Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

by <unknown>

  "It's very simple. Not all the people of the Covenant Alliance were reset."

  Wuying Qi 2.0 explained, "While more than 90% of the people of the Covenant Alliance were reset and had pledged their loyalty to the Pangu Clan, which was gone hundreds of thousands of years ago, there were still some people who received my soul mark and swore their loyalty to Wuying Qi 2.0.

  "However, this soul mark had existed like some sort of recessive genes. They did not know it themselves until it was activated.

  "But once activated, they would be my most loyal and secretive spies inside the Covenant Alliance.

  "Though their population was not huge, they could expose the intelligence about the Covenant Alliance to me, including the Covenant Alliance's route of attack, details of their warships, and commanders, etc. They could also sabotage the Covenant Alliance from within.

  "With those spies, as well as the war abilities that I inherited from the Blood God, I was naturally invincible!"

  Li Yao was dumbfounded by the truth.

  "Just like that, I built up my power and secretly weakened the Star Ocean Republic in the war against the Covenant Alliance. When the timing was ripe, I overthrew that corrupt regime of Cultivators and established a country of my own!"

  Wuying Qi 3.0 said casually, "You may be wondering why I didn't destroy the Covenant Alliance after I established the Imperium of True Human Beings since it was no longer useful. After all, my attack should be unstoppable under the help of the spies after I claimed the most prosperous planet at the center of the cosmos, right?

  "I thought exactly the same at that time. Even though the Covenant Alliance was thriving, I did not consider it a big deal, because I believed that the spies were enough to help me eliminate the Covenant Alliance any time I wanted.

  "At that time, I had a greater enemy to deal with. Guess who he was?"

  After a long silence, Li Yao said, "… The Blood God."

  "That's right. The Imperium of True Human Beings was part of the deal between me and the Blood God. He helped me gain supreme power, and I would establish a glorious expedition army with this supreme power to explore the outer lands."

  Wuying Qi 3.0 said, "However, Wuying Qi 2.0 did not want to fulfill his promise. He was scared that the Blood God would learn of the Covenant Alliance and realize his betrayal.

  "The Blood God had been asleep during Wuying Qi 2.0's rise and couldn't have known what he did. However, nobody could tell what would happen if the Blood God woke up again or whether or not a second 'new-generation warrior' would be summoned to him.

  "So, Wuying Qi 2.0 had no time to destroy the Covenant Alliance at all. He had to concentrate all his forces to finish his teacher, the Blood God!"

  Behind Wuying Qi 3.0, the blood gradually fell off, and a new picture was revealed.

  Infinite starships and Immortal Cultivators, led by Blackstar the Great, returned to the debris of Doom, found whatever was left of the Blood God, and woke up the sleeping devil.

  Wuying Qi reported what he had done in the past decades to the Blood God and asked him to inspect his troop. At the Blood God's most vulnerable moment, he launched a war at the Blood God!

  Li Yao genuinely felt the cruelty of the war even though he was only watching it based on pictures of blood.

  "I had carefully prepared for decades. I gathered the strongest Immortal Cultivators of the Imperium and countless primeval treasures and super warships."

  Wuying Qi 3.0's voice still carried fear as he said, "But the Blood God almost defeated us even though he barely had any strength left. Everybody died. Most starships were destroyed. Even I, his 'true disciple', was almost obliterated when I finally eliminated him.

  "Li Yao, do you really think that I couldn't do anything about the noble families from the Star Ocean Republic, which expanded into the four Kurfürst families today?

  "Hehe. Those families are nothing. Had it not been for the Blood God, I would've eradicated all of them. The four Kurfürst families wouldn't have appeared at all!

  "Pitifully, the war against the Blood God consumed the best soldiers who had fought under my command for decades loyally and heavily wounded me, to the point that I was neither able to deal with the remains of the noble families nor to destroy the Covenant Alliance before it grew big.

  "I knew that I was dying, but I was unwilling to die just like that. So, I dedicated all my attention and resources to the quest for the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum. My fatal wound was left by the Blood God, which couldn't be treated by any medication in the universe. Maybe, only the power of the Supreme Emperor could save me and even help me grow even stronger.

