Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

Li Yao’s neck uttered rusty noises as he turned back inch by inch. He immediately saw another transparent person floating not far away. Who else could it have been if not the haunting Wuying Qi?

However, Wuying Qi felt like an entirely different person from a moment ago.

He was wearing a white robe, and the cruelty and domination on his face were gone. He stared at his younger self and the mobsters who were throwing him into the volcano, but his eyes were calm and clear, as if he had come to new realizations.

He was floating in the middle of the smoke above the crater. Yet he seemed to be beyond this world and in full possession of this weird memory palace.

He was giving Li Yao the same feeling as Li Linghai did when Li Yao and Li Linghai met for the first time. They were both tranquil and untainted.

It did make sense. Wuying Qi was a half teacher for Li Linghai, so Li Linghai must’ve learned after him. This image should always be a facet of his mind.

For some reason, Li Yao was not wary of such a Wuying Qi at all, nor did he sense any danger from him.

Even so, Li Yao still freaked out. “Are you kidding me, bro? Why can’t you just die? How many times have you transformed? Which between us is the undying cockroach here?”

Faced with Li Yao’s aggression, Wuying Qi simply chuckled and said casually, “Li Yao, listen to my—”

Before he said “explanation”, his shadow had been torn apart by Li Yao’s.

“I won’t! I won’t! I won’t!”

Li Yao cackled and said, “You’re still stalling me at such a point? You can beat me and even kill me, but you can’t insult my wisdom like this!”

However, however many times he tore Wuying Qi’s shadow into shreds, it did not cause any substantial damage to Wuying Qi, who simply regathered again and again and still gazed at Li Yao calmly.

Nobody could win a fight between two shadows in a memory palace.

“This is impossible!”

Li Yao was dumbfounded. “What is this place? What is such a technique? What am I doing? What are you going to do, jacka*s?”

“Stop wasting your precious time and strength. You can’t kill me in here, because I’m already dead, or rather, I’m in the middle of dying. Even someone as strong as Blackstar the Great can’t die twice.”

Wuying Qi said casually, “We’re in my—no, in your brain. I’ll inject some of my memories into your head with my last soul power. What you’re perceiving is nothing but illusionary data. How can you expect to kill data?

“I’ve temporarily sealed this space, which is the last thing I could do by burning up my Divinity Branching Stage soul. How can it be broken easily? But don’t worry. This seal will automatically perish when my soul is gone for good.

“I mean you no harm. I’ve truly lost the competition. More struggles will only mean more jokes. Dragging you to hell with me is pointless. I’m burning my soul to do this because I want to say something to you without being interrupted and to offer you my final legacy.”

“Well…”

Li Yao blinked his eyes quickly and scanned Wuying Qi who was almost transparent. “Has your IQ suddenly plummeted, or has mine? Is this really not some kind of delay strategy?

“You say that you’re dying. If I recall correctly, you were killed by my singing. But you’re thanking me and giving me some legacies of Blackstar the Great? That’s highly illogical, bro!”

“When you learn the truth in the morning, you can die in peace at night. I’ve understood the real truth, and my life is completed by the momentary realization. Does it really matter if I’m going to die 0.1 seconds later?”

Wuying Qi smiled at Li Yao. “My realization couldn’t have been achieved without you. You also helped me get rid of Wuying Qi. I certainly have to thank you.

“Besides, my life and death are not important compared to my destiny. I need someone to pass on my belief. Is there a better candidate than you right now?”

“Hold on a second!”

Li Yao was rather stunned. No longer wondering whether or not it was another of Wuying Qi’s tricks, he simply asked, “What did you say just now? I helped you get rid of Wuying Qi? Aren’t you Wuying Qi?”

“Yes.”

Wuying Qi nodded. “Of course I am Wuying Qi.”

“You are Wuying Qi, but I helped you get rid of Wuying Qi, and you’re thanking me for that?”

Li Yao was utterly confused. “How many Wuying Qis are out there?”

“At least three.”

Wuying Qi pointed at the young man in the volcano and said, “The first Wuying Qi was the person who grew up in the Martial Meritocrats Sector, who crazily believed in the path of Cultivators, and who eventually caused a civil war between Cultivators and ordinary people because he thought that Cultivators carried some sort of ‘original sin’. Let’s call him ‘Wuying Qi 1.0’. Can you understand it?”

