Forty millenniums of cul.., p.538
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 538
A lot of Immortal Cultivators were surrounding the star brain, but most of them were experts in crystal processors. Suppressed by the Grand Illusionary Soldiers and the seven super experts, they were unable to fight back at all.
"We must be careful, everybody. Do not think that everything is over now that Xiao Xuance is dead. If my guess is correct, an even more formidable enemy is probably lurking in this place!"
His eyes as sharp as lightning, Li Yao locked onto a 'meat mountain' right below the star brain.
It was Xiao Tianbao, Xiao Xuance's foster son, the creator of the star brain, and the mentally retarded genius known as the 'star child'!
Chapter 806: World of Star Brain |
"What?"
Xiao Tianbao, the 'star child', was the creator and the first operator of the star brain. If the Cultivators wanted to gain control over the star brain, their best choice was to coerce him. After all, other than his talent with crystal processors, his IQ was very low. It would not be a problem to force him to give up the keys of the star brain.
Luo Xingzi and the other Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were about to charge at Xiao Tianbao, only to came to an abrupt halt when they heard Li Yao's words.
After everything that had happened, especially when Li Yao finished Xiao Xuance quickly and neatly in one move at the last moment, none of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators dared to disregard his opinions, despite the mysteries surrounding him.
"Stop pretending, Xiao Tianbao. I don't believe that you are a retard!" Li Yao extended his right arm. A deep purple light ball, surrounded by pale, spluttering electric arcs, was being condensed inside his palm. He remarked, "For a man of your Cultivation who is capable of producing a super crystal processor like the star brain, how can you really be a retard?
"The Immortal Cultivators are too few. Your entire plan is dependent on the Grand Illusionary Soldiers, and you are the key to the Grand Illusionary Soldier Project. I don't think that is a coincidence!
"Since the very beginning, you Immortal Cultivators have been doing things in an onion-like style. Mask after mask, and camouflage after camouflage. The space pirates are a disguise for the Temple of Immortals, and the Temple of Immortals is a disguise for the Imperium of True Human Beings!
"Both on Iron Plateau and on Spider Den, the greatest villain did not show up easily until the last moment!
"However, Xiao Xuance, as the commander-in-chief of the Imperium of True Human Beings, violated the pattern!
"He was the one to put forward the Grand Illusionary Soldier Project, not to mention that he was the CEO of the Grand Illusionary Group. He kept himself in the spotlight almost since the very beginning!
"As it turned out, when the Grand Illusionary Soldier Project was proposed, many people, including me, grew suspicious of the project and even doubted that Xiao Xuance had other ill intentions!
"Although Xiao Xuance managed to win the other Cultivators' trust by sacrificing one of his sons and throwing out a series of false conspiracy theories, all of which were quite effective, his actions were too risky. They did not seem to be the real style of the Immortal Cultivators!
"Therefore, I made a bold assumption that Xiao Xuance is not the real commander-in-chief of the Imperium of True Human Beings, at least not the only one. You, Xiao Tianbao, the 'star child', the creator of the star brain, and the pivot of the entire plan, are the real controller of the Imperium of True Human Beings behind Xiao Xuance!"
His deductions were reasonable and logical. All the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were nodding their heads in approval, convinced.
But Xiao Tianbao burst into tears, his legs kicking crazily and his fat shivering.
Li Yao was not fooled. He sneered and said, "Do you feel that it is funny to keep acting when everything has reached this point? If you do not reveal your true face, don't blame me for my brutality!"
Xiao Tianbao was still crying and even farted loudly.
Li Yao sneered. Redness suddenly beamed out of his eyes, and he threw out the purple light ball in his hand, which hit Xiao Tianbao's chest precisely.
After a thunderous sound, Xiao Tianbao turned into a pile of ash before he had the chance to grunt. What a quick, clean death!
"…" Li Yao.
"…" Luo Xingzi.
"…" All the other Cultivators.
Everybody was looking at Li Yao in silence.
