Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Drifting in the deep, dark universe quietly, Li Yao turned off most of the power rune arrays on the crystal suit and most of the life-sustaining system. He looked like a cold, hard meteoroid.

Looking at the hundreds of silver, ball-shaped space stations that constituted Hundred Flowers City not far away, and the colorful ripples on the sailing routes further away left after space jumps, he sensed that his cells, bones, muscles, and soul had condensed and stabilized. All the traces were gathered together and outlined the general picture of the whole scheme.

Li Yao licked the blood on his lips that leaked out when he was escaping from the space ripples by force. He then chuckled in a low voice.

“Monster Li, are you trying to disguise your embarrassment with laughter?” Long Yangjun asked.

“No. It’s just that the weird feeling that had been burdening my heart has gone after figuring out what my professor is up to.”

Staring at Hundred Flowers City not far away, Li Yao’s eyes were glittering more and more brilliantly. He savored the heat and sweetness of his blood, and the mist that had haunted his mind was gradually replaced by burning fire. “I feel that… everything has come back to the pace that I’m most familiar with!”

Long Yangjun snorted. “Trading the life and death of ten experts at the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage and even in the Nascent Soul Stage for your familiar pace, you are quite an extravagant man, aren’t you?”

“There’s no need to worry about Yan Liren and the rest of them too much for now.” Li Yao thought quickly and boosted his computational ability to the maximum. His brain cells were exploding like popcorn. “With the immensity of their soul and computational ability, even if they are mired in a certain Grand Illusionary Land set up by Professor Mo Xuan, they won’t lose so quickly, will they? The worst outcome is that they will be teleported to somewhere unknown and cannot return for the time being.

“Besides, no matter how immaculate my professor’s trap was, he certainly underestimated the capabilities of Team Red Lotus. If he wants to corrupt or kill Yan Liren and the rest of them, he will definitely have to pay a high price, which will very likely be his fatal wound and cause his ultimate failure in the game!

“For the professor, Team Red Lotus is just a minor interference and an unexpected factor beyond his calculations. The more critical question is—what is my professor trying to achieve? What is his real target?

“I figured out the answers when I was nearly ripped apart by the space turbulence!”

Long Yangjun found it odd. “Isn’t his purpose to completely eliminate wars and save mankind, like I said just now?”

“What you mention was just a strategic goal, which is too far away to be of any significance for the situation right now,” Li Yao replied quickly. “Both eliminating wars and ‘virtualizing’ mankind are too ideal and distant. How can they work out without hundreds of years of hard work? There’s no need for us to be affected by unsubstantial, long-term goals. All we need to do is to figure out what my professor wants to do right now as his next step!

“Assuming that Professor Mo Xuan truly wants to achieve the magnificent goal of virtualizing mankind, then, here and now, in the Star Glory Federation, the first thing that he needs to do is control the entire grand-unified Spiritual Nexus and then control the federal government, right?”

Long Yangjun pondered for a moment and nodded. “Yes. No matter how spectacular his follow-up plans and blueprints are, he needs to control the federal government first in order to carry out what he believes in and realize his great ambitions. Then, with Professor Mo Xuan’s identity and the resources at his disposal, controlling the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus first is the most feasible solution!

“The federation and the Imperium today are both highly dependent on crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus. Whoever controls cyberspace controls everything!”

“That’s right!” Li Yao licked his lips in excitement. “The Hundred Flowers Space Zone is the transportation hub of the seven Sectors of the federation. Hundred Flowers City is also the data exchange and control center of the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus. It is the center of the game Civilization, where billions of players are online at the same time!

“One of the three ‘Gai’-level super crystal processors, the most powerful model in the federation, and more than half of the ‘Jing’-level super crystal processors are all installed there. As long as someone controls the Hundred Flowers Space Zone, hacks the ‘Jing’-level super crystal processor, and then controls half of the ‘Jing’-level super crystal processors of the federation, will it be possible for him to control the entire grand-unified Spiritual Nexus?

“Ever since my professor was transformed into the star spirit, an amazing life form of half human and half liquid metal, he has been endowed with the abilities to hack crystal processors and absorb their computational ability freely. During the insurgency of the Immortal Cultivators in the Flying Star Sector, it was because he hacked the star brain and absorbed tremendous computational abilities from the star child that we managed to counterattack and secure the final victory!

“After a hundred years of training, his techniques for hacking crystal processors and absorbing computational ability must be even more powerful, inconspicuous, and swift!

“I’ve checked a lot of files on the crystal processors in the federation today. People say that there are ‘three and a half’ super crystal processors in the federation. By ‘a half’, they are referring to my professor!

“He can control all the super crystal processors in the Hundred Flowers Space Zone and absorb their computational ability for his own use. Then, with the enormous computational ability, he can barrage the second ‘Gai’-level super crystal processor in the Heaven’s Origin Sector. Then, the third one on Spider Den… After all the super crystal processors are remotely controlled by him, it seems that people can only accede to whatever demands he raises!

