by <unknown>
"I'm not a three-year-old. Stop bewildering me with such childish talks, alright?"
Furrowing his brows, Li Yao mocked, "Maybe you do have a point, but for some reason, your tone makes me unhappy, and I really want to refuse you! Even if someone has to control the Gold Crystal Pyramid, why does it have to be me? Some people are more suitable than me, like Li Jialing, right?"
"Li Jialing, the young lion, is indeed more suitable than you from a certain perspective."
Wuying Qi 3.0 said, "But he belongs to Wuying Qi 2.0. It's an agreement between me and Wuying Qi 2.0. He will receive Wuying Qi 2.0's legacies, including Wuying Qi 2.0's unparalleled power as well as Blackhole's Heart. That Colossus is not suitable for you, and your Arsonist is one of the best Colossi itself. But other than that, everything concerning the Gold Crystal Pyramid is yours.
"You are definitely free to give the Gold Crystal Pyramid to anyone including Li Jialing, but are you sure you're going to do that? Think about it carefully. If you give the Gold Crystal Pyramid, you will be at fault when he turns into the next dragon.
"Anybody else will be the same. Whoever receives the Gold Crystal Pyramid is likely to become a dragon. Then, who do you want to become a dragon?"
Li Yao was rendered speechless for a moment.
"Undoubtedly, you can be a dragon slayer for your life, whose hands are forever clean, killing one dragon after another. But someone has to be the dragon, right? Dragons are indispensable for the advancement of mankind."
Wuying Qi 3.0's smile was even creepier, and his voice crawled into Li Yao's heart like invisible bugs. "Stop hesitating. It's not the time for moral lessons. Yes, the technology of massive inoculation is deeply flawed, and I should've looked for a better solution.
"But in this pathetic reality, it's often the case that we have to choose among the deeply-flawed plans to take care of complicated problems.
"If we leave the future of the Star Glory Federation aside; if we ignore whether or not Li Linghai and Lei Chenghu will liberate all hominoids, and whether or not it will cause another turmoil in the Imperium; and if we leave the Covenant Alliance aside—yes, let's put everything aside for now…
"Then, what about the new-generation virtual lives—Xiaoming, Wenwen, and the Fist King?
"You know better than anybody else how powerful the information lives, virtual lives, crystal processor lives, or mechanical lives are. Since the day the crystal processor and the spiritual puppet were invented, countless people had dreaded that they would replace humans and even enslave and destroy the obsolete human beings.
"Such robots and cyborgs are so strong, swift, and elegant. Their very existence highlights the sluggishness, weakness, and insignificance of obsolete humans. Humans view them with helplessness, jealousy, fury, and fear, just like how the Pangu Clan viewed humans. One day, they will replace the obsolete humans as new humans, and this process won't be peaceful and painless. A war of blood and fire that is a hundred times more horrible than any wars in the past will be inevitable!
"Face the reality. It's impossible for mankind to gladly accept Xiaoming, Wenwen, and the Fist King. Now, Boss Bai and Long Yangjun have accepted Xiaoming and Wenwen partly because they are sort of eccentrics themselves, partly because they boasted unparalleled computation and analysis abilities, and most importantly, it's because Xiaoming and Wenwen are still too weak and do not seem dangerous at all.
"However, when the new-generation information lives thrive, and the billions of ordinary people—who are idiotic, weak, selfish, insecure, shortsighted and easily-provoked—learn of them, do you think that they will gladly accept the new lives like you, Boss Bai, and Long Yangjun did?
"That's impossible. There's bound to be a war, just like the war that destroyed the civilization in the Martial Meritocrats Sector. Nobody knows the consequence when billions of ordinary people are instigated better than I do. They will be completely unreasonable!
"If you want the world to accept virtual lives with no bloodshed, and if you want mankind to peacefully reach the new phase where reality and illusion coexist, use the Gold Crystal Pyramid!
"Yes, it sounds like brainwashing if you do that, but you will be able to stop the total war between mankind and information lives. Wouldn't it be in the best interest of your civilization?"
Li Yao's eyes were like boiling swamps.