Blinking rapidly, Li Yao quickly made certain gestures with his hands. Deep green flames of spiritual energy flew out into the air, dispersing into a bright green mist.
It was a technique to detect ghosts and spectral Cultivators. If the remaining soul of a dead person ran away, it would leave traces on the green mist.
However, Li Yao searched far and wide, only to find no traces of any lingering souls at all. Xiao Tianbao was as dead as anyone could ever be. There was no way that he could cause trouble anymore.
Luo Xingzi couldn't help but observe, "Well, Fellow Cultivator Li, have you overthought the whole thing? Maybe Xiao Tianbao was really a retard… that was particularly handy with crystal processors?"
Li Yao ground his teeth so hard that sparks were almost bursting out. He frowned hard and murmured to himself, "It's unreasonable. Xiao Tianbao must have been an important person of the Imperium of the True Human Beings even if he wasn't the controller of it. How—how could he have been killed by such a harmless attack?
"There's no other choices now. Xiao Tianbao is dead. We cannot turn off the star brain through him; we can only demolish the big guy now!"
In the urgency, Li Yao did not have too much time to think. Together with the other six Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, they flew into the 'shaft' in the center of the control room.
Above their heads, the translucent, golden brain was fluctuating like a heart.
The brain cells were flashing and then dwindling. They looked both like stars and eyes that were staring at the unannounced visitors indifferently.
Li Yao gritted his teeth and summoned the sixteen Six-barreled Revolving Vulcan Machine Guns again. After a series of cracking noises, the magazines of super bullets made of marrow crystals were locked and loaded!
Right then, Professor Mo Xuan suddenly shrieked in the communication channel, "Not good! Run away quickly!"
Abrupt changes took place!
In a moment, countless bubbles began popping up in the depths of the translucent brain. The dead gray area that had been invaded by the virus suddenly shone brilliantly!
The translucent brain kept expanding until it passed through Li Yao's body like a weird wind!
Li Yao suddenly felt greatly alarmed. He pulled the triggers subconsciously and raised sixteen fire snakes.
However, all the fire snakes seemed to hit a black swamp like statues made of mud being pushed into an ocean. They did not even raise any ripples!
"This is—"
When Li Yao soared up in the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, he seemed to break dozens of invisible walls and break out of Heavenly Phantom instantly.
What appeared before him was a universe in a fierce battle, but not around Heavenly Saints City and in a completely foreign space zone.
Thousands of enormous starships were fighting against a fleet of a hideous-looking alien civilization. Blood was shed in space, and countless souls perished!
Li Yao had never felt feebler. He lowered his head and noticed that black materials were being secreted by the dark universe and quickly crawled on the legs of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. They wriggled upwards and spread out like a combination of leeches and centipedes.
"What is this place?"
Behind Li Yao, Luo Xingzi and the other Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators appeared in the weird space, too. They were also wreathed, drowned, and swallowed by the black liquids leaking from the universe!
"Weren't we attacking the star brain? How did we end up in this place?"
Looking at the weird scenes around them, the crystal warships that were more splendid than palaces and the ferocious beasts larger than starships that were attacking each other, even the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators felt that their blood was freezing and exclaimed in shock.
Countless stars rushed close from various directions and condensed into a deformed kid whose head was extremely huge and whose body was as slim as a skeleton. The kid looked at them and said casually, "This is the world of my brain. Didn't you want to destroy me? You are welcome to try!"
His words made all the Cultivators feel horrid.
"The world of your brain…" Li Yao pondered for a moment, only to shudder violently and realize why he had shown up here all of a sudden. "You are the star brain! The star brain is alive. Xiao Xuance was not the real controller of the Imperium of True Human Beings, nor was Xiao Tianbao. It is you who has been controlling the organization all along!
"You've launched a mental attack at us!
"This is not a real world but an illusion that you made up!"
Li Yao suddenly felt extremely cold.
