Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Shi Meng shook his head so hard that it could have fallen off his neck. ”Absolutely not! Yan Xibei always bears the entirety of Iron Plateau in mind. There are no difference between tribes in his eyes. He treats the qi-trainers from every tribe the same. Whichever tribe has problems, he will always try his best to solve them!

”With his prestige and experience, he should’ve been the chief of the Burning Sun Tribe. However, he insisted that he would have to prioritize the interests of the Burning Sun Tribe if he became the chief and would not be able to treat every tribe equally anymore. Therefore, he handed the post over to his younger brother, Yan Zhengdong!

”After he was heavily wounded, Yan Xibei has been travelling among various tribes and helping everyone in need with the fortune of his family. He also kept nothing to himself when he taught the younger generation the arts of training!

”Our Chief Xiong was once stuck for more than half a year when he tried to surpass the 90th level of the Refinement Stage. It was not until he received Yan Xibei’s wholehearted enlightenment that he made a major breakthrough and went on to the 99th level!

”That’s why Chief Xiong called Yan Xibei ’master’ just now. The two of them were indeed a student and a teacher!

”Do you think that such an upright hero would be a liar?”

Li Yao felt a headache coming on.

According to Shi Meng, Yan Xibei, the previous best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau, was an impeccable saint.

Such a man was either too wise and brave or extremely cunning. It was definitely not going to be easy to deal with him!

Now that Yan Xibei had appeared, Xiong Wuji’s tone immediately softened. He conceded, ”Master Yan, if you’ve investigated the matter in person, of course we believe that the Oasis Tribe is real! The people of the Oasis Tribe are our compatriots, and it’s only reasonable that we interact and communicate with each other. However, the Oasis Plan and the motion I proposed just now are not contradictory.

”No matter how many resources are stored in the Dark Continent, they will be used up one day. To excavate the resources will require huge expenses, too. In many years’ time, we will still have to get in touch with the space residents. If so, why don’t we prepare earlier?

”The Furious Bears Tribe does not object to the Oasis Plan. I believe that the Silver Moon Tribe and the Heaven Wolves Tribe are the same. However, it won’t be too much of a burden if we try to communicate with the Oasis Tribe and the space residents at the same time.”

”No! No! Absolutely impossible!”

Before Yan Xibei could reply, Yan Zhengdong, chief of the Burning Sun Tribe, had already jumped to his feet, his veins bulging on his forehead. He shouted desperately, ”The Burning Sun Tribe insists that we keep our distance from the space residents no matter what!”

Xiong Wuji frowned deeply. He asked solemnly, ”Chief Yan, your reaction is rather strange. I have agreed to join your Oasis Plan. Why are you unwilling to even send a delegation to investigate the development of the space residents?

”I wonder, what are the opinions of the Giant Axe Tribe and the Feathered Snakes Tribe?”

Yan Zhengdong sniffed heavily. He looked at the other two chiefs on his side in anger.

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe was wearing black clothes that looked like a military uniform with two crossed giant axes weaved in silver threads on his chest.

His eyes were narrow and long, like the coldly blinking edge of an axe. Pondering for a moment, he slowly replied, ”If the Furious Bears Tribe is willing to invest enough resources in the Oasis Plan, then the Giant Axe Tribe agrees to get in touch with the space residents.”

”What?!” Yan Zhengdong slapped the desk in fury. ”Gu Lei, what’s the meaning of this?”

Gu Lei, chief of the Giant Axe Tribe, said coldly, ”We of the Giant Axe Tribe have always considered ourselves to be a real army. We are as wary of the space residents as the Burning Sun Tribe is. However, I totally agree with what Chief Xiong said just now. You can never lose a battle when you know both yourself and your enemy well!

”As soldiers, nobody understands the importance of tactical intelligence better than us. We’ve been separated from the space residents for five thousand years. There is so much hatred between us, and yet we know barely anything about them. What a terrible situation we are in!

”Over the past thousand years, some starships of the space residents have been forced to land on Iron Plateau, and we’ve examined a lot of debris.

”Everybody here knows that the starships of the space residents are getting more advanced and powerful. God knows what phase they are in right now!

”Nothing is more horrifying than an enemy lurking in the shadows that we know nothing about!

”Therefore, the Giant Axe Tribe agrees to reach out to the space residents. If they really are as friendly as Chief Xiong hopes they will be and would like to communicate with us peacefully, it will be all good. If they are hostile, at least we will get to know more details about them and make precautions accordingly!”

Yan Zhengdong was rendered speechless. His face turned red, but he failed to give a response for a long time. At last, he added, ”Gu Lei, have you forgotten the vow our ancestors made five thousand years ago?”

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe answered calmly, ”Of course we haven’t. Iron Plateau will always be our home. Every qi-trainer of the Giant Axe Tribe will protect our home until the last bit of our blood is shed! But it does not mean that we should be confined to Iron Plateau forever!

”Our ancestors never dictated that we never step off Iron Plateau, did they?”

”Chief Yan, I think that you are overreacting, too.”

