Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

At the same time, in the enormous space in the Heaven’s Origin Sector, the No. 9 space gate, made of 425 star beacons, was following the trace of the sun and slowly adjusting the angle of every solar sail in order to absorb more energy from the sun and reduce the waste as much as possible.

If one observed from the front, it was truly like ten thousand flames that were glowing in the sea of stars and dancing at the sun passionately in the most glamorous colors.

Ripples of spiritual energy invisible to the naked eye penetrated through the four-dimensional space and were received by the monitors in the other six Sectors, the resource planets, the space towns, and the enormous starships, turning into navigation marks that guided the way for them in the universe.

It was the largest space gate in the entire federation, capable of navigating a whole fleet to teleport through the four-dimensional space and arrive in the Heaven’s Origin Sector immediately.

There were three space gates of the same level in the Heaven’s Origin Sector. Together, they supported the numerous, prosperous sailing routes between the capital world and the other six worlds.

Every ‘space gate’ was a money gobbler. Solar energy was not enough to meet one tenth of their daily consumption of energy. Countless high-purity crystals were shipped there on a regular basis and burnt into flames that illuminated the four-dimensional space.

Therefore, when the carrier that was fully loaded with high-purity crystals slowly approached the No. 9 space gate, none of the soldiers stationed in the two-star fortresses that protected the space gate noticed anything wrong.

They knew that the shadow of war already consumed them. However, the Heaven’s Origin Sector, as the capital of the New Federation, had the densest fixed defense arrays, which seemed to make it the hardest bone to bite. In comparison, the Flying Star Sector and the Uranian Ring Sector were more likely to be the primary target for the Black Wind Fleet. Such a preconception had corrupted a lot of people’s wariness.

Besides, this particular carrier arrived every ten days. Many soldiers could still recognize the mottled rust and meteor scratches on the shell of it!

It was not until the carrier accelerated, accelerated, and accelerated again instead of slowing down security check as it usually did, and a super-intense spiritual shield as red as blood that was more profound than the shield of many main-force warships appeared, that somebody finally screamed in alarm!

The last procedure of the Dim Moon Plan had officially begun.

At this point, there was one hour, fifty-nine minutes, and forty-four seconds to go before the Black Wind Fleet arrived in the Heaven’s Origin Sector.

…

The ‘Federal Hyperspace Navigation Center’, which was responsible to control the three space gates from the ground remotely and to plan the sailing routes between the capital and other locations, was located in the middle of the mountains in the east suburb of the capital city in the Heaven’s Origin Sector.

The four deep hollows on the ground were four bowl-shaped wave launchers that were almost a hundred meters in diameter. They transmitted signals and instructions to the sky without stop.

Seven teams of shuttles gathered from various directions and marched toward the ‘Federal Hyperspace Navigation Center’ quietly.

Sitting at the rear of one of the heavy-armored battle shuttles, Jin Xinyue touched the scepter of the coalition army of demons in her hands, silent.

She had always been confident about her victory since the Dim Moon Plan was implemented. She had even been acting mysteriously.

However, at this moment, when the Dim Moon Plan finally reached the last chapter, and everything would soon be revealed, she suddenly felt ill at ease.

Xue’er, her disciple who was sitting next to her, sensed the anomaly. “Master…”

“In any case, there is no turning back now.” Jin Xinyue took a breath and closed her eyes, with obvious fatigue on her face. She seemed to be both explaining to her disciple and comforting herself. “We are playing a risky game. The Black Wind Fleet is playing a risky game, too. Both parties want to settle the war in one campaign and do not wish it to be dragged into a protracted battle. So, we are all dancing on the tip of a blade.

“We have no choice other than such a radical tactic. Otherwise, even if we defeat the Black Wind Fleet in a regular war, it is not going to be so easy to completely destroy them. If the war goes on for a couple of years, the federation will be scarred and burnt to the ground. New expedition armies will certainly arrive from the Imperium and reap us easily!

“So, no matter how dangerous, painful, and harmful the dance on the tip of the blade is, we must see the end of it!

“I hope that our play is enough to make the Black Wind Fleet believe that the Heaven’s Origin Sector is in chaos and attract them to jump into our ambush!”

Xue’er held Jin Xinyue’s hand and softly said, “God bless our people. God bless the federation!”

Jin Xinyue was not someone who believed in deities and heavens.

She would never hesitate to slaughter them if they ever stood in her way to power.

However, at that moment, looking at the spiritual towers and launchers that rose high into the sky from the mountaintops, she mumbled to herself, “God bless our people. God bless… the federation!”

At this moment, there was one hour, fifty-eight minutes, and fifty-nine seconds to go before the Black Wind Fleet arrived in the Heaven’s Origin Sector.

…

In the Heaven’s Origin Sector, at the edge of the galaxy far, far away from the sun, from the dark and boundless coldness, a fleet that was painted in unusually eye-catching white colors struggled out of a stone belt and sailed toward the home planet.

