Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“Why do you say that?”

The voice said, “It is a piece of cake for us to corrupt the soul of the tester. If our purpose was so simple, we could’ve corrupted the tester tens of millions of years ago. Why did we wait so long?

“Is it really that easy?”

Li Yao sniffed and sneered again. “Then, do you dare to tell me the real purpose of the ‘Sun Defense Line Plan’? Is the seemingly magnificent plan really designed to destroy and block the flood just as you said?

“It’s impossible. Even the most ordinary galaxy has a hundred million stars, a billion stars, or even ten billion stars. Even the Primeval Civilization, which has developed to its peak, cannot destroy a billion stars in one breath, can it? As you said, your plan is to destroy ‘ten million stars’. Hehe. Compared to the astronomical number of stars, ‘ten million stars’ are nothing but a drop in the ocean!

“Is it really possible to seriously damage and block the flood, or even disrupt the stability of the entire sea of stars by destroying millions of stars? I doubt it very much.

“The Flood Tide Legion boasts a lot of ‘Void Hunters’ that can travel in the four-dimensional storms. They also boast technology that is as advanced as your space jump. No matter how large the scorched land you create is, the Flood Tide will be able to bypass it.

“Then, what is the real purpose of the ‘Sun Defense Line Plan’? I couldn’t figure it out in the beginning, but when you were about to make the necessary sacrifices again, I suddenly realized something.

“The so-called ‘necessary sacrifices’ must be the real purpose of the ‘Sun Defense Line Plan’.

“Since the very beginning, you have never thought of fighting to the death with the flood tide. Violence and cowardice are two sides of the same coin. As the dominators of the universe, you have long lost the tenacity and bravery that you once had when you were hibernating. However, you have been scared out of your wits by the overwhelming flood tide and are only thinking of fleeing.

“However, the escape will take time. Also, due to the lack of transportation and resources, it is impossible for you to take away all the primitive demons. What’s worse is that, if most of the civilians are left behind, they will be swallowed by the flood, which will increase the strength of the flood by a hundred times. Very soon, they will catch up to you.

“The so-called ‘Sun Defense Line Plan’ was implemented in such a way as to kill three birds with one stone.

“First of all, although detonating thousands of stars is not enough to deal heavy damage to the tide, it can indeed buy you millions of years of escape and development.

“Secondly, most of your compatriots will be buried in the flames of the shattered stars. They will not be captives of the tides, nor will they continue living with hatred for you.

“In the end, the ripples from the explosion of thousands of stars may not be enough to shake the stability of the entire sea of stars, but they will be enough to erase your traces of your escape. In the brilliant fireworks where thousands of supernova explosions are taking place at the same time, even the strongest exhaust flames of the fleeing fleet will leave no trace of radiation at all.

“Therefore, the ‘Solar Defense Line Plan’ is not a risky offensive plan at all, but a despicable and shameless escape plan. Your reaction is just a replica of the time when the rich and powerful on Earth were faced with a meteoroid disaster. You are abandoning 99% of your compatriots, the innocent and the weak, and walking away! This time, you are even more shameless than last time. You are going to ignite the hope that your compatriots rely on to help you stall the enemy and cover your tracks!

“Speak, scumbag. Don’t you love jabbering? Aren’t you best at concealing your cowardice and hypocrisy with righteousness? Tell me the truth!”

He was rendered speechless.

Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Noises were echoing inside Li Yao’s brain, as if the programs that had been stored in the primeval secret treasures had run into the underlying logic and did not know how to respond.

“We... have no other options.

He repeated dryly, “We can’t just wait to be killed. We can only let the wisdom and the elites of our civilization go first in order to preserve the spark of our civilization. The rest of us are destined to die. We might as well give them a quick release and trade their sacrifices for the greatest benefits.

“Haha. Hahahaha. What a great ‘wise people and elites go first’. What a great ‘pleasant release’. What a great ‘trade with sacrifices for the greatest benefits’. Bah!”

