were burning, while he said coldly, "Because an apocalypse is coming. All the resources must be used to forge the large war machines, and all the personnel must be summoned to join the battle of the apocalypse! Your crystal suit should be a piece of very precise magical equipment. To mend it would require a lot of resources and time. However, right now, I don't have enough resources and time to trade with you.
"If both of us are still alive after the apocalypse, let's make a deal then!"
This was the second time that Li Yao heard the phrase 'battle of the apocalypse'.
Seeing the grave expression on the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau, Li Yao was grasped by anxiety, too. He asked, "Didn't the apocalypse take place five thousand years ago? What exactly happened at that time? Why are the Iron Plateau natives and space residents so against each other? What is the battle of the apocalypse?"
Chapter 557: Choices Five Thousand Years Ago |
Sha Yulan glanced at Xiong Wuji and, seeing no objection on his face, explained after pondering for a while. "The apocalypse was the greatest change of the Flying Star Sector in the last five thousand years. I had never been told the full story before I was forced to land on Iron Plateau, but I've managed to have a general idea of what happened after investigating and analyzing the information for more than ten years."
Li Yao was beaming with curiosity. He observed, "Since I was born and raised in a remote town in the sea of stars, I'd never heard of this apocalypse before, and I definitely have no grudge with the qi-trainers. But for some reason, the qi-trainers of the Burning Sun Tribe seemed to regard me as their mortal enemy. They started fighting me after only a few words. It was completely unreasonable. I should at least know what I am killed for if I have to be killed. What exactly happened five thousand years ago? What is the so-called apocalypse? A meteor shower?"
Xiong Wuji sniffed and replied, "An apocalypse is the greatest catastrophe for a sector. It is so much more complicated than a simple meteor shower!"
He waved his hands, gesturing for Sha Yulan to continue, while he sat aside with a solemn face, deep in thought.
"I haven't seen a Cultivator from space for more than ten years. Considering that you saved my son's life, and that this is not a big secret on Iron Plateau, it doesn't matter if I tell you about it.
"All those qi-trainers, including those of the Burning Sun Tribe, although rude and reckless, have good reasons to hate Cultivators."
Sha Yulan cleared her throat. "Qi-trainers and Cultivators, from their own perspective, both think that justice was on their side. I'll try to tell the story without bias.
"Brother Li Yao, you should know that the Flying Star Sector used to be an important region for the Star Ocean Imperium ten thousand years ago; a lot of space fleets were stationed here, and countless military bases were established. The development level of this area was quite high.
"When the Armageddon Rebellion took place, Blood God, supreme commander of the expedition army of the imperium, revolted and became a demonic Cultivator who called himself the Mad Armageddon. A civil war thus began. Hundreds of years of battles shattered the Flying Star Sector and almost demolished it.
"Even so, a lot of relics in the area could still be made use of, and many damaged starships could be repaired, too. The remaining soldiers of six troops of the imperium as well as their descendants struggled in various planets and world fragments. The six troops gradually evolved into six big sects, which led the people to be united and to pass on the civilization.
"The majority of the six sects were soldiers of the Star Ocean Imperium and their descendants. Naturally, they were much more organized than civilians.
"Also, debris and relics were everywhere in the Flying Star Sector. A lot of knowledge could be analyzed and inherited from them.
"Therefore, the development level of the civilization of the Flying Star Sector recovered very fast. About six thousand years ago, although still relatively small, it had already reached seventy percent of the brilliance of the Star Ocean Imperium when the latter was at its peak.
"The Flying Star Sector, at that time, had developed more than ten space zones and permanently altered the territory and atmosphere of three planets with the energy from almost ten stars. The planets were the new lands for human beings.
"On more than another ten planets, mines were established to collect the precious Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
"The entire Flying Star Sector was flourishing.
"Iron Plateau was the capital planet, or mother planet, of the Flying Star Sector. It was where the coalition government of the six big sects was headquartered, as well as the origin of the human civilization of the Flying Star Sector.
"In space, citizens of the Flying Star Sector had repaired a lot of the starships of the Star Ocean Imperium and created newer, bigger, faster crystal warships based on them that could cruise in the universe.
"Those were our golden years. Everybody shared the same goal, which was to explore other constellations and find more brotherly human civilizations. We planned to help them, unite them, and eventually rebuild a great alliance of human beings across the entire universe!
"At that time, everybody firmly believed that the invincible human beings would definitely be able to achieve that!"
Bitterness suddenly appeared on Sha Yulan's hopeful face. "One year before the expedition fleet was to set off, the astronomers of the Flying Star Sector suddenly discovered that a weird wave was crashing right at the Flying Star Sector. After extremely complicated observation and calculation, it was ascertained that three meteoroid showers, one large and the other two small, had been aimed at the only habitable planets of the Flying Star Sector, with the large one targeting Iron Plateau precisely!
"If they were common meteoroid showers, how could they have been aimed at all three habitable planets at the same time?
"There was no doubt that it was not just an astronomical phenomenon, but an apocalypse whose target had been selected neatly!"
Li Yao listened carefully and exclaimed when he heard 'apocalypse'.
Sha Yulan said, "Apocalypses are the most mysterious phenomena in cosmology. When a Cultivator advances to a certain level, or a civilization is developed very fast, an apocalypse might be triggered!
"In the era of the Star Ocean Imperium, mankind encountered many apocalypses. Some of them were resisted by the joint efforts of the Supreme Emperor and the twenty Guilds of Provenance, but some of them couldn't be stopped at all.
"An apocalypse often leads to the complete destruction of one or more worlds!
"The astronomers immediately ran the most precise calculations about the trajectory, scale, and damage of the apocalypse. Their final conclusion was…
"Fifty fifty.
"There was a fifty percent likelihood that the apocalypse could be resisted if all the resources of the Flying Star Sector were summoned.
"There was also a fifty percent likelihood that, however many resources wer
e summoned, and however hard they struggled, they were not going to stop the apocalypse from destroying the three planets!"
Li Yao was dazed. He asked, "Couldn't the estimation be more precise?"
Sha Yulan smiled bitterly. "Apocalypses are the most inexplicable phenomena of the modern Cultivation world.
"Ancient Cultivators believed in divinities or the so-called 'heavens'. Apocalypses were easier to explain for them. They simply perceived such disasters as punishments or tests that were arranged by supernatural powers, and they could survive them with faith and righteousness. The bottom line is, everything was related to religion and thus unfalsifiable for them.
"We modern Cultivators don't believe in superstitions, nor do we accept the existence of divinities.
"For ten thousand years, the superstitions of the ancient Cultivators have been ruled out one by one. The objective laws of nature behind them have been found.
"But apocalypses are as mysterious and incomprehensible as they have ever been. They are the fatal weakness of the modern Cultivation theorems.
"It is said that a Cultivator whose surname was 'Liu' and whose title was 'Master Star Prier' saw through the mysteries of apocalypses during the last years of the Star Ocean Imperium.
"But soon after, he was mentally deranged and got involved in the warfare, never to be seen again.
"Therefore, it was already an unbelievably troublesome task to capture the trajectory and estimate the time of the arrival of such enigmatic phenomena like an apocalypse. Countless astronomers burnt their life and soul while they were calculating the apocalypse until they perished because of fatigue in the end.
"It is said that the estimation of the damage of the apocalypse depended on a fickle, unpredictable value. If it was odd, then the apocalypse would be resistible; if it was even, the apocalypse would not be stopped at all.
"A team of dozens of astronomers sacrificed their lives together, but they still failed to determine whether the value was odd or even!
"The details have been lost in the passage of time. All you need to know is the outcome."