"Hold on a second—"
He almost lost his calmness when he discovered something impossible. "How can you know about Xiaoming and Wenwen? I have never told you anything about them. I buried the memories of them so deeply in my soul that you couldn't have read it even when you brainwashed me. You're not supposed to know them!"
"Yes, Wuying Qi can't know Xiaoming and Wenwen, but he somehow knows. How are you going to explain this self-contradiction?"
Wuying Qi 3.0 chuckled. His face blurred, and his voice changed into a tone that Li Yao was very familiar with. "The reason is simple. Because I'm already dead. The real Wuying Qi died when he detonated his soul. What happened next was that his memories, his power, and his soul pieces entered your brain, and you digested and absorbed them.
"I'm not Wuying Qi, but you are. It was not Wuying Qi who tried to persuade you to use the Gold Crystal Pyramid; it was yourself. You know the value of the Gold Crystal Pyramid and that you have to get it under control. That's why you created me, to convince yourself with Wuying Qi's image.
"You knew that you were destined to be the master of the Gold Crystal Pyramid from the very beginning, but you still needed an excuse, and I was your excuse. That can't be helped. Human beings are all hypocritical. Even someone at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage can barely cross the mental obstacle on his own.
"Now, you have completely overcome the obstacle. Do you realize who you are, and who I am?
Wuying Qi 3.0's shadow rippled out and changed into Li Yao's own appearance, who looked at Li Yao peacefully.
It looked like a gigantic mirror in the depths of the memory palace that was reflecting Li Yao's heart.
Li Yao saw that his heart was examining himself unemotionally.
Bam!
The enormous mirror fell apart, and its pieces reflected ten thousand different Li Yao from ten thousand different angles. Every Li Yao seemed to be caged in the mirror pieces, unable to break free. However, the cages were shattered in the next second, and the glittering powder gathered into infinite gray butterflies that replaced Li Yao above the volcano in the Martial Meritocrats Sector.
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
The gray butterflies danced and fell on Li Yao like volcano ash and dirty snowflakes, leaking into his soul.
Wuying Qi's final legacy, including the ways to modify and use the Gold Crystal Pyramid, the details of the Sunspot Plan, the traps in the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum, his understandings when he reached the Divinity Branching Stage and upgraded to 3.1, were all melted into Li Yao's soul mysteriously and became part of Li Yao.
"I never figured out something that had bothered me for a thousand years until this moment."
Wuying Qi 3.0's voice echoed in Li Yao's head again, like Li Yao's own whisper. "How could I have slain an unparalleled man like the Blood God a thousand years ago when I grew strong only by accident and did not have any belief at all except for my addiction to power?
"The battle between me and the Blood God is like a nightmare etched to my soul. I thought that I was going to be killed by the Blood God. My final victory was uncanny and perplexing.
"But I've realized the answer at this moment.
"It's just like how a shameless cockroach like you could kill Blackstar the Great—as a matter of fact, I never really killed the Blood God; the Blood God has been living in my heart.
"I never received his full legacy, filled the last gap of his belief, and helped him finish the glorious journey of his life until the moment I killed him.
"Now, it's time for you to ask yourself the same question. Li Yao, have you really killed Wuying Qi? Can you really kil
l Wuying Qi? When this memory palace collapses and you wake up from unconsciousness, who will you be?
"Hehe. It's all the same. Perhaps everything is the same. As long as we can break out of this goddamn universe, the Blood God, Wuying Qi, Li Yao, Immortal Cultivators, Cultivators, and Demonic Cultivators will be no different…"
The memory palace trembled violently.
It was the sign of a collision.
Eventually, hundreds of gray butterflies constituted a gray statue, which vaguely looked like Wuying Qi or the Blood God or Li Yao himself. The statue extended its hand to Li Yao with a smile, but when Li Yao extended his hand to it, he realized that it was nothing but another mirror and a vivid reflection.
Boom!
Li Yao was suddenly shocked. The memory palace collapsed all of a sudden, and infinite memory pieces flooded into his head. As if he had slept for a thousand years, he woke up in excruciating pain!
