Forty millenniums of cul.., p.74
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 74
But he had never imagined that he would encounter the person who had truly done it at such a timely moment; his bragging was almost exposed.
"After all, as a cultivator, to get cold feet is certainly nothing glorious. Perhaps several competitors in the family would even hype it up without restraint, which would certainly ruin my reputation."
"The train soldiers are insignificant, but this hick is going to be a little troublesome. Although he may be rustic, he is still a new student of the Grand Desolate War Institution's Refining Department and is, after all, a student of the Nine Elite Universities. Not to mention that his hand speed is so quick, one would never know when he could soar to the top and become an influential figure."
"For such a person, it would be better to become friends before he gains fame. Once we are friends, everything will naturally be settled!"
Usually, Jiang Tao would flaunt a little, but he was, after all, still a descendant of a big family, thus he was not too stupid. After analyzing the gains and losses clearly, he immediately thought of becoming friends with Li Yao.
But, Li Yao's mind was in chaos; it was as if a volcano was about to erupt. His seven emotions and six desires[4] were heightened to the extreme, as such he simply could not control himself.
Before the brain had issued any command, four words, like flying swords, shot out like lightning from the depths of his throat:
"Get the hell out!"
Jiang Tao's complexion changed. Not so long ago, on the crystal train, the seven cultivators had a contemptuous look in their eyes towards him, as they had regarded him as a deserter, which already brought him extreme shame and anger.
He had never thought that even an ordinary person would dare to yell at him.
Glancing around, he discovered many soldiers patrolling. Forcing back his anger, Jiang Tao pulled out a blank gold transfer card from his bosom and handed it over.
"We are both learning to refine, so why do you keep people away? From the way you dress, your family should be a commoner family. Otherwise, you would not have ended up in the Grand Desolate War Institution's Refining Department. However, learning to refine requires a great deal of money. If you want to rise above the others, you need to take private lessons on top of the normal studies. This card has 200,000 bucks. Take it and spend it as you wish. Think of it as me supporting a junior. Hahaha."
Jiang Tao stuffed the gold transfer card into Li Yao's bosom and moved closer to his ear as he spoke in a suppressed voice, "But you can not talk about what happened on the train. ‘Misfortune comes from the mouth’—as a student of the Nine Elite Universities, you should know what these four words mean, right?"
TLN:
[1] True Fire - The fire that can be produced by the cultivator himself using his internal core or qi/energy.
[2] The three essential energies are the basic energies required to sustain human life. They are also known as Jing Qi Shen or three treasures.
- Jing 精 - The basic essence which is related to the physical aspect of the body.
- Qi 气 - The energy or breath which propels the body. It is what moves the body.
- Shen 神 - Soul, spirit, mind - the spiritual or psychic aspect of the body. In other words, the command center of the body.
[3] A person who is wise does not speak much.
[4] Seven Emotions - pleasure, anger, sorrow, joy, love, hate, and desire. Six Desires - The desires associated with the six sensory organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind)—lust, vanity, dignity, pleasant sounds, good life/death, and sensual pleasures.
Chapter 115: New World |
His voice had yet to dissipate, yet Jing Tao could already feel a vigorous force surging towards his stomach. To his dismay, Li Yao had pushed him 3-4 steps away and had also tossed the gold transfer card at his face.
Li Yao's eye had turned blood-red as a mysterious power started gushing from the depths of his bone marrow, causing him to give birth to an unstoppable feeling and an urge to fire his burning fist towards Jiang Tao's mouth.
Jiang Tao was stunned. Not even in his dream would he have imagined that some hick would actually not only not give him face but also even dare to shove him.
And, to his disbelief—he had even been pushed away!
The awakening of the spiritual root was the most mysterious phenomena in the world of cultivation. The state of awakening one’s spiritual root differed from cultivator to cultivator. For instance, Jiang Tao, who was a pure creation-type cultivator, simply didn't have such a painful reaction when his spiritual root had awakened.
Even in his dreams, he would not have imagined that Li Yao was on the verge of awakening his spiritual root.
And as long as he got a little more stimulus, even a tiny bit of stimulus, he would then be—
Jiang Tao burst into anger. In a single step, he arrived before Li Yao and grabbed onto his collar as he spoke through clenched teeth:
"I was kind enough to befriend you, yet you actually dare to humiliate me like this! I was being considerate, and yet you failed to appreciate my kindness!"
"Why? Do you think that those seven 'idiots' are heroes and I am coward? Is that what you think? Aren't I alive, while those seven 'idiots' are dead? I can keep on living and live a happy life, while not even dregs are left of those seven 'idiots'!"
"I-D-I-O-T-S?"
From the depths of Li Yao’s eyes, flickering flames appeared one after the other.
Jiang Tao grinned hideously:
"They were all powerful cultivators, and yet for some ordinary people, they chose to die. If they aren't idiots, then what are they?"
"Let me tell you this—you are a stupid brat. We are in the Wasteland, where the number of cultivators is way more than in the inland. There were at least ten cultivators on the train who, like me, had made the wisest choice."
