Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Such confidential and detailed information was certainly beyond the knowledge of the children who were waiting for brightness deep inside the darkness of the underground fortresses.

But they could tell from the faces on the news that grew more and more relaxed, the voices that became more and more easy and lighthearted, and the frequent smiles of their adults with them that the gloomy winter was about to fade, and a warm, vigorous spring was soon to come.

In the first two weeks, there was nothing but the situations on the frontline in the news. But in the latter two weeks, a new name was mentioned more and more regularly.

Li Yao.

For the kids who were in kindergarten or in lower grades of elementary school, it was difficult to understand the meaning of ‘Vulture’ Li Yao. They were told by their teachers that he was a super great hero, but what kind of person was a ‘hero’, and what kind of hero could be counted as ‘super great’?

Could Li Yao fly?

Could he fly higher and faster than other heroes?

Was he more awesome than their dads? Could he defeat their dads in an arm wrestle?

When hearing their teacher telling the stories of Li Yao vividly, the kids were all puzzled.

In the underground fortress of the capital city, the kids of Little Swan Kindergarten were lucky enough to meet a living ‘Vulture’ Li Yao. Not in the headlines of the major websites, not in the most heated interview show of the federation, and certainly not the illusions made of the hologram projectors on the street, but a real-life ‘great hero Li Yao’ who joined them.

The day became a grand festival. All the kids of Little Swan Kindergarten put on their most beautiful clothes and even performed a few songs and dances that they carefully rehearsed. They had quite a lot of fun in the day.

But when their moms and dads or their friends asked them, those kids scratched their heads, unable to provide much exciting information. They could only conclude that he was just like any other uncle working in the place and that there was nothing about him that made him ‘super great’. He was even a little bit clumsy. When Zhao Manman of Class Two peed on him, he was in such a panic that the nurses might have done better than him!

“He doesn’t look as handsome as in the movies.”

“Did we meet a fake Li Yao?”

“He certainly can’t defeat dad.”

The kids told their parents solemnly.

Therefore, when the kids of Little Swan Kindergarten returned to the ground again under the lead of their teachers, the soldiers, and the Cultivators to bathe in the real sunlight and to join the grand ceremony, their interest was no longer in the ‘super great’ hero anymore although they knew that Li Yao would be present in the ceremony, too.

Besides, the focus of the ceremony was not Li Yao but a super great, great, great hero who looked much more dependable and had a much higher prestige among the little kids and the young people.

Ding Lingdang!

The most important affairs for a country were wars and memorials. After clearing the battlefield for more than a month, the debris of the unprecedently gory battle in space had been preliminary sorted through. The names of the deceased and the missing had been recorded.

Today was the day to welcome the souls of the heroes that had wandered in the cold space for more than a month to return to their motherland.

After that, under the gazes of the heroes and all the compatriots of the federation, Ding Lingdang would be sworn in and become the latest Supreme Speaker of the Star Glory Federation.

After Li Yao announced his grand return with eleven experts from the Ancient Sages Sector and twelve magnificent Colossi, there was little suspense that Ding Lingdang would be elected as the Speaker of the Federation.

The main force of the Black Wind Fleet had been crushed, but there were still the Imperium of True Human Beings, the Alliance of the Holy Covenant, the Pangu Civilization, and even the extraterrestrial devils that had jumped out recently. The shadows of war that were as heavy as mountains were still looming above the federation.

This was just the beginning of the war. True peace was still far, far away. The Star Glory Federation was in dire need of a determined, persistent War Speaker who could lead everyone into a bloody battle of survival in the dark space!

Although Jin Xinyue did not betray the federation, she did make fatal mistakes while carrying out the Dim Moon Plan, which almost brought the doom of the federation.

She could not become the Speaker of the Federation, at least not now.

The relations between the four new worlds and the three old worlds, the relations between the federation and the Ancient Sages Sector, the relations between the federation and the government-in-exile of the Star Ocean Republic, and also the relations between the federation and Heiye Lan—the daughter of the Black Wind Fleet’s commander. The situation was a messy knot that could not be resolved without Li Yao.

Li Yao naturally could not become the Speaker of the Federation himself. Then, who else could shoulder such a heavy responsibility if not his wife, Ding Lingdang, who had been a popular candidate in the first place?

The election of the federation half a month ago was not postponed because of the war. Instead, the highest patriotism of the citizens was awakened in the crisis, resulting in a voting rate that was the highest in the past fifty years. Without any suspense, Ding Lingdang would lead the federation to move forward in the next five or ten years.

