Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

It took Fei Qi three hours to confess everything he knew, especially the intelligence about the Dragon Snake Space Zone.

The experts from the Ancient Sages Sector then realized that the Dragon Snake Space Zone was the perfect location for infiltration. The destination of their space jump proved to be much more valuable than expected.

The Dragon Snake Space Zone, as its name suggested, was a murky, lawless place where dragons were mixed with snakes.

After a hundred years of rapid development, the Star Glory Federation had greatly expanded. Besides the previous three Sectors, it had acquired four new worlds.

For the new worlds, while the revolutionary changes were passionately welcomed by most of the populace, the interests of the previously privileged would certainly be harmed, if not deprived.

In such a time of changes and development, when the federation was expanding quickly, not only had a batch of people who were highly discontent about the federation emerged in the Forest Ring Sector, the Forest Ocean Sector, the Nether World Sector, and the Water Crystal Sector, even some people in the three core Sectors had failed to keep up with the progress of the universe and had second thoughts.

The Star Glory Federation valued the freedom of entry and departure and did not force anyone to become its citizen. But naturally, not any random person could become a citizen unconditionally.

For the people who were highly resistant to the federation and unwilling to stay in the territory of the federation but had not violated any laws or committed any hostile actions, the Dragon Snake Space Zone was the new home that the federation specifically prepared for them.

With the red giant at the center of the Dragon Snake Space Zone that was relatively stable, although it was impossible for them to live their lives extravagantly any longer, they could still survive.

At the very least, it was certainly much better than wandering aimlessly in the universe on a ragged starship with few resources.

Therefore, after decades, a lot of outcasts from the four new worlds had moved to the Dragon Snake Space Zone.

Those people were mostly the top class of their respective worlds and had a rather decent amount of wealth, treasures, and confidential heritages in their hands. One way or another, they had managed to bring some of their belongings out with them. Therefore, after a while, the small Dragon Snake Space Zone had expanded, enjoying abnormal prosperity.

However, the Dragon Snake Space Zone did not have a unified government or an efficient management system. The outcasts did not see any hope or any way out, either. Except for their mutual hatred and disgust for the federation, they were not entirely on the same boat. Internal conflicts and thefts were anything but rare here.

Also, the ‘headhunters’ from the Star Glory Federation were often themselves the most ferocious, dangerous outlaws in the country. In many cases, they were not necessarily there to ‘serve the justice’ but to rob the outcasts of the secret treasures that they had brought from their hometown. The damage that the headhunters caused when they acted without bothering the consequences made the security of the Dragon Snake Space Zone even worse.

Due to the various factors, the Dragon Snake Space Zone had turned into such a bizarre, unruly, disorganized place where all kinds of devils were dancing.

Even the ‘space pirates’, which had gone extinct in the Star Glory Federation, had been brought back to life there.

However, most of them were not professional space pirates but only ‘guest stars’ in the Dragon Snake Space Zone.

Robbing each other during the day, drinking themselves to sleep at night, and reminiscing about their former glory in the past, that was basically the life of the people there.

“The Dragon Snake Space Zone is the most chaotic place near the Star Glory Federation. For us, it will be the best starting point!”

After finishing the interrogation on Fei Qi, the twelve experts from the Ancient Sages Sector and Heiye Lan gathered again to discuss the operations in the next step.

“First of all,” Long Yangjun said, “those who have been banished or escaped to the Dragon Snake Space Zone often have blood debts in their hometown, just like the ‘doctor’. Even those who do not have unresolved issues often carry precious items with them. Therefore, most of them have chosen to change their name and appearance, turning into someone entirely different.

“In the Dragon Snake Space Zone, ‘identity’ is never a problem. Most people prepare three to five false identities for themselves. It is a custom not to ask about other people’s backgrounds, too. Whoever is too interested in other people’s business will be mistaken for a ‘headhunter’ from the federation and attacked by everyone.

“The entire Dragon Snake Space Zone has a population of hundreds of millions. That is only a rough estimate. After all, nobody can perform a census here. Many smugglers escaped here on their starships stealthily. As long as they bring enough resources from their hometown, nobody will care who they are exactly.

“Hundreds of millions of people, and probably even more, are all hiding their names, appearances, and backgrounds. How can the federation investigate the identity of each and every one of them?

“We will consider the Dragon Snake Space Zone a platform. When we learn the customs of the modern Cultivation civilization in the lawless land of chaos, we will be like twelve leaves hiding in a forest. There’s no way that we will be caught!

“Also, Fei Qi said that there is an amazing business in the Dragon Snake Space Zone. Some people specialize in getting legal identities of the Star Glory Federation for their clients!

“That’s because the people who have escaped to the Dragon Snake Space Zone are not necessarily all diehards such as Fei Qi who are determined to resist the federation to the end.

