Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

by <unknown>

  I can practice the Dream Breaking Arts without worry now!

  Li Yao licked his lips and retrieved the Dream Breaking Arts. He browsed through the introduction part first.

  While he was reading, Li Yao's mouth grew wider and wider, and his eyes bulged out like two duck eggs.

  What!

  The Dream Breaking Arts can only be practiced when the subject's Cultivation is higher than peak of the Core Formation Stage? What the heck?

  Chapter 768: Strive for Core Formation! |

  Li Yao cried helplessly. His training methods were different from normal Cultivators. Although his combat ability was close to that of the Core Formation Stage, and he could even fight a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator when he was in his best state, the way that his spiritual energy functioned was the way of the Building Foundation Stage after all.

  There was a notion called 'overclocking' in the field of crystal processors. By special designs, the low-level crystal processors could have the performance of high-level crystal processors'.

  Li Yao's training methods were similar to the idea of overclocking.

  But the low-level crystal processors were essentially low-level crystal processors anyway, however much they were overlocked. Many large programs that required high specifications could not be run on them.

  "What is Yan Xinjian's problem? Why did he have to set such a high threshold for the Dream Breaking Arts?" Li Yao cursed aloud. He thought carefully and sighed, realizing that it was only reasonable.

  Yan Xinjian had taken everything into consideration. He must have foreseen that, if he offered a common Cultivation art as the password to open the door, the newcomer would definitely be suspicious—why would a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator choose such a simple technique as the key to the door?

  There must be something wrong!

  It was only reasonable and less suspicious if his own ultimate art was set as the password to the door.

  Besides, a mediocre technique commonly seen everywhere might not interest the newcomer at all. But his own 'ultimate art' would certainly be much more tempting.

  On the other hand, the Dream Breaking Arts was the summary of Yan Xinjian's lifelong experience as a Cultivator. The essence of his countless other techniques had been embedded into it. When other people picked it up, their body and soul would gradually morph toward Yan Xinjian's original body, until they became ripe for possession.

  After Yan Xinjian successfully took over the body, he would immediately be controlling the body free at will. There would not be much rejection at all.

  It was a perfect plan.

  But it was now a major headache for Li Yao.

  I cannot open the door until I reach the sixth level of the Dream Breaking Arts, and I cannot reach higher than the fourth level of the Dream Breaking Arts until I advance into the peak of the Core Formation Stage even though I can practice the first three levels.

  But I am not even in the Core Formation Stage yet!

  Can I afford to stay here and train myself until I reach the peak of the Core Formation Stage?

  This place is indeed the best natural paradise for training in the Flying Star Sector. One day of training here equals to ten days outside. But do I have that much time? The situation outside could escalate at any moment!

  Li Yao felt that his heart was burning.

  In the ten days that followed, he seized every second and skimmed through the information and files inside the crystal processors. He also groped the wall inch by inch. He even tried to put on the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit and cut into the wall with the drill of mystic rays.

  As a result, the drill of mystic rays and the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit were both serious damaged, and only a shallow trace was left on the wall.

  Li Yao adopted almost twenty different examination methods and analyzed the metal powder off the wall. Yet, he could not tell their specific constituents.

  He only knew that the material was extremely hard, and its microstructure was similar to the 'Super Bendable Steel'. It could shift the energy on the point of impact evenly to the entire shell, before the energy was buffered, dissolved, and absorbed by the arc-shaped structure of the shell. The energy would then be transferred to the defense rune arrays.

  Li Yao calculated for a whole night and came to the conclusion that, if he refined all the high-purity crystals inside the training room into a super bomb, it was possible that he could blow the door open from the inside with a targeted explosion.

  However, the secret training room was fully enclosed, and the spiritual energy had nowhere to run to, which meant that the abundant spiritual energy would destroy everything inside the training room before it destroyed the door.

  It would have been difficult for him to survive the explosion even if he hid inside the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.

  Li Yao was helpless.

  Right now, he had only one option.

  He had to advance into the peak of the Core Formation Stage in the shortest amount of time possible and grasp the sixth level of the Dream Breaking Arts!

  Li Yao took a long breath after he made the decision. He threw away the crystal processor and sat on the ground in a daze.

  Countless mice—red, green, black, and white—surrounded him with their tiny eyes wide open and looked at him without blinking.

  …

  Li Yao's training log. Day one.

  "I never expected that I would be writing a training log. It feels odd. I hope I don't end up like Yan Xinjian.

  "If the day really comes, I will certainly not choose to split my soul and live in the bodies of mice.

  "Now that I think about it, the underground of Spider Den and the underground of Boneyard have a lot of amazing similarities.

  "In the underground of Boneyard, Gao Xingce, the previous captain of Sparkle, also lived in solitude for hundreds of years in a sealed room. Eventually, his memories faded away and his soul vanished.

  "However, Gao Xingce and Yan Xinjian are different.

