Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

by <unknown>

  "He has been resisting the Imperium from the last years of the Star Ocean Republic to this day?" Li Yao could not help but feel dumbfounded. If that was true, the 'ancient Cultivator' could be no younger than a thousand years old. Would that not make him even older than 'Gui Suishou', the most famous senior in the federation?

  Gui Suishou had lived for a thousand years by hibernating most of the time, but a resistance organization of Cultivators deep inside the Imperium must have been faced with the cruel hunting of the Imperium every day. It was impossible to hibernate for a long time. How did the guy survive a thousand years despite the fierce daily fights?

  "The so-called 'ancient Cultivator from the Star Ocean Republic' is probably just a widely-spread rumor," Jin Xinyue said. "It is perfectly normal for the ordinary people in the Imperium who suffer brutal oppression to hope for the arrival of a 'savior'. However, it is possible that the resistance organization of Cultivators named 'Starlight' does exist, or once existed before, right?

  "If we can find such a resistance organization, even if we can only find one or two Cultivators of the Imperium who are still resisting, it will mean a lot for us."

  Li Yao nodded heavily. Then he asked, "Is it possible that a resistance organization of Cultivators has lurked inside the Imperium for a thousand years without being annihilated?"

  "Not very likely, but it is an interesting rumor nonetheless that is worth spending some time on. Should it be true, we will be in great advantage," Jin Xinyue said. "The astronomical environment in the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy is very complicated. Cosmic storms and desolate worlds are everywhere. It is indeed a great place for hiding and guerrilla warfare.

  "One other thing. There's no telling if it is a coincidence, but the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy has a world named the Martial Meritocrats Sector. You should remember that it is 'Blackstar the Great' Wuying Qi's hometown!"

  Chapter 1932: Disintegration of Fear |

  'Blackstar the Great' Wuying Qi was not a native of the Star Ocean Republic, which was a fact that everybody knew. Even his surname, Wuying, was made by himself to remind himself of his hometown.

  However, it was clearly not because he had deep feelings for his hometown but because he hated his hometown's guts.

  Years ago, when the 'mobs' of the Martial Meritocrats Sector had risen against the Cultivators, almost all the Cultivators had been slaughtered. Wuying Qi had been tied up by his compatriots and thrown into the burning crater of a volcano.

  He had been reborn with a new life inside the volcano. The boiling magma had melted the last bit of his humanity and his belief in the path of the Cultivators. It had also burnt up all the feelings that he had for his hometown.

  After he returned to the Martial Meritocrats Sector magnificently with the great army of the Imperium of True Human Beings, he had immediately begun the most inhuman suppression and slaughter.

  The sovereign who controlled the entire universe had not been satisfied when half of the population of the Martial Meritocrats Sector was wiped out. He had ordered that all the survivors in the Martial Meritocrats Sector be demoted to the most special slaves. There was absolutely no opportunity for their offspring to get rid of their identities as slaves.

  The Imperium of True Human Beings adored equality at least on the surface. Theoretically speaking, even the filthiest and most ravaged slave could become a high and mighty 'true human being' and 'Immortal Cultivator' as long as their spiritual root was awakened and they became an expert. The legends where beggars became generals and slaves turned into Sector Masters had always been inspirational stories that the leadership of the Imperium used to intoxicate the bottom-level masses.

  However, the heroes of the 'legends' clearly did not include the natives of the Martial Meritocrats Sector.

  Being born in the Martial Meritocrats Sector in the past thousand years was like being born in the basement of the deepest level of hell, starting from the moment that they opened their eyes.

  The cruelest suffering and the most desperate fate awaited the people of the Martial Meritocrats Sector. Even if their spiritual roots were awakened by accident, turning them into experts, they would only become slaves that were of a higher experimental value.

  All in all, for the last thousand years, the Martial Meritocrats Sector had been the place to test new magical equipment and new techniques in the Imperium. All the magical equipment and the techniques that were highly dangerous, destructive, and unstable would be sent to the Martial Meritocrats Sector and tested on the living people of the sector.

