Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

The neurotoxin that could kill hundreds of people instantly was right in his hand. If it was detonated, even Li Yao was not confident that he could survive the disaster.

His back was soaked in sweat, only to be vaporized by blowing wind in the next second.

CRACK!

A stalagmite on the ground skimmed against his back, leaving a white trace on the armor there.

Li Yao gulped. He narrowed his eyes, while bright gold lines were interconnecting, extending, and outlining the detailed structural design of the crystal bomb.

Huangpu Shiyi was the best bomb expert in the Temple of Immortals. Therefore, the bombs of the Temple of Immortals were more or less in his style. It was even possible that the very crystal bomb in front of him had been crafted by Huangpu Shiyi in person long ago.

Li Yao was also an expert of crystal bombs. Huangpu Shiyi’s knowledge was now all his. In the days on Iron Plateau, he had spent a lot of time reflecting on the techniques that Huangpu Shiyi had taught him. Therefore, it was not difficult to dismantle the crystal bomb.

However, Li Yao discovered that a small telepathic thought transmitter was buried deep inside the crystal bomb.

When the spiritual energy circuit was intact, the transmitter would be alright. But once the spiritual energy circuit was broken, a sign that the crystal bomb had been compromised, the transmitter would be automatically triggered and send out a feeble telepathic thought.

Then, a certain someone would know that the bomb had been sabotaged.

Pondering for a moment, Li Yao devised a new circuit with a crystal as the source of spiritual energy. He then docked the new circuit around the telepathic thought transmitter which would be fooled into thinking that the spiritual energy circuit was still intact.

After that, Li Yao concentrated his attention on dismantling the crystal bomb.

Neltharion became his second pair of eyes, observing the route for him. Occasionally, when there were large obstacles such as giant craters ahead, Li Yao would crawl into the cockpit again to alter the direction.

It was not until more than half an hour later that he finally finished dismantling the crystal bomb and removing all the chips that were meant to receive signals and telepathic thoughts.

Right now, the crystal bomb was under nobody’s control.

Li Yao thought of something. He took out some materials and further modified the crystal bomb by adding a lot of his own chips.

This crystal bomb was activated again, but it only listened to his command now.

When everything was done, an hour and twenty minutes had passed.

Some ten single tanks of the Burning Sun Tribe were already within reach!

BOOM! BOOM!

The two parties were less than one kilometer from each other. The mobile True Qi cannons deployed on the single tanks of the Burning Sun Tribe were all blowing out crystal bombs, which sent enormous fireballs toward Li Yao’s tank.

Li Yao gritted his teeth. Seeing that there were no obstructions in front of him, he simply leapt to the back of the tank and shot Thunderous Roar at the middle of the incoming single tanks three times.

After three explosions, mushroom clouds soared into the sky. The blast savaged the hundreds of square meters nearby. Several single tanks were knocked over by the air waves. The knights on them fell off and rolled on the plateau, left behind by their companions immediately.

”There has been a misunderstanding. Listen to my explanation!” Li Yao bellowed, his spiritual gas pushing his every word hundreds of meters away where they exploded like crystal bombs.

Li Yao took out a common gun. He crouched on the top of the tank and aimed at the head of a single tank. After a bam, the engine system of the single tank started roaring in protest with black smoke popping up. It fell over together with the knight on it.

”There’s a great scheme behind all this. Why don’t we sit down and talk about it nicely?”

Li Yao picked six Wolf Fangs that he had specially modified. The grips on the grenades had been removed, which made them look like goose eggs, but they had been filled with double crystals. Now, they were thrown toward the back of his tank.

The Wolf Fangs all exploded. They formed a wall of flames more than ten meters tall behind Li Yao’s tank. In the end, four knights of the Burning Sun Tribe leapt over the wall. But one of them was hit by the air currents and was blocked behind the wall.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Two knights of the Burning Sun Tribe suddenly accelerated and finally reached Li Yao’s tank!

”Don’t fight. Let’s talk!”

Li Yao’s body moved. A long tusk-like saber appeared in his hand. It had features of a Scorpion’s Tail and was similar in style to the Boiled Blood Wind Slashing Saber. Made of the sturdiest body parts of the apocalyptic beasts, the blade was roaring stubbornly in the fierce wind.

Shua!

Hardly had a knight raised his gun when its barrel was chopped off by Li Yao, who then strode forward, and, lowering his elbow and lifting his shoulder, knocked the knight to the ground fifty meters away.

”Violence is never a solution to any problem. Why do you not understand that?”

Li Yao turned around and shot a long needle made of the bones of an apocalyptic beast into the scapula of the other knight. He then drew close and kicked him so heavily that the knight’s breastplate almost collapsed into his chest. The second knight was knocked off the tank, too.

Li Yao secret sighed. Talk was indeed hard.

CRACK!

A soft sound drifted over from the rear of the tank. The last knight of the Burning Sun Tribe had leapt to the top.

The crimson armor on this knight was much more glamorous than others. He seemed to be made of frozen flames that were about to be unfrozen. His eyes were slightly red, and like two volcanoes that were about to erupt, magma was rolling unstoppably deep inside his eyes.

