Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“Is he stupid? Yes. It is probably the first impression that many people have when they see Li Yao, including me in the beginning.

Boss Bai smiled and said, “However, if you think about it carefully, so many big shots who were a hundred times smarter and stronger than him have all fallen. Only he, this unbelievably stupid, hot-blooded high school student, has walked all the way to this day… to the peak of the Pangu Universe’s strongest experts. It’s really ‘luck’ and ‘coincidence’!”

Long Yangjun thought of something and asked, “Boss Bai, what are you trying to say?”

“What I’m trying to say is that Li Yao is a smart man. He seems to be taking reckless risks, but in fact, he has taken all the factors into consideration. He knows that nobody-not just the Cultivators of the federation, but also the Immortal Cultivators of the imperium-will abandon him.

Boss Bai said casually, “The reason is simple. He has half of the key to open the core gate of the Mausoleum of the Supreme Emperor, as well as a lot of information scraps from the database of the Fuxis. Also, Xiao Ming and Wen Wen are both on his side. It is impossible for them to turn a blind eye to his death. It is safe to say that he is of great value. If he dies in this place, the exploration will fail before it even begins.

“The exploration team could bear the loss of Iron Fist, but they could not bear the consequences of Li Yao’s premature death. It was exactly because of this that he took his own life as a bargaining chip to force the Immortal Cultivators to rescue him.

“Why did you have to do that?

“I think that he is trying to force the Immortal Cultivators to have a taste of ‘sacrificing one’s own life for another’s’. There’s a saying that goes ‘one will know the taste when one has tasted the marrow’. Many things can be addictive after they are tested. Doing evil, burning, killing, and looting can be addictive. Being a good person and saving other people’s lives can be addictive, too.

Long Yangjun was deep in thought.

“What do you think? Do you want to help me?”

Boss Bai asked.

“Are you really going to take action?” Long Yangjun looked at Boss Bai in disbelief, the infamous Pirate Potentate. “Don’t get me wrong. Of course, I don’t want to be a good man who has no regrets. However, in most cases, the unity and sacrifice of human beings have nothing to do with morality and everything to do with common interests. Boss Bai said, “The simplest reason is that, when you go to the pivot of the Supreme Emperor’s Tomb or even the black wall and find an unparalleled ancient treasure that can grant a person the unparalleled power of a deity for a moment, and when you have to pass the last, most dangerous checkpoint that might seriously wound you, who do you want to stand behind you? Li Yao, Ding Lingdang, and the other Cultivators? Or me, the notorious space pirate? Or the Immortal Cultivators of the imperium?

Long Yangjun squinted and rolled his eyes. A moment later, he shuddered.

“Alright.”

She had to admit, “Not just Li Yao, even Ding Lingdang, who is standing behind me, seems to be safer than you or the Immortal Cultivators of the imperium. At the very least, if Ding Lingdang wants to fight, she will only punch me in the face instead of stabbing me in the back.

“That’s right.”

Boss Bai said frankly, “I also hope that Li Yao or Ding Lingdang will be standing behind me instead of you and the Immortal Cultivators of the Star Ocean Imperium when I discover the ultimate treasures in the deepest part of the tomb of the Supreme Emperor. That will be the reason why I want Li Yao to be alive, and maybe the reason why he is still alive and kicking today.

“Come on. Let’s try Li Yao’s method. Maybe you will like it, too.”

After finishing his speech, Boss Bai smiled and charged at Iron Fist on the back of the ‘Extreme Pirate’.

Long Yangjun was dazed for a long time before she laughed at herself.

“Alright.”

She mumbled to herself, “Compared to the smart Immortal Cultivators of the Imperium of True Human Beings, you idiots from the federation are much cuter. If you idiots all perished on the ancient giants, I wouldn’t have dared to explore the Mausoleum of the Supreme Emperor with the smart people.

“Then let me have a taste of being an idiot!”

Long Yangjun’s ‘sky crystal’ seemed to have built a bridge of crystals in the vacuum of the universe. It was also like a giant arrowhead that was pointing at Iron Fist!

Not far away, countless shining light spots broke through the furious stone belts, too. They were the best experts and soldiers of the Imperium of True Human Beings who had come from various directions.

The Immortal Cultivators’ faces were gloomy, and they were all staring at Iron Fist and the soldiers of the federation not far away in confusion.

From this angle, the raging red flares on the ancient giants looked like a surging ocean, and Iron Fist was nothing more than a dry leaf in the middle of a surging ocean that could be smashed into pieces at any moment. Including Li Yao, the Giant God Soldiers of the federation were as insignificant as plankton, struggling against the thunderstorms and the raging tides. Any wave larger than 10% was enough to swallow them.

“Are they… crazy?”

