Forty millenniums of cul.., p.421
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 421
"What kind of person did they think I, Yan Xibei, was? Immortality? Recovery of capability? A useless title?
"Honor or disgrace, gains or losses, strong or weak, and even life or death were as meaningless as the clouds in the sky for me. They were not worth mentioning at all!
"Besides, I had just experienced a perilous battle against the Blood Stripe Virus and grasped the virus' knowledge. The struggles that I had passed were too harsh for me to be fooled by petty benefits!
"They thought that an empty title, Mountain King, was enough to buy me and ease my vigilance so that they would take advantage of me however they wanted. But they did not know that it was exactly the reason I became wary of them!
"'Four Kings of Immortality, Mountain Sea Black Lotus'. The Sea King, the Black King, and the Lotus King are all super experts above the Nascent Soul Stage!
"I appeared to be in the Building Foundation Stage even after I was partly recovered by the secret arts of the Temple of Immortals. What qualifications did I have to be on par with them?
"The higher they raised me, the clearer I was of their ill intentions.
"The Immortal Cultivators were trying to trade an empty title for the future of Iron Plateau!
"When all the cannon fodder ran out, they could do whatever they wanted to the 'Mountain King', who could not even defeat a Core Formation Stage Cultivator, couldn't they?
"Excellent plan. It was indeed an excellent plan!
"It's a pity that, if the Blood Stripe Virus had failed to transform me into its puppet, what made the Temple of Immortals think that they could manipulate me?
"On the surface, I pretended that I was fascinated by the Temple of Immortals' offer and joined the organization to become the 'Mountain King'.
"But under the table, I demanded a lot of resources, including the state-of-the-art research facilities and secret arts, from the Temple of Immortals under the pretext that I was making preparations for their plan.
"With the resources, I completed the Temple of Immortals' scheme while I conducted my own research. With the wildlings on the Dark Continent as experiment subjects, I tested the best methods to swallow the Blood Stripe Virus without being corrupted on them!
"In the meantime, I communicated with a meteorite with the foreign blood inside my body and turned it into my own egg of apocalypse!
"Don't think that you are in a random valley. This particular valley was carefully chosen after years of prospecting!
"Several rarely-seen mother lodes are buried deep below the ground of the valley where countless precious minerals were condensed. But they were too deeply concealed for Iron Plateau natives to explore and excavate.
"However, the eggs of apocalypse can absorb all of the underground resources!
"In short, this valley is my personal natural paradise!
"I planted an egg of apocalypse in the depths of the natural paradise. In the center of the egg of apocalypse, I grew the strongest calamity-level apocalyptic beast in history, which I carefully refined after gathering the essences of countless apocalyptic beasts!
"However, the calamity-level apocalyptic beast does not have a brain or thinking ability. It is just a body, an unfathomably strong 'apocalyptic body'!
"Hehe. The other three kings of The Temple of Immortals thought me an ignorant barbarian and an old fart that they could make use of as they saw fit. But they did not know that, once the apocalyptic body grew mature and I was fully melded with it through the blood stripes, I would be able to wield a terrifying combat ability far beyond that of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators!
"When that day comes, what can the Lotus King, the Sea King, and the Black King do with me?"
Chapter 626: Melding Completed! |
"Master Yan!"
Xiong Wuji stepped forward, leaving cracks on the ground. He raised his voice. "If you did not mean to help the Temple of Immortals, why did you kill your own brother and incite a war between Iron Plateau natives and space residents? Do you know how many people will die, how many towns will be destroyed, and how many refugees will have to flee and live in underground shelters for the rest of their lives once the war begins?"
"Of course, I do. However, as long as my plan is carried out, a war against the space residents is inevitable."
Yan Xibei smiled casually. "Since the war will break out sooner or later, we might just as well fight it in the name of the Temple of Immortals and make everyone else believe that we are cannon fodder that has been fooled.
"The thing about cannon fodder is that nobody will pay attention to it despite the scale, isn't it? Cultivators will be focused on the real schemer behind everything, the Temple of Immortals, won't they?
