Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Li Yao shook off the last drop of blood on the tip of his saber and returned the blade to its sheath as he secretly sighed.

If possible, he didn’t want to kill Yan Chifeng.

The scheme of the Temple of Immortals on Iron Plateau was too complicated for a maniac of training such as Yan Chifeng to be the supervisor. If he was killed, all the leads would disappear.

However, Yan Chifeng was also an expert above the 80th level of the Refinement Stage. Li Yao only pretended that he was still in the agony of his soul being torn apart so that the man would draw close to him incautiously.

His execution of Yan Chifeng had been extremely lucky but also dangerous.

Li Yao was not confident at all that he could capture such an expert alive.

Below the Truth Cabinet, when the warriors of the six tribes saw that Yan Chifeng, one of the few top experts in his generation, kneeled down and died, they all exclaimed in shock.

Those of the Burning Sun Tribe were wearing complicated expressions, not knowing what they should do with the situation.

Many other people, in the meantime, went to Yan Xibei.

The previous best warrior of Iron Plateau was no longer the hero he used to be. A terrible wound had been left on his neck. Although it had been blocked by herbs and stopped bleeding, Yan Xibei looked terribly weak. He couldn’t even talk because of his injured throat. Tears of regret and embarrassment flowed out of his brown eyes. There was no telling whether he was feeling sorry that the Burning Sun Tribe had been fooled by the schemer or that he had been so humiliated by his nephew in public.

Li Yao leapt down and said to the four chiefs on the spot, ”Now that the truth is out, why don’t I invite a representative of the Cultivators in the valley out so that we can figure out the details together?

”Cultivators will be carrying first-aid kits. The medicine in them should be enough to seal Master Yan’s wound for now. We’ll make further pl—”

Before Li Yao could finish, a quake suddenly shook the ground beneath them. The ground seemed to become a surging ocean, and rumbling noises echoed underground. The earth broke apart, and many True Qi tanks fell into the newly opened ravines!

Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!

Dozens of horrifying cracks appeared near the valley, from which dense mist spurted out. The grey mist seemed to be alive and continued spreading and dispersing, soon enshrouding the entire valley area. It surrounded everybody on the spot like a circular great wall, reaching high into the sky.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

Creepy shrieks came over from the grey mist. Countless black shadows were hovering at a low altitude.

Shua!

One of the black shadows suddenly dashed out of the grey mist toward the single tank closest to the mist. In the blink of an eye, the knight on the tank had been snatched into the mist!

The sound of bones being broken and flesh tearing apart immediately echoed inside the grey mist, accompanied by screams and laughter of demon beasts!

”This is—”

The grey mist had come too quickly for anybody to realize that they were being surrounded. The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe and the chief of the Feathered Snakes Tribe looked at each other and said, their faces pale, ”An egg of apocalypse has exploded!”

Li Yao gasped in shock. ”How is this possible? Didn’t one of them just explode?”

Some bizarre-shaped shadows could be vaguely seen inside the grey mist.

They were like giant fetuses that were still stained with wet, thick amniotic fluid. Looking like half-melted apocalyptic beasts, they were even more disgusting than the fully-grown ones.

Many apocalyptic beasts were dragging tubes that looked like bloody vines that extended toward the depths of the grey mist. The tubes were expanding and shrinking nonstop, sending energy into their bodies.

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe smiled bitterly. ”It’s true that the eggs of apocalypse in our place have just broken out. But this is the Dark Continent, far away from the territory of the six tribes. The eggs of apocalypse here have absorbed the resources hundreds of kilometers nearby. They do not belong to the system of the eggs of apocalypse in our territory.

”Besides, there are many circumstances that can lead to the explosion of an apocalyptic egg in advance!”

Li Yao narrowed his eyes.

He remembered that Xiong Wuji had told him why the eggs of apocalypse should not be detonated. It was because explosions tended to stimulate the eggs of apocalypse to release the beasts earlier!

”Damn!”

Li Yao gnashed his teeth and thought through many things.

He finally understood why Yan Chifeng had lured him to this valley. As it turned out, the Temple of Immortals still had backup plans here.

A maturing egg of apocalypse must’ve been somewhere below the valley. When the Temple of Immortals discovered it, they planted a lot of bombs near the egg.

If everything went smoothly, then all was good.

But if their plan did not go well and their scheme was revealed, just like what had happened just now, they would detonate the egg of apocalypse and release the beasts in advance to slay everyone on the spot!

In such a case, the elite warriors of Iron Plateau would all be killed. It was against the purpose of the Temple of Immortals, which was to diminish the strength of both sides. A lot of excellent cannon fodder would be wasted, too. However, the Temple of Immortals’ plan could proceed again anyway!

