Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Countless bloody streaks burst out of Li Yao’s eyes, each of which looked like a crack in the world in front of him. He could see the picture of his ‘previous life’ through the crack and even his real soul before countless reincarnations.

The ‘cultivation force’ hidden in the depths of his soul was burning and expanding, too.

Zhang Daniu’s screams echoed inside the bug. He seemed to be deeply shocked by the hunter’s words again.

“That’s all I can say for now.

The hunter asked, “Any questions?”

In fact, there were a lot of questions. The theories such as ‘model prisoners’, ‘prisoners’ and ‘dangerous prisoners’ could explain a lot of things, but they raised even more questions.

At the very least, Li Yao immediately thought of something. If the world he was living in was truly a prison of infinite reincarnation, and the so-called ‘will of the earth’ was the master behind the scenes, why couldn’t the Heaven’s Origin Sector, which was backed by the ‘will of the earth’, do anything to the tiny Ark Foundation?

It was quite odd, wasn’t it? Since the entire Earth was a prison that could do such an unbelievable thing as a ‘time loop’, why couldn’t it lock onto all the members of the Ark Foundation, including the mysterious leader ‘Red Pole’, and kill him directly?

Moreover, the existence of the ‘Apocalyptic Organization’ was quite weird, too. If the ‘will of the earth’ mentioned by the hunters was really so awesome, why did they establish such a shady organization to compete with the Ark Foundation and manipulate the governments of various countries directly? Wasn’t it much simpler and faster?

But right now, not only had the Ark Foundation not been destroyed, it had even established mental clinics, mental hospitals, and charity organizations all over the world. It seemed to be even more open and aboveboard than the Heaven’s Origin Sector.

Were there such ‘prisoners’ and ‘prison breakers’?

Therefore, there must be something wrong.

Or, what the hunter said was not entirely true. Even if the so-called ‘will of the earth’ did exist, it was not strong enough to control every corner of the planet, every person, and every piece of information. It had its own restraints and weaknesses and was not invincible.

Either the Ark Foundation was not a simple ‘prison breaker’, or the ‘reincarnation world’ and ‘time prison’ did not exist for the simple purpose of ‘punishment and redemption’. Other than the two obvious reasons, it had a deeper purpose.

“Then what is it exactly... I think... I think I have found the answer before... but I have lost it!”

Li Yao’s head started aching again.

It was as if a new life was being bred and nurtured between his brain cells.

Of course, Zhang Daniu might not have Li Yao’s computational ability to think of such questions instantly. Even if he did, he did not have the courage to ask the hunter.

“No. No. No problem at all!”

As he expected, Zhang Daniu said.

“Very good.”

The hunter said, “Then, if you have to choose between the ‘apocalypse’ or the ‘arky’, I assume that you are sincerely seeking the embrace of the ‘apocalypse’?”

“Of course. The ‘Apocalyptic Organization’ is backed by the entire Earth. Wow. It is even more glorious than the United Nations. Of course, I’m going to choose the ‘Apocalyptic Organization’. Please don’t worry. I’ve always been an honest man. I will obey the organization and transform myself into a ‘model prisoner’!”

Zhang Daniu swallowed and changed the topic. “But, but, just like that. Isn’t there any...”

“What?”

The hunter asked, “What’s with the finger-twisting gesture?”

“I mean, benefits!”

Zhang Daniu said, “It’s true that the ‘Apocalyptic Group’ is strong and promising, but the ‘Ark Foundation’ is a bunch of insane lunatics who are willing to do anything. It seems a little dangerous to be enemies with such lunatics. Is it not beneficial for me to be loyal to the organization?”

“What benefits do you want?”

The hunter asked.

“In fact, it’s nothing. I’ve dedicated myself to writing. My requirements for life are very simple. I just need two things—money and beautiful women.”

Zhang Daniu quickly replied, “Of course, if the organization is in trouble, I can just give you money. I will solve the problem of the beauty myself.”

“...”

“That’s not a problem,” the hunter replied. “Even if we don’t resort to methods beyond the law and ethics, the memories of our previous lives alone are enough for our organization to accumulate enough wealth to rival a nation—as long as you are alive to spend it.”

“Then there won’t be a problem!”

Zhang Daniu was so happy that his voice changed, “Then let’s hurry up and leave. The earlier we return to the headquarters of the ‘Apocalyptic Organization’, the safer we will be. It won’t be good if the crazy prison breakers of the ‘Ark Foundation’ catch up to us!”

“Don’t worry. Just wait here.”

The hunter sneered, “They are already here!”

Li Yao was greatly alarmed. He looked at the time and found that it was indeed midnight.

