Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Li Yao woke up slowly in the medication drugs, but he was not in a hurry to open his eyes. In the comfortable daze, he perceived the brand-new world slowly, like a butterfly that was about to break out of the cocoon or a sprout that was piercing out of the soil and smelling the warmth of sunlight.

Li Yao knew that he was totally different from the past now and that he had embarked on a completely different path of Cultivation.

Chiliu! Chiliu! Chiliu! Chiliu!

All the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures in the tank of medication drugs were absorbed by him instantly, repairing his broken organs crazily. His every cell was like a vigorous bud that would blossom soon.

The dark green medication drugs a moment ago turned as clear as water. All the ingredients had been swallowed by him.

Li Yao leapt out of the medication drugs, not raising the slightest wave. Before his feet landed on the floor, the remaining liquid on his skin had been vaporized into mist because of the high-frequency vibrations of his muscles. Surrounded by the mist, he looked rather elegant and mysterious.

Grinning, Li Yao looked at his hands in great satisfaction. He clenched his fists and felt the strength flowing among his finger like invisible dragons.

I’m finally back to myself!

The wounds previously, especially those from Diwu Jian’s Five Disintegrations of Heavens and Human, have mostly recovered. In another few days, the radiation will be utterly purged from my body!

Sensing that his every vein and nerve was as smooth and stoppable as a railway line, Li Yao felt so great that he roared!

It was a pure-white, high-level ward, filled with the most advanced medical magical equipment. But Wu Mayan was the only one taking a nap aside. Sensing the quickly surging spiritual energy, the young qi-trainer was suddenly woken up. He jumped to his feet. “Master, you’re awake!”

“What’s happened?”

Li Yao glanced at the clock on the wall. Twelve hours had passed since he executed the Blood Devil in parliament. It was the quietest moment at night right now.

Li Yao coughed. Rubbing his temples, he frowned. “Has the Blood Stripe Virus been killed by me?”

“Master…” Wu Mayan blinked and pouted. “You are going too far. I’ve followed you long enough, and this is not the first time that I’ve seen your performance as an actor. But even if you may not like to hear it, I still have to say that today’s performance was your most unnatural and unconvincing one!”

Li Yao’s face remained unchanged. “Was it?”

Wu Mayan nodded. “Yes, it was! Such foul acting skills did not even fool me. You didn’t think that the shrewd representatives, elders, and leaders would be tricked, did you?”

With a chuckle, Li Yao put on his coat with Wu Mayan’s help. Then he smiled. “You must think about it from a different perspective. Yes, my performance at that time was truly tawdry. It is the greatest stain on my acting career. Even the hundred and eight thunderous something pills were actually made by tearing down the beads of several bearings that I bought in a random hardware store. They indeed did not seem convincing enough to execute the Blood Stripe Virus.

“However, how can you prove that it was not yet another trick of the Blood Stripe Virus?

“Perhaps the Blood Stripe Virus wanted everybody to continue suspecting me while it took the chance to sneak into another victim’s body!”

Wu Mayan was dumbfounded. Hesitating for a long time, he said, “I have to prove that, too?”

“Of course!” Li Yao nodded solemnly. “You also know that the Blood Stripe Virus comes and goes without a trace. Whoever gets infected can only curse their bad luck! I was infected uncannily years ago, too. You were there to witness it in person!

“Therefore, no matter how foul my performance was, as soon as I point the fact out, the most powerful representatives, experts, and leaders will have to be faced with the same problem: how could they prove that my ‘foul performance’ was not the camouflage of a ‘marvelous performance’ and that the real Blood Stripe Virus has not snuck away to their body?

“Let’s take you for example. Suppose you are a representative in parliament, how can you prove that you are not infected by the Blood Stripe Virus?”

Wu Mayan jumped up and scratched his head for a long time, only to come up with nothing.

Li Yao laughed. “You can’t prove it. The representatives and leaders couldn’t, either, just like me.”

Wu Mayan raised his arms to surrender. “Master, you are losing me!”

Silent, Li Yao smiled.

“Master!” Wu Mayan glanced at him. Hesitating for a moment, he summoned his courage and asked, “Although it does make sense, I still want to know the truth. Has the Blood Stripe Virus been eliminated by you, Master? Will it jump out and cause trouble again sometime in future?”

“Does it really matter whether it is eliminated or not?”

Soft redness was flowing deep inside Li Yao’s left eye, as if it could be completely melted with the blackness in the depths of his right eye. Pondering for a moment, he said slowly, “It’s true that the Blood Stripe Virus seems bad and dangerous. Yan Xibei, years ago, even caused the doom of Iron Plateau after he was infected by the Blood Stripe Virus!

“Therefore, after I knew I was infected, I panicked every day and considered it a great enemy.

“However, after the incident recently, it has occurred to me that Lu Zui, who was in no way infected by the Blood Stripe Virus, almost caused the doom of the Heaven’s Origin Sector, the Flying Star Sector, and the Blood Demon Sector, just like Yan Xibei, didn’t he?