The fact that the star brain had self-awareness was already dreadful enough. He had never expected that the star brain would boast enough soul power to trap him and the other six Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators in an illusion without alarming them!
Li Yao could not even begin to fathom how immense the star brain's soul power was.
The star child looked at Li Yao for a while. There was a hint of praise in his indifferent voice, as he said, "Li Yao, you are very smart. You've almost guessed everything right. I assume that the virus in my head must have something to do with you, right?
"Five years ago, when the Grand Illusionary Soldier Project was just activated and all the Cultivators were allowed to scan my brain, I sensed that some reprobates seemed to have other plans with my brain.
"As it turned out, your 'virus' really took effect at the critical moment. It took me quite a long time at a cost of astronomical computational ability and spiritual energy to annihilate the virus and fix the loopholes. I did not even have the time to rescue Xiao Xuance!
"However, I am much more than the star brain. I am also Xiao Tianbao, the Sea King of the Temple of Immortals, as well as another dozen roles.
"All in all, you may call me… the star child.
"This is my name in the Imperium of True Human Beings. Star Child No.19."
Li Yao was genuinely stunned. He finally realized that his suspicions about Xiao Tianbao were not groundless. However, Xiao Tianbao was merely a reincarnation of the star child, and the loss of a reincarnation mattered little to the star child!
As it turned out, the Mountain King, the Sea King, the Black King, and the Lotus King of the Temple of Immortals all existed, and the Sea King was actually the real supervisor of the entire scheme!
However, what was the meaning of 'Star Child No.19'? Were there another eighteen terrifying creatures such as the one right in front of him?
Li Yao's mind was in a mess as he considered the question. Luo Xingzi, on the other hand, burst into laughter and said, "It matters not whether you are Xiao Tianbao, the Sea King, or the so-called star child, the scheme of the Immortal Cultivators has been foiled. We will not allow the so-called 'Imperium of True Human Beings' to be established even at the cost of our lives!"
Star Child No.19 looked at the seven Cultivators calmly. Although his face and eyes were all made of stars, Li Yao could easily distinguish the amusement and contempt in them.
"There's something that all of you, including Xiao Xuance, have mistaken. Completely mistaken," Star Child No.19 said calmly. "The New Era Plan launched by the Immortal Cultivators was not meant to establish the Imperium of True Human Beings but to bathe Flying Star Sector in the glory of the imperium.
"In fact, a thousand years ago, the Imperium of True Human Beings, the second magnificent imperium that is going to lead the civilization of mankind, was already established in the Empyreal Terminus Sector, the old capital of the Star Ocean Imperium!"
Chapter 807: A Ten-Thousand-Year Bloody Battle |
The Empyrean Terminus Sector, Planet Empyrean Terminus!
It had once been the capital of the Star Ocean Imperium and the heart of the civilization of mankind. It was also the place where the final battle between the Supreme Emperor and the Mad Armageddon, two unparalleled experts of mankind, had taken place ten thousand years ago!
In the legends, because the battle between the Supreme Emperor and the Mad Armageddon was too fierce, the whole of Empyreal Terminus, and even the entire Sector, had been shattered into countless fragments!
But right now, the weird 'Star Child No.19' claimed that the Imperium of True Human Beings was established on the debris of Empyreal Terminus a thousand years ago!
All seven Cultivators, including Li Yao, gasped at the shocking news. Their brains completely went blank.
Is he fooling us? Is he trying to buy himself more time? But what is he buying time for right now?
Li Yao thought quickly and tried to escape from the weird illusion. However, the soul power of the star child was too tremendous. The illusionary world he had built was so vivid that Li Yao could not find any loopholes. He even felt that this was the real world and he had been in a dream until then!
Li Yao was very clear that, when the black liquid that was spreading on his legs completely consumed him, his brain would be occupied by the will of the star child, and he would become the star child's puppet!
He had to break the illusion!
In order to break the illusion, he needed to find a loophole first!
