Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“Yes, Qi Yuanbao and Wuying Qinxin must’ve decided to kill me a long time ago. However, if they did it when it was peaceful and quiet, not only would it raise the suspicion of other managers and shareholders of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, but it would also infuriate Blackstar the Great. It would’ve been too risky.”

Jin Yuyan said calmly. When he mentioned his wife, he seemed to be talking about a stranger that he didn’t even know. “However, Red Lady’s assassination gave them the best opportunity to assign the blame of my death to the four families and take over everything I left behind justifiably. That was why Qi Yuanbao took the chances despite the risk.

“If it hadn’t been for the unexpected factor that was you, it was very possible that he would have succeeded. As long as he got the situation under control and led the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors to defeat the coalition fleet of the four families, I don’t think Blackstar the Great would complain much later or care about how exactly I died.

“After all, it’s just like what the Immortal Cultivators say—victors enjoy impunity!”

“However, Qi Yuanbao’s critical attack did not work out, and you are still alive.”

Curling his finger, Li Yao tapped his thigh softly and said, “So to speak, Qi Yuanbao’s attack was rather hasty. It was possible that he hadn’t been prepared for everything, and he couldn’t have dared to report what happened in the Seven Seas Grand Market to Wuying Qi at all. Otherwise, when Wuying Qi realized that he was more of a saboteur than a contributor and had put his enterprise in unnecessary risks, he would’ve certainly killed him.

“Director Jin, what do you think Qi Yuanbao and Wuying Qinxin will do next?”

“They will probably convene a temporary meeting of managers and shareholders, where they will try to win the support of the managers and the shareholders so that they will temporarily take over the supreme power of the Business Alliance as well as the leadership of the garrisons and special squads under the Business Alliance.”

Jin Yuyan said, “There are five senior managers in the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, more than forty managers of different levels, and more than a hundred very influential shareholders. Behind the managers and shareholders are the warlords and Sector Masters from the peripheral worlds of the Imperium. Some are even the middle class of the four Kurfürst families who cannot rise any higher.

“Qi Yuanbao and Wuying Qinxin have to win the support of those people if they want to succeed. Considering that the coalition fleet of the four families would launch a destructive strike at the Seven Seas Grand Market in a couple of days, the warlords and Sector Masters, as well as the middle class and the bottom class within the four families, are anxiously deciding which side they should take too. They are vacillating between destroying the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors according to the Kurfürsten’s will, burning their money bags and the hope to rise in the meantime, and rising up ruthlessly to fight the big shots of their families who have been s*itting on their necks all the time!

“Such a thing cannot be postponed forever. If the chaos in the Seven Seas Grand Market lasts more than twenty-four hours, many people in the coalition fleet of the four families will certainly change their attitudes and abandon the friendships of more than a hundred years.

“Therefore, Qi Yuanbao and Wuying Qinxin have to get all the permissions in one day and become the new leaders of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors!”

“Then…”

Pondering for a moment, Li Yao asked, “Do you think the possibility is high that they can convince the many managers and shareholders? Or rather, since they are obviously not by themselves now that they have made such a risky attempt, how many people do you think are their potential allies or conspirators within the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors?”

“Not taking us into consideration, the possibility that Qi Yuanbao is successfully elected as an acting director of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors is very high.”

Jin Yuyan said, “First of all, the capitals of the ‘Wuying group’ and the big shots behind them will undoubtedly support him and Wuying Qinxin. They may have even reached a secret alliance earlier and been bought over by Blackstar the Great. Secondly, the outside world is unaware of the truth and thinks that I’ve been assassinated by the four families. So, the subordinates loyal to me and the resources at my disposal will fall into the hands of Wuying Qinxin and be used to support Qi Yuanbao. Thirdly, with a war coming near, lack of leadership means suicide. Since the coalition fleet of the four families is about to flood into the Seven Seas Space Zone, as long as Qi Yuanbao acts tough enough, nobody will compete with him at such a moment. Even the senior managers who are not particularly fond of him will certainly consider the big picture.”

“That is to say…”

Li Yao said, “We have to reveal their scheme in twenty-four hours, when Qi Yuanbao and Wuying Qinxin convene a temporary meeting of managers and shareholders, in order to stop them?”

“It’s a pity that nobody will believe us.”

Looking at his thick and stupid body, Jin Yuyan smiled bitterly again, with a hoarse voice that was mixed with sorrow and helplessness. “My body right now is a woman from inside to outside. Even my soul has slightly mutated because of the ‘Soul Transfer Technique’. The soul signature that I make is completely different from the past. I cannot even open the safes that I locked, the checks that I signed, or the Cosmos Rings that I sealed myself before. How can I convince other people that I am really Jin Yuyan?