"It is also needless to say that we will be granted the ability to enter space during the war. We might even have chances to maneuver several starships of the space pirates or build some of our own!
"However, none of the factors were the main reasons for me to start the war.
"The most critical reason is that you will never agree to meld yourselves with the Blood Stripe Virus while at peace no matter what.
"But everything would change when a cruel war begins and Iron Plateau is in perils.
"Think about it. After the war begins, Iron Plateau will be bombarded into a wasteland by the space residents, and the surviving Iron Plateau natives will only be able to hide themselves in the underground shelters, shuddering in fear. Countless qi-trainers will suffer heavy wounds in the battles against Cultivators and will be on the brink of death.
"Right then, I will announce that I've developed a method that can recover the heavily wounded and increase their combat ability quickly.
"Even though the side effect of the method is that the patients will look quite ugly, it is utterly insignificant when they are motivated by hatred and threats that are suffocating Iron Plateau natives.
"When a large batch of qi-trainers accept the foreign blood and meld with the Blood Stripe Virus, there won't be too many obstacles to further promote the method.
"Hehe. Before long, we will raise a terrifying army with blood stripes below the ground of Iron Plateau!
"At that time, we will be able to counterattack and take over the Temple of Immortals as well as the space pirates under their control. We will sweep the Flying Star Sector and implement our will in every corner of the sea of stars!
"This is my whole plan, which is devoid of any selfish reasons. Everything is for the consideration of the future of Iron Plateau natives!"
Xiong Wuji felt creepy and gnashed his teeth. "It's a pity that your plan won't work out now!"
Yan Xibei sighed. "There are always unexpected factors. Over the past ten years, I've been working and hiding myself in secret all the time. On one hand, I could not let you see any anomalies. On the other hand, I had to deal with the cunning leaders of the Temple of Immortals!
"They thought that I was too old and stupid. I was ostensibly the supervisor of all the arrangements on Iron Plateau as the 'Mountain King', but they had been infiltrating the six tribes all the time. They were even bold enough to send a few spies to the Burning Sun Tribe! However, I pretended that I didn't know anything. All my patience was meant to buy me more time for the apocalyptic body to grow mature so that the war fire can be ignited!
"But I didn't expect that, although my decade-long plan was not seen through by the Lotus King, not by the elders of the six tribes, and not by the experts among the Cultivators… it was sabotaged by a wildling who jumped out of nowhere!
"I blame the Lotus King for my mistake. He told me that a space resident named 'Li Yao' had snuck into Iron Plateau. The man was cunning and full of dirty tricks. He was quite cruel and resolute, too. The Lotus King asked me to be very cautious of him.
"Sand Scorpion, when I learned your existence, and especially after you and Xiong Wuji fled together, I assumed that you are the space resident Li Yao. All my arrangements were based on that assumption!
"If you were indeed the space resident named Li Yao, you shouldn't have been able to pass the test of the Truth Cabinet, and the following changes wouldn't have happened at all!
"But I didn't expect that you would pass the test of the Truth Cabinet and prove that you are not a space resident. Since you have nothing to do with that Li Yao, a deadly loophole appeared in my plan."
Xiong Wuji shouted angrily, "Therefore, you killed your own nephew?"
Yan Xibei shook his head in regret. "Ah Feng was a good kid. He had been in touch with the 'Mountain King' the whole time, but he didn't know that the Mountain King was actually me.
"The situation at that time had already gone out of control.
"In order to refine the egg of apocalypse, and to fool the Immortal Cultivators such as the Lotus King as well as the experts of the six tribes, I'd already poured 99% of the foreign blood in my body into the egg of apocalypse to produce the apocalyptic body. I only kept a tiny bit of the foreign blood to maintain the connection.
"Before I joined with the apocalyptic body, I had not been strong enough to deal with the new changes.
"Therefore, when I discovered that things were getting out of my control, I commanded Ah Feng, under the name of the Mountain King, to lead you all into the valley at any cost.