"Are we really cowards? Of course not! We were retaining our strength, biding our time. For a gentleman to take revenge, waiting ten years is not too late!"
"But only those seven idiots stepped forward and clashed head-on with the beast tide!"
"'The blood of strong must flow for the week'? Hahaha, what era do you think we are living in!? Such nonsense is simply laughable!"
"In short, you better listen to me. I am a 3rd level Refinement Stage cultivator and a descendant of the Jiang Family. My strength is beyond your imagination. So long as you dare to speak half a word, I, like stomping an ant to death, will crush-a-hick-like-you-to-death, do-you-hear-me?"
No.
Li Yao didn't hear anything.
The only thing he heard at the moment was a deep rumbling akin to a taut string snapping echoing in his ears. Deep within his brain, something had ruthlessly snapped.
"Ding!"
As if a shackle that had been restraining his soul had been smashed to pieces, as if a dam that had been stopping the flood had completely collapsed… strength surged forth like a tsunami from the deepest parts of his brain, thereby increasing the size of his pineal gland by a couple dozen times before blasting out through his glabella.
A blood-red flame soared to the sky!
In the blink of an eye, everything before Li Yao was blood-red; it was as though the whole world had been dyed red as rumbling resembling the howling of the wind and the seas resounded in his ear. It was as though millions upon millions of crystals had burst at the same time, blasting him into a marvelous new world!
Li Yao had completely lost the ability to think. His hungry and thirsty, iron-like fist turned into a roaring, ferocious beast and bolted out before his brain had even issued any command.
"Crack!"
A sound akin to a watermelon bursting apart was followed by a blood-curdling shriek.
As if a horn to commence the battle had resounded through the sky, making Li Yao’s blood, to the very last drop, boil.
His other fist similarly turned into a ferocious beast; involuntarily tightly clenching, the fist was raised to his chest and pulled out before punching ahead!
What he did next, he had no idea…
...
God knows how long after did Li Yao finally fiercely open his eyes. His mind was completely blank, and soon, he discovered that he was inside a small medical tent.
Half of his body was immersed in a light green medical solution, which made him feel very comfortable at the places where it was in contact.
However, his entire body, from head to toe, was in incomparable pain; it was as if a crystal train had rolled over him back and forth a dozen times.
But what made him most surprised was...
"Color? So many colors?"
Blinking his eyes, Li Yao looked all around in confusion.
He discovered that the whole world was completely different from before. It was incredibly resplendent and brimming with colors. There were even a few hundred colors which he could not name.
Moreover, many tiny, gorgeous specks of light of many colors were also floating in the air.
This kind of strange state could not describe in words.
It was like someone who was color-blind since birth and only knew two colors—black and white—in his life had suddenly gained the vision of a normal person. If the kind of incomparable shock that he got when crimson, orange, red, green, azure, blue, purple... gorgeous lights of countless color entered his retina was again multiplied by a hundred times—that would be precisely what Li Yao was feeling at this moment!
Furthermore, Li Yao discovered that not only was the brilliance radiated by every object in the surroundings incredibly resplendent, even his own body was emitting faint, rainbow-like radiance round after round.
On his forehead, just a bit above his glabella was three thin and long "spirit threads" that were lightly swaying along with his breathing.
When a few tiny specks of light gradually floated over, the "spirit threads" would suddenly reach out and fiercely suck in the specks of light.
As if a long snake was swallowing an egg, the specks of light would be sucked into his brain through the spirit thread, and via the pineal gland, it would be converted into a very pure energy which would then be absorbed into every part of his body, causing his entire body to feel calm and comfortable; it was extremely pleasant.
"What is this?"
Li Yao reached out to grab the spirit threads, but his palm instead directly passed through them. He simply didn't feel anything.
Even when he rubbed his glabella, he didn't feel anything strange.
His soul, on the other hand, could clearly feel it. There was a new organ in his neural field; an organ that had evolved from his pineal gland, and this very organ was controlling these spirit threads.
With a move of his telepathic thought, these spirit threads started dancing and very soon swallowed a few dozen specks of light before completely sucking them into his neural field, thereby nourishing his soul and body.
The specks of light, upon seeing this, escaped in succession. The speed at which these specks floated became much faster, much like frightened planktons in the ocean.
"If I can produce some more and grow them a bit longer, it would be a lot better!" Li Yao thought.
Just as this thought appeared in his mind, his brain started aching as strength stored in his soul, in a steady stream, infused into the new organ evolved from the pineal gland.
Not only had the three spirit thread grown a little longer, a slightly shorter fourth spirit thread had also been formed. Furthermore, the movement speed of the spirit threads had also increased by a lot.
Soon after, over a hundred specks of light were captured.
"So formidable! If I could grow over a hundred spirit threads at once, wouldn't I be able to sweep all the specks of light floating in the air?"
Li Yao became extremely excited.
But this time, the new organ evolved from the pineal gland didn't respond to his call; on the contrary, from the depths of his neural field came a faint warning, waking him in the blink of an eye.
This request was far beyond his capabilities. Unless he was willing to overdraft his life, it was impossible to achieve it in a short period of time.
