Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“You’re right. The current state… is too weird.”

Li Yao continued condensing and shaping his soul. He was like a drop of water that had jumped out of the water, only to fall into the water helplessly in the end. “TI feel that I am very unstable. Sometimes, I seem to be able to expand to the entire world, but sometimes, I am compressed to a point that is

close to nothingness. Even my five senses are deprived, and my thinking ability is greatly limited.

“Also, the sounds, the pictures, and the complicated information are washing over my consciousness and corrupting my soul. My soul is experiencing a certain feeling of ‘decomposition’ and ‘overflow’.

“On one hand, I’m hungry for more energy and computational ability. On the other hand, I’m ‘full’ with redundant data. Weird. Too weird.

“I’s perfectly normal. We are now ghosts and ghosts, a cluster of information that exists purely in the form of waves. We haven’t found a suitable carrier and have to lurk in the remains of the crystal processor.

The mental devil explained, “Since we don’t have our own body and brain, our computational ability and the clarity of our soul are greatly restricted by the crystal processor. If the crystal processor that we live in is small in size and has low performance, it is impossible for our soul to wield 100% of its

strength. Maybe, the crystal processor will collapse or even explode when the crystal processor can only wield 5% of its strength.

“If we can seize a super crystal processor or an entire system, we will be able to utilize 50%, 60%, 70% or even higher of our soul power. I believe that we will be able to unlock even more secrets and abilities.

“But the people of the Sanctuary Alliance are obviously not blind. They have a lot of well-trained experts in crystal processors, too. The more advanced a super crystal processor is, the more skilled it must be, and the tighter its defense must be. It is not something that can be broken into easily.

“In the worst-case scenario, if our lurking crystal processors are further damaged and all the energy is cut off, our souls will become water without a source and wood without a source. We will be doomed!

“Fair enough.”

Li Yao pondered for a moment. “At the very least, we have to ‘jump’ out of the debris of the crystal processor and move freely in the Spiritual Nexus until we find a suitable carrier. The debris of the mainframe crystal processor of the floating fortress will be dismantled into the tiniest chips and

components at any moment. If so, we will be fish in a barrel waiting to be slaughtered.”

“It’s true that this place is not somewhere we can stay for long. We must get out of here as soon as possible. But it is not easy to move freely in the Spiritual Nexus, either.

The mental devil explained patiently, “If our souls are transmitted through the wireless network, the speed of transmission will be greatly limited, and we will be very vulnerable to the interference of solar storms and cosmic radiation. You don’t want our souls to be cut off when they are being

transmitted through the wireless network, do you? By then, half of our soul data will be inside the remains of this crystal processor, and the other half will be inside the other crystal processor. Isn’t that embarrassing?

“Through the wired transmission of crystal wires and optical cables, the speed will be much higher, but the limitations and the likelihood of being tracked will be much higher. Besides, many key facilities and military locations have their own crystal processor systems. We won’t be able to crawl into them

atall.

“More importantly, if we consider our souls as a special information file, the data and characters contained in the ‘document are too enormous. No matter how we compress it, the ‘document will still not rum as fast as you imagined.

“Besides, there are all kinds of defense barriers, logic traps, and deadlocks in the Spiritual Nexus of the members of the Star Glory Federation. There are also active scanning, antivirus procedures, and network guardians. Those things constitute the immune system’ of the ‘Fuxi’ and keep an eye on the

intruders. You don’t want to trigger the ‘immune system’, do you?”

“Fuxi…”

Although Li Yao had no head, he still felt a vague headache. “A super crystal processor system from hundreds of thousands of years ago?”

“It’s true that the Fuxis control the vast information network of the Holy Alliance and can mobilize most of the crystal processor resources. But we are just a tiny virus that has just been awakened. It has been an unfair war since the very beginning. I don’t want to confront the Fuxis right now.

“There is only one outcome if we collide right now,” the mental devil said. “We will be crushed mercilessly by the Fuxi and become a ‘sample’ in its library of viruses.

“But didn’t you just say that a tiny virus is enough to kill a strong deity?”

Li Yao couldn’t help but ask, “Why does your future look bleak again?”

“That depends on what kind of virus it is.

“Right now, we are just a ‘cold virus’ at best,” the mental devil said. “It is impossible for us to cause too much damage to the Fuxi system. We must slowly upgrade and evolve, modify and mutate the system, and turn it into a fatal virus.

“Then what do you suggest?”

Li Yao said, “We can’t run away, can we? Right. Can we run away?”

“The possibility of escape exists.