It was the first reaction of all the Immortal Cultivators.

They really had no idea what Li Yao and the other Cultivators were doing and why they were trying so hard to jump into the gravity rings and atmosphere of the ancient giants to fight the enemies that they could never defeat.

However, before their rational thoughts were sorted out, the magnificent picture of them fighting the heaven and the earth with their lives at stake had touched the primitive, primitive, and barbaric instincts deep inside their beliefs.

The picture of the confrontation between the Cultivators of the federation and the ancient planet was exactly the same as the scene when human beings drilled wood for fire, polished stone axes and spears, and went on a rampage.

… Isn’t the so-called strongest expert supposed to resist the tyranny of the heaven and the earth, explore the laws of nature, surpass their own limits, fight for a broader space of survival for their clansmen, and pave a path of thousands of forms?

The only thing he knew how to do was bully his compatriots. He was a tyrant in front of his own kind, but when he was faced with the threat of thunder, he would tremble and kneel down, begging for mercy. What kind of hero was that?

Right now, the communication network between the Immortal Cultivators and the Cultivators had been established.

But on the other side of the communication channel, the only thing that could be heard was the panting of the Cultivators and the roars of the primordial animals. There were no Cultivators begging for the help of the Immortal Cultivators, nor were there any Cultivators berating the Immortal Cultivators for their selfishness or for not doing anything to help. They were all focused on their own actions, as if they had foreseen that the Immortal Cultivators would not do anything and that they would be able to defeat the ancient superstar even without the Immortal Cultivators!

The gasps and roars hit every Immortal Cultivator’s belief like invisible whips.

They had been ignored!

Humiliation. Ignorance was a hundred times more humiliating than berating!

In the civil war of the imperium, the brilliant achievements of the federal expedition army had brought great shame to all the Immortal Cultivators. Those who still had some pride were all pondering why the glory of the imperium and the Immortal Cultivators had fallen to such an extent.

In front of their eyes, the crazy adventures of the Cultivators and their disregard for the Immortal Cultivators slapped every Immortal Cultivator hard in the face, making their cheeks and hearts burn in pain. They vaguely knew the answer.

“Damn. Are the Cultivators crazy? Where did they get their courage from?”

“What are they doing? Are they trying to resist the enormous gravity of the ancient star by themselves? It’s impossible. Absolutely impossible!”

“He knew that there were tigers in the mountains, but he chose to go there. Such stupidity, such craziness, such… such…” The Immortal Cultivators kept reminding themselves not to follow in the footsteps of the Cultivators.

Some of them were even sneering at the stupidity of the Cultivators.

However, the cells on their fingertips, as well as the most primitive energy that was surging in the deepest part of their cells, did not listen to the command of their rational thinking. They were all eager to try.

“Declaring war against the gargantuan cosmic bodies with the insignificant bodies of human beings. Such an enjoyable battle is the style of the strong!

Some of the Immortal Cultivators couldn’t help but moan and admit in great pain that, deep down their hearts, they were actually envious of Cultivators who could be so straightforward, so crazy, so idiotic, and so unscrupulous!

If Cultivators could do it, why couldn’t they?

No. They were not the same. They still had the glory and wealth of the mortal world. They still had the soaring power to pursue an overlord. They still had to make their family strong and prosperous forever. They still…

But, but!

In front of such a magnificent, splendid, and brutal universe, wealth, beauties, power, and the respect of their family… What was the significance of the things that they had valued so much in the past, and what were they worth fighting for?

If the ‘origins’ were all ants, was it possible that the lifelong pursuit of the experts was to step on the ants, trample on the ants, exploit the ants, and win the admiration and fear of the ants so that they could become the ‘King of Ants’?

Right then, an enormous ball of lightning dashed out of the atmosphere of the ancient star and charged at Iron Fist.

All the Immortal Cultivators exclaimed in shock. They could almost see the miserable ending when Iron Fist was pierced through by electric arcs and magnetic storms, when all the magical equipment was paralyzed and all the impetus was lost.

However, an unstoppable sword aura dozens of kilometers long appeared in front of Iron Fist and slashed the ball of lightning into pieces in a perfect arc.

The power of one strike was even more impressive. Not only the ball lightning, even the entire ancient star seemed to be cut in half by him.

Sword maniac, Yan Liren!

The attack stung the eyes of many Immortal Cultivators. In a moment, the understanding deep inside their belief burst out like lightning.

“Compared to the unparalleled, magnificent sword, fame, fortune, and power are nothing but fleeting clouds!

“Even a barbarian from a remote area of the sea of stars is challenging a planet with nothing but a sharp blade in his hand. What are we Immortal Cultivators, the elites of human beings who call ourselves the peak of evolution, scared of exactly?