Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

by <unknown>

  The starfish the size of a palm jumped at the shell of 'Jingle Bell' first. While their rapidly revolving teeth were not enough to break the plate armor, they were enough to disrupt most of the rune arrays carved on the shell of 'Jingle Bell', dropping the speed and defense of 'Jingle Bell' nonstop.

  The starfish greater than three meters in diameter were following closely. If they attacked the starship, the problem would be much graver than the damage of the shell.

  "What an impressive alien species!"

  Li Yao complimented them in great amazement. Such 'universal starfish' clearly had two different living forms. When they gathered into meteoroids, it would not only provide the best disguise for them but also minimize all the resources that a carbon-based life required, including air, water, food, and everything else, thereby allowing them to survive and lurk for a long time in the cold, dark vacuum of space.

  Once they discovered their prey, they would immediately go into the hunting state. Judging from the scale of their group and their neat cooperation, if they encountered a normal fleet of human beings, it was very possible that the starships would be swallowed completely by the creatures without leaving the slightest residue behind.

  "No wonder you have survived such a long time in the heartland of the Imperium of True Human Beings.

  "However, you have picked the wrong prey this time!"

  Licking his lips, Li Yao turned into a streak of blackness and leapt out of the emergency exit of 'Jingle Bell'.

  With a telepathic thought, dozens of powerful streams of energy hit the 'universal starfish' that were attached to the shell of the starship.

  Li Yao knew that the pointy thorns of the 'universal starfish' had deeply embedded themselves into the shell of 'Jingle Bell'. If they were separated by brute force, chances were that it would cause further damage to the starship.

  Therefore, he had to stimulate their nerve endings first—if they had any—in order to force them to retract their thorns before he got them off the starship.

  As he expected, however weird those 'universal starfish' were, they were a carbon-based life, and they began cramping uncontrollably under Li Yao's attack.

  The spiritual shield and the force field disruption system on 'Jingle Bell' were activated to the maximum in that moment, blowing away all the universal starfish that were attached to its surface!

  Hiu! Hiu! Hiu! Hiu! Hiu! Hiu!

  Behind Li Yao's crystal suit, a pair of enormous black wings were stretched to the maximum and unleashed hundreds of daggers of light, piercing through all the universal starfish and leaving holes through their mouthparts.

  Those universal starfish all withered before they had time to cramp, as if they were flowers that were decaying because of an insect attack.

  The universal starfish that were more than three meters in diameter, on the other hand, uttered soundless shrieks, raising surging tides inside Li Yao's brain, as they lunged at Li Yao brutally with air masses flowing out behind them.

  Li Yao sneered. The black wings were gathered into a hundred arcs in front of his face, like the string of a bow that was tightened to the limits. Then, they bounced forward abruptly, chopping the universal starfish into meat blocks large and small with the least effort.

  In space, where the temperature was terribly low, without the protection of a solid shell, bodily fluids that were yet to spurt out from the fracture were frozen into ice immediately.

  Chapter 1942: Into the Divinity Transformation Stage Again! |

  "Worthless!"

  Li Yao stared at the meteoroids, firing his telepathic thoughts like bullets. If the universal starfish were so weak, there was absolutely no reason that they could survive hundreds of thousands of years to this day under the hunting of human beings.

  As it turned out, after the universal starfish nearby were torn into shreds by Li Yao, their companions further away connected each other's bodies with the sharp thorns instead of charging forward recklessly. With almost a hundred 'meteoroids', an enormous creature more than a hundred meters in diameter was formed.

  Dim flames of spiritual energy were ignited on the surface of the enormous universal starfish, which unleashed powerful waves at Li Yao, resulting in chaotic noises inside his soul as if he had been hit by the aftermath of a grand cannon on a starship.

  "This explains a lot. Is this some kind of hive mind?"

  Such creatures, like ants and bees, were a common form of life in the sea of stars. While a single individual did not boast a high combat or thinking ability, when thousands of them were combined and their synapses had amazing reactions with each other, it was possible to generate something that could almost be called 'wisdom'.

  Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!

  After the entire group was gathered, the universal starfish were given a new technique, which was an ability similar to 'gravity control' and 'remote manipulation'.

  Abundant meteoroids nearby, attracted and manipulated by the creatures, were accelerated to a much higher speed when they attacked Li Yao and 'Jingle Bell' from the least expected angles.

  As a super-tiny exploration starship, 'Jingle Bell' did not have a powerful spiritual shield. Because of the high-speed collisions of the meteoroids, the spiritual shield soon dimmed and was even broken. The shell that was already seriously scratched gained more dents.

  The behemothic starfish, on the other hand, simply lunged at Li Yao and opened ten thousand mouthparts on its body. Inside each mouthpart, at least three layers of circular teeth were revolving rapidly, making the creature look like ten thousand metal shredders!

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Faced with such a terrible monster that would not appear even in the nightmares of normal Cultivators, Li Yao felt that his long-suppressed fighting will had been fully triggered.

