Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

There was often a silver lining even in the greatest catastrophe. Desperation and hope were the two sides of the same coin in the first place. All that mattered was who the one that picked the coin was and from which angle he was standing.

A joke was once very popular in the ancient times among the sailors. When a ship sank after hitting an iceberg, all the passengers on board were killed in the ocean. While it was a disaster for the passengers, for the fish in the kitchen on the ship that was waiting to be cooked, it was undoubtedly “divine salvation”!

The joke described what Zuo Tian was feeling perfectly.

After his spiritual energy was locked, his shoulder blade was pierced through, and three layers of electromagnetic shackles were imposed on him. The deacon of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the manager of the Blue Sky Market twenty-four hours ago had already lost all hope when he was escorted to Eternal Spring, ready to face the excruciating tortures and the final execution.

Little did he expect that Eternal Spring would suffer an ambush during the space jump. Because the prison cell was particularly solid, he survived the fierce battles, and not even his fingernail was cut by the space ripples. He was brought back by the soldiers of the Big Bai Pirate Gang to the Blue Sky Market in one piece.

Although it had been only half a day, looking at the flags of the white mouse with a twisted bottom and the crowned fist, Zuo Tianying couldn’t help but feel that it was a different life. He wondered whether he should cry or laugh about it.

The soldiers of the Big Bai Pirate Gang did not seal his senses. On his way, he saw the devastated regular army and the other space pirates who had been kept captives. He also saw the deformed, blackened bodies of the many pirate gangs, as well as the hills of the debris of crystal suits and starships, which almost looked like splendors to demonstrate the winner’s power.

From the excited soldiers of the Big Bai Pirate Gang and what he had seen on his way, Zuo Tianying had basically figured out what had happened in the previous half a day and who the new owner of the Blue Sky Market was.

Li Wuji, hahahaha, you didn’t see today coming, did you?

Boss Bai… is truly an extraordinary man, and also an out-and-out lunatic!

However, Zuo Tianying was not bothered too much because his outcome couldn’t have been worse than being escorted to the territory of the four Kurfürsten.

Very soon, he was escorted by a team of the Big Bai Pirate Gang to the No. 1 dock where a few main-force warships were stopped.

With the warships that were as magnificent as mountains as the background, Boss Bai was chatting with another expert who looked as intimidating as himself.

Zuo Tianying was surprised by Boss Bai’s fancy vacation clothes first before he focused his attention on the bronze spiritual puppet or artificial body on the opposite of him. That must be “Fist King” Lei Zonglie who had been quite the star at the peripheral worlds of the Imperium in the recent half a year and who was somewhat even scarier than Boss Bai.

He did not expect that Boss Bai and the Fist King had joined their hands to dig such a giant pit for him. It was not the fault of him or Li Wuji that they fell into the trap without noticing anything wrong.

“Deacon Zuo is back!”

Boss Bai did not notice Zuo Tianying’s embarrassment until he talked with the Fist King for a while. He raised his eyebrows and said solemnly, “Why is he still tied up? Do you not know that Deacon Zuo is an honorable guest of the Blue Sky Market? We have to consult Deacon Zuo on a lot of things, such as the operation and defense of the Blue Sky Market, and the features of the docks for maintenance and upgrades. How can you be so rude? Hurry and untie Deacon Zuo and treat his wounds!”

Zuo Tianying warmed up his wrists, which were rigid and strengthless after being tied for too long. He grimaced and moaned while he cursed Boss Bai in his heart. Such a shameless announcement that he was “an honorable guest of the Blue Sky Market” was something that Boss Bai could say out. The reason why he was tied up for so long was exactly because of Boss Bai’s doing. Why were you pretending to be the good guy?

“A real man knows when to admit failure.”

With thirty percent fury, Zuo Tianying held his head high and said, “Boss Bai, stop being pretentious. Now that I’ve fallen to your hands, you can execute me however you see fit!”

“What are you talking about, Deacon Zuo?”

Boss Bai couldn’t have looked more confused and innocent, almost like a child who did not know what mistake he had made. He went forward and smeared ointments for Zuo Tianying in person as he said in the gentlest and most sincere voice, “Misunderstanding. All is but a misunderstanding!”

Misunderstanding…

His head dizzy, Zuo Tianying looked at the Blue Sky Market where intense black smoke was still popping up and felt like vomiting blood on Boss Bai’s face.

Innocence beamed out of Boss Bai’s small eyes. “Deacon Zuo may have been greatly offended earlier, but it was simply a trick that had to be played. Without the sacrifices of Deacon Zuo and other people, how could we have won the trust of the twenty-eight pirate gangs as well as Marquess Yongchun and fished all of them?

