Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

The swords and sabers rose like trees and mountains. The wholehearted roars from the thousand experts in the Building Foundation Stage, the Core Formation Stage, and even the Nascent Soul Stage congregated into roaring tides and spread out in all directions as fast as lightning.

The entire star fortress sensed the shocking force. Even someone on the starship that was rushing around the dark side of the fortress widened their eyes in confusion, not knowing exactly what had happened.

Li Yao had never been used to such grandiose ceremonies in the first place, not to mention that his body and mind were both greatly drained. After a brief daze, he asked Ding Lingdang in a low voice, “Didn’t you say that it would be a simple welcome ceremony where I would get to know everybody? Why are there so many people?”

“It’s already very simple. Otherwise, there would’ve been far more.” Ding Lingdang lowered her voice, too. “You are the founder of the Double Dragons Union, the Glorious Sunlight Group, and Skyfire. Now that you have announced your grand return, it is only necessary for their leadership to come and visit you, isn’t it? Right now, all the organizations are behemoths that cover all seven Sectors and can gather three to five million people after a slight cough. They have reduced the number of guests time and time again and finally made it slightly more than a thousand. This is already the best they can do!”

“Well…” Li Yao almost could not hold back the urge to scratch his hair.

He was not necessarily a man of low profile, but it did not mean that he could receive the homage of a thousand experts in such a way comfortably. Their eyes that were full of reverence and even ‘fear’ made Li Yao feel both awkward and embarrassed. He felt goosebumps all over his body.

He was not born for such occasions after all, and he was not the ‘dominator of three Sectors’ that they expected!

Thankfully, ‘President Li’ sounded more or less acceptable to him.

As for exactly how people should address him, Li Yao and Ding Lingdang had discussed for a long time, too, mainly because his case was rather special, and it was impossible to find a similar example in the entire federation.

From the bottom of his heart, he had never considered himself an unreachable celebrity. Except for the disciples and juniors, he would have no problem if other people directly called him ‘Li Yao’ or ‘Brother Yao’.

Of course, that was certainly impossible.

In the federation, for the experts who had high military credits and reputation but did not work in the government or any sect, they were mostly called ‘Mr.’ along with their surname as a way of respect.

However, “Mr. Li’ was a rather creepy title and did not even sound as comfortable as ‘Monster Li’. Long Yangjun and the rest of them would certainly laugh about it for the rest of their lives.

‘Senior Li’ was too cheesy, and ‘Master Li’ sounded too old. His hometown was Floating Spear City. According to the unspoken rule, it was also possible to call him ‘Li Floating Spear’, but that did not sound right.

Eventually, Li Yao discovered that Ding Lingdang had established a fund with part of the assets he left behind years ago under his name to help the war orphans.

Li Yao did not hate the idea of acting as the president of the fund. Calling him ‘President Li’ seemed okay enough.

“Just deal with it.” Ding Lingdang grabbed his arm. “I wasn’t quite used to this, either, when I first returned to the federation from the Nether World Sector and the Uranian Ring Sector, but such occasions are always necessary, and we can’t just be free spirits all the time.

“This is a small occasion. If I am elected the Supreme Speaker of the Federation in a couple of days, you will be the Speaker’s spouse, expected to be present at big occasions where a hundred billion pairs of eyes are focused on you at the same time. What will you do then?”

“Is such a thing happening?” Li Yao blinked quickly. “I thought that you had fulfilled your destiny after the main force of the Black Wind Fleet was crushed and that you could be a hermit now!”

“How is it possible?” Ding Lingdang said. “The war is far from over. Do you think that the remaining soldiers of the Black Wind Fleet will surrender so easily? Now, there will be prolonged and even crueler battles of pursuit and annihilation. Besides, running for the Speaker is too important an issue for me to change my mind easily. Even if I want to, the Patriots Front backing me wouldn’t allow me to! Forget it. Let’s stop talking for now. Everybody is looking at you. Say something to them!”

The military base that was jam-packed with people was now caught in a weird silence.

Everybody held their breath and stared at Li Yao in midair quietly, who was not much taller or bigger them.

That was the legendary Vulture Li Yao, the dominator of three Sectors, and the most renowned superhero! What would he say?

Li Yao’s face was burning.

He did not know that so many people would come. The speech that he had drafted earlier seemed inappropriate now.

The scene before his eyes reminded him of the scene in Hundred Flowers City where he was surrounded by the people. He recalled the moment when everybody’s soul reverberated and sang the national anthem of the federation together.

Out of everybody’s expectation, he stood at attention and bowed to everyone deeply, as if he was returning their respect.

“Thank you for coming such a long way here to welcome me,” Li Yao said. “I must apologize first. You may have some misunderstanding about me. After we get to know each other, you will realize that I am not ‘Vulture’ Li Yao, the dominator of the three Sectors as in the brochures, movies, and games. I am—how should I put it—someone who is the opposite of the propaganda.