Li Yao burst into laughter at first. Then he burst into fury. “I’ve heard enough of your nonsense. I’ve had enough of your corruption. I can’t hold back the ‘no other choice’ any longer! Let me, ‘Vulture Li Yao’, tell you my ultimate choice. If I were really the commander-in-chief of the Primeval Civilization at that time, I would’ve stayed with the strongest, bravest, and wisest adults of our civilization. We would’ve faced the tides and fought side by side until one of us was killed. We would’ve built an iron wall that was sturdier than the ‘solar defense line’ with our flesh, blood, and soul. We would’ve given the chance of survival to the weak and the children. Before they ran away safely, the tides wouldn’t have been able to step over our dead bodies. At the last moment, maybe we would’ve detonated the star, too. But all the people who made the ‘solar defense line plan’ would’ve stood with me in our new home and welcomed the ultimate glory!

“Therefore, you are not a qualified commander-in-chief.

The voice replied, “Just a hot-blooded boor.”

“Before I become a qualified commander-in-chief—”

Li Yao bellowed, “First of all, I am a qualified, real, human being with pride and integrity!

“Then, your resistance and escape plan will likely fail.

The voice said, “You will destroy the entire civilization.”

“Only your shameless, inhuman methods can destroy a civilization that was once great!

Li Yao roared, “The universe is vast and time is endless. If we look at it from the perspective of the universe, how can there be a civilization that can live forever in fifty billion years and a hundred billion years? If my civilization and I are about to fall, I only hope that we can blossom in the most brilliant brilliance! We will either live like human beings or die like human beings. We will never become zombies, viruses, and cockroaches in the sea of stars!

“Tester, you are wasting your precious last chance.

His voice turned stern. “If you continue to be so obstinate, it is very likely that you will be eliminated and your civilization obliterated.

Accompanied by the undisguised threat in his voice, the brilliant sea of stars inside Li Yao’s brain gradually boiled and turned into a venomous black swamp.

The black venom seemed to have condensed into overwhelming tentacles and smashed at Li Yao.

“If the soft approach doesn’t work, are we going to use the hard approach?”

Li Yao burst into laughter. Faced with the threat of the mysterious voice, his belief, which had just been contaminated by dust and dirt, suddenly turned clear and bright. All his hesitation, hesitation, and confusion were burnt away by his burning fighting will. “I was the one who was stubborn when I made the first two choices. Right now, I’m completely clear-headed!

“Your words are contradictory. If this is really a test for ‘different possibilities’, why don’t you let me make my own choice every time it comes to a critical juncture? You keep saying that ‘free will’ is the most important thing in the world. Why did you set up so many obstacles to interfere with my free will? Such a test is merely a replay of the real history from the human beings on Earth to the Primeval Civilization. Even if I follow your three suggestions and pass the entire test, I’m afraid that my belief and thinking patterns will be completely corrupted and assimilated by you, turning me into a copy of you. What kind of ‘civilization reboot’ is this?”

“You are just copies of us.

The voice waved the black tentacles inside Li Yao’s brain and raised a tsunami. “Don’t forget that our genes are identical!

“So what? Human beings share part of the same genes as cockroaches and maggots, but real human beings are never as dirty as cockroaches and as lowly as maggots!

Li Yao roared, “Genes and bodies of flesh and blood are merely carriers that carry our hearts. The heart is the most important thing! Even if we are 100% identical to your genes, we still possess wisdom, courage, morality, justice, and the determination to protect everything that you don’t have! We are your children and grandchildren, but we are definitely not duplicates of you. We are not duplicates of anybody else. Whether it is the Primeval Civilization, the ancient deities, or some other messy, unparalleled existence, we don’t care. We are who we are. We are the insignificant yet proud human beings of the new generation!”

“So—”

The thousands of black tentacles of the voice seemed to have opened countless eyes that looked like suckers at the same time. Death rays that looked like cosmic radiation were beaming out of every eye as they stared at Li Yao’s soul. “Are you determined to turn down our suggestions and be our enemy?”

“If the only ‘no other choice’ other than to become your enemy is to become your clones, claws, and slaves and live your life in your own way, living your life as ruthlessly as a zombie and a steel cockroach, what’s the point of such a life?

Li Yao burst into laughter. “That’s right. To hell with all the ‘no other choices’. It doesn’t matter whether it is the ‘Primeval Civilization’, the ‘Flood Tide’ that is even more terrifying than you, or other demons, devils, devils, ghosts, or even the ultimate existences in the four-dimensional space. Come on. The new human beings are waiting for your arrival. Let’s fight to the death!”