A blood-red saber was slowly raised and pointed at Li Yao.

It was Yan Chifeng, eldest son of the late chief of the Burning Sun Tribe, blood brother of Yan Chihuo, the best expert in the younger generation of the Burning Sun Tribe, and a comrade who had fought side by side with Li Yao in the battle of the apocalypse!

The man was an out-and-out maniac in training. In the morning of the six tribes’ meeting, he had practiced with Li Yao in the temple of techniques. Therefore, the two of them were sort of acquaintances.

Li Yao knew well that Yan Chifeng was far stronger than his emotional brother Yan Chihuo and was already in the 83rd level of the Refinement Stage. The man was one of the best warriors, even when taking all the young people of the six tribes into consideration. He would definitely be an opponent that was hard to deal with.

Taking a deep breath, Li Yao spoke, not expecting any response. ”I can explain.”

”Alright. I’m listening,” said Yan Chihuo coldly, who was still holding his crimson saber aiming at Li Yao’s throat, but did not take any action.

”What?” Li Yao was stunned.

”I am a man who loves nothing more than fighting, and I always believe that a match is the best occasion to reveal one’s true personality!” Yan Chihuo declared. ”I’ve practiced with you before. For some reason, I don’t think you are a guy with evil purposes. So, I’ll give you three minutes for you to explain yourself.”

Li Yao’s eyes rolled quickly, as he replied, ”Indeed, I am not.”

Yan Chihuo said seriously, ”I’ve carefully reflected on my father’s accident from the beginning to the end over the last couple of days. The more I thought about it, the more suspicions I had. But when I was going to investigate, some emergency broke out and interrupted my schedule. I feel that—”

Li Yao added for him, ”You feel that somebody was manipulating you in the darkness. They did not give you the time to rest and think!”

Yan Chifeng’s eyes suddenly shone. ”Yes. Exactly!

”Also, as for my uncle Yan Xibei and my brother Yan Chihuo, they’ve been acting weird, too.

”I can’t tell why I feel they are being weird, but I did feel uncomfortable when uncanny changes suddenly happened to two family members whom I’d lived with for decades.”

Li Yao blinked, as his eyes became brighter and brighter. He mumbled, ”Your senses are keen. Your uncle and your brother were probably involved in the great scheme long ago or even the organizer of it. Your father was very likely killed by one of them, if not the two of them together!”

”What?”

Yan Chifeng’s saber suddenly shivered, and he almost lost control over the grip. There was a hint of sorrow and anger on his expressionless face, as he shouted, ”Who are you exactly? What has been going on?”

”Well—”

Li Yao hesitated, as if he was considering whether or not to tell the truth to Yan Chifeng.

”Sand Scorpion, the two of us fought side by side in the battle of apocalypse. I appreciate your valiancy, and I am willing to believe you!”

Yan Chifeng sheathed his saber. He took a step forward and raised his voice. ”But what can you do if I am the only one who believes you? Right now, the six tribes of Iron Plateau have gone mad, and the Burning Sun Tribe is the maddest of all! If you are still hesitating to tell me all the truth, how can I help you?

”Right now, I’m the only person that you can count on. No. You are the only person that I can count on to save Iron Plateau and resolve the conspiracy!

”The tank below our feet, although very fast, consumes high-pressure spiritual gas at an astonishing speed, too!

”Judging from the engine noises, I can tell that more than half of the storage has been used. It will run out of gas in less than twelve hours. Where are you going to run to after that?

”Were you saying that you could explain? Then explain everything to me! The two of us are going to break the trap together!”

Li Yao faltered, his lips trembling. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, ”I—I can explain to you what has happened, but I cannot tell you who I am!”

Yan Chifeng scoffed, ”I know who you are. You are a space resident, aren’t you?”

Li Yao suddenly retreated as if he had been bashed hard. His eyes were wide open, as he stammered, ”You—you—”

Yan Chifeng sighed. ”You’ve taken the wisdom of the Iron Plateau natives too lightly. You really think that we are ignorant barbarians? Two months ago, a space resident landed on Iron Plateau and encountered my brother. The Burning Sun Tribe sent out a lot of hands to search for him, only to never see him again as if he had melted into the desert.

”A few days later, you showed up in the Furious Bears Tribe, with mysterious backgrounds, and claiming that you’d lost your memory.

”Forget the amnesia part. The exquisite armor you made is a completely different style from those made on Iron Plateau!

”Is there a second possibility if you are not the space resident?

”Rest assured. I don’t think you have any malicious schemes even if you are a space resident. The reason is simple. If you had schemes, you wouldn’t have shown up in front of my brother openly and frankly, would you?”

Li Yao was silently for a long time. He gnashed, ”Can I trust you?”

Yan Chifeng took another step forward. ”You have to.”

Li Yao took deep breath. A saber seemed to be passing by his eyes and cutting of the last bit of his hesitation.

”Alright. I’ll take the risk.”

Li Yao raised his head and looked at Yan Chifeng in the eyes, while he clenched his fists and announced, ”Yes. As a matter of fact, I am a space resident!”