“If we rush out recklessly, I believe that nobody will be able to stop us for a while,” the mental devil said. “As long as we hijack a long-distance Spiritual Nexus launch platform and input the coordinates of the Star Ocean Imperium, it is very likely that our souls will be teleported back.

“But the old problem remains. How can we guarantee that the Spiritual Nexus launch platform will not be attacked by the members of the Sanctuary Alliance when we teleport our souls back to the imperium?

“If 1am bombarded by the members of the Star Glory Federation when the transmission of my soul reaches 50%, I don’t know what will happen.

“On the other hand, breaking out of the net without caring about anything will leave a very clear trace in the Spiritual Nexus. The people of the Star Glory Federation will have a lot of data about the deepest part of our souls, and the people of the Star Glory Federation will have a better understanding of

our soul form and our brand-new combat pattern. They will certainly defend ourselves accordingly. It will be even more difficult for us to sneak in the next time.

“It must be noted that, after the fierce battle on Black Castle, our arrival in the body of a heretic has been exposed. The ‘Black Spot Plan’ has been discovered by the members of the Star Glory Federation. If our ability to shuttle through the Spiritual Nexus is exposed, how are we going to fight the members

of the Star Glory Federation?

“That’s true. Escaping to my hometown before the mission is completed is not my style, either!”

Li Yao’s soul was burning with hunger again. “No matter what form we take, our target remains the same. Lock onto Master Zhi Shan, find the rebels inside the Sanctuary, and, if possible, set off an earthshaking storm inside the Sanctuary to stall their attack plan and buy time for Boss Bai, Lei Chenhu,

and the reinforcements of the federation!

“If that’s the case…”

The mental devil smiled. “We are very close to our target.”

This time, Li Yao realized what was going on without the mental devil’s explanation.

It was true that both the sudden loss of control of the ‘heretical children’ and the arrival of the soul of ‘Black Wind King’ Li Yao, a high official of the Star Ocean Imperium, were threats of the highest level in the Star Glory Federation. The leadership of the Star Glory Federation would certainly be alerted

and ask their best warriors to respond quickly.

To put it more frankly, with his current identity and position, it was not unusual for the five great sages to attack him when they knew that he was roaming inside the Sanctuary.

When Master Zhi Shan locked onto him, it meant that he had locked onto Master Zhi Shan.

This was an extremely dangerous game of cat and mouse. However, it was still unknown who was the cat and who was the mouse!

Li Yao pulled himself together. His soul was glittering, and thousands of ravines condensed into a glittering virtual brain. “What is this place exactly? It must be an important stronghold of the Sanctuary Alliance, right?”

“Yes. The star fortress is named ‘Divine Punishment Fortress’. It is one of the largest, most advanced super fortresses in the fleet of the Star Glory Federation. Although it is not the ride of the Great Master, it is almost on par with the rides of the five Great Masters.

“This is the nest of the Heresy Interrogation Bureau,” the mental devil said. “The headquarters of the two main forces inside the organization, the purifiers and the cleaners, are both here.

“The Inquisition?”

Li Yao had vaguely heard the name before. “Is it the organization that maintains the internal order and the so-called ‘purity’ and ‘harmoniousness’ of the Star Glory Federation, just like the Federation’s Department of Mysteries and the Dark Moon Foundation, the Star Glory Federation’s Devil Court, and

the Demon Hunters’ Association?”

“Yes. Functionally speaking, the Heresy Interrogation Bureau is similar to the Secret Sword Bureau, the Dark Moon Foundation, the Devil’s Court, and the Demon Hunters’ Association. They are all security agencies that maintain internal order and prevent the intrusion of spies. But in terms of level and

control, they are much higher than similar agencies in the federation and the imperium.

“Because our countries are different in nature,” the mental devil said, “the Star Glory Federation is not a normal nation at all. Most of the people of the Star Glory Federation do not fear pain, have no selfish desires, and even die wholeheartedly. Such a ‘nation’ is like a swarm of bees. It can be destroyed, but

it is very difficult to be defeated.

“However, the citizens lacked ideology, and their system was extremely rigid. They had to rely on the instructions of the higher-ups to gather, rally, and implement them through the Spiritual Nexus. A very serious problem was also raised.

“Once the ‘telepathic network’ among the citizens is compromised, the commands of the Great Sage will be tampered with, and the loyal ‘soldiers’ and ‘worker bees’ will be controlled by the heretics with ill intentions. It is very likely that chaos will break out and all the citizens will collapse.

“The Heresy Interrogation Bureau is the agency that deals with the problem. If the Star Glory Federation is a giant, this place will be the ‘immune system’ of the giant. It is not hard to imagine how important it is!