"My original thought was that, if everything went well on the Truth Cabinet, then it would be all good. But if anything went wrong, I could interrupt the development of the apocalyptic body and meld with it ahead of schedule.
"However, I didn't anticipate that Ah Feng would kidnap me at the crucial moment in the end. I could only sacrifice him in order to free myself."
"Hu…"
Li Yao had been holding his breath and listening. He finally took a long breath in relief now that a few important questions that had been bothering him were resolved.
Sha Yulan's hands were moving faster and faster. Hundreds of stars seemed to be emerging among her fingers and blinking above Li Yao's abdomen. A moment later, she exclaimed, "We made it!
"I've finally dissolved all the spiritual energy contained inside the cores and sorted them through!
"Right now, as long as I guide all the spiritual energy into your heart and limbs with the secret massage arts, you will be able to absorb all of it!"
Li Yao beamed with joy. He couldn't help but grin. "Great! With so much spiritual energy, I will definitely be able to break the last three shackles of the Black Spider Death Curse!
"Yan Xibei, hehehehe, you think that you are a sure winner right now, but you don't know that a lot of unexpected factors are still here!
"After I break the Black Spider Death Curse, I will be able to advance into the peak of the Building Foundation Stage at the very least. Together with Xiong Wuji, who is in the 99th level of the Refinement Stage, and Lei Dalu, who is in the beginning level of the Core Formation Stage, as well as so many other qi-trainers, you will not remain invincible as long as we work together!
"It's only because you are too chatty! Why do bad guys like you always keep talking and wasting your time when your evil plan is about to work out? That is so idiotic!
"Sister Sha, how long do you expect it will take to guide all the spiritual energy into my heart?"
Sha Yulan calculated quickly and replied, "Very soon. Thirty hours, tops!"
Li Yao was rendered speechless. "Sister, now is not the time for jokes."
Sha Yulan frowned, "Who's joking? You only managed to survive the digestive process with my secret arts of the Sha family and your monster-like body. If it were a different person who had swallowed so many cores of apocalyptic beasts that had so many impurities, they would've been killed a long time ago!
"If the cores of apocalyptic beasts can be taken orally like tonics, wouldn't any random guy be able to become an expert after swallowing several of them?"
Li Yao smiled bitterly. "Fair enough, Sister! But according to my observation, Yan Xibei is not likely to talk for another day and night however loquacious he seems."
In the front, Xiong Wuji looked Yan Xibei in the eye and shouted excitedly, "Yan—"
"Wait!"
Yan Xibei tilted his head. He was wearing a relieved smile as if he had finished a prolonged wait for something. He burst into laughter. "Little Xiong. We'll talk later if you have anything else you want to say. But right now…"
"Hooooo!"
Yan Xibei's eyes suddenly bulged, and he roared without a warning. An intense, bloody aura spurted out of the pores all over his body and formed a crimson apocalypse cloud in the sky!
Surrounded by a thin layer of blood mist, he was ten times more intimidating than before!
Everybody was dumbfounded, including Li Yao.
"I'm sorry. There's something that I forgot to tell you," Yan Xibei said in a smile. "Since the apocalyptic body was dismembered from the egg of apocalypse in advance, it has been quite difficult for me to meld with it by force.
"In fact, the melding process was not completed until just now. My nerves and veins had all been growing and docking to my new body!
"If everybody had attacked without thinking the moment I showed up, there was a twenty or thirty percent likelihood that you might have been able to kill me.
"Therefore, I had to pick some topics that you were all interested in to buy me more time.
"Right now, the apocalyptic body has melded successfully. Although it is just a semi-product, it can still wield combat ability close to the Nascent Soul Stage!
"Thank you for your patience, everybody. Haha. Hahahaha!"
Sha Yulan looked at Li Yao emotionlessly.
Li Yao scratched his head. "Alright. It seems that Yan Xibei's wisdom is slightly higher than I thought."