  "If so, neither the remains of the noble families nor the rising Covenant Alliance would really be a problem.

  "Just like that, toward the end of my life, I set off again with all the information I knew of the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum in the shuttle that carried me to the Blood God years back. After a long search, I finally found the mausoleum.

  "It's a pity that it was too late when I found it. My body had withered and was about to turn into a pool of blood like the Blood God did, and my soul was weaker than ever. Even though I had the key to the central part of the mausoleum, I could not open the gate.

  "I could only wipe out all the traces of my existence and hide in eternal sleep, waiting for newcomers to arrive. A thousand years later, Li Linghai and the guy from the Covenant Alliance came… You know what happened next."

  Li Yao had a lot of complicated feelings after listening to Wuying Qi's long and eventful life.

  Wuying Qi was indeed an unforgivable fiend, but his life was full of astonishing tides like a magnificent river.

  Despite knowing that he might not tell the truth, Li Yao couldn't help but ask, "You're going to die soon. Are you regretful about your life?"

  After a long silence, Wuying Qi 3.0 shook his head. "You are only regretful if you made the wrong choice when you could've made a better one. But for Wuying Qi 2.0 a thousand years ago, he could not understand the Blood God who had the multiverse and the future of the civilization in mind. He would betray the Blood God and pursue power in the mortal world even if it were repeated a hundred times.

  "However, a thousand years later, after I've tasted the supreme power, experienced the most shameless betrayal, stomped on all the rules in the world, and boasted the wealth that everybody dreamed about, I'm gradually evolving from 2.0 to 3.0. I can more or less understand and even agree with the Blood God right now.

  "When the Next Sun Plan was implemented, and when 2.0 me was fighting you, 3.0 me was questioning myself incessantly. What am I doing? Is it really fun to compete with insignificant ants for insignificant power? Is it really not wasteful that the Next Sun Plan is regarded as an approach to seize the highest power instead of the beginning of a glorious civilization? Even if I can reign over the Imperium for another ten thousand years, so what? Can I really find the significance of my life?

  "At that moment, I had an epiphany. I rose to a whole new level and fully understood the Blood God's legacy, which helped me realize the significance of my life. I upgraded from 2.0 to 3.0!

  "Now, I'm dying quickly, but like I said before, when you learn the truth in the morning, you can die in peace at night. I've found the significance of my life. My journey can come to a full stop without any regret. But I still have to pass on the Blood God's legacy to someone else, and it's going to be you. It has to be you, Li Yao."

  Wuying Qi 3.0 smiled, like a beloved teacher and father. He extended his gray arm to Li Yao, as if he were going to rub Li Yao's face.

  Creeped out, Li Yao jumped back and shouted, "Hey! Let's focus on talking! Don't lay your hand on me! What exactly is this legacy that you're talking about?"

  "First of all, the ways to modify and use the Gold Crystal Pyramid. I believe that you're going to need it in your future journey."

  Wuying Qi 3.0 smiled. "Also, the Sunspot Plan. It's the key for you to defeat the Covenant Alliance, and it's my greatest trump card.
Do you not want it?"

  "The Sunspot Plan?"

  Li Yao blinked his eyes. "You mean the literal spots on the sun?"

  "You can understand it however you see fit."

  Wuying Qi 3.0 said, "Do you remember that about 90% of the people of the Covenant Alliance were reset but the rest were actually loyal to me under the control of their recessive genes? Now, a thousand years have passed, and those spies have naturally died. However, the recessive genes are still passed on in their offspring. Their offspring are exactly the sunspots!"

  Chapter 2664: Opportunity to the Divinity Branching Stage! |

  Li Yao found it hard to believe. "It's been a thousand years, but the 'sunspots' still obey you unconditionally because of the recessive genes?"

  "That's exactly the mystery of genes and soul."

  Wuying Qi 3.0 said casually, "Hundreds of thousands of years have passed, but human beings are still scared of spiders and snakes. Even the harmless snakes can still raise disgust and fear. It is because spiders and snakes were major threats to mankind when they still lived in the woods. Such fear and obedience on the genetic level are unreasonable.