“In fact, according to what we have figured out, other than the approach of direct war that the Star Glory Federation adopted when it conquered the Uranian Ring Sector, its conquest over the other three Sectors was much gentler. The Nether World Sector and the Water Crystal Sector even offered to join the federation.

“Some people ran away from those worlds only because they found it impossible to accept such a behemoth named the Star Glory Federation from a foreign world in the beginning.

“After living in the chaotic, hopeless Dragon Snake Space Zone for decades and gaining a deeper understanding of the Star Glory Federation, many of them have changed their minds and want to go home.

“The federation’s attitude toward them is rather ambiguous, but in general, as long as they do not owe any blood debts in their hometown and all the past issues have been resolved properly, they are still allowed to go home.

“There will be a lot that we can work on in the process.

“For example, A had been an obedient folk who never committed any crime in his hometown before he escaped to the Dragon Snake Space Zone from the Water Crystal Sector. It was only because he didn’t see eye to eye about certain policies of the federation, and because he feared that his wealth would be lost in the revolution, that he refused to join the federation and immigrated to the Dragon Snake Space Zone.

“It would be totally fine if such a person intended to go home.

“However, if A passed away while he was in the Dragon Snake Space Zone, and all that was left was his ‘identity’, as for who exactly returned to the federation under the identity of ‘A’, it is something that is highly difficult to investigate.

“After all, it is more than simple to make a person disappear without a trace in the vast universe, and it is tremendously difficult to determine the life, death, and whereabouts of a person!

“Many people in the Dragon Snake Space Zone actually thrive on such a business. They specialize in fabricating identities for other people to enter the federation legally. We can probably also fabricate twelve new identities that are safer than the ones we came up with on our own when we set off!

“What do you think, fellow Cultivators?”

The Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and the Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators discussed among themselves. There was no objection to Long Yangjun’s proposal in principle. What they were about to do next could be summarized as adaptation, study, observation, and selection. Nothing could go wrong if they added another coat to their previous camouflage.

But Han Baling, the sovereign of the prairies, tapped the table and reminded everyone, “We are certainly going to Fish Dragon City, the main city in the Dragon Snake Space Zone. However, everybody must raise your wariness and not be too careless!

“I’ve been considering the issues about the ‘Dragon Snake Space Zone’ just now. Logically, after conquering the four new worlds, instead of eliminating all the troubles once and for all, they specifically left a land for the outcasts and exiled. Weren’t they fomenting trouble for themselves by doing so?

“Since the Star Glory Federation has as cruel and resolute a leader as Jin Xinyue, I don’t think that they should’ve done such a thing that would cause infinite trouble later.

“However, on second thought, the Star Glory Federation only had three Sectors at first, and it has absorbed four new ones in only a hundred years. The speed of expansion is too fast!

“As the saying goes, ‘more haste, less speed’. After swallowing four pieces of fat meat in a row, I’m afraid that the Star Glory Federation is terribly full right now. Even if it wants to uncover and suppress every rebellion in every Sector, that is not something that can be accomplished.

“Now that it is impossible to locate all the rebels and kill them, the Star Glory Federation might as well pretend to be ‘lenient’ and prepare a new home for them, gathering all of them openly for the convenience of supervision and control, instead of allowing them to lurk in their homes and wait to counterattack.

“I think that is the greatest reason for the Star Glory Federation establishing the Dragon Snake Space Zone.

“If Jin Xinyue was the one who came up with such an idea, the ‘Venomous Witch’ certainly knew what she was doing. She must not be underestimated!

“What I’m saying is that, while the Dragon Snake Space Zone appears to a self-regulating, semi-independent Sector under the feet of the federation, it will be watched closely by the federation. The spies and agents of the federal government must be everywhere.

“If we are merely preparing a few false identities, maybe the federation will not bother to deal with the insignificant small fries. However, if we do something outrageous in Fish Dragon City while hoping that the federation will turn a blind eye to us, that’s too juvenile!”

“What you said does make sense, Fellow Cultivator Han,” Qi Zhongdao said solemnly. “According to Fei Qi’s confession just now, neither ‘Blazing Tyrannosaur’ Ding Lingdang nor ‘Venomous Witch’ Jin Xinyue are easy to deal with! If we pick the Imperium’s side, those two women will be our most dangerous enemies. Even if we choose the federation, it will still be difficult for us to bargain with the two women and take advantage of them!”

“Ding Lingdang and Jin Xinyue are naturally extraordinary figures in the Star Glory Federation. They are the targets that we must be highly wary of, but there’s somebody else that concerns me even more… one who may be a hundred times more dreadful than the two women combined,” Meng Chixin, the ‘Wolf God’ and one of the two Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators, said with a dull voice from the iron shell. “It is Vulture Li Yao!”