Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Li Yao was smiling more and more sunnily, with appreciation beaming out of his eyes. “Excellent. This is more like my disciple. This is more like Jin Tuyi’s daughter. Just tell me what is on your mind!”

“Master, now that you’ve figured out the truth of the Red Tide Plan,” Jin Xinyue said calmly, “I assume that you are going to the Eye of Blood Demon and destroy it to stop the coalition army of demons, which has been mixed with spores from marching into the Heaven’s Origin Sector, right?”

Li Yao nodded. “Yes. That is the plan. I have never considered convincing your father and other demon emperors with empty talk. If I have to persuade someone, I will use my crystal bombs as my voice!”

“And you will need my assistance, right?”

“Of course,” Li Yao replied. “The Feather Clan is best at teleportation arrays and has contributed most to the Eye of Blood Demon. Most of the operators belong to the Feather Clan, too.

“I won’t be able to sneak into the Eye of Blood Demon and destroy it without your help.”

Jin Xinyue took a deep breath and said calmly, “But right now, I’m not sure whether or not I should stand on your side, Master.”

Li Yao’s face remained unchanged. “Why not?”

“If I say that I have been convinced by my father during your dialogue with him just now, will you be surprised, Master?”

Li Yao shook his head. “Not at all. Your father’s points were valid and highly persuasive. Even I was almost swayed by him as I reminded myself all the time to firm my belief. Is it strange at all that you were influenced by him?”

Ripples were spreading out of Jin Xinyue’s eyes, which were as clear as pond, while she mumbled, “All our endeavors are based on the same assumption—the Heaven’s Origin Sector is willing to let go of the grudge and work with the Blood Demon Sector after learning the threat of the Imperium of True Human Beings.

“Therefore, what we needed to do was to resolve the hatred and aggression in the Blood Demon Sector!

“But what if my father was right? What if the Cultivators of the Heaven’s Origin Sector are not willing to let go of their grudge with the Blood Demon Sector despite knowing that the Imperium of True Human Beings is coming at them?

“If they have calculated and analyzed carefully, only to come up with the conclusion that conquering the Blood Demon Sector as quickly as possible, enslaving all the demons, and sending them to Boneyard and the resource planets of the Flying Star Sector for mining, will be the most efficient approach for resource collection and the most effective strategy to cope with the Imperium of True Human Beings, what are we going to do?

“If that is the case, I will not be able to stop the collapse of the Blood Demon Sector or the miserable fate of all the demons even if I go through all the trouble to disrupt my father’s plan now.

“Then, why am I going to waste my time doing everything with you, Master?”

Jin Xinyue held her chest high and stared at Li Yao in the eyes with all her courage. She clenched her fists and said, “Before, I hadn’t figured out what to do exactly next. I simply decided to keep the thoughts to myself and see what I can do when we arrive at the Eye of Blood Demon.

“Perhaps, I would even betray you at the most critical moment.

“After all, I only respected you as my master to save my life and to fulfil my ambitions.

“However, your last words just now finally made me realize one thing—”

Li Yao was greatly touched. “You’ve finally realized that I recruited you as my disciple out of genuine will and did not intend to make use of you at all. So, you decide to return sincerity with sincerity?”

“Not exactly.”

Jin Xinyue shook her head and said dutifully, “I have realized that Master is sordid and cunning; your eyes are keen, and you can keep a secret really well. I cannot conceal what is on my mind from you at all!

“Therefore, I should voice exactly what I am thinking. For example, if I think that Master is sordid and cunning from the bottom of my heart, I should just say it frankly. After all, even if I don’t say it, you will certainly see through me.

“If I have a second thought and plan to betray master at a certain time, I will definitely be trapped earlier, and I’m afraid that I will end up helping you count the money for selling me out!”

Unable to respond, Li Yao remained silent.

Jin Xinyue smiled, with a bit of confusion about herself in her eyes. She lowered her head and looked at the tips of her feet, mumbling, “Master, do you find it weird that I have become so compassionate and so considerate about the lives of my compatriots?

“In the past, I certainly wouldn’t.

“In the past, I believed that I was more important than anything else. There was nothing but revenge, ambition, and power in my head. I didn’t even bother to look at other silver-blood demons, much less the bronze-blood, the black-blood, and the chaotic-blood ones who were nothing but ants to me.

“In order to be the supreme ‘Dark Lady of the Nine Heavens’ of the Blood Demon Sector, I was willing to kill anybody, do anything, and sell whatever others were interested in.

