Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Only on one condition would the noble families from the center of the cosmos be nice to the Immortal Cultivators of the Red Nimbus Sector, which was the time they needed the soldiers, or to put it more frankly, the cannon fodder, of the Red Nimbus Sector.

Not only would they satisfy the local Immortal Cultivators’ demands, but they would also make countless empty promises.

Although the expansion of the Imperium had gradually stopped, it did not mean the end of the war. The edge of the cosmos and the world fragments required exploring, and there were occasional conflicts among the noble families. The battles against the Covenant Alliance never ended either. The occasional skirmishes were even crueler than a massive war, and the honorable descendants of the four Kurfürst families were certainly not born for such meaningless fights.

The lowborn “bumpkin Immortal Cultivators” from the Red Nimbus Sector, as well as hundreds of other small worlds, were destined to lubricate the enormous machines with their flesh and blood now and then.

It couldn’t be helped. Being an Immortal Cultivator was a burdensome mission.

When one became an Immortal Cultivator, the resources they consumed every day would be dozens of times more than an ordinary person would.

Also, after one awakened the spiritual root and mastered spiritual energy, they would not be happy to work in a factory, listen to their bosses in the office, or sweat hard in a farmland under the scorching sun.

Their massive spiritual energy had no place to be devoted to in their barren homeland. They did not even have their turn to exploit the ordinary people, because the ordinary people had long been squeezed up by those from the noble families.

They had no choice but to board on the tanks of the noble families to fight for the unpredictable opportunity in a foreign land, craving to distinguish themselves.

It was a pity that, although the dead bodies of countless Immortal Cultivators of the Red Nimbus Sector were spread out in the unknown parts of the dark universe, and not even a piece of their crystal suits returned to their homeland, no more than one percent of them truly escaped their destiny and became a powerful and dominating high-level Immortal Cultivator.

The invisible glass ceiling had blocked them from the noble families at the center of the cosmos for five hundred years. They had never seen a tiny gap on it at all, much less destroying it!

The Imperium’s counterattack this time was probably the last roar of the Red Nimbus Sector as well as a hundred small worlds.

They truly had enough of the oppression, humiliation, and ubiquitous prejudice. They could not take it anymore!

They yearned for glory, land, infinite resources, and real power!

It was exactly because of such hysterical lust that they established small fleets after gathering all the resources in their barren hometown. Like hungry wolves joining into a pack, they occupied dozens of new worlds unstoppably in one decade.

Of course, they suffered all kinds of injustices in the meantime. For example, they were dispatched to the most dangerous frontline for the most arduous missions, but when the trophies were distributed, they could only wait behind the fleets of the four Kurfürst families.

In short, what they were given was dog food, but what they were asked to do was the job of tigers and lions.

But was any battle in the past five hundred years different? They had long been used to it. As long as there was a slim chance of a comeback, they were willing to do anything!

Besides, there was still General Lei, the “God of War”!

To be able to serve under Lei Chenghu’s command was perhaps the greatest luck of the Immortal Cultivators of the Red Nimbus Sector.

“God of War” Lei Chenghu was the only admiral of the Imperium who was willing to fight side by side with them and launch a suicide attack together.

He was also bold enough to argue with the arrogant guys in the base of the expedition army for their interests.

There were even several times when General Lei stopped the assets that were to be shipped to the fleets of the four Kurfürst families and supplied them to the miscellaneous troops in priority.

It was General Lei Chenghu who let them know for the first time that the “miscellaneous troops” such as them could also rage unstoppably in the sea of stars.

It was General Lei Chenghu who let them know for the first time that “Imperium” was not just a synonym of exploitation and blackmail but stood for real honor and glory.

It was General Lei Chenghu who let them know for the first time the mission on their shoulders and the sacred significance of the war. They were not just fighting for the survival of the Red Nimbus Sector but also for the billions of people of the Imperium. Otherwise, everybody would be doomed together!

It was exactly under the command of General Lei Chenghu that the Red Nimbus Fleet and dozens of other local armed forces were trained from rookies into seasoned warriors and took over the vast area in the Third Battle Area!

Right now, the dawn of victory was slowly rising; the dawn that was exchanged by countless sacrifices of the hundreds of miscellaneous troops such as the Red Nimbus Fleet. It was time to fulfill the promises of the four Kurfürst families before the war!

The Immortal Cultivators of the Red Nimbus Sector did not hope to occupy a certain Sector in the newly-recovered territory. The Red Nimbus Sector, their nest, was too far away after all, and the consumption of spiritual energy on every space jump was astronomical. Economically speaking, the cost to maintain the close connection of two distant worlds was too high. Any resource development or commercial activity would have been defeated by the inestimable cost.

