Forty millenniums of cul.., p.1004
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1004
They hijacked the carriers from the Empyreal Terminus Sector that were sent to other worlds to plunder resources. They assaulted the mines at the remote space zones in the vast territory of the Imperium. Some of the more extreme avengers even entered the central area of the Imperium, assassinated high officials, promoted the ideology of resistance, disrupted the relationship between the capital and the local areas, and instigated the worlds at the periphery to seek autonomy and independence. They even resorted to terrorism as pure retaliation.
It had taken the Imperium two hundred years to slap all the annoying flies.
But it had not been until three hundred years later that the last resistance warship of the Burning Stone Cultivators had been discovered, which marked the conclusion of the 'Riot of Burning Stone'.
All the information had been confessed by Heiye Lan and verified by the two Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators, who believed that it was reliable.
Then, according to the script that Long Yangjun had made up, some of the Cultivators from the Burning Stone Sector had escaped from the Imperium's hunting and seized a warship of the Imperium during the battles before fleeing to the edge of the cosmos after hundreds of years, like 'Firefly', which accommodated the last survivors of the rightful government of the Star Ocean Republic.
It would perfectly explain why they suddenly showed up in the territory of the federation on the 'Bloody Blade'-level assault warship.
For that, Long Yangjun had asked Heiye Lan all the details about the 'Riot of Burning Stone' repetitively.
It was not a military secret of the Imperium but an anecdote hundreds of years ago. Naturally, there was no need for it to be sealed. Heiye Lan had confessed everything dutifully.
According to the details, Long Yangjun had fabricated a new identity for each of the thirteen of them including Heiye Lan.
She was the leader and founder of Ghost Character, an intelligence and assassination agency. Li Yao estimated that she must have done similar jobs in the Nuwa Clan's army in the God-Sealing War hundreds of thousands of years ago. Naturally, she was quite familiar with the work.
It was just the first layer of their camouflage.
If this camouflage was seen through, which was very likely to happen as the twelve experts never underestimated the wisdom of the people of the federation, they would activate their second identities.
In their second identities, they would tell part of the truth.
The best lies were always covered and camouflaged by a lot of truth.
They would admit that they were from a certain 'civilization of ancient Cultivators'. However, they would give fuzzy answers when they were asked about the coordinates of the Ancient Sages Sector. Also, they would understate the capabilities of themselves and the Ancient Sages Sector.
In the Ancient Sages Sector before, because of the opulence of spiritual energy, it could be squandered openly. Therefore, there was no such thing as a Soul Converging Technique, which allowed a Cultivator to conceal their air and capabilities.
But the Soul Converging Technique itself was not an advanced or sophisticated technique. Both the Star Glory Federation and the Imperium of True Human Beings had a lot of similar techniques. Naturally, Heiye Lan knew a few of them.
Years ago, when Li Yao had only just awakened his spiritual root as a common college student, he had quickly grasped Soul Converging Technique and Soul Igniting Law.
Those Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators, with their immeasurable wisdom and Cultivation, had half a year to learn such simple techniques. How could they not grasp them?
Therefore, they were now free to suppress their Cultivation by one to two major levels and pretend to be common Building Foundation Stage Cultivators or Core Formation Stage Cultivators.
Long Yangjun had also devised a new script for their second identities, telling the story of how they had accidentally excavated a prehistorical warship from their world, how they had finally grasped the method to pilot the warship after hundreds of years of studying, how they had been discovered by a claw fleet of the expedition army of the Imperium on their first space voyage, and how they had captured a warship of the Imperium after battles of wisdom and courage and fled all the way there…
Naturally, such a story entailed a lot of loopholes and could be seen through.
Therefore, they had their third identities—their real identities.
Under the most extreme circumstances, they could tell everything about themselves, the Ancient Sages Sector, the Nuwa warship, and even the 'Bloody Blade'-level assault warship that had been forced to land on the Ancient Sages Sector.
