Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“The production of Firefly had already begun, and I could not stop it because I could not stay in the Flying Star Sector. However, I could not go to the Heaven’s Origin Sector for real, either.

“Both the Flying Star Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector have billions of human beings. There are my family and friends as well as countless compatriots. It would be a complete tragedy if the Blood Stripe went on a rampage in either Sector.

“Perhaps, I could adjust the coordinates of Firefly and made it jump to a desolate, unpopulated Sector?

“But technically speak, it was difficult to achieve.

“Firefly was designed for the short-distance space jump between two neighboring Sectors. By no means could it jump to millions of lightyears away.

“Besides, the adjustment of such a scale would likely have been found out by the control center and the Blood Stripe Virus.

“I began to think. Was there a place that was devoid of human beings and within my reach as long as I changed one or two parameters in the thousands of coordinate settings?

“Hehe. You must have guessed it.

“Exactly. The Blood Demon Sector!

“The Blood Demon Sector has been preliminarily merged with the Heaven’s Origin Sector. They are like twin worlds. The parameters of the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector in the four-dimensional universe are 99.9% identical and have only a 0.01% difference!

“I made the decision!

“The Blood Stripe Virus meant to completely corrupt my soul and take control over my mind during the space jump. Then, I would tempt it with ‘Firefly’ as the battlefield and start a final battle!

“Even if I failed the final battle, I would not allow them to go to the Heaven’s Origin Sector to enslave my family, friends, and compatriots!

“Therefore, I pretended that I was fooled and joined the production of Firefly actively. I even read a lot of books on the technology of space jumps and learned the methods to reset the navigation system and to manually control the starship.

“Firefly would be piloted by me alone. Should there be a fault, I could only fix it by myself. It was only natural that I learned knowledge on those topics. The Bloody Stripe Virus would not have been suspicious about my behavior.

“During my studies, I grasped the coordinates of the Blood Demon Sector as I planned. I also learned how to activate the emergency maintenance mode and manually adjust the coordinates of the destination.

“In the four hours of precious ‘absolutely safe time’ while I had the Soul Monitor on, I gathered all the mental attack magical equipment that Xiao Xuance had prepared to deal with Bai Xinghe and extracted the most valuable core units. I then built them into a piece of unprecedently powerful magical equipment for mental attacks. The immense spiritual waves released from the device were enough to tear apart the soul of an unparalleled expert!

“To avoid the suspicion of the Blood Stripe Virus, after I refined a ‘soul bomb’ four times, I stopped using the Soul Monitor.

“Everything was peaceful again.

“I pretended that I was relieved and dedicated myself to my training and the production of ‘Firefly’.

“The Blood Stripe Virus stopped messing around with me for a long time, too.

“From the virus’ perspective, now that the host was walking on the ‘right’ path and everything was going on as it had planned, it was indeed unnecessary to ask for more trouble by interfering with or prying into the host’s soul. If the host was suspicious again at the last moment, it would be the victim of its own scheme.

“Or rather, maybe the Blood Stripe Virus was accumulating its strength in secret, too, preparing to possess my body during the space jump!

“Today is the last day before our departure.

“I activated the Soul Monitor and received an hour of ‘absolutely safe time’ during the last examination on Sparkle. Then, I slightly adjusted the parameters of the destination of Sparkle and hid the ‘soul bomb’ inside the control panel before I connected the bomb to the self-destruction rune array.

“Right now, the usage of the self-destruction rune array on Firefly has changed.

“Only after the self-destruction rune array is triggered during the space jump will the starship be shifted to the correct route and return to the Heaven’s Origin Sector with everybody.

“If the self-destruction array is not triggered, Firefly will remain its trajectory toward the Blood Demon Sector and detonate the ‘soul bomb’ when the space jump is about to be completed!

“Do you understand?

“If I haven’t triggered the ‘self-destruction rune array’ before the space jump is over, it is indicative that I have been controlled by the Blood Stripe Virus. It will be the Blood Stripe Virus that occupies my brain and soul. My own soul will perhaps be lurking in the deepest part of my brain, completely overwhelmed by the intruder.