  "Of course, the 'intervention' that I imposed on those people a thousand years ago was on a shallow level, so the recessive genes are gradually losing effect after generations. A thousand years ago, maybe 5% of people carried such genes, but a thousand years later, only 1% or 0.5% of the people are still loyal to me.

  "They might not be large in number, but 0.5% of spies are more than enough on a volatile and unpredictable battlefield, aren't they?

  "At the very least, you can learn of the specific location and strategy of the Covenant Alliance's army via the sunspots. Even if only one of the commanders on the enemy's side happens to be a sunspot loyal to us, we won't lose a battle, will we?"

  Li Yao thought for a moment and realized that it did make sense.

  Sometimes, one or two spies at a critical position would be enough to change the outcome of a campaign.

  If 0.5% to 1% of its total population were spies, how could the Covenant Alliance win this war?

  No wonder Wuying Qi was so fearless.

  On the surface, the reformists did not stand a chance under the dual attack of the four families and the Covenant Alliance. But actually, if the Next Sun Plan had worked out, he would've obtained the ace fleets of the four families and a ferocious army of extraterrestrial devils. With the spies within the Covenant Alliance, he was likely to win in the end.

  However, the Sunspot Plan was definitely not as simple as Wuying Qi described. Pondering for a moment, Li Yao said, "Even if you're speaking the truth, how are you going to activate those sunspots? You don't know who or where they are!"

  "Exactly. That's why you have to be the master of the Gold Crystal Pyramid, which is not only the key to the Next Sun Plan but also the key to the Sunspot Plan."

  Wuying Qi 3.0 smiled. "I do not need to find those sunspots in person at all. All I have to do is to launch my brainwaves to the Sectors that the fleets of the Covenant Alliance are likely to be hiding in, and the sunspots will automatically receive it, like how crystal processors can automatically connect to the Spiritual Nexus."

  "Are you serious?"

  Li Yao frowned. "Does it mean infuriating the sun and destroying the Empyreal Terminus Sector again?"

  "No. The Next Sun Plan requires the enhancement and magnification of the sun because it needs to brainwash a whole Sector, including a lot of Immortal Cultivators who are firm and strong."

  Wuying Qi 3.0 explained, "But in the Sunspot Plan, you don't have to brainwash billions of people. All you need to do is to send your brainwaves into the heads of those spies via the Spiritual Nexus. Precision is more important, and not much energy is required. So, the crystals here should be enough. There's no need to get the sun involved.

  "If you think carefully, you'll know that I'm not lying. The Sunspot Plan is a subsequent procedure of the Next Sun Plan, and the sun of the Empyreal Terminus Sector should've been infuriated according to the Next Sun Plan. I would have to control the solar storms, or the sun might expand and swallow the whole capital planet. In such a case, the Gold Crystal Pyramid would be destroyed. How could I carry out the Sunspot Plan then?"

  Li Yao was convinced, but he had new questions. "Wait, I know a thing or two about the Spiritual Nexus. You can't fool me. The Imperium of True Human Beings and the Alliance of the Holy Covenant can't be using the same system of Spiritual Nexus, right? Even if your brainwaves can be transmitted to the border of the Imperium through the Gold Crystal Pyramid, how are they going to jump to the Covenant Alliance? Don't tell me that your mental power is so strong that you can penetrate into the Covenant Alliance's Spiritual Nexus!"

  "Of course it's impossible."

  Wuying Qi 3.0 said, "I tried launching my soul into the Spiritual Nexus via the Gold Crystal Pyramid and jumping into the Covenant Alliance, but like you said, the universe is too vast and the Spiritual Nexus is too unsteady. Also, the Covenant Alliance's network is highly encrypted and defended. It's barely possible for me to sneak in. My soul might even be heavily wounded when they detect me as a crystal processor virus.

  "However, my brainwaves do not have to invade the Covenant Alliance at all. All I need to do is to wait for the main forces of the Covenant Alliance to come to the Imperium, don't I?"

  Li Yao's eyes widened. "Are you talking about the invasion of the Covenant Alliance?"

  "Exactly."