“In the couple of days after I swallowed the Divine Blood of Chaos and turned from a demon into a human beings, I even considered the idea of betraying the Blood Demon Sector and sending all the demons to the slaughterhouse of the Cultivators as long as I could get enough benefits and my safety guaranteed.

“If I did not have a choice, I could always try to sneak into the Heaven’s Origin Sector and change my name. I believed that I would rise up quickly as a Cultivator with my capability and wisdom!

“My attitude for you was the same, Master. You were an unparalleled expert to me. My life was safe when I followed you. So, I followed you.

“You might want me to betray the Blood Demon Sector, and you might want me to destroy the Heaven’s Origin Sector. Was there anything I would hesitate to do as long as I could live on?”

Jin Xinyue’s aura was suddenly unstoppably sharp and enveloped her body together with the mist of the blood moon. It was like a mysterious spring had cleansed her body and bones from inside out, transforming her into somebody new!

Recalling what had happened to her recently, Jin Xinyue said in a low voice, “I don’t know why I have changed. Perhaps the mutation of the cells led to the change of mind. Or maybe it has to do with my experience during the few months when I snuck into Void Turmoil City as a chaotic-blood demon with you.

“In the past, although I was good at camouflage and infiltration, I always pretended to be silver-blood demons, and my victims were mostly nobles, too. The lowborn black-blood demons and chaotic-blood demons were no different from the stones and weeds on the road in my eyes.

“However, during the few months, I lived together with countless ‘untouchable’ chaotic-blood demons as one of their own, and I also got in touch with many hideous, bizarre-looking black-blood demons. It was not until then that I discovered—

“I discovered that chaotic-blood demons have feelings, too. They have their own will. They have their friends, lovers, and family.

“As for the black-blood devils who appear to be monsters, you freely communicate with them as long as you’ve grasped the trick.

“Beside my residence at that time, there was a neighborhood of black-blood demons. I even saw a band made of many ugly members of the Insect Clan. They played the most marvelous music by the vibration of their wings, the rubbing of their mouthparts, and the hisses from their stomachs.

“In order to retrieve intelligence, I even made friends with two chaotic-blood demons. One of them was a girl who was fifteen years old. She used to sleep on the same bed as me and chat all night about her daily life and the troubles she met. She admired me for my skillful manipulation over the male creatures and harassed me all the time, hoping that I could teach her how to get rid of the annoying pursuers and how to pursue her childhood sweetheart, a dumb chaotic-blood demon.”

Jin Xinyue could not help but smile when she talked about the friend.

Her smile was like the watery mist on a clear lake under the bright moon.

Li Yao listened quietly and did not interrupt his disciple.

Unless Jin Xinyue’s acting skills suddenly advanced into a level that was higher than his own, the smile was definitely the purest one that Li Yao had ever seen on Jin Xinyue’s face without any impurities.

A moment later, the ripples inside Jin Xinyue’s eyes broke apart, and her smile gradually froze. “When the coalition army of demons attacked Void Turmoil City, many low-level demons I knew were killed, including the friend who used to talk to me all night.

“Perhaps, I could’ve saved her, as long as I activated the capability of the Core Formation Stage.

“But I didn’t.

“At that time, I thought that I never regarded her as a real friend. She was just yet another object that I made use of, just like the countless objects that I’d made use of before.

“Why would someone like me need a ‘real friend’? Not to mention that she was just a chatty tagalong who could not shut her mouth all day.

“Yes. Many chaotic-demons died right in front of my face, but so what? In the past, I’ve executed countless demons in a yawn and killed countless members of the Blade of Chaos whose blood must’ve been enough to congregate into a river. Had I ever been merciful before?

“I had always believed that, even after you rescued me from Void Turmoil City.

“But right now, I have discovered that I was wrong. Very wrong.

“My silly ‘friend’ visits me in my dream and talks to me all night every night.

“In my dream, she never blames me for my coldness. She does not even know my real identity. She is still like an innocent dummy, telling me her troubles in my arms. She still asks me how she should pursue the boy who was killed in Void Turmoil City together with her.

“Master. Your disciple is confused right now. Really confused!

“Before, when I was a demon, I never cared about the life of any demons except for myself or the future of the Blood Demon Sector.

“Even though I craved to become the Dark Lady of the Nine Heavens of the Pantheon of Demons, it was actually the power and what the intimidating the title entailed that I desired. I never thought that I was obliged to do anything when I really became it one day!

“But now that I have turned into a human being from a demon, I am more concerned about the fate of the ‘demons’ now.

“It is rather hilarious, isn’t it?”