The Immortal Cultivators of the Red Nimbus Sector knew the situation very well. They only wanted to exchange more than ten years of blood and sacrifices for some permanent favorable policies, or the participation in the great development of the Imperium in the newly-recovered worlds, for example, part of the shares in the development company or the monopolization rights of a certain field. Nothing more.

It was a very fair requirement and not greedy at all. General Lei Chenghu promised them that he would definitely make sure that they got it!

The Immortal Cultivators of the Red Nimbus Sector believed in Lei Chenghu.

Therefore, even though they were cleaning up the messes left by the Covenant Alliance on the scorching resource planet that had magma everywhere, with victims falling into the craters after every step forward, they simply gritted their teeth and persisted for the beautiful life soon to come!

However…

Broken. Their beautiful dreams were all broken!

Deceptions, schemes, another betrayal, another bridge-burning!

The four Kurfürst families did not intend to fulfill their promise before the war at all. Why else would such an uncanny assassination of the Blood Oath Alliance have taken place? Also, soon after the demise of the elder, many members of the “special investigation committee” were sent to the various battle areas in the frontline aggressively, entering deep into every fleet to investigate “radicals in the military”. They were causing quite a fuss!

Their intention was elsewhere. On the surface, they were looking into the incident of the Blood Oath Alliance and capturing the radicals in the military, but in fact, they were trying everything they could to diminish their power and separate them for following procedures. With all kinds of shameless schemes and tricks, they were going to overthrow their prewar promise and kick the local troops back to where they belonged without offering them any reward.

The senses of the Immortal Cultivators were very keen. They detected the scheme behind the incident of the Blood Oath Alliance at the earliest time.

They wanted to discuss with General Lei about what to do, but they received a piece of shocking news—General Lei went missing on the way to the capital. It was very possible that he had been arrested or even secretly trialed by the Council of Elders. Even the Astounding Thunder Fleet might be dissected and swallowed by the four Kurfürst families!

Could there have been a more absurd and shameless thing in the world?

“God of War” Lei Chenghu had done the most exhausting work and made the most contributions in the Imperium’s counterattack. He deserved to be called a pillar that supported the Imperium. But not only did he fail to be given the honor and status that were due, he was about to be secretly trialed by the scoundrels in the rear when the war just got into hiatus!

The Immortal Cultivators of the Red Nimbus Sector were more than angry, but there was little they could do. They had to admit that, faced with the iron walls of the four Kurfürst families, the “bumpkins” that had no leadership such as them were utterly insignificant. They could only be butchered like pigs!

“General Wei, have you read it carefully? This is the list of the members of the Blood Oath Alliance and the radicals hiding inside the Red Nimbus Fleet. Tsk, tsk, tsk. What happened to your fleet? Why have the radicals infiltrated it so badly?”

On the bridge of the flagship of the Red Nimbus Fleet, the 3D light beam was condensed into a sharp-mouthed, pale-faced short man who had the skeleton badge of the “special investigation committee” on his chest. With disdain and coldness beaming out of his eyes, he said coldly, “The Third Battle Area is the battle area that is most seriously infiltrated by the radicals. All the fleets deployed in the Third Battle Area must examine themselves thoroughly and hand over all the radicals and people who are involved with the Blood Oath Alliance. None of them are to be kept back whatever rank they are in!

“Remember, you have twenty hours to prove your loyalty to the Imperium and the Council of Elders. In twenty hours, I want each and every person on the list to arrive at my starship.

“If any of them is missing, I will be highly suspicious that the radicals have spread to the higher level of the Red Nimbus Fleet. For example… those around you!

“General Lei Chenghu is already receiving the secret investigation by the Council of Elders. I believe that it won’t be long before he shows up in the capital and expresses his support for all the decisions made by the Council of Elders and the special investigation committee. General Wei, make a judicious decision and do not get yourself or other people around you hurt!”

The short man did not even salute before he disappeared on the light beam.

BOOM!

Hardly had he vanished when a deafening explosion echoed from the control panel.

It was because Wei Guanghui, the commander of the Red Nimbus Fleet, gnashed his teeth and smashed the control panel so hard that smoke was popping up from his finger gaps.

“Damn it. A scoundrel in the Core Formation Stage who has come to my fleet on one starship is bold enough to talk to me in such a way!”

Blushing in fury, Wei Guanghui felt that the veins jumping on his temples were about to explode. “If you push me too far, I’ll just cut you apart, mince you into pieces, and—”

At this moment, the leader of the Red Nimbus Sector, in his humiliation, truly had the idea of “slaying the envoy from the special investigation committee and leading the brothers to join the Covenant Alliance”.