  Some alien beasts of unknown backgrounds, after being captured by the Imperium by accident, would also be sent to the Martial Meritocrats Sector, if their features and danger level could not be tested, in order to check the reactions of the alien beasts in a 'purely natural' environment. In most cases, their 'reaction' would be the most bizarre killing spree, with thousands of victims or even more.

  In such a cruel world and a hell without hope, because of the long tradition of the Cultivators, it was not unusual that people would come up with the tales of 'lost Cultivators' when they went through excruciating suffering or even establish a resistance organization for real.

  Therefore, there were three advantages to set the Martial Meritocrats Sector in the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy as the first jump point.

  Firstly, the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy had a complicated astronomical environment, with cosmic storms, stone belts, and seriously-broken wormholes everywhere. The scorpion-shaped nebula at the center of the ten or so Sectors would also unleash violent radiation toward the outside world irregularly. While jumping to this place could be somewhat dangerous, the traces of the visitors would be erased as much as possible. Even if the Imperium did find them, it would be relatively easy to run away.

  Secondly, 'Starlight', the resistance organization of Cultivators, and the 'lost Cultivator' were of great significance for the federation.

  Even the most impenetrable fortress could be broken from within. It was highly unlikely for the federation to suppress the Imperium in a head-on clash, but it was certainly possible for the federation to awaken the force that had been accumulated for a thousand years inside the Imperium. If 'Starlight' did exist, it would certainly be the best comrade for the federation.

  Thirdly, even if Starlight and the lost Cultivator were nothing more than groundless tales, it at least proved that the local people were looking forward to the Cultivators. It would be easy to win the support of the natives.

  In any other world in the Imperium of True Human Beings, helping the Immortal Cultivators catch Cultivators would earn 'military credits', which meant the possibility of getting rid of their misery.

  However, in the Martial Meritocrats Sector, no matter how hard the locals kneeled and licked the toes of the Immortal Cultivators, there was absolutely no hope for them at all. So, did they have any reason to stand on the Imperium's side? Was there any place better than there to be a platform for the envoys of the federation to enter the Imperium?

  The three advantages were all obvious, but there was still one thing worth considering, which was intelligence.

  'Blackstar the Great' Wuying Qi did not like the Martial Meritocrats Sector. The other worlds in the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy were burdened by the bias, too. This place had always been the least developed area in the entire Imperium, with high inactive businesses.

  Besides, because the Martial Meritocrats Sector was used as a laboratory for new magical equipment and techniques, and there were quite a few enormous prisons of high levels that involved a lot of top secrets, military control had been strictly implemented. The place was managed by reliable members of the royal family or representatives from the capital. It was not a place for insignificant merchants to meddle.

  The merchants in the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors were mainly after wealth. They were not interested in asking for trouble and therefore rarely visited the place, which turned the area into a black hole of intelligence.

&nbs
p; The sea of stars was too vast and boundless. The distance between different worlds could easily be thousands of lightyears. The things that happened in one world could become groundless tales and bizarre stories in another world.

  Therefore, despite Di Feiwen's knowledge, all he could provide was some incomplete rumors from more than a hundred years ago.

  As for exactly which place should be chosen as a platform for the federation to enter the Imperium, it was a problem that could be discussed slowly.

  Li Yao, Ding Lingdang, Jin Xinyue, and Di Feiwen talked for a while longer, analyzing the environments, the garrisons, and the vulnerable points of the dozens of Sectors at the edge of the Imperium. Although the information from a hundred years ago was outdated, the data such as astronomical parameters and natural environments would hardly have changed.

  After chatting for three hours, Li Yao gradually grasped the general picture of the dual plans of 'Heavenly Eye' and 'Heavenly Slayer'.

  However, Di Feiwen heaved a long sigh in the end and hesitated.

