Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

As the last word on the decree was frozen into a gold mark in midair, the new emperor suddenly drew his royal sword and pointed it at the sky.

Unparalleled power surged out of him in visible gold tides that swept across the whole royal palace above everyone’s head!

They could hear the roar of the new emperor and sense his overwhelming ambitions!

The Immortal Cultivators who knew nothing about the new emperor shuddered palely.

They had thought that the new emperor was only a puppet of the reformists and that it was Lei Chenghu and Li Yao who actually held power.

Little did they know that the new emperor boasted such appalling strength!

A new emperor with such remarkable abilities could not be a simple puppet!

Before they exclaimed, an even more unbelievable scene had shown up!

The new emperor’s rising power attracted natural spiritual energy and affected clouds, gathering the clouds above him into a golden beast that looked like a half-lion and half-dragon.

The lion-dragon made of golden clouds, like the representation of the new emperor’s will, stared at the ground from the sky coldly!

A moment later, the clouds slightly dispersed, as if the lion-dragon was opening its mouth, and a Colossus with mirror armor all over its body slowly descended from the hole.

It was exactly Blackhole’s Heart!

Blackhole’s Heart, known as the most powerful Colossus of the Imperium, boasted the most advanced interference force fields and stealth techniques. It had twisted the rays of light around it and covered itself with the most spectacular colors.

The sky had turned into a stage for Blackhole’s Heart.

“This is—”

Many senior Immortal Cultivators gasped hard. They vaguely guessed the Colossus’ identity from its vibe.

Before the ceremony, they were suspicious about Li Yao’s leaflets and would not believe that the new emperor was the reincarnation of the black-starred lion. However, after the new emperor unleashed Dragon Over The Sky and Blackhole’s Heart, they had to admit that the new emperor had indeed got Blackstar the Great’s heritage since Blackhole’s Heart, which had been gone for a thousand years, had reappeared!

Boom!

Boom!

Another two deafening explosions burst out from the southeast and northwest of the sky, and two clouds of abundant spiritual energy floated to the new emperor.

One of the clouds was gathered into a black tiger, whereas the other took the shape of a bloody vulture.

They represented Lei Chenghu and Li Yao, the two most powerful men in the capital and the greatest supporters of the new emperor!

The royal palace was enshrouded by the clouds of the lion-dragon, the black tiger, and the bloody vulture, implying that the iron triangle of Li Yao, Lei Chenghu, and Li Jialing would suppress the whole Imperium!

“Long live the emperor!”

“Long live the emperor! Long live the Imperium!”

Strength mattered most for the Immortal Cultivators. They might’ve secretly complained when they heard the radical pardon, abolition, and mobilization orders, but faced with the pressure of the iron triangle, none of them could put up any resistance. They could only cheer beyond their control.

After a while, the whole royal palace was filled with roars. Everybody was cheering for their new emperor and the new era name.

Starting from this moment, the emperor stepped into a new phase, and the era name was changed into Yongjia!

…

At night, the whole capital was ablaze with the lights of celebration.

Li Yao, however, was not interested in the celebration of the Immortal Cultivators. He simply stared at the lights from a high tower in the royal palace with a glass of juice in his hands.

“Why are you here?”

One of the spiritual puppets, which had been cleaning behind him, suddenly said in Xiaoming and Wenwen’s voices, “Dad, you don’t seem very happy. Are you dissatisfied with such an ending?”

“I wouldn’t say… dissatisfied.”

Li Yao was used to Xiaoming and Wenwen’s unannounced visit. He could even accept the weirdly-shaped spiritual puppets calling him dad now. Sipping the juice, he mumbled, “You know what? Just now, I slipped into Li Jialing’s palace and enjoyed the special toilet for His Majesty of the Imperium of True Human Beings. That was definitely one luxurious toilet.

“All I’m saying is that I had foreseen countless worse endings before I came to the Imperium, like the destruction of the federation or the end of the world. However, little did I expect that I could use the toilet of the emperor of the Imperium of True Human Beings so blatantly! How can I be dissatisfied? It’s just that…”

“It’s just that Dad feels that it’s not the best ending.”

