Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“I see. Are we some kind of... cancer cells?”

Li Yao mumbled to himself, “‘Cancer of Earth’? I like the sound of that. After all, cancer cells are very difficult to eliminate. As long as there is even a tiny bit left, it is very easy to spread and lose control.

“It is true that, even if the ‘will of the earth’ does exist, human beings are a part of it, or even an important part of it. That’s why it is named ‘Spirit of All Creatures’!

“We are inextricably linked to the will of the earth,” the grey mist lady said, “so that it cannot simply wipe us out. We can only resort to ‘precise strikes and focus purges’, just like the ‘target drugs’ for cancer. The Heaven’s Origin Sector is one such drug.

“Now that you mention it, I kind of understand.”

Li Yao thought for a moment and said, “But I still don’t understand. If the Heaven’s Origin Sector is targeting the ‘target drugs’ of the Ark Foundation, why don’t they seem to be particularly... awesome? Their operations are suspicious, and they don’t dare to act openly. They don’t seem to have any connection with the governments of other countries, either. They are more like a mysterious terrorist organization that is not as glamorous as the Ark Foundation!”

“The Ark and the Apocalypses, the Hell Breakers and the Prison Guardians, have their own advantages and disadvantages. It is not certain who is stronger.

The grey mist lady smiled and said, “As I said, the Heaven’s Origin Sector is a kind of ‘target drug’ that is designed to kill cancer cells. Therefore, during the ‘treatment’, it is bound by all kinds of rules and cannot interfere with the normal functioning of the world, especially human society. As for why it cannot be interfered with, I don’t know, either. Maybe it is about the price.

“If the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Ark Foundation fall out with each other and start a ‘superpower war’ in the sky of a metropolis with a population of tens of millions, the politics, economy, and even culture of every nation in the world will be deeply affected. Every aspect of human society will be affected. It might even lead to the complete loss of control and collapse of the human society. Maybe, under such control and collapse, more awakeners will be born. For the Heaven’s Origin Sector, the cancer cells that were supposed to be killed will be stimulated to grow and spread. That would be terrible.

“On the other hand, you must know that the members of the Heaven’s Origin Sector are also Awakeners. They are the prisoners locked in the prison of reincarnation. In the deepest part of their hearts, there are also the factors of disobedience and freedom. If the will of the earth gives them too much strength and makes them awaken deeply, it is very likely that they will see through the lies, realize the truth, and defect to our side.

“So, do you understand now? The Heaven’s Origin Sector is protected, instilled, and commanded by the will of the earth, but it is also monitored and restrained by the will of the earth. They have to use their strength cautiously within certain laws. Naturally, they appear to be cautious and hesitant.

“But we are different.

“Although we are not backed by the will of the earth, we are our own backers. We can awaken the memories before countless reincarnations unscrupulously and wield unimaginable terrifying strength without any hesitation. Therefore, after countless reincarnations, the Hell Breakers are on par with the Prison Guardians, and nobody can destroy the other.

“I see.”

Li Yao more or less understood the origins and contradictions of the Hell Breakers and the Prison Guardians.

Pondering for a moment, he felt that he was more on the side of the Jailbreakers—the Ark Foundation.

The grey mist lady, on the other hand, was more or less open with him. She told him everything she knew without the gloom and coldness of a hunter.

However, there were a few critical questions that Li Yao had to figure out.

“Ms. Gray Mist, if I may ask, what do you want exactly?”

Li Yao pondered for a moment and said, “I mean, I’ve basically figured out what the Ark Foundation is doing right now. You have gathered a batch of awakeners and seem to be searching for and protecting more of them, especially the ‘observers’ among the awakeners. You are trying to piece together the secrets before countless reincarnations, aren’t you?”

“That’s right.”

The grey mist lady nodded and said, “Our current mission is to discover and protect all the ‘observers’. Then, with the works of the ‘observers’, we will awaken more memories, hot blood, and self-awareness that have been buried for a long time, so that more and more people will be awakened to the existence of the true self and the truth of the prison of reincarnation. The mission of the Heaven’s Origin Sector is to wipe out all the ‘observers’ and put an end to anything that might trigger the awakening of human beings.

“Then what?”

Li Yao asked, “Your ultimate purpose is to break out of the reincarnation prison and even destroy Earth, but can you do that with the strength of the awakened Cultivators?”

