Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

by <unknown>

  "I sent so much valuable information about the Imperium of True Human Beings to you without keeping anything to myself because I want us to settle our differences and stop attacking each other.

  "Cooperating with the imperium brings you only merits and absolutely no harm.

  "According to the traditions of the imperium, remote Sectors such as yours are usually reigned in a semi-autonomous regime. As long as you submit to the imperium, you may be the governors or the masters of the Flying Star Sector.

  "The imperium will not destroy your sects. Instead, a lot of magical equipment, resources, and techniques will be offered to you so that you can become even stronger.

  "You may even have the privilege of studying more advanced techniques in Empyrean Terminus, the capital of the imperium, and step into an unimaginable new level.

  "The six of you are all in the Nascent Soul Stage. Have you never dreamed of ascending into the Divinity Transformation Stage before?"

  "Divinity Transformation Stage?"

  The six Cultivators looked at each other in bewilderment with complicated feelings.

  It was not because they were tempted, but because… if experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage did exist in the Imperium of True Human Beings, the capability of the imperium was unfathomably high!

  "Li Yao, your training methods are quite unusual. You are only in the Core Formation Stage, and yet your combat ability is equal to the Nascent Soul Stage. It is truly incredible.

  "However, I assume that you must have encountered a lot of difficulties during your training, mustn't you? It must have been troublesome and perilous for you to advance into the Core Formation Stage from the Building Foundation Stage. Your chances are really slim if you want to break into the Nascent Soul Stage from the Core Formation Stage on your own.

  "I can even say that, without very special fortuitous events, you are never going to enter the Nascent Soul Stage.

  "But if you join the Imperium of True Human Beings, you can study with the Immortal Cultivators of the imperium and form your Nascent Soul with the help of experts in the Nascent Soul Stage and the Divinity Transformation Stage.

  "Wouldn't it be a shame if such a genius is restricted to the 'superlative height of the Core Formation Stage' forever?

  "Moreover, for highly-developed worlds such as the Flying Star Sector, the imperium will even ask you to conquer the underdeveloped Sectors nearby. You will gain tremendous benefits from the conquered Sectors, too.

  "How does it sound? If you agree to cooperate with the imperium, your own Cultivation will soar exponentially, and you may break into a new level. Your sects will thrive, your progeny will be stronger, and with the help of the imperium, you will expand forward, until every one of you becomes the master of a Sector!"

  Luo Xingzi laughed. "If there are so many benefits, why didn't you come up with the offer a hundred and twenty years ago? There are no three-year-olds here. We are all clear that no lunch comes free. What are we going to pay?"

  "Simple. Resources and warriors," the star child replied. "I have observed you for a hundred and twenty years. I cannot help but conclude that the Flying Star Sector has been treating the ordinary people too mercifully. In fact, most ordinary people are parasites to the civilization of mankind. They waste resources and make no contribution. Yet, you've been protecting and indulging them, which will only stagnate the entire civilization.

  "For example, there are dozens of space zones in your territory. A lot of planets boast high reserves of resources in those space zones. Yet, the development has been slow because of the harsh environment on them.

  "But in fact, as long as you modify the body of the ordinary people slightly, they will be transformed into slaves with infinite strength. Then, they can be sent to those planets for mining. Tremendous resources will be excavated at an extremely low cost. The price is merely the lives of some slaves. Nothing more.

  "Another example. The weird 'eggs of apocalypse' on Iron Plateau can swallow animals and transform them into strong apocalyptic beasts.

  "Such a mysterious technique will be highly valued in the military. With some human experiments, I believe that strong 'apocalyptic warriors' can be produced, which will further increase the capability of mankind.

  "But you did not do that, either. What a waste of such treasures!

  "When the Flying Star Sector becomes part of the imperium, the parasites will not be allowed to live such comfortable lives anymore. The imperium will teach you hundreds of amazing methods that will exploit the potential inside the bodies of ordinary people and turn them from idle parasites into beings that are useful to the civilization of mankind.

  "Hehe. Although ordinary people are just ants, they will still be a tiny bit of fuel when they are tossed into the fire of our civilization.

  "By then, as long as the Flying Star Sector provides a certain number of warriors, slaves, and resources for the imperium every year, you will receive a huge amount of assistance. Everything will be better for the six sets of Heavenly Saints City and the six tribes of Iron Plateau. Your interests will not be harmed at all."

  "Understood." Luo Xingzi took a deep breath and said, "You are saying that, as long as we give up the interests of ordinary people of the Flying Star Sector and connive while they turn into cannon fodder for the Imperium of True Human Beings, the Cultivators such as us will gain astronomical benefits?

  "No. Hehe. If we agree to such a deal, I'm afraid we can no longer be called Cultivators. By then, we will be just like you… the Immortal Cultivators!"

  "Maybe you find such a proposal hard to accept for now," the star child said calmly, "but when you reach Empyrean Terminus and experience the real meaning of the true path of immortality, you will definitely figure out that this is the inevitable future of the civilization of mankind!"

  "Shut up! By no means will we select such a future!" Luo Xingzi's eyes were bloodshot. Colorful brilliance burst out of his body as he rushed toward the star child!