The chief of the Feathered Snakes Tribe was an old lady with white hair and a wrinkled face, and yet she was wearing more than ten blossoming flowers in her hair, which made her look somewhat hilarious. She tapped the table and remarked, ”Just think about it. The Iron Plateau natives are the rightful successors of the Flying Star Sector. We have our fair share of the resources in space, too! Why are the rats in space monopolizing all of them? Are we not qualified to go to space?

”We are not abandoning Iron Plateau anyway, nor are we attracting the space residents to our planet. We are merely going to investigate the space residents. If you are not satisfied, you can consider the communication to be a reconnaissance mission!

”I think the task is definitely worth a try.

”Moreover—”

Glancing at Xiong Wuji, the chief of the Feathered Snakes Tribe was smiling. ”Chief Yan, you don’t think that Chief Xiong will abandon the idea just because you don’t agree, do you? Chances are that the three tribes of the west will send their own delegation into space without informing us first. Will you know what they are trading with the space residents?

”Do you want to start a civil war between the six tribes because of that?

”It’s better to unify and set up rules first than let them act on their own. I believe that Chief Xiong will definitely set an example to abide by the rules for everyone else, won’t he?”

Xiong Wuji let out a long breath in relief and nodded quickly. ”Of course. This is a big deal that naturally requires the six tribes to sit down and settle the details to ensure that everything is within our expectations. This is just a preliminary proposal. Everybody’s input is very valuable.”

”No. I’m still against it. Strongly against it!”

Yan Zhengdong was even more infuriated, like a furiously burning torch. His veins were about to explode out of his temples, while he glared at Xiong Wuji and gnashed his teeth. ”This whole thing is unnegotiable. You cannot do it!”

Now, even the chief of the Giant Axe Tribe and that of the Feathered Snakes Tribe were puzzled.

Gu Lei, chief of the Giant Axe Tribe, was a good friend of Yan Zhengdong. He asked in confusion, ”Zhengdong, what are the reasons of your objection? Why don’t you tell us your insights on the advantages and disadvantages of the motion?”

Gazing at Xiong Wuji in silence for a long time, Yan Zhengdong finally said, ”I suggest the meeting be adjourned today. We will further discuss the issue tomorrow!”

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe and that of the Feathered Snakes Tribe were both dazed for a moment. They looked at each other and were smart enough to realize that Yan Zhengdong must have something that he did not want to share. They could only nod their heads and postpone the meeting for now.

The first day of the meeting of the six tribes came to a sudden end just like that.

Xiong Wuji’s face turned extremely weird, as if Yan Zhengdong’s eyes had pierced through his soul. He was somewhat lost long after the meeting was ended.

Even Li Yao seemed to have contracted a special virus. His eyes turned deep and dark, and nobody noticed when he left. He returned to his ward directly after the meeting and meditated on his bed. It was not until ten o’clock in the evening that he went to Xiong Wuji’s ward.

The light was off. Xiong Wuji was sitting in the darkness all by himself, like a rotten wooden sculpture.

He seemed to be much thinner than half a day ago. The aura of the best warrior on Iron Plateau had vanished from him.

”The discovery of the Oasis Tribe is quite odd!”

Li Yao went to the topic straightforwardly. ”Your ancestors searched the Dark Continent for thousands of years without finding any civilizations. It is quite uncanny that a tribe popped out of nowhere at such a moment!”

Xiong Wuji was suddenly woken up from his trance. He calmed himself down and said, ”It is indeed quite unbelievable that the Oasis Tribe was found. However, Master Yan Xibei is the most respected man on Iron Plateau and I believe in him. He would never do anything that is harmful for the interest of Iron Plateau!”

Li Yao suddenly changed the topic. ”Let’s put the issue aside for a moment. I want to discuss my arrival on Iron Plateau with you.

”Do you still remember that I said I was forced to escape to Iron Plateau because of the hunting of an expert space pirate?”

Xiong Wuji was dazed for a moment. He did not understand why Li Yao had brought the subject up. ”I do. What now?”

Li Yao narrowed his eyes, his voice dissecting the situation layer by layer like the sharpest scalpel. ”Do you not feel that this is too much a coincidence? It is almost like a novel.

”Isn’t that what happens in all novels? When the protagonist meets a bad man that is too strong for himself, he can always run away with the favorable circumstances around him and then seek revenge after he trains himself hard!

”Why did there happen to be a planetary ring right behind myself when I was faced with a Core Formation Stage expert, and why was there Iron Plateau, known as the forbidden area for Cultivators, right inside the planetary ring that even the Core Formation Stage expert dare not trespass?

”Was it really because I was very lucky?”

Xiong Wuji frowned. ”There are always coincidences.”

Li Yao nodded. ”That’s what I thought; there are always coincidences.

”However, let’s say that it was a coincidence that I luckily escaped to Iron Plateau.

”And it is another coincidence that a tribe living in the Dark Continent which nobody had ever found for thousands of years popped up exactly at this moment.

”I can accept one coincidence, but the cooccurrence of two coincidences really makes me feel creepy now.”