Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

In the command center of Heavenly Path City, the center of power of the Blood Demon Sector, Jin Tuyi—the leader of the Feather Clan, the commander-in-chief of the coalition arm of demons, and the most powerful being in the Blood Demon Sector in name—was staring at dozens of light beams nonchalantly.

The light beams were playing the footage of the same battle from different angles. It was the picture where Jin Xinyue escaped from Void Turmoil City and Li Yao picked her up, including the part where he blew up a devilish warship.

The ever-lasting explosions left mottled shadows on Jin Tuyi’s face.

Jin Tuyi was tall, slender, and as handsome as any silver-blood demon, but his nose curled like a saber, making him look rather intimidating. His narrow, long, and deeply hollowed eyes also added to his mysteriousness.

A pair of pure-white, flawless wings were folded on his back. The feathers extended all the way to his head, as if he were wearing a natural crown, which made him even more elegant and sacred.

The one standing behind him respectfully, who did not even dare breathe too loudly, was Jin Wuxu, his eldest son and the commander of ‘Mirage Falcons’, the best troop of the Feather Clan.

“Father, this is the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator who snuck into the Blood Demon Sector according to our intelligence.

“They caused havoc in Void Turmoil City yesterday. After shooting down a ‘Ghost Eye’-level devilish warship in the beginning, they committed a massacre in a temporary port at the suburb of Void Turmoil City and seriously wrecked the second devilish warship, slaying seven biochemical beasts and more than a hundred soldiers, including twelve silver-blood nobles!

“We are still chasing after them as of now. More than ten thousand soldiers have been deployed. However, our elites are all making preparations for the ‘Red Tide Plan’. Therefore, our strongest forces are unavailable. Maybe it will be another few days before we capture them!”

If Jin Tuyi was angry and surprised at his son’s report at all, he was definitely not showing any of such feelings on his face. He observed Li Yao’s combat picture while he asked casually, “The intelligence says that a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator from the Heaven’s Origin Sector has snuck into the Blood Demon Sector. Then who is this woman?”

Jin Wuxu hesitated for a moment. In the picture, Jin Xinyue had disguised herself quite well and was completely different from the saintess of the Pantheon of Demons in the past. He failed to recognize her for the moment. After pondering for a moment, he said, “Perhaps she was the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator’s subordinate?”

“Alright. Let’s say that she is a subordinate. Then why did they show up in Void Turmoil City?” Jin Tuyi asked calmly.

Jin Wuxu hesitated. “That information is still being investigated. It is possible that they were trying to bring away something important for the Blade of Chaos.”

“Then, what kind of force did the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator from the Heaven’s Origin Sector use?” Jin Tuyi asked again. “I can see that he tore open the shield of the devilish warship with tremendous crystal bombs, but the critical strike on the devilish warship was the Cell Obliteration Cannon, which is a technique of the demon race, wasn’t it?

“Are you trying to tell me that a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator who can launch the Cell Obliteration Cannon has snuck into the Blood Demon Sector?”

Cold sweat was popping out of Jin Wuxu’s forehead. “We are still investigating. Still investigating.”

Jin Wuxu did not turn around. He suddenly changed the topic. “How is the investigation on the mysterious island in the North Pole?”

Jin Wuxu was dazed for a moment. He hurried to reply, “The investigation is still ongoing. According to the intelligence that Master Hollow Wind provided, we have confirmed that there is indeed such an island in the North Pole, but the island has been completely demolished. Judging from the traces left there, we reached the conclusion that there was indeed a base of the Blade of Chaos before on the island.”

At this moment, Jin Tuyi finally turned his head and looked at his son carefully.

The way he turned his head was quite unique. His shoulder and his body were absolutely still, and only his neck and his head turned a hundred and eighty degrees, which was apparently the distinctive feature of some types of birds.

Jin Wuxu felt that his leg was shaking violently after his father stared at him for ten seconds.

But Jin Tuyi did not raise any more questions. He said casually, “That’s all for now. You may leave.”

“Understood, Father. We will find out the truth of everything as quickly as possible!”

Like a prisoner who had just been pardoned, Jin Wuyi bowed and retreated from the room, not even having the courage to wipe his sweat.

Looking at his son disappearing from the room in fear, Jin Tuyi’s eyes were suddenly mixed with indescribable brilliance. He slowly turned his head back and continued studying Li Yao and Jin Xinyue’s combat picture.

Suddenly, he thought of something. He clipped all the frames that Jin Xinyue was in and magnified them.

Jin Tuyi narrowed his eyes, wholeheartedly studying the appearance and the posture of the woman who was both strange and familiar to him.

…

Five days later, deep inside an abandoned mother lode, seventy-seven hundred kilometers from Void Turmoil City, Li Yao and Jin Xinyue were rushing fast, soaked in blood. They charged into an inconspicuous mining hole that had an underground river at the bottom at the cost of the last bit of their spiritual energy.