“After all, the professor was right about one thing. People of the modern age cannot live in a world without the Spiritual Nexus anymore!”

Long Yangjun blinked quickly. “Wait, wait, wait. Are the super crystal processors of the Star Glory Federation weak enough for him to hack any time he wants? Are the other specialists of crystal processors all dead or suddenly retarded? Have they not established tremendous barriers, firewalls, and virtual arrays on the super crystal processors that are of paramount importance? Impressive as your professor’s computational ability may be, it can’t be higher than all the super crystal processors in the federation combined, can it?”

“Yes. That’s the biggest problem. Under normal circumstances, there is no way that my professor could hack so many super crystal processors by force. I’m afraid that he will be discovered the moment he attacks the one in the Hundred Flowers Space Zone. Then, the agents of the Secret Sword Bureau and the soldiers of the federal army will soon come for him!”

Li Yao narrowed his eyes. The silver space fortress that was reflected in his eyes looked like brilliant silver fire. “However, if a special case causes all the super crystal processors to overload, to the point that their computational ability is greatly wasted and the barriers and firewalls are battered to the verge of destruction…”

“Is there such a possibility?” Long Yangjun asked.

“Listen. It suddenly occurred to me…” Li Yao waved his hands and feet in the vacuum and spoke fast. “Years ago, when we dealt with the star child in the Flying Star Sector, my professor was no match for him at first. Instead of corrupting the enemy, my professor was almost swallowed by him!

“However, because I had a fierce fight with the star child in the virtual space he created and drained his tremendous computational ability, my professor was able to seize the enemy’s weakness and launched an attack. In the end, we attacked from the inside and outside together and wiped out the enemy!

“If my professor can create a certain situation right now where all the super crystal processors of the federation are overloading and suffering large-scale saturated attacks that shatter the firewalls…”

Long Yangjun frowned. “All the super crystal processors are loading and suffering a large-scale saturated attack? In what situation can that possibly happen?”

Then, Long Yangjun suddenly paused and shouted at the same time as Li Yao, “The invasion of the expedition army from the Imperium!”

“Yes,” Li Yao said. “As long as the main forces of the Black Wind Fleet jumps on a certain core Sector of the federation, and a great battle of the main fleets of the two parties begins, all the super crystal processors in the federation will be summoned, including the one in the capital city for government affairs, the one here to navigate sailing routes and guide reinforcement, and the one on Spider Den that is scouting the enemy’s whereabouts!”

“In a modern war, the competition of the Spiritual Nexus and information always comes first,” Long Yangjun said. “The first task after the Black Wind Fleet arrives will certainly be to launch a destructive strike on the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus of the federation. The Imperium and the federation both have their advantages in the technology of the Spiritual Nexus. But I fear that the Imperium’s technology must be more destructive. During the competition, not only will all the super crystal processors in the federation overload and nearly crash, their barriers and firewalls will also be riddled with holes if not rippled apart by the Imperium!”

“By then, my professor won’t need to hack anything at all. As the ‘human-shaped super crystal processor’ with the highest computational ability in the federation, he must be one of the main warriors in the competition in cyberspace. Once the battle begins, he can easily get access to most of the data in the super crystal processors. In the most perilous moment, he might even be authorized by the military to be connected to the most confidential super crystal processors in order to improve the federation’s combat ability in the warfare!”

“Fair enough. But there is one critical problem. Is your professor not worried that the federation will collapse if he plays dirty tricks during the Black Wind Fleet’s invasion? If he is a ‘good guy’ and a patriot, there is no reason to do that.”

“…Unless my professor has such a good appetite that he wants to swallow the mainframe crystal processors of the Black Wind Fleet, too!”

“What?” Long Yangjun exclaimed.

“Think about it. A cyberwar is always bidirectional. Both parties will be launching destructive strikes on each other. When the super crystal processors of the federation are overloading in peril, the mainframe crystal processors of the Black Wind Fleet will be reaching their limits, too. It is the best opportunity to hack and control them!”

“Is your professor capable enough of remotely hacking the mainframe crystal processors of the Black Wind Fleet even if they are overloading and on the brink of crash?”

“I don’t know,” Li Yao mumbled. “I’m not good at hacking crystal processors. By common sense, it doesn’t not seem possible. However, if my professor finds a way to deliver a ‘chicken’ into the Black Wind Fleet…”

“Chicken?” Long Yangjun queried.

“Chicken is a special term in the attacks and defenses of crystal processors,” Li Yao explained. “It can be a crystal processor or any other thing that is controlled by some experts and stuffed with various viruses. If my professor can deliver a ‘chicken’ into the Black Wind Fleet’s starships, the viruses can be detonated instantly at the critical moment. Or rather, he can use the ‘chicken’ as a ‘springboard’ to launch the most direct, fatal attack on the Spiritual Nexus and the crystal processors of the Black Wind Fleet from the inside!”

Long Yangjun took a deep breath. “But I don’t think that the Black Wind Fleet will be idiotic enough to accept a… ‘chicken’ from the federation, will they?”