by <unknown>
"As*hole, shut up!"
Xu Zhicheng had enough of it and truly jumped at Li Yao. He was naturally no match for Li Yao. In his fury, he was not even attacking with any technique but simply hit Li Yao's chest with his head like an angry bull.
He thought that he would be crashing into a wall, but out of his expectation, Li Yao did not activate the slightest spiritual energy and was knocked to the floor.
"You—"
Xu Zhicheng's attack hit the target, but he did not know what to do next. He collapsed and stared at Li Yao not far away in a daze.
Li Yao rose to his feet and rubbed his chest. Then he smiled at Xu Zhicheng and said, "I'm sorry, Great Guardian Xu, I was talking nonsense again. I know it is definitely not your purpose. Besides, you haven't lost your family yet. Your wife and your children still live in your emotions. The stronger your emotions are, the more vivid their existence will be. If you recall the joy and happiness you had in the past, they will forever live in the delightful memories.
"You will not truly lose them until the day comes when you completely slay all the devils and abandons your feelings and memories!"
Xu Zhicheng listened in a daze. His face was numb, but his eyes were extremely complicated and brimming with mixed feelings. He looked at Li Yao, full of expectations, as if he were hoping that Li Yao could continue.
"There's something that I don't understand."
Li Yao said, "Why did you create Nepenthe independently at the beginning, instead of directly joining the Covenant Alliance? As far as I know, a lot of agents of the Covenant Alliance are active in the underground worlds below the capital, aren't they?
"Was it only because the Serenity Seraph was strong and powerful? Or was it because you thought that the 'Path of Ultimate Benevolence' of the Covenant Alliance was too extreme, too cold, and too devastating?
"However, the thing about executing inner devils is that it will never succeed. It will only deprive you of your humanity and make you more and more extreme until you become simple tools like the people of the Covenant Alliance.
"Grand Guardian Xu, there is still time to turn back. Just call it off!"
Lowering his head, Xu Zhicheng was silent for a long time, before he finally said sullenly, "But only the Serenity Arts and the methods of telepathy can help us eliminate the dread when we are faced with the Immortal Cultivators, so we can fight the Immortal Cultivators fearlessly! We've already had enough of everything, and we are determined to fight a bloody battle!"
"Wrong. You are not fighting at all but fleeing!"
Li Yao's voice became both cold and tough. He said straightforwardly, "You are only trying to use a great suicide attack to flee from this dark world and the real battles!"
Chapter 2378: Unexpected! |
Xu Zhicheng meant to argue, but he was unable to say anything when he looked at Li Yao's eyes that were as shiny as the edge of a saber.
"No feelings, no determination, no battle plans, and just want to die in a great riot. What is flight if this is not?"
Li Yao, on the other hand, did not let go of Xu Zhicheng but continued stabbing at the wounds in the deepest part of his heart. "If you truly want to avenge your sons, just raise your blades in the most furious gesture with the deepest love for them and deepest hatred against the Immortal Cultivators. That will be a real fight!"
"It's useless."
After a brief silence, Xu Zhicheng shook his head softly. "We are no match for the Immortal Cultivators in any case. Fight or flight, the result will be the same.
"You say that everybody dies twice. It is probably right, but even if you don't practice the Serenity Arts, we will be exploited to death by the Immortal Cultivators, and nobody will remember us after we die. We won't even have a gravestone that has our names on it. Aren't we not going to slip into the complete oblivion that you mentioned?"
"Don't give up yet. You still have a chance!"
Li Yao grabbed Xu Zhicheng's shoulders hard and refreshed the devastated father with the sharp pain. "Listen to me, Grand Guardian Xu, I'm not here to berate you or to watch you humiliate yourselves condescendingly. We, the Cultivators, truly mean to help you win this war and fight by your side. I've come with my own solution too!"
Light of hope beamed out of Xu Zhicheng's eyes. The weird strength that he suddenly grew out of nowhere made him get rid of Li Yao's hands and grab Li Yao's shoulders instead. He asked, "What is the solution? Master Li, can you help us win the battle?"