Chapter 2666: Battle of Brothers! |
He woke up from a thousand years of sleep. Like the bones that were rising from a black swamp as thick as oil, his memory pieces ran amok in his brain like glittering butterflies. The butterflies from a hundred years ago, a thousand years ago, and ten thousand years ago crashed, resulting in brilliant and hazy fire, which licked his brain cells and cleansed and reorganized his soul again and again.
He put on a mysterious smile. There were indescribable cunningness and unstoppable ambition in this smile.
He slowly opened his eyes, and the two swirls in his eyes stopped spinning, changing from the original black, white, and red into mysterious gray.
He moaned, like any person would after a good night's sleep. His immeasurable consciousness surfaced in the gray swirls; he was back. He was finally back!
Then, Li Yao saw a big hand that was turning larger and larger still before his hands, until it smacked his face brutally.
"Ouch!"
His facial organs were displaced, his teeth were dancing, and he was flung away in midair, but before he sensed the pain, he had been slapped again on the other side of his face.
The two slaps refreshed him and pulled him back from the lost abyss. He felt that he was not the Blackstar the Great who dominated the universe ten thousand years ago, nor Blackstar the Great who claimed the country a thousand years ago, but more like a big spinning gyro.
"Li Yao, wake up!"
He heard a determined voice, followed by another heavy blow on his face. The person shouted, "Don't be lost! Don't be deceived by Wuying Qi! Do you hear me? I'm your best friend, Long Yangjun! I have to wake you up today! I have to wake you up even if my soul and my life are burned out!"
A storm of fists, palms, knees, and feet landed on Li Yao's face and body mercilessly and incessantly.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"
Li Yao meant to resist, but the previous battle against the remaining soul of Wuying Qi, or maybe the Blood God, had drained him. He was now exhausted and weaker than ever. How could he resist Long Yangjun's brutal savaging? He could only hold his head and scream like he was a pig being butchered.
"Go away! No matter whether you are Wuying Qi or anything even eviler, get away from my best friend, Li Yao!"
Long Yangjun roared deafeningly and kicked Li Yao crazily again, almost making Li Yao throw up. "Li Yao, hang in there. I'm trying to save you. You need to pull yourself together and fight side by side with me!"
"S-Stop kicking! It's me!"
Li Yao finally cried devastatingly, with tears running on his swollen face. "I'm Li Yao! I'm really Li Yao! What are you doing exactly?"
"Cut the crap! I don't believe you!"
Long Yangjun was still kicking him hard. "You must be Wuying Qi's remaining soul who has possessed Li Yao. I knew that you wouldn't be defeated so easily. Anyway, I'm going to kick you to death today!"
Li Yao felt that the whole planet had rolled over him hundreds of times.
Even the battle against Wuying Qi was not as painful as this.
"You're just getting back at me for what I did to you earlier!"
Li Yao shouted as loudly as possible, "It's me! It's really me! Stop beating! I've already taken care of Wuying Qi's remaining soul! It's really me! I'm going to fight back if you don't stop! I mean it!"
"Is it really… you, Li Yao?"
Long Yangjun kicked Li Yao brutally yet again before she finally stopped in satisfaction. But she still gazed at Li Yao vigilantly as if she would not hesitate to attack again if anything goes wrong.
"Of course! You know it!"
Grimacing in pain, Li Yao held his cheek and roared, "You just wanted to beat me up! You had always wanted to beat me up, hadn't you? You were only trying to get back at me! That's outrageous! Ouch. That's too outrageous!"
"Hehe, a scoundrel views all other people as scoundrels. It's true that I do not like you and often have the urge of punching you in the face, but I certainly wouldn't really do it without a good reason."
Long Yangjun rubbed her fists that had become swollen due to the beating. Appreciating her masterpiece, she said, "Just now, when you and Li Jialing fought Wuying Qi's remaining soul, Wuying Qi's remaining soul suddenly exploded into two streaks of light that dashed into each of you. Then, you became weird. You were like a rigid statue, with gray mist popping up. You were also murmuring to yourself nonstop, as if you were possessed.
"In order to save you, I summoned all my strength by burning out my soul and my life despite my exhaustion, determined to exterminate the evil power that possessed you even if I couldn't wake you up. But instead of thanking me, you're questioning my motive? That's too… Hahahahahaha. Sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to beat you so hard. Hahahahahahahahahaha!"