Two weeks after the election, the day had come for the old Speaker to transfer the power to the successor.

“Look!”

At nine o’clock in the morning, when the sun just turned gold from red, the children had already boarded the floating auditorium. Boosted by the anti-gravity rune arrays from below, the auditorium slowly ascended to almost a hundred meters high and moved among the dense skyscrapers.

Leaning on the blockage web and looking through the holes on it, they were amazed by the ocean of people and the heated ambience when millions gathered. Before they could exclaim in incredulity, they heard ear-splitting noises above them.

They raised their heads, only to discover that almost a thousand space shuttle had entered the clouds after activating the combat mode of atmosphere battles. In the middle of daunting airwaves, they rushed by and dissected the sky into a thousand even parts precisely.

The space shuttles that were designed for the zero-gravity environment of space were not suitable for use even slightly within the atmosphere. Other than the serious wear on the camouflage paint and the defense rune arrays on the shuttles themselves, noises and air disturbances that were a hundred times more intense than regular shuttles would also be raised.

But at this moment, even if their noises were ten times louder, they would not have been able to eclipse the cheers of the millions of people down below. Even if the air disturbances were as violent as tornadoes, it would be impossible for them to blow off a single Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars flag that was flying everywhere on every street and avenue.

On the contrary, blown by the high-speed space shuttles, all the red flags among the skyscrapers and on the ground were fluttering furiously!

A lot of kids covered their ears and squatted. When they looked back, the space shuttles were long gone, and the only things left behind were a thousand colorful, glamorous trails.

But it did not matter, because a moment later, a hundred starships that were hundreds of times larger than the space shuttles broke through the splendid clouds and appeared right above them, surrounded by red and purple smoke!

“Wow…”

The kids raised their heads so hard that their necks almost snapped. They could not say a word but gasped hard while they looked at the belly of the starships.

They were like little fish in the deep ocean watching countless whales descending slowly from the surface of the ocean.

Those gigantic starships were like small planets that carried the most intense gravity fields. The kids felt that they were about to be pulled toward them.

Many kids could not help but reach toward the sky. There was no telling whether they were trying to hug the magnificent starships or hoping to transform their arms into wings so that they could fly into the starships and become members to pilot the behemoth!

The shocking picture where hundreds of starships appeared in the sky of a city was a hundred times more of a visual blast than the prior rushing space shuttles.

Young or old, all the people of the federation widened their eyes and held their breath, sensing the undying fighting will and the determination to never admit defeat in silence.

The enormity of the starships choked them. But the Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars emblems on the two sides of the starships made them feel proud from the bottom of their hearts—it was their own troop!

The hundred starships were like dark clouds pressing the ground when they slowly passed the city. If one observed from the ground, the lowest starship almost brushed past the highest antenna on the skyscrapers. After the main troop was over, what followed them were more than ten seriously twisted, ragged, and dusty starships of the Imperium.

The power rune arrays and weapon systems of those starships had all been dismantled. The anti-gravity rune arrays were the only part that was functioning normally. They were controlled by more than ten starships of the federation through the force field and dragged to move forward like captives that had been bound.

Looking at the starships of the Imperium that had been daunting and magnificent a month ago ending up as such wretched garbage, all the people of the federation put on smiles of pride. Many of them even spat on the contorted, mottled lightning trident emblem of the Imperium of True Human Beings and cursed in disdain. “You deserve this!”

“That must be the enemy’s starship.” The kids pointed at an enormous starship that was more than ten kilometers long and shouted, “It is the biggest, hugest starship!”

The flagship was not necessarily the ‘biggest, hugest’ starship in a fleet. Besides, Black Swirl, the flagship of the Black Wind Fleet, had long been blown apart. Even the largest remnant could not have been more than three hundred meters long. It was impossible to restore it.

That was merely a comprehensive mothership of the Black Wind Fleet. Despite its enormity and vast space, it was designed to provide logistical support and did not boast a high combat ability.

However, the kids were not entirely wrong. The federation had intentionally arranged for such a behemothic starship to join the ‘parade of starships’ indeed for the purpose of demonstrating national power, boosting morale, and encouraging the people.

After all the starships stopped in the sky of the city and the spiritual waves unleashed by the anti-gravity rune arrays blurred the gold sunlight on the top of the skyscrapers and made it look like a dream, the victory ceremony on the ground officially began.