Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

”I don’t like to force people to do anything.”

The claws extended by the Feathered Dragon Saber scratched on Hellsword’s crystal suit in screeching noises, as Li Yao replied casually, ”Say it or not, the choice is all yours. I will get the trophies either way.”

”I will. I will.”

Hellsword was about to burst into tears.

If he had teeth right now, he would be biting them so hard that they would have crumbled to nothing.

It was true that powerful magical equipment and attack rune arrays had been deployed on his crystal suit and his body. The enemy was bound to trigger the traps once they looted them.

His original plan had been to hide in the darkness as a ghost and attack Li Yao’s brain when Li Yao was wounded while searching his body.

But he did not know that the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau was so cunning that the guy not only guessed that he might become a ghost but also took him as a shield!

Is this maniac really an Iron Plateau native who has more brawns than brains?

Hellsword felt like crying.

Deep in thought, he quickly worked out a new scheme now that the previous one had failed. He listed all the traps hesitantly.

”Below the left side of the breastplate, there is a poison vesicle that is controlled by a rune array. If it is touched, it would explode and vaporize all the venom. The solution is…”

”The helmet cannot be ripped off, too. If it is ripped off by brute force, the entire super compressed crystal reactor will explode. The power of the explosion should be enough to blow up the entire building…”

Hellsword suddenly turned obedient and revealed all the traps on the Black Horn Battlesuit.

He had thought that, even if he pointed out all the traps, it would take Li Yao twenty minutes or even longer to dismantle such a complicated and precise crystal suit.

Yet, Li Yao’s hands turned into two clusters of black mist in which countless black feathers were flying. After a series of clanging sounds, the Black Horn Battlesuit turned into the most fundamental components and covered on the ground in less than one minute.

Looking at his dead body, Hellsword’s ghost shuddered and further concealed his killing intent.

Li Yao eyed the magical equipment on the ground in great satisfaction and complimented, ”You do have a lot of treasures with you. The ’Black Horn Battlesuit’ is already one of the most expensive crystal suits of the Flying Star Sector, but judging from the plugins here, the money you spent on modifications is almost twice its original price!”

Hellsword was furious, but he noticed the greed in Li Yao’s voice. He thought of something and suddenly asked, ”I would like to surrender!”

Li Yao could not help but chuckle. ”I said exactly the same thing a few minutes back, and we both saw what happened next, didn’t we?”

”I know you find it hard to believe, but I’m different from you,” Hellsword replied quickly. ”You are a big hero with no fear of death, but I am just a selfish Immortal Cultivator. I will do anything in order to survive!

”What I’m about to say is exactly the same as you said. As a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, not only am I familiar with many secrets on Spider Den, I am also aware of the details of the Temple of Immortals. I am very valuable and definitely worth giving a chance!

”If you do not believe me, I can tell you a big secret first as a signal of my sincerity!

”Mountain Sea Black Lotus, the four kings of immortality. The assault on Heavenly Saints City is supervised by the ’Black King’, but I am not the Black King!”

Li Yao raised his eyebrow. ”Is that so?”

Hellsword’s ghost bounced weirdly and condensed hard without alarming anyone, trying to transform into a real spectral Cultivator, while he threw out a piece of shocking news to shift Li Yao’s attention. ”Just think about it. Although I’m in the Nascent Soul Stage, I always come and go alone, and I don’t have any skills in management and administration. How could I plan and implement such a large-scale operation?

”As for who the Black King is exactly, naturally I can’t tell you right now. But as long as you accept my surrender and give me a chance to make things right, I will definitely tell you everything that I know.”

Li Yao smiled. His hands moved as quickly as wind as he searched Hellsword’s body carefully. Eventually, he found four Cosmos Rings.

Li Yao said unhurriedly, ”Senior Zhuang, I fear that you’re mistaken about something.

”I’m from Iron Plateau. I do not feel very happy that you are causing a mayhem in Heavenly Saints City, but it is not enough for me to burst into outrage without caring about anything.

”You want to make things right, but does it have anything to do with me? I don’t care about who the real Black King is at all, either!

”Right now, as a tiny ghost, you are completely at my mercy. I can spare your life or kill you instantly!

”If you want to surrender, give me something I’m interested in!”

”You are not interested in the Black King’s identity?” Hellsword shrieked.

”Cultivators may be, but not for me,” Li Yao replied. ”How about this. The ’Hellsword Arts’, your ultimate skill, is indeed marvelous. Despite all the unfavorable circumstances, you managed to cut open such a giant wound on my chest. If I didn’t have my left hand, you definitely would have beaten me!

”The sword arts of yours are very creative. I like it!

”Give me your arts, and I will consider your request.

”However, listen up. You only have once chance. Do not try to fool me. The Hellsword is hidden below your foot. Therefore, the sword arts probably originated from a weird kicking skill and are totally different from normal sword arts. I can see through it immediately.

”You said yourself that I am an out-and-out maniac. You don’t want to know what a maniac will do when he gets mad, do you?”

Hellsword was dumbfounded, as if Li Yao had dug a hole on his chest and cut his heart away.

Li Yao frowned. ”If you would rather not, forget it. A true gentleman does not take away other people’s favorites.”

