Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

The Imperium of True Human Beings was at least ten times larger than the Star Glory Federation. The pressure on the prime minister of the Imperium was truly unbelievably huge!

Thinking of that, Li Yao somehow remembered his wife. Thankfully, it would be enough for Ding Lingdang to work as the Speaker for only five years. She would never pursue a second term. Therefore, the burden on the body and the mind couldn’t have been too heavy.

Now that he was at the center of the cosmos, it was convenient for him to search for Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. He should spend some thoughts on searching for the warming and nurturing tonics for Ding Lingdang after he returned to the federation.

“Now that I think of it, Dongfang Wang’s fall was inevitable. His ambitions couldn’t have been realized since the very beginning. The four Kurfürst families, including the majority of the Dongfang family, have been dissatisfied with him for a long time. With or without the reformists, he couldn’t have worked as a Prime Minister for long, and it was unavoidable that he was driven out of the office in a shameful way.”

Naturally, Long Yangjun did not know what was on Li Yao’s mind. She simply went on, “The reason is simple. Both the four Kurfürst families and the warlords, as well as the Sector Masters from the peripherical worlds of the Imperium, only want to be dominators of the local area. They absolutely do not want to be superseded by anybody, be it the emperor, the queen, or the prime minister.

“The previous prime ministers of the Imperium were not as powerful and prestigious as Dongfang Wang. They were just a mediator and a host that the four Kurfürst families elected. If the prime minister’s words sounded nice, they would listen to him; if the words were unpleasant, they would just ignore him. How easy was that?

“However, in the recent hundred years, the unstoppable rise of Dongfang Wang leading the Dongfang family has seriously jeopardized the interests of the other three families. Also, thanks to the glorious triumph of the Imperium’s counterattack, he has also garnered a high reputation among the civilians and even won the title of ‘prime minister of iron and blood’. He is now even extending his hands into the army. Then, what does he want exactly? To be a second Blackstar the Great?

“The tallest tree in a forest is bound to be destroyed by the wind. Dongfang Wang is simply too powerful and galvanizing. The Imperium will absolutely not tolerate such a grand prime minister. Everybody will attack and annihilate him together, or at least hamstring him so that they can keep the original balance of interests!

“The attack of the reformists came right in time. The other three Kurfürst families and the oppositions within the Dongfang family naturally ‘frowned’ and took your sides. But in fact, hehe, you don’t know how happy they were in secret. Why else do you think Li Linghai could’ve convinced the old and cunning leaders of the three families just with her silver tongue?”

Thinking carefully for a moment, Li Yao realized that it did make sense.

He also felt that the Li, Song, and Yun families changed their attitudes so fast that they almost disgraced themselves as families that dated back to a thousand years ago. Now that Long Yangjun analyzed it in such a way, it did sound perfectly reasonable.

“You might find it hard to believe, but Dongfang Wang is an out-and-out ‘patriot’.”

Long Yangjun said with a smile, “Or rather, all his ambitions are to become the greatest prime minister in history, who revives the Imperium of True Human Beings, destroys the Alliance of the Holy Covenant completely, and leaves his name as the ‘prime minister of iron and blood’ on the history books of the future generations of mankind.

“It is a pity that the man was too simpleminded. Or rather, the high-speed calculations every second, every minute, every hour, and every day over the past twenty years, especially when he was planning the super enormous mission that involved many aspects such as Imperium’s counterattack, had drained all his wisdom, keenness, and computational ability. Also, bolstered by the glorious triumph, his ever-expanding ambitions blocked his last wariness, making them both inert and stubborn, if not wishful, in all the fields except for the Covenant Alliance.

“He thought that he could continue to control the entire Imperium with the victory of the war and the power to allocate trophies. Little did he know that his very existence had hindered too many people in their way. Did he not have himself to blame for his final catastrophe?”

Li Yao was silent. Now that Long Yangjun analyzed it logically, it was really not a surprise that Dongfang Wang failed so quickly.

Long Yangjun sighed and said, “After Dongfang Renxin’s secret research institute was conquered, Dongfang Wang already knew that he was losing. He also knew that the secret research institute wouldn’t have been discovered if nobody in the family had betrayed him. He finally realized that the enemy he was faced with was not the queen or the reformists, but the entire universe!

“If the reformists were his only enemy, he could summon his courage to fight the last battle, but faced with the entire universe, did he stand any chance in a counterattack at all? Dongfang Wang did not expect that he would end up like this after winning such a great victory for the Imperium. He almost abandoned himself in devastation later and did not want to organize an effective counterattack at all. Otherwise, the ‘prime minister of iron and blood’ could’ve had some dying struggles, and your progress wouldn’t have been so smooth at all.

“Forget it. It is not going to help however much I talk. Why don’t you go to him and hear him in person?”

Thinking quickly, Li Yao asked, “Does Dongfang Wang know who I am? What will he talk to me about?”

Long Yangjun smiled and said, “I told Dongfang Wang that you were not on the same boat as Queen Li Linghai but were more inclined to the military. Because you were too close to Lei Chenghu, Li Linghai was already suspicious and wary of you. So, what do you think Dongfang Wang will talk to you about?”