  The star child made of billions of stars was almost a hundred meters tall. He was like a magnificent buddha in front of everyone.

  Luo Xingzi charged at him like a firefly charging at the radiating, furiously-burning sun!

  BOOM!

  The star child blocked Luo Xingzi's attack by extending just one of his fingers. Then, he curled his finger and flicked Luo Xingzi away as if the Cultivator were a fly!

  "This is the world of my brain, a palace constructed by my soul power. How can you expect to defeat me in this place?"

  The star child's voice suddenly turned thick and heavy like roaring thunder. From the battlefield in space far away, which had been the star child's background, the debris of almost a hundred crystal warships suddenly flew toward him rapidly. A dozen crystal warships collided and interweaved into hands and feet several thousand meters long, and the remaining crystal warships formed a monolithic torso!

  An iron giant made of hundreds of crystal warships stood up slowly in the illumination of the stars!

  All seven Cultivators gasped sharply. Although they knew that it was an illusion that the star child had made, they could not help but feel gloomy and desperate!

  "Do you see? This is my power. This is the power of the Imperium of True Human Beings!

  "There is nothing that your Sector can do to resist such power!

  "Come on. Join the imperium and become an Immortal Cultivator. One day, you will be as strong as me!"

  The debris and scraps on the chest of the giant that was almost ten thousand meters tall wriggled into an enormous face. That face was what had just spoken.

  Compared to the magnificent giant, Luo Xingzi was as insignificant as a random speck of dust floating in the depths of the universe.

  But the dust lunged at the giant for a second time. A furious roar echoed against the thunderous sounds that the giant made. "What's the meaning of strength if you can't protect the weak?

  "We are Cultivators. We burned out life and soul, paid everything, an
d embarked on the path of Cultivation to protect our home and every ordinary people in the sea of stars!

  "We will sacrifice for the civilization of mankind, but we will only sacrifice ourselves. We will not sacrifice other people for our glory and greatness!

  "Sacrificing yourself or sacrificing other people is the biggest difference between the Cultivators and the Immortal Cultivators!

  "I, Luo Xingzi from the Feathered Snakes Brotherhood, will always be a Cultivator, and I will fight against the Immortal Cultivators and the dreadful future of the Imperium of True Human Beings until the end of my life even if my body perishes and my soul is cursed forever!"

  Swoosh!

  Luo Xingzi turned into a straight golden line and stabbed at the chest of the iron giant like an extremely narrow, long sword!

  The star child sniffed. A third metal arm suddenly protruded out of his chest, opened, and slapped at Luo Xingzi brutally like a collapsing mountain!

  BOOM!

  This time, Luo Xingzi was not blown away. Instead, it was the giant hand of the star child that was showing signs of crumbling, because the moment before the collision occurred, another six streaks of brightness darted close and resisted the attack together with Luo Xingzi!

  All seven Cultivators made their choice!

  "You—"

  Looking at the six Cultivators who flew to his side and helped him block the giant hand of the star child, Luo Xingzi felt that his nose itching, and his eyes welling up. He could not help but laugh aloud until his tears dropped!

  "Do you see? This is the choice of the Flying Star Sector! This is the answer of the Cultivators!"

  "Poor choice."

  The star child's voice was louder than before and more outraged. The debris of various kinds of starships flooded out of his body incessantly and strengthened his third arm, which was protruding out of his chest. The arm was now full of thorns and hooks. The fingernails on the five fingers were longer and brought the seven Cultivators more pressure.

  "Cultivators like you have lived a peaceful life in the remote area of the sea of stars for ten thousand years. You are like the flowers in a greenhouse, and you have never seen a real storm before. That is why you are insisting your hilarious beliefs!

  "Protecting the weak is just a boring hypocrisy. It is just a way to satisfy your vanity when you are praised and adulated by the ordinary people!

  "For your vanity, you've protected the ant-like ordinary people but buried the future of your entire civilization!

  "This is your righteous path that leads to the abyss. This is what you think to be justice!"

  Chapter 810: The Last Cultivators |

  BOOM!

  A thousand crystal cannons suddenly emerged in the giant hand formed by the star brain. The balls of lightning were raining, and the electric arcs were pouring down. All seven Cultivators lost their sense of direction and were drowned in the ocean of flames!

  Swoosh! Swoosh!

  When the crystal cannons finally ceased fire, ten thousand iron chains darted out of the palm of the giant hand and pierced into the seven Cultivators' crystal suits brutally. They were bound up by the thorn-like chains and were unable to move at all.

  "Open your eyes and see the universe!"

  Together with the star child's roar, countless shadows appeared in various corners of space, as if all the deities and devils in the entire universe had arrived at the same time.

  They were as magnificent as mountains and as boundless as oceans. The seven Cultivators were completely overpowered in front of them.

  The billions of shadows formed billions of crazily growing trees, which constituted a dark, cold forest that occupied the entire universe.

  "Do you see it? The cold universe is a dark forest. If you want to survive, you must abide by the cruelest rules!