It was raining cats and dogs. There was nothing but darkness and chaos between the sky and the earth. The sound of the rain was like the assault of a waterfall. As far as one’s eyes could see, except for the few skyscrapers in the central business district that were illuminated by ghost lights, the cities further ahead were drowned in the black rainwater, making them look like abandoned, collapsed graveyards.

The dim lights below the bridge reflected a small world that was less than a hundred meters in diameter. It was like a deformed space that had been sealed. Whatever happened in this place would not be noticed by the outside world.

It was truly the most suitable place and day for the battle of the awakened.

Li Yao immediately extinguished all the brightness around him and hid himself in the cold rain, trying to suppress his breath and heartbeat.

But every hair on his body was standing up like antennas while he scanned the space around him vigilantly.

Hiu! Hiu Hiu Hiu Hiu!

In the pouring rain, amid the deafening explosions of the waterfall, a few vague sounds of air being torn apart echoed. Then, a few shadows as thin as gossamer pierced into the building at a speed that even Li Yao found hard to distinguish.

Zi! Zi! Zi! Zi! Zi!

Intense noises were echoing inside the detectaphone. The connection between Li Yao and Zhang Daniu was cut off instantly. It seemed that some kind of weird force had locked the building of wealth, preventing any signals or ripples inside from leaking out.

Then, there were three minutes of silence. Even the few shining windows of the building dimmed down one by one.

In the meantime, a certain weird, intense, and oppressive atmosphere was growing in the darkness, as if two opposing forces were competing with each other. They were twisting and tearing the entire skyscraper, making the building more than forty floors high shake violently and about to collapse.

Finally—

BOOM!

A dull explosion echoed inside the building. Somebody had made a move.

The explosion seemed to be the prelude to a fierce battle. In only one second, Li Yao sensed that the building of wealth had turned into the center of an energy swirl. A volcano and a tornado seemed to be exploding inside the building at the same time. The glass walls that surrounded the building at first all exploded. Then, a lot of fireballs and electric arcs darted out of the empty windows. The flames and the lightning were like living animals that were crawling up, licking, and swallowing the windows!

Li Yao even saw someone—he was not sure whether or not the other party was still a standard human being, because the guy had grown a pair of huge wings on his back. He jumped out of the window and flew in the air, but the torrential rain drenched his wings, making it difficult for him to move and turn. Soon, he was hit by a few bullets that were surging with runes. Then, something terrible happened. The moment the bullets hit him, a few bolts of lightning surged out of the dense cloud and hit him heavily, directly burning the winged birdman into charcoal!

The shocking scene made Li Yao secretly click his tongue.

However, he did not hesitate or retreat. He dashed into the building like an arrow released from a bow.

...Although Zhang Daniu was a guy who had no backbone or courage, had no sense of justice when it came to profit, and cherished his body because of lust, he was the only clue for Li Yao to improve his cultivation and find the answer. Li Yao was still counting on him to write more chapters of . It was better to rescue this guy first!

As for the competition between ‘Apocalyptic’ and ‘Ark’, to be honest, Li Yao could not tell which of them was good and which was bad right now. Maybe it was quite boring to judge the two organizations based on the concepts of ‘good and bad’.

Li Yao was naturally biased toward the ‘Ark Foundation’.

It was not because of anything else, but because he hated the phrase ‘innate sin, a mistake from long, long ago’.

Other than the vast starry sky above our heads and the moral code in our hearts, there is nothing that can judge us—that is what Li Yao believed.

Even if the ‘will of the earth’ did exist, wasn’t ‘conquering the earth’ what all creatures should do?

But such feelings were not enough for him to choose the ‘Ark Foundation’ immediately.

Because the mystery lingering over the head of the Ark Foundation had not been solved yet, how could the organization survive the suppression of the ‘will of the earth’ and still operate openly? Were they the real ‘prisoners’ or were there something else wrong?

Li Yao decided to observe for a while after he rescued Zhang Daniu.

While thinking, Li Yao crawled into the underground garage of the Fortune Plaza.

The underground garage used to have very efficient drainage facilities, but it seemed to have been sabotaged by the intruders. After only a few hours of heavy rain, the water here was already above the knee. The lighting system had malfunctioned, too, plunging the place into mysterious darkness.

Li Yao quickly scanned his surroundings and drew a 3D map of the battlefield with the blueprint of the Building of Wealth.

“It seems to be faster to take the escape stairs. After all, the ‘Apocalypse’ and the ‘Ark’ have been engaged in a fierce battle. It is unlikely that they have deployed heavy troops on the stairs.

Li Yao mumbled to himself, “But the ventilation tubes nearby look very tempting, too. I feel like crawling. What should I do?”