Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Almost half of the capital city had perceived the devastating attack. The invisible blast swept across the entire city. Interference appeared on countless light beams and crystal processors. Birds were flying up from every street and alley, fleeing in panic.

All the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and Core Formation Stage Cultivators in the city were shocked and looked at the direction. The few Cultivators who had been moving to the place further accelerated their speed!

The strike had exploited all of Li Yao potential.

He was like a broken statue made of mud which had lost all the colors all of a suddenly. Staying briefly in midair, he fell headfirst into the crowd!

“A demon!”

“A monster! A monster is here!”

“Such intense demonic energy. What—what great demon is this?”

Everybody saw his dreadful appearance when he went on a rampage a moment ago. They were all running in a hurry. The Cultivators all drew out their weapons and protected the ordinary people around them anxiously!

Thankfully, most of the veterans in the demonstrating crowd were seasoned soldiers who had seen all kinds of monsters.

Because they were maintaining the order, the scene was less chaotic than the explosions in the Federal Square a few days ago.

“He—he is asking to be killed!” Lu Zui rolled his eyes, overjoyed. “He was idiotic enough to unleash such intense demonic energy in public! Now, this is all the evidence that we need! Fantastic. Fantastic! This is even better than killing him directly! Hurry up and take him down!”

The almost ten crystal warships stopped above the crowd. Dozens of Secret Sword Agents darted out to where Li Yao collapsed!

A solemn voice, mixed with inviolable intimidation, echoed in the sky. “The Secret Sword Bureau is now capturing a spy of the demon race. All citizens, please stay calm and don’t panic. Everything is under control!”

Li Yao was lying on the ground, his arms and legs stretched out. Half of his facial cover was broken, revealing his right eye that was more or less hollow. He stared at the sky that was about to be swallowed by the dark clouds in a daze.

The previous attack of the Hellish River Cannon drained all the strength in his body. In the next few minutes, it would be difficult for him to even breathe. Any random Secret Sword Agent would be enough to execute him.

The plan… had failed!

Did he regret it?

Maybe.

But would he make a second choice if it happened again?

Li Yao struggled to turn his head. He wanted to look whether or not the crowd behind him was affected by the explosion, but his eyes were blurry. He could not tell if there were other expressions on the panicked faces.

“Don’t be scared.”

He vaguely saw a chubby boy in the crowd who was clinging to his father’s leg, shaking.

For some reason, he suddenly recalled the chubby boy that he met at East Seagull Port at dusk, the one who swore that he would be Vulture Li Yao one day.

He extended his hands to the little boy and smiled. “Don’t be scared. I’m not…”

“We are here to capture the spy of the demon race!”

Almost ten aggressive Secret Sword Agents interrupted him. Pointing at the critical parts all over his body with their chainswords, they pushed close to him!

Li Yao closed his eyes and took a long breath before he struggled to his feet.

He was a Cultivator, and he did not intend to die lying instead of standing!

[I’m sorry, Supervisor Guo. I’m sorry, Professor Mo Xuan. I’m sorry, Wu Mayan. I’m sorry… Ding Lingdang!]

On one of his knees, Li Yao gripped his saber fiercely, his blood spurting out of his body!

The Jade Crystal Disc was in his pocket right now. He was planning to throw it to as far away as possible in the last fight and try his luck.

Just when the atmosphere was so intense that it might explode at any moment—

“Wait!”

A wrinkled giant hand suddenly extended in between Li Yao and the ‘patriots’.

On the back of the dry, slim hand was a tattoo that used to be the favorite of the bottom-level officers in the federal army. The tattoo had long been blurred and melted into his flesh after the corrosion of time.

The owner of the tattoo was wearing an old-fashioned military uniform, which had become discolored because of repetitive washing and had no epaulets or armbands. His skull was made of shiny steel, with almost ten firm rivets nailed to it. Below the rivets was a pair of eyes that were as sharp as those on an eagle.

It was exactly the veteran who blocked Li Yao and questioned his identity in the beginning!

More veterans, especially the Cultivators among the veterans, all came close!

It was not because they had noticed anything wrong, but simply because they perceived intense demonic energy and realized that there was a monster here!

Although they were disabled, although their spiritual energy was minimal, and although they had retired from the federal army decades ago… they still considered themselves federal soldiers, Cultivators, and warriors who would protect all the ordinary people and defend every inch of the territory of the federation!

Therefore, when the ordinary people dispersed, the veterans went against the current and charged close!

Even if there was indeed a monster which was beyond their capability, they could at least buy a few more seconds with their broken body for the ordinary people to evacuate!

The steel-skulled veteran glanced at Li Yao with his eagle-like eyes. Then, he glimpsed at the cannon on ‘Hidden Star’ in the sky, which was still emitting spiritual waves.

Like a chisel, he stabbed in between Li Yao and the ‘patriots’ unreasonably, keeping Li Yao behind him!

The steel-skulled veteran had a lot of comrades who had fought with each other for decades. Although they did not understand what he was doing, they quickly followed him and established a wall of people next to him!