“As a result, when the soul bomb is detonated and the blast sweeps across Firefly and pierces through my brain, it will be the soul of the Blood Stripe Virus that takes the blow!

“Its soul will be the best shield for my soul!

“I will launch the last counterattack when its soul is ripped apart and try to suppress, swallow, and purge the Blood Stripe Virus!

“This is my whole plan, one whose success rate is close to zero, because the entire plan is based on the presumption that the Blood Stripe Virus does not know what I am thinking at all times.

“Maybe its strength far exceeds my imagination, and it has learned everything.

“Therefore, I strongly suggest that, if you find Firefly next to yourselves after you arrive in the Heaven’s Origin Sector, you must impose the strictest quarantine upon me. You must not believe anything that I say, even if I tell you that I’ve successfully suppressed the Blood Stripe Virus. Do not believe anything!

“In such a case, I’m very likely to have been fully controlled by the Blood Stripe Virus like Yan Xibei used to be.

“If you do not find Firefly, don’t be worried. It is a piece of good news that suggests that my plan has succeeded… at least partly.

“I’m already back home; I’m just landing on the other side of it.

“There are too many burdens and concerns in the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector. I would worry that the Blood Stripe Virus might infect my family, friends, and compatriots all the time.

“It is very likely that the Blood Stripe Virus will do insane things while they are manipulating my body. For example, killing one of my family or friends, as a way to shake my belief.

“When I ask myself if I can be unwavering when one of my close friends is killed by me, I do not have the confidence to say yes.

“The Blood Demon Sector is different.

“I have zero concerns there. I can fight the Blood Stripe Virus however I want without worries. Even if I am blinded by bloodthirst when I am occasionally manipulated by the Blood Stripe Virus, it will not matter because there will be no friends but only foes.

“Alright. I’m running out of time. This is about everything.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you the truth earlier. It is not because I didn’t believe in you, but because the battle had to be fought alone.

“I’m sorry, Wu Mayan and Xie Anan. There were days when my attitude was bad. You must have been frightened.

“In the end… I’m sorry, Ding Lingdang.

“I promised you that I would reunite with you in ten years, but I’m afraid I will be delayed in the Blood Demon Sector for a few years to purge the Blood Stripe Virus. Therefore—”

There was a rigid smile on the corner of Li Yao’s lips when he said sorry.

But deep inside his eyes, a scattered starry brilliance was shining, and two streams of hot tears seemed to be flooding out.

His voice came to an abrupt end, but he turned off the crystal camera before his tears ran out.

The picture was frozen just like that. It gradually turned transparent and dispersed, like the flickering sparks after the brilliant fireworks.

There was nothing but silence on the bridge.

Everybody was stunned by the shocking secret battle.

They had no idea at all that, while they were planning the journey home delightedly, Li Yao was fighting such a weird, perilous battle against an enemy that was more formidable than Skeleton Dragon, Xiao Xuance, and the star child!

“Li Yao…”

Lei Dalu, Bai Kaixin, Luo Xingzi and Professor Mo Xuan were all somewhat lost.

“Master…”

Wu Mayan and Xie Anan both clenched their fists, sobbing.

BOOM!

The upright, furiously burning hair of the captain of the Grand Desolate Legion seemed to have been drenched in oil. It was burning even more devastatingly, and the flames on the outside turned purple!

Dangerous colors were beaming out of the eyes of the red-haired captain, who grumbled, “Li Yao, you son of a b*tch…”

“You—” Wu Mayan was dazed. Then he burst into fury. “Why are you cursing my master?”

The red-haired captain sniffed. The long hair suddenly moved even though there was no wind. A fire snake suddenly darted out toward Wu Mayan.

Caught unprepared, Wu Mayan was tied up by the snake. Hundreds of tiny flames were immediately burning on his body!

Everybody was shocked, especially those from the Flying Star Sector.