“I did not accomplish the feat of ‘saving the day at the most critical moment’. On the contrary, instead of me saving the federation, it was actually the millions of people of federation who made up the Star Glory Federation that saved me as well as themselves.

“Had it not been for the infinite strength granted by the spectral Cultivators who were caged in the virtual world after they woke up, the extraterrestrial devil in Hundred Flowers City wouldn’t have been crushed so easily. Chances are that I might’ve ended up being its puppet.

“Had it not been for the bloody battles the Heaven’s Origin Fleet, the Burning Prairie Fleet, the Big Bai Fleet, and you fought in the Heaven’s Origin Sector, the Star Glory Federation wouldn’t have endured to the moment we arrived. There wouldn’t have been such a great opportunity for us to demolish the Imperium’s space gate, either.

“Most importantly of all, had it not been for the sweat and blood and the unreserved devotion and contribution, which built the Star Glory Federation into such a magnificent country, it wouldn’t have been able to attract any friends or resist any foes.

“Really. Thank you for all your effort and sacrifice. Thank you for giving me such a beautiful hometown to return to after dreaming about it for a hundred years.

“It’s good to be home.”

After finishing his speech, Li Yao bowed deeply to everybody again in the most earnest gratitude.

Whether they were his nominal subordinates, juniors, or students, ‘gratitude’ that was almost tangible was delivered to them in the moment along with powerful and vigorous energy.

The entire military base was still soaked in silence.

Everyone’s mouth was open, and their faces were full of confusion and astonishment.

What shocked them was naturally Li Yao’s delicate control over the spiritual energy. It was neither high nor low and appeared inside everyone’s ears in the most comfortable way, as if Li Yao were sitting one meter before them and expressing his gratitude right to their face. The people who were at the front and at the rear heard his voice with exactly the same volume and clarity even though they might be a hundred meters away from each other!

What surprised them, naturally, was the content of Li Yao’s speech. They had thought that Li Yao would say something more philosophical and awe-inspiring.

It had never occurred to them that his speech would be so plain. This ‘dominator of three Sectors’ was vastly different from their imagination.

Wu Yaxuan, Ye Liusha, and Devilish Blade Peng Lie looked at each other in bewilderment, all thinking that they must have missed something.

Wu Mayan coughed. He knew exactly what a plain person his master was, but had he never described his master in such a way. In front of his son, he had always bragged about his master, depicting him to be brilliant and introspective. Sensing his son’s eyes that were full of questions glancing at his back, Wu Mayan could not help but feel awkward.

Ding Lingdang was amused. “This is it?”

Li Yao blinked. “What?”

“I thought that you would be a pretentious ‘dominator of three Sectors’ for a while.”

“Forget it. All the people here are my family and friends. Why do I need to be pretentious in front of family and friends? Of course, I should speak whatever is on my mind.” Li Yao grinned. “If I must be pretentious, I will show off in front of the people of the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance, or the Pangu Clan and the extraterrestrial devils, after I arrive at the center of the cosmos. It will only be gratifying in that way!”

“Makes sense.” Ding Lingdang rubbed her fists. “If I were not restrained by the identity of Speaker candidate, I would love to go to the center of the cosmos and find several lords and nobles from the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance or the members of the Pangu Clan and the extraterrestrial devils to practice my techniques!”

“I can’t wait,” Li Yao mumbled, “to see the magnificent picture now.”

…

Dealing with the eyes of admiration of the thousand members of the Double Dragons Union, the Glorious Sunlight Group, and Skyfire made Li Yao ill at ease, not sure what to do.

In the real private dinner at night, the courteous greetings from the ‘juniors’ overwhelmed Li Yao even more.

The ways they addressed him—’Senior Uncle’, ‘Grand Master’, ‘Uncle Li Yao’, or ‘Senior Li’—were all very appropriate according to tradition, but the problem was that a lot of the ‘juniors’ were actually in their fifties or even eighties. In terms of their real age, they were even older than him.

Allowing a solemn, middle-aged man in a high position to call him ‘Senior Li’ respectfully and state that he had grown up listening to the heroic deeds of Li Yao and considered Li Yao a role model to learn from was too creepy for Li Yao.

“This is all too uncomfortable for me.” While rubbing his arms, Li Yao spoke to Wu Mayan and Xie Anan, his two true disciples. “In my mind, I only left the federation about five years ago, when you were young, vigorous, and in your twenties.

“But in the blink of an eye, I haven’t changed much, and you are already middle-aged people more than a hundred years old. Even your child is bigger than the you were when I departed.

“This is truly a weird feeling. I feel that I have lost a hundred years for nothing and that I’m living in a different time dimension from you.”