Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“No. It’s impossible!”

The flood’s voice was shaken for the first time, like the first crack on an ‘impregnable’ dam. “I’ve considered every detail of the battlefield in the universe. All the information and data are under my control. I calculated at the cost of the energy of almost a hundred stars. It is impossible for you to break through the defense line of the Prison of Reincarnation within twenty-four hours, much less infiltrate the depths of the super bodies and reach out to Li Yao. How did you do it? It’s impossible. It’s absolutely impossible!

“I’m sorry. It was my fault.”

A voice that was both distant and close came from the sky that was riddled with holes. Billions of lightning bolts condensed into an ugly face that looked like a bean sprout. Nobody could tell whether it was ‘him’ or ‘it’, a human being or a ghost, a god or a devil.

Lightning sniffed her ‘nose’ unwillingly.

Seeing the face through the window, Li Yao was both surprised and delighted. He shrieked, “Lu Qingchen, you are Lu Qingchen. Why are you not dead yet? You—you have melded with the lightning creature?”

“Hello, Uncle Li. Is this how you greet a polite junior after hundreds of years?”

The expression on Lightning’s big face was extremely distressed. With a sour face, she said, “In fact, I’m in quite an awkward position. You said that I’m clearly a legendary villain who should hide in the darkness and watch the two of you suffer heavy losses in secret. You said that I should play some tricks to balance the two of you and then come out in the end to reap the benefits. However, your so-called ‘Resistance Alliance’ is really too lousy. All the tactics and strategies have been calculated clearly by the other party. I want to play the ‘Beheading Tactic’, but I can’t find any loopholes at all. I simply can’t enter through the door. If I don’t lend you a hand, I can only watch as you are played to death by this flood. At the same time, my most beloved federation will also be completely exposed. I really don’t want to make a move, but what can I do?

“It’s true. You are too weak, especially you. You’ve received the legacy of the lightning life, too, but you didn’t wield the strength that you should have. Even though you’ve entered the legendary Form Synthesis Stage, you were still fooled by the guy. You’ve disgraced the lightning life and the Star Glory Federation. I’m too lazy to talk to you, but I can’t stand it any longer!

“You—”

Li Yao had mixed feelings. “Anyways, it’s great that you are still alive!”

“Stop. Don’t say anything mushy. I remember clearly what I owe you and what you owe me. Don’t ever consider me a comrade on your side. I will never be one. In short, after everything is over, I will settle the scores between you, me, the federation, and the Holy Alliance however I want. I will accept all the grudges.”

Lu Qingchen smiled. “But right now, you may consider me a… minor miracle!”

“Miracle…”

Li Yao mumbled to himself, his eyes brimming with tears. There seemed to be two black holes in his fists. “Yes. A miracle!”

“What miracle? They are just a bunch of ignorant fools.

The surging tide raised enormous tides and flooded toward all the iron demons in the sky at the same time. “Do you bacteria and viruses even know what the ‘Great Purge Agreement’ is? What is the ‘quick collapse’? What is ‘Lord Singularity’? What are the ‘Eternal Swallowers’?”

“I don’t know.”

Ding Lingdang shook her head.

“Not interested.”

The boxing champion rubbed his iron fists.

“Is it important?”

Xiao Ming and Wen Wen spoke at the same time.

“I do.”

Yan Liren looked at his sword. “Soon, you will all be dead souls under my sword.

“…” Hong Chao.

“Save it.”

Boss Bai chuckled and said slowly, “Although we don’t know exactly what the bullsh*t is, we can imagine how terrifying it is beyond the four-dimensional world.

“However, so what?

“Even if your bullsh*t is a hundred times, a thousand times, or even ten thousand times more awesome than yours, so what? You are already awesome enough. You have reached the limits of our imagination.

“If we fight with you, only death awaits us. If we fight with the ‘Great Purge Agreement’, ‘Fast Collapse’, ‘Lord of Singularity’, or the ‘Ancient Devourer’, the best outcome we can expect is death. What’s the difference? It doesn’t matter if we die. Even if we are cowards, we are not immortal. Even if we are, we are still cowards. Is it interesting?”

“You…”

Hong Chao was lost for words. “That was too reckless!”

“Maybe it was a bit reckless, but it was satisfying enough.

Ding Lingdang said, “Compared to the quasi-god level civilization that dominates the center of the multiverse like yourself, we are just small fries from the countryside. We don’t know much about the four-dimension and five-dimension, the Singularity and Quickness, and so on. However, in our countryside, even the dog slaughterers in the slums can sing to their heart’s content after drinking their fill of wine. We are people who have cultivated for hundreds of years after all. If we can’t even understand this bit of thought, then before we draw our sword and pull out our fist, we have to be cautious, hesitant, and overcautious. If we can calculate every detail, then we might as well become actuaries. If we can’t even be compared to dog slaughterers, then how can we cultivate!?”

“Exactly!”

Everyone roared at the same time, “The most important thing for us Cultivators is to have a clear mind and to be f*cking happy!