Li Yao coughed and said, "Don't call me 'Master', just call me 'Fellow Cultivator'. This battle is too hasty, and the Cultivators are not in the best situation. Therefore, it is impossible to win the battle at all. However, if Nepenthe is patient enough to wait for a while longer, things will perhaps be very different.
"Don't think that this is just an excuse to stall you. I mean it.
"After I heard the things of Nepenthe, I'd been thinking about how we should communicate and negotiate while on my way to the Great Iron Plants.
"Right now, Nepenthe is spreading deep below the ground under Grand Guardian Xu's leadership, which is a very good start.
"I have a lot of plans, graphs, and procedures about the production of fundamental magical equipment that I can teach to you. Some of the magical equipment does not even need to be powered by crystals. Even ordinary people can use them freely. Naturally, such weapons are not very powerful, but when there are too many of them, it will be enough to deal with the lone, low-level Immortal Cultivators, who will consider it a dangerous trip to go to the underground worlds.
"Also, the methods of telepathy that you've been practicing are based on the reverberation of brainwaves, which is very similar to the way of training of a unique profession in my memory that is known as 'qi-trainer'. Through the soul resonation, the qi-trainers can condense the fighting will of thousands of people and unleash overwhelming strength although they are only in the Refinement Stage!
"Of course, the qi-trainers' techniques and yours are not exactly the same. At the very least, the qi-trainers have all awakened their spiritual roots. In order to transplant their techniques, a lot of modifications and experiments are certainly required, but it is definitely an approach worth trying!
"Also, while I'm all by myself, 'Starlight' still lives on stubbornly at the edge of the Imperium. Countless Cultivators are developing and thriving by taking advantage of the internal strife of the Immortal Cultivators, and they will definitely march toward the Empyreal Terminus Sector one day!
"It is needless to say that beyond Starlight, we have an… even more enormous and thorough organization, which is capable of competing with the Immortal Cultivators in a head-on clash!"
Greatly surprised, Xu Zhicheng looked at Long Yangjun in suspicion.
Long Yangjun nodded her head and said, "Grand Guardian Xu, I can assure you that Li Yao is not lying to you about that. The strength of the Cultivators is far greater than what you and the highest authorities of the Imperium imagine. Also, in terms of both behavior and fighting will, they are much better than the Cultivators in the last years of the Star Ocean Republic."
"Also, the reason why you should lay low for a while longer is that the capital planet will witness great turmoil soon!"
Li Yao declared resolutely. Faced with the unstoppable rise of Blackstar the Great, the four Kurfürst families would certainly not idle by, not to mention that there was still the main fleet of the Covenant Alliance that had been lurking in secret the whole time. In the next year and a half, the Imperium would certainly be very lively. "If you truly want to accomplish something, your uprising will have much better results if you start it when the capital planet is in chaos!
"Think about it, Grand Guardian Xu, if you can't hold it back and start a fuss tomorrow, the best result you can expect is to destroy the Great Iron Plants and kill one Li Minghui. It will not raise any influence on the capital planet, much less in the entire Imperium.
"However, if you keep laying low for a while longer, I'll be a
ble to teach the techniques that are suitable for you and the ways to produce the low-level magical equipment to you. Since you are the best workers, I'm sure that you can build the simple and preliminary components, can't you? I can further simplify the production procedures of the magical equipment of 'grassroots' so that you can craft it in secret.
"Then, you will contact the other resistant forces below the ground and try to win them over. Even if they do not join your side, you can at least communicate and cooperate.
"In the meantime, I will go to the edge of the cosmos to contact the main force of Starlight. I have a big brother with the surname Bai who values brotherhood more than anything else. He has raised a strong team at the edge of the cosmos. I'll certainly be able to persuade him to join our cause with our hundred years of friendship.
"By then, you will be much stronger on your side, and you will have the powerful support of the Cultivators on the outside. If the Immortal Cultivators happen to be fighting each other most intensely, wouldn't that be a much better moment of uprising than right now?