"It seems that the growth of the spirit thread is limited. I must, step by step, grow slowly. This is not something that can be achieved overnight."
From the medical treatment pod, Li Yao somehow sat up and curiously observed the strange new world.
He discovered that even if he closed both eyes, he was still able to perceive this incomparably new gorgeous world. Furthermore, it became even more clear and vivid.
"Is it possible that this new organ evolved from the pineal gland can directly perceive the world?"
Right away, Li Yao used both his hands to cover his eyes as he gathered his telepathic thoughts in his forehead and scanned his surroundings.
"Well?"
Li Yao quickly discovered that there was another medical treatment pod just opposite to him and laid inside was a wounded man.
The "radiance" emitting from this person's body was a hundred times stronger than his!
The radiance around Li Yao's body was still not firm; it was like a flickering flame swaying in the wind, weaving in and out, giving off a feeling that it might be extinguished at any moment.
But the radiance around this person was like water in a stream that was flowing slowly. The radiance had formed a sparkling armor which tightly covered his entire body.
Furthermore—
There were only four spirit threads on Li Yao's forehead, and he relied on the movement of these spirit threads to swallow the floating specks of light.
But the spirit threads on that man's forehead were not only numerous but were thick as well. Furthermore, they had also interwoven together to form a huge vortex that was producing a powerful suction force, allowing him to inhale countless floating specks of light.
It was as easy as blowing off dust! It was a hundredfold more efficient than that of Li Yao.
"The structure of this spirit thread vortex is really mysterious!"
Li Yao secretly praised. Just as Li Yao carefully tried to take a closer look, a dazzling beam of light suddenly shot over from the wounded man's body, causing Li Yao’s brain to feel a prickling pain.
When he looked again, the wounded man was covered in a black sheet, rendering Li Yao to be unable to see any of his spirit aura.
"Little Brother, casually spying on someone else's cultivation law is the biggest taboo in the world of cultivation. As you had just become a cultivator, this father will not haggle with you, but keep in mind that outside, you can not stealthily inspect other cultivators like this."
A coarse voice said with a laugh.
Li Yao was surprised for a moment and opened his eyes to look. In the opposite medical treatment pod sat an ugly man who was as tall as a bull and as robust as a horse. The man had a beard that was stiff and straight, as if swords had been hoisted from his face.
Li Yao flushed red in embarrassment. Just as he wanted to apologize, a word from the other guy's mouth had made him surprised for a moment before he became wild with joy as he jumped out of the medical treatment pod.
"Cultivator? Right, right, my pineal gland has evolved into a spiritual root! My spiritual root has awakened—I am a cultivator!"
Li Yao yelled. As he waved his right fist, a series of water-like ripples appeared in the air, spreading and propagating for a long time.
For three months, he had been wandering all over the country, yet from the beginning to the end, he couldn't find an opportunity to break through. Never in his imagination would he have thought that on the northbound train, watching the magnanimous sacrifice of Ding Yin and the other seniors, such a bloody scene, as well as being angered by Jiang Tao would cause his blood vessels to expand, his soul to be set ablaze, and his spirit root to be awakened!
From this moment onwards, he was no longer an ordinary person and he was no longer weak.
After encountering last night’s soul-stirring scene, he would no longer need someone else's protection.
Now, it would be possible for him to fight shoulder to shoulder to the bitter end together with Ding Yin, Wei Qingqing, and the red-eyed officer.
The robust man watched Li Yao with a grin. Only after Li Yao had calmed down a bit did he slowly say, "I am Guan Xiong, a Building Foundation Stage cultivator from the Mountain Sea Sect. In the Wasteland, everyone calls me 'Mountain Sea Guan Xiong'!"
"Mountain Sea Sect, Guan Xiong?"
Li Yao immediately remembered that after the sacrifice of the seven cultivators, a cultivator who was not far away had come over quickly. With his own strength, he had blocked the beast tide, preventing it from reaching the crystal train. He was the cultivator who had bravely charged straight to the demon clan giant while waving the Anti-Ship Swords of Flames.
This rough man with a stiff beard in front of him was none other than—Mountain Sea Guan Xiong!
"Brother Xiong, you didn't die? Awesome!" Li Yao was happy from the bottom of his heart. This was truly an unexpected yet pleasant surprise.
Chapter 116: The Bottom Line of Civilization |
Guan Xiong burst into laughter as did his beard, which moved along with his jaw: "If a bunch of tiny little pests wants to swallow this father, then they would have to first go back and cultivate for another 180 years! However, my cultivation did tumble down from high-level Building Foundation Stage to the intermediate-level, but as long as I cultivate for 3-5 years, I will be like a dragon again!"
Upon hearing this, Li Yao heart sunk.
The road of cultivation was full of risks and hardships. Every advancement was extremely difficult and needed a tremendous amount of hard work, resources, luck, opportunities... and not a single one could be omitted.
Many cultivators, after reaching a certain level, would stagnate for the rest of their life and would be unable to advance even half a step.
Although Guan Xiong said it lightly, Li Yao was well aware that it would not be easy to again return to the high-level Building Foundation Stage from the intermediate-level.