”I—I’m willing to!” Hellsword was secretly overjoyed, and yet he shrieked in depression. ”My sword arts are in the Cosmos Ring that you found in my hair.

”But the Cosmos Ring has been set with a password and divided into three overlapping rooms. Only after you open the first room can you open the second, and there’s a secret rune array below the third room. The passwords for each room are different.

”One wrong password, and the Cosmos Ring will destroy itself immediately. Nobody will get anything from it!

”My sword arts are not kept in the innermost room, but in the jade chip of the ledger in the outermost room after being encrypted!”

Li Yao chuckled and said, ”A trick to fool the smart. Normal people would think that the most valuable treasure was hidden in the most inconspicuous room, but you have placed it in the very first room. How cunning of you!”

”Not as cunning as you!” Hellsword replied unhappily. He paused for a moment, and as if admitting his failure completely, he said, ”Fine. Struggles are futile now that I’ve fallen into the hands of such a brutal man like you. I can tell you the passwords of the four Cosmos Rings, they are…

”You can try them yourselves and see if I’m lying.

”Come on. Try the Cosmos Rings, and you will know that I’m genuine. But don’t regret. You must accept my request if you take my treasures. You will garner fame and fortune and do other Cultivators a great favor by doing that.

”If you go back on your words, I will not let go of you even if I die!”

Li Yao pondered for a moment and nodded. ”Alright!”

While ’alright’ was still echoing in the air, the Feathered Dragon Saber suddenly exploded into dozens of black feathers and darted at Hellsword’s ghost!

The attack far exceeded Hellsword’s expectation. He had thought that Li Yao would not attack him until he verified all the passwords of the Cosmos Rings!

Why now?

The ghost was split into multiple parts before it had the chance to scream. It was not until ten seconds later that the divided ghost was condensed again. But he was feebler than ever now.

Hellsword was dumbfounded. He did not believe that Li Yao was brutal enough to attack without any warning!

Hellsword was totally confused. He shouted angrily, ”What—what are you doing?”

”I have a few best friends who are spectral Cultivators.”

Li Yao’s voice turned extremely calm with no sign of greed at all. He said, ”Through them, I have learned a lot of secrets about spectral Cultivators.

”For example, it takes less than ten minutes for an expert like you to transform from a ghost into a spectral Cultivator and restore part of your combat ability. Since you do not have a real body, your attacks will become weirder and more unpredictable than when you were alive.

”Therefore, I made a bold assumption that you did not mean to surrender.

”Since the very beginning, you’ve been rambling on, and you gave up all the traps on the crystal suit and your body without much struggling.

”In the end, you even told me the secrets of the Hellsword Arts and the passwords of your Cosmos Rings…

”Your only purpose was to buy you more time so that you could be transformed into a real spectral Cultivator. Then, you would launch a fatal attack and reverse the situation!

”Three minutes and fifty-eight seconds have passed since your soul left your body. I was in much more danger right and did not dare to let you condense it any longer.”

Hellsword had worked hard for four minutes and was about to be transformed into a real spectral Cultivator, only to be slashed back to the starting line. He was so mad that blue smoke was popping up. ”You—you knew it since the beginning. You’ve been acting!”

”Indeed. You are not the only one who can pretend.” Li Yao smiled. ”The Hellsword Arts are indeed marvelous. Why would you tell me the passwords of all your Cosmos Rings and the location of the Hellsword Arts honestly if I did not act?

”Right now, I have got everything I want. You may die now. As for your threat, hehe, you think you can ever come back to me now that you’ve fallen into my hands?”

Li Yao raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

After every snap, a Six-barrel Vulcan Machine Guns would appear in the air. Sixteen guns surrounded Hellsword’s ghost, and the bullets were jumping maliciously inside the magazines.

This time, Hellsword was really desperate. ”You can’t kill me. I know countless secrets and treasures. Do not kill me. They are all yours. All yours!”

Li Yao heard none of it. His right hand snatched one of the guns while he examined the bullet clips and the barrels.

”Don’t—don’t kill me! You can imagine the immensity of the Temple of Immortals! We will have the entire Flying Star Sector under our control eventually! You will have nowhere to run!

”Join us. Your personality and your shrewdness indicate that you are a natural-born Immortal Cultivator. Join the Temple of Immortals, and your future is nothing but bright!

”Maybe—maybe you can become the new ’Mountain King’. I will support you. We will work together and explore the true path of immortality!

”Immortality! That’s immortality I’m talking about! Endless life, endless Cultivation arts, endless power and wealth, endless mysteries in the endless universe!”

Hellsword was so scared that he did not even know what he was saying.

Crack!

Li Yao inserted a thick bullet clip. Each of the bullets was the size of one of his fingers.

Holding the gun with both of his hands and stepping on the head of Hellsword’s corpse, he aimed at the ghost.

The other fifteen guns also revolved fast, stimulated by his telepathic thoughts. A storm of bullets was looming.

Li Yao smiled, a shallow dimple appearing on his face. While he pulled the trigger brutally, he opened his mouth and spurted three words at the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator.

”Go to hell!”