  Wuying Qi 3.0 smiled and said, "The Covenant Alliance did not try its best but volunteered to retreat during the Imperium's counterattack to stretch out the Imperium's supply lines so that the Imperium would waste a lot of precious resources on the newly-conquered areas. Then, the Covenant Alliance would take advantage of the weakness and try to destroy the Imperium!

  "How could I have neglected something that even Lei Chenghu had noticed?

  "So, the main forces in the Covenant Alliance must be lurking in darkness while waiting for the best opportunity.

  "At this moment, two great battles are going on in the Seven Seas Space Zone and the capital at the same time, and the reformists, the expedition army, and the four families have devoted their best troops to the battles. So, this is the best moment for the Covenant Alliance!

  "So, I'm certain that the main forces of the Covenant Alliance have taken action since the moment they learned of the battles. They may be marching to the heart of the Imperium right now!

  "Hehe. There are few things I could do about them when they were hiding in their nest, but now that they've entered the Imperium, they're within the Spiritual Nexus of the Imperium, and my telepathic thoughts can be sent into the heads of the sunspots through the Gold Crystal Pyramid and the Spiritual Nexus.

  "Regular people of the Covenant Alliance won't have any reaction to my telepathic thoughts, but the sunspots are very sensitive to it and will be woken by me. Then, wouldn't this fleet of the Covenant Alliance be crushed easily?"

  "Huh…"

  Li Yao truly did not foresee Wuying Qi's plan.

  The Covenant Alliance thought that they could take advantage of the civil war within the Imperium. Little did they know that they were jumping into Wuying Qi's trap.

  "Now, the Sunspot Plan needs some minor revisions."

  Wuying Qi 3.0 looked at Li Yao and said, "Supposedly, I'm the commander of Sunspot Plan, and the sunspots will obey all my commands unconditionally after their recessive genes are awakened.

  "But you're not me. You'll have some features of my soul at best. In the eyes of those sunspots, I'm their true god, and you are a priest who masters some of the divine power at best.

  "Therefore, it remains unknown whether or not you can carry out the Sunspot Plan, reach out to those sunspots, and convince them to follow your command.

  "But in any case, to take care of the invasion of the Covenant Alliance with minimal cost, you can't ignore the Sunspot Plan, and to activate the Sunspot Plan, you have to become the master of the Gold Cry
stal Pyramid."

  Li Yao frowned and thought for a long time.

  Wuying Qi 3.0's statement sounded legitimate, but his suggestion was also highly risky.

  "Are you still hesitating whether or not you should take the risk? I'll give you more reasons."

  Wuying Qi 3.0 smiled. "Now that you've got the whole key, you are free to explore the secrets of the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum. Li Linghai will tell you the coordinates of this mausoleum even if I don't. However, both you and Li Linghai are too weak for the exploration. As Divinity Transformation Stage experts, you won't be able to enter the final gate until hundreds of years later.

  "Divinity Branching Stage. You need to reach at least the Divinity Branching Stage to open the gate in the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum and resist the ultimate power from ten thousand years ago!

  "Do you want to taste the feeling of the Divinity Branching Stage? Do you want to evolve into a more marvelous life form? I can tell that you're beyond the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage, and all you need is an opportunity. So, the Gold Crystal Pyramid and the Sunspot Plan will be your best training tools. Project your telepathic thoughts into the sunspots via the Gold Crystal Pyramid and experience the feeling of living as dozens of individuals simultaneously. That will be your opportunity to reach the Divinity Branching Stage!"

  "Well…"

  Li Yao gasped and swallowed hard.

  "I can offer you the ways to use the Gold Crystal Pyramid as well as the lessons I learned when I tried to advance into the Divinity Branching Stage for free."

  Wuying Qi 3.0 said enticingly, "I truly mean you no harm. But of course, you are free to consider that I'm dark and malicious. However, everything comes with a cost. How is it possible to defeat the Covenant Alliance easily and enter the Divinity Branching Stage without taking any risk? This is a choice and a challenge. Cultivator Li Yao, do you dare to accept this challenge?"

  Chapter 2665: All The Same... |