This time, it was Wenwen’s voice. “In your plan, you should defeat all your enemies in a glorious battle, awaken all the bottom-level people in the Imperium, and convince the Immortal Cultivators of taking the side of the Cultivators. It will be best if the Imperium joins the federation as part of the federation. However, as it turns out, you have to manipulate an Immortal Cultivator emperor as a Cultivator for your purposes, and this emperor might be unwilling to be manipulated by you forever!”

“Well…”

Li Yao scratched his head. “Now that you put it that way, my plan does sound unrealistic. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just worried that the incomplete victory of this battle will lead to greater problems in the future.

“I’m worried about the relationship between the Cultivators and the Immortal Cultivators and between the federation and the Imperium. I’m worried that Wuying Qi and the Blood God will return and turn me or Li Jialing into a vicious dragon. I’m worried that the opening of the Supreme Emperor’s mausoleum will be catastrophic. I’m worried that my ultimate identity and the mysterious Earth are related to the Flood. I’m even worried—”

Li Yao did not know what to say.

“That Xiaoming and I will betray mankind?” asked Wenwen.

“No, that’s not what I meant. I know that you’re both good kids.”

Li Yao paused for a moment but continued, “But we’re different civilizations anyway, and we have different understandings about what’s good. Even if we both think we’re doing a good and righteous thing, we may still have conflicts. It’s true that I’m worried about that.

“Tell me, Xiaoming and Wenwen, shouldn’t I be worried? Why do I feel that there are too many problems for me to resolve?”

“You should be worried, but not too much.”

Wenwen said, “Contradiction is the only momentum to push life and civilization forward. Exploring the unknowns, discovering problems, and working them out are exactly the recurring steps of evolution.

“Every living person and civilization has problems. Only the dead people are problem-free, and only the gone civilizations are absolutely harmonious and perfect. Xiaoming and I find problems and settle them in our database and algorithms every day. That’s our greatest pleasure.

“We can’t imagine the day when we can’t find any logic error, because it will mean that our lives are no longer of any significance. Why would we live on if we’re already perfect?

“From another perspective, if you’re dissatisfied with this ending, what about another one? You resolved all the problems that mankind was faced with. Everybody lived in a perfect country and had no worries. Li Jialing, Lei Chenghu, and all of us became your puppets that absolutely worshipped you and would never betray you.

“Henceforth, mankind would have no challenges, no threats, and nothing unexpected, and everything was under your control. Is this the perfect ending that you’re looking for?”

Li Yao thought for a moment and shuddered in coldness.

“This ending seems even worse.”

Li Yao said, deep in thought, “So, on the trip to the Imperium, although we didn’t get the best ending, we’ve got a least bad ending, haven’t we?”

“Yes, Dad.”

Xiaoming and Wenwen smiled at the same time. “Most of the time, the least bad ending IS the best ending!”

“Then, let’s cheer for the least bad ending!”

Li Yao grinned, feeling greatly relieved after the talk with the two little kids.

Finishing the juice, he stared at the spectacular capital and murmured, “How can ‘Vulture Li Yao’ remain a hero without thrilling challenges? Wuying Qi was too weak for me! I do wonder who’s going to be killed by my fists next. Weird. I haven’t rested for a few days yet, but my bones are itchy again. How I look forward to new challenges…”

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Heavy footsteps interrupted Li Yao’s murmur.

Lei Chenghu reached Li Yao gravely.

“Huh, why are you here instead of celebrating with His Majesty and the other Immortal Cultivators?”

Li Yao grimaced. “Your troop will set off to attack the rebels of the four families in three days. You wouldn’t have a lot of time to drink by then.”

Lei Chenghu’s face was so awful as if it had just been bombarded by a warship.

Without saying anything, he tossed a jade chip that stored the latest report to Li Yao.

“According to the urgent report sent by the expedition army, a fleet of the Covenant Alliance, whose scale is unknown, broke into the Thick Soil Sector, which is at a critical part of our supply line, a day ago.”

Lei Chenghu said solemnly, “The guards of the Thick Soil Sector were wiped out, suggesting that the enemy was very strong. It seems that the main forces of the Covenant Alliance that we’ve been worried about have finally emerged!”

(End of Volume VI: Imperium)