Li Yao could not hold on any longer. He fell on one of his knees and fell to the floor. Then, he lay in the darkness, breathing hard. Blood was flooding out from the hundreds of wounds all over his body. The speed of the proliferation of cells was far lower than the speed of the spread of the poison.

After fighting for five days, he felt as if he was an orange that had been squeezed too many times. It was impossible to wring any more juice out of him.

But luckily, they had finally escaped out of the siege of the coalition army!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Not far away, an earsplitting explosion echoed. The mining hole that they were in was shaking violently. Rocks fell from the ceiling and smashed them. But they did not even have the strength to dodge and could only watch the rocks falling and burying them.

The quake lasted ten seconds, until Li Yao and Jin Xinyue were both consumed by the rocks and the entrance of the hole was gone.

Huchi. Huchi. Huchi.

In the darkness, the two of them were breathing heavily.

It was not until ten minutes later that Li Yao finally regained the ability to talk. He laughed out loud in relief.

“The last troop that is hunting us in the five hundred square kilometers nearby has been attracted into the wrong mining hole by my magical equipment and killed by the crystal bombs that we planted there!

“We’re finally safe!”

After saying that, the two of them continued breathing heavily for half an hour before they regained the strength to further run away and communicate.

“Master, allow me to report our latest accomplishment to you. Over the past five days, we have killed approximately a thousand and three hundred soldiers of the coalition army of demons, more than fifty biochemical beasts, and nine hundred demon beasts of all sorts.

“Among the victims, there were 97 silver-blood demons that I could recognize, including the princes, young masters, and disciples of the demon emperors in the four major demon kingdoms. The one of the highest social position should be Yuan Feidu who was killed yesterday. His father is Yuan Riyue, one of the twelve demon emperors, known as the ‘Ape Fiend’. The guy is famous for his pettiness, but he is unbelievably formidable, too. In terms of personal combat ability, he ranks the top three among the twelve demon emperors.

“If we include the ‘massacre’ that Master committed on Boneyard ten years ago, then I must congratulate you now. You are certainly the Cultivator who has slain the most nobles of the Blood Demon Sector in the entire Star Glory Federation. You truly deserve to be an ‘Ultra-Level Federal Hero’!”

“What are you implying?”

Jin Xinyue hurriedly shook her head. “Nothing. Nothing. I’m certainly not implying anything. I just want to confirm with you, Master, we—we are truly here for peace and to resolve the grudge between the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector, right?”

“Of course. We are faced with a mutual threat right now. Peace is the only way out for us. Is there a problem? Are you questioning my sincerity?”

“No problem. No problem at all. I totally believe your sincere wish about world peace, Master. You are so merciful and lenient that you are definitely the firmest pacifist in the world! As for the past few days… Well… It was just self-defense!

“I am only trying to say that, after the fuss we’ve caused, my father’s hostility and wariness must’ve been raised to the highest. It will not be easy for us to sneak into the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons without alarming anyone.”

“You can only tell whether a thing is easy or not after you’ve tried. I asked you to recall the terrain and the structure of Heavenly Path City and the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons. Do you have a rough idea now? Also, I want to know every detail about your father, such as his habits and hobbies, even including his favorite book while he is on the toilet!”

Jin Xinyue took out a crystal processor that Li Yao had given her and triggered a light beam. It was a map of Heavenly Path City that she had drawn recently.

Since she was a saintess of the Pantheon of Demons, infiltration, assassination, espionage, and sabotage were all her specialties. Also, she had received training in the Pantheon of Demons from a young age. The defense of the Pantheon of Demons had been among her training subjects.

Therefore, although it was only a draft that she had drawn in the spare time during her escape, all the details were rather accurate.

“Please take a look, Master.”

Pointing at the light beam, Jin Xinyue explained, “Heavenly Path City is the core city of the Blood Demon Sector and was co-established by the four demon kingdoms and the influential demon cities. It is divided into the ‘upper city’ and the ‘lower city’.

“The lower city, which is on the ground, is essentially another Void Turmoil City, except that it is much larger. Demons of different tribes and backgrounds live there. A lot of different minor environments have been simulated in the lower city, too, which adds to the complexity of the terrain. Also, tremendous assets and soldiers enter and exit the lower city every day. Therefore, it will not be difficult to sneak into it.

“But the ‘upper city’ is totally different.

“The upper city is an airborne metropolis comprising of almost a hundred floating mountains. It is the real ‘Heavenly Path City’!

“All the important facilities, such as the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons and the command center of the coalition army, are established on the floating mountains of the upper city. Every floating mountain boasts independent defense arrays. Even if one of them is compromised, the other floating mountains can cut off their connection to it once the intrusion is discovered. The burglar will have absolutely nowhere to run!”