"My visions will be fulfilled in a year and a half at most. You've been trapped in the darkness for thousands of years. Can you not wait for a while longer?"
Xu Zhicheng was deep in thought. His face was obviously not as tight as before.
He looked at Long Yangjun in inquiry again. Long Yangjun frowned for a long time and said, "Well, while this guy is not to be entirely believed, he is basically correct. Perhaps, the situation will be more in your favor if you postpone the uprising for a year and a half."
Xu Zhicheng lowered his head again and touched his knees with his sweaty hands as he mumbled, "The arrow has been set on the bow and must be released. We have done all the preparations. Also, if Nepenthe continues to spread, Li Minghui will certainly discover it!"
"We can discuss and work out those technical details one by one!"
Li Yao gritted his teeth and said, "How about this? If Grand Guardian Xu changes your mind, I'll help you kill Li Minghui!
"Taking down Li Minghui is of course not enough to dissect the whole Black Iron Group or solve your fundamental problem, but it will cast the corporation into chaos for a while, and someone new will replace Li Minghui.
"Once the new guy is appointed, what he is most concerned with is certainly to stabilize his position and to eliminate Li Minghui's loyal supporters. There will be a lot of internal conflicts among themselves. He will certainly not lay his hands on the bottom-level workers at the beginning. Chances are that he will even appease you by offering you more benefits first.
"In such a way, you will have a precious moment of rest, and you can take it slowly according to my plan.
"Also, you don't need to worry that you will be found out in the investigation. Such a treacherous man as Li Minghui must have tremendous nemeses. This is a sensitive moment when the Dongfang family is collapsing. I can totally pretend to be someone from the Dongfang family who has come to execute the 'traitor'. He is in the Nascent Soul Stage and certainly not someone that any random person can kill. Nobody will suspect you!"
Xu Zhicheng widened his eyes and almost couldn't believe what he just heard. His voice shivering, he asked, "Are… Are you serious? Li Minghui is an Immortal Cultivator in the Nascent Soul Stage, protected by a bunch of the most ferocious lackeys. He has also introduced thousands of battle puppets of the latest models. You want to kill him on your own? That's too dangerous!"
"If that's what it takes for Grand Guardian Xu and all the Nepenthe believers to change your mind, the risk is certainly worth it!"
Staring at Xu Zhicheng, Li Yao asked, "An honorable man always keeps his promise. How about it, Grand Guardian Xu?"
Caught in a dilemma, Xu Zhicheng asked for Long Yangjun's advice again.
Long Yangjun, however, claimed that she was neutral and would never interfere with any decision of the Nepenthe believers. She only guaranteed that Li Yao could certainly fulfill his promise and help them kill Li Minghui.
Xu Zhicheng wiped the sweat off his forehead, only to smear his face. Taking many deep breaths, he finally made up his mind.
"Fine, we…"
Before he concluded his sentence, the ceiling above his head suddenly shook violently, and dense dust was sprinkling.
Almost at the same time, a deafening explosion echoed, and the soundwaves blasted the door of the cave like tides, making it fall apart.
In the next second, earsplitting alarms were echoing around the entire Great Iron Plants.
"Not good. The mining caves had an explosion!"
Xu Zhicheng's face changed. Having no time to care about Li Yao or Long Yangjun, he rushed to the entrance of the cave. Hardly had he opened the door when a second explosion that was even more intense came over. The soundwaves almost knocked him over like a wild wind.
Li Yao and Long Yangjun looked at each other. They had both sensed that the explosions were of a high intensity and mixed with extremely chaotic spiritual energy.
In the mother lodes below the ground, apart from the rocks and the minerals, countless chambers of poisonous gas with a high temperature and pressure were also hidden. If the chambers were accidentally dug through and the inflammable gas leaked out, explosions were anything but unusual.
However, the normal gas explosions would not contain such powerful spiritual waves. Also, the raw crystals that included a lot of impurities were not something that could be detonated so easily.
Something was greatly wrong!