  Ever since he resisted the Black Wind Fleet, Heiye Ming's 'Black Satan', and Extraterrestrial Devil Lu Qingchen, it had been a long time since he had fought a gratifying battle!

  His fighting will turned into thousands of crazily bouncing flames outside of the crystal suit so intensely that even the most advanced battlesuit of the Star Glory Federation could not withstand his expanding strength. It was about to fall apart as if it were made of paper.

  The moment the crystal suit was about to explode, a war machine that was even more gargantuan and dominating appeared from the void and combined with Li Yao into one, letting out roars that resounded at the center of the cosmos.

  Two pairs, four pairs, six pairs, eight pairs—sixteen black wings slowly blossomed behind the metal giant. They were stretched to a thousand meters away at first before they turned into streaks of blackness and entangled the giant's limbs' chest and even head, forming highly dangerous blades of light on the elbows, knees, hands, feet, and even head.

  It was the latest form of the Tartarean Skeleton that had been modified and upgraded by the Colossi specialists of the federation to increase the combat ability of a Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivator to the largest extent!

  Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!

  Wherever the black blades of light reached, the limbs of the enormous starfish were chopped off without giving the least resistance, as if they were oil that had been heated.

  The thorns on some of the limbs tried to grab the gaps in the plate armor of the Tartarean Skeleton and climb on the Colossus.

  Li Yao, however, smiled. He simply allowed the enormous starfish to snatch the limbs of the Tartarean Skeleton that were full of spurs and light blades, while a black swirl where redness was vaguely shining appeared on the chest of the Tartarean Skeleton. High-energy particles spurted out abruptly and penetrated through the greatest mouthpart at the center of the body of the enormous universal starfish like a barrage of the main guns of a starship.

  The long-gone Cell Obliteration Cannon, after being practiced and improved by Li Yao, had been perfectly combined with the original techniques of the Tartarean Skeleton and turned into an ultimate skill that was usable for the Colossus and could blow thr
ough a starship in one attack!

  Zhi! Zhi! Zhi! Zhi! Zhi!

  The enormous universal starfish writhed nonstop. The waves it released turned into ear-splitting screams inside Li Yao's brain, indicating that it had been heavily wounded.

  However, it was unwilling to give up the prey that had finally entered its hunting range. From the wound at the center of its body that was blown out by the Cell Obliteration Cannon, it divided into four parts, which all crawled to the limbs of the Tartarean Skeleton.

  Such high vitality!

  Li Yao was slightly astonished.

  Boom!

  The mainframe crystal processor of the Tartarean Skeleton and his brain roared at almost the same time, reminding him that unknown high-energy reactions were approaching quickly.

  He wanted to dodge, but his limbs had been held by the enormous universal starfish that had been separated into four parts. It was practically impossible to adjust the direction.

  The number of the 'meteoroids' around were continuing to rise until Li Yao felt a little trypophobia. Surrounding him in the middle, they crashed into a colorful fog.

  They had entered the high-energy particles and the area of powerful radiation caused by the nebula of the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy!

  The so-called nebula was the most mysterious and unstable celestial body in the universe in the first place.

  Unlike celestial bodies such as planets and stars, which had many stable features in all the phases of their life and were only relatively violent in the phases of 'collapse' and 'supernova outbreak', nebulas were essentially crazily burning fire in the universe.

  It was hard to analyze what kind of reactions were going on inside nebulas, and it was impossible to discern the elements of the matter and energy that nebulas spurted out.

  The nebula in the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy was a most classic violent nebula.

  According to Di Feiwen, even the fleets of the Imperium of True Human Beings did not dare directly cruise in the middle of the high-energy particles and the radiation released by the nebula of the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy.

  Li Yao felt that he had been penetrated by billions of invisible, high-energy particles. His blood and his brains were boiling at the same time.

  His brain cells and his nerve endings, in the meantime, produced the most glamorous flowers.

  The crystal processors of the Tartarean Skeleton and the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit and Little Black, which filled the space between them, were sending out ear-splitting warnings to him, telling him to leave the area immediately.

  Otherwise, even the four layers of protection including the Colossus, Little Black, the crystal suit, and the mustard-seed combat suit would not be enough to protect him from the radiation.

  Li Yao immediately understood everything.

  It seemed that this was a trap that the universal starfish had laid. The creature intentionally tied him up so that he could be dragged into the high-energy particles and the powerful radiation that the nebula spurted out regularly.

  The creature was an alien species that survived on the nebula, like germs that survived in the underground volcanoes where they could endure a high temperature of hundreds of degrees of dozens of heavy metals.

  This place was its 'home field'.

  Li Yao's eyes, nose, and ears were leaking black blood.

  However, the smile on his face became more and more intense, so intense that it looked like a furious fire that could burn through the entire three-dimensional universe!

  How long has it been since I last tasted the ecstasy when life and death are determined within one moment?

  How long has it been since I last enjoyed the purest, simplest, and most primitive fight that is void of any purpose?

  How long has it been since I last tried to slay a tornado… no, a nebula?

  I have dedicated my everything to the search for Earth at the center of the cosmos. How can I fall in such a place?