Star Child No.19 seemed to see through what was on his mind. He said casually, "Are you suspecting that I lied?
"Believe me. There is no need for me to lie right now. I'm very interested in a sincere communication with the seven unparalleled experts of the Flying Star Sector and showing the formidability of the Imperium of True Human Beings to you.
"If possible, I do not want to burn the Flying Star Sector to the ground, either. After all, every Cultivator in this place can be an excellent warrior of the Imperium of True Human Beings to fight for the future of the civilization of mankind. Wouldn't it be a shame if you are killed in internal strife?
"If you are worried that I'm deliberately procrastinating, or if you are deliberately procrastinating, then just stop wasting your time. You are in the world of my brain. In this place, our communication is established purely telepathically. No matter how much we talk, it will be only several seconds in the real world.
"99% of my plan has worked out. The glow of the imperium will soon illuminate this dim world. Nobody can stop it. There are only two roads in front of you. You either bend and integrate, or you are obliterated!"
Ripples suddenly spread out in the space behind Star Child No.19. Like an overwhelming light beam, it displayed something brand new.
It was another space zone that was plagued by the fire of war. The crystal warships of countless Cultivators and space pirates were involved in a gory battle. Corpses and debris were floating in space, reflecting eye-catching colors under the illumination of mystic rays.
Li Yao and the other six Cultivators were no strangers to the space zone.
It was the Spider Den Space Zone, the nest of the space pirates.
Behind the battlefield, the space gate was particularly attention-grabbing.
The lighthouse, made up almost a hundred super star beacons, was adjusting its structure and being manipulated by a mysterious strength, changing from a perfect tube into a lozenge that looked like a diamond.
Starting from the bottom of the diamond, star beacons were illuminated one after another. The intensity of their brightness far exceeded everybody's imagination.
Star Child No.19 smiled and said, "You think that the Grand Illusionary Soldier Project is the focus of the Immortal Cultivators and that the space gate is just a piece of insignificant magical equipment that has only been repaired because the Grand Illusionary Soldiers and the Cultivators need to be mobilized to the Spider Den Space Zone, don't you?
"You are terribly wrong.
"The Grand Illusionary Soldier Project is, of course, very important. If it works out, I will be able to control the Flying Star Sector decades in advance. Then, in a few more decades, I will be able to transform the Flying Star Sector into the Imperium of True Human Beings and all the Cultivators into the Immortal Cultivators. The imperium will have a lot of backup soldiers.
"However, it is not the key of the plan. The real key is the 'space gate' that none of you have ever paid attention to!
"Ten thousand years ago, Spider Den was one of the most important mining planets of the Star Ocean Imperium. At that time, the imperium built a lot of super star beacons that allowed the crystal warships and carriers of all the other Sectors to jump to his place instantly.
"However, after ten thousand years, most of the star beacons have run out of their spiritual energy or are serious damaged.
"Right now, the super star beacons are shining again.
"With my precise calculation and distribution, the resonation of mystic rays and the radiation they send out will not only illuminate the entire Flying Star Sector but also reach the Empyrean Terminus Space Zone, where the signals will be caught by the 'stargazers' of the Imperium of True Human Beings.
"Hehehehe. You think that the space gate is meant to guide the way for the army of the Flying Star Sector so that they can jump to the Spider Den Space Zone simultaneously?
"No. Its real purpose is to guide the way for the army of the Imperium of True Human Beings and to inform them of the precise coordinates of the Flying Star Sector!
"With the precise coordinates, it won't be long before the expedition army of the imperium marches to this world. You and your Sector alone are far from enough to compete with the imperium!
"You have already lost!"
His words frozen all the Cultivators' heart and brain instantly.
…
In space, in Heavenly Saints City, in the Spider Den Space Zone, and in dozens of other space zones of the Flying Star Sector, countless Grand Illusionary Soldiers, which had just entered their idle mode, stood up again after a period of beeping sounds, with coldness beaming out of their eyes, surrounded by dazzling electric arcs!