It was the No. 16 Deep Sky fleet of the federation, more commonly known as ‘Big Bai Fleet’, which had just finished a half-year Deep Sky Cruise Drill. Theoretically speaking, it should be exhausted and running out of resources now.

All the starships were returning to the space zone around the capital to rest, refill the supplies, and build up the defense of the capital.

On the bridge of Infinite Fire, the flagship of the Big Bai Fleet, Bai Xingjian, the highest commander of the fleet, crossed his legs and half lay on the chair comfortably with his hands as a pillow. Through the hundreds of light beams that were floating in midair, he viewed the overall report of all the drill subjects in the past half year. He could not have looked more at ease.

Xiao Lishui, his deputy and the Chief of Staff of the Big Bai Fleet, looked at him, frowning. The guy coughed hard every now and then, and his cough lasted more than half a minute every time. He was almost coughing all his internal organs out every time he coughed.

Speaking of which, this guy ‘Xiao Lishui’ had been one of the dominating big shots in the past, too.

He was more than two hundred and sixty years old. Even for a Cultivator, he was also old enough to kick the bucket at any time.

The man had once been a space pirate on Spider Den in the Flying Star Sector. He had already been quite famous on Spider Den two hundred years ago, and he was of the same generation as Bai Xinghe, the Pirate Potentate. He had risen to fame even earlier than Bai Xinghe did. His cruelty and treacherous schemes were as good as those of the Pirate Potentate.

The man had been famous because of his vile habit. He never hijacked regular carriers, and he was only fond of hunting the fellows of his own trade who had just fought a bloody battle with the guardians of armed commercial groups. So, it was usually very easy for him to loot tremendous wealth without paying anything.

Before his quirk was exposed, he had been one of the most powerful magnates on Spider Den, but after the issue was publicized, the space pirates had finally discovered, to their surprise, that more than fifty pirate gangs had been smothered by Xiao Lishui in the past few decades and that the space pirates killed by him were even more numerous than those killed by the six sects of Heavenly Saints City!

Although it was not unusual for the space pirates to attack each other for goods, it was still too despicable when someone attacked nobody else but the space pirates without leaving anybody alive!

Xiao Lishui’s wicked behavior had infuriated everyone. Even so, he still managed to escape for five years under the siege of dozens of pirate gangs before he was captured by accident. Then, he was locked and tortured in a prison below the surface of Spider Den, partly because the space pirates believed that it was actually a mercy to kill him just like that, and partly because rumor had it that he had accumulated astronomical wealth after swallowing so many pirate gangs over decades. Who could bear to execute him before he had shared where the treasure was?

Just like that, Xiao Lishui was locked in the dungeon on Spider Den for thirty years, watched and interrogated by the few most powerful pirate gangs together. He had spent such a long time down there that he had almost been forgotten by everyone, and he was still soaked in the filthy water when Spider Den was liberated by the Cultivators!

Dealing with Xiao Lishui had become a tricky problem.

Nobody could deny that he was a space pirate. In fact, he was one of the most ruthless and cunning space pirates. There was no way that he should be set free and allowed to jeopardize the society.

However, after arduous investigations, all his crimes consisted of hunting other fellow space pirates, and no evidence of him looting regular carriers was found.

Also, at this point, his bones had almost rotted after being soaked in the dungeon for more than thirty years. He had only been a hundred and fifty years old at that time, the prime of a Cultivator’s life. But he was consumed by white hair, wrinkles, and diseases, and he looked like a man of five hundred years old.

The doctor’s judgment was that he could live no more than ten years even if he was not sentenced to death as other unpardonable heads of space pirates were.

Therefore, Xiao Lishui’s final verdict was fifty years of imprisonment!

Nobody expected that the coughing ‘old man’ would struggle to live through his term of imprisonment. He was even picked up by Bai Xingjian from a corner of a certain slum and served as an advisor on Bai Xinghe’s starship first. Then, he was appointed as the Chief of Staff of the Big Bai Fleet. He seemed to be revived again!

“Old Bai…” Xiao Lishui covered his mouth and coughed for a long time. “Although the Big Bai Fleet is free to draft all the drill subjects on our own as an independent troop, all the tactics you asked them to practice in the past half year are different from what you reported to the General Staff. Don’t you think that you will need an excuse?

“I don’t understand why you changed the drill subjects so greatly and asked them to practice battles without network in an environment that was under severe spiritual and magnetic interference. What does it mean? Is the technology of the Imperium of True Human Beings advanced enough to block our connection with the outside world instantly?

“If that’s the case, why didn’t we just report the drill subjects instead of rehearsing them clandestinely?”

Bai Xingjian suddenly stopped shaking his legs. A moment later, he began to shake them again. “Don’t be hasty, Old Xiao. You will find out very soon.”

“Find out what?” Xiao Lishui asked.

“You will find out…” Bai Xingjian narrowed his eyes that were filled with both confusion and excitement as he mumbled, “…whether or not I was tricked by the old fart!”

At this point, there was one hour, fifty-seven minutes, and thirty-six seconds to go before the Black Wind Fleet reach the Heaven’s Origin Sector.