  "The strong prey on the weak, and only the fittest survive. In order to be stronger, leniency, moral, pity… Everything can be abandoned. Everything must be abandoned!

  "This is evolution, just like the fish changing into amphibians by abandoning their bladders and fins after they climbed onto land!

  "Evolution, evolution, evolution! Evolution is everything! You evolve, you survive; you don't evolve, you die!"

  Shua!

  The thorns that pierced deep into the seven Cultivators' bodies suddenly turned into black vipers that injected the venom into the depths of their souls incessantly.

  The souls of the seven of them had all been suppressed, and they did not have the strength to struggle. The black venom even flowed out through their mouths, noses, eyes, and ears, forming a thin seal on the surface of their bodies.

  Li Yao felt the fire of his soul becoming weaker and weaker, and his computational ability plummeted because of the corruption of the black venom. He even found himself agreeing with the star child's principle from the bottom of his heart.

  He does seem to have a point. We've been living in the remote area of the universe and never been through much trouble. That's why we believe in protecting the weak.

  If we had been living in a cruel world of bloody battles for ten thousand years, what would we have chosen in order to protect the civilization of mankind?

  Li Yao suddenly shuddered coldly, realizing that he almost lost control over his mind.

  No! No! No! A civilization where the majority of the people are sacrificed for the benefits of the strongest few is absolutely not the real civilization of mankind!

  Li Yao wanted to shout, but the black venom filled his throat, and he could not say anything even after coughing for a long time.

  "Do you see? I can easily suppress the souls of the seven of you with my strength and turn you into my obedient slaves!"

  The star child suddenly stopped torturing them and said coldly, "Without you, I can still control the entire Flying Star Sector with the Grand Illusionary Soldiers. But if that is what I must do, a prolonged war will definitely be raised. The Flying Star Sector will be crippled, and billions of people might be killed.

  "In order to maintain the full functionality of the Flying Star Sector, so that it can provide soldiers and resources for the imperium dutifully, I am not willing to do that.

  "Also, I believe that you are not willing to see the Flying Star Sector plagued by warfare, either.

  "So, I'm going to give you one final chance.

  "The seven of you all boast tremendous influence in the Flying Star Sector. With your power and prestige, and together with the Grand Illusionary Soldiers, the Flying Star Sector should be able to be conquered with no blood shed. You can run the world in the way that the imperium does.

  "I know that you are too pigheaded, and you are absolutely not scared of death. However, you might want to consider the ordinary people even if you are not considering for yourselves.

  "If you don't resist and surrender nicely, the Flying Star Sector will retain part of its independency. In the future, when you become the real controllers of the Flying Star Sector, as long as you provide a certain number of soldiers and resources, the imperium will not meddle in the internal affairs of the Flying Star Sector. You will be able to shelter many people.

  "By then, you can establish certain 'reserves' on some planets and migrate some of the ordinary people to those places where they will continue living their peaceful lives, if you think your hypocrisy and vanity can be satisfied in such a way.

  "This is the greatest concession that the imperium can make!

  "If you are determined to resist and refuse the generosity of the imperium, you will be considered enemies of the Imperium of True Human Beings and traitors of the civilization of mankind!

  "The imperium has never shown mercy to the traitors of mankind!

  "When the expedition army of the imperium arrives, the Flying Star Sector will be crushed. Not only will all the Cultivators be wiped out, the ordinary people will also be punished in the harshest of ways. They will be refined into the lowliest slaves and sent into the roughest resource planets in the edge of
the imperium. They and their posterity will be forever doomed!

  "Is that the future that you want?

  "Is that the price you are willing to pay for your stubbornness?"

  Luo Xingzi and the other Cultivators were all dumbfounded, unable to come up with any response.

  They were definitely not scared of death, but if the Imperium of True Human Beings was really so strong, resistance would be meaningless. If anything, the ordinary people of the Flying Star Sector would only end in a more miserable situation.

  It was definitely not the outcome that they were willing to accept.

  The souls of Luo Xingzi and the rest of them shivered slightly. Gaps as thin as hairs appeared on them.

  The black liquids took the opportunity to march deep into the souls of the six Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, sabotaging and seizing control over them.

  The six of them struggled helplessly as if they had been mired in a swamp.

  Li Yao was the only one who gritted his teeth and managed to keep his head clear despite the corruption of the black venom.

  He felt that something was off.

  That's not right. If the star child's soul power is as strong as it appears to be, he could have suppressed us from the very beginning. Why did he waste so much time talking to us?

  Or rather, if he is really so tough, there was no need for him to control Xiao Xuance to launch the so-called 'New Era Plan' at all. He could have found an excuse to concentrate all the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators in the control room of the star brain on Heavenly Phantom before he launched mental attacks and brainwashed everybody. Would that not have been much more straightforward?

  Something is wrong. Something is definitely wrong!

  By logic, since he knows that we are all the most hardcore Cultivators and that our beliefs to protect the ordinary people were not formed yesterday, he must know that we are not likely to be persuaded by a few words of his. Then, there is no reason why he should describe the brutality of the Imperium of True Human Beings so elaborately!

  Unless…