“As for you, ‘Vulture Li Yao’, it is even more impossible for you to be exposed. You are the greatest traitor that every reformist knows. All the assassin and mercenary groups under the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors are aware of the bounties for you. Too many people are whetting their sabers ready to claim your head. The moment you reveal your real identity, you will be drowned in a storm of bullets.

“Think about it. The news from the capital is that you’ve been bought over by the four families and betrayed the reformists. Now, you suddenly appeared in the Seven Seas Grand Market, right after Red Lady betrayed the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and killed me. How are you going to explain everything? If you were an outsider who doesn’t know anything about the situation, would you believe that the woman next to ‘Vulture Li Yao’ who looks like a chimpanzee is Jin Yuyan, or any of the bulls*it about the ‘Soul Transfer Technique’?”

Li Yao scratched his head. “It is indeed hard to explain.”

“Explanation means the confession of truth, which brings us to an even more critical problem. It’s impossible for you to tell the truth!”

Jin Yuyan continued, “In order to reveal Qi Yuanbao and Wuying Qinxin’s scheme, you will have to confess your real identity and your background. Then, you have to let everybody know that you are a Cultivator from Firefly that has fled for a thousand years.

“Regretfully, not all the Immortal Cultivators consider money, capital, and profit as their belief like me. As long as there is a 1000% profit, you can ask me to strike an alliance with the Cultivators that is sworn with blood.

“Most of the Immortal Cultivators’ disgust, hatred, and wariness of the Cultivators are deep to their bones. Your real identity is even more sensitive than ‘a traitor bought over by the four families’. Besides, you destroyed ‘Manjusaka, the City in the Sky’, resulting in the heavy loss of investment for many people in the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors. Many promising researchers were killed in the incident too.

“Don’t blame me for not reminding you. The five senior managers, the dozens of regular managers, and the hundreds of shareholders, large and small, had investments in ‘Manjusaka, the City in the Sky’. Many of them even sponsored ‘slaughter streams’ personally. After the mess you caused, they were all vomiting blood because of the huge deficits.

“Even if they do not care that you are a Cultivator, you cannot expect them to be fond of you in the slightest. Let me ask you, how are you going to convince them?”

Li Yao scratched his head quickly. “Well…”

“One other thing, Qi Yuanbao knows that I’m not dead and that you are out there. With his cunningness, it shouldn’t be hard for him to guess who you are.”

Jin Yuyan further increased the difficulty. “I don’t know if Blackstar the Great has told part of your real identity to Qi Yuanbao in secret, but I guess he has, because there are few places in the vast universe that a Cultivator like you can go. Blackstar the Great must’ve foreseen that you would come to seek my cooperation.

“Then, it is not entirely possible that he revealed your identity to Qi Yuanbao in advance for him to take precautions.

“I know Qi Yuanbao’s style very well. In terms of head-on combat ability, he is naturally no match for you, but he never attacks the enemy in head-on battles. He never even let the enemy discover him.

“If I were him, I would’ve dispatched a large group to chase the two of us, strictly forbidding them to talk to me.

“Should you encounter such a squad, would you kill them or not? If you don’t, you will be worn out by them. If you kill them, it will be even less possible for you to explain yourself, and it will only prove that you’ve been bought over by the four families!”

“All the problems boil down to one thing. In order to reveal Qi Yuanbao and Wuying Qinxin’s scheme, we have to prove that you are the real Jin Yuyan!”

Frowning, Li Yao asked, “Is there no item or way that can prove your identity?”

“There are the surgical records and data about the Soul Transfer Technique.”

Jin Yuyan said, “However, all the data are locked in my office, which is the most heavily guarded place in the Seven Seas Grand Market. Even a wisp of smoke cannot sneak in!”

“Why does it sound so familiar to me?”

Li Yao picked his ear and said, “So, the key for us to reverse the situation is the data about your operation of the ‘Soul Transfer Technique’, and all the data are kept in a place that is defended by the state-of-the-art magical equipment and countless assassins and guards?”

“Exactly. A lot of business secrets of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors of the highest level are also stored in the place. Naturally, it is under the most rigorous protection.”

Jin Yuyan said, “Theoretically, it can never be compromised or broken in. Why are you smiling so weirdly?”

“Nothing, I’m just curious…”

Li Yao rubbed his cheeks. “Since the data are Qi Yuanbao and Wuying Qinxin’s greatest weakness, can’t they destroy the data in advance?”

“They can’t.”

Jin Yuyan said, “To destroy the central data, they must have the highest permission of the director, and to get the highest permission, they have to convene a temporary meeting of managers and shareholders and win the votes of more than two-thirds of the participants. Therefore, the data cannot be destroyed by them, at least not in the next twenty-four hours!”