“Tell me. Is there a fundamental difference between Yan Xibei, who contracted the Blood Stripe Virus, and Lu Zui, who didn’t?”

Wu Mayan was deep in thought.

Li Yao smiled and continued. “To this last second of his life, Yan Xibei still wouldn’t accept that he was infected by the Blood Stripe Virus. He swore to me that he was Yan Xibei and that it was he who had been pushing forward the plan the whole time.

“At that time, I was not convinced. I thought that the real Yan Xibei was already dead, same as you did. I thought that our enemy on Iron Plateau was merely the Blood Devil that was using Yan Xibei’s body as its shell.

“But now, I’ve changed my opinion. Perhaps he wasn’t lying, and he was indeed not manipulated by the Blood Stripe Virus. Perhaps the so-called ‘Blood Stripe Virus’ is neither kind nor evil. It has always been us, our own heart, that can tell kindness from evilness. The Blood Stripe Virus is a catalyst at best.

“The Blood Stripe Virus did not manipulate Yan Xibei; Yan Xibei swallowed the Blood Stripe Virus and used its strength to carry out his crazy will!”

Wu Mayan stammered, “Master, you are saying—”

“What I’m saying is, maybe, there is an abyss in everyone’s heart and a Blood Devil lurking in the deepest part of the abyss. Anybody—including someone like Lu Zui, who is absolutely not infected by the Blood Stripe Virus—might be accidentally swallowed by the abyss and fall into the control of their natural-born Blood Devil!

“If that’s the case, does it really matter whether or not the Blood Stripe Virus was purged by me?”

Wu Mayan gasped. “Then, what should we do?”

Li Yao snapped his forehead and said, “If you’re worried, go and look for the abyss and Blood Devil in your heart. Slash it every once in a while after dinner or sleep. That will be enough. Isn’t that the best sense of Cultivation?”

Holding his forehead, Wu Mayan was deep in thought, or rather, he pretended that was thinking hard.

Such ideas were not readily understandable for a young man less than twenty years old such as himself.

Right then, the door of the ward was thrown open. Ding Lingdang rushed in like a tornado and jumped into his arms.

Li Yao felt that an erupting volcano had just been thrown to him. He felt happy, stunned, and a bit suffocated.

Professor Mo Xuan looked at them from aside with delight.

“Should I give you ten minutes?” the professor asked thoughtfully and hinted at Wu Mayan.

“That’s unnecessary.” Ding Lingdang let go of Li Yao after pinching his chest hard. “You’ve been through this, too, Professor. We’ve been apart for ten years. What can we do in ten minutes? Also, the room here is too small. Not suitable for us.”

“Cough, cough. Cough, cough, cough!” Li Yao coughed loudly. Rubbing his ribs which were nearly broken by Ding Lingdang, he asked solemnly, “Professor, I’ve slept for half a day. What happened outside?”

Professor Mo Xuan smiled and brought three pieces of news.

Firstly, after learning that the Blood Stripe Virus was perhaps fleeing in the parliament building and might even have infected a random representative, expert, or leader, the federal government immediately took action with the cooperation of the Cultivators. In only a few hours, the best doctors, Meditation Healers, and refiners had worked out a standard procedure to identity the Blood Devil. The correction rate of the identification was one hundred percent.

All the representatives and experts who had been present, including Li Yao himself, passed the test. None of them were infected by the Blood Stripe Virus.

All of them agreed unanimously that the Blood Stripe Virus had been completely purged by Li Yao and would cause no further trouble.

It was truly a relief for everybody!

“Did they?” Li Yao frowned. “Is the identification procedure reliable or not? Is there any error? For safety reasons, we might as well quarantine all the representatives, leaders, and myself and observe the suspects for ten years. Isn’t that better?”

“Rest assured. It is absolutely reliable!” Professor Mo Xuan replied solemnly. “The identification procedure was approved by all the representatives, leaders, and specialists. It means that the authorities of the Heaven’s Origin Sector have guaranteed that anyone who passes the test is absolutely not infected by the Blood Stripe Virus!”

“That’s good.” Li Yao was finally relieved. He asked again, “Then, if I run into any trouble in the future, nobody will accuse me of being the Blood Devil again, right?”

“Definitely not!” Professor Mo Xuan answered quickly. “Everybody in parliament today could’ve been infected by the Blood Stripe Virus. If anybody suspects you, they will be suspecting everybody in the parliament building, won’t they?

“Therefore, after you executed the Blood Devil and fell into a coma, all the representatives, experts, and leaders agreed that the infection of the Blood Stripe Virus should be concluded now. Whoever dares to accuse other people of being infected by the Blood Stripe Virus will be a scoundrel fanning the flames and destroying the stability and harmony of the federation. Such people can only be spies sent by the Imperium of True Human Beings!”