All the veterans were a family. Other veterans, although unaware of them, joined them, too, when they saw that the veterans were gathering here. The wall of people was getting thicker and thicker until Li Yao was buried inside!

Several veterans eyed Li Yao warily, but they looked at the Secret Sword Agents and the crystal warships above their heads equally vigilantly.

With a grave face, as if he were berating his son, the steel-skulled veteran demanded, “What’s going on here? Who are you people exactly?”

“The Secret Sword Bureau is here to capture the spy of the demon race. Thank you for your help, fellow citizens!”

One of the Secret Sword Agents observed his face and quickly said with a smile, “The demon is very dangerous. Please hand him over to us immediately in case the innocent people are hurt!”

“You are scared that the innocent people might get hurt?”

The steel-skulled veteran sneered and spat noisily right to the feet of the Secret Sword Bureau. He spoke without any pause.

“The Three Stars Slant Moon Cannon is the super crystal railgun developed fifteen years ago. It is designed to annihilate single ground targets. The attack units adopted a ‘Split Lightning Seven Doom Array’ and two ‘Cold Pole Broken Star Arrays’. It can absorb twenty kilograms of high-purity crystal of the thunder class at once and completely transforms the spiritual energy contained inside the crystals into damage. The maximum attack range is above three hundred meters. A full-strength strike is enough to blow through the super-alloy armor ten meters thick!

“You were using such a weapon a moment ago, and you adjusted the firepower to the maximum, didn’t you?

“It was great that the monster jumped up and took the blow for us. If the strike hit the ground, the hundreds of people around him would’ve been roasted. Not to mention that a riot might have been caused when the crowd was panicked, just like in the Federal Square several days ago!

“Is this how the Secret Sword Bureau does your job? Are you here to capture a monster or to tear down buildings? Where’s your boss? Bring him out and let’s talk!”

The few Secret Sword Agents looked at each other in bewilderment. They did not expect that they would run into someone so knowledgeable here. The Secret Sword Agent in the lead cackled and said, “Sir, you must’ve seen it wrong. There’s clearly a misunderstanding—”

“Misunderstanding my ass!” the steel-skulled veteran snapped back mercilessly. He rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoned his coat, revealing his chest that was as dry as the skin of an orange.

On the chest, besides the battery for the man-made heart, there was a tattoo that was even larger and intimidating. It looked like… a crystal cannon that had grown wings!

“Brothers, tell those blind brats what we did for a living!”

Several veterans who were as old as him all burst into laughter. They all unbuttoned their coats and showed the same tattoo, shouting, “Observe, brats! We are the veterans of the Crystal Cannon Legion under the No. 55 Regiment! When we were blowing up the balls of demons on the Grand Desolate Plateau with our crystal cannons, you were still being breastfed!

“This is Sergeant Zhang, the most famous ‘Cannon King’ from the No. 55 Regiment eighty years ago. When he launched a crystal cannon from fifty kilometers away, the attack would never hit the demon beast’s asshole if he said that he aimed at its cock!

“Let me tell you. Even the most advanced crystal cannons would require an experienced artillerist such as Brother Zhang as an advisor during the development. Is there any crystal cannon in the entire federation that Brother Zhang hasn’t played with? Brother Zhang has seen it wrong? In your f*cking dream!”

The few Secret Sword Agents were truly dumbfounded and lost for words.

Many veterans had heard the name ‘Cannon King’ Zhang Danao before. They knew that the guy was a great troublemaker. Although he was merely in the fifth level of the Refinement Stage, he was quite a big shot among the veterans.

Hearing that Zhang Danao was making trouble again, more veterans and citizens behind were coming. The crowd that had dispersed a moment ago was congregated again!

Instead of bothering with the Secret Sword Agents, the old artillerist Zhang Danao turned around and eyed Li Yao. He observed for a long time and couldn’t tell what it is. He asked curiously, “What about you? What is this bloody, sticky thing that you are wearing? Is it a crystal suit or a biochemical beast? Are you a human being or a demon? Or a new species?”

Li Yao was too feeble to talk anymore.

“Be careful. He is very dangerous!” a Secret Sword Agent shouted drily.

“Get lost. I have killed more demon beasts than you’ve banged whores. What can such a half-dead thing do to me?”

Zhang Danao squatted next to Li Yao and observed him carefully. Scratching his steel skull, he asked in confusion, “Just now, you could’ve avoided it, couldn’t you? Even if you couldn’t dodge the first attack, you were definitely able to dodge the second!

“But instead of dodging, you flew to the midair and had a head-on clash with it!

“Why?

“If you had dodged, you would’ve been fine, but many people down here would’ve been killed, including myself. After fighting the demons for sixty years, I was not killed by the paws of demon beasts but nearly bombarded by the cannons of our own people! Hehe. The ‘Cannon King’ is killed by a crystal cannon? That’s really interesting!

“You didn’t dodge it. You saved me as well as the hundreds of people around and wounded yourself to such an extent. Why… did you do that exactly?”