Everything that they said would be true.
But only one part needed a minor 'revision'.
In their story, they did not take the Imperium of True Human Beings' sides. When they interrogated the warrior of the Imperium from the assault warship with 'soul-searching techniques', they accidentally killed the captive by mistake.
Having killed the warrior of the Imperium, they had no choice except to take the Star Glory Federation's sides.
The three layers of identities were each truer than the last. Even if the government of the federation did discover their existence, they would be able to cover and disguise themselves step by step. Such an idea gave most of the twelve experts of the Ancient Sages Sector an illusionary sense of safety.
Heiye Lan, the female warrior of the Imperium, said to Li Yao respectfully, "Master Spiritual Vulture, Weary Tooth has finished self-testing. It is ready to go!"
In the past six months, she and Li Yao had spent almost every day together, studying and repairing the Colossi and the starships.
The crazy learning speed of 'Master Spiritual Vulture' on the arts of modern magical equipment maintenance had greatly shocked Heiye Lan. In less than three months, he had already surpassed Heiye Lan's level as a late-starter.
Heiye Lan was both surprised and awed by the 'Grandmaster of Great Zhou'. She could not help but feel awed by the marvelous ancient sword forging techniques that he showed unintentionally and the application of such techniques on modern magical equipment. The naturalness, creativity, and fluency of his refining arts were great eye-openers for her!
What an important role he could play with such extraordinary sword forging arts and such 'naturally-endowed' instincts for the crystal suits and the Colossi if he was working in the technical department of the Black Wind Fleet!
Heiye Lan already considered Li Yao as one of the ancient Cultivators in the Ancient Sages Sector who deserved to be recruited by the Imperium most. She had tried her best to cajole him and even used the courtesies of a disciple in front of him.
She was told that 'Master Spiritual Vulture' had yet to recruit any disciple and was all by himself.
Although she was a pure warrior and did not intend to become a refiner, it could not be bad if she was in a good relationship with such an excellent refiner!
Li Yao was also glad to have such a female warrior from the Imperium as his assistant, servant, and housemaid. Naturally, he did not not refuse her flattery and even taught her some of the half-true knowledge of the 'ancient sword forging arts'.
As a result, the spy of the Imperium and the spy of the federation were actually in a rather close and 'friendly' relationship!
"Fellow Cultivators, it's running late. Let's take off now!"
His eyes glittering, Li Yao smiled at the other eleven experts of the Ancient Sages Sector who were wearing different expressions in front of Weary Tooth.
The boarding steps of Weary Tooth extended to their feet like the long tongue of a ferocious beast.
Looking at each other, everybody gritted their teeth and stepped on the stairs!
When it was Ba Xiaoyu the Beggar's turn, the slobby, innocent man who was scared of nothing was suddenly perspiring hard with sweat droplets as large as beans. He chewed his tobacco tube so hard that it was cracking, and he was hesitating to move forward.
"Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, you were the one who supervised the maintenance of this warship. Just tell me the truth." Hesitating, Ba Xiaoyu asked in a low voice, "Is it really able to bring us beyond the sky across the universe to somewhere billions of kilometers away?"
Instead of waiting for Li Yao to answer, he waved his hands quickly, as if he were trying to wipe off what he had just spoken. "Forget it. What will be will be. My question is redundant. Can I defect at this point? Staying in the Ancient Sages Sector means doom anyway. However dangerous it is, this is a step that we must make!"
Holding the tobacco tube, he moved a few steps forward before he thought for a moment and paused again. He said to Li Yao in a low voice, "Thank you, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture!"
Chapter 1548: Infuriate the Sun! (End of Volume IV) |
Li Yao was slightly dazed. "Thank me for what?"
"Thank you for persisting in your belief and proposing a different opinion in the meeting half a month ago, when the eleven of us did not object to surrendering to the Imperium of True Human Beings."
Ba Xiaoyu smiled bitterly.