Seeing more and more shadows popping up inside the grey mist and hearing the shrieks around becoming louder and louder, Li Yao squinted and asked in a low voice, ”Can we reach out to the outside world?”

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe shook his head. ”We can’t!

”Tremendous magnetic minerals are contained inside the hills and block all our signals. We cannot communicate with our home!”

Li Yao took a deep breath and touched the grip of Thunderous Roar.

As the number of the apocalyptic beasts in the grey mist increased, so did his own fighting will.

”Chief.”

Li Yao asked another question, ”Since the egg of apocalyptic was detonated in advance, it did not ripen, so the apocalyptic beasts inside won’t be as strong as those in the previous battle of the apocalypse, right?”

”Of course. When an egg of apocalypse is triggered prematurely, most apocalyptic beasts inside will be killed instantly because they are still merely in the embryo state. Those lucky enough to survive will have no more than one tenth of their capability left.”

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe smiled bitterly. ”But we are seriously short of hands, too. Although the best warriors of Iron Plateau have been gathered here, there are only several thousand of us, and we don’t have any reinforcements.”

”Let us prepare to fight!”

Li Yao remarked, ”We might have reinforcements.”

After that, Li Yao turned around and rushed toward the valley.

The Cultivators from the Great Horn Exo Society, to avoid a misunderstanding, had been hiding inside the valley.

They had talked with the hostages and learned what had happened to them.

However, the suddenly appearance of the grey mist had surprised all the Exos.

Lei Dalu strode forward and asked, ”What’s going on?”

”The misunderstanding has been cleared for now, but we’ve got a new situation.”

Li Yao quickly explained everything that happened and the eggs of apocalypse to them. He glanced at the Cultivators and then stared Lei Dalu in the eye. He said one word after another, ”Right now, you have two options.

”The first option, go back!

”Your crystal suits all boast amazing short-distance flight abilities. With the Iron Plateau natives fighting ahead, it won’t be difficult for you to escape the siege of the apocalyptic beasts!

”The second option, go forward!

”You will fight side by side with the Iron Plateau natives and slay all the pests until we march out from the front!

”I appreciate that so many people who barely know me risked coming such a long way here to rescue me.

”So, I don’t want you to die for nothing.

”The situation is unclear now. Both directions entail dangers. But to be honest, I think it is more dangerous to stay and fight!

”To retreat or to fight, it’s your call.”

Finishing his speech, Li Yao closed his facial cover and turned around.

”Wait!”

Lei Dalu shouted silently, ”Are you staying to fight with the Iron Plateau natives?”

Li Yao replied without looking back, ”I promised an Iron Plateau native that I would show him what a real Cultivator should be like.”

Carrying ’Thunderous Roar’ on his shoulder, he strode out of the valley.

Lei Dalu opened his mouth and cursed silently. He returned to the company of the Great Horn Exo Society.

”Captain, what is going on? What did the barbarian of Iron Plateau say?”

”What’s happening outside? Where did so many demon beasts come from? They seem very strong!”

”Captain, the hostages have been saved. What do we do now?”

Lei Dalu was silent for a moment. He then rubbed his face hard and said seriously, ”Stop yelling. We are going to make a choice now.”

…

When Li Yao returned to the outskirts of the valley, the grey mist was much thinner. The grinning, weirdly-shaped apocalyptic beasts were much clearer than before.

Earsplitting roars burst out in the battle formation of the qi-trainers, which even eclipsed the shrieks of the apocalyptic beasts. Everyone’s fighting will was soaring higher than ever!

However, there was a hint of grief inside the fighting will.

Li Yao asked around and learned that, when he went to contact the Cultivators inside the valley, Yan Xibei had dashed into the mist on his wheelchair while the other qi-trainers were gathering their tanks and preparing for the battle.

”Master Yan must’ve found the insult unbearable!”

His eyes red, Shi Meng sighed. ”He couldn’t bear to see the Burning Sun Tribe as it is now and decided to wash away the dishonor of his tribe with his own death!”

Li Yao opened his mouth but didn’t say anything. There were still a lot of questions that were bothering him, but Yan Xibei’s sudden death cast him into confusion again. He felt that one of his feet had already stepped into an abyss, and it was quite awful.

However, all the questions could only be answered after the pests in front were cleared!

Click!

Li Yao set Thunderous Roar to burst mode and loaded the explosive bullets the size of a baby’s fist made of the cores of apocalyptic beasts!

”Ho! Hooooo!”

Finally, enough apocalyptic beasts were gathered inside the mist. Uttering soul-stirring shrieks, they marched toward the qi-trainers’ battle formation. However, their shrieks were soon suppressed by earsplitting explosions!

Li Yao pulled the trigger brutally, and Thunderous Roar roared!