Frowning, Li Yao asked, “Dongfang Wang simply believed everything you said?”

“He might not trust me, but whose words could he have believed if not mine?”

Her hands behind her back, Long Yangjun said casually, “Don’t forget that I’d been by his side ‘loyally’ the whole time!”

“Speaking of which, I am very interested in something else. How did you win Dongfang Wang’s trust in the beginning, and how did you explain your backgrounds, your identity, and your strength? Dongfang Wang is no fool. You couldn’t have become his trusted subordinate with a random identity that you fabricated.”

Thinking for a moment, Li Yao offered to confess, “I told Li Linghai that I was a Cultivator from Firefly, and she was more or less convinced. You couldn’t have used the same excuse, could you?”

“Firefly? The Star Ocean Republic?”

Long Yangjun was amused. “I do love your prowess of telling lies. Why was I unable to come up with such a neat excuse? Silly me. I simply told Dongfang Wang that I was a Demonic Cultivator that had wandered to the Imperium.”

“Huh?”

Li Yao was greatly surprised. “A Demonic Cultivator? Dongfang Wang did not catch you immediately, and he even treated you as a trusted subordinate?”

“If Li Linghai did not catch and execute you who was a Cultivator, why would Dongfang Wang catch me who was pretending to be a Demonic Cultivator?”

Vague mockery was mixed in Long Yangjun’s voice. “Dongfang Wang and Li Linghai are the same kind of people. They do not see morals, ideas, or friendship, but only interests and schemes.

“What is the greatest enemy of the Imperium today? The people of the Covenant Alliance who are unemotional and mechanical. The Demonic Cultivators, on the other hand, are all guys whose feelings are copious and even overflowing. They are the sworn enemies of the Covenant Alliance. The enemy of the enemy is a friend. One or two Demonic Cultivators could not hurt the big picture, just like one or two Cultivators were nothing to be scared of at all. Instead, they could prove to be very useful!

“After all, for the upper class like Li Linghai and Dongfang Wang, strong foreigners like us have two advantages.

“Firstly, we are absolutely helpless in the Imperium. It is impossible for us to conspire with anybody else, and we seem only able to work hard for them dutifully.

“Secondly, our identity is our greatest weakness. If our values are fully exploited and they decide that they do not want us anymore, all they need to do is to expose our ‘real identities’. Then, we will be the rats on the street that everybody stomps on. They will not even need to move their little finger. We are more convenient than disposable garbage bags.

“Therefore, is there any reason why they should not trust and appreciate us?”

Thinking for a long time, Li Yao found no flaws in it. But he was still suspicious. “Wait, the Demonic Cultivators are expected to be familiar with the ‘tenebrum energy’, right?”

“You mean this?”

Long Yangjun extended her index finger, where a cluster of violet ball lightning soon appeared and spread to all directions as if it had life and emotions.

“This is… tenebrum energy!”

Bulging his eyes, Li Yao clearly sensed the more agitated and vehement air that was entirely different from regular spiritual energy. “Wait, you can’t be a real Demonic Cultivator, can you?”

“For an expert in the Divinity Transformation Stage, your shallowness is truly regrettable.”

Long Yangjun raised her finger, making the purple, vigorous ball lightning revolve rapidly. As it moved faster and faster, the electric arcs became glamorous and danced on her fingertip like a spirit of lightning. “I thought that after all the adventures and shocking changes, you should’ve long known that both ‘Cultivators’ and ‘Demonic Cultivators’ are defined by human beings, and that they are nothing more than names that have been agreed upon. In fact, is there a clear boundary that divides the Cultivators from the Immortal Cultivators?

“Doesn’t the same apply for ‘Demonic Cultivators’? Is there really such a thing in the universe?”

“That is different.”

Li Yao said warily, “The Cultivators and the Immortal Cultivators only differ in their beliefs, but they all train with the spiritual energy. Naturally, it is difficult to distinguish them. However, what the Demonic Cultivators practice is the foul ‘tenebrum energy’ that can corrupt the heart. I’ve been through multiple tragedies where I witnessed thousands of victims corrupted and possessed by the tenebrum energy!”

“How hilarious. I thought that you should’ve at least grown into college-level after everything you’d been through. But as it turns out, you are still staying at the high-school level.”

Long Yangjun said slowly, “Do you really believe that some energy in the universe is more righteous than the rest? It is true that both the Cultivators and the Immortal Cultivators train with the spiritual energy, but so what? How many wars are fought with the spiritual energy as the main weapon? How many innocents are blown into smithereens by the spiritual energy? How many planets have been destroyed by the bombardment of the spiritual energy? Let’s just talk about the Imperium of True Human Beings in the past thousand years. Did the Immortal Cultivators commit few slaughters and destructions with the spiritual energy? Is that the so-called ‘righteous energy’?

“No, the spiritual energy and the tenebrum energy cannot be divided according to a moral criterion. They are not even two opposite kinds of energy. Let me tell you the truth of the ‘tenebrum energy’!”