Li Yao rolled his eyes and nodded.

“The second one is the Wuying Qi who witnessed the destruction of the Martial Meritocrats civilization, who luckily found the Blood God’s heritage in space, and who usurped the highest power of the Star Ocean Republic as Blackstar the Great.”

Wuying Qi said, “He’s also the Wuying Qi who intended to reign mankind forever with the Next Sun Plan and who tried to destroy the whole Empyreal Terminus Sector when he couldn’t achieve his purpose. Let’s call this dark and evil man ‘Wuying Qi 2.0’, shall we?”

“Well, of course.”

Although it was not easy to understand, Li Yao grasped what he meant.

With the destruction of the Martial Meritocrats Sector and the rebirth in the volcano as the boundary, Wuying Qi’s life could be divided into two personalities that were the polar opposite of each other.

The first personality was an absolute fundamentalist Cultivator, and the second personality was a super Immortal Cultivator who was consumed by the darkness.

However, what was this third Wuying Qi, or Wuying Qi’s third personality?

“There’s also a ‘Wuying Qi 3.0’, who believes in the ‘Next Sun Plan’ and that he’s fighting for mankind, and who will stop in time and even try to stop Wuying Qi 2.0 when he realizes that his crazy action will jeopardize the interest of mankind.”

Wuying Qi smiled. “That will be me, a Wuying Qi that was just born but is the purest, noblest, and most selfless one.”

Li Yao stared at the man for a long time, dumbfounded.

“Well, not that I’m unwilling to believe you.”

Li Yao said with disbelief, “But isn’t such a show of ‘regret and change’ too cliche? How stupid would I be if I am to believe that someone as shameless, unforgivable, and vindictive as Wuying Qi could generate a kind and noble personality? Sorry, I’m not insulting you. Well, fine, I am, because it’s impossible after all!”

“That’s fine. Nobody would’ve believed in my third personality, because Wuying Qi 2.0 is truly an unpardonable and incorrigible beast.”

Wuying Qi 3.0 said peacefully, “When he escaped from the Martial Meritocrats Sector, his mind was swallowed by hatred, which turned him into a selfish demon who loathed mankind.

“Then, he met the Blood God who shared his attitude but was even eviler. How could the two demons produce a savior who fought for the civilization?

“Both ‘renewing the Imperium’ and ‘Next Sun Plan’ were excuses for him to reclaim power and reign the universe forever. He had never believed in them for one second.

“So, this third personality was not created naturally by his conscience, but created on purpose.”

“Huh?”

Li Yao’s mouth widened. “What do you mean by ‘created on purpose’?”

“Wuying Qi 2.0 mastered the method of massive brainwashing, but to brainwash other people, he had to convince other people of his genuineness first. So, he had to brainwash himself and implant his faith for the ‘Next Sun Plan’ and his love for mankind and things like that in his head.”

Wuying Qi 3.0 said, “Just like you said earlier, the best liars have to deceive themselves first. If they can’t convince themselves, how can they convince other people? So, Wuying Qi specifically implanted an indestructible mark in his soul, ready to trigger the Next Sun Plan with the mark.

“He thought that he had the mark under control and that he could wipe it out after his plan worked. But he was wrong. He underestimated the power of his technique. A new personality was created by him unintentionally, which is me, Wuying Qi 3.0.”

Dumbfounded, Li Yao thought for a long time and finally figured it out. “Wait, wait, I think it’s too much for me to understand. Let me rephrase it in a plainer way.

“You’re saying that the evil Wuying Qi intended to fool everybody in the world, but to fool them, he had to fool himself into thinking that he was truly a world savior. However, he worked too hard when he fooled himself, and he actually convinced himself of the idea. So, you were created?”

“That’s a rather vulgar statement, but yes.”

Wuying Qi 3.0 nodded solemnly. “That’s exactly what happened. I’m not the unpardonable, selfish, and unfaithful demon. I’m the ultimate Wuying Qi who has seen the most extreme kindness and who has created the most extreme evilness in the past thousand years. I have understood everything, and my belief is unbreakable!”