  "Senior Gao Xingce gritted his teeth to live on for an honorable purpose. He was backed by the belief that he was protecting humanity. At the last moment of his life, even if he had wiped out all his memories, he never forgot his family, especially his wife and his children.

  "His self-awareness dispersed in the beautiful memories where his wife and his children were in his company. I think that he died a peaceful and gratifying death.

  "What about Yan Xinjian?

  "For the pursuit of power and strength, he lost his humanity and killed his own wife. His name was rotten, and in the end, he was the victim of his own scheme.

  "When his soul gradually faded away in the brains of the mice, who would he be thinking of?

  "Right now, I'm going to strive for a higher level and more strength, too.

  "If everything goes well, I will advance into the peak of the Core Formation Stage one day. Someday in the future, I may even break into the Nascent Soul Stage and boast the combat ability equal to that of a crystal warship!

  "I hope that I can always remember why I pursued strength in the beginning and do not get lost as my strength increases.

  "Who should I hope to become if I must choose between Gao Xingce and Yan Xinjian?

  "I don't know whether or not I have the guts to be a hero like Gao Xingce when the moment of decision comes.

  "However—

  "I will never become Yan Xinjian. Never."

  …

  Li Yao's training log. Day 11.

  "I broke six ribs today and got my liver torn apart seriously.

  "Thankfully, Yan Xinjian left a lot of advanced medical facilities and healing drugs. After my maintenance, most of the facilities are still running normally.

  "Today, I have finally determined the functions of all the training facilities here!

  "A Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator is indeed a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator. His training methods and the intensity of his training are just insane!

  "I have lowered the intensity of
most of the training facilities here by several levels, but several key training facilities are not adjustable. I can only train in the level that Yan Xinjian had fixed earlier.

  "It is the intensity that a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator was used to. I feel scared just thinking about it!

  "However, I don't have a choice.

  "It will take about twenty years for a regular Cultivator to advance from the peak of the Building Foundation Stage to the high level of the Core Formation Stage.

  "But I don't have that much time. In five years or so, there will be enough Grand Illusionary Soldiers to form an army. Whatever plans Xiao Xuance has in mind, they will be fully implemented by then!

  "If I can only get out of this place after twenty years of training, I'm afraid that the entire Flying Star Sector will be filled with the Grand Illusionary Soldiers and controlled completely by the Immortal Cultivators!

  "Therefore, I have no better ways except to try my best!

  "I have to break into the peak of the Core Formation Stage in five years and grasp the sixth level of the Dream Breaking Arts!"

  …

  Li Yao's training log. Day 33.

  "The training is harsh. It is depressing to live alone ten thousand meters below ground, too. I've gradually come to feel the same as Yan Xinjian must have years ago, and I understand why he allowed the mice to reproduce freely.

  "Because observing the mice is now the only entertainment when I'm not training.

  "Many scraps of Yan Xinjian's soul still reside in the bodies of the mice. A different color represents a different personality. The mice of the same personality form a mini tribe.

  "After a month of observation, together with the reference of Yan Xinjian's training log, I gradually discovered the difference between the mice.

  "The red mice stand for Yan Xinjian's ambitions. Although they are trapped in such a wretched environment, they are still making wild dreams of breaking into the Divinity Transformation Stage and governing the Flying Star Sector.

  "The red mice always consider themselves to be kings of the Flying Star Sector. Occasionally, one of the red mice would crawl to the top of their 'castle' and wave a tiny cloth, shouting, 'I'm an expert in the Divinity Transformation Stage. I'm the king of the Flying Star Sector!'

  "What is most hilarious is that, before the other tribes attack the mouse, the other red mice would crowd forward, drag the mouse down, and rip it into pieces.

  "Hehe. It seems that, even if they represent the same personality, they are not the same person. Every one of them thinks that they are the real Yan Xinjian and others are merely clones.

  "The green mice stand for the cruelty and cunningness in Yan Xinjian's mind. Their tribe is deadly silent most of the time. All the mice are crouching in dark corners, rolling their eyes, and formulating funny plots one after another.

  "They often come and talk to me, claiming that they are willing to recruit me as their disciple and teach me unparalleled techniques, as long as I bring them out of the place.

  "The most hysterical thing is that they have completely forgotten all the techniques other than their plots. Therefore, when I pretend that I agree to their proposal and ask them to provide their techniques, they will be dumbfounded and simply look at me without words, as if they are crystal processors that have crashed.

  "The blue mice and the black mice probably stand for the desperation that Yan Xinjian accumulated for five hundred years below the ground. Other than staring at the ceiling dumbly and repeating things like 'we can't get out', they are always discussing the Dark Forest Theory solemnly. Now and then, they grasp their whiskers and say things like 'It's too dark, and there's nowhere to run to.'

  "I've discovered that they have completely stopped reacting to light. Even when I flash them with the most dazzling lamps, they still simply bemoan that it's too dark as if nothing happened.

  "However, I don't like the red mice, the green mice, the blue mice, and the black mice.

  "I like the mice that are emitting mild white colors best.