  "General Di, why are you so worried?" Li Yao was somewhat surprised. "According to your analysis just now, although the Imperium of True Human Beings is rather powerful, it has a lot of internal contradictions and undercurrents that it can barely take care of. Chances are that a civil war will break out because of the uneven distribution of trophies. It may not necessarily extend its claws to the edge of the cosmos. Even if one or two of its claws are idiotic enough to reach out to us… we are definitely capable enough to fight them. It is not entirely hopeless!

  "But I can tell that you are rather worried and hesitant. Do you have any concerns of a deeper level?"

  "That is very true, my king." Di Feiwen bowed to Li Yao deeply. "My concern is not the Imperium but the Covenant Alliance."

  "The Covenant Alliance?" Li Yao was slightly dazed. "Didn't you say that the Covenant Alliance has been crushed by the Imperium and evicted from all the worlds that it devoured in the past thousand years before it retreated to its core area? The so-called core area of the Covenant Alliance should be the harsh lands at the edge of the cosmos similar to the federation's, right?

  "What, are you suspicious that the reports from the court are fake?"

  "No. Although the victories described in the reports are too exaggerated by military common sense, I don't think that the Imperium has fabricated the reports based on my intuition." Di Feiwen shook his head. "However, the Covenant Alliance failed too fast. In only three to five years, it lost dozens of worlds and hundreds of resource planets? What kind of speed is that? 'Crushed' does not even begin to describe the war."

  Li Yao was silent.

  He could not help but recall the space battle four years ago. The annihilation of the Black Wind Fleet alone had taken more than half a year, and that was on the grounds that the remaining soldiers of the Black Wind Fleet had a 'battlefield uprising' under the lead of Di Feiwen.

  If the Black Wind Fleet had chosen to continue their hopeless resistance, it would have been impossible to annihilate them in less than two to three years.

  It was already so difficult to deal with the remaining soldiers of an expedition army who had no bases. Was it possible at all to occupy dozens of Sectors in only a couple of years?

  "If the troops of the Covenant Alliance are so worthless, I can't help but wonder how they secured such glorious victories in the past thousand years and rose unstoppably despite the pressure of the Imperium," Di Feiwen observed, "and how they defeated the Black Wind Fleet a hundred years ago neatly and quickly."

  Coldness flashed inside Li Yao's eyes. "Are you suspecting that the Covenant Alliance feigned its failure?"

  Trading dozens of prosperous worlds for a voluntary, strategic retreat was truly an astounding effort!

  "A fist must retreat deeply first in order to punch out heavily," Di Feiwen said. "As I said just now, the Imperium of True Human Beings is a very abnormal country. The unity of the experts who have their own intentions is maintained by their mutual fear of the Covenant Alliance.

  "In the past thousand years, the Covenant Alliance has been attacking most of the time. On the surface, they conquered a great amount of territory after consecutive victories.

  "However, the more dominating they were and the more territory and resources they occupied, the more frightened and united the Immortal Cultivators became. Finally, they were united to the point that they were a whole piece, and the Covenant Alliance could not break in at all!

  "That was the limit of the Covenant Alliance's attack.

  "In my humble opinion, the Covenant Alliance reached the limits of its attack when it occupied the five worlds including the Black Wind Sector a hundred years ago. If they had marched further forward, it would have been to the strongholds and the strategic locations that had been built up since the age of the Star Ocean Imperium. All those worlds were heavily guarded and nowhere similar to the worlds at the borderland.

  "In other words, the Covenant Alliance would not have been able to completely conquer the Imperium in another hundred or thousand years. Instead, it would only trigger the high unity of all the Immortal Cultivators. Everybody would have abandoned their contradictions and biases to fight against the common foe because of the enormous fear!"

  Li Yao was deep in thought. "However, after the 'strategic counterattack', the 'common fear' that united all the Cultivators against the enemy has been disintegrated, right?"