Waving his enormous scorpion tail, Yan Xibei crawled close to everyone and grinned hideously. "I know that you still have a lot of questions, but it doesn't matter. I don't intend to kill you.
"I merely mean to beat you until you're heavily wounded, drag you underground, and transform all of you with the Blood Stripe Virus!
"When you are fully melded with the Blood Stripe Virus and evolve into a new life form, you will understand my efforts and realize that the path I am walking on is the only option to protect our home and create the brightest future!"
"Yan Xibei, you've been beguiled!" Xiong Wuji bellowed.
The black hide armor covering his upper body was broken into pieces, revealing a brawny body with overlapping scars. He opened his arms. His spiritual gas surged out like an iron wall that stood in Yan Xibei's way!
Chapter 627: Great Path of Immortality! |
"You claim that you are creating the brightest future, but isn't the future of Iron Plateau made of every Iron Plateau native's future?"
Xiong Wuji crossed his hands. Two thick-backed, broad-edged sabers appeared in his hands. The auras of his blades extended out into a burning crosshair. He said, "When a war between Iron Plateau natives and space residents breaks out, with the Immortal Cultivators stirring trouble, even if the experts can be melded with the Blood Stripe Virus, what are the ordinary people going to do? From Iron Plateau to the space, billions of ordinary people will die! They do not even have a 'present', and you are talking about 'future'! What kind of bullsh*t future is that?"
Yan Xibei burst into laughter. His six insect limbs moved forward like paddles as he accelerated. The spreading bloody brightness around him condensed into two sharp claws again, which snatched at Xiong Wuji from both sides!
BOOM!
Their spiritual gas collided heavily. As if a crystal bomb weighing a hundred thousand tons had been detonated, quite a few True Qi tanks nearby were knocked into the air and smashed the ground, turning into wasted iron and copper.
All the qi-trainers and Cultivators found it hard to keep their eyes open against the blast. The sweeping dust blocked everything. They could only hear Yan Xibei scream in the center of the sandstorm, "For the succession of our civilization, some people must be sacrificed. Too many of our ancestors have sacrificed themselves while we struggled to survive in the desolate planet for thousands of years. What's wrong with sacrificing more right now? All the deaths will be worthwhile as long as our civilization proceeds!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Two True Qi trains seemed to be crashing continuously inside the sandstorm, or maybe they were two hungry tyrannosaurs that were mauling each other. Not only was the earth shaking, even the stars in the sky seemed to be unable to withstand the summit confrontation of the two best warriors of Iron Plateau. The rays from the sky were feeble and shivering!
Xiong Wuji roared, "Didn't our ancestors choose to stay on Iron Plateau in order to protect our home and the ordinary people living on it? Our ancestors worked hard for five thousand years so that the wasteland could finally be revived. But right now, you are going to set it in war flames again and kill so many ordinary people! A civilization that passes on in such a way is definitely not the civilization that our ancestors wanted. Definitely not!
"There are clearly many other ways to solve the problem of being possessed by an alien civilization! We can cooperate with the space residents! All the human beings can work together and crack the mysteries of the Blood Stripe Virus!
"You've been bewildered, Yan Xibei! No. You are not Yan Xibei at all!
"The Yan Xibei I knew was willing to fight for every Iron Plateau native, no matter whether they were strong or weak, qi-trainers or ordinary people, old or young, and from the Burning Sun Tribe or the Furious Bears Tribe. When they were in danger, the real Yan Xibei would show up and fight for them at any cost!
"If sacrifices were unavoidable, he would only sacrifice himself! He would definitely not let someone else die and shamelessly call that 'sacrifice'!
"Yan Xibei is dead. You are only the Blood Stripe Virus, the Blood Demon, taking his body as your shell!
"When your plan succeeds, the Iron Plateau natives and the space residents will all be destroyed and turned into a species entirely different from human beings! That is your real plan. Your plan of possession!
"I, Xiong Wuji, might not be a real Iron Plateau native, but regardless of whether I am an Iron Plateau native or a space resident, I won't let things go your way!"