“My mind is clear. I can do whatever I want. One against a thousand. How f*cking satisfying…”

Li Yao’s entire body began to tremble. The silver liquid enveloping his body evaporated and retreated, revealing his fiercely fluctuating chest and his fists that were about to explode. “This is me. This is a cultivator. This is—a human being!”

“You…”

He didn’t expect that Li Yao would be able to summon such tremendous strength under the cheers of his family and friends. Even the flood tide was shivering in fear. Then, it flew into a rage out of humiliation and summoned more silver liquid to drown Li Yao.

Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!

The near-infinite ‘quantum energy’ bombarded Li Yao’s soul and suppressed his self-awareness. He was lost in the depths of the tide of regret and fear again.

“Honey…”

Li Yao’s eyes turned silver. He mumbled as if he were hypnotized, “Say, if there is a way to reverse time, to fix all the mistakes, to fix all the flaws, and to make all the beautiful things eternal, how about it?”

“What are you talking about? You are being controlled by it again. Wake up, Li Yao. Not good. Of course not good!”

Ding Lingdang shouted anxiously, “Every one of us is the result of the carving of time. We are the amalgamation of all our advantages and disadvantages. Everything that happened in the past is irreversible. That’s why we are who we are right now. If we go back in time and go back to the beginning, won’t we be denying the meaning of our existence? Even if everything starts over again, and all the regrets, mistakes, and shortcomings are changed, will we still be the real us when a ‘perfect’ us is born?

“No, I don’t like such an idea. I don’t like it at all! It’s true that everybody has regrets that they want to change, mistakes that can’t be changed, and even fatal flaws. But it is exactly those things that together with the happy, happy, and right things that constitute the truest, unique us!

“Take me for example. I know I have a lot of shortcomings. I’m too competitive, too headstrong. I’m too stubborn and even too unyielding. Moreover, I’m often too busy with work and cultivation to accompany you. I don’t like to put on makeup or dress up. I don’t know how to sweet talk and act like a little bird. Sometimes, when I think about it, I feel quite guilty. I feel that I’ve let you down. But—but this is me. This is the one and only Ding Lingdang who can’t be found anywhere else in the entire universe! If I had a second chance in life, I would have changed everything. I would have become a woman who likes makeup and beautiful pictures. I would often lean on you and act cute. I would say things like ‘my husband is bad’ all day long. Do you still like me that way?”

Li Yao thought carefully for a moment.

Then, he shuddered and lost control over the flood tide.

“Am I right? It’s terrible, isn’t it? I feel terrible just thinking about it.”

Ding Lingdang continued to roar, “It’s the same for you. Although you also have a lot of flaws… As the father of the federation, the supreme ruler of all worlds, your personality is too wretched. It’s very rare for you to reveal your domineering aura for more than half an hour. When you can’t defeat the enemy, you will still run away without shame. You like to crawl through ventilation ducts. Your kidney function is so-so. Often, when your brain is fried, you appear to be stupid. At the drop of a hat, you say some hot-blooded and shameful words. However, this is you. Everything in your past life has created these flaws, or rather, these ‘characteristics’. And these flaws and characteristics have created a unique, charismatic, and deeply loved you. If you go back in time and restart your life, you seem to have chosen a ‘better’ direction, but in the end, these unique and charming flaws no longer exist. If that happens, will you still be the real you? Will you still be the Li Yao that I have entrusted everything to? The Li Yao that I deeply love?”

“It—it does make sense…”

Li Yao mumbled to himself and suddenly felt that something was not right. “Wait. What did you say just now about my flaws?”

“Huh?”

Ding Lingdang’s eyes were wide open. “They say that you are sometimes sleazy, that you don’t last long enough to reveal your dominance, and that you have other shortcomings that everybody in the universe knows about. Are you denying it?”

“No. I admit that.

Li Yao was completely awakened. All the silver liquid on his body was gone. He was no longer under the flood’s control. “What happened next? What did you say next?”

“… Say that you often burn your brain to make you look stupid and say hot-blooded and shameful words?”

Ding Lingdang said, “Don’t mind these small problems. I don’t despise them at all. Really. On the contrary, I think they are quite cute and have quite a personality. This is my most beloved husband!”

“No. I admit all the shortcomings. It doesn’t matter whether you despise them or not.

“However,” Li Yao said, “I vaguely heard that you said something between ‘I like to crawl through ventilation tubes’ and ‘I’ll look stupid if my brain is fried’. Did you say anything else?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t really remember. Anyway, my dear husband, there’s something that I’ve kept in my heart for hundreds of years that I haven’t been able to say. In fact, I’ve always felt that you are the strongest man in the universe. I’ve always secretly admired you from the bottom of my heart. It’s just that I’m too embarrassed to say it because of my reputation as a strong woman.”

Ding Lingdang put her hands together in prayer. “Now, it’s time for you to show all your valiancy and break out of this damn cage. How can a mere flood trap a man like you?”