“Right now, although the Blue Sky Market is destroyed, the twenty-eight pirate gangs and the advanced warships of Li Wuji’s fleet, as well as the elite warriors that had been trained for decades, all fell to our hands. What a fatal force it is! It can certainly change the course of the ‘battle of Seven Seas’ to come, can’t it? Isn’t it worthwhile to trade for it with the Blue Sky Market?

“Besides, even if I did not do anything, the other twenty-eight pirate gangs and Li Wuji’s fleet would still have swept across the Blue Sky Market. Your doom was inevitable. Was there any fault in me when I earned the greatest benefits for you from the destruction?

“Of course, I should’ve informed Deacon Zuo beforehand and asked for your approval, but in that case, Li Wuji might notice loopholes, and the scheme would fail. So, I would rather risk being blamed by Deacon Zuo, misunderstood by the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, and hated by the reformists, and simply took action without asking for permission. Do you really not understand my consideration, Deacon Zuo?”

As a deacon of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, Zuo Tianying had traveled a lot and met the most shameless merchants.

But what Boss Bai said today and his guiltless face still updated Zuo Tianying’s knowledge of “shameless”.

Holding back the urge of vomiting blood, he panted with a pale face. “Boss Bai, we have no grudge against each other. Even if you are going to occupy the Blue Sky Market, you can simply kill me. Why do you have to humiliate me like this?”

“Humiliate you? I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Blinking his eyes, Boss Bai said sincerely, “I meant every word I said. Why is it humiliation? I was thinking to ask Deacon Zuo to be an intermediary for my cooperation with the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the reformists. Why would I humiliate you?”

“Cooperation?”

Zuo Tianying found it hard to believe and exclaimed, “With everything coming to this point, you are still hoping to cooperate with us?”

“Why not?”

Boss Bai curled his lips. “Peace is the most precious thing for us who make a living in the same universe. I am a man who likes to cooperate and make deals best!”

“Then—”

Zuo Tianying was both confused and angry. “One day ago, I invited you to cooperate with the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sector, but you viciously stole my Blue Sky Market and slaughtered tremendous members on my side! Now, the smoke has not dispersed and the blood is not solid yet, and you are hoping to cooperate with us as if nothing had happened? What… What do you want exactly?”

“Cooperation. From the beginning to the end, I only want cooperation.”

Boss Bai grew solemn, and his face was covered in frost. Staring at Zuo Tianying, he said, “Deacon Zuo, tell me the truth, was the so-called ‘cooperation’ yesterday for two parties on equal terms? No, you were just trying to hire the Big Bai Pirate Gang with a high reward to be your cannon fodder and even your dog.

“Listen up, Boss Bai can cooperate with anyone, however infamous and brutal they are, as long as there are enough returns.

“But if anyone wants me to be his dog, hehehehe, even if he is a god that masters the stars and promises me the entire universe, I won’t be interested at all.

“One day ago, we were not equal, and the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors did not respect me at all, so our cooperation couldn’t work out. But right now, I have proved my sincerity for the cooperation with my strength. Perhaps the calmer and more rational guys in the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors understand the importance of letting bygones be bygones, don’t they?”

Zuo Tianying lowered his head in silence, but he began to roll his eyes fast, like a grass revived after being frozen, as he reconsidered every possibility.

“We can talk about the details later.”

Observing him, Boss Bai said with a smile, “Deacon Zuo can take a rest for now and consider my proposal carefully.”

Boss Bai waved his hands, and Zuo Tianying was taken away in devastation.

Another devastated man, however, was brought over. The two of them looked at each other when they passed by each other, both bulging their eyes hard.

The second person was naturally Marquess Yongchun, Li Wuji.

Li Wuji looked much more miserable than Zuo Tianying who was barely injured.

Not only was his head as swollen as a pig head covered in sauces because of the blasts blown out by the Kleptomaniac and the Fist King, but his face and his body were also stained with tremendous blood, stains, and vomits.

Those things enshrouded him like poisons, making him writhe and moan feebly all the time.

“Boss Bai, Lei Zonglie!”

After being pushed to Boss Bai’s feet, Li Wuji struggled even harder, and his eyes were almost shooting out like hammers. He roared crazily, “You are doomed! You are not far away from death! You have nowhere to run to! The four families will annihilate each and every one of you and slap you like slapping flies!”

“My lord—”

Boss Bai sighed and squatted next to Li Wuji before he said unhurriedly, “Save your strength. I truly don’t understand why you want us to die so badly. Haven’t you discovered that we are now an indestructible team of shared interests and that your position in the Li family is solely dependent on the future of the Big Bai Pirate Gang and the fleet of the Cultivators?”