“Of course, it’s not that I’m underestimating the abilities of the awakened. It’s just that the Earth is too large and too strong after all. Moreover, it involves time, reincarnation, and other bizarre things that can’t be explained by scientific logic. Even if we gather 100,000, 10,000, 10,000, 10,000, 10,000, 10,000, 10,000, 10,000, 10,000 experts like Uncle Hui, who have awakened the ‘Power of Seven Gods’, can destroy the Earth and break through the reincarnation prison?”

“I understand your confusion, but the answer is—yes.”

The grey mist lady smiled casually. “Although it seems that the strength of the awakener is not very impressive compared to the labyrinth of time on Earth, or even in the infinite cycles, Red Pole has told us that, as long as enough awakener is gathered, and enough people burn their blood and stimulate their soul at the same time, a miracle will happen when the strength of their entire life is maximized. It is the key to our escape from the prison of reincarnation!

“A miracle...”

Li Yao frowned. “It sounds like you admire and believe in our leader?”

“Are you trying to say that there are no miracles in the world, that the Red Pole is lying to us, and that he is a con artist?”

The grey mist lady understood what Li Yao was implying, but she was not angry. She smiled and said, “I can understand your suspicion about the Red Pole. After all, it is impossible to be the leader of all the prison breakers without the scent of a ‘trickster’.

“But I can tell you with absolute certainty that Red Pole is not just the leader of this generation. When countless people awaken the memories of their past lives, they will discover at the same time that Red Pole was our leader as early as the previous life, or even in the previous life, all the way back to the past five reincarnations. He used to lead the resistance groups of the Hell Breakers under different names and fought against the will of the earth. Although he failed in every battle, he kept the spark of hope. After the world was restarted, he left valuable information of resistance so that our organization could be rebuilt. His capability grew stronger and stronger after each reincarnation. He looked more and more like the man who could destroy the earth!

“Red Pole, destroy Earth...”

Li Yao sniffed. He was suddenly interested in the leader of the Fangzhou Foundation. He even had a familiar and familiar feeling. What was going on?

“You can imagine how difficult the war must have been for a bunch of seemingly insignificant intelligent carbon-based creatures to fight against the entire Earth.

The grey mist lady said, “If Red Pole had not displayed his unbelievable abilities time and time again to corrupt the reincarnation prison to some extent and preserve the abilities and items of the previous reincarnation to this life, we wouldn’t have been able to persist for so long.

“Besides, what happened just now has proved the Red Pole’s prophecy. Miracles do exist. The will of the earth is already scared!

“What?”

Li Yao said, “I don’t understand.”

“The super-powerful earthquake in the Western Pacific Ocean, the unprecedented tsunami, the super-large typhoons and storms in Jiangnan City, and the thunder that covers the entire world... Do you think these are all normal natural phenomena?”

The grey mist lady said coldly, “An accident of natural disasters might be a natural phenomenon. But the simultaneous arrival of so many natural disasters can only mean one thing. The efforts of the Ark Foundation have paid off. The will of the earth is scared. It cannot allow us to gather more awakeners to create a ‘miracle’. It is preparing to destroy the civilization of mankind in this world in advance and restart the earth in the simplest and crudest way.”

“Ah...”

Li Yao did not know what to say. His head was a mess.

“According to the memory pieces of my more than ten lives, the will of the earth rarely restarts the earth in such a simple and crude way. If it does exist, it prefers to let the civilization of mankind develop naturally and eventually destroy itself.

The grey mist lady pointed at her brain and said, “It is the same every time. From the middle of the twentieth century to the middle of the twenty-first century, the ancient Eastern Empire was revived, and although the iron-blood superpowers in the west were showing signs of decline, they did not lose the ability to take their chances. Besides, they would rather die than allow themselves to fall. In the end, the tiny Earth could not accommodate the ambitions of the two superpowers. The thermonuclear war was declared in the name of holiness, glory, and glory. Human beings would end their own history and civilization without the help of the will of the planet.

“Maybe, for the will of the earth, this is the most resource-saving, cost-free, and natural restarting method. In the past ten reincarnations, at least eight of them have been restarted in this way.

“But this time, the timeline has only just reached 2018. The conflict between the two superpowers has not reached the climax yet. Although the trade frictions have already taken place, it still seems that there is peaceful coexistence, new technologies, and opportunities for new breakthroughs. In short, human beings have not lost their rationality and hope. They have not reached the tipping point of the ‘Third World War’.

“Therefore, the will of the earth cannot rely on human beings to destroy itself. It can only interfere with the laws of nature in the most clumsy, brutal, resource-consuming, and costly way. It will create natural disasters out of thin air and set off ‘apocalypse’ to destroy us. It won’t do that unless it has to.