  The burning fighting will and the confidence of victory collided and had the most powerful reaction, slashing all irrelevant thoughts and obstacles inside his brain into pieces like ten thousand sharp swords of sunlight.

  Li Yao's heart was purer and brighter than ever.

  The shining stars, the glowing nebula, the hideous beast, and the Tartarean Skeleton that was standing above the stars constituted the most splendid picture.

  Although it was hard to say how it happened, Li Yao could tell that his opportunity had come.

  Exactly there and exactly in that second, he would try to break into the Divinity Transformation Stage!

  It was an indescribable feeling for him.

  If it had to be described, it was an urge ten times stronger than the libido of a sixteen-year-old teenager.

  It meant that even a world war or the fury of the gods would not be able to stop him from enjoying the moment.

  The arms of the Tartarean Skeleton were raised high above its head.

  All the black wings, the black blades of light entangling the body, and the red tubes of spiritual energy crawled to the arms like vines that had gone mad, forming an enormous saber in the form of a wolf fang above the arms.

  As his spiritual energy surged out, the saber extended continuously and soon surpassed the length of the Tartarean Skeleton while branching into side blades that were equally sharp.

  The flames of spiritual energy that surrounded the body of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit also spread out in all directions as if they were alive, forming the bones, muscles, veins, and a neural network of an even greater giant.

  It was a real universal giant, or rather, a giant that could tear the entire universe into shreds.

  The enormous universal starfish finally sensed that the situation was not good.

  The primitive and inert 'wisdom' read the signal of extreme danger. It was not an enemy that they could mess with. He was a hundred times more terrifying than the patrolling fleets of the Imperium that had been armed to teeth!

  Zhi! Zhi! Zhi! Zhi!

  In the sharp waves, the enormous universal starfish split apart into thousands of meteoroids again, trying to flee into the depths of the nebula.

  But it was too late.

  The Tartarean Skeleton's body had been stretched into a tightened bow. It stomped into the void brutally, only to trigger spreading waves in the vacuum where nothing existed. Li Yao's entire will, belief, and even life were condensed into the enormous black blade as he slashed!

  The black saber turned into hundreds, thousands, and millions of streaks of blackness, which interweaved into a torrent of destruction and caught up to the fleeing universal starfish, burning all of them into withered flowers in the blink of an eye.

  Li Yao, on the other hand, could not have cared less about those universal starfish. With the inertia of the saber, he swung it in a full circle and then raised the saber high above his head again.

  His enemy, or his 'target', was not the useless universal starfish in front of him at all but… the nebula of the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy, which was spurting out 'venom' crazily!

  Chapter 1943: Five Attacks, Divinity Transformation! |

  The second attack was aimed at the nebula!

  What Li Yao condensed with his soul, will, and life was more like a crazily-bursting crimson fire that extended from the Tartarean Skeleton's head to thousands of meters away than a black saber of light.

  The outbreak of the nebula was even more violent. The countless high-energy particles and super-powerful radiation spurted out and smashed at Li Yao like a flood that had just broken the dam.

  At this moment, the most sensible choice for Li Yao was to turn around and run away. He had only just entered the turbulence of particles and radiation. If he ran immediately, it would be possible for him to escape from the savaging range of the nebula storm.

  But in such a case, he would lose the opportunity to enter the Divinity Transformation Stage again.

  The opportunity of Divinity Transformation could only be happened upon, no
t forced. Such a feeling of clicking could never be brought by any training.

  Losing the opportunity to enter the Divinity Transformation Stage twice in a row in one year would be a serious shock to his belief. Perhaps he would not find such a feeling again in the next decades or even for the rest of his life.

  Therefore, even if the stars of the entire universe were pressed on his shoulders, he could only march forward!

  Li Yao roared crazily, feeling as if ten thousand crystal bombs had exploded at the same time inside his throat. The power rune arrays of the Tartarean Skeleton released explosive flames of spiritual energy, while the Colossus stepped forward heavily against the high-energy particles and powerful radiation. The natural, immaculate, and unstoppable second attack was slashed out brutally!

  "Hu!"

  An amazing thing happened!

  In Li Yao's perception, he was faced with an overwhelming, unstoppable river made of ten thousand dazzling colors.

  However, the great river beyond the nine heavens had been split apart down the middle by his destructive saber and divided into two branches.

  He was like a rock at the center of the river, and the running river bypassed him from his two sides!

  "Hehe…"

  With a low chuckle, Li Yao narrowed his eyes and looked at the vast, unpredictable nebula of the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy again. The saber of his soul did not stop at all when it was raised high again.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

  The form of the saber had yet another drastic change. It was even more aggressive, hideous, and unstoppable, as if it could chop a whole planet in half!

  All kinds of illusions were appearing before Li Yao.

  The surging tides raised by the nebula storm suddenly turned into mighty and magnificent human images.

  They were Yan Xibei, Xiao Xuance, the star child, Elder Nether Spring, Lu Zui, Heiye Ming, Lu Qingchen, Extraterrestrial Devil Mo Xuan…