Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“…You’re crazy!”

The Fist King’s crystal processor seemed to be crackling in the communication channel. He immediately understood Li Yao’s plan. “You are going to rescue us by breaking through the stone belts with the Giant God Soldier and infiltrating the gravity ring of the ancient giants? That’s impossible. Iron Fist is too heavy for a single Giant God Soldier such as yourself. Even ‘Incendiary’, the toughest Giant God Soldier in the Pangu Universe, won’t work. You will only exhaust the fuel of the Giant God Soldier, damage its structure, and be swallowed by the ancient giants together with us.

“Besides, the structure of Iron Fist is too fragile. Your ‘incendent’ will not only fail to push us out of the gravity ring but also destroy the structure of Iron Fist and dismantle us in advance!

“Therefore, all the experts and scholars here appreciate your kindness, but there is no need for you to do such a meaningless thing as to be buried together with Iron Fist!”

“Why are you so pessimistic? In the war against the universe, every bit of our hard work is not meaningless!

Li Yao smiled. He pressed the handrail softly and leaned against the back of the seat, activating the traps hidden inside the seat. Suddenly, the seat shivered and turned into a floating platform, sliding all the way to the preparation workshop of the Giant God Soldier and allowing him to enter the ‘Arsonist’s’ residence directly.

Little Black, the liquid crystal processor for the Giant God Soldier, covered him up as naturally as a fish breathing in water. Li Yao completed the transition from a starship to a Giant God Soldier and connected to the Fist King’s channel again. He continued, “Of course, one ‘Arsonist’ is not enough to save Iron Fist. However, if dozens or even hundreds of Giant God Soldiers are deployed, some of which will appear in certain locations on the shell of Iron Fist as auxiliary power units according to my delicate calculations, while some others will be responsible for blocking the screaming meteoroids in the stone belts and creating an undisturbed vacuum temporarily. There is a slim chance that we can drag Iron Fist back!

“Such a possibility is too unlikely. How many Exos will agree to your crazy decision?” The Fist King’s voice was full of suspicion and objection. “Besides, the spiritual interference is so intense right now. Have you reached out to all the starships and established an unimpeded battle network? Will the experts, especially the Immortal Cultivators of the Imperium of True Human Beings, agree to your crazy plan if you can get the approval of hundreds of operators of the Giant God Soldiers?

“Well, I think so.”

Li Yao scratched his nose. “Anyways, I’ve sent out the distress signal and the description of the situation. The interference of the electromagnetic force is indeed too strong. Therefore, the battle network will be delayed for sure. I believe that the controllers of the Giant God Soldiers—be they Cultivators or Immortal Cultivators—will come to help in a few minutes.”

“What?”

The boxing champion found it hard to believe. “You mean to say that you haven’t gotten the consent and tacit understanding of anybody, and you don’t know whether or not somebody will fight side by side with you, and you are going to risk it all? You are truly a lunatic. A complete lunatic!” “Same to you.”

Li Yao mumbled, “Like you said, ‘I’m willing to risk my life for you’. No matter what, I cannot stand by and watch the real elites of the human civilization be annihilated in the gravity swirl of the ancient giants!

Chi! Chi! Chi!

The three airtight doors were opened one after another. Before that, the pyromaniacs had already burst into flames and leapt into the furious sea of stars!

“Don’t come close, Li Yao!”

The boxing champion roared, “You can’t save us. It’s not worth it!”

“I don’t care whether it is worth it or not. I only care about the satisfaction! I’m already here!”

The ‘Arsonist’ turned into a streak of brightness in dark gold and crimson and crossed the distance of tens of thousands of kilometers in the blink of an eye, entering the extremely unstable stone belt.

Thousands of pieces of meteoroids rushed close, only to be crushed and obliterated by Li Yao’s surging spiritual flames. They seemed to be dragging a crimson cloak that was tens of thousands of kilometers long behind the arsonist.

Now, even without his communication, the friendly starships far away could detect the abnormal energy reactions in the stone belts and sense his intentions.

“Do you know why I’ve always been lazy and don’t want to spar with you? Do you know why I push and dodge Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and even Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators whenever I can?

Inside the ‘Arsonist’, Li Yao was laughing crazily.

The smile on his face seemed to have turned into the aura of a giant soldier.

Everything in front of him, be it the meteoroids and meteoroids dozens of meters in diameter, the high-energy particle streams, the super radiation, or even the electric arcs spurting out of the atmosphere of the ancient star, were all slashed into pieces and vaporized.