  Chapter 1933: Emissary, Diplomat, and Destroyer! |

  "Yes," Di Feiwen said. "The dozens of worlds and hundreds of resource planets that the Covenant Alliance has thrown out were more like meat with thorns than bones with meat. The Covenant Alliance has exploited those planets so seriously that they will be heavy burdens for the time being. They will not function again until tremendous resources are invested in them first.

  "However, no matter how stingy the meat is, the hungry gluttons will still fight over it without caring about the cost. The experts have endless desires for territory, population, and resources. Now that the Covenant Alliance appears so vulnerable and worthless, the 'alliance of fear' has completely crumbled into nothingness.

  "Then, when the lords and experts in the Imperium fight each other for the fat meat, what will happen if the army of the Covenant Alliance launches a counterattack beyond their expectation?"

  "Is there any evidence that supports your deduction?" Li Yao asked.

  Di Feiwen shook his head, but then he nodded. "I don't have any direct proof, but here's an interesting fact. The reports from the capital have mentioned many times that large numbers of troops of the Covenant Alliance have been defeated, but few high-level generals of the Covenant Alliance have been killed or captured.

  "My king, you should know that it is very easy to fabricate news that tremendous soldiers on the enemy's side have been killed in order to boost morale, but it is less convenient to fabricate the deaths of the famous generals.

  "Besides, three to five years is too short. Even if it were a bunch of pigs who were piloting the starships of the Covenant Alliance and they waited in line to be killed, it wouldn't have been so easy to annihilate all of them so quickly, right?

  "Therefore, I'm strongly suspicious that the Covenant Alliance evacuated from a lot of Sectors voluntarily and in order. They threw the heavy burdens to the Imperium while keeping most of their available forces in the central area, waiting to launch a fatal attack."

  Li Yao pondered for a moment. "It is such a simple strategy that we can see it clearly although we are at the edge of the cosmos. Are the leaders of the Imperium all idiots?"

  "We are not involved in the incident. Naturally, we can analyze the whole picture calmly," Di Feiwen said. "However, if you are involved in the game, you are often not free to do what you want. The trophies of dozens of Sectors are too attractive. With the Immortal Cultivators' nature to strengthen themselves without considering the cost, who could turn a blind eye on them and hold back their urges?

  "Besides, 'unity' c
an never be achieved singlehandedly. Even if a certain aristocrat or a warlord is wise and calm enough to know the importance of unity because the great foe is yet to be eliminated, how can they not join the greedy game when other people are all dividing the territory and looting the trophies unhesitatingly? If other people loot and they don't, they will become relatively weak, and the weak will receive the cruelest punishment in the Imperium!"

  Feeling that his head was beginning to ache, Li Yao remarked, "So, the Covenant Alliance has set up an open trap that you have no choice except to set foot in, right?"

  "It is an open trap, but it is also a wild gamble," Di Feiwen said. "If my analysis is correct, the leader of the Covenant Alliance right now definitely deserves to be called a genius. After concluding that the strategy of aggressive attacks that the Covenant Alliance adopted in the past thousand years was wrong, he was bold and capable enough to offer to abandon what they had earned in the past thousand years in order to perform the most complete strategic adjustment.

  "If such a great man does exist in the Covenant Alliance, how can he sit and wait for the Imperium to organize themselves? After all, the dozens of worlds that he has thrown out indeed boast a lot of potential. If the Imperium can truly digest and absorb those worlds into the military and political system of the Imperium, the Covenant Alliance will be a victim of its own scheme, and it will be forever doomed.

  "Therefore, he must have a series of fatal moves to raise contradictions and conflicts within the Imperium. Chaos rising in the Imperium will be inevitable!

  "Today, he has thrown out dozens of Sectors as bait. Then, what are the prey that he intends to 'hunt' and 'devour'?

  "All in all, I am not sure whether our greatest enemy will be the Imperium or the Covenant Alliance, and whether we are going to overturn the Imperium or give the Imperium a hand at the most critical moment."