Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“It is too fast for us to get rid of it!”

“No lightning can survive in a vacuum for such a long time. What is it exactly?”

“Fuel! More than half of the fuel on my starship has vanished into thin air, as if it has been swallowed by something invisible! Is it possible that it is not only releasing energy but also absorbing ours?”

“The spiritual energy field is too unstable. The mainframe crystal processor and a lot of units on my starship are about to be paralyzed!

The exclamations in the communication channel were louder and louder. In the meantime, the sound of electric current interference was getting sharper and higher and higher, as if a ferocious animal made of electric current was rubbing its sharp tusks.

Even ‘Hunting Falcon’, where Li Yao was, had been pierced through by the electric arcs multiple times. A lot of units and control chips burst into deep blue flames and dazzling electric sparks, and the cabins dimmed one after another.

Li Yao himself was pierced through by invisible electric currents.

It was a very strange feeling, like a sour wind passing through his limbs and bones, carefully scanning his every vein, nerve, and cell.

The bioelectricity between the nerves and the cells, in particular, was clearly seen by the lightning

Li Yao smelled the scent of his burnt hair and felt like vomiting.

Right then, an even weirder scene took place.

Not far away from the exploration fleet, the ball of lightning that looked like a dry fortress suddenly split into almost a hundred smaller clusters of electric arcs. Every cluster of electric arcs was jumping and wriggling as if they were alive. Very soon, they formed the narrow and long shapes of starships!

It was exactly a one-to-one ‘copy’ of all the starships of the exploration fleet, a deep blue exploration fleet that looked exactly like them except that it was made of lightning. Although they were smaller in size, they were faster and more agile. The ‘exploration fleet’ made of torrents of lightning was marching toward the real exploration fleet from various directions, like haunting ghosts that were looking for a ‘stand-in’ to the real world! “Calm down and think clearly. They are definitely not intelligent creatures in the real sense. They must have weaknesses and loopholes. Otherwise, Lu Qingchen wouldn’t have been able to run away after he discovered them and set up such a fatal trap!

Looking at the army of lightning that was getting closer and closer, Li Yao bit his lips so hard that blood was flowing out. But soon, he was burnt into smoke by the electric arcs. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was mumbling crazily, “It is not an intelligent creature. It is merely imitating unconsciously. How can it lock onto its ‘prey’? It seems to be particularly sensitive to all kinds of energy reactions. Could it be…”

Li Yao’s pupils suddenly expanded to the maximum.

Through the fuzzy pictures captured by an insignificant probe crystal camera, he discovered something very strange.

The starship that was unfortunately swept by the super lightning torrent in the beginning had completely lost its spiritual shield and power output. It was paralyzed in the vacuum like a cold coffin.

However, although it was very close to the raging ‘Electric Fiend’, the super torrent of lightning did not touch it at all and did not intend to tear it apart at all.

Li Yao even saw several bolts of lightning as thick as boas brushing past the paralyzed starship, only to lose interest in it and simply ignore it.

Then, he thought of Lu Qingchen’s series of actions, including the weird spiritual waves that he released at the cost of the two supreme fortresses, which entangled all the starships of the exploration fleet and marked their spiritual shields.

“Let’s say that the terrifying torrents of plasma are really some kind of weird ‘living creatures’. They are also completely different from the carbon-based creatures in the general sense. They do not have facial organs, and naturally, they do not have sight. In a vacuum, hearing is meaningless, too. It is very likely that they are scanning and locking onto their prey with spiritual waves.

Li Yao’s eyes suddenly shone. “Therefore, as long as we restrain all our spiritual waves…” BOOM!

Falcon was assaulted by the plasma again. It was suddenly enveloped in darkness. It was not until a long time later that the dim green emergency lights were turned on. There was no time to think about it carefully. Every vein in Li Yao’s eyes was jumping like lightning. He thought quickly and ran through the battle plan in his head. After making sure that the success rate was 30%, he gritted his teeth and jumped into the Giant God Soldier that had just been repaired.

“Turn off the spiritual shield!”

Hardly had he opened the communication channel for everyone in the Giant God Soldier when he shouted desperately, “Emperor, Empress Dowager, Ding Lingdang, Boss Bai, Long Yangjun, Lei Chenghu, and everyone else, there’s no time to explain. Turn off the spiritual shield, the spiritual magnetic field, and the power output immediately. Turn off all the units on your starship that will emit the tiniest spiritual waves. Ask everyone to restrain their spiritual energy and lock their pores. Turn your starship into cold iron coffins. Hurry, hurry, hurry!”

There was nothing but silence in the communication channel. Then, Li Linghai’s surprised voice came over. “But we are in the middle of a surging stone belt!