“It’s not that I’m underestimating the heroes of the world, and it’s not because I’m confident that I can deal with the hundreds of Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators at the same time. It’s because I’ve lost all interest in fighting against my compatriots-human beings! Even if I defeat all the human beings and become the strongest of them, so what? In front of the boundless universe, I’m still a speck of dust, the biggest, most meaningless speck of dust!

“Human beings are no longer my targets.

“The universe is my enemy.

“Fighting against the heaven and the earth can be a lot of fun. I’m not just here to rescue you. I’m also fighting against the silly giant, the ancient star.

“Come on, Gu Gaoxing. Give it your all and release your strongest attraction force. Let’s see if you can swallow me or I can take back ‘Iron Fist’ right under your nose!”

Li Yao laughed crazily. The ‘cloak’ on his back seemed to have turned into a red tassel that was ready to throw a gun. He was not scared at all and darted toward the struggling Iron Fist, or the gravity ring and even the atmosphere of the ancient giants. Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Squeak squeak squeak!

The closer they got to the ancient star, the more chaotic the magnetic field was, and the more intense the spiritual interference was. A lot of invisible high-energy particles even pierced through the spiritual shields and the composite plate armor of the larsonist’. They even pierced through Little Black and Li Yao’s skin, muscles, and bones.

Li Yao’s ears were filled with the noise of interference and the metal fatigue of the Giant God Soldier. Many of his cells had been burnt by the high-energy particle stream, and his vigorous vitality had stagnated.

But he gritted his teeth and pressed on, as if he were going against a super hurricane.

Finally, in a sea of lightning that was almost boiling, he saw Iron Fist!

Right now, Iron Fist was as miserable as a shark that had been skinned.

But at the very least, its main structure was still intact, and there were no large-scale eruptions of materials and fuel. The few spurts on its abdomen and rear were still spurting lackluster flames.

Not far below Iron Fist, in the surging cloud of methane, thick bolts of lightning darted out like the arms of devils. Attracted by the spiritual shield and the spurting flames, they snatched at Iron Fist and brushed past its abdomen at a close distance.

“Punching King!” Li Yao exclaimed in joy. He steered the ‘Arsonist’ to the head of Iron Fist and fired dozens of crystal cannons into the atmosphere of the ancient star to slow down the new thunderstorm.

Without waiting for the Fist King’s reply, the arsonist stuck to the head of Iron Fist, which was falling down. The output power of the power unit was triggered to the maximum, and thousands of streams of brightness spurted out, trying to catch Iron Fist and push it away!

Iron Fist was a very new arsenal warship. It was one of the largest and highest-quality warships in the entire exploration fleet and more than three kilometers long.

In comparison, the arsonist was no taller than forty meters. He was like an ant trying to lift a giant bone.

In only a few seconds, the joints of the ‘Arsonist’ exploded, and the exhaust flames turned pale because of the excessive consumption of crystal fuel. His arms pierced into the plate on the head of Iron Fist. “What are you doing exactly?” The boxing champion could not wait to take out a hammer from the mechanical arm and extend it into the spiritual residence of the ‘arsonist’ to smack Li Yao’s head. “This is not a fight but a suicide. Nobody is going to go crazy with you. Do you understand?” “Of course… I understand!” Li Yao was fighting against the super gravity and the electromagnetic waves of the ancient star all by himself. Blood was flowing out of his nose and the corner of his mouth, but the intense blood could not erase the confidence in his smile at all. “It’s you. You just don’t understand, Fist King. That’s all.”

“The operation to explore the ‘Ancient Tomb of the Supreme Emperor’—the Divine Tomb—the Black Tomb’—will certainly encounter countless more perilous situations and temptations that no righteous man can resist. However, our team is made of three different forces. Although we have gone through training, we are far from being united.

“If we had just jumped over and abandoned our comrades on the starship during the first crisis, we would’ve been doomed. Nobody would’ve been willing to rescue anybody who was in danger again. Everybody would’ve been thinking about how to save themselves and the most valuable treasures of the Supreme Emperor, the Pangu Clan, and the makers of the black wall!

“Do you understand now? An adventure team made of smart people won’t go far. Somebody has to play the role of a lunatic and an idiot first. They have to sacrifice themselves without any regret, without caring about the returns. The experts and scholars on board have become ‘idiots’ in the beginning, but it is still not enough. The number of ‘idiots’ is not enough for the entire team to complete the qualitative change. So, let me add to the fire!

“I don’t just want to save the people on the starship. I also want to save something in the hearts of the experts, something… that has never been awakened but must exist. Those things are the key to our mission!