"Otherwise, we probably would've sent a message to the Black Wind Fleet half a year ago, and the Ancient Sages Sector would've ended up as a base for the Black Wind Fleet. As for me, I would've had to leave my home and wander in the universe as a helpless unaffiliated Cultivator in space!"
Li Yao was touched. "Do you dislike the Imperium of True Human Beings so much, Fellow Cultivator Ba?"
"Yes. I don't like it at all." Ba Xiaoyu mumbled, looking at Heiye Lan somewhat at a loss. "In the past half a year, I've studied Heiye Lan's confessions constantly. I also spoke to her in private many times, asking her about the Imperium of True Human Beings' attitude toward ordinary folk.
"The path that the Imperium of True Human Beings is walking on hardly satisfies me. We are all the same kind of people. We are all born by our parents, made of flesh and blood, and have feelings and emotions. Why must we be classified as 'true human beings' and 'hominoids'? The so-called 'hominoids' can't be called humans just because they don't have spiritual roots? That's—that's downright outrageous!"
Ba Xiaoyu sighed. "In my younger days, I lived in a noble family of Cultivators. My life was extravagant, and all my fancy desires could be met. However, such 'entertainment' was in fact intertwined with the 'suffering' when I had to be involved in the conflict, betrayal, and treachery of the Cultivators. I was as happy as I was tormented.
"Then, one day, pirates raided and burnt my family's island to the ground. My family lost all their fortune, and I was heavily wounded and fled to the coast on the southeast. I lived among the ordinary folk and treated my wounds. It was then that I learned the simplicity of the life of ordinary folk, where I didn't need to be wary of anybody or make plans to take advantage of anybody, even if their life was anything but wealthy.
"After tasting the feeling of such a life, I finally realized that Cultivators are not necessarily noble, and ordinary folks are not necessarily humble. In the hundred years that followed, I have hung around the ordinary folks as slobby as I am today. People like Qi Changsheng and Wan Mingzhu think that I was merely being pretentious. They don't know that I truly have fun doing it!
"I've already become used to such a life after a hundred years. The life of the Imperium of True Human Beings where decent people are classified into 'true human beings' and 'hominoids' for no good reason is really not something that I can tolerate!"
"Why didn't you object to it at that time, Fellow Cultivator Ba?" Li Yao asked.
"Object to it?" Ba Xiaoyu smiled bitterly. "Would my opposition have been helpful? The Imperium of True Human Beings is too powerful. The small assault warship right here is the first clue. Although I am reluctant to surrender to the Imperium, how can I bear to drag so many folks of the Ancient Sages Sector to die in the raging blood and fire together with me?
"I was in such a dilemma that I didn't know how I should decide at all. I thought that I had no choice except to run away. Out of sight, out of mind. That was my best hope.
"Thankfully, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, you stopped the collapse at the last moment and pointed out the advantages and disadvantages. Then, Wang Xi raised his Star Picking Plan. So, there may still be new changes, and the surrender might not happen for a few years!
"I wonder what kind of country the Star Glory Federation is exactly. Will it bring hope that is entirely different from the Imperium of True Human Beings to the Ancient Sages Sector?"
Li Yao felt that his heart was warm. He could not help but clench his fists and tried to remain calm. "Maybe. I'm looking forward to a Star Glory Federation… that is entirely different, too!
"Please, Fellow Cultivator. Let's open our eyes and watch the universe clearly!"
"All crew members have boarded!"
"All doors are closed. All the air gates are shut off. The internal oxygen circulation system has been activated!"
"The ancillary launch rune arrays on the ground have been activated. It is good to go at any time!"
The twelve experts of the Ancient Sages Sector, and Heiye Lan, had all entered Weary Tooth.
On the ground, the loyal subordinates of Han Baling, Long Yangjun, and the rest of them had finished their preparations on the launch platforms, too.