The solemn expression on Long Yangjun's face collapsed. She laughed so hard that she could barely catch her breath.
"If you hadn't laughed in the end…"
Li Yao squinted and glared at Long Yangjun. "… I might have believed you!"
"I was not lying."
Long Yangjun took a deep breath and tried to stop laughing. She found a broken piece of a suit and gave it to Li Yao as a mirror. "Look at yourself right now."
"This is…"
Li Yao gasped hard as he looked at the mirror.
In the mirror, although his face had been deformed by Long Yangjun, there was grayness in his messy hair. Near his temples, the grayness looked like a flower or a mysterious crown!
"How did I turn into this?"
Li Yao stroked his hair and cried, "Why have I grown such mysterious gray hair? It makes me look elegant, unpredictable, and revered. This doesn't agree with me. I am so much more handsome right now that people will be too awed to talk to me!"
Long Yangjun found it hard to believe. "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing. I'm just testing my sense of humor."
Li Yao looked at himself in the mirror and took a long breath of relief. "Thankfully, I've maintained my basic sense of humor. I couldn't have said that if I were corrupted by Wuying Qi's soul, could I?"
"… Fine. You're right if you replace 'sense of humor' with shamelessness."
Long Yangjun thought for a moment and was not as wary as before. "Vulture Li Yao is the only person in the whole universe who can be so shameless. Wuying Qi's remaining soul couldn't have made such a statement. So, welcome back, Li Yao! By the way, have you really shattered Wuying Qi's remaining soul?"
"Well, it's rather mysterious. We'll talk about it later."
Li Yao asked in a hurry, "How long was I unconscious? Where is Jialing?"
"Five minutes. You've been unconscious for five minutes. Li Jialing is still lying there. His situation does not seem as bad as yours since he has been sound asleep, so I'm here to wake you up first," said Long Yangjun, clenching his fists.
"Only five minutes?"
Li Yao did not realize that such a long time in the memory palace was only a brief instant in reality.
However, just because Li Jialing was sleeping did not mean that his situation was not bad. On
the contrary, the young lion might be in grave danger!
Right then, as Long Yangjun pointed at him, Li Jialing roared in agony.
Li Yao and Long Yangjun looked at each other, both feeling that it was not good.
By the time they rushed to him, Li Jialing had jerked like a lobster that fell into boiling oil.
His gold hair was wreathed in a black fog again, which corroded his hair and his skin like venom, as if it was going all the way into his flesh and his blood.
Under the excruciating pain, he transformed himself. His muscles were torn apart, and his bones expanded. He turned into a gargantuan monster like a standing lion!
"Hooooooooo!"
Li Jialing held his head tightly and spewed out plumes of black smoke. He writhed as if two armies were fighting in his head, leaving deep scratches on the floor that was as tough as iron.
"Jialing!"
Li Yao grew anxious. Nobody understood Li Jialing's situation better than him. Could this young man who was only in his twenties defeat Wuying Qi 2.0 with his own willpower?
Li Yao came close without caring about anything, hoping to wake Li Jialing up with brotherhood. "Listen to me! I'm Li Yao! I'm your big brother!"
"Hooooooo!"
Li Jialing, who had been caught by madness, heard nothing of it. He crashed Li Yao's chest like a black tornado and nearly ripped it apart. Li Yao was easily knocked away.
It was not Li Jialing's power at all, but the enormous legacy that Wuying Qi 2.0 bestowed upon him!
Pu!
Li Yao fell on the ground again and vomited blood crazily. When he sat up in dizziness, he found that Li Jialing was crouching not far away in a black fog and gazing at him bloodthirstily.
"Don't… Don't be rash! Let's just talk nicely!"
Creeped out, Li Yao hurried to open his hands to show that he was not malicious. He said sincerely, "We're brothers, aren't we? If you don't like the way I addressed you, I can call you big brother!"
Chapter 2667: True Dragon! |
Li Jialing was briefly stunned, with amusement flashing in his eyes. But it only glowed for one moment before it was eclipsed by coldness and brutality.