  "They stand for the greatest loss in Yan Xinjian's heart, his wife, who was killed by himself."

  Chapter 769: A Thousand Days of Training |

  "The pure white mice are the smallest in number. They do not like to participate in the competitions among mice. Their favorite thing is to mumble alone in the corners.

  "Sometimes, I listen to them carefully and find that they are recalling their past with their wife hundreds of years ago.

  "At that time, Yan Xinjian was not the vice commander of the coalition fleet of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City yet. He was merely a talented, ambitious young man. Since he devoted most of resources to training, life was quite difficult for him. He only managed to climb higher and higher with the encouragement and support of his wife.

  "Every time they get to the end of their story, the pure white mice always sob in grief. Occasionally, when they are too sad, they even run to the front of other mice and yell, 'You killed her. It was you who killed my wife!'

  "Naturally, they end up being ripped apart by other mice, and their remaining soul turns into a streak of whiteness looking for a new mouse to possess.

  "Several times, I also saw the pure white mice drag out ignorant female mice from the cage, hug them and murmur, 'Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu', regarding them as their 'wife'.

  "Those female mice were not possessed by any soul. They were the most ordinary animals. They could not do anything despite their hard struggles. Other 'clones' of Yan Xinjian all burst into laughter when they saw this.

  "I felt quite uncomfortable seeing what happened to them. Finally, one day, I drove away mice in other colors and built a small house for the pure white mice with the materials that I specially prepared. I then established defense rune arrays around the house so that the mice that stood for the guilt and shame in Yan Xinjian's heart could live in peace temporarily."

  …

  Li Yao's training log. Day 356.

  "Without me knowing it, it's been more than a year.

  "There have been no sounds outside at all over the past year. I don't know whether or not Lei Dalu and Bai Kaixin successfully ran away or if people of the Temple of Immortals were all annihilated.

  "However, neither of the two parties should know that I'm in this place.

  "Bai Xinghe was the only one who knew the secret of Yan Xinjian's secret training room. Also, the two Lustful Rock Spider went on a rampage and buried the entrance to the secret training room with abundant rocks in their fury.

  "There are no magical equipment or techniques in the underground fortress. Even if some members of the Temple of Immortals escaped, there should be no reason for them to excavate the underground fortress on a large scale, given the tremendous manpower and resources required.

  "Therefore, I can train myself without worry here.

  "After one year of training, although my Cultivation is still in the superlative height of the Building Foundation Stage, my combat ability and my battle sense have undergone drastic changes.

  "By my estimation, they are at least twice as good as one year ago!

  "I've been absorbing the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that Yan Xinjian left with the Art of the Swallowing Whale every day, and my body of flesh and blood have both been upgraded in amazing ways.

  "As for the techniques that Yan Xinjian left, except for those that only people above the Core Formation Stage can practice, I've studied almost all of them. When I compared them with the techniques that I knew before, I was greatly inspired by the similarities and differences between them.

  "Maybe, on the same day next year, I'll be advancing into the Core Formation Stage!"

  …

  Li Yao's training log. Day 577.

  "Today, Yan Xinjian's clones had an unprecedented war.

  "In fact, there had been signs of war since days ago. The mice collected a lot of food and crystals, which was quite unusual for them. They then crafted countless 'flying swords' that looked l
ike needles and strengthened their 'castles'. Even the red mice that were often very bad-tempered went quiet.

  "However, since my training came to the crucial moment, I didn't have time to pay attention to the mice.

  "When I noticed it, the war between the mice had already begun. The red mice seemed to be planning to destroy all the other mice once and for all.

  "At the end of the war, every party involved left almost a thousand bodies. Hundreds of Yan Xinjian's remaining souls were broken apart. The remaining souls that still existed were extremely lackluster and looked like shaking candles that were about to burn out.

  "I even saw that one of Yan Xinjian's remaining souls tried to possess a mouse, only to fly out in half a minute after crawling into the mouse's ear. It was even more pitiful after the endeavor.

  "That remnant of Yan Xinjian's soul had been weakened to such a point that it could not guarantee to possess a mouse now.

  "I suddenly realized why the war had broken out.

  "Yan Xinjian's doom has come.

  "His remaining soul was too weak to be weakened any further. It will perish completely within a year and a half."

  …

  Li Yao's training log. Day 701.

  "Anxious. Anxious. I'm very anxious!

  "My capability is now so strong!

  "I can punch a thousand times in one minute under fifty times the standard gravity. The blast from my fists can trigger a force of thousands of kilograms up to three meters away. With a telepathic thought, the weight of thousands of kilograms can be condensed in an area the size of my fingertip!

  "I can survive for dozens of seconds in an environment of almost a thousand degrees, naked. Even if the environment suddenly shifts to minus two hundred degrees, I won't even bat an eye, and 30% of my combat ability will still remain!

  "In the ancient classics of training, it was described that high-level Cultivators were 'unwavering in front of flood or fire'. That must be what I'm currently experiencing!

  "But why can I never find an opportunity to form the core?"