Wu Mayan had been training crazily over the past few years. He had advanced into the 95th level of the Refinement Stage and was marching toward the legendary level beyond the 100th level of the Refinement Stage. His combat ability was close to the peak of the Building Foundation Stage, and he was not necessarily scared even if he was faced with a Cultivator at the beginning level of the Core Formation Stage.

The red-haired captain, who was ten years older than him at most, had defeated him in one move, and he could not counterattack at all?

The person was indeed strong!

The red-haired captain dragged Wu Mayan to the front. The long flames slithering around Wu Mayan, hissing, like countless fire snakes.

Wu Mayan was grimacing in pain and kicking crazily, but he could not hit his opponent at all. He could only shout, “My master is a great hero. To keep the Blood Stripe Virus from spreading, he travelled to the Blood Demon Sector alone instead of returning to his long-dreamed home! Why did you curse my master?”

“Why?” The red-haired captain sniffed and said, “I’ve waited for him for ten years, and all I get is a weightless ‘sorry’. Am I now allowed to curse him?”

Wu Mayan was dazed. “Huh?”

The red-haired captained glanced at Wu Mayan up and down and said, “You are loyal enough to your master, but Li Yao seems to be quite a bad teacher. His disciple is so weak; you could not even resist my attack!

“His teaching methods must have been too merciful, mustn’t they? From today on, let your masteress give you a few good lessons!”

“Mas—masteress?”

Wu Mayan could not help but shudder. He had a bad feeling that his future life would only be more difficult.

The red-haired captain was smiling more and more dangerously. “Your body looks healthy enough. After I discipline you for a year and a half, you should be qualified to go to the Blood Demon Sector with me.”

“To the Blood Demon Sector?”

Wu Mayan was even more surprised.

“Exactly.”

The red-haired captain licked her lips and warmed up her fingers slowly. Cracking noises that resembled thunder were echoing from the joints, which gave a chill to everybody who heard them.

“I’ve never been fond of waiting, and I’ve shown him enough respect by waiting for him for ten years. Since he is unwilling to come back, I will simply go to the Blood Demon Sector and drag him back!

“Blood Stripe Virus? You sure are bold to take my man away from me!

“You are seeking your own death!”

(End of Volume II)

(Prelude of Volume III)

…

“Idiot, what do you think ‘demons’ are?”

…

“Don’t be silly. I am a demon, and I always will be.”

…

“The fate of the demon race depends on the battle. The capital of the Star Glory Federation is right ahead of us. Warriors, march toward destruction in order to realize our immortality. The glorious Pantheon of Demons is awaiting us!”

…

“You know nothing. You know f*cking nothing! I’m screwed! I’m hopeless! I—I’m turning into a human being!”

Hi, guys. Welcome to the end of Volume II of FMC. Li Yao’s journey in the Flying Star Sector will be concluded here.

Volume II differs from Volume I in that there are more plots and schemes and fewer straightforward level-ups. Also, the Dark Forest Theory has been elaborated in Volume II, which I have to say makes a lot of sense when you think about it carefully. It is one of the important reasons why the two major villains in Volume II, namely Yan Xibei in the former half and Xiao Xuance in the later half, are justified about they are doing in their own way. They are indeed evil, but it is hard to argue that their ideology is purely groundless. In fact, it is their coldness and pessimistic view of the universe that makes the empathy of Li Yao and the other Cultivators more valuable and heartening. I said at the end of Volume I that the theme of the novel is devotion and sacrifice in my opinion. Right now, I stand by my statement ;).

A lot of suspense has been left at the end of Volume II. The adventure Bai Xingjian who is apparently the upgraded version of ‘Boss Bai’, the details of the Vulture Plan, the upcoming head-on clash with the evil superpower named Imperium of True Human Beings, to name a few. All will be further revealed in Volume III.

But Li Yao has more urgent business at hand right now. The war between the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector is now in the most heated stage. How is he going to settle the conflict? Are human beings really on the righteous side in the strife? What are demons exactly? Your stereotype about demons will be changed in Volume III. Stay tuned. ?