The gravity field of ‘Ancient Thirteen’ was an extremely unstable stone belt. Every meteoroid the size of a grain of sand carried as much kinetic energy and damage as a starship cannon when accelerated to the maximum. Only by relying on the spiritual shield and the spiritual magnetic field could the kinetic energy be neutralized or thrown away.

In order to turn off the spiritual shield and the magnetic field, they would have to rely on the plate armor to resist the torrent of meteoroids. But Li Yao had asked them to cut off the power output, which meant that they could not dodge at all and could only watch the endless meteoroid showers hitting their faces.

However hard the composite plate of the starship was, how long could it withstand the bombardment?

In such a perilous environment, it would be a catastrophe if a meteorite pierced through the plate armor.

“I know, but there is no other choice.

Li Yao’s eyes were bloodshot, and he gnashed his teeth. “Haven’t you noticed yet? This cluster of… ‘lightning creatures’ are searching for their target with energy waves. It is precisely because Lu Qingchen detonated the two Supreme Battle Fortresses and created an extremely intense zone of energy ripples near our battlefield that it has been classified as a ‘hunting zone’. The spiritual shield, spiritual magnetic field, and exhaust flames of our starship are all releasing energy to the outside world unstoppably. It is as idiotic as dancing and shouting in a silent dark forest!

“It is a pure body of energy, and its speed is much higher than ours. If the stalemate continues, even if we activate all our defensive magical equipment, our spiritual shield and spiritual magnetic field will still be blown up by it. We might as well take the risk!” “How do I fight?”

Boss Bai joined the discussion, his voice unprecedentedly solemn. “Turn off the spiritual shield and the magnetic field. We can only last half an hour to an hour in such a furious stone belt. If we cut off all the impetus, there is no way that we can get out. We are like dry leaves in the middle of a raging ocean. We can only drift with the current. In the end, won’t we be blown to smithereens?”

“Do you want to bet that it will perish or retreat in half an hour?”

“If it were an ordinary lightning, half an hour would be enough for it to release all its energy. But for this… extremely weird torrent of plasma, I really don’t want to gamble!” “Of course, we have to gamble.”

Li Yao’s lips curled into a crazy smile of confidence. “However, I never like to let other people roll the dice. It’s definitely not my style to wait for the enemy’s victory. I’m going to roll the dice myself!

“Listen, what we are going to do next is of paramount importance. You must listen to my arrangements. This will determine the life and death of everyone and even the rise and fall of the entire civilization!

“Then, turn off all the magical equipment units on all the starships. Turn off the spiritual shields, the spiritual magnetic field, the power units, the external communication, and even the artificial gravity and life-support system inside the starships. Make sure that no spiritual waves will spread out so that all the crew members can wear mustard suits and crystal suits and live on compressed oxygen. Boss Bai, just like in your ambush in the Blue Sky Space Zone, turn yourself into a cold meteorite and don’t even fart.

“I know that the environment here is ten thousand times worse than in the Blue Sky Space Zone. Once the spiritual shield and the power output are turned off, you will be swept away by the torrent of materials released by ‘Ancient Thirteen’ at any moment. However, there is no other choice. You have to hold on for half an hour to forty-five minutes. Even if your starship is riddled with holes, even if somebody is seriously wounded by the meteorites, you must not move!

“In the meantime, I will try to lure the super plasma torrent to a safe distance. Then, you will turn on the spiritual shield and the power unit and march into the entrance of the tomb at full speed.

“I estimate that, since Lu Qingchen is willing to sacrifice all the five supreme fortresses to set up this trap, he must’ve entered the Tomb of the Supreme Emperor with light armor. You must seize every second and capture him as soon as possible. He has completely gone mad. He sacrificed all the supreme fortresses without even batting an eye. He would do anything inhuman. We cannot allow him to control the core strength of the Tomb of the Supreme Emperor!” “Li Yao, are you going to distract it?”

Ding Lingdang’s voice joined in, “Are you crazy? This thing is at least a thousand kilometers in diameter. It’s like a tiny sun. Its core temperature is at least ten thousand degrees. Once you are swallowed by it, you will immediately be burnt to ashes. Not even half of your telepathic thoughts will be able to escape!”

“I know. But we don’t have a better solution right now. Hiding in this place is a dead end. We might as well try our luck.”

Li Yao paused for a moment and said in a comforting tone, “Besides, uh, I know what I’m doing. After my most thorough calculation, the risk factor is not as high as it seems. It is searching for its prey with spiritual waves. As long as I can control the output of my spiritual flames precisely and conceal all my spiritual energy and vitality when necessary, I will be fine. I will be fine!”