The so-called 'assault warship', as its name suggested, was a type of starship small in size, high in speed, and suitable for multiple terrains and space zones, with the ability to march into a hostile warship or the atmosphere of a hostile planet for an assault battle.
Such warships often needed to be engaged in battle in the orbit of a planet and even within the atmosphere, and they needed to retreat very quickly after the battle.
Therefore, they boasted very powerful anti-gravity abilities, which allowed them to get rid of the boundary of a planet very easily.
Li Yao had also dismantled four ancillary engine units for the micro-directional adjustments from the engine compartment at the rear of the Nuwa warship with Long Yangjun's help. He had connected the units to the back of Weary Tooth, replacing the previous rune arrays that had been seriously damaged. The basic performance parameters had been restored to seventy percent of the original and could finally support a launch!
On Weary Tooth, the other ten experts had already dived into the buffer gel. Long Yangjun and Heiye Lan, who were the navigator and the pilot, and Li Yao, who was the chief controller of the magical equipment on board, were the only ones who were held in the zigzagging cabin through the magnetic hooks.
"Lord Wang, we—" Li Yao was somewhat anxious, too.
The mainframe crystal processor of Weary Tooth had not been wrecked in the fierce battle ten years ago, and the warship had been set to 'automatic operation mode', which was an operation pattern devised for the situation where most of the crew members had been killed in a fierce battle. With the great reduction of the performance as a trade-off, the demand on the number of operators was lowered to the maximum.
It was in such a mode that Heiye Lan had managed to bring the assault warship to the Ancient Sages Sector only by herself.
However, the warship had stayed in the Ancient Sages Sector for quite a few years. Also, they had adopted too many improvised designs during the maintenance. Almost none of the maintenance personnel were modern refiners who had received professional training but ancient sword forgers whose expertise was questionable.
Under such circumstances, whether or not the units from the Imperium's warship and the units from the Nuwa warship could work in harmony, whether or not the squeaky warship endure a long-distance space jump, whether or not the storms in the four-dimensional space would invade the warship and rip them apart while they broke through the void… Li Yao did not have enough confidence to answer those questions even though he was the 'technical director'.
Long Yangjun responded to his calling with a smile. Then—
She smashed the activation rune array!
Boom!
Weary Tooth was immediately enshrouded in light and fire.
Everybody found themselves placed in the middle of a furiously burning furnace that happened to be also rotating fast. Even their grunts were pressed back to their internal organs along their bronchia and stomach before the noises were let out of their mouths!
When they finally came back to themselves from the ear-splitting fulminations and the scorching spiritual waves, they had already entered the dark, pure, lonely, and vast universe.
Their hometown, the Ancient Sages Planet, was floating behind them quietly like a small apple.
In front of them was a sun a million times larger than the planet, which brought light and heat, life and energy, to the Ancient Sages Sector.
Under Long Yangjun's control, Weary Tooth unhurriedly flew toward the sun, like a moth darting toward the furious flames.
"Fellow Cultivators, we have successfully left the Ancient Sages Sector and made our first step on the trip to the deities' realm!"
Long Yangjun's voice was so excited that it almost sounded frivolous. She said with a smile, "As the co-pilot and the navigator of Weary Tooth, I feel obliged to repeat for the last time our journey up ahead.
"Now, we will perform a long-distance space jump, which will take us to the vicinity of the Star Glory Federation, or more specifically, this place, the Shimmering Light Space Zone!
"Why here?
"First of all, this place is a fairly long distance from the destination of the Nuwa warship's signals, which is presumably the mother port of the Nuwa warship and the heartland of the Star Glory Federation. There aren't any habitable planets in the space zone, either. So, it is unlikely to be in the territory of the Star Glory Federation.
"Even if it is indeed within the range of the Star Glory Federation, we estimate that it will probably be unpopulated borderland. It is hardly likely that we will run into a powerful army of the federation. Therefore, there will be room for us to catch our breath and analyze the situation before we rush into anything.