Chapter 2379: Evil Double-Headed Snake! |
Looking far away, Li Yao and Long Yangjun noticed that fiery snakes were surging out of a handful of caves like volcano eruptions on a wall on the south side of the Great Iron Plants. The fire was in the most eccentric violet color and condensed into hideous shapes in the midair, only to be ripped into shreds by the air cleaning system, as if countless incomplete ghosts had haunted the underground space.
The air cleaning system was overloading and squeaking because of the burn, sounding exactly like the shrieks of the restless specters.
Then, a third explosion that was even louder came over.
This time, Li Yao and Long Yangjun had both sensed the overlapping waves of spiritual energy darting out of the depths of the caves, powerful enough to blow away all the rocks on the wall.
Even some carts, which weighed dozens of tons after being loaded with minerals, were knocked away and did not fall after rolling for dozens of circles in the midair and being burnt into black, wasted iron.
It was indicative enough of the intensity of the explosions!
A lot of women and children immediately began to wail in the living areas, but the sounds seemed to be concentrated in one hut particularly. For the convenience of the workers, the families of the workers who belonged to the same factory or mine would live next to each other in the living areas. The families of the victims, after discovering that the mines in which their breadwinners worked had exploded, immediately lost their souls.
Staring at the burning caves, Xu Zhicheng seemed to have fallen into a frigid lake, not knowing what to do at all.
His eyes were extremely hollowed, and his body was all covered in sweat. His reaction suggested that it was his chest that just had an intense explosion and not the regular mining caves.
He looked even more devastated and desperate when he saw that the antifire spiritual puppets that were particularly resistant to high temperature and pressure went deep into the caves against the scorching flames.
Mine explosions were certainly no joke. If it was not dealt with in time, the whole mining area might collapse, and the Great Iron Plants would be destroyed.
Therefore, even someone as petty as Li Minghui had to spend a fortune purchasing the fully-automatic antifire spiritual puppets, as well as the excavators modified from crystal tanks with additional special antifire armor and tanks that were filled with super-compressed coolers, in order to deal with such emergencies.
At this moment, not only had tremendo
us antifire spiritual puppets marched in, but even the Immortal Cultivators deployed in the rest area up above were also charging into the most dangerous tunnels on the excavators to stop the fire and the collapse from spreading, which seemed to be a major reason why Xu Zhicheng was upset.
Observing his face in silence, Li Yao could easily tell that something was troubling the Grand Guardian.
Very soon, a few miners whose faces had been blackened hurried to come to the living area. Even though they had practiced the Serenity Arts for years, they could not stop the panic on their faces. They did not even have time to greet Long Yangjun before they cried, "Not good, Grand Guardian! It was the No. 37 cave that had explosions. The abandoned caves behind are affected too! The… things we hid there are half detonated and half discovered by the Immortal Cultivators!"
Xu Zhicheng's body shook hard, and his face immediately became pale.
Li Yao was quick enough to support him and transmit a stream of gentle spiritual energy into his body so that his mind could be stabilized. He then listened to the Grand Guardian talking about the disaster in bitterness.
As it turned out, Nepenthe had been using the forsaken caves and tunnels to hide the weapons and magical equipment for tomorrow's uprising. A large batch of crystal bombs was kept exactly behind the No. 37 cave. They were supposed to be distributed to every soldier tonight.
Those crystal bombs were all crudely made by the workers themselves. Naturally, the stability and heat resistance of the crystal bombs were close to zero. Nobody expected that the No. 37 cave before them would explode. The first explosion was actually not important, but it triggered the crystal bomb that was only one wall away, leading to a serial explosion and making the situation beyond rescue!
"Grand Guardian, so many spiritual puppets and Immortal Cultivators have marched in. They will certainly discover the crystal bombs that have not exploded yet!"
The few Nepenthe believers who came to report shouted, "Even if all the crystal bombs have been detonated, the color of the fire and the impurities in the air will still be different from a common gas explosion. The spiritual puppets and the Immortal Cultivators will certainly detect it in no time!"